Val wasn't any happier to return to the stadium.
The many-hued sea of participants added to the migraine building along her temple, aura and colour alike overwhelming her senses. There was a splotch all-black to the left. 'Crow's High.' A splash of yellow to the right. 'Suncrest Prep.' With the thousands here, it seemed the first test of the trials wasn't as daunting as proclaimed to be.
Corporal Wren dropped her off here in a hurry, leaving Val with these exact words: "Wait here for further instructions. Or don't. I don't care."
So Val waited, stretching her neck as she tried to spot Caro throughout the crowd, looking for crimson hair to no avail. Rows and rows of participants blocked the view, Val barely able to catch the sight of yet another person dressed in fatigues standing in front of the arena guardrails. He raised a megaphone to his lips to speak, unlike the first announcer.
"We will now begin the second part of the Tripartite Trial."
His words brought a sudden hush to the many conversations, the transition unsettling.
"The first exam was a test of knowledge, added at the behest of many universities and institutes who wanted to move at a faster pace. For those of you who do pass, you will soon find out that a mage doesn't need to be the most intelligent to excel in the elemental arts. What you do require, and what we'll be testing, is your will," he supplied. "Anyone care to define will?"
Silence answered him, the earlier interaction inside this very same arena scarring many standing before another conductor.
He gave the barest of shrugs and continued. "In the sense of typical and unbound people will, or better yet, will power is spiritual strength. Drive. Tenacity. A desire to never stop. Such thinking transfers over to the elemental arts." The conductor's eyes wandered the arena floor. "If you call on the Elemental Gates without the slightest whiff of willpower or intent, you will be ignored despite there being danger. You won't be able to cast. You will perish."
'Well, this definitely took a turn.'
Muttering started to grow into full-blown discussions, the conductor raising a hand to silence it. "Magic is the practice of rewriting the balance, tugging it until it bends to your desires. To tug something, you need strength. To tug on the balance of reality, you need a massive amount of willpower. Now, as you can probably figure out, the essence of willpower is hard to quantify."
She couldn't quite see it, but she could almost hear the wide grin in the next statement. "Thankfully, we've created a little something to help eliminate those who don't meet a certain threshold. I'll need everyone to back up behind the line with the exceptions of Valory Efron and Mikhail Williams. You two to meet me here. We'll begin shortly."
Val blinked. 'Me?' Her last name was far from common, derived from the Glass Dunes, and therefore creating marginal room for error.
Suspicious as she was, she headed up, blocking out the stares glued onto her back. On the distant opposite side, she spotted a teen boy climbing the other set of stairs alongside her, meeting the announcer around the same time.
"I go by Collins and I'll keep my military rank out of the topic. Instead, you may address me as an overseer, as well as any other sporting a red armband." The Auricean man pointed to the crimson fabric wrapped around his left arm. Underneath ginger bangs, hazel eyes traced her and the boy called Williams. "Do either of you know why you're here?"
"Perhaps because we may have both excelled on the previous trial?"
Val raised a hopeful eyebrow.
"Not quite." Collins stood at ease, feet apart, shoulders squared and hands clasped behind his back. "In actuality, you two are the only ones within this entire set of participants who are deemed to have a silver PAST. That means aether comes naturally to you, which gives you an unfair advantage in the following two tests."
"How?" Lines marked Val's brow. "We're not bound to any element nor do we have spells to spend aether strands on."
"Aether is more than just fuel for a spell." It was the boy who answered. "It can be used for other things as well, like strengthening one's body, as ruled by the Aetherial Art of Reinforcements."
The conductor nodded. "Correct."
There was a proud upward tilt of the boy's head, striking cookie points with the man.
"But… I don't know how to do that," Val clarified. "Laws of Secrecy and all that."
"Recall when I said that magic relies on one's willpower. If you have enough willpower to tug, it will bend, albeit minutely. And when put under certain stressors, people tend to have more of a knack for casting. It's the Tripartite Trial." The man grinned. "When are you not stressed?"
Val nodded slowly. 'Heavens, something is terribly wrong with this guy.'
The overseer raised a digit, his other hand tapping his ear. "One second, if you will," he said and walked out of earshot.
Val's focus veered to Williams' vicinity, honing in on his aura. She would've cursed under her breath if she were without company, aura revolving around him like steam rising off a hot dish. She guessed his ASC to be nearly seven times her own, and he noticed it too.
"When Leyblooms wilt," he muttered in awe. Val turned to catch the sight of two grey eyes staring at her in undisguised confusion. "Are you even allowed to be in here? You're a typic."
"Sorry about that." The overseer strutted into the conversation and cut off Val's response. He reached for his pockets. "Wrists out please."
Eye contact lingering for a second more, the two obliged, hiking up their sleeves to the shoulder. Val's gaze never left the overseer as he pulled out two obsidian bracelets, decorated in blue runes. Her arms broke out in goosebumps as the man attached it, the material is still cold despite it dwelling inside Collin's coat.
"There, all fixed." Collins smiled.
Val waved her arm around. "I don't feel any different." The slight tingle in her fingers due to aether emanation was still there. 'Damn.'
"It's meant to restrain you without feeling restrained. It wouldn't be fair to cripple you because you were bestowed some luck, now would it?"
Williams scoffed. "Forget about luck, she doesn't seem to have more than five aether strands in her. She's—"
"I've heard that the second and third trials are more strenuous physically-wise." Val stretched her shirt at the shoulders. "About these uniforms, are we supposed to fight in them?"
Collins nodded. "All certified preparatory uniforms are made for combat."
Val stared at him.
The man rubbed his brow. "We're in a time of peace, so it may be foolish to do so now. However, when we had to worry about spies, limiting unsupervised time participants had was of utmost importance. It's a thing that stuck."
"Fair enough…" Val shrugged. So long as they were all subjected to the same conditions, she was fine with whatever.
"Any questions?" The overseer asked.
Williams pointedly glared at Val for a minute, eyes shifting back to Collins. "None."
"You're dismissed then. The both of you."
She moved for the staircases at the discharge, eager to leave behind the questions Williams' gaze nailed to her back. Footfalls echoing after hers, Val's eyebrow twitched. "Why are you following me?"
"Oh please." Williams snorted from behind. "You're not worth the trouble. Maybe you do have some luck, seeing as it's less dense on your side of the stadium."
Val sighed, stifling the urge to roll her eyes as she merged within the crowd of participants. To Williams' credit, it was more sparse here.
"You have been given one objective!" The overseer's voice boomed across the stadium. "Touch the other side of the stadium. Do not concern yourselves with others and note that every action you take will be documented for future institutes, law enforcement, academies, and governmental positions you sign up for. When you cannot go any longer, say the words 'I have no will left to continue.' You will be excused from the Tripartite Trial from then on. Begin!"
"What?"
"Is he for real?"
"Ha! This is free!"
"It can't be that simple, could it?"
An array of emotions filled the arena floor, a majority believing they heard incorrectly. Only one question played through Val's mind. 'What's the catch?'