When Iris and Guang came out of cultivation, they were greeted by the surprisingly amicable duo of Boneroot and Hana Kasumi.

“Here’s what you missed,” Boneroot told them. “There’s definitely no one up in that tower and also we’re pals now.”

When he gestured toward Hana, the girl scoffed.

“Is your bar for friendship truly so low? Just because we are no longer actively opposed to one another does not mean there is any real camaraderie between us.”

“She’s very lonely, you see.”

“As if you’re one to talk.”

Iris and Guang shared a look and immediately skipped over the confusing, interpersonal mess presented to them.

“So... the tower?”

“Right,” Boneroot said. “We did some very discreet scouting work—”

Hana interjected, “That is to say you made so much noise that no team could have possibly failed to notice.”

“Actually, that was a high-level technique,” Boneroot began. “You wouldn’t understand because you’re not in the Orange realm, like myself.”

“I pity that poor cat you’ve bound. Can you truly not refrain from turning every mistake into some half-formed boast?”

“You’ve clearly never spoken to Kuroki.”

Iris and Guang shared another look. With a sigh, they trudged toward the tower. Boneroot and Hana followed behind them, continuing to bicker in a manner that completely obfuscated whether they actually got along.

The spiraling path up to the top of the mushroom-laden spire was a trek in and of itself. Reminiscent of the original climb up to the Brightmoon Sect, Boneroot found himself summiting awkward geometry and a shifting array of platforms and handholds.

He couldn’t tell whether the changes to the tower were somehow a natural phenomenon, or the doing of one of the competition’s proctors. Were it the latter option, he felt they might run into trouble trying to settle into the location.

At the top, the team was treated to a spacious, circular platform with what looked like furniture sprouting out of the ground at neat intervals. Additionally, the edges of the wooden floor were boxed in by a number of irregular, colorful mushrooms turned onto their sides. If the climb up wasn’t suspicious enough, the deliberate shaping of the tower’s apex left no ambiguity about the structure’s nature.

“The question is,” Iris said. “Were we steered toward here, or away from here?”

Immediately, Hana voiced her opinion.

“I imagine we will be forced out before nightfall. The unnatural treachery of the ascent was a clear indicator.”

Guang didn’t quite seem to agree.

“If that were the case, though, why would the tower be set up to be so defensible? There’s even furniture!”

“Maybe to lure people in,” Boneroot suggested.

“There’s probably a whole bunch places just like it in this forest,” Iris added with a shrug. “Even if they’re trying to test how well we set up and siege defenses, they can just herd the remaining teams toward whichever defensive position they feel like.”

Guang still wasn’t convinced, though.

“I’m just not sure we should abandon a strong position because we might get pushed out of it eventually.”

He and Hana debated the point with surprising heat, given Guang’s disposition, until Iris interrupted them to point out a worrying complication.

“If the proctors aren’t forcing us out of the tower, though, doesn’t that suggest another team is headed this way?”

The others took a moment to fully mull over the implications of Iris’ observation. Hana spoke first.

“I... didn’t consider that. You may have a point.”

Boneroot winced as he conceded the same. The four cultivators ultimately decided to stay put until the first definitive sign that they wouldn’t be allowed to stay. After the decision was made, the conversation turned to how they were actually going to defend the tower.

“Me and Guang should post up somewhere along the path to the top, right?”

Iris asked the group and Hana nodded.

“If you are able to replicate the joint technique utilized in our fight with Wei Zhen, that would severely hamper any team’s ability to reach the top. The climb is difficult enough without the addition of lightning and weaponry. My own techniques would also benefit such a strategy, as well.”

Guang grinned at the roundabout praise and added his own suggestion.

“If the three of us are watching the tower’s... I guess you’d call it a stalk, what should Boneroot do? I don’t know if he’d be better off scouting from the top of the tower, or lurking at the base trying to thin any attacking team’s numbers.”

“I’m not sure,” said the boy in question. “I’m pretty good when it comes to fighting from treetops and the like, so I don’t think I’d be less effective up here. Plus, I can back you three up much easier than from the ground.”

“Let’s not rule anything out, though. Can your movement technique reach the ground from up top? If you see an opening down there, I wouldn’t want you to stick around here for our sake.”

Iris’ question was a good one, but Boneroot just shook his head.

“I’ve never had to use it to go that far. Even if I got all the way to the ground, it’d take too much ki. If we need someone to flank, I’d be better off jumping down on someone halfway up.”

As Boneroot imagined just how terribly that might go, the others went over the minutiae over their defensive formations. He was surprised to see his three teammates quickly settle on their positioning with little disagreement between them.

With their strategy ironed out, the team spread out atop the botanical platform to scout the surrounding areas in a ring. Fortunately, the overturned mushrooms at the edges provided great cover from any distant eyes looking upward.

