Chapter 28
Belong Here, My Ass
Merm broke the tension with a snap of his fingers, and shelves and cabinets appeared around the perimeter of the platform.
He roared with laughter. “Let’s get on with the fun then!”
Adriel gave a, “Whoop!”
But then a shout of, “Wait!” came from the doorway.
“Sorry! I’m late, but I’m here.” The girl with the brilliant manicure and obsidian hair came jogging in to stand beside me at the end of the line. “Had a meeting with Ezra.”
“Welp, there goes my even pairing.” Merm shrugged his big shoulders. “But always glad to have you, Farren! We’ll probably just let Soren do his own thing then. I’d be cruel to make anyone partner with him anyway.”
I snorted, and Adriel cackled. We both shot the other a disgusted look for accidentally agreeing on something.
“Nice to formally meet you,” Farren whispered as the giant manfish swiveled toward a standing chest and tossed strange objects at us. “Been wanting to introduce myself, but I’m on probation and not supposed to get into trouble right now. Been lying low.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” I whispered. “Been a fan since you attacked the Blond Banshee.”
That earned me a chuckle, but it also made me take my eyes off Merm and his ball-tossing.
A small black orb came flying toward me, and I put out both hands to catch it, but the orb had plans of its own and smacked the floor, only to roll on behind me.
I cursed to myself and ran to retrieve it.
“These will help you find the weapon that fits you best,” Merm said. “So follow the orb to get yours and then start training. I want you all battle-ready before we head for the NTG. Before the real action starts.”
I shook my orb once I was back between Salah and Farren and watched as gray smoke swirled inside.
“NTG?” I asked them quietly enough so the others wouldn’t hear.
“Neutral Training Grounds,” Salah said. Then, “Yahoo!”
Her orb had turned bright blue with white text floating around in it. She went straight for a cabinet filled with pistols.
“You’re in for a real treat, Rapunzel,” Farren said with a grin as she examined her orb, now turning that same shade of blue. “NTG is a total blast. I’ve heard you like action, and you’ll definitely get some there.”
I watched my orb as the smoke swirled around. Then I watched Farren run off to a large chest of what looked like ropes.
Everyone went off picking weapons, and I was standing there still shaking my orb like an idiot when Matthias came over to me with a spear made of…water?
“What’s wrong?” he asked, with his golden-boy smile.
I held out my orb. “I really am a Tower idiot, apparently, because I don’t know what this is supposed to tell me.”
Matthias took the orb and turned it around in one palm, narrowing his ocean-blue eyes and pursing his full, pink lips before walking over to Merm.
Everyone else seemed oblivious to my struggles as they began testing their weapons.
Except Soren.
He watched Matthias and Merm with narrowed, jet-black eyes.
The huge merman looked as though he was examining a bead, rolling the orb between his thumb and forefinger. Then he wriggled toward me.
Swish, swish.
He tried to keep his voice low and get as close as he could without knocking me over. But everyone in the room obviously heard it.
“I’m not sure why the orb isn’t working for you,” Merm said. “Er, perhaps just pick something you’re comfortable using. I’ve heard you like the bow.”
I nodded.
Of course, my orb doesn’t work.
Anything to make me even more of an outcast.
Belong here, my ass.
I headed for a rack of bows and chose one that looked like a longbow made of crystal with puffs of clouds at the top and bottom. The quiver was filled with arrows that shone bright and yellow.
I squinted at the tiny label above the bow mount.
Sunbow
Finally, my time to show off. After looking like an incompetent imbecile to them about everything else, I knew there was no way that I could fail this.
Unless this bow shoots backwards.
I rolled my eyes but hesitated for half a breath before placing an arrow and pulling back.
The arrow swam past Marigold’s head—taking off a strand of hair with it on its way—and then also had the chance to narrowly avoid Adriel’s ugly face (though the heat of the arrow might have left a small burn scar, nothing in comparison to what he already sported) before plunging into a bullseye clear across the platform.
So easy that it’s laughable.
I was embarrassed that this was their first impression of my skills, because it was like asking a marathon runner to walk across the room.
But the effect of the lightning bolt that sprang from the arrow and electrified the target in a brief show of fireworks was cool.
Salah and Farren’s cheers rang out before Marigold realized a chunk of her hair had been singed off and started screeching about it. Adriel’s face morphed from open-mouthed shock to an angry snarl, and he rubbed the burn the arrow gifted him once the pain set in.
“Wow,” Matthias crooned. “Guess you don’t need an orb to tell you what you’re good at it.”
“Of course not,” I shrugged, but my grin was nothing close to nonchalant.
Soren didn’t even bother looking at the commotion and instead continued polishing a small knife.
“Looks like we’ll need more challenging targets,” Merm roared in laughter.
When he snapped his crusty fingers this time, an array of targets off in the distance beyond where the platform ended started moving about, and for the first time since setting foot on the Ground Floor, a full smile formed in all the features of my face.
Maybe I could stay the full month after all.
“We’ll spend the rest of the afternoon practicing with these weapons,” Merm announced. “Show me you deserve dinner.”
The others—except Soren—griped, but I was already eyeballing a target moving at a speed equivalent to Round 10 at Artemis Archery.
After a week of floundering in the dark, I was about to hit my stride and prove myself.
Half an hour later, Merm started making rounds. He spent time with each of us, critiquing and offering rough-edged encouragement.
My clothes were soaked through with sweat by the time Merm got to Marigold, who was training next to me.
