[Skell]
Boots exploded forth with Shroud-enhanced steps. Vision tunneled to my personal avenue to the Tower of Stone. I would reach the peak. More importantly, I'd get there before Niles.
Though as I looked up from the field's dreamlike grass, I found I was one of the few still racing to the rock face. Most others already started their climb.
Including the swordsman.
I grit teeth as my fingers met the tower's base. Remember what you learned. First, find a foothold.
That part was easy - the Tower of Stone's craggy surface was surprisingly accepting of hands and feet. Deliberately I made my first moves in scaling the surface.
Then came the next group.
A huge shadow covered mine. Right after it passed, something slender and long whipped the back of my skull: a rat's tail.
Not that it hurt. Much. I was moreso annoyed by everything else.
"'Scuse me, pal," chuckled the huge Ratfolk from earlier, climbing close above with his tail dangling in my face.
"Hey!" I reached to swat it away. I was too slow; the Ratfolk already moved far ahead with an unmatched ease. My hand dangled uselessly in the air. Behind me, I heard the next group being given the go-ahead.
Abyss. Can't waste anymore time.
Finding the thin line between haste and waste, I steadily ascended the lower reaches of the Tower. Not long after came the first falls.
Three bodies dropped past me in quick succession. Hastier types who bolted out of the Air Cushions summoned by Merriline's group just to fly at the wall again. Speed was vital, sure. But I knew rushing into a slip-up could lose me a lot more time than I'd save.
Finally the last group was called; our ten minute countdown officially started. And for the first, I kept my head down and worked, even as many others surpassed me.
Eventually I glanced down - past a storm of climbing applicants - noticing I already made dizzying distance from the ground. I swore off doing that again and looked ahead. Far up the tower, some made dramatic progress. Past all the applicants littering the Tower's face were three leading the charge - already crossing the halfway point. Hyland was at the forefront. Keeping pace was that same Ratfolk, close behind. And right in the middle?
That girl. Soleil. She's up there with an ex-Knight and someone with claws tailor-made for climbing?
After them was a fair stretch of space, then the vast majority of applicants, then me, lagging behind with the bottom quarter of climbers in the bottom quarter of the Tower.
Undaunted, I drove further ahead, adding to the Tower's cacophony of grunts.
"Eight minutes!" announced a voice from far below. Beyond Merriline's vigilant group stood Karthwyn. Even from so high up, I could see the judgement in his gaze.
And speaking of judgement, mine wasn't all too positive as I compared time to distance.
At this rate, I won't make it. Over twenty percent of my time's gone, and I'm not even twenty percent done with this stupid tower. But if I move any faster, I might- shade!
Plummeting directly overhead was a woman in a dark surcoat. There wasn't time to avoid her; I had to brace and hope she wouldn't take me down with her.
My body hugged the tower for dear life. But nothing hit me.
I slipped a glance up the wall. Just above me dangled the woman, suspended by a leg…
Wrapped in vine.
Further above, he fastened himself to the tower with one hand and held onto the sweating woman with another - the same woman I saw jotting something into her journal before. Of course, she wasn't anywhere as calm with the fear of falling a hundred feet in her spectacled eyes.
"Gotcha!" Niles beamed down. He didn't notice me - all his attention concentrated on the dark-haired woman - even as others climbed past him with confused looks. "I'm gonna save your keister, all right!? Just stay calm and follow after me!"
Adapting to this second chance took effort, but the woman was smart enough not to burn precious moments. She composed herself as Niles carefully swung her forward and back.
I watched this all while - obviously - not dropping my pace. Why's he doing this? It's kind, but neither of us have time to lend helping hands.
Still, there was no rule against assisting other applicants. And it was working.
But holding the weight of one person in each hand would tax anyone. Solid handholds eventually fell within her reach - just as Niles' fingertips slipped from his own. The outcome could be seen from a mile away. Yet he didn't think twice.
Through some careful maneuvering, the woman secured herself to the wall. She looked up for the first time, gratitude burying the shock on her face. "Th-thank you!" she yelled.
Before her expression backslid into horror. Just like mine.
