Chương 20: Team Three's Cheat

Viren stared at the screen with a huge grin. It was blindingly bright after Ryland had cast that spell of his. Everyone focusing on Team Three was forced to shade their eyes against the ferocious glare. When the light cleared, Ryland's team was perfectly fine. And the glacier they had been standing before was now gone." Yes!" Viren pumped his fist.

"That's right! You go, sir!" Slowly, he realized his surroundings had grown particularly silent. He turned and found that nearly everyone nearby was watching him. He cursed himself. Was this how Ryland felt whenever he did something and Viren gawked at him? The real problem was that the others were looking at him like sharks sensing blood… Oh boy, he might need to be careful here. Cracks split the air, gold-edged rents tearing open in space. Ah, good.

Despite being an artificial space within a Reality Demesne constructed from Living Mana, Ryland's rifts still found a way through. They still managed to bring down the sun itself. As unrivalled heat blistered through the air, as light and noise turned incandescent enough to drown their senses, as the glacier began vaporizing immediately while his teammates yelled out, Ryland calmly strode forward. It was always an interesting exercise to pit his own spells against each other.

His Soul Glyph of Rift was in direct competition against his Soul Glyph of Aegis. The difference was that the former was more or less "borrowed" power, while the latter encompassed Ryland's true magical might. As such, when the sun's devastating heat and light powered through the sundered reality, he couldn't help but feel a smidge of satisfaction that his barrier let nothing through. The heat was strong enough to scorch the rocks themselves, starting to slowly melt it into lava.

Superheated steam from the vaporized glacier fizzed fast enough to act as sawblades. Radiation pummelled them so hard that matter threatened to disintegrate entirely. And Ryland felt none of it. A quick look confirmed that his teammates were fine too. Well, physically. Mentally was another matter.

"Weren't you saying we're short on time?" Ryland asked.

"What in the name of the Calamities did you just do?" Alendra asked, clearly unable to decide whether she should be shocked or just continue glowering. Sint had grown tremendously pale, while Kendren had frozen entirely at the display of magic. Ryland waved a hand in front of him.

"I cleared a path through the glacier."" What glacier? It's gone." As the steam swirled away, Ryland supposed he had to agree. Where there used to be a massive mountain of ice blocking their path forward, all they had now was an equally large heap of rapidly fleeting steam and nearly-molten mountainous land.

"Well, my point stands, I think," Ryland said brightly.

"Let's forge onwards." This time, Ryland went in the lead and remained in the lead as his teammates took their time to catch up.

"I'm going to ask again," Alendra said as they trudged through the overheated muck.

"What in all the Realms did you just do?" Ryland's barrier was working overtime to keep them all unaffected by the blast zone's effects. He couldn't even feel a lick of heat. After taking in a deep breath, Ryland was about to launch into an explanation, but Sint went first.

"He's right," Sint said, clearly not appreciating the taste of the words coming out of her mouth. She licked her fangs.

"We can't just rely on a Glyph of Search to find the designated area." Kendren laughed.

"We certainly can if our odd friend here can vaporize anything in our way!"

"We are not vaporizing everything in our way," Alendra said tightly. She rubbed her temple.

"You said you know the actual way forward, right?" Ryland smiled.

"Indeed. I believe I can get us back on track." Alendra grumbled, probably annoyed at the implication that she had led them astray, but she didn't say anything about it.

"Alright, let's go." Ryland got going. Once they gained some distance from his last spell's blast zone, he dismissed the barriers around his teammates, having already dispelled [Sun Summoning]. He acknowledged his thought process there was somewhat faulty. On the one hand, he didn't want to make things too easy for his teammates and thereby take away from their accomplishment. If he did everything and was the sole reason they "won", then their judges would no doubt look upon them poorly.

And yet, he kind of already had made things easier, hadn't he? Eradicating the obstacle presented by the glacier. Now leading them on along the right path they needed to follow. Ryland was team three's cheat. He looked around at the mist-shrouded lands. At the reality constructed by the Trial Zone. While the glacier might have seemed insurmountable at first, it was merely a way to test the prospective students' ingenuity.

If they were really worthy of enrolling into Arcoryx, then they'd have found a way to get past it and get to the Designated Area in time. The thing was that the Trial Zone wasn't static. When Ryland had first taken the test, he hadn't gone through what was essentially an asteroid belt made of broken mountain chunks. Even now, Kendren's mirror revealed other teams going through a wide variety of tests. Plus, the Academs had stated the actual challenges would reflect the capabilities of the participants.

