“Here we go,” she shouted and crawled deeper into the shell, disappearing completely. The turtle ducked its head and legs in as well.

  The worm’s head crashed into the turtle’s hardened plating. Its teeth cracked against the shell, before sending it spinning across the desert towards the mountain summit. It zoomed past the other worms.

  The crowd clapped and cheered at this display. It was a very clever move. The turtle I’m sure was not a speedy spirit, but Raylene used the hostile obstacles around her to boost her summon’s speed.

  Only a few contestants, including myself, were still hovering at the starting line.

  I don’t know why I was hesitating, but something was holding me back. This was the best vantage point to observe the different contestants abilities to see what I was up against. Plus, the more havoc they caused on the battlefield, the easier it would be to bypass the worms.

  Deirdra grinned at Raylene’s spinning tortoise shell, far off in the distance. She took her first step into the race grounds, with one of her spider legs. She crawled along, summoning football-sized black spiders at her feet. The spiders created a shield of silver webbing around her.

  Ah, I see. She was copying Raylene’s strategy, creating a defensive barrier as her ticket past the deadly worms.

  “It’s you and me now, newbie,” said the little fox man, nudging my elbows. “I know you were sticking around to gather all the attention of the ladies like me, you know, to maximize your reach to dazzle the wondrous babes of Salaphem. I’ll do you a favor though. I’ll go now, so you can have maximum reach; but you will struggle after my display.”

  “I honestly have no idea what to say to you,” I said. This Muumuu guy was a total weirdo.

  The little fox clenched his fists and held them at his side, like he was powering up for a special move. His orange bushy tail stilled. His fur straightened and sharpened. I was no longer sharing the starting line with the fox man, but one hundred of him.

  “A clone spell?”

  “Charge!” shouted Harold. The hundred strong regiment of little fox-men ran forward into the desert.

  The worms chased after the fox-men, but were unable to keep up with all of them.

  Interesting. I wasn’t sure but I suspected his cloning was actually an advanced Elemental Spirit in the ilk of Chip. This was one of the advanced upper-level Elemental Spirits. So, Harold was one of the few contestants who had pursued a zerg-style summoning build. Perhaps Deirdra with her spiders as well.

  I stood alone on the starting line. I overheard the commentator: “…And it looks like the only one not to have faced the trials of the desert is Clay Hopewell, the summoner nominated by Laergard. Is he hesitating? Afraid? What will he do as the other contestants pass through the first stage of the race and onto the next and he hasn’t even started yet. Will Laergard be bowing out of this year’s tournament?”

  Shit. The viewers on the ramparts were whispering and questioning my moves. The airship viewers were flying deep into the desert to watch those in the lead. A floating orb hovered beside me, recording my embarrassing levels of inaction.

  A message popped up in my HUD. It was Serena in party chat.

  Serena: Clay! You can do this.

  Kari: C’mon Clay!

  Shade: Mate, you got this.

  Jackson: Don’t let the others’ clever tricks fool you. This race is yours.

  My heart welled up. My friends believed in me. I wouldn’t let them down. Not them, not Laergard, not even the audience here in Salaphem expecting an awesome show. It was time to dominate this.

  I stretched out my arms and weaved my hands, triggering the summon bound spirit spell.

  Gryph emerged in front of me. The bird shined brightly beneath the bright morning sun.

  A hushed silence fell over the crowd behind me. Even the constant chatter of the commentator died down.

  “…What’s this? Did I speak to soon? How is this even possible?”

  I grinned and got onto the gryphon’s back.

  “The young summoner from Laergard has summoned a legendary bound spirit. UNBELIEVABLE. When you think the race is good as lost for him, he pulls out his trump card.”

  I grabbed onto Gryph’s feathers. “Good to see you.”

  Yes, you too. This is the kind of scene I enjoy entering. A feast of worms.

  “Oh no,” I said. “I don’t think you’ll be able to feed on these worms.”

  Why did you summon me then?

  “We’re in a race. We gotta bypass these monsters!”