Plunging through the air was my past savior and her present. Flittering about his sleeve was the vine strong enough to carry a person. He could've tried to catch himself with it. But we both knew it wouldn't work. Craggy as the tower was, there was no protrusion hooked enough to be latched onto. And if there was, he fell too fast to spot it.
"Niles!" My climb stopped instantly.
The ground and him came terrifyingly close.
Then of course, entered an Air Cushion. Niles fell inside it harmlessly; any worry was completely unfounded.
I noticed then how much more sweat dripped down my glamour than before. Calm down. He's fine. And quick, too. He'll be back up before you kn… Wait. I'm ahead now!
An unmistakable power surged through my hands and legs. Competitiveness.
"Six minutes!"
Unconsciously, my pace increased. Something that took surprisingly long to notice.
I considered speeding up risky just minutes ago. Now I'm pulling it off. And really, this isn't as hard as I thought.
Approaching was an invisible line - the intersection between time and distance. Pass it and keep up the pace, and the peak would be, literally, within my reach.
I was even the one passing a few applicants. Like the one frozen on a small ledge. The one who spoke to me.
"H-help!" a big-eyed face peered behind wobbly arms.
I almost stopped. But what could I do? Besides, I had to keep going.
"P-please!" he panted. "I-I'm not gonna - agh!"
Drenched fingers finally gave in and slid off the ledge. All the way down the young man screamed. I tensed as all it all happened. By now I could trust the Templars to catch any fallers. But with time almost halfway gone - anyone who fell might've been better off staying down.
…Poor guy.
I let go of my pity and continued. While I wasn't the strongest or fastest, I could take solace in my undead tirelessness. Unlike everyone else, I wouldn't slow with fatigue; my performance would stay inhumanly consistent.
At least that's what I thought. 'Til my focus started faltering.
I'd trained day and night to maintain my Shroud for roughly an hour. But that time accounted for typical conditions: sitting still, or casually walking the city.
Rock-climbing was a whole different beast, I'd learned. It didn't just tax the arms - like curling weights, or the legs - like when running. Relentless exertion was demanded of your entire body. Doubly so with a time limit hanging around your neck like a noose. Since my Shroud was what endured all the heavy-lifting, my grip on its power eroded rapidly.
In other words, five minutes quickly felt an awful lot like fifty.
"Holding up… all right… Purple?"
"Niles!?" my attention jolted downwards.
A dogged grin met my eyes about twenty feet under. "Miss me!?" he made an athletic leap to a crimp in the rock face. Steadily he closed the gap between us.
Shade!
Persistence guided my fingers. "Hero of the hour! Glad you're back!"
"Aw man!" he panted. "You saw me fall!?"
"Seared into my mind forever!"
Casual discussion veiled the obvious undercurrent: we were racing.
Tapping into every grain of my Shroud's power, I quickened. So did he. Rock rushed past my eyes. Divergent thoughts were stamped out the second they appeared. My mind narrowed to the next hold, and the one after that. Nothing further. The invisible line vanished from my sight.
Replaced by Niles.
"You're… quicker than I thought!" his voice rose to my side. "But I'll catch you at the top, yeah?"
Chills clawed down my spine as he leapt past me. Space between us widened.
Something in my mind flared in that moment. Focus sharpened, like the keenest blade.
And I pushed beyond my Shroud's limits.
Deep inside, I knew it was just some childish competition. The Ordeals were so much more than two boys trying to one-up each other for bragging rights. I still couldn't help it.
Niles was strong, physically and magically. Decisive. Confident. Knew clearly what he wanted and how exactly to get there. At almost every point since we met, he'd showed me up, or been impressive. I cherished our friendship. But a dark part of me envied him. Wanted even to be like him.
Why stand beside him and be the lesser man? Even after all my training? That wouldn't happen. Not this time.
I fired an arm up and snatched a handhold, then stomped on a protrusion and ascended faster than ever before.
At first I couldn't believe it. But my eyes weren't tricking me - I was actually gaining on him! He moved fast; I moved even faster!
"Three minutes!" shouted Karthwyn.
I could barely hear the Commandant - thanks to both distance and the sound of rushing wind smothering all other noise. As an unaware Niles drew closer, exhilaration lit my bones aflame.
