The Ranch

Carnival (5)

After the confrontation with Five, Tih and the others grab their prize money and head their separate ways. Major Jax has no plans to milk the game of it's money like Five did. He probably couldn't even if he wanted to. His win this time could have been a fluke for all he knows, he just got very lucky that the other horses seemed out of sorts.

Tih walks around the bustling carnival. He spots someone familiar high up in the air. His Parkour Instructor, Henri, is walking across a thin rope with nimble ease.

Tih swerves through the crowd to reach the front and get a good look at the game. There's two identical courses side-by-side. The course seems to be based off a circus and includes jumping through hoops, trapeze,  and tightrope walking, among other things.

Instructor Henri seems to have been hired for this game, as the goal is to compete against and beat him.

Whoever reaches the end of the end of the course first wins. There's a rule that soldiers can only play games three times, so they can't get used to movements and quickly improve their times.

Honestly, three attempts is already pushing it. Almost all of the people on this island have quick adaption skills. Some more talented people only need to see something once to memorize its patterns. Everyone on this island is a monster in their own right, there's just different levels of how monstrous they are.

Instructor Henri for example. Although all the matches seem like a close call, Instructor Henri has not lost a single one.

Others might not notice but Tih has already observed Instructor Henri during their Parkour training. He's not going all out. Instructor Henri is matching his pace to his opponent each race.

Sometimes he takes the lead but trips himself up, letting his opponent take the lead, but in the end they still lose to Henri.

This kind of push and pull tactic make people feel like they can beat him. The closeness at which they finish makes them want to

continue competing, paying for all three attempts.

In this game, the main prize is given out after beating Instructor Henri twice. They have to win two out of their three chances, but even those that have lost two rounds pay for a third. Their pride won't let them back down. All of the people competing against Instructor Henri are in a combat occupation. The course is a physical game, after all.

Another person loses and Henri takes a water break. He finds a towel to wipe down his sweat. The course isn't easy by any means, but Instructor Henri has to continue competing against people with no breaks. Luckily, they've hired another person for this game, so he can take every other day off.

Instructor Henri is obviously tired, but he's still wearing his trademark smile. He spots one of his students in the crowd and waves him over," Tih."

Tih walks over to the platform Instructor Henri is standing on. Henri smiles," Are You Enjoying The Carnival?"

Tih nods. There's a lot of new things.

Instructor Henri chats with Tih as he catches his breath and waits for his next opponent.

"Have You Played Any-"

"Isn't this too easy? He's a mere green and brown rank." Instructor Henri's cut off by a buff man who steps out of the crowd. A shiny red star is pinned on his military suit. This man is very proud of his star, its often cleaned and shined. He has a right to be. There might only be about forty known red-star instructors.

"Yo, wait, is that who I think it is?"

"Yeah! It's Instructor Leonard!"

"Since when was he here? I didn't even notice his presence."

"So cool!"

It's obvious by the crowds reaction that this man has a favorable reputation. No one has been able to beat Henri, but now this new strong instructor wants to challenge him. Of course the crowd is going to be on the underdog's side. It doesn't help that Instructor Henri isn't very well-known and most people don't have an impression or him yet.

Being cut off, Instructor Henri's smile seems to darken slightly," A Child Should Learn Manners. It Seems I'll Have To Take On The Job Myself."

"What did you say?!" Instructor Leonard snarls.

"Let's Compete So I Can Beat Some Manners Into You." Henri shows a professional smile.

Leonard snorts in contempt," Hurry up and start, fool."

Instructor Henri doesn't say anything but his eyes become thinner as his smile widens. They take their places at the starting line. A bells rings and they take off.

They smoothly pass multiple obstacles unhindered. Their speed is twice as fast than all the other participants' average.

Leonard tries to shake Instructor Henri off but they stay tied. The courses look almost like a mirror image of each other as the two pass through the same places at the same time.

They reach the tightrope walk at the same time and slow down significantly. Tih looks at Instructor Henri's calm smile. Then he looks over to Leonard's frustrated appearance. He watches the man sneakily pull something out of his pocket and fling it towards Instructor Henri.

The small object is too small and fast to be seen with the naked eye, but somehow has enough force to mess with Henri's balance. The sudden unbalance catches Instructor Henri by surprise, he falls.

As everything in the carnival needs to be on an extreme level, there is no net underneath the tightrope to catch people. The crowd watches as he plummets. The fall is almost two stories high and the ground is a combination of dirt and rock paths.

Henri drops towards the hard surface. He lands on his feet, bends forward, and does three front rolls to mitigate the force. He skids a foot before coming to a stop. His smile is on the verge of cracking, but it's still being maintained.

Tih walks over to Instructor Henri wondering why he hasn't stood up yet. Tih himself could easily jump down that height without worry.

Instructor Henri has been staring at his foot for a while now. When he notice Tih, he says," To Get A Sprain From Such A Small Fall, It Seems I've Become An Old Man!" He laughs to himself as he struggles to stand up by himself. The rest of his body was also quite bruised from the rolls.

Tih stands next to Instructor Henri and lifts him up after realizing he can't stand on his own. He pulls the full grown man by his waist and needs to lift his arms above his head for Instructor Henri to stand.

Instructor Henri's smile turns kind and slightly pain-filled," Thank you." When he was lifted up, some of the pain radiated with his movements. He uses Tih as a support and hobbles over to a place to sit.

At this time, Instructor Leonard comes over with a triumphant expression after finishing the race on his own. "It seems you're not all you're cracked up to be. I'm sorry, who was going to show who manners?"

The crowd watches on quietly, slightly dissatisfied with Instructor Leonard's attitude, but also unfazed as it's an optional perk that comes with the status.