  I do not like this plan.

  I was not expecting to find Gryph in one of this moods.

  I’m not in a mood. Don’t forget I can read your thoughts.

  “Argh, c’mon,” I said. “Listen: I promise I will find you creatures tasty to feed next time I summon you, but right now we gotta win this race.”

  Fine, let’s go.

  Gryph blasted off the ground and soared into the sky. The floating recording orb followed us through the air. My hair flew behind my ears as the wind rushed past us.

  The desert race was far below us in the clouds.

  “Wow,” I said. “I feel like I have a cheat code.”

  Don’t speak too soon. Look.

  A shriek echoed behind.

  “Give me a break,” I groaned.

  Behind us, was a swarm of [Desert Hawks].

  The floating recorder orb was still bringing us the updates from the commentator.

  “Looks like Clay underestimated the race organizers. He may have a legendary summon, but did he really think the tournament organizers would forget about flying spirits?”

  I swiped my arm in frustration at the floating orb, hoping to shut it up. My hand floated through it.

  Feed?

  “No,” I said. “Fly. Go!”

  Gryph flapped its wings. The force and energy of the thrust, shot us forward through the sky. I peered over my shoulder to the incoming flock of desert hawks. They chased after us.

  I conjured electricity into my right arm and threw a blast of shocking speed into Gryph. The agility-boosting lightning rippled across Gryph. His muscles tightened and a new strength and speed came with every flap of its wings.

  “Keep flying forward Gryph,” I said. “I’ll handle the enemies behind us.”

  The desert hawks blinked and they all glided towards us through the air.

  “Stay back,” I shouted, throwing my palm out and letting out an air blast. The manipulated wind shot back and disturbed the hawks’ speed.

  I then threw out a flame wall. The hawks flew around my patch of floating fire in the sky. I hoped they would be stupid to fly through it and take the damage, but maneuvering around it was still an advantage for me. It slowed them down.

  The desert below us was full of chaos. Giant worms, summoned spirits, spell blasts, and swirling sand. It was an incomprehensible battlefield. There was also the fear of the contestants fighting against each other, but I’m not sure any of my opponents had a moment to be devious with all the obstacles in our path.

  A desert hawk was flying parallel with us.

  “Whirlwind, Gryph!”

  The gryphon stopped soaring and spun in a rapid circle, knocking the nearby hawk away from us. I followed up the attack with a lightning cage on the hawk, paralyzing it in its spot in the sky.

  The summit was within our sights. Gryph lowered himself through the clouds. A purple AoE circle hovered at the top of the summit.

  “I guess we know where to land,” I said.

  Gryph lowered his wings and we landed on the summit. A message popped up in my HUD.

  Congratulations! You’re the first to arrive at the race’s destination. You must now wait in the victory zone until the final three contestants enter.

  Wait, what?

  “That’s right folks,” said the commentator’s voice through the floating orb. “This is more than a race. It’s a survival challenge as well.”

  The desert hawks circled the summit, eyeing me and Gryph.

  Their prey.

  19

  The qualifying round just got a whole lot more complicated. Coming in first actually didn’t matter. In fact, it was strategically more astute to come in fourth. In the current set-up, the second and third contestants could arrive, fight me and knock me out of the victory circle. The judges had kept this part of the race secret for this very reason. To stretch the entertainment as far as possible.

  But before worrying about the other contestants, I had to deal with the desert hawks circling above me.

  “Gryph, isn’t there a bird hierarchy? Surely these hawks know not to mess with you.”

  It is true there is a certain level of respect amongst us winged creatures, but it is well-known the fliers of the desert are not known for their respect. Plus they outnumber us.

  “Alright, so we gotta fight them,” I said, contemplating a strategy. I counted the birds in the air. There were five hawks. I took in their stats.

  Desert Hawks

  Level 28

  HP: 650

  MP: 23

  What are these birds’ weaknesses? They’re small, quick, and strong. Ah. I got it. Taking in their small HP.

