“Please, Corin. I already got rejected by Sera. Let my bruised pride recover for a while.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t see how me getting turned down is any better.”
“She’s not going to turn you down, Corin.”
I wrinkled my brow. “You think?”
He nodded seriously. “Pretty sure.”
“Huh.” I pondered that. Did I want to ask Marissa to the ball?
My feelings on the subject were…complicated. I was still reeling from what had happened with Jin, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with another pseudo-romantic entanglement.
I certainly didn’t want to give Marissa the impression that I had a romantic interest in her. She certainly had characteristics that I found attractive, but not in a conventional sense. I admired her for being tremendously good in a fight, and for working hard to achieve that.
Marissa’s demonstration of loyalty and bravery when she’d stepped in front of Katashi was nothing short of awe inspiring.
But was my admiration for her a form of romantic interest?
I really had no idea. I was still getting used to the idea that I could have any romantic interests at all. I still had no interest in physical contact, and I didn’t think Marissa would naturally pick up on that the same way that Jin had. Marissa was smart, but reading people and manipulating them was sort of Jin’s thing. That was one of the things that made me interested in him.
I did like the idea of cheering Marissa up and having company for the ball, though.
I never liked situations where I only had two options. I preferred to make a third.
And that’s why I asked both Patrick and Marissa to accompany me to the ball — as friends.
Romance was all well and good, but to me, having a good time with two of my friends was a far better idea for an evening.
They both accepted my offer. The three of us would make a great team.
And, as likely as it sounded, I found myself excited about going to the ball once again.
But first?
I had more final exams to deal with, and they weren’t going to be easy.
Chapter XIII – Third Time is the Charm
Four of us waited outside the testing facility for our next exam — our third and final chance at the simulated spire.
Jin was the last to arrive. He walked over without any sign of injuries, wearing his characteristic coat over an otherwise ordinary school uniform.
I was still nervous about allowing him to work with us, even after the conversations we’d had.
Is he going to try to use the test for a chance to kill us? Could he make it look like an accident?
I sincerely doubted both, which was the only reason I’d agreed to let him stay on the team. We were being closely monitored, and Jin had made it clear he didn’t hold a grudge.
But that was the thing about irrational fears — you couldn’t just tell them to go away and expect it to work. Trying to actively dispel my fears just expanded them, until I was picturing dozens of possible scenarios for Jin’s betrayal.
The rest of the group looked tense, too…except for Patrick. He just walked over and grabbed Jin in a hug. “Glad to see you’re out of the hospital! C’mon, we were just talking about our strategy.”
We weren’t.
We’d planned the general strategy weeks ago, and confirmed it days before.
But that little lie was enough to get everyone focused on the subject at hand. We’d need to fill Jin in, and accommodate him now that we were sure he’d be joining us. He’d asked to, of course, but we hadn’t wanted to count on it until we actually saw him. I couldn’t trust anything he said at this point.
“Corin,” Patrick gestured to me. “Want to catch Jin up?”
With Sera still having difficulty talking, it had fallen to me to serve as the de-facto leader of our group. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with it, but as long as it was a temporary measure, I could deal with it.
I nodded to Patrick, then turned to Jin. “All right, here’s the plan…”
We began the test.
The room I was teleported into was pitch black.
I activated my attunement.
At Carnelian level, I had a clearer sense of everything around me, even in the dark. I still couldn’t see clearly — it didn’t give me night vision — but the colors of the images around me were crisper and easier to discern.
We were in the same room I’d started in the very first time.
I’d assumed that was probably the case from the darkness, but I also known that the test could have been changed for our third attempt. We could have ended up with a different challenge entirely.
It was fortunate I’d ended up here, rather than in the other room or a completely new one. That meant less logistical awkwardness and time wasted on switching groups using the return bells.
I wasn’t going to assume everything was unchanged just from one initial indication, but I figured my next action was probably safe.
I sent a spark of mana into the first of three magical items I’d prepared specifically for this exam — a lantern.
The lantern flickered to life, an orb of flame appearing within and casting a glow across the room.
I nodded to Jin, who was at my right side.
He raised his monocle over an eye and scanned the room. I’d made him the item earlier in the year, but I hadn’t actually seen him use it here — he’d been paired with someone else last time.
“There.” He pointed.
I drew the sword on my hip and slashed in the direction he’d pointed. With a hint of mana applied to the transference aura around the blade, I sent a shockwave of force across the room, toward a seemingly empty spot in the back corner.
The furious howl that came in response confirmed Jin’s words.
The creature appeared as it charged into the light, a wolf-like beast with vicious spiked tendrils protruding from its back.
Months ago, the sight of this thing had been terrifying.
By now? It was merely routine.
I side-stepped a spiked tendril and slashed it apart, then stepped in with a jab. The creature reacted quickly, hopping out of my attack range, only to take a bullet to the side from one of Jin’s revolvers.
The noise of the gunshot startled me in spite of expecting it — even with the runes I’d etched into the guns, they were still pretty loud.
Fortunately, the creature failed to take advantage of the opening, opting to turn to run instead. I swiped at the air again, and a shockwave slammed into the creature’s back, leaving a wide cut. Jin fired two more shots, hitting once, before it dematerialized and fled into the wall.
“Resh. Wish we’d killed it outright.” I glanced at the walks cautiously, knowing it could emerge from anywhere now that it was in an incorporeal state.
Jin holstered his pistol. “It’s not a major threat. Stick with the plan. I will watch for it while I work.”
I nodded, walking over to a wall and lighting one of the torches with a burst of mental mana. That extra light would help keep the beast at bay, and it was the first part of completing the room’s central puzzle — unlocking a cage that contained a fountain near the center.
In the fountain was a key, which could be used to unlock the next room.
Thus far, nothing appeared to have changed, and thus, I suspected the solution to the puzzle remained — there were six torches, each with a rune etched beneath them. The runes came in three sets. The solution was to use three different types of mana to light the torches; a different type for each rune set.