Freyja had traveled for some time. In part because it had taken her some time to get here from Alsike, but also because she had taken her time to get here. She had left months in advance to also take in some scenery, help out a few folks along her way, get some more practice in, and just generally learn more. Learn more about the knights, about the places outside of Alsike, and get an overall feel for the people she would one day be helping. Or at least, if it all went to plan. There was a lingering seed of doubt in the young girl's mind, a series of 'what ifs' that could go wrong. It was enough to make her nervously play with the tips of her pointed ears, a habit she did while in private and deep thought. She had grown out of it somewhat over her journey to Kikka as it had helped people work out she was an elf, but it was hard to not fall back into it when she was alone. Not that she was alone for much longer as she got closer and closer to Kikka, making sure to keep her hood on and drawn taut.
Not that it stopped some of the looks the girl got. Her unnatural beauty a hard thing to cover up unlike the ears, with hair that flowed like a honey coloured river and a shapely figure, it was mostly her gaze, which while a most gorgeous shade of amethyst, it was also a cold and intimidating one that kept folk from approaching her. She could deal with people admiring her or whatever from a distance, but she didn't want anyone close to her right now. She could hear the mumurs as she approached the collesum. Most seemed to assume she was a noble of sorts? Honestly, it was best that way in her view. It would help pass off her mana at the very least. Her looks and mostly immaculate cleaniness would help sell that facade, she had gone to painstaking lengths to ensure of that. Not that she cared much for fashion or the like, but if it would help see the story then so be it.
Registered under number 222, she would place the badge on her left shoulder cape and simply lean back and watch the crowd as it continued to gather and swell in numbers, which said a decent bit considering it was quite a decent-sized crowd already. She watched mostly with disinterest and thanked her lucky stars that no one wanted to talk to her, and any who seemed like they were considering it were scared off with a simple glare. Now wasn't the time for pleasantries, though she knew at one point she would have to talk to people the time for that hadn't been written into the plot yet so let's continue the summary.
What did finally grab her attention was the introduction of the captains. She mostly honed in on two in particular; first and foremost that of the captain of the Blue Roses, Jennifer Greenvalley. The Blue Roses was the one she had been specifically looking to get into as it would at the very least keep her away from annoyances for the most part. She also admired the Captain and her deeds, and thought it was a good environment for her considering what she had heard during her travel. It also helped they weren't considered the best either, she didn't want to deal with elites like those of the Golden Dawn, nor the nobility of the Silver Eagles or Crimson Lions. It had been her first choice the entire time, though she was also considering a couple others. One of which, earned her attention far more than she had anticipated it would as the last captain was introduced.
The Captain of the Black Bulls. Birusk of Elysia. An Elf.
If it wasn't for her hood, her pricked up ears would be on their full twitchy display as she blinked a few times in a fit of disbelief. An elf? She hadn't thought she would meet another one among the knights. How did he deal with all this nonsense? Surely it was amplified and whatnot being in the Knights. Though her pleasant surprise was ruined as she heard the mumurs she had come to know whenever an elf was involved.
"Of course an elf made it as captain."
"I hear they have more mana than even some nobles."
"Man, elves are just in a league of their own. It isn't fair!"
"You would expect nothing less from an elf."
Shutting her eyes, she did her best to tone out the chatter around her as her good mood evaporated rather quickly. Who cared if he was an elf? He was a mage, just like anyone else. So now, opening her eyes after a few moments to recompose, she would stare up at the man with a singular thought in mind.
Her first choice had shifted. She wanted to join the Black Bulls. She wanted to pick this mans brain and that was the easiest method she could think of. She just needed to get his attention and approval to join right? She didn't know much about the squad bar their rough and tough reputation, but she figured she wouldn't have to show off too much to join them. Though in saying that, she wouldn't be devastated if she didn't get into the Black Bulls. Blue Roses would still be fine with her, and could also offer different and better opportunities. But her mind had been made regardless of which squad she got into.
She wanted to surpass this man. Whether that be from within his very own squad or another, he was the benchmark she would set herself to for now. After all, if she couldn't surpass a Captain, how could she become the Wizard King? With a fiery look about her otherwise cold demeanour, she pushed off the wall and stretched a bit before moving into place for the trials. She hadn't felt this fired up in a long time...
