I gently stir from a pleasant dream, and become increasingly aware of the hand stroking my hair.
My eyes are closed, but I know it's Kate stroking my hair. Well—that's who I hope it is. I mentally shake my head. 'I need to handle this tactfully.' I think trying to ignore her constant yet gentle strokes.
'I'll just open my eyes and calmly greet her.' I picture it. My eyes slowly opening. The meeting of our eyes. The subtle look of shock and embarrassment. Then I say in a wishfully deep voice, "Good Morning."
'No no no no no.' I think fighting to keep my reaction internal. 'Way too embarrassing—and it's not even morning!'
A couple more ideas float into my head, screaming and running, explaining the aerodynamics of a dagger, and—strangest of all—to make a series of strange bird noises.
After the exhausting task of keeping my "sleeping face" peaceful. I settle on the simple plan of "stirring in my sleep" and "waking up" after a while.
I want to smack my cheeks and dunk my head in some water. I feel so…silly. It's like all of my thoughts are tripping over themselves. 'Why am I being so…weird.' I shake my head mentally and prepare to "wake up".
After Kate notices my "stirring", she freezes for a moment. When I don't open my eyes and do whatever she's expecting, she shifts slightly. I wait a little longer before, "stirring" again. After a few moments, she starts to poke me, and in a gentle voice, she urges me to wake up.
I thank her internally, then let my eyes flutter open. I let out the yawn I'd been holding, as I sit up. Kate responds with her own small yawn. "Good morning," I say in a tired voice I wasn't quite prepared for.
Thankfully she doesn't mention me saying "Good morning" at—sunset? I'm not actually sure of the time. Kate gives me a small smile that sets my heart ablaze. I try to play it cool as not to embarrass myself.
As we sit in silence, I look over to her, and she didn't look worried. So I assume we must have some time before the final trial. I look away as not to stare, but I want to thank her. I really was tired, and if she didn't offer nor tell me to rest—I'm sure I would've carried on worrying tirelessly. I part my lips, and blurt out.
"Thank you."
I'm looking away so I can't see Kate's face, but the silence is suffocating. Though it feels like an eternity—she responds quickly.
"It was nothing, I—well Sue always—um," she mumbles. I look over to her, and she's twirling a strand of her hair while looking away. "I'm just glad you got some rest," she says.
I nod.
She looks like she's about to say something else, but something catches our attention. We look over toward the sound of someone muttering and cursing. It's under their breath, but it's clear enough for me to tell that it's Marshal.
As he continues to make his way down the hall toward us, I notice he isn't wearing a shirt—just wrapped in bandages. I feel a twinge of guilt. He hasn't noticed us yet, but it wouldn't be long until he did. Kate and I stand up in advance just before he's upon us.
"Dammit, why is this place so big—oh—there you two are."
Marshal says, noticing us, "Man, you really don't get how big it is till you have to walk all the way 'round," he says.
In a swift motion, Marshal then swings his arm around my neck and pulls me in close and away from Kate. We're now huddled together faced away from her.
"You were crazy out there man," he says, with a grin.
I nod, embarrassed. I imagined a lot of reactions Marshal would give me when he returned, and this wasn't one of them.
"But that fuckin' hurt," he says, placing his free hand on his stomach. His face falls for a moment as if reminiscing. "But that nurse," he says, closing his eyes—nodding, "I might actually let you do it again."
Marshal chuckles as he gives me a look I can't quite decode.
"Caring, warm, and oh so sweet," he says. I could almost see the hearts in his eyes. I raise a concerned eyebrow, remembering how the nurse poked my open wound. "What? Don't tell me I'm wrong," he says, almost concerned. I consider him for a moment but shake my head.
"I won't deny her beauty—" I start.
"See see, you get it then," Marshal interrupts, then he gasps. "Wait, in the Elf Lands are all of the women," he shuffles us further from Kate, "of Ms. Nurse's caliber," he asks. I didn't really want to answer with Kate not that far away, but I reluctantly think back.
From my childhood memories and older perspective, I think of an answer.
"Well, they all had their own merits in certain areas, but overall around the same," I say quieter than we'd been speaking. Marshal nods a few times.
"You need to take me," he says, with a serious face. I nod reluctantly.
"Oh and this," Marshal says, poking the mark with his free hand. "Did she tell you anything about it," he asks.
I shake my head. "No, she did touch it though," I say.
"Yikes, so ominous," he says.
"Huh," I say, puzzled and even more concerned.
Marshal chuckles, "Don't worry, when the thousand-year-old dragon spirit comes out of it, I'll make sure Ms. Nurse is far away and safe," he says.
I feel a chill go down my spine.
"Don't say stuff like that. You're freaking me out," I say.
He laughs. My brain's now plaguing me with the horrifying scene of a dragon crawling out of me.
"Oh and—" Marshal starts, but we've been pulled apart.
Kate now stands between us. The annoyance on her face didn't come through in her voice as she says, "Now that we're all here we may well go to join everyone before—"
But she's promptly interrupted by Marshal. "Now hold on," he says—irritated, "We don't even have an idea of our collective survival skills." Kate froze but didn't argue. "Good, Now what kind of experience do you guys have," he asks.
I rack my brain and don't find much. "I know how to forge for safe plants and mushrooms," I say. Something akin to disappointment flashes in Marshal's eyes, but he nods as I continue.
"I also know how to deal with hotspots of untamed shadow, but that's it," I finish.
He shakes his head with a sigh. "And you," he says, nodding at Kate.
