"Have I told you you are an idiot before?" Sam asked, glaring at my chest even as he worked his magic. The soot marks where his nerve filaments had been fried barely even seemed to register as he timed a burst of with a full-bodied tug on both of my arms.

My definitely coherent gurgling of pain didn't seem to buy me any sympathy as Samuel took his Amplifying bone club from Daniela's hands. We'd agreed not to use the Items during the competition, but apparently healing didn't count in Sam's mind and with the difficulty I was having inhaling I didn't have the breath to complain. He, in his infinite wisdom, played off his use of the tool by using it to leverage me onto my side. flowed from it with the reverse feeling of getting my chest crushed and a minty breath of fresh air filled me.

I sputtered for a few seconds as the Overhealed Affliction scrolled past my vision. Samuel shook his head after checking my breathing before turning his healing on himself and the others. Fortunately, he and I were the ones worst off. Unfortunately, Billy was not in a good place. The young elf was propped against Jolene as he glared at his own legs. Said legs were a literal self contained tempest. Bolts sizzled sporadically against the ground every time he tried to reform his legs and condensation was darkening the ground beneath him.

"Side effect?" I asked, frowning at his state as I dragged myself over. The Clansmen and the Spring Hoppers were being called forward, but I didn't feel the need to watch the butchery. Not to mention that if their subsidiary Faction didn't fold like a wet piece of paper then I was going to eat my no-longer-existing boots.

"I can g-get some l-lift," Billy managed, twitching in turn with his legs.

Samuel looked over his shoulder at me after using the filaments he'd regenerated to probe at the youth. The man shook his head before lifting his shoulders in a clear sign of what he actually knew about what was going on. "Every time I try to get a read on his Traits, it fights me back. I don't know what to do here."

"Can you try your Skill?" I asked, trying to think of some way he himself could drain whatever effect he was under. According to him, it didn't even show as an Affliction.

Billy's brow scrunched in concentration as the spell chain in question appeared around his hand. Fingerlings of lightning started to connect the Skill and the youth's legs, leaving the tempest of his legs weakened but it was marginal. He continued to work on that, but I knew we wouldn't have enough time to get him back in competing shape.

"Second place is not the worst," Sam said, trying to appease a Daniela that I could see was already building a head of steam. Not all of it was directed at the Clansmen, if the speedy shuffle of the Zebelos team was any indication despite their own injuries.

"Unfortunately, I don't see a way we can--" Something tugged at my pant leg. The fact that I hadn't sensed it narrowed the list of things it could be, so I turned with an expectant look to face my gelatinous companion. "Oh, hey Blobby. Sorry, bud, I don't think we'll be able to get that fancy saddle for us. Being down a member against those meat heads will be... troublesome to say the least."

The slime grew an appendage, waving it in the air before curling it and pointing at itself and then the rope that was being taken up by the Clansmen. I tilted my head in confusion before I got a mental nudge from Fievil. It wasn't a flash vision since the axe-hammer was still posted where I put him, but I could tell he had something to say. My eyes flitted between the Shard Weapon and the slime as I gingerly clasped the weapon's haft. Immediately, Fievil waved his clawed hands frantically before pulling a literal rope out of the ether that he started to tug. Then he transformed into a facsimile of Blobby before repeating the motion and reverting back.

"You want to join our team for the Tug of Brawn?" I asked, befuddled.

The question must have been surprising enough because Billy stopped purging the lightning and the others turned to give the slime confused looks. For its part, Blobby just nodded his appendage up and down almost too fast to see.

"Can we do that?" Jolene asked, meeting my eyes.

"The rules say we can do substitution," Daniela said, tapping her chin in consideration. "How can we check?"

"Well... I know exactly who," I said, turning my focus to the comm-plant and zeroing in on one of the latest additions. "Hello Ponzio."

I watched as the elf, in the middle of his group of competitors, stiffened before he fumbled with the connection. "Ronan?"

"Yep."

"Listen, I see that something happened to Billy, I am so sorry. It's the technique that worked the best with the--"

"It's alright, man. I understand, even if it put us in a peculiar situation. Don't mention it to Danny, though. Might take her a few days to cool off on that. But listen, that's not why I am reaching out. Say, what are the exact rules for getting a substitution in for our next face-off," I asked.

"Oh! Uh... A member of your Faction needs to willingly request to be substituted in. We all have back ups, just in case. Did you reach out to one of the exchangees? I don't know where they are in the crowd but they might be able to make it!"

I didn't tell the man that the trio hadn't even crossed my mind. It was through no fault of their own, but they'd been mostly doing their thing with the Ocalans while we focused on the event. I knew for a fact they were in the crowd as they'd left right behind our escort, but their actual locations would have required me to reach out--something I was notably bad at doing. However, if my companion's crackpot idea was acceptable I much rathered Blobby than anyone else. So, I explained as much to the secret whisper of the Zebelos.

"That... would be a first. If I didn't know how intelligent Blobby was first hand I would have dismissed it outright but... I don't see why they would say no?" Ponzio said, his voice dripping with more hesitation as each word left his comm-plant mouth.