And luckily for her, the first trial was something she excelled in. So as she watched others take their shots, she studied their forms and overall accuracy. She began to think. Should she use this first trial as a chance to show off just a bit? Just in case the other trials didn't go too well for her. Her inner perfectionist demanded it of her really, but she really didn't want to stand out either. Standing out either earned attention of course, wanted or otherwise. She didn't want eyes on her early, did she? Gah....decisions, decisions.
Mind you even if she did try to fake results, while this trick no doubt worked on her fellow competitors, hopefully selling her status as a 'noble' further to them without thinking too hard on it, she had no idea if the captains could see through it as it came to her turn and while most seemed to favour the magic bullets, she would raise a hand as the air temperature around her dropped considerably to the point you could see the condensation of her breath hitting it as she uttered her first spell of the exam.
"Ice Magic: Frost Blades." She had decided, as a semi-circle of ice crafted blades formed above her, that stuff it. If she stood out, she stood out. She needed to put her best foot forward, now. She didn't know what the third trial entailed yet or any afterwards. Wait, how many trials were there again? Now wasn't the time to think about that anyway! Her time was starting and the moment it did, she fired off her first blade. Then her second, third, fourth and fifth in rapid succession. Each time, she would replenish the sword almost instantly as any stationary targets were immediately filling the airs of loud dings of bullseye and the majority of the moving ones much the same. Even the ones that missed the bullseye got pretty close as she aimed to rack up as many points as possible as quickly as possible.
What would run out first? Targets? Her mana? The time limit? Probably the latter out of the three, as a minute of rapid fire succession didn't really tire the girl out and once she was called to stop, she didn't bother to listen to hear if the crowd appreciated the show or not, and instead glanced back towards the captains out of the corner of her eye.
'How do you like that then?' the look seemed to say, but otherwise her gaze only lingered for a few seconds before she moved on.
Another simple enough exam. One spell to try and deal as much damage as possible. She had practiced on trees and boulders at home, so she was familiar with the concept. No doubt they would be harder to slice or destroy than what she was used to, and that was on show as she once more watched as applicants before her went. She was already going hard, so why not try her best with this one? It didn't help that watching some of the more...spectacular mages lets say was getting her competitive side up a bit.
In fact, to the point where the beginnings of a smile were forming as she walked up to the pillar when it was her turn to do so. Once more, the air around her seemed to freeze as this time, she focused into one far stronger Frost Blade. Not in terms of durability, but in terms of damage it could deal. How sharp it could be. How destructive she could make it. It really wasn't her style to be so brute force orientated in an attack, but it was for the sake of the exam and she would use as much time as she was allowed to use as much mana as she saw fit. Giving the hurry along, she would fire it before the impact covered the arena in a frosty mist.
She needn't watch it to hear the pillar crumbling down as she shot through its center mass, though it still stood for the most part she had done more than enough damage for the summary right now and her exhale could be seen before she moved away. Maybe a slice would've been more effective. She wasn't sure, it had been a tough choice. But hey she had made a sufficient donut of the pillar anyway.
Ah. Now for chaos to reign supreme.
She had gotten the gist of the rules down pretty easily. Fly on a broom. Catch little angel Balls. Hold onto them. Pass. Simple, effective. What she hadn't anticipated was the...rowdiness that followed. It took all she could to keep her hood on while avoiding the brawl that broke out, ducking, dodging, and weaving her way through as spells shot off left right, and center. Now wasn't the sparring portion damnit!
With clever uses of Ice Shield and #totallynotarmourofagathys, she managed to secure an Angel Ball and used ice magic to keep it frozen once she had done so and then defend it while refusing to actively participate in the brawl for control of a ball. She didn't want to waste mana on this nonsensical fighting, though she did have to use a few Frost Blades to deal with unsavory sorts who realised she had an angel ball and were stupid enough to challenge her for her one.
Once all the balls were collected, she breathed a sigh of relief and released the
golden snitch angel ball from its frozen prison. Just her problem was with this rest period called, she had to hide out from some of the competitors who wanted to pester her after her showing thus far. She honestly didn't want to deal with this so found a nice quiet corner to hide in for the hour it went for before reconvening in the center for the announcement of the fourth and supposedly final trial it would seem.
