Mythshaper

There were only a few contestants in the Agility test, and a third of them seemed to have a gift related to Agility. Since no external equipment was allowed, only the speedster augmenters had any chance of winning in this category, while many of the other augmenters wisely chose to partake in other categories.

Perhaps someone like Melina, with high proficiency in Wind and Levitation, would be able to compete, though she was unlikely to fare well closer to the ground. Win or lose, I wished to participate in it as well. No matter how many Haste rune imprints I stacked, it would not last me more than two laps, where the contestants had to complete ten laps.

Looking at their momentum, I believed I could only pass the first round, with no chance of winning against a true speedster.

For the elimination round, there were no hurdles in the Agility test, letting Priam showcase the full capacity of his gift without failing. Among the two dozen competitors in his group, he came first, though there were a couple finishing closely behind. Only the young boy who swindled our money barely made it in time to pass the first round. He tumbled over and lay down on the floor, huffing exaggeratedly.

I sniffed, easily seeing through his act.

"Isn't Priam only at the second step of Noble Class?" Diana asked. "Is there no one at a higher stage than him in the group?"

There surely were, and more than a couple, including the swindler. It was just that Priam's gift was top-tier even among Speedsters, and most others that passed were not too inclined to show off from the first round.

Every game had an element of preparation. While absolute power reigned supreme, there was nothing absolute in Noble Class. The more you could hide your abilities and recognise the depth of your competitors, the better you could plan ahead to your advantage. Even the smallest facts could differ a winner from a loser, even if their capacity balanced each other out.

In the days preceding the competition, my mind had been so preoccupied with advancing the Demon Hunter Honour that I paid it no mind. But it looked like I needed to change that.

"Something on your mind?" Eran asked, after answering Diana.

"I need to collect information on my competitors," I muttered before eyeing my parents. Mum could very well point out the shapers with surprising depth, while Father could read aura like a book.

"You should start with the local gazette," Mum said, gesturing towards a couple with a whole bunch of colourful newspapers unfolded on their lap. "They seemed to have published a special edition especially for the competition. You won't find anything critical, but it can give you a general direction of whom to look at."

I nodded and then added as a reminder, "I think I can move to the fifth step already."

The Demon Hunter Honour evolution was insufficient to pave a whole step in the Noble Class, but it elevated my essence seed and Aspects enough to carry out further binding with [Vigil of Protection].

"You can attempt it when we get home," Mum agreed.

Once I reached the fifth step, I would be more at ease. With the Prime Seed, my fifth step could almost be equal to a regular sixth-step Noble Class, not that there were many sixth-step shapers among my competitors. Even the Merriwind heir I fought yesterday was at the third step. There were only a handful of Augmenters a step away from Prestigious Class, but Augmenters supposedly had an easier path early on.

Even still, Shapers had nothing to complain about, with the higher lifespan and a slightly smoother path to Fabled Class compared to common Augmenters.

There were still some other queries I wanted to verify as I advanced towards Prestigious Class, though most of them might not be relevant for my competitions. Either way, I had three trustworthy sources in my parents and Master Kaius to get my answers, though the latter seemed to have disappeared into the wind right after delivering me the blade. If not him, Aunt Emi would be coming in a couple of days. I could always ask her about the Shaper path.

Finishing my rumination, we marched off the stand before dividing from the adults to move our own way, whereas my parents were to attend a meeting with a local alchemist. After much searching around, Mum had finally found an alchemist sufficiently capable to meet her requirement.

Mum wanted me to be there with her to meet the Master Alchemist, but I declined, accompanying my friends instead. But I would surely be there during the process. Only a blighted fool would give up the chance of watching masters of two fields create something unbelievable.

Apart from the prefectural competition, there were other things to watch during the festival. There had been multiple musicals, plays, and stage performances going on every evening. Regrettably, I had to refrain from any such distractions even though I had a great interest in many of them.

Priam joined us, accompanied by Aleya, who only joined today after taking care of her personal business. Priam exchanged winning gestures, slapping palms, grinning from ear to ear. Aleya covertly passed a pouch, saying it was this month's due.

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I was about to stow the pouch into the blessed stone, but the magistratus's daughter challenged me with a look, saying, "Count it first."

She gave me no room to wiggle out, so I could only duly oblige. There were exactly ten gold crowns inside, each one equal to eight regular gold Leafs.

"Satisfied?" I asked, finally storing it in an inner pocket.

She nodded. "Your trust warms my heart, but it's always better to be open with wealth, even among friends."

There was some truth to her words.

"You might not care about a couple of missing coins, but it would set a bad precedent between us. Even if the issue is as simple as a counting error."

