The feeling was weird. At least to rlin. The Open field which was usually a large expanse of greenery and trees had transford into sothing out of a fantasy movie.
Before him and his teammates rose a tall stone arch, covered in thick vines, and it served as a gateway leading to a great forest on the other side. The trees were larger than what was usually present in the Open field, and along the path were little flowers blooming. Red, almost like blood, but beautiful. The sun was rising overhead now, unlike when Professor Jung had been giving the final speech before the start of the tournant, and it accentuated the ethereal feel of the plains.
“Why does it feel like we’re going on a quest to rescue so beautiful elf or so sort?” Hakyun mumbled, his brows furrowed in curiosity just like the others. That changed rather quickly when Sangook shot him a disgusted glare. But Chima was present and raring to squabble, so their feisty interaction didn’t go past that.
“I believe we’ve done enough of the admiring,” Kim Yiseo started as she shifted towards the arch, her impatience bleeding into her tone. “We cannot have the others get a headstart over us. Rember, only two academies can proceed to the last round. And it would be a sha if we, the hosts, lose in the first round.”
Choi Sangook snorted. “You say that like you intend to lose in the second round.” He narrowed his eyes on Kim Yiseo. “I hope that’s not the case. Truly. For your sake.”
Kim Yiseo folded her arms, frowning. “And what exactly do you an by that?”
Choi Sangook shrugged. “Be smart enough to figure it out.”
The air tensed between them both. This was the first ti rlin had witnessed them interacting with one another, and it was getting off to a rather wonderful start. However, despite the roster lined up here—a rather splendid one too—without teamwork, there was no way they would co out of the tournant victorious. And rlin needed that victory.
“I think that’s enough,” Lee Jaehyun voiced before rlin could. And that surprised rlin.
The boy was rather laid back in situations like these, and most of the ti wanted nothing to do with Choi Sangook. But he seed different today. No. He had been this way ever since he had paid his family a visit. He beca a lot more rigid.
rlin’s brows twitched.
Oh goodness. There’s no way. Was Chima right? Do golden spoon families really make life tough for their kids?
“I highly doubt this is what we should be doing now,” Lee Jaehyun continued, looking down at his smartwatch. “The tournant has started. And we’re being watched.” He focused on Choi Sangook. “I’m sure you don’t want to put on such a rabid display for all to see.”
“Jaehyun’s right!” Oh Jihye chid in. “Shut it already. Both of you.”
Choi Sangook’s nose twitched. It was fairly hard for the boy to subdue his anger most tis. But he was doing fairly well at this mont.
Nora sighed heavily, drawing rlin’s attention her way. She was standing, arms folded, as she watched the display. Then she shook her head and stepped forward to stand beside Kim Yiseo.
“Let’s co up with a plan of action,” she said. “I know we all want nothing more than to be on our way already. Get the tournant over with and ensure we proceed to the next stage. But I’m assuming none of us here is foolish, and think if we just bullheadly charge at an instructor we’ll manage to steal the key and win. Right?”
rlin pursed his lips. Nora needed to have a filter for her mouth. But since it was her, no one said anything. She had managed to garner the respect of most of their mates, if not all; and they were all aware of how rude she was.
“What is the plan then?” Park Yuri asked, shifting forward slightly. “Because I don’t think we really have many options with one. There’s only so many things we can do to steal a key from an instructor. And one we have no idea about.”
“She’s right,” Hwang Man-Shik joined in. “We don’t even know which instructor we’ll end up facing. The only thing we know is that they aren’t Dr. Elias. But that serves as much purpose as listening to a podcast. Pardon. Anyways, I honestly think we’re just wasting ti coming up with ways to steal the key and should just go for it.”
“True,” Chima said. “But I doubt they also know which students they’ll be eting. With a plan we could take them by surprise.”
Hwang Man-Shik let that comnt stew in his thoughts. But at the end of it, he shook his head.
“Taking an instructor by surprise? Sounds like a mountain to climb.”
“Then shut up and drop out of the tournant.” Choi Sangook clicked his tongue and walked forward. “I’ve heard enough. If you all won’t be going in, then I will. Wasting ti playing partners with a bunch of losers.”
