Damn…did she see me cast magic?!

“And what exactly is that?” I’m preparing several nonlethal attacks. At the very least, the ice shards will serve as a distraction while I gain distance. Can I knock her out before she says anything?

“Wait!” She says, and I hesitate for just an instant. “I know you’re hiding your real strength just like me. If we work together, this will be a lot easier! But did you really think no one would notice how easily you ascended at the end? I know you’re not weak!”

Huh…so she didn’t realize I’m a mage?

“You too, huh?” It’s safer to go along with her theory for now.

Unless this is a trick to get me to lower my guard?

“Obviously. I know you noticed me.” The girl’s smile turns into a smirk. “I felt your greasy eyes on me the whole way up.” She pumps out her chest proudly and I almost start to laugh because the posture looks ridiculous on such a young kid until what she’s saying registers in my brain. Greasy eyes?

Wait, what?

I was watching everyone you self-centered little…!

“Ahem!” Hiding that I just choked on my own spit behind a cough, I put a fist in front of my mouth. Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I let the Chill I’ve been holding in my mind dissipate. There’s no way she’s faking this level of idiocy. You’d die of embarrassment. “Why should I work with you? We have a whole month here. There’s no threats with the two supervisors watching over us.”

“Oh?” She seems genuinely surprised. “You don’t know? But I saw you with Perideen Darkblade. Isn’t he your teacher?” Suddenly, I’m getting confused. She knows about Perideen? Okay…now this is getting weird!

“Don’t know what?” Now I’m curious. “Who exactly are you!” Once again that proud little chest puff comes out, but this time I take her a bit more seriously.

“My name is Meera. The first and only disciple of Sein Aisenguard, Elder of the Rainstopper Sect!” Her imperious self-introduction is worthy of royalty. But coming from a child, it vaguely sounds like someone playing dress-up. Pfft…Lol. Wait, now that I think about it, I’ve only been around commoners for most of my life, and Romy and Mark are in hiding. But royalty is still a thing in this world. Oh God…don’t tell me that everyone talks like this in the cities?!!

“So?” My blank response completely throws Meera off. She looks at me incredulously, as if unable to believe that anyone could fail to bow down to her greatness. It makes me recall a few girls I met on Earth in fancy hotel bars. Some of them might have even really been royalty. But before my Foresight, they just became normies like everyone else. “Am I supposed to know who that is?”

“Y-You! I don’t believe it!” Her utter disbelief is very convincing. I’m inclined to believe that she isn’t playing games with me. “You don’t know whose on the Rainstopper Council? But your master is Perideen Darkblade! I heard he was a rogue, but this is too much!”

“Uhuh.” Neither agreeing nor denying my relation to Perideen, I find that this girl makes plenty of assumptions. Thinking over what she said, I come to an undeniable conclusion. I should have seen this coming. Obviously, some of the children here were also chosen by members of the Rainstopper Sect. And their masters probably told them about the trials. Or at least gave them hints. But Perideen never said a thing. At first, I’m puzzled, but when I remember how Perideen acted in Tosa, the carefree attitude he took to being my bodyguard, especially when it came to lessons he thought would help me grow, I can only sigh. Ah…of course. He would let me face this on my own. God I hate Perideen sometimes. My focus returns to Meera. “You know what comes next, don’t you?”

“Shhh!” She puts up her fingers. “Do you want Jarshan to hear!” Looking around anxiously, Meera reaches out to grab my arm, but I jump backwards. Giving me an exasperated sigh, she walks past me, presenting her back. It’s an invitation to follow. “Come on. It’s going to start soon. Ugh, by the Raingods, why am I bothering with someone who doesn’t know the first thing about the trials? You better be worth it!”

“What’s starting soon?” Unable to resist the temptation to find out more, I let Meera lead me away from the other children and Rian and Sujos. However, if she tries to take me out of their sight, I’m definitely not going to go with her. “Isn’t this cheating?”

“Oh please, just because your master is a weirdo doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t have common sense.” Meera glances back at me with that trademark little half-smile. Her broken tooth is just barely visible in the darkness. “So long as it’s just a little hint here or there, the Sect won’t care. No evidence no crime, isn’t that the essence of being an assassin?”

At this, I have to laugh,

“Wow…you’re the first person who seems to understand that.” Shaking my head ruefully while remembering Romy’s heavy-handed style and Perideen’s brawler-like approach to battle, I grin. “Maybe we can get along.” We trudge along to the edge of the plateau. While neither Rian nor Sujos seems to be keeping an eye on us out here, I’m certain that they’re capable of seeing this far. “Alright, why are we out here?”

“Those two…” Meera turns around and flicks her eyes at the supervisors, sitting cross-legged on the ground, “Are about to start testing us.” She nods towards Rian’s mysterious weapon and Sujos’ sword on his back. “Once the moon reaches its zenith, they’ll attack. Nonlethal strikes only…if you dodge. Either way, no one is getting any sleep on the plateau. It’s a form of training.”

Oh…now I get it.

“That makes more sense.” Chuckling, I instinctively survey the two Rainstopper Assassins. While I’d be a fool to trust Meera blindly, night ambushes and constant training does smack of something Romy would do. “I thought this was a bit too easy.” As if they can hear me, Rian and Sujos begin to move at that exact moment. My body tenses in the present as I peer into the future. Watching them from a second behind, I see both assassins uncross their legs and rise to their feet. They make no efforts to conceal their movements. After all, the unsuspecting kids clustered around them think that the supervisors are there to maintain law and order. As Sujos pulls his long claymore from his back, I realize that there’s an important clue here. None of the top ten candidates stayed with the supervisors! They all knew beforehand…which means they must be part of the sect!

