The exact events of the minutes that followed were vague, to say the least. There was healing, shouting and cheering from the crowds, and a whole lot of complaining from the Clansmen that was easily countered by Daniela despite the differences in size. The argument got heated enough that the old Nash lady with her dual Shard staff interposed herself between a fuming Horace and a literally fuming Daniela. For the sake of continuing the event, the judges sent everyone back to their corresponding platforms as they worked to repair the absolute mess the Tug of Brawn between us and the Clansmen had made as well as bring in the beasts set for the next event.

I'd been so focused on the victory effort, I'd missed the disaster zone we'd generated. The Clansmen spider had dug deep trenches on their side along where each limb was, but that was tame in comparison. Instead of the smooth straight-section on our side, it looked like several explosions had gone off and some plant creature had tried to extract itself from the very earth. Mud was frozen in a splashing wave pattern thanks to the lithification that followed 's deactivation thanks to Jolene and Daniela's Skills. Behind that was a still living network of vines that extended a dozen feet behind our actual position, each gripping the earth and heaving it. Most confusing of all was the humanoid stone skeleton left at the back of the event strip. It was locked in place as if it was tugging on the rope still, four legs attached to a bulbous hip section left no confusion as to who or what had borne the rocky bones.

As we made our way back to our platform hut, I giggled as the field assistants stared up at Blobby's discarded remnants. Then I coiled back in on myself as my body twitched, but I knew that was going to be a struggle for a few hours. Thankfully, I wasn't up for the next event which would give me the slightest margin to recover.

Samuel finished healing the last of my own self inflicted blood clots before leveling an accusatory finger in my direction. "You overdrew your mana, didn't you Ron?"

"S-something like t-that," I said, twitching despite my effort to appear composed. Thankfully the incapacitation had mostly passed; I suspected 's activation having something to do with that. Definitely something to explore. Indubitably. Something something, no pain no gain.

"Why, in all the crispy bits of bacon on this post apocalyptic culinary wasteland would you think that was a good idea?" Daniela asked, smacking me on the back of the head and quickly retracting her hand before my Tremor Frame made her pay for the move. She was learning how to be a nuisance even at our high levels.

"It was a c-calc-culated risk," I said, grimacing at my body's interruption.

"Boy, I thought you were better at math," Daniela said, shaking her head as she strode over to the door to gaze outside. "Not that I'm complaining. That two-bit gym bro was getting on my nerves."

"You are literally c-complaining," I sighed.

"Is he going to be alright for the last event?" Jolene asked. She'd been rolling her eyes at our antics so much that I worried for their ocular stability, but she took the opportunity to turn the conversation serious.

"Should be. This is nothing like when he did it against the orbweavers months ago. Not sure how long we'll have between this event and his, but it should get him viable. I could step in, but I don't know that is going to be competitive enough for the Boar Wrangle. ... for sure, but I think we are pot committed if rock brain here went so far as to go negative on mana for victory without using his Amulet," Sam said.

"This whole competition is an exercise in c-control," I said, frowning as I glared through the wall in the direction of the Breaker's Faction. "I'm sure the Oc-calans have advantages they aren't showing, just like we haven't shown ours. The Zebelos know our biggest one, the Implant, but they don't know the extent of our Items or ."

"Maybe Mr. Fallon should step in for me," Billy interjected. The elf had managed to get his Djinn legs back under control even if a few sparks of lightning seemed to still appear from time to time. "The stakes are much bigger than when we first came up with our event assignments."

The young elf seemed to fold in on himself and he couldn't seem to meet any of our eyes. Based on what I knew about him, I could practically hear his recrimination that he hadn't been present for our Tug of Brawn win. Blobby, back in his large and cuddly slime form, rolled over and started to poke and prod Billy until his frown disappeared. That was when Sam pounced.

"Nope. That event is all you. The only reason we are doubling up with Ron is because no one else fits the criteria necessary to wrestle anything on power alone," the blond said.

"But... Danny is much faster than me," Billy argued. In response, he got flicked on the forehead by a grumbling brunette.

"No lies. I may have the best acceleration, but I can't come close to your maximum speed," Daniela said.

"It's decided then. Billy will still do the Horse Wrangle and we'll pray that Ron didn't shoot himself in the foot for his Boar Wrangle," Jolene said, drawing the conversation to a close.

The corner of my mouth twitched as I saw her sharing a smug look with Daniela before glancing at Billy. Clearly they had noticed the youth's flagging resolved and tried to redirect the conversation enough to get him out of his own thoughts.

We spent the rest of our free time talking about the Parade and how such a spectacle had been happening for years while the Wildwoodians subsisted. They didn't follow it down the darker comparisons that I did, but how a mere river and perceived dangers had left two groups to develop so differently.

