The Ruby Magician

Sonya lowered her hand in a flourish, yelling at the same time. “Begin!”

Wyn cautiously stepped forward, spear at the ready. Both of his opponents were already advancing to the center of the arena, itching to fight. He didn’t consider John an opponent as he was going to do everything he could to make sure he stayed in the arena to keep fighting. That also, unfortunately, meant taking a hit from him if needed. If John won, that would be favorable to him, their group, and would give him the chance to privately train with Gregory. It didn’t matter if the Squire won a point on him. As long as John understood that, too.

Strangely, Wyn felt peace about not wanting to be the final victor. His goal for the trials was to prove that his class wasn’t completely useless, that being a Ruby Magician had benefits and could be great if utilized well. He hoped he was in the middle of proving that point, and making it to the finals helped that goal in his mind. There were still two trials left to show his value, too, and he had a feeling those were going to be the true tests to the crowds.

Elaine, the Scout, made it to the center of the arena with just a few long strides. Wyn assumed she came from the Rogue class as she carried a short sword and a dagger, and her movements were smooth and precise. She likely had enough talent behind whatever passive skills that helped push her to the finals, and Wyn she would be a tough opponent. His advantage at scoring a point on her would be either the reach with his spear or catching her off guard. He had a feeling that if she saw his movements when he tried to attack, she’d dodge his weapon without much trouble. Making it to the finals required a combination of luck, natural skill, and enough magic to close the gaps of disadvantages.

Nicholas, the Templar, was a well-built man about Wyn’s height, and he carried a shield and mace. He wasn’t as looming as some of the other Climbers in the trials, but he seemed sure of himself without being overconfident. He met Elaine in the center of the arena and exchanged several quick blows, shocking Wyn with a quickness that seemed like he had a passive skill that boosted his speed more akin to the faster classes. The man likely also had enough natural talent that pushed him past his opponents, probably some history of sparring or fighting that gave him an edge.

But neither of them faced only one opponent. There were four combatants, and that introduced enough chaos to make the match more than interesting. It made it more fair. And, coincidentally, it made it easier to manipulate.

John hesitated, looking over at Wyn. Wyn nodded back to him. He understood the Squire’s thoughts of not wanting to fight each other, but they still needed to gain points. And not look as though they were rigging the fight. Wyn moved forward to stab at John, but it was a weak attack and John easily blocked it.

John struck back, his blow equally pitiful, and Wyn hopped back to avoid it.

“Do what you need to,” Wyn said quickly, keeping his voice low. “Let’s make sure you get that lesson.”

John paused and smiled, realization dawning on him. He then gave a war cry and fought seriously, sparring like Wyn was any other opponent.

Good. It would look better if he wasn’t holding back.

The exchange only lasted a couple of blows before they both moved on to the other two. There really wasn’t a need for John and Wyn to spar each other, only to make it look like they were both serious. And now that John knew Wyn’s intention, he was more focused than ever.

Wyn quickly intercepted the spar between Nicholas and Elaine, and was closest to the Scout. She was fast but distracted, and he scored a hit on her back while Nicholas attacked her from the front. A deep, annoyed growl left her, and she stared daggers at Wyn while walking back to her side. She had to wait 10 seconds before being able to rejoin the spar, and Wyn knew she was going to come for him then.

“Point, Wyn!” Sonya yelled. A person to her side hurriedly marked on a small piece of paper. It was the first point of the match, and Wyn practically stole it.

Nicholas immediately lunged for Wyn now that his opponent was gone, and Wyn was forced on the defensive. Blocking his mace was a bad move as Wyn stumbled backwards from the blow. There was so much force behind the hit that Wyn instantly knew the man was passively enhanced by a skill that boosted his strength. His arm was already sore, and the spar just started.

John moved to Wyn’s side and helped pin the Templar. After a few seconds, John was the one who was able to score the hit. Sonya announced the point, and then soon after Elaine darted back into the fray.

Wyn knew that he and John’s alliance was only going to go so far. After a few more rounds of points, both Elaine and Nicholas began working together, which made the match effectively a two on two fight. That wasn’t what Wyn wanted as he was the weakest person there. The two Climbers had plenty of natural skills of their own, but their class abilities obviously pushed them past what Wyn could handle. John was doing well, too, but the current strategy wasn’t going to work. Wyn was just dragging too far behind.

Wyn mentally fortified himself and decided to start taking hits. That way John could stay in the match as Wyn took the focus of at least one of the other two.

For the rest of the match, Wyn did his best to pay attention to who was scoring the most hits. So far, John and Elaine were at the top, while Nicholas wasn’t called quite as much. Wyn only scored a handful of points until the final minute. Then, Sonya announced the standings, likely to encourage them to go all out at the end.

John had 31 points, Elaine had 29, Nicholas had 27, and Wyn had 16.

Wyn sighed. He had hoped to do a little better, but it was inevitable. He knew his own sparring skills and training but also knew he wasn’t the best out there. When outclassed by magic too, well… he just couldn’t keep up in this specific trial.

