To say people were surprised to see such a Truant was an understatement.
Nivara's Trait had done wonders with recreating such a harrowing creature. Its patchy grey skin was stretched over a gaunt frame, welts and blackened burn scars which were a mishmash of purple warts spread over elongated fingers. It had a wide and grisled maw perfect for the flamethrower style attacks it threw at them with deadly precision.
She had seen the young boy through the Storm Key, his fate solidified once his name stirred within her mind like a dark macabre of irony. Creederton Wilson, the younger brother of Sleekerton Wilson, the overseer of Hellgrind and the owner of a very powerful Analyst Trait. His brother had been no different, abandoned after the death of his family and his brother stuck on a decade long quest. Creederton aspired to be everything his brother was but he became the sole caregiver of his younger sister before his Truancy cost him dearly, just like his brother did. His sister died trying to save him from himself.
He had been experimented on by those who had brought him in for questioning until he had escaped with intent to harm the people of Axis, the place where he was carelessly captured by members of the Third Order. Who knows where he was now.
The Order had betrayed her people's trust for the greed of the nobility and Nivara had yet to truly uncover how deep the Chimeran web truly reached while under her careful watch. First Sashio, then Jester, Rook, Madcap, Domino and finally...no. She was fed up of thinking about betrayal. No more.
Nivara had her Agar locate and deal with them quickly but Kaldra had almost been seen by the unlucky Mediator involved and the Third Orders Regent, forcing her to retreat without knowing where either of them went. The Storm Key might've filled in the gaps of the Mediators whereabouts but it was only out of sheer luck that he didn't remember anything, seeing Kaldra as nothing more than a grey tinged hallucination.
Maybe the side effects of Memoriam were greater than she thought. He seemed fine when she healed him back in Axis using her Specialist alias but her informant had not contacted her since, forcing her to assume that all was well.
With the lockdown of all entrances in and out, Nivara hoped she was doing the right thing by standing her ground here in Opalis.
The fake Overtaken stalked across the pile of junk, metal and copper twisting and smouldering as it began to advance ever closer towards the duo. They were currently hiding behind a section of broken wall, an abandoned factory with pipes and a water wheel chugged along behind them, dripping wet on the broken stonework stopping to a seething halt as it turned instantly into steam.
Charmer had collected all the items she deemed necessary and was trying to make some sense of a plan but time was running out. She could feel the heat like a noose around her neck, her dragons laboured breathing pounding in her ears as Nivara directed the mist ever closer. The Knuckburst dragon by the name of Fiero had been given free reign of the arena, allowed to produce as much fire as possible as long as he convinced the rest of the people watching that this was the outcome they faced if this continued to be swept under the shadows of the Undercity. If they neglected their fellow Truants any longer, this would be their downfall.
Nivara's smile was grim line was drawn across her face, a stoic reminder for those who believed their Trait to be superior to the sanctum of human life. This was not living. This was barely even considered existing yet her heart yearned for action, to cure those who had been cursed to such a fate. That was her goal as Regent and what should of been her focus but here she was catering to backstabbers and nobility who cared only about getting in a delusional Throneholders good graces. Unfortunately, finding the cure for Truancy would just have to wait. She had bigger problems to outwit.
A vast explosion streaked across the horizon before slamming into the flimsy structure the group had tried to make. Her Glass Trait was worthless in the scalding heat, her dragon barely able to protect her Agar and dive out of the way, abandoning the glass soldier who melted into a lump of molten slag, nothing more than a stain on the cobbled ground.
Charmer looked as if she had swallowed her tongue, her eyes bulging with fear as she finally realised how dire the situation was. This was no longer a test. This was a battlefield. Flitter shrieked as she noted the Overtaken leering inches away from them, scrambling backwards to avoid the molten blast of pure flame. She roared angrily, fuelled by her Agars distress before decreasing in size and lunging straight for the mist made Overtaken.
Nivara gasped, fearing the worst for her mist illusion but Fiero seemed to have taken his Regents prior instructions to heart, ensuring to keep the young dragonling away from his facade by using his marionette like mist made limbs to keep Flitter at a distance despite her speed. His size mimicked the Overtakens overwhelming strength and ruthlessness, seeking only a sizable grimoire to feed on just like the demons before it. But a Truant wasn't a demon. It could not be defeated so easily.
Charmer struggled to come up with her next move, shielding herself with bits of corrugated metal while her dragons confidence was slowly draining against the overwhelming presence of her elder. The dragon thrashed about, darting and weaving while simultaneously resizing to try and get the better of such an unpredictable opponent. Her Traited was currently occupied, visibly upset her dragon was not able to beat such a deadly force. Still she moulded her glass from behind the makeshift shield of slowly melting rust against the now burning hot cobblestones.