Putting the bracelet on her wrist as instructed, she didn't seem all that perturbed by the transportation to another dimension right now. What did really take her for a spin though? When it was revealed it took away all her mana, as the poor elf nearly collapsed in a heap straight away. She had such large reserves of it after all, so for it all to be taken away so quickly...it was like someone had sucker punched the girl in the stomach and completely knocked the wind out of her sails, stunning her for a good minute as she stayed on her hands and knees gasping for air.
This was what having no mana felt like? Holy nine hells....she...she had expected it to be difficult...but like this? She began to realise a bit more what advantage she had with her mana was like. Mind you, maybe she was just suffering this bad because of that mana? She couldn't tell, but this was what the Anti-Magic king had to work with? No doubt, he got used to it, but her respect for the legend went up a few notches this day.
Though after that minute, she gritted her teeth and stood up, shakily though it may be as she began to crawl out of the trench and up to her feet as she approached the first obstacle. Now, good news is the approach was simple enough as she was behind most of the remaining people. The bad news? It was a pile up once she caught up being near the back. Wonderful. She wasn't sure if she could clear this whole thing in the remaining 18 or so minutes she had left, but she would be damned if she didn't try her best.
Oh a good group of people got cleared out ahead of her by a random burst of wind magic then water magic? Unfortunate for them, but luckily for her she was little more than buffeted by the blows and managed to reach the first obstacle with otherwise very little worries.
She didn't have to think too hard about the first one, but she did have to be careful to make sure her hood didn't catch on the wires, costing her more time. Especially seeing as she had to avoid people also crawling and writhing about in the mid, especially those who got stuck ahead of her and she had to make her way around them.
She felt her hood get stuck about half way across, taking time to unstick it before continuing on, all the while trying to avoid being kicked in the face by someone in front of her, or getting too stuck that she couldn't get out of the barb wires. She also grimace as she felt the occasional sharp bit of pain as one got through her clothes and open up her back. But she could ignore the slow trickle of warm that went down her back for now. She had to, she couldn't afford to waste time worrying about it.
Damnit. She didn't care for the mud that coated her body, instead focusing on the next task. Luckily her physical shape wasn't the worst, but she knew she would have to be careful without magic. It was such a different experience, it was almost...
Exhilarating? Again, the faintest beginnings of a smile as her mind went to work. There was nothing the girl loved more than a good challenge, and this was it. This was the exact trial she wanted. Something to prove she was more than just a mana loved elf. But for now, she had to contend with her muscles that screamed with agony at the effort of crossing over the bars, swaying back and forth before leaping forward to grab hold of the next bar. It took her three tries and falls into the muddy pits, each one putting more and more strain on her arms but she got it right eventually before moving onto the next task.
Something she was a little more familiar with. She had climbed trees as a kid, and took about thirty seconds to slowly observe the patterns upon which some people climbed. She couldn't afford much more time than that before trialing it herself, and this time it only took her the two attempts to get over the wall. How much time was left? 12 minutesish? Tch, she was running short on time really because no doubt she would slow as she tired near the end. She needed to pick up the pace a bit more.
Approaching the logs however, she once more took ten to twenty seconds to soak it all in and also get her breath back a bit. She knew she was short on time however....she couldn't rush it, that would waste time
and energy. This one proved tricky, but with the right timing she could carefully make her way across. A big problem was all the mud the previous attempts had left before her, but she managed a mostly controlled leap with the first one, scrambling atop the pillar.
Before a second leap. And a third. Ok, her legs were beginning to hurt now, and she needed to land better. Her arms were sore enough as it was, and this constant having to pull herself up wasn't help that cause. She was making good progress though, until nearly being hit by a stray bolt of lightning that had knocked her off balance, but luckily she had caught onto the log and pulled herself up once more before she could plummet entirely, despite her arms quite exceptional protest at this continued abusing of her muscles. Problem was, this slowed her considerably as she had lost her momentum and timing.
Taking a few seconds to catch her breath, she continued her slow and calculated leaps across, eyes constantly darting to the timer. Tch, this took her way too long to get across this even with no failed attempts. Mind you, she still had the last few logs still to make and-son of a witch! A fellow contestant slammed into her pillar, nearly knocking her off in the process! She had bigger concerns than watching him plummet into the pit below with the Willheim scream effect you would expect of background fodder. But with arms flailing this way and that, her body swaying in turn, she managed to keep her feet and got across the last few with little issue bar the pain that was already creeping into her legs.
