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ILIAS PAYNE

 I woke up early and booked a carriage to take us to a forest outside of the city. We weren't allowed to leave Base Zero, but this was the only exception. If Thaddeus, Erina, and I were away from the rest of the participants, we would be able to show each other what we were capable of without worrying about our abilities being revealed.

When I got back to the room, I found Thaddeus—who had a bedhead—sitting on a chair half asleep while Erina scolded and combed his hair. "No, you are not allowed to sleep in. In fact, this is a bit late for waking up. Starting from now on, you can't stay up late."

Thaddeus looked dispirited ever since what happened last night at the public bath so when he fully woke up, I profusely apologized. He was quick to accept it and thanked me for actually going out of my way to say sorry.

"I heard that there's a bunch of stuff we can do," Thaddeus said as we ate breakfast. "Libraries, private gyms, bars, mental and physical therapy rooms, a theatre to watch plays, and a bunch of other stuff. Why don't we go check those out?"

"After. We have to get to work first and see what we're capable of."

When our appointment came, we were led to an underground warehouse with carriages and drivers. We hopped into one, which began following a dark tunnel that led us just outside the city. The travel time took less than fifteen minutes.

The driver told us that he'd be back in an hour, warned us not to contact anyone, and left us to our devices. We trekked deeper into the forest until we found a relatively large field in a bald spot.

"Earth, Wind, and Fire," I said as the carriage drove off. "For those elements to work together, we need to know what each of us is capable of. I think I have the most experience here and I don't want to let you two down, so I'll go last."

"Master Thaddeus and I are older, but your teachers are legendary amongst the State Jynxists. I guess you can play as our leader."

"I'll go first then." Thaddeus stepped forward and clapped his hands together once. "Stone Free!"

Suddenly, the earth shifted as five giant arms the size of tree trunks emerged from the ground, repeatedly punching the air.

"The main spell I use is called Stone Free. It lets me summon five giant hands made out of earth and I can make them do anything. Their range is about twenty-five feet."

"Any other spells?"

Thaddeus said an incantation before swiping at the earth as if grabbing something and shooting his hand at a tree. "Rock Bust!" A dozen or so earthen spikes shot from his hand and embedded themselves at the targeted tree.

"I also know Rolling Stones." Thaddeus spoke the words to the spell which summoned a giant boulder from the ground that rolled about fifty meters away. He then snapped, making the ground beneath the boulder soft and sinking it. "This quagmire spell and Stone Free are the only ones I can use without an incantation."

That's the quagmire spell Salazar loved to use on me.

"Is that all?"

"I have a couple more, but I prefer not to use my earthquake spells here. The other spells I know are basic arcane like Inner Light, Doom And Gloom, Noise Pollution, and some basic healing spells. But I do have an ultimate defence called Sandman."

"What's Sandman?"

"It's my ultimate defence. Try to figure it out by attacking me."

"I'll go next," Erina said, taking off her robe and hanging it on a tree.

"Why did you jump at the opportunity to show off your skills the moment I said you can attack me?"

She ignored him. "I can only cast one spell without an incantation which is Fire Ball!"

She held an open palm at Thaddeus, shooting a ball of flame at him. The spell hit his torso but didn't spread. Other than a quick spook, he was fine.

"I know I allowed you to attack me, but please warn me first!"

"Whatever your defence is, Master Thaddeus, I can confidently say that it's strong. Stay where you are and let me demonstrate my second spell. Master Ilias, I suggest you go somewhere high"

I took out my wand, casting a gust of wind that propelled me right above Erina before hovering above her just like Heloise had taught me.

"You can levitate?" Thaddeus asked. "Can you teach us that?"

"This is your warning, Master Thaddeus. Flame of passion, warmth in the cold and light in the dark, I am cornered on all sides, allow your power to spread in all directions but leave me untouched." Erina stomped her right foot loudly. "My Apocalypse!"

A spark of fire emerged from her right foot and a small ring of fire grew outwards as if it was a drop of rain hitting a calm body of water. The circular flame continued to spread outward, burning everything before dying just as it reached the half-sunk boulder. The entire forest around us was on fire, yet Thaddeus remained unscathed.

What on earth is this kid's defence?

I cast Rain, summoning the nearby clouds to put out the fire.

Rain pulled nearby rainclouds to the caster which would cause a downpour. However, it would cause a slight drought to where the clouds were taken from. Heloise said it wasn't wise to mess with the weather so I made sure to only use Rain in drastic situations.