So the question remained if the Trial Zone would attempt to modify the obstacles it presented now that it saw that the first one had been dealt with so easily. Had that seemingly insurmountable glacier been put in place because of Ryland's participation? In either case, his teammates might just have been screwed. By him. Amazing. And Ryland was only just starting to feel like they had begun to see him in some sort of positive light. He had to wonder how many of them were thinking the same thing…

"We need to move fast," Sint said as they leaped across another series of floating, broken rocks.

"That explosion probably drew everyone's attention."

"It wasn't that big," Ryland said. Alendra rolled her eyes.

"Stop trying to be modest. That was enormous!" Kendren flashed his mirror at the rest of them.

"I can confirm that several other teams were flabbergasted by the severity of Ryland's blast. It's what let us get ahead, honestly. How did you do that, Ryland?"

"Don't tell me the others have your blasted mirrors too…" Alendra muttered. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! Ryland took a deep breath before he began explaining quickly. There was a lot to cover so he had to rush a bit.

"I learned how to master the magic of rifts using my Soul Glyph of Sundering, where I figured out a Conceptual Glyph for distances and then essentially Sundered it, which ended up creating a tear in space that I couldn't initially travel through to reach other Realms—""I knew it," Alendra said, apparently only able to catch the last bit.

"I knew you were from other Realms. You're too damn odd."

"That sounds almost insulting," Ryland said, minorly hurt. Kendren scoffed.

"Lots of people have been to other Realms. I've been to several too."

"No, you dolt," Alendra said.

"He's been to other Realms by himself. Not using your silly little teleportation circles and whatnot. He's been there and back using his own magic."

"That's… insane."

"That's what I'm trying to say!"

"Hey!" Sint suddenly called out. She had gone ahead of the rest of them.

"I think I can see some of the other teams."

"We can already see them," Kendren insisted, waving his mirror around. Ryland was on Sint's side. It was one thing to observe them remotely, which wasn't that dissimilar from standing outside the dome and watching the competitors participate. It was wholly another to be standing at the edge of a broken cliff and directly spying on fellow candidates from far above.

[Omniscience] zoomed Ryland's vision until it was like he was standing amongst the opposing team members, watching them fight off a horde of giant, lupine bears.

"If we had taken the other path," Sint said about a turn farther back.

"We'd have been in their position now."

"Yes, yes," Alendra said.

"No need to rub it in." They quickly kept moving, determined to take advantage of the state the other teams were no doubt in. The next bit of their journey needed some careful focus. This time, they were traveling along a thin ridge. On either side was a sheer drop into the mist. Ryland didn't blame his teammates for hesitating one bit.

"I really, really wished the way forward wasn't this way," Alendra muttered.

"What's that?" Kendren said with a grin.

"Do I hear someone's scared of heights?"

"It's called being reasonably scared of falling to one's death. You'd know about it if you weren't so lackadaisical about everything." The way they talked, Ryland kept getting the impression they knew each other outside the Trials. Sint seemed to be distant from either, however. Had she been randomly lumped in just like him? They arrived at the end of the ridge before long, where they were forced to stop. There was nothing ahead of them.

"You sure you brought us along the right path?" Alendra asked. For all that she had been testy and somewhat belligerent before, she didn't sound anxious now. Maybe she had more faith in Ryland than even she wanted to admit. That was a nice thought. Though, what he really appreciated was the fact that she was fighting off her acrophobia so well.

"I'm positive," Ryland said.

"It's the same situation as the first instance. Remember how we couldn't see the location we were supposed to jump to? It's the same issue here." She didn't look particularly convinced.

"Let me try something." Alendra cast the same kind of fireball she had slung at the glacier. It arced through the air and then dropped down before slowly fading to nothing. Without hitting anything at all.

"You were saying, Ryland?" she asked. Alright, now her tone was infected with real annoyance.

"Hold on," Sint said. She stepped forward, right to the precipice of the ridge. Ryland resisted the urge to reach out and grab the end of her ratty cloak before she tipped over the edge. Her hand snaked into her cloak before pulling out a thin knife, almost like a stiletto. She drew her arm back, a Glyph of Empowerment glowing on the back of her glove, before she threw. It shot through the mist, leaving full clarity in its wake. Three seconds later, the knife clunked as it struck the target.

"There," Sint said.

"You see it? That's where we need to go." Ryland smiled. Good on Sint for proving him right. Her senses were clearly sharp even without her Glyph of Search.

"But that's way too far to jump," Alendra said. She wasn't wrong. They'd have to leap across a gap that was at least five times as wide as the biggest one they had encountered so far. It was so big that Ryland really wouldn't blame any of his teammates if they decided to turn back. Most sane people would balk and falter. Which was why the academy was demanding more of them.