"Great!" I said, grinning widely and giving my slime a thumbs up.

In response, Blobby gave me a thumbs up back and then some. The slime started to ripple like an agitated gelatin as it morphed into a trunk of lime slime. The boneless creature drew eyes from everyone around, almost causing the judge to miss the Clansmen's victory as it rose to almost nine feet in height. As if the slime was being worked from dough, its bottom separated into two thick legs and its upper body sprouted a pair of arms. The Metier Crystals in its chest swirled as they took hard positions in its humanoid chest before one rose higher to give the slime a bulbous head. The green-brown tinged light of that Metier Crystal shone down from its 'face' like the strangest cyclopes. Even as my jaw, and our whole squad's, dropped lower, Blobby solidified. A facsimile of a sixteen-pack of stone hardened on his abdomen before rippling out to imitate other muscle groups at seemingly random and without the proper sizes. Instead of feet or hands, the slime had stone hooves and clamps that would have put lobsters to shame.

Once the whole transformation was complete, Blobby gave me a perfectly crisp-- for something without a bone structure-- salute before posting like a bodyguard over my shoulder. I could see the other Crystals swirling softly within my slime companion's body and shedding light through the gaps in its rock-hard musculature.

"What's the meaning of this?" Horace called, stomping up to us with a scowl on his face as he glared at Blobby. There was the slightest hesitation as the man and his team tried to square up against the slime that towered even over me.

"We called in our substitution, duh," Daniela shot back, putting every iota of disdain into her words as she could and drawing out the last word.

"You can only substitute people on your team," the giant ground out, eyebrow twitching as he looked at a not-in-the-least intimidated Daniela. "You can't just sub in this glorified mannequin."

"I'll have you know Blobby has more class than you," Jolene said, patting our companion firmly on the arm. The slime pivoted to look at the merwoman, which was a little unnerving considering how silent it was for how much of its body was rock, before giving it a claw-up and turning back to pin Horace with its glowing head.

"Excuse me, we need to proceed with the finals," the head judge said, walking over and glaring at both of our groups. His gaze lingered on Blobby for an extra second before leveling it on me.

"I spoke with a representative of the Zebelos and they said our companion is perfectly eligible," I said.

"That's not what I said Ron!" Ponzio yelled through the comm-plant, clearly listening despite having moved to the platforms.

"The rules state people in your team can substitute, Mr. Terrigan," the head judge said, quirking an eyebrow. "I am not sure what Mr. Zebelos has discussed with you but the rules are quite clear."

Quite informed about our connection are you? My quiet musing was cut off by the elf actually being substituted.

"Blobby is quite a person!" Billy argued, the youth still resting on the ground and correcting his legs one spark at a time. He was slowly getting faster, so it was possible we might be fine if I stalled longer but I could feel the crowd's discontent due to the lack of engagement. The announcers had also gone silent, likely waiting for word from the judges.

Surprisingly, the judge didn't dismiss that entirely and instead turned to look at the slime in question. "Are you a person?"

Blobby nodded.

"Do you know mathematics?" A nod. "Two plus two, two times seven and ten divided by five?"

The slime tilted its head for a moment before one of its arms reverted back to full gel and reshaped into various little feelers. It held up four, then fourteen and then two. For the first time since I'd met him Horace was stunned and I was loving every minute of it even if I was just as surprised by my companion's arithmetic skills.

"Which of these people are your friends?" The judge asked, unshaken by the responses. Blobby's arm split, pointing at each person in our group and one over his shoulder in the direction of the Zebelos team. "And which are your meals?"

Blobby coalesced its hand into one big nub before pointing it at Horace. The lack of facial expressions, even if his body language spoke volumes, was unnerving. The giant seemed ready to explode in his own defense before the judge spoke. "Very well, I approve. Please take your positions."

Horace was speechless, but the judge deliberately interposed himself between our teams and waited patiently for the Clansmen to start locating themselves on the other side of the new rope the event assistants had placed down.

Quikly, I ran the potential strategies Blobby might give us through my head and came up with a potential counter to the Clansmen's nonsense. Samuel wasn't going to like it, but I could deal with irritating my physician if it meant we put the Clansmen in their place.

"Blobby to the back, then Sam and then me, Jolene and Danny at the front," I said as we walked to the rope. "I don't know if I can be precise enough with this so I am going to need you to keep us from sliding forward Danny while Jolene makes sure we aren't cooked in the process."

"What the heck are you planning?" Daniela asked, quirking an eyebrow but taking position at the front.

"Something that would be much easier if I could use my Amulet. Bake the ground directly under you," I said, bracing my feet. I looked over my shoulder to Sam and Blobby. "Keep us from getting crispy, will you? Blobby, can you pull us back?"

The crystal in its head met my eyes and gave a solid nod, and Sam grumbled but his magic started to coalesce around the acorn wraps he'd given us. As the refreshing energy combatted the rising temperature that Daniela was outputting, Jolene encased herself in slowly swirling currents of mist that were flashing into steam with each lick of Daniela's mana.