"I can also do this." She held an open palm at Thaddeus and chanted an incantation. "Lord Summer."

What looked like a heatwave began projecting at Thaddeus which made him start sweating instantly.

She cancelled the spell. "A couple of seconds will make someone sweaty and hot. Several and it'll get to their heads."

"I know I told you to use your spells on me, but why does it seem like you're actually trying to kill me, Erina?"

"I am." She put on a glove. "Ride The Lightning!"

A lightning bolt appeared in the air and struck Thaddeus.

"Lightning is too much!" he cried.

For some reason, his body was gleaming and as much as his face struggled, he couldn't move a muscle.

"Can I get some help?" he asked. "My ultimate defence is called Sandman. It covers my body with a thin layer of sand that reflects light to match the colour and texture of my skin, hair, and clothes. As long as the attack isn't physical, Sandman does a good job at protecting me."

"Did Ride The Lightning cook the sand into glass?" I asked, cackling as I swung my wand as if it were a sword. "Wind Slice!"

My wand summoned a gust of wind that slashed whatever was in front of it. In this case, it was the glass body Thaddeus was trapped in. Wind Slice would be strong enough to break some ribs and damage organs, but I swung the air lightly to make sure only the glass broke.

Thaddeus collapsed to the ground with small cuts that he began to heal. "Thanks."

"I've got one more spell, but it's my absolute last resort because it leaves me immobile and unable to summon spells until I get some rest. Which is usually the next day."

"Your last resort handicaps you that much?"

"It's called a last resort for a reason."

"Okay." Sand from the ground made its way to Thaddeus and covered his body. "Try it on me."

"It's true that I want to kill you, Master Thaddeus, but this spell will actually kill you. I'd rather you not test your Sandman against this. I suggest you two protect yourselves."

"You're actually showing some concern. I'm flattered."

Thaddeus got close to me and used Stone Free to protect us in some sort of dome with a small viewing window for us to see.

"What about you?" I asked.

"I'll be fine, Master Ilias."

"Do you want to use my wand to see if it'll help? I'll let you use it during phase one if it does."

"Sure." She accepted my wand and pointed it at the boulder that was half sunken into the ground. "Though I'm a taboo in the laws of nature, I am destruction incarnate in accordance with the principles of all creation. Let the hammer of eternity descend and let me commit the worst sin of all! Explosion!"

What looked like an incantation circle appeared hovering in front of Erina facing the boulder. A beam of light shot out from the wand into the middle of the circle as it focused towards the boulder, slicing anything in its path. Once the light touched the boulder, it exploded, causing a shockwave that dispersed past us, knocking down the nearby trees and shaking the ground. The boulder vanished in the explosion as plumes of smoke flew upwards, creating a mushroom-shaped cloud.

Erina dropped my wand before collapsing forward onto the ground.

Thaddeus rushed to her. "Hey, are you fine?"

"Yeah. The wand helped take the pressure off my body, but it looks like it can't prevent this, Master Ilias. I'm immobile now. The only thing I can move for the rest of the day is anything above my neck."

Thaddeus rolled Erina so that she was facing the sky. "I'll take care of you and show that I'm not what you think I am."

"Help! Master Ilias, don't let him touch me!"

Thaddeus sighed. "Stone Free!"

A hand emerged from the ground underneath Erina, grabbing her gently and turning her upright as if she was standing.

"W-what's this?"

"We still have to see Ilias' spells. He started learning jynx when he was six, was taught by Heloise the Heroine, and has twenty-two gates. I'm curious to see what he can do."

We had about thirty minutes left before we were to be picked up and I spent the remainder of the time showing the spells I could do. Once we were done, I summoned Talking Book and had Thaddeus and Erina pick a couple of easy-to-learn spells they thought would be good in their arsenal.

Thaddeus ended up having to piggyback Erina back to the carriage. She protested at first but since Thaddeus was the stronger one between us and she didn't want me to levitate her body, she allowed him to carry her.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Erina accused.

Thaddeus sighed as he placed her on a seat. "I am, but it's because I enjoy helping others. So go ahead and call me a pervert if you want."

During the ride, the road we took was uneven and bumpy. Thaddeus made Erina lie down and placed her head on his lap to make sure her neck was comfortable and supported.

By the time we arrived back at the building, Erina was completely passed out. We dropped her off in our room before taking the rest of the day off and exploring the amenities this exam offered.

