Twist of Fate

Chapter 25: Rainylands

A/N: I feel conflicted about this chapter...but I dont know why...anyway, I hope you like it!

The third round began exactly at the stroke of noon. Our break, lasting over half an hour, was spent leisurely eating lunch and drinking tea provided by the Headmaster. While we ate, all of the teams who were defeated went to the seats with the other students, or the infirmary, and their tents were cleared away, leaving only four. The final twenty participants of the Team Tournament.

We all gathered outside when the Headmaster called, anticipation running high, excitement brimming, and auras flaring. Now that I was attuned to my own aura, I tried to restrain it as I felt the strong auras radiating from the men around me. As expected of the final four, they were impressive, though you'd think they'd have more restraint. Even the Select's, who's auras gathered in one place put theirs to shame, even while holding back, raised a brow at their unrestricted excitement.

Headmaster Kaelon smiled endearingly, like an adoring parent watching their child. "I've selected the next field," he said, and the omniscius oculus, which were completely white, suddenly glowed and images of thick, nearly opaque mist appeared. "The third round will occur in the Rainylands!"

I whistled intune with Kei at the view before us. It was a forest that could possibly rival the Amazon with huge trees around the same size as the Carnivorous Forest's. Though, unlike the Carnivorous forest, the whole forest wasn't visible. A thick fog of white covered the forest from edge to edge completely. Layer upon layer rendered everything invisible. Meaning, when matches occurred, low visibility would make it that much harder. Clearly, in the coming battles, the Headmaster's gifts would need to be put to use.

Rolen chuckled with anticipation at the sight before us. "This'll be fun. We'll be fighting practically blind."

Kei laughed with him happily. "That just makes it even more fun. Don't you think it's a worthy field for the semifinals?"
"Don't waste time talking," Issa interrupted. "Our match is about to begin."

The instructor assigned to the third round, a man with long white hair despite looking like he was in his twenties, accompanied us and our opponent to the Rainylands. The forest was completely silent as we entered, I didn't mind much as I stared at our surroundings in awe. The air was thick with mist, blocking the sun out from above. Even with the low visibility level, my eyes took in the beauty in full. All around us was a shocking variety if flowers, plants, and insects I'd never seen before on earth. The beauty wasn't solely in the vast diversity in flowers, there were also hundreds of small glistening ponds around us and even a rather large lake.

The place was more like a jungle, I realized, as my eyes widened to take in the tangle of twisting vines going all the way up the layers of treetops. Even without the thick cloud of mist, the dense canopy blocked every ray of light from touching the ground. Wide, thin leaves, small thick leaves, sharp, jagged-edged leaves, and long, curved leaves fanned out, twining gorgeously to create an inpentrable roof. The leaves grew from thick, dark branches extending over five feet. The taller the trees, the thicker the branches and the more chances for finding a place to watch everything, though the higher they went, the less visible that became. The mist would most likely render climbing useless...

"Are our roles the same?" Velero asked when we reached our flag, semi-hidden by large blue flowers. "The same as the last round?"

Issa thought about for a moment. "Yes. And this time I want you to pin a stone on the the ones you pass as well, regardless of whether or not they're in a group. Last time, one of them slipped away unawares."