They didn’t have to wait very long to learn why they weren’t ousted from the tower by the proctors. A couple hours after their initial climb, Boneroot spotted a flash of blue and white moving toward them. A quiet alert to his teammates had them all in position to see their opponents break into the clearing.

Though they took cover almost immediately upon coming into the tower’s range of vision, their entrance was still impossible not to notice. Boneroot, Iris, Guang, and Hana huddled around one edge of the platform to visually confirm the other team was actually going to attempt to climb up toward them.

If they had come to the same realizations as his own team, the group below should know they were intended to either clash with a team in the tower, or take it for themselves. Boneroot expected they would be waiting a while longer before the others decided to make their move.

Surprisingly, though, they made the decision almost immediately. As soon as he saw the five cultivators darting across the clearing toward the base of the tower, he realized why. Leading them was Jota Guling. He looked as casual as ever, book clutched to his chest even while sprinting.

At a glance, Boneroot wasn’t sure of his team’s chances. Though Jota’s team had a full five members and Jota, himself, was stronger than Boneroot, they lacked the positional advantage, as well as the informational. They didn’t know who they were up against, or when they might be hit.

Boneroot and his teammates went over the people they knew to be on Jota’s team. The first to spring to mind was Bao Tiankaiji, the noblest living boy in the sect. If Guang’s experience with him at the Combat Class was anything to go by, he wasn’t much of a threat. However, he would likely have his bow with him, which might prove troublesome depending on how well he could aim through Hana’s mist.

After that was Shun Yu, the portly Jade cultivator he had heard about mostly in passing. Hana whispered to them her own assessment of the girl.

“She was nothing special when she arrived, but she’s since made impressive strides in cultivation. Supposedly she’s nearly reached High red and is a formidable combatant.”

Boneroot shared his own assessment, but this time of the Spacial cultivator Na Khei. The girl’s specialty in close-range techniques would be ill-suited to fighting from such a disadvantaged position. That she had yet to produce a serviceable beam of Light ki in their Ki training class with Venh was another relief.

Finally, Guang told them about his fellow military recruit, Da Gunbang.

“Strong qi techniques. Probably nothing special at range. Tenacious, though. He won’t give up until he loses consciousness.”

At that, Biku materialized to join Hana, Iris, and Guang as they left to take up their positions just above the middle of the tower’s stalk, leaving Boneroot to decide how best he could help his team. The most glaring problem they faced was Jota. Though Boneroot wanted to see how well he matched up against the arrogant prodigy, the success of his team was first in his mind. If they were going to deal with Jota, they would need to be isolate him from his own team.

As the time for Boneroot to formulate his plan was drawing to a close, he realized he had a talisman that could do exactly that. If he could use the mysterious, cyclone-producing talisman in his void ring to encircle only his team and Jota, Boneroot was confident they could take the boy down.

Though he wasn’t sure how he was going to accomplish that, it was their best shot at beating Jota’s team. Boneroot hurried to catch up to his teammates’ positions, though he wanted to hang back out of sight at first. Hopefully, Jota would charge in, doing the work of isolating himself all on his own.

Boneroot was disabused of this notion when he arrived at the site of the coming battle. From his vantage point near the top of the tower’s upward climb, he looked down to see Iris and Guang setting up their defenses. Farther below, Bao Tiankaiji and two others were struggling to get past a few of the obstacles built into the spire. Between the two groups, Jota was rapidly ascending. Surprisingly, Shun Yu was only a step behind him. Her large frame moved with exceptional grace across the pitfalls and traps barring her way.

By the time Boneroot noticed how far up the two were, they were already attacking. He took off toward the action, keeping his eyes on his teammates. Pages flew from Jota’s book, soon joined by plant fibre stripped from the tower itself. A storm of white sheets engulfed Iris’ and Guang’s position. Hana’s mist appeared to do nothing to obfuscate their location. There was no hesitation in Jota’s technique as it swept over the flying axes and streaks of lightning. As the paper began to latch onto Guang, Hana emerged from the fog in an attempt to take down Shun Yu.

The girl barrelled into Hana, leading with a pauldron of jade. Shun Yu’s armored shoulder collided against Hana’s forehead with a resounding crack. Boneroot saw the technique fade out of existence soon after, but Hana was already out of the fight. Her mist dissipated and she plummeted toward the forest floor. Boneroot knew a cultivator in the Red-realm wouldn’t die from a fall, even if they landed wrong, but his stomach lurched nonetheless.

Boneroot fired off a few Mini Mega Beams in an attempt to suppress Jota until he was close enough to use his Sunless Stride without exhausting too much ki. Though the beams of Light ki tore through the paper in its way, none of them hit their mark amidst the flurry of Jota’s technique. Finally, Boneroot channeled his void ki and entered the fray.

