222: Coming to A Close

Coming to A Close

"Finally," Elero said as the group finally broke through the collapsed entrance. Before the cloud of dust had settled, a chilly fog had already drifted down into the stone chamber and wrapped around their legs. She scrunched up her lips and turned to face the others: "Are we really finishing this empty handed?"2

Doevm shrugged: "To the winner go the spoils. To the loser go the shame of defeat. Although remember we got stronger. It was not a complete loss."

"Who do you think won?" Thomas asked. The rest glared at him until he lowered his head. "I was just asking since I was…gone for a bit."

The base just outside of the cave was a chaotic mess of blood, destroyed buildings and cracked scales. Not a single corpse in sight, be it man or monster. Elero scanned the area and sighed. "So…are we going to the academy?" Everyone looked to Doevm, who nodded. With that, Elero sat on her Amphiboard. Before the rest could ask, she said, "I can't keep my balance in this state." She gestured to her shaking legs. Even with the braces, the flesh sagging.

A few moments later, the group set off northwards. Frey sent a look Doevm's way and tapped on his head. 'Doevm, can you hear me?' Frey thought.

"Yes," Doevm's voice rang inside of Frey's head just like before.

'Why are you going through this? Why do you restrict yourself to this academy? I know it's to go stronger but what's stopping you from going off and fighting the hero right now? He is almost certain to grow stronger than you, much faster too. The earlier the better.'

A faint smile broke Doevm's frown: "That wouldn't be fun. I want to do cool flips and stuff."

'I think I have seen you flip thousands of times in fights.' Frey had to stop himself from making gestures as he communicated with his thoughts, or risk suspicion from the others.

"But I haven't learned what I wanted to learn." Doevm shrugged, uncaring of the glance the motion earned from Thomas. "I want a fight, not a spar. I want to break weapons. I want to beat him with technique, not strength. For that, I need Alexander's teachings. I have a note that grants me permission to learn as his new apprentice."

'When did you get that?'

"It was handed to me before Initiation. Now we can assure our survival when the world plunges into chaos…When the demon army attacks."

Frey's face drained of color. 'The what?'

"It happens every century, this one is no exception. It's how this swamp, once filled with great structures, was destroyed. It is why there are so many remnants of demonic presence." Doevm made his eye flash red. "There is an army on the horizon, already preparing for war. It begins within the year."

Frey paddled ahead so the others wouldn't hear him curse under his breath. 'Shouldn't we tell people about this?'

"They already know. The human army is hidden, as not to stir up panic. The year-long war's main objective wasn't to get the hero. It was to strengthen the human race for the war to come."

The two massive mountains to their left and right grew as they got closer. Other groups came into view, all of them beaten black and blue. No one spared more than a look at each other, although they did keep their distance. They all knew why they were heading to the goal this early in Initiation, even if it was within hours of the end.

After a half an hour, they arrived at the base of a massive stairway, although it was less of a stairway and more like quick, uneven slits in the dirt leading up the mountain and into the cloud cover. A small, torn flag that read "Knight's academy ahead" was the only indication they were heading in the right direction.

Thus they got off their Amphiboards. Elero however, remained sitting. Her legs were still shaking as she looked at the path ahead. "Seriously?" The rest of the group was pushed into an awkward state of silent pity. "Goddess, I swear I don't want to see a swamp or a mountain ever again…" She buried her face in her shirt and groaned. When she pulled her face out, the weariness of Initiation seemed to bear down upon her, forming large bags below her dead eyes. "Frey, can you carry me?"

"No problem." Frey said as nonchalantly as he could. He picked her up in a piggy-back and thus began the hike. The more the dirt collected on the bottom of their wet shoes, turning to mud, the more their shadows lengthened, always one step ahead of them. They went slowly but not because of the hour that had passed since the start of the hike, nor the growing blisters on their feet. It was because of the cold of night's thinning air, which they had little protection against even after equipping more layers of their torn, blood-stained clothes.