That was alright. John was ahead, and as long he scored a couple more points while Elaine was held back, then he’d win.

Wyn used the remaining minute to fight Elaine. He kept her focus while John scored a point on her, knocking her out for another 10 seconds. The crowd grew in applause and cheers for the final minute and were noticeably louder when John made the hit. He and Wyn used the remaining time to work together, and at the end, Wyn knew John had won.

Sonya called the end of the match and John screamed in victory, matching the crowd’s excitement. Wyn was excited, too. Even though he came in last place it didn’t matter. Smiling, he waved at the audience while he walked back to the rest of his group. He had their attention now, but the next trial would capture their support.

*****

“What in the hells!” Brett said, rocking back into his seat on the stands while covering his face. The other guild members around him were standing and cheering along with the rest of the training hall. The final match of the combat trials went better than expected.

Not for Brett, though.

Faye jumped up and down beside him, cheering for the Climbers. She was also happy about winning another bet.

“You chose this round as the one to bet on Wyn?” Nigel said, smiling and clapping in the row directly in front. His voice carried in order for him to be heard over the crowd.

Brett pulled his hands away from his face and stared at the Climbers in the row in front of him. Nigel and the rest of his climbing group were cheering the finalists on, just as caught up in the excitement as the rest of the audience. “He did well before! I thought it was finally time to bet on him!”

Nigel cocked his head head to the side, a smirk on his face. “It doesn’t take changing your bet to win. I learned my lesson and decided not to bet against Faye anymore. I consider it a small victory that I kept my mouth shut this time.”

Faye leaned over and patted Nigel on the shoulder. “Good man! Now do you believe me about them?”

Nigel nodded. “I’ll definitely want to meet John. I’m curious about his Squire skillset. I wonder how different it is from mine.”

“Well, when Gregory has his little training session maybe you can go too? It’d be good for him to meet you. Especially if he’s going to be part of our next squad.”

The others around turned to her then, ignoring the crowd. The applause began to die down but the Climbers around them weren’t as interested in the procession. Faye had their immediate attention.

“We haven’t decided on that, yet,” Brett said. “Plus, what if they want to go to another guild? We can’t stop them.”

Faye crossed her arms and laughed. “We’re looking for two squads. Have you seen another group like them? I’m more curious to know if we’ll even extend an invitation to another group. But it feels like a guarantee Gregory will want to bring them in, as long as they don’t screw up the other trials. Which I have a feeling they won’t.”

“They’re good, but how well do they work together?” Nigel asked. The five Climbers around him looked just as confused, but they trusted their group leader to be the one to question Faye and Brett. Despite their relatively small guild, it was a still a large gap between the head group and one of their regular groups. They were still climbing the second tier, hoping to move on to the third tier any season now. Gregory and his group was in the same position, only an entire tier higher. The chasm between the two teams was incredibly wide.

Faye looked over to Brett. She nudged him, urging him to speak. Brett tilted his head side to side, relenting. “Well, for five of them, they certainly did fine on the third floor. Nothing extra special, though, to be honest.”

“Don’t forget, this is only their second full season climbing together,” Faye said, resisting the urge to elbow Brett. “Wouldn’t you rather have a group we can mold into being a solid, core group?”

“That is a good point,” Nigel said. “That gives us plenty of time to show them what climbing really looks like. But I’m still curious to see how they’ll do in the next two events. No offense.”

Faye shrugged. Nigel’s curiosity made him a good, analytical Climber, not one who was skeptical to a fault. Like Brett. “None taken. I guess a strong Lightning Wizard and the best archer here being part of their group isn’t enticing enough for you. Not to mention a Herald! We could finally have a Summoner in the guild!”

Nigel laughed. “They’re good, I just want to see their chemistry. That’s all.”

“Caryn will want to have a say, too,” Brett said. “Faye, you know my vote. I’ll stand by you. But we still need to talk to the other leaders.”

Faye sighed in agreement. The other leaders weren’t as interested in watching the trials, despite Gregory encouraging them to watch. Prian, their other second tier group leader along with Nigel, was only going to watch the individual and group trials of the afternoon. Caryn, the leader of the other third tier group, didn’t want to come at all. Faye had a feeling at least someone from his group would show up to watch, but she didn’t have high hopes for the leader himself.

Brett looked at Faye, who just smiled and winked. The man cursed under his breath before handing her a small sack of coins. “Here. I’m not betting this afternoon, though. You can forget it.”

*****

“I can’t believe I won,” John said. He was walking in the middle of their group back to the guild hall. They had decided to take a lunch break before returning for the next trials in the afternoon. They weren’t the only ones, either, as there were a good number of people walking their direction. Good matches meant hungry crowds in more ways than one.

Marcy patted him on the shoulder. “We had complete faith in you!”

“Was that before or after you realized what Wyn was doing?”

Marcy opened her mouth to speak but paused, tightening her jaw. Then she patted him on the back again.

It didn’t take a genius to figure that one out.

