The Chair Dodges a Plant

Kumari led the group through the building, the party and Iora following behind. I was there too, begrudgingly and ignored. Why was I doing something I didn’t want to do? Kumari. The answer was always Kumari.

Snaking down the hallways and staircases, we arrived at a relatively large training ground behind the Adventurer’s Guild. There were already a few adventurers on the field, practicing or sparring with one another. Now, however, all of them were facing the guildmaster, bowing their heads.

“Attention everyone! There is going to be a mock battle between a C-rank adventurer and a proctor, so I would like you all to clear the field. I will be refereeing the match.” The adventurers were surprised by Kumari’s statement. Who wouldn’t be? The guildmaster acting as a referee was practically unheard of. Predictably, all of the adventures stuck around for the fight, whispering and placing bets. Ugh, I wanted this to be over already!

Ai, carried by her vines, moved onto the field. Me? Kumari practically slapped me into the ring.

“Hey, isn’t that…”

“It is! The Vinestress! She’s really only a C-rank?!?”

“And her opponent is a proctor? That sketchy looking dude?”

“He shouldn’t have any trouble winning, since he’s supposed to be A-rank, but…”

“Yeah, no way that guy is an A-rank, just look at him.”

Seriously, what was with everyone?!? You shouldn’t be judging me by my looks!! S-ranks were so much weirder!!! Way too harsh.

Kumari ignored the rude banter, explaining the rules of the match. “This mock battle will last a single minute. The proctor is not allowed to attack during this time, only dodge and defend. If the adventurer lands a single hit on the proctor before time runs out, she wins. Otherwise, the proctor wins.” Kumari then turned towards us. “Are both of you ready?”

“Obviously.”

“Do I have–”

“Okay!” She cut me off… again! And now she was pulling a large copper coin out of her pocket. Agh, whatever! Fine! I would play this stupid game. “The match will start once this coin hits the ground and immediately end whenever I tell you to stop. Now let’s begin!”

Kumari flicked the coin into the air. I kept my eyes lazily on it, trying to sike myself up for such an tiring task. Ai’s, on the other hand, were solely trained on me. A bit confusing but…ah. I felt a lot of something wriggling underground. She was setting up her first attack before the fight even began. This was definitely against the rules, but Kumari didn’t call it. Of course she wouldn’t, with how much she tortured me. Well, I could tell Ai’s skill was at least C-rank.

The coin hit the ground, and vines immediately shot up.

I took a half step to the side to dodge, but the vines turned with me. I danced around a bit, expecting the vines to come at me from all sides, but instead, each took the same path, just slightly offset. She probably didn’t have the skill to multicast then. Still, there was barely any lag time between my movements and the vines’. Very annoying, but manageable. Actually…

I quickly sidestepped around and under the vines, making them crash and destroy one another. The disconnected parts fell to the ground, unmoving; however, there was still mana flowing through them. There wasn’t much time to ponder what for, but I did have an inkling or two.

The next fifty seconds were the same: dodge, dodge, and dodge the same attacks over and over. At this point, there were only a few vines left pursuing me. I hadn’t done much except walk around (as per the rules… Kumari!), so I barely used any mana. Surprisingly, Ai looked fine too. She was more skilled than I initially thought. Ivies wouldn’t be this good without a lot of training, refining her inherent talent to such a degree. Was she at B-rank though? Well…

“CRRRSSSHHH!”

More vines broke out of the ground, so I backpedaled towards the center of the field. The mana in the surrounding area grew, confirming my suspicions. The broken vines suddenly sprung to life, closing in on me from all sides, trapping me within a web. Quite clever, changing the orientations of the fallen vines using the ones chasing me. Then, all she had to do was tell them to move forward. I’d wager it could take down an A-rank beast. She definitely deserved to win the match, if Kumari wasn’t watching.

However, her skill definitely wasn’t at B-rank yet.

Taking out one of the chair’s legs, I took my first full step of the match, right in between one of the miniscule gaps between the vines. A bit of mana was enough to open a gap to fit through. Continuing that step, I looped behind Ai, pointing the leg at the back of her head. Well, I said it was a single step, but it was more like a bunch of steps happening in a single moment. Kumari was the only one who could tell the difference though.

Ai’s vines collided together, entrapping where I was a moment before. With no defenses, if I could attack, she would be dead. One should always be prepared for the worst possible outcome. It seemed Ai hadn’t learned that yet. Mind you, I hadn’t either, but I was slightly more cautious than before… at least I thought I was. Kumari would probably beg to differ.

Kumari clapped her hands together. “And that’s time! The winner is Jack, the proctor.” A silent hush set over the field; only a few adventurers broke the silence.

“H-hey, how did he escape the vines? There was no way he could do that without getting hit.”

“But the guildmaster gave the win to him, so the proctor must’ve made it through somehow…right?”

“I…don’t know. One moment he was in the vines, the next he was behind the Vinestress. What kind of weapon was he holding anyway? It looks like a wooden stick?”

“Who knows?”

The crowd continued scrutinizing our fight while Kumari walked up to Ai. “So, any doubts now?” Ai didn’t respond, her body frozen. There was no reaction when Rufus and Aster came over either.

Rufus waved his hands in front of her eyes. “Hey, Ivy. You awake in there?” One of her vines socked him in the stomach, causing him to crouch down and groan. “Yep, she’s fine.”

“H-hmph, of course I am.” Her eyes focused on Iora of all people, who was standing in a daze.

“Any other complaints?”

“Hmm. Fine, I’ll admit the human is strong enough!” Her words clearly didn’t match her underlying excitement.

“Perfect. Then, you can begin your preparations for tomorrow.”

“Thank you guildmaster. Let’s meet by the North Gate at seven. Please don’t be too late.” Rufus directed that last line towards me. His words were a bit patronizing, but whatever. There was no way I would be late.

Once Kumari snapped Iora from her stupor, she guided the party out of the guild. Meanwhile, Kumari and I headed back to her office. On the way, she asked me about my opinions on the party.

“So, what do you think?”

“Based on Ai, they’re likely quite talented. How long have they been a party?”

“Only five years.”

“And they’re already C-rank? That usually takes at least twenty to twenty-five. Well, this’ll turn out to be quite interesting.”

“You know, I can practically hear your words dripping with sarcasm.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. You already know how the exam will go, don’t you?” Kumari gave a knowing look. Should’ve known I couldn’t get anything past her. I flashed a cheeky smile in response.

“Isn’t it obvious?”