Standing just under the layer of clouds was a shirtless man with thick body hair, sweat, and muscles across his gigantic form. He was still breathing hard from his workout, and a layer of steam wafted from him. "I am Mr. Bruke," he said as the group approached. He extended a hand. Sweat dripped off. "I will take any and all corpses you have collected throughout the competition if you please."

"Is this really the time to exercise?" Thomas took a step back and held his nose.

Mr. Bruke let out a laugh that echoed in the vacant space. "This the perfect time to exercise because I am freezing my ass off up here." Thomas took a closer look at Mr. Bruke's outstretched hand, finding that it was covered in goosebumps. "It's the only thing I can do to keep warm since I don't have firewood. That, and I'm not allowed to leave this spot."

"What about a shirt?" Elero mumbled.

Mr. Bruke's laugh once again echoed: "They don't make any in my size, well none I can afford." He began a set of squats with his hand still extended, a spatial ring gleaming on a finger. "But aside from insensitive and quite frankly insulting questions regarding my appearance or actions, I would appreciate it if you rude individuals transferred those corpses to me, as per the rules of Initiation. I'll also take your Amphiboards, paddles, and anything else you have purchased from the store and didn't use so we can reuse them for the next year." After handing everything over, Doevm continued up through the clouds, but the rest didn't follow.

"What are you doing?" Doevm asked, his head quite literally in the clouds. "Come on."

"Humans can walk through clouds?" Frey gasped. He and Thomas reached up and tried to grab at the clouds. When they retracted their hands, now covered in a light layer of cold water, their faces dropped. "That's it?"

"I was disappointed to," Elero shrugged.

Mr. Bruke chuckled: "Well, at least the view is pretty good." They all turned around to see, for the first time, the swamp in its entirety. The haphazard stairway led far down the slope of the mountain to the murky green vegetation, which swayed back and forth with gentle breezes. The layer of fog helped obscure shadowy figures darting about. Streams and rivers ran everywhere like veins.

"And the view from the Knights Academy," Mr. Bruke pointed up through the clouds. "Is even better." He took out the group's corpses and one by one, threw them over his shoulder, through the clouds, and out of sight. "Don't mind me." He threw the last venomous salamander corpse and frowned. "I'm not usually one to call a loss before the end, but good luck on future competitions. You'll need it. Now go. You're almost there."

Frey and Thomas hesitated but after a moment, they held their breath, and followed behind Doevm. The clouds were even thicker than the fog. Thomas was only a few feet behind Frey but he had been reduced to a faint outline. When they emerged, a light layer of freezing water covered them. They groaned and shivered but despite their state, they were smiling; Mr. Bruke didn't lie.

The enormous mountain range was reduced to islands in a sea of thick clouds. Built on top of the mountain peaks were enormous white buildings, some weathered down by time and others shining bright like the countless stars in the clear night sky above. The moon glowed from behind the very mountain they stood on, the peak of which had an unnatural degree of flatness, as if some unstoppable force had sheered off its pointed tip.

"I take it back," Elero said. "Mountains are cool. I kind of want to." The back of her shirt shifted, catching Doevm's eyes. "Never mind."

Voices flooded the silence. Ascending the few remaining stairs with renewed energy, the group finally arrived at a wide white stone platform with dozens of other students. In front of the crowd was a group of black-masked individuals, who had all spaced themselves apart. They puffed out their chests and held their hands behind their back, as if they had already won, the ignorant idiots.

In front of them was a raised stage with elevated platforms to the left and right of it. Just off the back end was a massive pile of all corpses gathered in Initiation.

Elero hopped off Frey's shoulders and they both stretched their sore muscles. She quietly thanked him and put her braces on.

Minutes turned into hours as the moon crept over the mountain, everyone waiting with bated breath for the end. The crowd grew larger with last-minute stragglers, and louder with whispers and threats, all directed at the masked group. The moon reached its apex, and at once, a dozen balls of light flew through the sea of clouds.

With puffs of silver and golden life essence, students appeared, all of which held their stomachs and collapsed, holding in vomit. A source of mana caught Doevm's attention.

It was faint, but he knew it wasn't his imagination. 'They're not supposed to be here.' Just in case, he sealed his mana and hoped he wouldn't be singled out.

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