John just laughed. “I’m only poking fun. I don’t blame you. Those two were strong. Really strong.”

“They’ll definitely get bids for a guild,” Cedric said. “Especially since they signed up without their teams.”

“Really?” Wyn asked. “How do you know?”

“I checked their name on the participant’s list. It mentions group information or if they came alone.”

“Ahh.” That made sense. Wyn didn’t really care too much about the other Climbers, but it was interesting that they signed up without their teams. Apparently judging Climbers in the trials included more than just seeing if they were worthy to join a guild. It also involved seeing who could potentially work well with other Climbers if they needed to pair them together.

That thought made Wyn wonder. “What did it say about Lucy?”

Cedric smiled softly as though he knew the question was coming. “She came alone.”

Wyn nodded. He had a feeling Cedric would have checked on her. He didn’t recall her working with a group but he still wanted to be sure. Having other contacts that knew her could verify some of the answers she was going to give him when they sat down together. But that was fine. He was still going to get answers one way or another.

“Wyn, you did well, too,” Tasha said. “Don’t let coming in fourth get to you.”

“He would have ranked higher if he had tried to win instead,” John said. “I really only won because he helped push me there. I consider it a team effort!”

Wyn smiled. It felt good to be appreciated by his team but he knew the truth. “I know I’m skilled in sparring but that only goes so far here. I don’t have any passive skills and you three were too strong. Too fast. And still trained. You all were just… better.”

“Well, they aren’t necessarily better Climbers,” Marcy said. “We’ll prove that this afternoon.”

They discussed more of their strategy for the other trials before making it to the guild hall. Waiting outside the door, Wyn felt some anxiety rise inside him. The place was absolutely packed. People stood outside the doors waiting to get in, and only were let through when someone left.

“I’ve never seen it this busy outside the end of month festival,” John said. He was nearly a head taller than most standing around outside, but still couldn’t see the doors very well from the crowd.

“That’s events for you,” Marcy said. “I should have known. I vote we go grab food in the markets.”

“We’re already here,” Cedric said. “Let’s order and take it back. We don’t need to sit here.”

Marcy tilted her head side to side. “Fair point. Then let’s just ask for a basket and some pitchers and take them back to eat.”

The line moved quicker than Wyn thought, and they were inside in less than 10 minutes. All of the tables were full, and there were several groups of people standing around conversing with goblets or food in hand. A lot of them wore fine clothes with colors that stood out in the crowd or materials that looked far too expensive for a common person. Wyn immediately assumed they were either nobles or merchants visiting the city and stopping by for the trials, taking advantage of the crowds to network. Normally the citizens weren’t as ostentatious, as the merchants were more subdued in their appearance. But if they were there to attract people who had money, then Wyn guessed they probably needed to look the part.

Cedric and Marcy caught one of the waitresses and began an order while Wyn kept scanning the crowd. Something just didn’t feel right. He knew the city was going to be bustling with activity but this was even more than he thought. It looked more like a noble’s gathering than a guild hall in a city.

“Does it feel like the crowd is a bit.. wealthier than normal?” Wyn asked.

Tasha slowly nodded as she looked around. “There are definitely more merchants here than at the trials. A good number of people in the audience were citizens or tourists and didn’t wear such fine clothes. Here it’s like nearly all of them are.”

John poked his head between Wyn and Marcy. “Could be a caravan stopping by. I remember my parents and sister saying that they could always tell when one stopped in the city as the places were packed like this.”

Wyn suddenly spotted Benedict sitting at a table. He was wearing similarly fine clothes as the rest of the crowd, almost as though he was dressing up for the day. At his table were two men Wyn didn’t recognize and a young woman with straight black hair. Her back was to him so he couldn’t see her face, but there was a familiar air about her.

His heart skipped a beat. It couldn’t be.

Benedict caught Wyn’s eye and the man went from laughing to serious. He abruptly stood up, then said something to the woman seated with him and urged her to turn around. The moment she did, Wyn felt a strong range of emotions flood his body.

“Wyn, what is it?” Tasha asked.

Wyn ignored her. He only focused on the woman across the room. She immediately stood and began pushing through the crowd, tears forming on her face. Wyn ran to her, ignoring the complaints of people as he forced his way past them and pulled her into a tight embrace.

They didn’t say anything for several seconds. Wyn held her tighter when he felt her sobs, and she squeezed back feeling his. In that moment, together, he finally felt peace. He felt love and reassurance. He felt home.

It was foolish of him to leave so suddenly before, but he wouldn’t make that mistake. Now that she was here, he was going to stay by her side for as long as it took. Holding his sister gave him that clarity.

“I didn’t know what happened to you,” Wyn said, still hugging her. “I… I was so worried.” There were so many things to say but the words were rushing through his head like a raging river.

“Me too,” Arabelle said, squeezing him even harder.

Relief settled into Wyn like a warm blanket on a cool night. His sister was alive. She was safe. And she was with him. All of his worries and concerns were carried away from him in that moment as peace took their place. It was then he knew, deep in his heart, that everything would now be okay.