The ground turned chalky white as the moisture was drawn out of it, and I focused at her feet. That in itself was hardly a problem, the next part was the tricky part. I braced my magic as the Clansmen turned into their giant block of stone. Then the judge released the rope.

"," I yelled, grasping the lever in my mind and cranking it to a full cast, but adapting the parameters as much as I could. Half of my mana pool drained away as everyone except for Daniela sunk a foot into the ground. Unfortunately, I'd been focusing my control training with the Skill on small operations rather than large swaths so my attempt to exempt us from the Skill's effect fell flat. The depth of the effect was less on our side of the radius, which was something, but not quite what I was hoping for in imitating its Amplified form of .

The other team's surprise was instant and they started to slide even as Daniela pulled on the rope with her all. She didn't move, instead she coiled any slack she gained around her wrist. Blobby stretched stony spikes from its body to anchor our group and I focused on holding the Skill under Daniela and the simultaneously. It was a bit of a headache to have to work so hard to dual cast, but one Skill wanted to cannibalize the other simply because of the context unlike when I cleared tunnels under Ocala.

"They are stabilizing!" Daniela shouted. Sure enough, spikes of stone lanced into the earth with enough force for me to feel it through the mud. A haze of brown mana grew around the heads of the Clansmen as the spikes continued to grow, pushing through the mud into the more solid earth beneath. The two feet we'd managed to gain ground to a halt. With a concerted effort, I watched as the spikes started to move like spider legs back. Daniela lost a coil from her around her wrist.

A burst of steely-brown energy shoved the mass of the stone spider puppet back and I knew who'd been responsible almost on instinct. Horace. Thankfully, Daniela had enough wherewithal to let go of the rope before her wrist got snapped, but our entire progress was erased. Instead of pushing their brief advantage, the Clansmen dug in like a blocky tick in the earth. Even with , their extra limbs gave them enough purchase to hold against us.

"Suggestions!" I groaned into the comm-plant.

"Mimic!" Samuel shouted, even as mana rolled off him in a thick fog. The little pouch where he kept the acorns burst into a writhing mass of that each dug into the earth like roots. Blobbly got the picture as well, as the slime grew another pair of legs even as it shrunk in size to compensate. Sam didn't need to tell me twice, but I struggled to think of how to mimic their stone spider. Jolene let loose with her , pushing against the earth I'd liquified. Daniela wasn't outdone as struck the ground as well.

This is too much mana, I couldn't help but think. My friends had a much more fill-refill relationship with their mana pools than my massive expenditures, but I doubted Jolene and Daniela had mana to maintain constant flow. only had a few more seconds left before it would leave the Clansmen in a better position when the soil hardened. I glanced at my own mana with a grimace.

Mana: 43%

The math wasn't in our favor, which meant it was time to change the equation.

"This is going to suck," I grumbled. "Let me to the front!"

We almost lost right there. Blobby and Sam strained to hold as Jolene and Danny stopped casting for a breath, long enough for me to step to the front. The women gaped at me as I dug my feet and prevented the middle point of the rope from crossing to the Clansmen by inches. Then I dumped my mana into the earth.

.

Slurry Ichor.

.

Two Skills and a Trait. The first two locked my hands around the rope in a death grip. Some of my armor locked up along my spine, barely keeping me from doubling over. Then I used to push back on the ground. My muscles complained as I inched the rope back and my abdomen clenched as my mana dropped to just below twenty percent.

"Hold!" I shouted over my shoulder. With full trust in the others, I broke my hold with one arm and regripped further on the rope. Then another burst of hauled me back. They were half powered, but I could feel the border of my mana pool as vividly as ever. Each cast gave me a foot and I needed three more. I didn't have enough.

Embrace the suck, I thought, bottoming out my mana pool. For once, the side effects of my magic helped as I curled tighter around the rope. I broke free of my stone gauntlets again and clasped further down the rope at the same time as I went negative on my mana.

Vibrosense went haywire. My Slurry Ichor sputtered through my body. Every muscle fiber and even my bones felt stretched to the limit as what I now knew to be the ambient mana in the world flowed into me. I was vaguely aware of triggering as I fell flat on my butt, rope still gripped. Thankfully, my Skill still took effect even if my refined attempt to reduce how far negative I went failed utterly. The full cast of heaved the ground at my feet, now feeding on the last seconds of 's softened material for mass and pushed me back near three feet.

It wasn't enough. Even as I heard the groaning crack of the stone spider limbs of the other team, we were just shy of victory. Thankfully, I wasn't alone. Jolene and Daniela braced on the platform I'd created with while Samuel and Blobby pulled back with their various limbs. Another burst of force launched the Clansmen back, but it served to seal their fate. The last of the spider legs broke when ran out and trapped them, shearing them right at the base. While they gained two feet on their end, my team was ready and hauled their oversized rock back across the line into victory.

"Winner!" The judge called as he struggled to extract himself from where had buried him too.