Flitter continued to fight admirably, her singed scales making her furious dance of speed all the more ferocious. But they had forgotten they were on uneven ground. The Overtaken blasted another torrent of flame at the Fleetfoot dragon who nimbly dodged and sprung onto another mount of junk only for her claws to slip against the seesaw of scalding metal. She tumbled to the ground as the molten jaw of the Overtaken grabbed her with its mouth by the scruff of her neck and threw her into her awaiting Agar.
Flitter slammed into the mountain of junk just inches above Charmers head. Copper springs, metal bolts and desecrated insides of toasters, fridges and even a lamp coiled its way around the young dragon weakly trying to stay upright. Charmer screamed aloud, wordlessly begging for her dragon to get up as tears sprang from her eyes, before she unleashed her contraption on the foul beast.
The Overtaken had no time to dodge as it was pelted by bullets of hot glass, screws and wires whirring on some kind of conveyor belt cannon. The main base was made from glass and was surrounded by a shell of twisted metal and half welded together with the remnants of molten slag from her Trait. It was clumsily made and hastily fired bullets which were like raindrops against a raging inferno but it provided Charmer with enough time to dig out her dragon.
But just like Flitter before her, she couldn't avoid the Overtaken and its next attack.
Charmer braced for the end, holding her dragon close as she awaited the gut wrenching words of failure. But it never came. The flames soared overhead as Flitter had resized quicker than Nivara had ever seen, letting out a blast of sheer cold wind to redirect the flame and the Overtaken veering off course. Fiero stumbled down the slick, boiling pile of molten metal now mostly disintegrated by its numerous attacks as Nivara's mist struggled to stay intact against the Fleetfoot dragons Blast Breath. But it was enough.
The Overtaken lashed out at the considerably weakened dragon, jamming a claw into her windpipe to stop the blast as Flitter bit down hard to release herself, fleeing the scene as quickly as possible. All Charmer could do was watch and yell out in outrage for not being able to finish him off while her dragon dragged her onto her back and up into the air, shrinking rapidly as she did so. The Overtaken let off one last blast of fire as it narrowly clipped Flitter's wings just as they reached the end of the arena. They crashed clumsily a few metres away from Nivara's table, covered in dirt but alive. It the eyes of the Terratwist, they had just managed to pass. But in the eyes of Charmer herself, they had failed miserably.
"What the hell kind of test was that!" Charmer said, swearing angrily despite the crowds displeasure at such a scene.
They were a mix of emotions, a tumultuous mess of horror, awe, fear and anger suppressed in abject shock that such an event could not only happen but to an honorary Svalbard with a bad attitude. Nivara avoided looking at the crowd, deciding to focus her sights on the wild pair set in front of her. Charmer was fuming, attempting to approach Nivara while still being drained from the sheer effort it took to complete her Terratwist.
"This was a test that the Throneholder deemed worthy. You passed. Well done." Nivara announced, her fake delight in such an outcome convinced the crowd immediately.
"Bullshit."
Nivara held back a snarl as the nobles voiced their outrage all the more, the representatives trying to hold back their angry dragons. Nivara didn't blame them. Charmer had basically spat in everyone's faces for calling their Regent such a foul term. They may have had their own agendas and opinions of her but if you piss off one dragon, you piss off all of them.
Flitter was exhausted but still attempted to hold her hot headed Agar away from harassing the person who was supposed to be her superior.
Even the Outsiders were stunned at the outcome, Celtic warily shuffling over towards the Sand Wraith twins to inquire 'what in Laia's name was going on.' Nivara couldn't help but be mildly amused by the sight in front of her, a teen acting like a dragon and a dragon acting as her mother. Charmer's perfectly styled hair was now a smoking mess of a bedraggled nest and singed ends which were still alight with tufts of flame yet here she was, acting as if she were more than just simple nobility.
"You changed the difficulty of that test just because of me, didn't you? You could have killed me!" Charmer said, continuing her tirade despite her predicament.
Nivara was halfway through stifling a yawn when she heard the statement, her Trait causing the storm to flare with all her might. She had barely realised she had stood up, toppling her chair to the ground as she clung to her mist for support. Leaning against the table she reached for the goblet of spiked water only for it to freeze instantly at her touch. She let out a frustrated huff before deciding to abandon the niceties and focus on what she did best.
Nivara didn't know whether Master Shatter was delusional or simply blind to her nieces outrageous behavior but she couldn't help but look forward to the outcome of this fiasco. It seemed that taking this child prodigy down a peg or three was going to be her priority and pleasure to do so.