While they were all deep in their speculating, I glanced over at my Status to confirm what I'd been suspecting.

Subject: Ronan Terrigan

Health: 100% (Unafflicted)

Mana: 48%

Metier Quotient: 6 (53.25%)

Dreg Accumulation: 20%

LPS: Wildwood Bunker, FL

Communications

Party

Skills - (1) Selections Available

Traits - (0% Banked)

Attributes - Growth Quantified

Skills:

Offensive

- / /

-

Defensive

- / /

-

Misc

-

-

-

-

Traits:

Limestone Skin (36%) > (74%)

Quake Osseum (Tremor Frame)

Slurry Ichor (8%)

Harmonic Sinew (31%)

Attributes:

Strength: 2.26 > 2.28

Mobility: 1.71 > 1.70

Perception: 2.40

Refinement: 1.69 > 1.70

Containment: 2.53

My mana was already well on its way to recovery, my Limestone Skin Trait had matched its assimilation and I had indeed gained a Skill's mana cost worth of Dreg to assign. The drawback of being out of commission was definitely still there, not to mention it was utterly excruciating, but I couldn't help but think it was an avenue to progression. There had to be drawbacks somewhere, but discussing that with Gec could come after we dealt with the Parade.

As Radolfo called back the attention of the crowd and Factions, I snapped out of my reverie.

A group of the Nash Faction was holding tight to the reins of five different horses with unique manes each. They were all variations on Air and Water beasts in the Q4 range, but one Air-Gust horse in the group was Q5. Not surprising me in the least, out of all of the equines that one had four people dedicated to leading it by the snout and I could even see some of the black rope that was used in the Tug of Brawn wrapped around its legs to limit its range of movement like a shackled inmate.

The fae at the front was playing a flute for all she was worth to keep the creatures calm, joined by a hazy yellow glow from the other wranglers. It wasn't until the old Nash shaman lady strode up to the beasts and stamped her staff on the ground that they cooperated. She wagged her finger in the face of the horses for a full two minutes until they meekly followed after their minders. No one in the city looked surprised in the least, but I did eye Fievil curiously.

With the horses situated, Radolfo went on to explain the rules of the next event. The Horse and Boar Wrangles were a similar exercise to the very first wrangle. Instead of quantity, they focused on quality. While the Ocalans couldn't test for their 'Thresholds' in creatures as easily as they could with people, they'd gotten pretty good at estimating Quotients. Of course, the Implant made that trivial but it gave us a slight heads up before the actual event.

As an equalizer for the potential variability between boars or horses, there was a factor of the wrangle scoring based on how little magic was used as well as the estimated strength of the creature being wrangled. It all sounded dizzyingly complicated, just like with the Mage Dance, but Samuel seemed to think it was fair enough all things considered and I trusted him.

So, it was with all those things in mind that we parted with a still-nervous Billy. Daniela, funny enough, tried to give the youth a blood pumping speech that seemed to leave him even more hesitant. Jolene gave me a look before using one of her fins to point at him before he'd started walking to the judges.

"Hey," I said, standing at my same spot but reaching out via the comm-plant. Billy flinched, glancing over his shoulder before I gestured for him to keep going. "Don't focus on the outcome. Focus on doing your best."

"But what if my best is not enough," Billy sent back, his words barely a whisper even in the mental connection.

"Then you work on doing a bit better the next time. You didn't pass the aerial obstacle course on the first run did you? If you had let that first failure bother you, you wouldn't be in our squad. Look how far we've come just from that."

Thankfully, that seemed to strike a chord with the elf as I watched his leg winds grow steadier. Curiously, the small bits of lightning in them also seemed to speed up in their crackling. I didn't get much more time to inspect him before he'd joined the group of contenders.

This group, surprisingly, was a bit more diverse than I expected. While Air and Water Attuned had a benefit in how their Mobility developed, there were benefits to the other Fallen. Of course, we'd sent an elf and the Zebelos had sent their own in the form of Ponzio, but they were the only ones. Curiously, there was a demon representing the Nash.

Despite the encouragement I'd given Billy, I winced internally when I saw Ponzio competing. The Lightning Blips were dangerously fast and in a speed competition... I kept my fingers crossed.

Before long, the competitors had selected their targets. Since there weren't enough for each person, the ones that were doubled up were slotted first so the creature in question had enough time to recover before cycling back to them. Not overly much, but it was the best that could be done for the event. It seemed high level horses weren't easy to raise. The thought of standard fences of any kind keeping creatures that could leap with magic just beggared the mind.

