The narrator would normally describe the scene in detail to begin the chapter. But sadly the sound portrayed here is so disturbing, so shrill, so mind-numbingly high pitched that we cannot capture the essence of what makes the sound what it is. So we ask you as the reader to look at the following sentence and fill in the blanks, thank you.
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"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"
*boom!
Grant was running dear life as Phoenicia lobbed fireballs at him.
The people nearby couldn't help but pity the man slightly. First, he loses his foundation, then he loses his will, and now his dignity.
Oh, how heroes fall!
As Grant huffed and puffed down the track, adrenaline pumping through his veins. The man couldn't help but think.
'Well at least my plan worked, And I didn't need to use trump card!'
Grant smiled despite his grim situation.
'Goodbye, Cla-'
*Boom!
'Fireballs... Actually... We've been running for a while. When did she say we were going to stop again?'
"Hey!"
He had to huff and puff as they were still running.
"What!?"
The very angry fire mage asked as she tossed another.
*Boom!
"I was wondering... When did you say we were stopping?"
"I didn't."
She said coldly.
*boom!
"Yeah, but if you could tell me it might motivate me to finish this a little quicker."
She smiled cruelly before chunking another one out.
*Boom
"So... What you're saying is... This level of fireball isn't enough to motivate you?"
Grant paled as he realized what he just said.
"No no no no no no no no no no no! What I meant was-"
Grant tried backpedaling, backpedaling HARD! But to no avail.
"Hmm? You can still say that many no's? Time to turn up the heat!"
Phoenicia dispelled the smaller fireballs in favor of a much larger one floating overhead.
'Oh, s**-'
"HAahahahahahahahaha!"
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Richmond was staring at his teacup intently.
"Honey?"
"Hmm?"
He said broken from his concentration.
"Why are you looking at that teacup as if it owed you a platinum coin?"
His wife, holly, said with a concerned look on her face.
Richmond cleared his throat and sat up.
"I thought I saw something. So! Everyone satisfied?"
He clapped his hands together as he looked around the room.
"He stopped singing at least."
Everyone heard a scoff from the side of the room.
"You really think that that boy stopped being an idiot?
It was the old man with his signature scowl.
"People don't change overnight. Back when he lost the match, it was excusable. He lost for the first time in his life and gradually became useless over the course of a year."
He shook his fist with a finger raised.
"Mark my words Richmond. That boy will do something completely idiotic, I'll swear to that!"
Richmond gave a tired look at the man and sighed.
"I know you don't like me sir, but would you please have some optimism. It can't possibly be that bad."
The door suddenly opened and a butler stepped into the room.
For once, the old man looked delighted.
"Ah, Sevak. You wouldn't happen to have any news regarding my useless grandson, would you?"
He said as a Cheshire grin appeared on his face.
"Certainly sir."
The butler bowed while speaking.
"Sir Grant has been on the track with lady Phoenicia."
"Really?"
Everyone at the table had a visible look of surprise.
"Well, that explains why she isn't here. What else?"
"Well, sir. It seems as if the young sir has decided to raise his physical constitution before rebuilding his foundation."
"I-is he working hard?"
Richmond asked tentatively.
"He worked as if his life on the line."
Richmond was overcome with relief.
"Oh, that's fine."
"Hold it one second, cowlick!"
The grandfather turned to the butler with a skeptical look.
"What do you mean by worked?"
He asked in a way that emphasized the d.
"Well, sir."
Richmond started to get nervous.
"It appears that miss Phoenicia took offense to his idea and started chasing him around the track..."
"with fireballs."
"And, and!"
The grandfather urged excitedly.
"It seems as if Miss Phoenicia decided that his pace wasn't fast enough and prepared a much larger blast."
"What she didn't know was that Sir Grant had a dose of brew's sleep aid on him. When the fireball exploded it reacted with the potion and created a cloud of mist."
"So they passed out?"
The Grandfather said with glee.
"No sir, it gets worse."
Richmond's heart dropped into his stomach when he heard that.
"The mist wasn't strong enough to render them unconscious, but it made them incapable of moving for a few minutes. This wouldn't be bad on its own, but there was something else going on at the time."
"What?"
Richmond said with increasing despair.
"Yes, what!? Get on with it!"
"Certainly sirs. You see what happened was..."
The butler grimaced before continuing in the same even tone.
"Your archnemesis, Jebediah Warton, leaped from the bushes and started beating them with a lance that says 'I'm better than you' in the middle of the field."
Richmond leaped to his feet and shouted.
"WHAT!?"
"No, not really. I just wanted to say something worse so the news would be better by comparison."
Richmond sighed with relief as the grandfather cackled.
"Oh, oh , oh my. That's brilliant! We really need to give you a raise Sevak!"
"Thank you, sir.
The butler said bowing once again.
Richmond just slumped in his chair and mumbled.
"Hate that f*****g lance. Well? Continue!"
"What really happened was that one of the training teams found them and laughed as they struggled to stand."
Richmond let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, that wasn't too bad. Thank you, Sevak. Please keep me posted, you are dismissed."
"Thank you, sir."
And so, the butler left the room filled with the mad cackle of an old man. As he left he had but one thought.
"I would rather die than tell the patriarch that it was a team of toddlers that bullied his kids."