Revival: Of Cethore ✔

Chapter Thirty

"This round has no limit on the ticon you use, within reason. We don't want things getting too crazy! As for the paths, anyone can go down any path, but once you choose your path, you cannot switch paths until you reach the clearing, so choose carefully."

Some murmuring stirred in the crowds as he explained. Samari looked at Dillian, unsure whether the rules would affect their plan or not. His eyes were fixed on the scry projection, scanning the pedestals for signs of the spirit gem.

She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the announcer saying, "Contestants to the starting line!"

As they took their place in the middle, Dillian turned to Samari. "Are you ready for this?"

"As I-I'll ever be, " she sighed.

"I can buy you some time, if you need it."

The gesture warmed her heart, but she brushed it away. If she just let him give her a handicap, he would use most of the strength he needed in case they got into a fight. She had seen the Flames when the finalists gathered. There were too many for her to relax, not to mention everyone else who was competing.

She rolled the offer away with a sharp, "Hey, pay attention! We're about to start."

Tisking his tongue, he leaned over into a starting position. Samari copied him, placing one foot in front of the other with her fingers resting lightly on the ground. She tried not to notice his smiling at her from the side, her eyes trained on the path before them.

BLUNNNMP!

They took off like arrows, darting a bead of those around them. The rush was strange at first, but since they had practiced running with the enhancement spell, they adjusted quickly to it.

Once they were on the path, Samari set fire to a cloth sack and dripped it behind her. Smoking like pine needles burning, the burning sack made it both difficult to see and to breathe.

The duo didn't skip a beat, sprinting away from the confusion. The announcer's voice faded as he commented on their spectacle. Samari held in a smile at the inadvertent praise.

It wasn't long before they were panting heavily, the spell has worn off. Other contestants who emerged from the smoke were pursuing them, but they were trailing behind the leaders of the path.

Samari scanned her surroundings. "Now?" she huffed.

Dillian shook his head, panting, "Not...yet."

As they ran, she adjusted a stone in her hands, shifting it between her forefinger and her thumb. Repeatedly, she glanced at him as her legs burned from the effort of running.

"Now!" he suddenly cried.

Cracking the stone open like a peanut, she tossed it behind her. When it touched the ground, all around it became a thick mud. Some unfortunate runners who had gotten close became stuck in it, causing hesitation from the others approaching.

As if one were not enough, Samari cracked three more and dropped them carefully as to not get herself stuck. She left the path as a long stretch of mud with one mud pit right after the other.

"That's the...last...of them, " she huffed, dramatically slowing her pace.

Just as tired, Dillian slowed to a walk with her. Now panting heavily, they coughed every so often from the stress the exert had done in their body. The heat of the beating sunlight did not help their exhaustion.

Curious, Dillian glanced back at the other contestants, but he could not see them because they were lost behind the pathway's curves.

"It worked!" he cheered.

"For now, " Sam stated. "Let's set up the..net."

He nodded in agreement. They stopped walking altogether. Reaching into one of her pouches, the brunette pulled out a handful of almond-sized seeds. Giving some to her partner, the went to work of planting them in a line from one side of the path to the other.

Once finished, they back away. Dillian touched his hand to the ground, chanting, "Reace, Plant Surge." His ticon shifted the dirt as it streamed from his hand to the seeds. They immediately started sprouting and growing into stalks of wheat.

We are making our own obstacles here on this obstacle course. I wonder what the rule makers think of that! She watched the grain grow, the stalks becoming thicker and taller with more ticon fueling them.

When they were a suitable height for a wall, he stopped the spell. Standing, he walked backward in rotation with Samari stepping forward. She opened her fist and blew ticon dust off her palm, carefully to get some on every plant.

As the dust settled into on the leaves, the yellow plants absorbed the powder. They turned dark grey, taking on a metallic shine as well.

"That should stop anyone for a-awhile, " she said, admiring her work. She quickly brushed the last hits of metal dust from her palm. Already, there were metal flecks molded into her skin. She picked at it a bit, stopping when her skin turned red.

"Are you good to go?" Dillian asked when she looked up from her hands.

She nodded, resisting the urge to scrape away at her skin again. Turning to the path, they jogged away, pressing on to the next part of the course.

A/N: next update July 2nd.