This… This must be what it's like to push a living body to its fullest!
Veins didn't pump with blood, my heart didn't pound - but I felt a rush all the same. So little time seemed to pass, and yet we crossed what seemed to be the Tower's three-quarter mark. Beyond that was just a couple feet between Niles and I.
I'll make that distance in one leap!
The look on his face would be priceless. I'd have to keep the lead to win, but I could - would do that.
Off the a foothold I jumped with everything I had, ready to surpass Niles.
Something quickly became terribly wrong.
My height barely increased, and in expecting to rise much higher, I'd nothing planned to grab onto. Realization dawned on me as my ascent completely halted: my Shroud fizzled out. I thought it'd been pressured into a second wind of sorts. But Shrouds weren't like muscles. All that time, I'd been fueled by the last bright sparks of a couple dying coals.
Desperate fingers dug into the Tower's face as my rise turned to freefall. Familiar rock formations zoomed past my eyes as I scratched and clawed and begged for something to catch me - just as internally I made a mad scramble for my Shroud.
Hard-fought minutes were stripped away by the second. But then, fleeting power washed over me. Uneasy hands found my Shroud, and triggered it. Just for a moment.
Moment enough for me to rake at the rushing wall with real strength and speed.
It worked. Shade, it worked. And I really wished it hadn't.
Inexpressible pain exploded in my wrist - packaged with a nauseating crunch. Screams burst from my lips without pause. But slowly - agonizingly slowly - they reduced to gasps, then grunts, then a wincing semi-relief.
By this stage of recovery I finally had the strength to see what happened. A small crevice in the stone, barely wide enough to slide a hand in, caught my wrist. The entire weight of my fall heaped onto its broken bone. Without my Shroud's resilience, the whole arm would've snapped off.
But I couldn't count this a blessing. I'd fallen over a hundred feet; uncomfortably clasped at the wrist by the crevice. The invisible line was far ahead. Probably impossibly ahead, by then.
My eyes dropped. I was the lowest person on the cliff. Though of course, a huge crowd gathered in front of it. Applicants who'd fallen and figured time wasn't on their side. Or had a fear of heights too strong to conquer. Or leapt off, seeing their prospects as bleak.
Resignation. From them all. Even worse, it was infectious.
…I was never making it up this cliff. Fast, slow, it didn't matter. This preliminary is meant for those who spent years honing themselves. I had a month. My Shroud just isn't up to snuff yet, and without it, I've got a bog-standard skeleton's strength. Not a living body. Not one that improves endlessly with effort.
A fist drove into the stone. "I can't give up! Not here!"
Maybe I can't work harder to beat this. But working harder's not what I'm good at. It's never been. I'm not Amara. I'm not… Niles. I've gotta find another way to reach the top. A way like me!
"Two minutes!"
My mind raced faster than my body ever did - every possibility considered, then discarded. Nothing stood out. The gap between me and the peak was just too wide.
Then I realized what'd been staring me in the face ever since I crawled out of bed.
Opposite of my perch on the tower, hanging high in the sky, was the sun.
And something even brighter lit in my mind.
My free hand reached for a nearby hold. Then I brought up my legs, and used all three as anchors to wriggle my wrist out of the crevice. I didn't have time to think about the pain. That all went to what I'd do when it popped out.
After it did, I pulled away both hands. Nothing tied me to the wall anymore. Again, I fell off the Tower of Stone.
Wind shot past as I straightened like an arrow. Every second was crucial.
Just as the ground came close and death crept into my mind, a man-sized orb flew under where I'd have normally splattered across the grass. Nearly falling to your death was a harrowing experience, but I shelved the thought, swimming out of my suspended place in the tranquil winds before the elder Warden could deactivate them.
"Sun above!" he watched me scramble off the ground. "I saw your fall - d'you need-"
I bolted past him, tracing the Tower's circumference. But as I did, I looked back a moment. A crowd of applicants almost as big as the initial gathering watched me fight the impossible. Not one had an ounce of faith on their face.
I grimaced. To the Abyss with what they think! I won't be like them! I can't!
My gaze lowered to the shadows at their feet. Then on high, to the sun above them.
