Chapter 37

The first part of the Scaterball tryouts was straight forward. Keith and Mark took the whole group into the arena and gave each student 10 chances to try and score points. The more points, the better. Many of the first years tried for the bottom slot but ended up wasting a lot of shots. Nick tried for it once, realized that it was a lot harder than Keith made it look, and aimed for the funnels with his other nine shots. He made five.

“Well, I’m sure you can all see that scoring points is a bit harder than you thought.” Mark was starring at his score sheet. Nick’s paltry five wasn’t impressive, but surprisingly only two others had scored higher than him. Trent, and the girl from training earlier, the one who Jared had punished. The rest of the first years had wasted too many shots.

“Next, we are going to split you into three teams, each with a fourth year on your team, and do a few fun little matches.” Three fourth years? Nick only saw two.

“Oh, I do so love this part.” He felt his body shiver, he knew that voice. Rasha stepped out of the shadows, gauntlet on hand, an energy whip in the other. Mark smiled at her and turned grinning back at the group. “Each of us is going to be the captain of the team, and we are going to pick a first year, one at a time, till the teams are full.

“I get Nicky!” Keith shoved past Mark, grinning. “It’s only fair.” He winked at Nick. Mark’s face flashed with annoyance but settled on a smile. “Fine, I’m taking Marcus.”

“Give me that Trent boy.” Rasha looked at Nick as she spoke. He could only guess she was aware of their rift.

The rest of the picking was quick, but Nick did note Keith snagged the high scoring girl up, Tiffany. All the first years on their team focused on Keith as he pulled them into a huddle, though none acknowledge Nick.

“So, here’s how this is going to work.” Even when he was acting serious, Nick couldn’t help but smile at Keith. He could tell the fourth year was excited.

“Nicky and I are going to take down as many on the other team as we can.” He looked at the others. “You two,” he motioned to the two first year boys he had chosen, “are going to protect the pretty little Tiff here.” Tiffany blushed. “Keep her safe and get the balls to her. Unlike you two, she actually knows what to do with them.” She blushed even more.

Nick could tell the other first years wanted to argue the point, but they were intimidated by Keith. He was just looking forward to taking down the other teams. He wasn’t about to let Keith down.

“You ready Keith?” Mark’s team was standing around him, with Marcus towering over even the fourth year. Rasha’s team had headed off to the stands.

“So eager to lose Mark?” Keith stood tall, crossing his arms confidently.

“Ha, I’m just looking forward to making you cry in front of your favorite first year.” They both laughed.

“If I’m crying, it’s because I feel that sorry for you.” He turned to the group and ushered them towards their teams starting end. Mark took his team to the other side of the arena. Steel walls and buildings blocked their vision, making the landscape virtually unknown to the group. Nick was curious how they were going to track down the other team, when he had an idea.

“You want to play too Dagr?” He could sense his dragon’s amusement. Dagr knew exactly what Nick was thinking.

Isn’t that cheating?

He smirked, thinking of how Keith would respond. “It’s only cheating if we get caught. And no one is going to catch us.”

Dagr took flight, soaring easily over the field. Through their connection, he fed Nick an overhead view, allowing him to easily see the other team. It was a bit disconnecting, but he was able to shift his view just right to keep the world from spinning. If he could pull this off, he was certain he would make the team.

A horn blew in the arena, and the orb opened, shooting for the five game balls. The enemy team took off into the arena. To any onlooker that wasn’t a Phys, they would have disappeared, but Nick and the others were all at level 10 energy, meaning their movements appeared normal.

“Ready for this Nicky?” Keith took off into the maze, and Nick took off after. He didn’t want to give away his advantage, so he figured he would just act like it was blind luck.

“Let me lead Keith, I’m feeling lucky.” The fourth year grinned, and let Nick pass him. From Dagr’s overhead view, he could see the enemy team had the same strategy as Keith’s team. Mark and Marcus had taken off to go hunting, while the other three were heading off to gather the game balls. Which, with Dagr’s vision, Nick could tell was not an easy task. The balls were moving quick, and they bounced violently off the urban environment, meaning you had to predict where they were heading to be in the right place to grab them. Nick couldn’t help thinking he and Keith had the easier job.

Pulling his attention back to the enemy team, he led him and Keith away from Mark and Marcus. He figured it would be easier to take out the three first years before trying to take on the other two. Everyone was limited to level 10 energy, meaning Keith and Nick couldn’t use their higher energy levels to overwhelm anyone. That meant it would based on skill, and as much as he hated to admit it, Marcus was very likely his equal in close combat.

“You sure you’re feeling lucky?” Keith was running next to him, eyes scanning rapidly all around. He was most familiar with this game, and Nick could tell he was on high alert looking for the enemy team. Nick grinned as he saw they were approaching the three first years.

“Are we allowed to jump the walls?” They varied between 10-20ft walls, but even with just 10 energy, Nick was confident they could jump the smaller walls easily.

“Yeah, but it might give away our position.”

“Trust me?” Nick took off, drawing his sword as he did. He leapt over the smaller wall, adding in a front flip as he did. Through Dagr’s eyes, he knew exactly what waited on the other side. A startled cry filled the air, and then in a split second was silenced. Nick’s sword crashed down on the poor first year’s head, sending him into darkness. The other two stared at Nick, drawing their own weapons. Which, given they had only had one weapons class, were swords.

“Oh, that was awesome.” Keith was laughing as he landed, drawing his axe. The other two eyed Keith warily, before yelling at the top of their lungs, and turning to run. Nick could see that drew the attention of Mark and Marcus, who were now heading directly towards them.

“Well, that’s one down.” He looked at the crumpled first year, who had some blood dripping from his mouth.

“I’d say.” Keith cocked his head to the side and turned towards where Nick could see Mark and Marcus were going to arrive from. “But, sounds like the party is about to arrive.” The fourth and first year turned the corner, and even though Nick was nervous, he could feel his body fill with excitement. This game really was fun.