Billy had opted to be the first crack at one of the Q4 water horses. He was second overall with the demon from the Nash front and center for the first run. Somewhat surprising for what I knew about Ponzio, he'd argued to take on the Q5 horse. While he wasn't weak in the least, especially after getting access to the Implants, he didn't strike me as the 'aim big and showy' type of person. Nevertheless, he looked unflappable. Especially in contrast to Billy who seemed to be doing his best just to hold together for the event. A loud voice drew me out of my analysis.

"Let the chases... Begin!" Radolfo called, gesturing to the judge and the teamsters.

They, in turn, looked to the demon who gave them a nod. The teamsters released all but the lead around the horse's mouth before one of them slapped the creature in the rear. To say it took off would have been an understatement. Even as far as I was, vibrosense sent a rippling staccato of hoofbeats as the horse cleared down the road towards the east.

Despite all of that, it didn't last long. Curling wisps of murky purple mana coiled around the demon's arms before mirroring themselves around the horse's head. The reaction was instant. Its nostrils flared and it let out a strangled neigh before careening to the ground. It struggled to its feet for a moment before wobbling and collapsing, its large lungs heaving as if it couldn't catch a breath despite all its efforts. Considering its opponent... It was possible. Death and Life creatures are the worst.

Esoteric powers of asphyxiation aside, it took longer for the demon to catch up to the fallen mustang than it did for him to take it down. Once there, he grabbed a hold of the lead and put the horse into a headlock despite its best efforts to buck him. It was a sad affair. Thankfully it wasn't extended long and the judge called it, the teamsters replacing the bonds on the creature and the magic dissipating away completely.

Before everyone's eyes the horse stabilized and trotted dejectedly to the post where the others were lined up. With barely more than the fanfare it took to remove the bindings off the horse, it was Billy's turn. I glared at the living equine challenge as its information populated in my vision.

The creature had a ridge of scales outlining a mane of hair that looked more like seaweed than strands of keratin. Just as un-horse-like, its tail was one solid flat muscle that seemed to imitate a long-thin beaver tail. If you'd told me it was the bastard child of a regular horse and a hippocampi there would have been no doubt in my mind. I wasn't exactly familiar with horses, but the Q4 specimens certainly seemed bigger and longer than their pre-Fallen brethren I'd seen long ago on our terminals. With the creature's shoulder easily at eye level with my giant-based physique, it positively towered over Billy.

Despite all of that, I got the distinct pleasure of watching the young elf enter 'the zone' as some would call it. Most of the time Billy was one wrong turn of phrase away from being gone with the wind, but when it came time to act there was no hesitation. With the judge addressing him, I saw the hazy outline of his still-crackling legs go from bipedal to genie-in-a-bottle in a second while leaving him perfectly supported. Mana flowed down his back in a smooth current as the teamsters started releasing the horse's bindings.

Billy gulped a lungful of air only an Elf-Trait could provide before the horse was set loose. It exploded in a much more physical sense than the last one. Water raced away from it as it stomped away from its handlers. Most of them fought to keep their feet against the sudden current pushing them back, but Billy's stability was unaffected. His unfurled and he started to fly after the creature inches from the deluge it was leaving in his tracks, the Skill holding him aloft while his legs provided thrust.

The horse sent a pair of five foot walls of water when it noticed Billy hadn't been deterred from the chase. The young elf used a tiny to open a gap in the water just wide enough for him to squeeze through without being slowed even if it stripped him of his Cloak. When he reestablished line of sight, his signature Skill and Gift finally made their presence known. The few moments the horse had taken to glance behind it to unleash the waves of water Billy had used to create a similar effect ahead of the creature.

A choking wall of cloud-stuff coalesced from seemingly nowhere just in time for the horse to push through it. While the and Skill combinations had only managed to slow and disorient the horse, it was the third ingredient in Billy's combo that sealed his victory. The clung tightly to the Current Horse, restraining its movements... until the elf channeled through the condensed water being fed by the equine's own magic. Every bit of fur, crest and tail included, stood on end before the creature slumped.

Billy turned his no-longer-flight into a smooth tumble roll that brought him right to the horse. His legs flared with sparks as his Prison and Trait overlapped, but it seemed to have a compounding effect as he pinned the horse down. The judges took even less time to call it than the demon. While the teamsters struggled with the twitching mess Billy had left behind, the youth made his way to us. The cheers of the crowd were particularly loud, at the very least compared to the demon's; as mechanically impressive as the man's takedown had been, Billy was literally all about smoke and lights.

As soon as he was in range, Daniela pulled the sopping wet elf into a rough hug. Even as Billy weakly fought back, Daniela drove her knuckles into his head while warming mana radiated off her. "Don't know why you were so worried! You took that cud-chewer faster than ol' breathless over there."

"He's why I'm worried."