"One minute!" Karthwyn bellowed so much more audibly than before.
So bright. No wonder they had us form a semi-circle on this side. With the sun at your back you can see every nuance of the Tower. Put anyone back here, and what'll they see? Darkness?
I came to a stop at the other side of the tower - the half that didn't see an ounce of the sun's vibrant rays.
Or an opportunity? I wiped away an uneasy smirk as I looked upon a shadow. But not just any shadow; the enormous, looming darkness that scaled the entirety of the Tower's back half.
More specifically, its umbra.
"Forty-five seconds!"
Negative emotion danced wildly in my head: rage at my lost progress, powerlessness at my inability to take the beaten path, and the judgement of those who thought of me as just another failure. They all altered me. Into something fluid. Into something dark.
"Shadow Form!"
I sunk into the field. By then it'd become as natural as blinking.
"Thirty seconds!" I heard from the other side of the Tower. Without letting another one pass I slid onto the dark stone and soared faster than I ever could've hoped to climb. Footholds or handholds, crevices or protrusions, numerous strata - my shadowy body glided over them all with equal effortlessness.
"Twenty seconds!"
The halfway point approached. My speed was incredible. But I couldn't focus on the sensation of bodily freedom or the sight of the clouds zooming closer.
Victory was purpose, then. One I'd reach at all costs.
"Ten seconds!" announced an almost inaudible Karthwyn.
Faster than I expected the Tower's rim passed me. Though I didn't expect my momentum to carry into the sky as my body turned solid in the glare of the sun.
A hundred faces shot up at my flight. Stifling panic, I choked out a warning. "Move!"
Bodies bustled into each other to get away from where I'd land. Others watched with sidelong glances and incredulity. "Did he just…?" questioned a few.
For my part, I was more focused on not dying - not after coming so far. Arcing into a downturn, I pushed aside all thought to focus. Exhausted Shrouds needed a short break before being called on again. I hoped it'd been long enough.
Power flashed through me; to my legs most of all, as an open patch of the Tower's peak waited patiently to catch me.
"Time's up!" said an distant voice.
But by then, I already laid in the grass.
"Ughhh…" I said, gaze swimming up to the endless azure sky. My legs and back stung fierce. And yet, my groan shifted to a laugh. "I made it! I made it! Yes!"
Scrambling to my feet, I saw a stretch of joyless faces around me. Abyss, I couldn't care less about them then. Maybe I didn't beat Niles there - which was a crying shame - but I was still in the competition. Life was still in my grasp. And I could seek it out alongside-
A shove knocked me back to the ground. Hard. "I saw you - we all saw you!" accused a voice. One so venomous I could barely believe it belonged to-
"Niles!?" I turned over in the peak's grass, completely dumbstruck. "Wh-what are you doing - what'd you go and do that for!?
"Why?" His normally easygoing face twisted with fury. "Why would you bring that sick magic here? You morphed into a shadow; it was clear as day up there! Only dark magic can do that!"
Other faces looked to me with rage. Though some were apathetic, and others concerned, not a single one came to my defense.
"You've got a problem with dark magic? Really?" I tried to rise. "Niles - it's just magic."
"No it's not!" he shoved me again. "Other magic helps people. Fixes problems. Yours just destroys, and scars, and kills! I… I get it now. This is the charade that Hyland guy was on about. All this time you've pretended to be a stand-up guy - my mate! But you're as corrupted as they come!"
Before I could find a response, Niles pushed me again and I stumbled back. That time I felt nothing beneath me.
For a final time I was in freefall. Possibly more final than I could ever imagine, since I wasn't sure I'd be caught.
Merriline's team came into view. Their eyes flicked to Karthwyn, or stared daggers into mine. They were posted at every angle, after all. Word traveled quick. And among each one was the same reaction, or at least the same result - not to lift a single finger.
All except one.
"Air Cushion!" Merriline incanted.
The art barely caught me in time. Its cast felt late, and it dissipated before I was ready, leaving me to fall on my back.
Directly in front of Commandant Karthwyn, at the head of the crowd.
"Boy," he towered over me, wicked wrath lighting his features crimson. "Do you have the slightest clue what you've wrought!?"