"This is the best way forward," Sint said with real conviction.

"Are you up for it or not?" Alendra's mouth thinned.

"I'll—" She swallowed. Her phobia was rearing its ugly head again.

"I'll need a few moments to prepare my spell. But you're right, Sint. I will get across."

"That we will," Kendren said with a confident smirk.

"Isn't that right, Ryland?" Ryland smiled genially over them all. He didn't want to look patronizing, but he couldn't help it. They were making him feel weirdly proud.

"Indeed!" Sint nodded.

"Then I'll leave you to it." With that, she jumped across. She more or less flew through the air, through the cloudy fog, following the same arrowing path of the dagger she had flung across the gap, her feet crunching down on the snow and ice as she skidded to a halt. Barely avoiding colliding with Ryland.

"Blasted Calamities," she cursed, nearly jumping out of her skin.

"Oh, sorry," Ryland said genuinely.

"Didn't mean to surprise you there."

"How did you—I didn't even see—" Sint ended up making a noise somewhere between a growl and a yowl. Her fangs flashed dangerously.

"Don't think you're off the hook. That little trick you pulled the other day? You're not as smooth as you think. I can still smell it on you. The stench of darkness. You're a monster." Ryland's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Truly? How, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I've got the Glyph of Olfaction Inscribed in my nose. You thought you were real smart making a Conceptual Glyph of your past and creating your little barrier around it. Yes, well, I created a Conceptual Glyph around your impact, around all the timelines you've affected." Her face turned a tiny bit pale.

"And you've ended a lot of timelines, haven't you?"

"Timelines," Ryland mused.

"That's certainly an interesting way to look at lives. You're essentially looking at Fate. Smelling Fate. Or rather, you're sniffing out how many branching paths of Fate I've ended. And I certainly can't deny I've done that many times."

"And yet, you never actually mentioned it."

"I haven't mentioned many things. There's simply not enough time in the day to cover the entire length and breadth of my life."

"I think there might be just enough time for the rest of us to know that you're a threat. An apocalyptic threat." Her face hardened.

"I don't really know what you're really aiming for here in Arcoryx, but I know you're not the only danger in this academy. You're just the very first one I need to navigate." Ryland pursed his lips. It seemed there wasn't much he could do to allay Sint's fears that he might pose a threat to her. Especially when he did pose a threat. Of course, he bore no ill will towards a Therian woman he had just met. But Ryland had, moments ago, used a spell to wipe out a glacier.

He had taken care of a dire obstacle she was supposed to have overcome on her own. If he kept acting as he had, he'd be a danger to her in a whole other way. Ryland wondered if she was thinking along the same lines. Obviously, she thought him a literal threat. And he was. Naturally. It was how Viren had acted at the very beginning. Like one wrong move would see him wiped off the face of the planet. Like one wrong step by Sint would see her suffering the same fate as the glacier.

But she was refusing to let that intimidate her. Or, so she made it seem. In the end, it wasn't enough if Ryland simply didn't have any bad intentions to begin with. Alaric's insistence on minimizing his profile came ramming into his head again, which tempted him to frown, but he withheld himself. Holding himself back, suppressing his prowess, and hiding away from everyone really would have made things simpler. Why would he want simpler, though?

If he had power, should he not be capable of using it to navigate any scenario he faced? Even ones— especially ones—where others doubted him?

"Do you think being paired up with someone as dangerous as me is raising your stock in the eyes of the judges?" Ryland asked. Sint was befuddled at the strange question. She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a snarl ripping through the area. They both turned as the mist cleared, revealing one of the bearlike monsters he had seen earlier shambling towards them. Unlike bears, its limbs were too long and its maw far too canine. The big, beefy body was certainly that of a bear though.

"That's a Wolbear," Ryland said mildly.

"Shall I let you handle it?"

"What?" Sint glanced at him, but the monster roared again to cut her next words off.

"Keep your eye on the prize, now." She turned, just in time to see a dozen spikes bursting out of the oversized beast's hide, its body growing rapidly to twice its original size. Ryland had to blink. Hmm. Could this be the Trial Zone reactively enhancing the difficulty of the encounter based on the incident with the glacier? Because that monster was suddenly several times more dangerous than it had been.

"How—?" Sint swallowed, her knife held tight.

"It just went from Silver to Gold!" With a thunderous growl, the Wolbear leaped forward. It rushed through the air like it had been fired from a cannon, a multi-ton monstrosity barrelling in with destructive power. Sint's little knife was clearly Inscribed with a powerful Glyph because she managed to block the worst of the monster's momentum with the knife blade. She was still sent flying, though. And Ryland, as was appropriate, did absolutely nothing to help.