Despite a faint smile still lingering on his face, Billy sighed as he pointed to the next contender. Ponzio Zebelos. The young scout stood even shorter than the Q5 hulking beast of Air he'd selected. It had a familiar Gust Refinement, but I didn't doubt its ability to move. The beast looked much like you'd expect from a horse with two distinct differences. The primary one, and most obvious, was its steely gray coat. It shone unnaturally, even if I could tell it was hair rather than a polished-skin look. The secondary thing was the fact that it seemed to have nostrils along the front of its abdomen. The four extra openings flared clockwise with each breath, feeding the creature a ludicrous amount of oxygen continuously if I had to guess.

None of those advantages ended up mattering in the end.

The beast was released and it blurred out of sight fast enough that the only reason I could track it was my distance to it. Along with the burst of speed came a veritable gale of wind that blew the road gravel in every possible direction. Two breaths after the creature began working on its escape, Ponzio had finished coalescing his spell chains. I'd seen the man, and the other Blippers, use their compounded magic before but he seemed to put singular focus on it while looking at the horse. I watched as his body seemed to become see-through in the same blink that a bolt of lightning erupted from his chest. It could have been my eyes playing tricks with the afterimages, but I was sure it looked like he'd been sucked up into the bolt before it traveled unerringly after the horse.

The Zebelos arrived with the slightest crackle of static right on the creature's back before exploding in a bubble of electric-blue sparks. The Gust Horse missed a step, and at the speed it was going... its legs didn't have enough time to course correct. Every bit of the impressive creature plowed a furrow right into the earth for almost fifty feet. Instead of going for a headlock, or even grabbing the lead that had been flapping loosely from the horse's mouth, Ponzio placed a hand on the creature's snout.

From where we stood, I could see him mouth something to the horse, before it slumped all the way down. Ponzio released the sparking field and grinned at the judge. Something about the flat expression on the judge, even as the crowd went wild, told me he'd been expecting this performance. As demoralizing as the speed was, I could see that Billy was only a little disappointed; clearly he'd had a better read of the other elf's abilities than I had. Plus, with Daniela immediately entering cheer-mode it was hard to stay broody for long. Man, talk about preferential treatment!

After that, the rest of the competition went quickly. Couldn't really have expected anything else, considering the whole point of the event, but the remaining competitors seemed almost desperate to reach the realm of speed and takedown that the demon, Billy, and Ponzio had reached. An unfortunate giant tried to use a adjacent Gift to lock down his target, but the same horse that Billy had taken down swam through the obstruction, to everyone's surprise. It would have escaped entirely if the Nash demon competitor hadn't stepped forward and neutralized it even from where he stood on their platform. Funnily enough I was sure the cheers were louder for the impromptu encore than for his actual wrangle.

It said something about the nature of the creatures, or their handlers, that none had tried to attack and instead sought to escape only. I was sure both Billy and Ponzio would have a harder time disabling a target without that caveat, non-lethally at least. Despite all that, the event ended there and the competitors lined up while the judges deliberated. Unlike with the Mage Dance, the discussion was much more heated.

The desire to hear at a distance made me think of Devon, who would be back in a few days after snooping around as much as he could before the Faction conference. He was flexing as many of his Gifts and Skills for espionage as possible. Without Implants, communication still had to be done physically or through paper, and the latter was still precious. He planned to do a cycle around the exterior of the city, leaving the Breakers and the reclusive Cult of Reborn Humanity for last. While that was our main 'target', we didn't want to risk approaching their Faction until we had a better profile for the city's players.

"By a close margin..." Radolfo called, snapping me from my thoughts as everyone in the Bunker Busters tensed all at once. "William Nolan of the Allied Towns is our third place winner!"

Billy slouched, his face falling, but I held him up with an arm and a half hug. "None of that now. We made it on the board, and if I can't be disappointed for losing a Strength contest then you can't be for losing a speed one."

The elf looked away meekly, but his legs didn't betray anything. When the others came to congratulate him, it was almost as if he'd made it to first himself. The old man Zebelos continued, giving the verdict even our uninitiated eyes could have made. The Nash demon fell in second, something about a more singular use of magic, with Ponzio easily topping the event.

Even as Radolfo continued to speak and wax poetic about the history of the Wrangles, I saw the Nash retreating with their charges. The event assistants were working to smooth the road back to baseline, and a pair of them were making fortified domes right in the middle of the street. The giant and dwarf were, live, doing what the Stoneshapers and I had done to reinforce the Ock Bridge. Filaments of metal were bending to the dwarf's will while the superstructure was shaped overtop by the giant. It was a sturdy product, which didn't bode well for me if the upcoming creatures required those precautions.

Of course, as I was thinking that, said creatures made their presence known with a series of squeals in the distance that was followed by cheers from the crowd. And here I thought the days of Bread and Circus were left before the Fall.