"Don't flatter yourself, kid."
Nivara heard a loud snort from one of the Soundbooms only to erupt into raucous laughter echoing about the arena. Charmers face went redder and redder, refusing to back down over such a basic act of embarrassment. The Mist Maiden hid her eye roll under her cowl, grabbing her drink before it could freeze over and took a large gulp and refilled it with her Trait for the third time that day.
"Everyone else's was something simple like a cave or a forest but no! I ended up with a pile of useless crap to work with against an insane fire demon!"
Charmer wasn't going to go down easy and Nivara wasn't in the mood to call her forces to escort a twelve year old out of the premises. It would be much easier to allow the young girl to say as she pleased only to pay for it dearly later on. Who knew what kind of money Svalbard would pay for such a cover up? Whatever the reason, Nivara no longer cared about playing nice.
With a sharp laugh, a flick of her wrist and a large amount of Trait, Nivara shut down the Terratwist for good, shortening the distance between the bandstands and stepped away from the security of her table before clearing a small section of it and sat on the fully furnished wood without a care in the world.
It seemed this stupid girl with a brain of a sieve didn't know the first thing about keeping her thoughts to herself. She was about to find out why they had decided to name her the Unyielding Regent of Opalis. The coux had provided her with a voice and now she was going to use it.
"That's funny. Truly it is. You are comparing something that you couldn't possibly have seen because you arrived late. You had no recollection of the rules or how to act yet you just recalled the last two tests like you were right where you were supposed to be. Unless you somehow did see it and chose to arrive late?"
Charmer's righteous anger fizzled out as she realised her own slip up. Nivara had to fight the urge to smirk, the young girl still trying to think of a suitable excuse. Either way, her Fleetfoot dragon would catch the lie like a cat in a trap and yelp in pain. If not, Flitter would blurt out the truth for her, unable to take the pain for much longer.
"I-I...I guessed, that's all. It's obvious from their Traits what environment you would have used for them. It's the same for every test based on the opposite Trait."
Nivara sighed, looking away as Flitter yelped, the crowd sending up a volley of disapproval at such a poor lie. At least she knew this contestant didn't take Silvertongue but she could see the appeal in such bias bravado. Her goals easily aligned with Domino but Nivara doubted she had convinced a girl slightly older than her who couldn't keep her trap shut. But if she didn't quell that misplaced arrogance soon who knew what kind of mischief the two could cook up side by side. But to build a person up she first had to knock Charmer down.
"Even without my dragon I can tell how bad you are at lying. My exact words to explain the test were 'adaptable terrains and unavoidable situations.' A Truant like this one, powerful as it is counts as an unavoidable situation, is it not?"
The young age of the next generation of Traited never ceased to amaze her but with bad role models to influence them, Nivara couldn't help but pity their social standings. Traited should be at least sixteen before becoming an apprentice but with the way the world was at this very moment, Nivara had no choice but to comply to Ethros' wishes and give anyone old enough to fill out the form a chance to prove themselves. It rid them of their future for one of death and disaster and Nivara would never forgive those who saw that as a suitable law to put into place even without a war to fight in.
"But the terrain didn't change! It was useless from the start!" Charmer continued to argue, causing Nivara to fight back the urge to freeze her mouth shut just to be down with her.
"It did change. You noticed it too late, I'm afraid." Nivara said, forcing herself to put some sympathy in her voice.
"How-"
Nivara interrupted her with a raised hand, commanding the rowdy room to be silent once again. Things were getting nowhere. Everyone was fed up of this whelp and her whiny voice but at the end of the day she was still a kid, a kid who demanded to be heard but a kid nonetheless. Svalbard or not, Charmer had provided her with the perfect opportunity to showcase how resourceful her Terratwist and Trait could be.
Summoning her grimoire beside her, Nivara allowed her mist to form one large screen almost like a large sheet of shimmering glass. Conjuring the memory from only a few moments ago she created a pared down version of the Memory Weave she had used to convince Ethros of the intruders involvement.
"There was a simple solution to combat the heat. The cobblestones around the junkyard were wet for a reason. Had you looked up from your hiding place you would have realised the water pipe leading right underneath the Overtaken." Nivara explained, zooming in on the different section of her own personal mini screen.
The Memory Weave showed a close up of a cowering Charmer being protected by her Agar, the sound of a shrieking roar being silenced by Nivara's commands only to focus in on the pipe just a few metres above them. It was broken in places and sent a small cascade of water onto the stonework only to hiss in indignation before reluctantly turning to steam due to the Overtaken and its immense heat.
"There was one above you too thanks to the water wheel behind you. A simple blast from your dragon or any of the objects around you would have shifted it loose and the Overtaken would have been taken out instantly."