  “They’re powerful,” I said. “But they can’t take a long sustained fight.”

  I hopped off Gryph.

  What are you doing, Clay? Surely you won’t beat them from a ground position.

  “Gryph, I want you to fly up and circle behind them.”

  But what about you?

  “You know before we became pals, I used to be able to jump very high. Now go.”

  The massive bird shot off into the air. The hawks paid no attention and came zooming for me. I was deemed the weaker of the two, the easy target.

  “Bring it on birds,” I said. I jumped straight towards them, creating mana puddles beneath my feet to get higher and higher.

  The hawks and I met in the sky above the summit. I threw out my arm and unleashed lightning cage on one. I threw out another arm and paralyzed another with the exact same move. There were still three more. They came at me. They dug their beaks into my flesh.

  I didn’t waste any more time. I exploded into a cloud of electricity. I reappeared on the back of Gryph who was swinging in behind the hawks. The legendary bird unleashed quick attack. Gryph’s feathers and claws sliced through the group of birds. They squawked and fluttered towards us, while the paralyzed birds writhed in pain, unable to do anything else. I conjured an ice sword in my grip as Gryph circled the birds and swung in for another attack. I sliced through the barrage of hostile wing attacks. The ice sword cut through the birds’ flesh, but also dealt a chilled debuff, which slowed their movements to a crawl. Even as the lightning cage paralysis disintegrated, the birds were now too slow to escape. Effectively paralyzed again. That didn’t stop them though. They flapped their wings in retreat.

  “Aw hell no,” I yelled. “Gryph, let’s finish this!”

  Gryph unleashed featherdance, twirling its winged blades through the frozen birds. I slashed my sword through them, stacking the chilled debuff, so the debuff timer reset.

  Gryph ripped a hawk to shreds with its sharp teeth and beak, while another it swallowed whole. I slashed at the remaining three, finishing off their final remaining bits of HP.

  +180 EXP!

  +180 EXP!

  +180 EXP!

  +180 EXP!

  +180 EXP!

  Gryph and I flew back down to the summit completion zone. The summit cliff held the whole race in its sights. Below on the desert floor were the worms and more contestants, still struggling to get past the first barrier. Then leading up to the summit victory point was an uphill path. There were no obstacles on the passage. Just a straight up race. The only obstacles were the other summoners.

  Deirdra was in the lead, clickety-clacking up the hill with her eight spider legs. Her small spider summons shooting webs at the other contestants as she ran up to the finish line.

  She grimaced at me when she arrived in the AoE circle.

  “You,” she spat. “You were in last place last time I checked.”

  “Sorry,” I said. “I flew over all of you guys.”

  She crossed her arms in disapproval. “You ruined my first place spot, but no matter, you’re more of a threat than I gave you credit for.”

  She shot a blast of webbing at me. I ducked and Gryph kicked us out of the direction of the projectile’s blast.

  “Um, can we save fighting for later in the tournament?”

  The spider lady smirked and threw out another web blast at me and Gryph. Her spider minions crawled towards us. “Ah, it’s more than my precious pride wishing to finish you now, my little fly. You’re clearly a more worthy opponent than I first surmised. Taking you out now will make my victory later all the smoother.”

  The spider-witch won’t compromise, said Gryph via our psy-link.

  I turned to the summit path below. We have to survive until two more contestants enter the AoE circle, then the race will conclude.

  Deirdra’s spiders now surrounded us.

  “You know eight on two, isn’t really fair?” I said. “It’s time we lessened our handicap.”

  I weaved my arms in the air. My fingers formed the arcane positions of the summon bound spirit spell. Chip, the elemental spirit appeared.

  “Ick! Spiders!” yelled the ghost, unleashing a spirit blast on the creatures, knocking them back. “Good to see you Master Clay!”

  Deirdra’s eyes winced at the sight of the elemental spirit, confused. “Did you just--?”

  Her words were cut off by a spinning flash. The whirl of movement knocked one of Deirdra’s spiders off the cliff.