“Weak,” he announced, loud enough for everyone to hear as she plunged a dagger into the chest of a mannequin. “But accurate. You’ll need more force behind that thrust to break through a joint in the armor. And aim better.”
His booming voice carried as he turned to survey the room. “Always practice your weaknesses more than your strengths. Well-rounded is harder to kill. Isn’t that right, Soren?”
Soren didn’t respond. The ball he released from the sling he’d been working with splattered against a dummy and melted it into an acidic puddle. Yet, he didn’t even glance back at Merm.
“Alright, Chosen One,” Merm said, turning to me with a grin that split his massive face. “Show me why your name is the biggest one on that wall out there.”
I groused under my breath, not at all interested in demonstrating that.
Proving I wasn’t someone Marigold should mess with? That I could get behind.
I turned toward what would probably be a Round 12 at the range. The target was a small figurine with a leering face that grinned back at me.
I picked up the bow and aimed. These targets could somehow anticipate my movements and vanish. I used my peripheral vision first, then released in a sweeping motion toward the figurine to catch it off guard. Without a scope, this target was closer to a Round 20.
“Powerful,” Merm roared with laughter as the arrow slammed into the target on the first shot, sparks flying and the scent of burnt skin sizzling in the air. “Those poor boggins will be complaining to me later about your abuse for sure. Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”
Everyone stared.
“It’s a sport,” I muttered.
“A sport?” Merm bellowed again. “Well, you are certainly powerful. The Greeks would have been proud. Looks like you might not need Soren to protect you as much as he claims, eh?”
I could’ve sworn I heard a low growl from Soren at that, but he didn’t even glance my way.
The rest of the afternoon wore on at an excruciating pace. Just when I thought my sweat glands would give out and my biceps would shred themselves in half, Merm’s booming voice saved me from certain death by exhaustion.
“Break for dinner!”
Everyone let out a half-hearted cheer and dropped whatever they had in their hands to head toward the exit.
“Not so fast,” Merm said as he blocked our escape. “You’ll eat your meal here and then have two more hours of training before you go straight to your dorms.”
Not a mouth in the room held back from bellyaching. Merm shook with laughter.
We broke off into two groups and sat in silence, scarfing down the food Merm had ordered.
Farren sat with Salah and me, while the other four clustered as far away as they could. What little we said was murmured and inconsequential.
After the two additional hours of practice, I barely managed to shower before crashing.
The next three days went as Merm had promised. We woke up and had breakfast together in Classroom #761. Then we sat through hours of lectures on the creatures we might encounter both in and out of The Tower. I didn’t care about any of that.
I only stopped reading the books I’d discreetly borrowed from the library—in the middle of the night—to pay attention to the lectures when someone mentioned The Tower, Mods, Administrators, or the Council.
Lunch was in Training Room R again. Then we trained until dinner.
About halfway through Day Two’s training, Merm had us practice hand-to-hand combat.
Thankfully, I was partnered with Salah.
Unthankfully, I still sucked at it. Even after all that time with Veda.
Farren and Marigold got to go another round, rehashing the cafeteria brawl in a whirlwind of hair-pulling and scratches. Every time Merm’s back was turned, Salah and I would take a break and spectate while those two hurled each other around.
“Thanks for not yanking my scalp off,” I whispered to Salah and got a giggle in reply.
Adriel and Matthias were locked in a brutal match, both hitting hard enough to break something, but I didn’t care to watch. Salah, on the other hand, was mightily distracted by their fights. Her wandering attention was the only reason I got any blows in against her.
Soren disappeared during the hand-to-hand, but Merm didn’t seem to care. It wasn’t like he was particularly engaged with any of the other training either. I mean, he was there, but he didn’t talk or interact with anyone at all.
What was the point of his being on the team anyway at this point? He clearly had no intention of being an active member and didn’t have a bone in his body ready to eke out a measure of teamwork.
Marigold clung to him during meals, batting her lashes and laughing at his jokes, but he didn’t seem to notice.
He didn’t seem to notice much of anything. Not once did he glance my way, and I felt stupid for the number of times I checked to make sure of that.
Dinner.
Two more hours of training.
Bed.
Wake up and start over.
That’s how it was supposed to go.
But I’d been setting an alarm to wake in the middle of the night and sneak into the library.
I hunted for anything and everything that could help me take down Azazel. I memorized his entire lineage. Some branches weren’t even public knowledge in The Tower.
I learned that Prisca’s uncle was a member of the Guild of Sharona, and Azazel had him executed for it.
Wow. Great husband. Serial cheater and uncle-killer.
She’s so dumb for being with that bastard that she deserves to die, too.
I read about the structure of The Tower and plans for expansion beyond the 900K level. Everyone knew it was happening, but it was still hush-hush. According to one source, they planned to call the new area the Heavens, which would house a horde of evil beings who would worship the Founder.
Azazel’s name appeared in a list of ‘prominent evil beings’ who would reside there.
Now, I just had to figure out how to get in.
At least I wasn’t having any nightmares. In fact, I wasn’t dreaming at all. I crashed hard and deep as soon as I got back to my bed after my middle-of-the-night studies.
Day Three looked identical to Day Two, and I assumed Day Four would be no different.
But maybe it didn’t turn out that way because on Day Four, I decided to wear the necklace I’d left untouched on my bedside table for days.
Why?
Who knew.
But since my life was already a series of weird coincidences, why not throw that one in the mix, too?
Regardless of the reason…the result was the same.
Day Four of group training would be the day I die.