Chapter 87
Flange Orphanage, City: Three Prongs Fork, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat, the Year 2030, Planet: Grimoire
Sure enough, as soon as the flag dropped, Dennison lunged, arms outstretched to grab Grifton. However, Grifton anticipated the move and sidestepped him. He struck Dennison hard in his side, spinning him off balance and kicking him off the platform.
That's when Dennison tried grabbing him again despite being breathless. "Dude, watch your back," he yelled as he fell off the platform with a dull thud.
Startled, Grifton lept into the air just in time to watch as molten bolted arrows pierced the air where he'd been seconds ago. So, he'd really been trying to get Grifton out of danger? That didn't fit with what Grifton knew about Dennison's nature. What happened to him?
Grifton glanced at the operator, who frantically waved a flag and shouted that Grifton won that match. Not only that but now an investigation would be launched into who fired those arrows. Evidently, someone with a serious grudge. Now that he thought about it, this wasn't the first time he'd had similar arrows launched at him before.
A sigh escaped Grifton as he landed on the ground next to Dennison. "You going to be alright?" He usually wouldn't bother asking, but Dennison had technically saved his life.
Dennison spat blood but nodded. "Glad you heard my warning. I wasn't sure you'd listen since I've been an asshole this entire time." He looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry about that. I only recently learned why you don't like fire and stuff."
Huh, this was so weird. Grifton stared at Dennison distrustfully. "Did you get possessed or something?"
Dennison blinked at him. "Nope. I just received a few angry scoldings and a beating from my adoptive father." His shoulders slumped. "I'll be permanently leaving now that I've lost this match."
Hmm, well, Grifton couldn't say it was a displeasure to hear that. "Good luck," he said bluntly.
Dennison glanced at him with a faint nod. "Yeah, you too. Nice fight, by the way. I'm glad that you're not a weakling anymore." He sighed. "I didn't want to say that bullshit earlier, but I had to maintain a facade."
Right, of course, one must always maintain a facade around here. Grifton nodded. "Should I call a healer over here?"
Dennison shook his head. "Someone's already coming." He looked terrified. "Please tell her to be gentle." His voice was edgy.
Where did that come from? Grifton looked around. Oh, now he got it.
Amberlyn, Marlayne, and Calico were headed straight for them. Amberlyn reached them first. "I know you are generally a jerk, but thanks for warning him." She greeted Dennison gruffly.
That must've scared them that they'd been panting from their efforts to reach them so fast.
"How did your matches go?" Grifton inquired as he watched for more attacks. They were in a bad position right now, which was putting it mildly.
"We won," Calico shrugged.
That's when Grifton realized the others were facing opposite directions while Amberlyn did a quick patch of healing on Dennison.
"That'll hold you until an official medic arrives," she muttered as he stared at her, flabbergasted.
"Why?" Dennison seemed unable to understand what was going on.
Amberlyn shrugged. "You risked your reputation of a jerk to warn Grifton even though you evidently intended to pull him down in a grappling hold."
"Oh, I see, um, thanks," Dennison remembered his manners at the last minute.
"Right, we should move on to the next category." Calico urged. "I see healers and medics, Ella, Rory, and Terron, making their way here."
Grifton recognized those names and blanched. "Oh boy, I don't envy you, Dennison."
Dennison blanched. "The three terrors, hmm?" He shrugged. "Well, I deserve it after everything that has happened so far." He was clearly resigned to what was in store for him. "You'd better get away now while you still can."
Grifton nodded. He and his cousins beat a hasty exit while they still could.
The three men and women shouted angrily after them. Grifton shook his head when he thought of them. Ella Mason, Rory Till, and Terron Maxim were the permanent healers and medics on staff at the Orphanage. They would make Amberlyn's healing feel angelic because they were rough-handed at best. Most of the time, though, they were prone to adding more injuries than healing when angry about something.
"So, I take it that they haven't improved their skills?" Amberlyn inquired.
Grifton wondered if she was actually serious when asking that. "Nah, unless you count on knowing how to dissolve organs and splinter bones." He grimaced because half of his worse injuries had come from that sadistic trio from the medical field.
His cousins blanched hearing that and shook their heads wordlessly. Now aware of how treacherous half the staff likely was despite the director's best efforts, the cousins were alerted. Grifton hadn't wanted to do that to them. On the other hand, he also didn't want them to die inexplicably. Simply because they'd either been poisoned, or someone intentionally destroyed an organ just to disable them permanently.
Grifton had seen both of those scenarios occur to other unfortunate students. He'd almost become a fatality before realizing what was going on. Thanks to the newer instructors who'd specialized in elemental and spiritual magic, Grifton learned what signs to watch for when it came to internal damage through poison or other nasty magic.