Filing away that knowledge for later, I now know that anyone who stayed in the groups near Sujos and Rian are either hiding their intentions, or not part of the Rainstopper Sect. It’s a bit disturbing that every single one of the top ten knew this was going to happen though…I mean that’s just favoritism plain and simple. Typical…even in another world some things never change. While I’m thinking, the dark-haired woman, Rian, finally draws her mysterious weapon. My eyes pick up what it is as moonlight reflects off the dark mahogany-like wood. It looks like a staff, about as tall as its user. However, there’s a click which echoes across the plateau and a blade shoots out of either side. Oh…damn!

*Tap*

*Tap*

“Huh?”

“W-What are you-!”

“WAIT!!!”

Twin shadows flicker about as the Rainstopper Assassins begin. I see how it happens in the future, how Meera will recoil, shrinking away, as Rian and Sujos charge into the poor, confused children who thought there was safety in numbers. The assassin’s strike with the flats of their blades, bashing elbows, kicking backsides, and I wince as I remember Romy giving me a similar treatment in the past. Though the kids who managed to survive the first trial are by no means ordinary, since Rian and Sujos are targeting the biggest groups, the ones to go down first are probably the weakest candidates. I see a boy get tossed ten meters back, his head cracking the ground. Another tries to flee, but gets clubbed by Rian’s bladed staff for his troubles. Before I know it, almost everyone that was hiding in front of the supervisors is down. And then Rian’s eyes come up from the kid she just beat bloody. The black-robed assassin takes one look at me and I feel a killing intent lock onto me that would freeze an ordinary man in his tracks. Even though she’s looking at me in the future, I shiver in the present. There’s just one thing though-

I grew up with Romy.

This is nothing!

The insane urge to smile almost overwhelms my self-control as I return to the present. Rian is fast. Too fast, even. I barely have anytime before the events I just saw, unfold. Already she’s knocked almost everyone else to the ground. Meera wince beside me, the small girl unconsciously crouching before the sheer violence in front of her.

“I don’t get it, are we supposed to beat them?” I ask quickly, my words almost flying out like a fast-chanted spell. “There’s no way, not even if everyone works together!”

“No. They won’t leave the plateau. And they won’t kill anyone either. But so long as you stay here, they’ll keep targeting you so you can’t sleep.” Meera says nervously. She gives a little squeak as Rian begins to rush us. “Oh crap! Run!” She immediately abandons the plateau and runs off into the rock formations. Left alone at the edge, I’m given the choice of following her or staying and trying to survive Rian’s onslaught. In the corner of my sight, I see some of the people who got knocked down trying to get up, running as fast as they can while she’s focused on me. Can I take her? I don’t know how strong she is compared to Perideen. If she’s weaker, I can probably catch her by surprise. But I’d have to reveal too much. Crap…here she comes! Damnit, I get it now, if you stay on the plateau, you’ll just get destroyed for thirty days. But if you leave…then you have to deal with the other candidates. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I watch Rian approach in both future and present. Envision fighting her, but soon feel a stabbing pain in my head as things get complicated. Just before she’s about to enter striking range, I notice that pretty much everyone that wasn’t in the big groups has left the plateau. It’s just me, and a bunch of groaning kids. That decides it.

Taking the high road, I turn tail and run. Behind me, I feel the rush of air as Rian arrives at my last position, but when I step behind a rock formation shaped like a thumb, she doesn’t follow. The world becomes a solitary prison of darkness, as the jail bars of rock, slope up to the sky, and let only small slivers of moonlight in through the gaps. I wander between the shadow and light, concentrating on the future to avoid hazards I cannot see. Though I am hampered by my human eyes, I’m probably the hardest child on this planet to ambush. No matter who it is, I’ll see them coming. Every top ten candidate is out here somewhere. And they knew that this would happen in advance. Hell, if they’re from the Rainstopper Sect, they might even know how to navigate this place. Should I try to hunt some of them down? They’re probably hunting me.

*Swoosh*

I take things fast, but close enough that the extra warning my Foresight grants me will be enough to stop. However, a sixth sense, bred in me by Romy’s training, tells me that I’m being watched. Without moving my head, I flick my eyes upward and find that not only do the countless rock pillars obscure the moonlight, but they also provide ledges and little caves for vertical ambushes. A hostile pair of eyes gaze back at me, and then multiply into three. Too many!

Switching focus to the present, I abruptly jerk backwards, changing course before I enter their ambush. Already, words are forming in my mind, silent casting which will give me the edge. The three hiding in the rock pillar emerge from the shadows, darting out like minnows to give chase. Really? If it was just one person, I could probably deal with them, but instead it’s a group! If I use magic on one, the others will just run away. Unless I set a trap for them with an Icebomb…but that might kill someone. No, it’s too risky! Maybe I can lose them?

Dashing between pillars, I lead them on a merry chase. Curses come from behind me, and I realize that these are definitely not Rainstopper Acolytes. I’ve unfortunately had the misfortunate of finding one of the few kids which decided to team up. Come on, why didn’t you just stay at the plateau? Groaning, I surreptitiously use a few Gusts to augment my speed. Wind streams out of my palms and pushes me forwards. I’m pulling away-

“Back off!” Suddenly Meera’s voice yells out from above. The future changes. I see a throwing knife shoot out of the darkness, but not at me. Oh…nice! Grinning, I let the present catch up and turn around when I hear a cry of pain. Up above, Meera steps out of a hidden pit in the rock formation and lands lightly besides me. She already has another throwing knife in hand. The slight smile on her face disturbs my pursuers, one of which is clutching his leg, trying to stop the bleeding from the blade in his thigh. Laughing, Meera taunts him, “How does it feel when other people work together? Does it hurt? Poor baby…do you want me to call Elina? Ready to quit?”

Damn…is everyone from the Rainstopper Sect a ‘S’?