Skill Hunter -Kill Monsters, Acquire Skills, Ascend to the Highest Rank!

Ike emerged from the door he'd shattered, Mag in his arms. The second they left the trial, Mag startled awake. He looked around, grabbing at Ike's shoulders, then kicked free. Flipping in midair, he landed on his feet, then stared around, wary. "What happened? Where'd you take me?"

"Out of the trial. You really did fall asleep, birdbrain," Ike teased him gently.

"I did not! Lies!" Mag snarled, puffing his shoulders like a bird. His hair fluffed all around his head, as if it were a ruff. "How dare you accuse this king of such uncouth behavior!"

"Mag, do you know what uncouth means?"

Mag tossed his head. His hair de-fluffed, returning to its usual flat state. "Of course I do. It means naughty."

Ike opened his mouth, then closed it. He shrugged. "Close enough, honestly."

"Hey, hey, hey! Are you double dipping for extra points? Trying to beat me?" Wisp demanded, hurtling over the hills toward them, Shawn on her shoulder.

Ike shook his head at Shawn. "Couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you?"

Shawn shrugged back at him. "What can I say? I had to inform the whole team about our leader's decisions. It's only fair, right?"

Ike had nothing to say to that, so he just nodded. After a second, he added. "It's a trait of a true king to have underlings who share his wisdom."

"What? What the hell is this true king stuff?" Wisp demanded, annoyed.

Smirking, Ike tipped his head toward Rufus. "Some amongst us seem to think they are the righteous king. Some get annoyed every time I bring it up."

Wisp glanced at Rufus. She snorted, then nodded, immediately pulling a 360 on her previous attitude. "Yeah, yeah. True king qualities, for sure. Unlike certain other contestants."

"You get it," Ike said, nodding.

"I have the truest king qualities of everyone here! I am a king, ergo, everyone else here is lacking!" Mag announced loudly, putting his hands on his hips.

"That's right, kid. You tell 'em," Ike said. He patted Mag's head.

A few of the candidates looked over at Mag's declaration. Scar met Ike's eyes and chuckled. Rufus glared death at Mag, but his advisors leaned in, waving him away. He pointed back at the trial, but the old men shook their heads. Vi snorted and rolled her eyes, but otherwise didn't react.

Suspicious, Rufus, suspicious, Ike thought, though there was no particular reasoning this time. He'd started to work himself into the state where he found everything Rufus did suspicious. He lifted his eyes, scanning the whole field of contestants. Even if he looked elsewhere, though, he couldn't find someone as suspicious as Rufus.

I'll keep my eyes open, but I've seen no reason not to continue suspecting Rufus.

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Though at the same time, the other two high-finishing teams were suspicious, too. Scar's knowing winks and nudges suggested she knew more about this than she was letting on. And not only that, but she'd pointed out the other contestant, Vi, who was, per her introduction, an assassin. He didn't know what an assassin would do with a super powerful ultimate skill, but on the other hand, what wouldn't an assassin do with a super powerful ultimate skill? Still, as much as Vi being an assassin made her suspicious, as assassins were known for scheming and moving in the shadows, it also made Scar more suspicious for pointing her out, and therefore deliberately moving suspicions away from herself and toward Vi.

Scar is suspicious person number two, and Vi is number three, Ike decided. Rufus still sat at slot one, but mostly because he was arrogant and almost in first place. He was annoying, therefore, he was the most deserving of Ike's suspicion. Scar had actively tried to move suspicion off of her, and Vi was just a member of a suspicious profession.

I think some people might put Scar into slot one, but on the other hand, she's just winking knowingly. I can do that, and I know nothing. Rufus is actually seizing the heart of the trials and breaking through them with foreknowledge. He didn't do too hot at this trial, but then, maybe no one ever figured out the truth of this trial. Maybe he did the best he could with foreknowledge, but it still wasn't enough to overcome a feral spider like Wisp's lack of foresight.

Ike snorted. Or maybe he should stop patting himself on the back, and wait for the results to come out. He hadn't been immediately teleported out of the trial, so it seemed like his actions weren't illegal… unless the trial was waiting to show results first before expelling him. Yeah. I definitely shouldn't get too excited about this until we see the results.

At last, the final door opened. A ragged contestant stumbled out, panting heavily, his hair a mess. He looked around, lost. A few other weak-looking mages drew close to him, offering comfort. With a teammate finishing that late, they knew they were out of the running.

Overhead, lights shimmered. The results appeared in the sky, the same as before. Blue letters spelled out in the sky, showing everyone's ranking in the trial.

In number one, Wisp's name appeared in bold. A few ranks down, but still in the top ten, Ike was listed in the ranks. Shawn was also in the top twenties, and the names kept appearing. One after another, they scrolled down, with no sign of Mag.

Ike raised his brows. He pinched his chin, gazing at the list like a scholar reviewed a test. He nodded a few times, then sighed. "You know, I didn't consider that."

"Consider what?" Wisp asked.

He pointed at the list. There were now names that he knew had emerged from the door after Mag, just based on the conversations he'd heard around him. "That I wouldn't be disqualified, but Mag would."

"What? Me? Disqualified? They're not permitted to disqualify a king," Mag snapped, annoyed. His hair started to puff up again.

"You did fail the trial," Wisp pointed out.

"That trial was bullshit! It was discriminatory against birds!"

"So you do admit you fall asleep when it gets dark around you."

Mag rounded on her. "Who doesn't? Everyone sleeps at night."

"Yeah, but I can choose not to when someone puts a bucket on my head," she replied, smirking.

"Wisp, come on. We're all about to be disqualified if Mag doesn't get any points," Ike pointed out.

Mag bristled. "It's not my fault they can't recognize the qualities of a king."

"Like falling asleep in the darkness?"

Ike sighed. "Wisp."

She put her hands up, conceding the point.

Names scrolled by. At last, the end of the list appeared. The list of numbered names on the table ended, and a few names appeared below the list, prepended by a dash instead of a number. Mag's name was among them.

Ike sighed. Shawn shook his head.

"I took first place, and you took first place last challenge. We might still be able to pull through," Wisp pointed out optimistically.

Ike raised his brows. "It's possible." The other teams who'd given up hope had very clearly not made first place on either of the previous trials. Even with a zero score, it was still possible that his and Wisp's number one scores would outweigh their loss in terms of Mag's score.

But it was also possible that one disqualification disqualified the whole team. Ike watched the list, waiting for a verdict.

The mysterious voice sounded again. "The team who scored the highest was…"