He wanted to use his talisman immediately, but he couldn’t see where Guang and Iris were. Fearing they would be caught in the talisman’s violent squall, he instead focused on Shun Yu, who had pivoted from climbing higher to attack him. The girl’s Jade ki encompassed her fists this time and she drew them up close to her face as she approached. It didn’t stop Boneroot’s qi-enhanced fist from slipping through her guard. Her nose broke, but she continued forward. Before she could even swing at Boneroot once, though, a Radiant claw raked across her chest. Just as he moved forward to finish her off, the mass of paper converged on him.

Without the kind of Fire technique Amina Zafi had used to burn the paper off her, Boneroot was forced to try to move through the blanket of Wood ki. Even cycling qi through his body wasn’t enough to ease the burden of the paper attaching to him in droves. As soon as each strip clung to his body, they seemed to get heavier.

Boneroot lurched toward the source of the technique. He was nearly blind in his stumbling attempt to locate Jota, but the fight was about to be over if he couldn’t find the other cultivator. That desperate search became more and more difficult as more of the paper and plant fiber weighed down his body.

He attempted to burn the paper away with Light ki, but his technique was too precise to get even a fraction of the mass enveloping him. In a last ditch attempt, he pulled the Tailwind talisman out of his void ring and activated it. He felt his burden ease and energy course through the air around him. Even with the speed boost, though, he made it only a few paces before Shun Yu's jade-wrapped fist connected with the back of his head. A moment later, Jota kicked him in the chest. Boneroot flew back off the tower and lost consciousness on the way down to the ground.

~

Boneroot woke up. An unfamiliar palette of bright colors and foreign images swirled in his hazy vision. He tried in spite of his grogginess to figure out where he’d been taken. A host of possible locations and scenarios ran through his mind. He tried to sense Kuroki. He tried to look for Venh. Finally, his vision cleared. He was still on his back beneath that damn fungal tower. Apparently, the medical attendants hadn’t even gotten to them yet.

With a groan, Boneroot tried to get up. His wounds weren’t bad enough that he needed to be carried off. He was shocked to realize, however, that he couldn’t actually move. In a panic, he cycled his energies, desperately checking for some grievous injury he’d overlooked. His search turned up nothing, but his wits soon came back to him. Boneroot realized it must be a function of the competition.

In a real battle, their loss would have been death. They couldn’t be allowed to get back up right afterward and attempt to take vengeance. Still, the boy wondered at the source of the effect. He didn’t know if the proctors were strong enough to suppress people in such a manner, presumably at a distance, or if it was actually Grand Master Yan, herself, doing it. Then again, it could be a large-scale enchantment of some kind. It certainly wouldn’t be the strangest part of the Valley of the Xiatian.

So, Boneroot lay on his back, staring up at the spire that spelled doom for his team. He wondered if Jota’s group was attempting to set up camp at the top of it, or if they were just moving on. After that overwhelming show of strength, he didn’t see much reason for them to be concerned with maintaining a defensible position. He doubted even Hana Shio’s team would be a match for them.

Though Boneroot couldn’t get off the ground, he could move his head around. He craned his neck looking for his teammates. It seemed Guang and Iris had avoided falling to the ground, as he was only able to see Hana from his position. She, however, wasn’t in any shape to be looking about. Her arm jutted out unnaturally from her crumpled form. For her sake, Boneroot hoped she would still be unconscious when it came time to heal that. Though he wasn’t certain, Boneroot guessed that he had been shielded from a similar fate by the insulating mass of paper that clung to his body as he fell.

Eventually, four medical attendants found their way to the base of the tower, accompanied by the same Inner Sect disciple who had led them to their starting point at the beginning of the competition. Each of the four separated to see to one of the downed disciples, meaning two of them had to summit the tower to find Guang and Iris. Boneroot watched all the traps and obstacles deactivate, making their trip up more of a light exercise than a harrowing stunt.

After a quick inspection, Boneroot was cleared to get up of his own volition. The attendant who saw to him left to help transport Hana. Soon enough, the final two came down from the tower with the rest of Boneroot’s team in tow. Iris returned on her own feet, but Guang was still unconscious and with a nasty bruise blooming across one cheek.

“How’d it go —”

Boneroot’s question for Iris was cut short by the Inner Sect disciple. He signalled for them to follow as the group trudged toward the edge of the valley in silence. They were already near the outskirts, so it took only twenty minutes to reach the base of the mountainous border.

The bald disciple led them to an inconspicuous boulder set into the dirt and surprised the two conscious Outer Sect disciples when he walked straight through it. Iris and Boneroot hurriedly followed through the illusion with the medical attendants at their backs.

Once in the tunnel, the disciple in the lead spoke.

“You four have been eliminated. I will lead you to the holding area with the rest of the defeated. From there, you will be able to watch the proceedings until the competition is finished.”

With a curt nod and a brisk about-face, the straight-backed boy led them deeper into the mountain. Boneroot and Iris followed him in silence, mulling over their performance.