She hesitates. "I-I've read books," she says in a small voice, but Marshal is already shaking his head.
"Well lucky for you two this is a team trial," he says, with a chuckle.
"So you're saying you have more 'experience'," Kate says.
"Yup," he says, with a snide grin.
"I lived in a village on the edge of a forest. I can start a fire, build a shelter, deal with magic events, get fresh water, the works," he says.
"That last one doesn't really count," Kate mumbles. I nod in agreement.
"Yeah yeah. All you two can hit hard, and Benji can keep me from dying to a mushroom, so you're not totally useless," he says—laughing.
Kate shoots a small spark at him. "Ouch," he says, but he's laughing.
I smile with them, but Marshal was right. As far as survival experience went, I have none. Sure I might be able to take out some monsters, but I couldn't build a shelter to save my life. Let alone identify little changes in the environment, which could mean life or death in the case of a new monster or magic event. I knew he was mostly joking with the last comment but still—I look over to Kate then Marshal—a lack of such basic skills in such a major area could mean losing them before we even really started to become friends.
Marshal must've noticed the look I had, because he moves toward me and asks, "Hey man, you okay."
I start to nod but I know I hesitated.
"I didn't mean anything by what I said—just wanted to know where everyone stood," he says, a little low so Kate wouldn't hear.
"I know I know I just—" I shake my head.
"If it bothers you so much I'll teach you a thing or two, but we're a team now. We pick up each other's slack, so don't sweat it, okay," he says, with a reassuring smile.
I nod, not meeting his eyes.
'Dammit I'm being so—' I look over to Kate looking as composed as ever. '—stupid.'
"Thanks—uh—man," I mumble to Marshal. He smiles in response.
"So is the last trial almost underway," Kate asks looking at Marshal.
"Oh yeah, Ms. Nurse is finishing patching up everyone who healed in time," he says. Then a look of realization dawns on his face. "It took a while for me to find you guys, we should probably hurry," he says, turning and starting to jog. Kate rolls her eyes as she follows—with me in tow.
After our mad dash, we finally make it outside, where all our schoolmates are. Though everyone is grouped together with their respective teams, the group of first years is noticeably smaller. After quickly counting the groups, I estimate there're about 60 of us. Thinking back to our arrival there had originally been around 100.
It isn't surprising though. Some other matches went as hard as Marshal and I. The only difference being Marshal and I have relatively high mark resistance.
In humans, this is rare, as there are only two ways to acquire resistance. The first is to simply be born with it, and the second is to be subject to the burden of marks constantly.
When it came to healing marks it is important that the one being marked has enough resistance as well as the support type elf applying the mark. When it comes to healing, it doesn't matter if the elf can handle drawing the mark if their target can't handle its burden.
I sigh at how irresponsible it is to hold the final trial right now. The other students wouldn't get fair evaluations if they're bedridden in the medical ward. It's actually why I'd thought the final trial wouldn't take place right away.
"Oh man, those duels really down-sized our group," Marshal says, looking around, "You really don't realize till you see who's left."
I nod. Some teams are even missing members. There's one guy in the distance—who I assume lost his entire team—doing a killer impression of a chicken with its head on fire.
The sun's starting to make its way below the horizon, so the trial would start soon.
"Are you going to stay like that," Kate says, pointing at Marshal's bandaged body.
"Hmm? I don't have another shirt. I also like the battle-wounded look," he says, patting his chest. Kate shakes her head ruefully.
Moments later, a magically enhanced voice greets our ears. We all look up, the headmaster is standing on the top wall of the arena.
"Hello students, the final trial will commence shortly but first I will brief you on this trial's details," he chirps, in an announcer-like fashion, "Each team will be given a map. This map will lead you to the location of a particular item your team will have to collect and bring back to me. You must complete this task by sunset tomorrow. And besides that, your main goal is to simply survive. Don't worry too much on how we will be grading you. As long as you are alive and breathing and no teams fight you will pass—"
I relax a bit when I hear the last part. We wouldn't actually be expected to formally show our survival skills, which is a relief. My stomach then chose this exact moment to growl loudly. I try to cough to hide it, but I couldn't help it.
We haven't eaten since we got here. The last meal I had was on the transport. Earlier this morning, we'd gone to the dining hall this morning expecting a grand breakfast—instead we got briefed on the terms of the duels.
Marshal elbows me lightly. "Guess we know what's first on the list when we get into the forest," he says, with a laugh. Kate shushes him but agrees that we should hunt for food later.
"—And finally make sure the item you're fetching is unharmed, and remember that you'll have more than monsters to worry about in the forest," the headmaster finishes—walking away.
All of the groups began murmuring amongst themselves. Not too long after the headmaster's explanation, an adventurer starts to pass out a map to each group. When we get ours we huddle around it. It's detailed enough—though crudely drawn—it puts emphasis on where we are currently, and the landmark around our target.
Marshal, who's holding the map, rolls it up suddenly.
"Oh we're gonna destroy this trial," he says, with gusto. "Let's get on it team 'Cregiff'," he shouts, sprinting toward the forest, like a mad man.
Kate is shaking her head but she's smiling.
"Just to be clear I am not in favor of calling us 'Cregiff'," she says, grinning at me. I laugh and start to run after Marshal.
"C'mon," I call back to her.
We both sprint after Marshal, and I briefly wonder what all the other teams thought of us, but the thought quickly dissolves. Still caught up in the moment—I just run.
'We can do this.'
And right now, I really believe it.