  “What insolence!” screeched Deirdra.

  Chip spun around the spider woman, peering at her curiously. “Are you a spider or a lady?”

  She swatted her hand in anger and Chip swooshed away back towards me and Gryph.

  The attacking whirl in the middle of the victory circle materialized, revealing itself to be the Solmini outlander summoner, Ashren. He crossed his arms and eyed Deirdra, judgmentally.

  “While technically not illegal to attack another summoner once he’s finished his race, it tarnishes one’s honor and will place a blemish on one’s own victory,” said Ashren. “For someone who thinks so highly of themselves, don’t act so beneath your own self-appointed stature.”

  The spider woman crossed her arms and looked away, her cheeks blushing with shame.

  “Wow! You insulted her really good mister,” said Chip.

  “And you’ve salted the wound, little spirit,” smirked Ashren.

  There were three of us in the circle. Only one more needed to enter and the race would be over.

  The summit floor rumbled.

  Be careful Clay, Gryph spoke into my mind. I sense a powerful energy.

  Along the cliff passage leading to the summit were bright purple puddles. Were these mirages? What’s going on? Slimy heads and shoulders emerged from the magic circles. Arms and hands appeared, pushing themselves out from below.

  The puddles were portals. They disappeared right as a creature crawled out of one. The purple slime fell away as well. The remaining creatures were made of black stone with jutting purple crystals in their backs. I shook with terrible recognition. We’d fought these awful creatures before. In the Bottom World, a dangerous forbidden zone locked from the rest of Illyria. The world lying at the depths of the cloud ocean. The creatures were extra powerful. They stole your memories.

  The awful fallen creatures emerged all across the desert, even where straggling warriors were still crossing the desert of worms.

  I turned to Ashren and Deirdra.

  “Guys, I’ve fought these creatures before. There’s absolutely no way the tournament organizers would’ve planned this for the qualifying round.”

  The dread vultures who attacked us on our way to the tournament came to mind. Was this the same people behind the attack? Or was this the new deadly part of the contest?

  “Someone is clearly tampering with the tournament,” I said. “We need to go help those below.”

  Deirdra’s mouth dropped in shock. She held her arm up to her neck as if she were clutching a pearl necklace. “Me? Protect an opponent of mine out of the goodness of my heart?” She paused, then laughed. “How absurd!”

  I didn’t expect much from someone fighting on behalf of Arethkar. I pleaded with Ashren next.

  “If those below are incapable of protecting themselves, it dishonors both ourselves and the fighters below to come to their aid. It is not done.”

  He crossed his arms in finality of his statement.

  Chip spun around me and Gryph. “If you go and save those people, won’t you be risking your spot in the qualifying round, Clay?”

  I nodded my head. “That’s the risk.”

  The fallen soldiers teamed up on the weaker summoners at the back of the race. The young teenaged girl was there fighting for her life, struggling. They were going to get killed by these things. Yeah, some would respawn, but they wouldn’t be the same when they came back.

  “But the risk doesn’t matter,” I said. “People are in danger and we’re capable of helping. Let’s go!”

  As Gryph flapped in the air, I turned to Ashren and said, “You dishonor yourself by not helping those in need.”

  We flew towards the beginning of the summit passage, soaring over Raylene, who with the protection of her turtle summon, was bypassing the fallen with ease. She didn’t need our help, so I left her to it. Beyond her was Harold, the little fox summoner, his army of doppelgangers was fighting through multiple fallen soldiers. His eyes were strained and he was struggling, but I had more faith in him to take them on then the others further back.

  Gryph swooped down at the bottom of the summit passage where two frightened contestants were fighting a group of four fallen. Their fear was screwing themselves over from taking them on. The fallen were also fighting quite strategically, getting them into close range which most spellcaster types weren’t very well prepared for. They stretched their arms and weaved what looked like a summoning spell. Emerging in front of them and creating a blockade between them and the incoming fallen soldiers were two bound spirits.

 

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