The screen changed to show the water wheel to the right of the pair, stopped short by a small cluster of poles and a collection of rusted down hooks, chains and locks which were jammed around the pegs of the wheel. They were flimsy and because of the heat they began to warp and melt, causing the wheel to turn and trickle a small bit of water to erupt from the pipes dug underneath and above the junkyard.
"That's...that's just coincidence!" Charmer exclaimed, attempting to persuade the crowd and herself.
"No. The terrains I design are never that small minded." Nivara said, shutting her down once again.
"The things you called a pile of useless junk were stacked in a way that was easily accessible to you but you dove straight into the middle of it without looking around first. Your Creatist Trait could have easily mimicked a workable version but you decided to have a minion do your dirty work. You wasted time and energy searching only to allow the heat to increase to the point where your Trait and surroundings were practically unusable and decided to blame anyone but yourself."
"Blame? Didn't you hear me? I just said the test was rigged!"
"Rigged or not you willingly allowed your dragon to risk its own life just to make a contraption that barely worked even if you were outnumbered. It was only when your Agar tried to perform an act of self sacrifice of all things did you wake up and realise that being an Excelliar is not a game!"
Nivara slammed her hands against the table, barely noticing the icy sheen that extinguished her mist screen. Once again her anger had gotten the better of her. She felt as if all her energy had gone into spouting those words at the duo, barely noticing how loud her voice had gotten until the prolonged silence slammed into her ears, a forgotten memory resurfaced along with her grimoire.
Flitter was close to tears while her Agar visibly shook with anger, still refusing to quell the fire that ran through her veins. If she were a dragon then Nivara was sure Charmer would have burnt her with an inch of her life for her remarks. But Charmer was her responsibility. She had yet to realise that. Her Agar didn't react badly to a single word her partner spoke which not only meant that she was telling the truth but that she truly believed in what she was saying. It was madness.
The crowd was stunned to silence, unsure of how to react to such a brazen debate, Charmer fully prepared to start the argument again only to be stopped by Nivara's raised hand. The young Glass Traited gaped in shock as she clenched her fists in annoyance while Nivara took another drink, forgetting all about the Silvertongue still buzzing in her system and downed it in one go, leaving nothing more in the goblet only to distill it with mist.
"The creature you crossed exists in our world right at this very moment and it is far more capable than a simple demon. It is the next stage of Truancy, an Overtaken and has been ignored in the Undercity for far too long." Nivara said, her tone lessening to more of a concerned mother than a demanding dictator.
Charmer scoffed, folding her arms in indignation.
"So? What does that have to do with me?"
Nivara bit her tongue in a vain attempt to suppress her irritation, digging her nails into the grain of the wood and attempted to reiterate her point more for her own sanity than anyone else's.
"There is a large possibility that any apprenticed Traited will be stationed in Pelt, Axis or Beggars End and that is what your terrain in the Terratwist depicts. Just like the two before you, if you cannot attempt to handle the worst situations this world has to offer, how do you expect to help your Master in the easier tasks?"
Charmer looked as if her brain had malfunctioned, stuttering intelligibly as if she'd never heard such common sense before.
"My Trait will always prevail!"
Nivara noted the hesitation and took ahold of the situation as quickly as she could, taking a deep breath before changing her tactics to a harsher tone for the final spurt. It was the only way she'd guarantee to get through someone as overly confident and arrogant as her. Part of her hated to do it but her last response was the final nail in the coffin. No mercy. Not any more. Not to anyone.
"Obviously not otherwise you wouldn't be in this pointless debate. Maybe if you watched your fellow competitors actions instead of having your Agar hide in the stands and relay the information for you then maybe you would have noticed your mistakes without me pointing them out for you. If you want to be an Excelliar then this kind of situation is your future. You should be thankful your Agar had enough common sense to drag you out of there otherwise I would have failed you seconds afterwards."
With those words, Charmer's righteous flame was reignited and Nivara fought back the urge to grin. She had her right where she needed her to be.
"How dare you...I am the niece of-
Nivara vaulted herself off the table and planted her feet on the soft ground, her cloak billowing behind her as she stood her ground against any who questioned her.
"I, am the Regent of Excelliar and despite the passing grade you've received, you failed to realise that the person you strived to impress was not any of your heroes, nobility or peers...it was me and me alone."
Charmer couldn't respond, her face crumpled in horror as she finally realised the damage she had done to herself and to her chances at achieving her dream. They had been sullied by her own two hands, her own words and the person she had accused of her own flaws.
"Now wait for your results with whatever shred of dignity you have left and then get out of my sight."