And there was more good news to follow of course!
Two more sets of obstacles to go. How much longer? She glanced up at the clock. Damnit. Less than half her time left. Ok, no need to panic. She could do this. She would do this.
....
Her faith was very much put to the test after her fifth failure against the punching bags, pushing herself back up and wiping mud from her face and making sure her hood was still up. She couldn't get the timing right here but she was doing her best to stay composed. If she lost her cool then it was over with the time remaining. But her body ached from the effort she had put it, and the beating she was coping. What now? What next? Try and try again. She almost had the timing down, she just prayed she wasn't hit by a stray atta-
By the gods of magic and luck, the explosion that sent her back to the start once more hurt more than anything thus far, leaving her a slightly scorched and signed heap on the ground and gasping for air once more, before slamming her fist into the ground in frustration. She was so close! She looked up and saw she had about three minutes left and hung her head momentarily, before gazing up at the captains again. Yep, that did her competitive spirit a lot more good. With a loud groan, she pushed herself back to her feet.
Seven was considered a lucky number by some right? She wasn't about to let this bloody course do her in. So long as she had time left, she had hope, she had faith and she had a plan. She just needed to get through these bloody spinning boxing gloves. But she had the pattern down now.
Left, right, sway underneath. Duck. Jump over. Sway, sway, sway. Duck. Left. Right. Right. Sway. Duck. Right. Sway. Jump. Jump. Sway.
Like a fighting game combo, she had weaved her way through the spinning gloves with minimal fuss and damage finally. She had still been grazed as her movements weren't exactly the best, but in all honesty she had never practiced such things. Not many kids play fought with her, no wanted to fight an elf. It was unfair they said. Tch. Whatever. She had gotten through but at the cost of so, so much time...and her body was screaming in agony.
Her hamstrings felt ready to snap. Her calves on the verge of popping. Her thighs screaming in pain. Her arms protesting loudly. Her breath coming out in short, sharp bursts. But here she was, in the dying minutes, faced with the final obstacle. An oiled...vertical...ramp. It was hard not to see her shoulders slump as she felt her heart drop. There was no way she had the strength left in her body to deal with this alone...she needed assistance, probably. Most likely. But most people at this stage hadn't made it this far, had already gotten up or were just laying down after having given up. The sight of which caused her to clench her fists. Weren't these people aspiring to be magic knights?!? How dare they just lay down and give up!
She wouldn't be like them. Rolling up her sleeves, she turned back to the mud and began to...stick her arms and feet in it? Really cake it on in as many layers as she could. She needed to do this while it was wet, otherwise the extra weight would be too much. But if it let her gain even an extra iota of grip on this ramp, then it was worth it. She didn't have time to think of another solution, she just needed to charge right at this ramp with everything she had. And she did.
Three times. Three times she charged at it at full force. The first time, she got about half way up before sliding back down. The second time? Three quarters up before sliding down again despite her best flailing attempts otherwise. The third time, she tired in the charge and didn't even get half way up before sliding back down, her chest heaving with every pained breath she took as she slid back down to the bottom. 30 seconds left.
She wanted to just stay laying down, and give up. Her body had nothing left to give. She couldn't muster the strength for another charge up the ramp. Yet, she pushed herself to her feet once more. She got into position once more. She charged once more. A frantic, flailing effort at this stage. Desperate, panicked, determined. Whatever you wished to call it.
Before finally, somehow, she managed to grab hold of the platform up top. The final ten second countdown had began as a wry smile graced her features.
10.
She had gotten up. She had bested the worst part of the ramp. However, there now lay a problem.
9.
She didn't have the strength remaining to pull herself up onto the platform. To get so close, yet fail at the final hurdle....
8.
It was frustrating. She wanted to cry, yet no tears came as she felt her grip weaken.
7.
She wasn't sure how much longer she could stay holding onto the edge here, a loud groan escaping her as she tried to pull herself up.
6.
Her arms were threatening to give out on her, but she was giving in just yet. But she was right, she couldn't do it alone. She needed a hand, at the very end. Someone up here needed to help her. She was already slipping off despite having gotten an arm up proper, kicking her feet against the ramp as if to try and push herself up but finding no foundation upon which to propel herself further.
5.
Otherwise, in her mind at least, she was done.
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