Nora shifted and stood in front of him.
“Move,” he growled.
“You’ll wait and listen,” she said.
rlin felt a lump in his throat. This was the part where he tried to calm her down. But now, it was for the better. And they couldn’t have Choi Sangook acting on his own.
Choi Sangook clenched his jaw when Nora didn’t allow him to pass.
“Start talking then,” he said. “What is this brilliant plan that you have?”
She raised a brow and stole a glance at rlin briefly. On her face was a shadow of worry and uncertainty. rlin, however, gave her a nod. It would work. There was no need for her to be worried about him. He would make it happen.
“Like Man-Shik said,” Nora continued. “We have no idea which instructor we’ll be eting, and neither do we know how best to defeat them. Which is why we’ll be choosing the greater of two evils here. Two teams. We will divide into two teams. One will take on the instructor beyond this arch. And the other will attempt to steal a key from our rivals.”
Everyone frowned.
“What?” Kim Yiseo, who was usually in support of her friend’s decisions, seed rather bamboozled by it this ti. “That’s absurd. Dividing our strength won’t do any good.”
Only this plan wasn’t Nora’s idea, but rlin’s. With Choi Sangook present, the probability that he would be listened to if he brought the idea up was near to zero. The boy harbored a deep resentnt for him. Almost on the sa level as Hakyun, if not more. Which was why he had tossed the ball to Nora. And in the case that it was falling apart, would co in to support.
“I support her,” said rlin. “I think that’s the right course of action.”
Oh Jihye snorted, rolling her eyes. “Of course you would. Who else would?”
rlin felt a tingle in his head. A small wave of annoyance creeped up inside him, but he subdued it.
Now was not the ti.
“I’m not supporting her because she’s my twin sister. I’m supporting her because she makes sense.”
Okay. Maybe he wasn’t able to subdue it all at the end of the day.
Oh Jihye, with her neverending victim ntality, began to open her mouth to argue with rlin, when Lee Jaehyun cut her off.
“Why?” he said. “I don’t know, rlin. Dividing our strength into two teams seems absurd. Really.”
“In hindsight, yes,” rlin explained. “But we have to think out of the box to win this tournant. Sure, if we go all out against the instructor, we might end up defeating them and gaining the key. But there’s also the possibility that we lose. We all have no chemistry, and the battle can beco haphazard with our spells directly obstructing the other.” He’d said that like he was a magic caster too, when he was not, and maybe that was why Oh Jihye stifled a chuckle. Not like he minded, though. He went on, “If we handpick a small team of Mages who complent one another to battle the instructor, we stand a greater chance of defeating them and retrieving the key. And in the case that fails, that does not an Prestige Academy has failed, because we have another team taking on Mages more on our level. This way, we have two shots at succeeding, not one that has a high chance of failure.”
After his explanation ended, everyone fell silent. It had made sense when he’d explained it to Nora, he’d had no doubt that it would make sense to the rest of their mates.
Kim Yiseo humd. “That is understandable,” she said. “So how do we select these teams? How do we know which can complent each other?”
“We only need to select a single team,” Nora said. “The team that’ll take on the instructor. That’s the team that needs the coordination the most.”
“Do we just split in half and shuffle?” Park Yuri asked. “Because none of us have fought as an actual team before. Well, besides you three—four.” She gestured at Nora, Chima, and Hakyun, almost forgetting that rlin had been part of the crew that had fought Nikolai. “Or is that it? Is that the team you have in mind?”
Technically, they had fought as a team during the flag capture test, but he understood why Park Yuri hadn’t ntioned it. They had each fought one person each, not fought one person together.
However, her notion was incorrect. That was not the team.
“No,” said Nora. “I do have a team in mind, but it’s a little different.”
rlin’s brows twitched. Calling it a little different was an understatent.
Nora raised three fingers. “I decided the team based on how their form of magic can complent each other no matter who their opponent is. Of course, you can argue against it, but I’m certain you all will understand where I’m coming from. There’ll only be three people in the team. And those are: Han Hakyun, rlin Tyrrell, and Choi Sangook.”
The air froze.
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