Not long thereafter, Grifton made a point of learning healing/curing spells that used the elements, not herbs. As a result, he'd saved countless orphans and given them advice on where to go if they wanted a new start. Those who'd listened to him managed to send messages of thanks and warnings about who to watch out for among the higher-ranked instructors and medical staff.
As for any who hadn't listened, their ending hadn't been pleasant, and Grifton didn't look back on anything he did with regrets. Survival was essential with all the changes taking place. He wouldn't live long enough to see his teen years if he couldn't adapt and adjust. That wasn't something Grifton wanted happening.
When all four of them arrived at the next venue, Grifton's eyebrows rose slightly. "Huh, we'll have to work with weapons this time." Maybe he could catch the molten-shaft arrow slinger around here. Grifton had quite the grudge worked up because of the crap going on. Covertly, he extended his senses to alert for anything resembling the bolts, regardless of what was attached to them. Grifton gained the impression that fire wasn't the only element that could be attached to those bolts.
"You worried about the assailant using those shafts and bolts?" Calico watched him in surprise.
"Yes," Grifton confirmed. "I'm sick and tired of fools thinking I'll be easy to take down." Without restrictions placed on him, he would prove he had the skills to advance.
"I'm proud you're taking full advantage of the changes," Amberlyn smirked. "This is going to be fun, seeing how many idiots thought you were helpless."
"Technically, I was a useless parasite leeching off the orphanage before." Grifton shrugged. "Under the previous rules, which was. Now, it is a different tale."
Marlayne grinned. "Hmm, just so you know, they're already redoing the ranking structure." She gestured with her right hand. "It looks like we'll get our wish granted to work together as a team." Her head swiveled around. "I'm seeing several familiar faces from the field. It seems they'd come from Fang's Cliff, Tremont Academy, and others with bad reputations."
Grifton smirked. "Yeah," he growled. "I do recognize them as well..." Yes, he had a grudge against quite a few of them. "They're part of notorious street gangs in several portions of the central marketplace." He folded his arms. "Let's just say I've run afoul of them quite a few times." Now, it would be payback in an official setting. How sweet would this revenge be? He couldn't wait. If Grifton hadn't been mistaken, the same could have been said for his cousins.
"So, we weren't the only ones being bullied by those bastards?" Calico bristled.
"I'm going to enjoy this more than I envisioned," Marlayne murmured.
Amberlyn exhaled. "Yes, this will be a good time to prove we're neither weaklings nor cowards that hide behind the veterans."
Ouch sounded to Grifton like they'd gone through severe hazing. "I hope in the future we can work together as an official team, provided nothing goes wrong with this competition." A sigh escaped him. "Let's get through this before we make any plans, okay?" The last thing Grifton needed was for them to be disappointed because something unexpected occurred.
From what Grifton could tell, that would always happen no matter what. Speaking of which, his alarms pinged severely, making him crouch, and his cousins flattened to the ground. As he peered up, several volleys of bolts and arrows flew through the air where their heads had been. Ice, fire, and something else was attached to them, poison probably if his tingling senses were any indicator. "Damn, persistent, aren't they?" Grifton sighed. "I'm beginning to think you'd be safer apart from me."
Marlayne shook her head. "Nope, those had curses attached to them."
Amberlyn sighed in aggravation. "They were definitely aimed at all four of us." She scowled.
Calico grumbled. "You're right," He looked around cautiously. "They're persistent," He took a moment to breathe.
Marlayne summarized the shared thoughts among them: "We're not dropping out or dying just because someone or something doesn't want us succeeding here in this arena." She eyed Grifton. "Right?"
Although he was filled with misgivings about what was happening, Grifton nodded. "Right." They'd come this far. There was no point in stopping now. Not only that, but he'd caught a trace of where the volleys came from. "Our attackers are hidden in the outer security based on one of the eastern walls." Grifton remained crouched as he drew a small diagram of where he thought the volleys were being sent from. "I'm guessing they're hidden in the turrets of the nearest joint section to this portion of the arena." His cousins knelt with him, shielding the drawing from the vision of nosy individuals who hadn't missed what happened moments ago.
"Excuse me, may I look at that?" The voice over their shoulders' made all of them jump in shock.
Grifton glanced up as he finished the drawing and nodded. "Sure, commander Darmono." His cousins immediately moved to his left side when he recognized the voice. They hastily saluted along with Grifton, who remembered to do so at the last minute. He couldn't be too informal and draw unnecessary ire than he already had done so far.