We found gymnasiums with people playing various sports and libraries with people reading—this place had everything to keep people entertained.

There was a bar that didn't care we were underage and served us drinks anyways. We ordered some and spent the afternoon watching plays in the auditorium.

"Does Erina's dislikeness for you bother you?" I asked.

"A bit, but I don't mind. Compared to us, she's had it rough. Her dislikeness for me doesn't come from a place of malice."

During dinner, Erina was still immobile which meant Thaddeus had to help her eat by spoon-feeding her. She didn't talk down to him ever since we came back.

We sat with Bad Attitude again and they questioned why Erina couldn't move. We convinced them that she attempted an advanced-level spell that her body couldn't withstand.

"Since I'm the only other girl here, do you want me to help you get cleaned up in the bath?" Chris offered.

"If it's not a problem."

After dinner, we were accompanied by Roswaal and Zwergin into the bath and hung out at the hot springs to relieve some stress. During this, Roswaal urged me to the corner for a private discussion.

"Erina caused that big explosion, didn't she?" he asked.

"What explosion?" I asked, hoping it would throw off his suspicions.

"I was observing you three this morning and it so happened that Earth, Wind, and Fire was the only group in the forest when that explosion happened. Casting that explosion takes too much of a toll on her body, doesn't it?"

"Why were you watching us?"

"Everyone was watching the forest when they heard that explosion. And I was staking out people we could make an alliance with. We don't know anything about the first phase other than it's a physical test. Zwergin and Chris said making an alliance with other teams drastically improves chances of passing."

"What kind of alliance are you talking about?"

"We don't know what the objective of phase one is, so just basic protection for now. Six heads are better than three, is it not?"

It's true that an alliance will make things easier, but can we really trust Roswaal and the others? We've been on good terms, but betrayal is performed by the people you trust most. That's why it's called a betrayal.

"I'm sorry, this isn't something I can agree to on my own. I'll talk to my team first and I'll let you know sometime tomorrow."

Roswaal swam away. "If you say no, there won't be any hard feelings."

When we returned to our room, we found Erina in front of the door dozing off. We had the keys so she must've told Chris to leave her by the door. Thaddeus picked her up and tucked her into bed.

Thaddeus had brought a bottle of liquor from the bar and we each drank half the bottle before passing out. The next day, we discussed amongst ourselves Roswaal's offer for an alliance and decided to give an answer during the phase itself.

Erina also thanked Thaddeus for taking care of her yesterday, but she never made eye contact with him while doing so.

She's been talking down to him all this time and he went out of his way to make sure she was taken care of. Anyone in her situation would avoid eye contact.

We spent a lot of our time messing around the facility and waiting for the first phase to start. About three days after we arrived here, three new faces showed up out of the blue.

One of them was a girl named Billie Jean about Thaddeus and Erina's age. She was skittish and nervous, so we approached her with questions. Apparently, the preliminary phase only ends when phase one starts. It took her team three days to figure out the impostor.

One day while we were eating, Jay Geils approached our table.

He wrapped his arm around Thaddeus. "Hey, that was a nice bonding session we had last night. It felt like we were connecting."

"How about I connect my fist to your face?!"

"Fine, I'll stop rubbing it in," Jay Geils teased before moving on.

"What happened?" Zwergin asked.

"He stole my money." Thaddeus wolfed down his food in annoyance.

"How?"

"We were playing poker."

"So you were gambling?" Chris asked. "Do you even know how to play poker?"

"No."

That explains why.

We were either in our room or in the library discussing strategy or out in the forest practicing spells. The only spell we prohibited from being cast was Erina's Explosion—for obvious reasons. And we made sure to practice fire spells near water.

My party members also began practicing the spells in Talking Book they found interesting. Since I had more gates than both of them combined, I decided that one of them should hold onto my wand. Since most of Thaddeus' spells were physical, we chose Erina to hold onto it.

As a way to pass time, we would also begin to spend more time with the other participants. This was to evaluate them. Most of them were careless, showing off what spells they knew and what they specialized in. But there were a select few that were able to hide their capabilities rather well.

Roswaal in particular liked to tease others but never did anything to show his cards. Chris was playful but never to the point of exposing anything. Zwergin was calm and preferred to pass the time using words. Asher kept his nose in a book. Jay Geils interacted with everyone and everything. Billie Jean kept to herself to blend in with everyone.

On the morning of the eighth day, it was announced that phase one was to begin after breakfast.