I had not finished speaking when an arm coiled over my shoulder.

"Did you watch how fast I was?" Priam asked. Despite the grin and confident air he radiated, it was evident through his aura alone that he was most relieved that his performance was not bad.

It seemed he had not noticed his competition yet. Should I tell him?

In my silence, Diana chimed jovially, "You were so fast I could only see a blur."

Then someone moved from my rear out of nowhere. "Of course, of course," an unfamiliar voice echoed, "I knew you were such an expert the first time I swindled. I mean, the first time we met."

I turned to find an olive-skinned boy, exactly the youth who swindled our wealth with the cup shuffling game. He noticed my gaze and revealed a jovial smile in my direction, his eyes widening, perhaps recognising the big fat cow among our group. Well, I did lose the most.

I considered the lanky youth. He was almost as tall as Eran, beating me by half a foot, with spindle limbs and an angular, gaunt face. His eyes were bright blue, scanning our group as I scrutinised him.

"It's you," Eran said with a dark look. "Want to swindle more Leaf out of us?"

"If you're giving away, I won't say no," the boy grinned back, "although my shop got busted after some patricians complained to the authority."

"How much have you swindled from them?"

"Its not swindling, I won fair and square," he coughed when everyone shot him a scathing glare. "It's only a tiny amount, nothing that will burn a hole in their pocket," he paused. "I'm Leaf, by the way."

"Like the leaves in a tree?" Eran asked.

"No," the swindler smiled, twirling a copper coin between his fingers, "like a Gold Leaf."

"Good name," Eran snorted.

"I know. I gave it myself."

"Enough with your bullshit," Priam snorted, slapping him on the shoulder. "When are you going to return our money?"

Leaf scrunched his nose. "There might be a problem in that. You see, I may have already spent it all. But no matter. I can help you recover all the Leafs and perhaps even some more."

"You cheat!" Priam yowled. "You said you'll give it all back. I should have known better than to believe a swindler."

"Believe me, you all will earn back more than you lost," Leaf said in the most earnest tone, his gaze meeting all of us. "Just listen to me, I have a lot of experience in running these games and"

"You want us to gamble more?" Eran asked, his expression darkening.

"Um, not more. Only a tiny amount."

"You think we are all big suckers," I glared at the youth.

"No, only a generous amount." Leaf coughed and corrected quickly, "No, what I wanted to say is Generous. Yes, rich and generous with a big heart, only comparable to Saint Silverheart himself."

I shot him an odd glance. Funny, someone is using my own grandfather's name to swindle me.

Leaf did not seem to notice my strange look or the correlation, continuing, "I'm sure you can spare a measly few coins. I assure you, on my very name, you'll get back what you lost and even earn a large surplus."

I believed that was something a swindler would say.

But of course, not everyone was able to see through Leaf. "What exactly are you talking about?" Priam asked.

"It's better if I show you," Leaf said, leading out of the colosseum.

"Priam, I won't give you any more coins to gamble on," Aleya said, admonishing.

"Give me a break already. Didn't you see how well I performed?"

Aleya sighed, looking around at us, well, more like at me, for help. I was unsure how I could assist when her brother would not even listen to her.

"I need to buy a gazette," I said, turning in the other direction.

Leaf appeared in a blur beside me. "The prefecture competition edition, isn't it? Let's go, I'll get you one. Consider it an apology for the other day."

I sized up the youth and the earnest gaze he was shooting me. Despite that, I could not help but feel that he was up to no good.

"I can also help you size your competition," Leaf continued, before whispering into my ear. "I have a connection to a very reliable intelligence dealer. They can help you get more than what you are looking for."

I gave him another look, deliberating. Hmm, it did not hurt much to see. It was not as though he could force me to gamble.

Under Leaf's lead, we stumbled from the main street to a narrow blue stone lane, moving left and right as the pathway grew narrower and narrower until we could only move in line, shoulders brushing chipped walls.

"That's it," Aleya said in her most commanding tone, "we are not going any further."

She did not have to accompany us, but being the only adult among the group, she seemed to have taken it upon herself to ensure that we did not involve ourselves in any shady businesses.

"It's just ahead," Leaf said. "It's all proper business, you have nothing to worry."

She sniffed when Leaf stopped before a rather prosperous tavern named Lucky Drinker. Although it was deep within the more impoverished region, it was still within the inner city, not a place that quite tolerated nefarious business. At least not openly.

"Come in," Leaf invited. "Don't be a stranger."

Even though it was early afternoon, and the masses were busy with the festival, the tavern was already half full, with various odours, sweet, sour, or pungent, wafting about. More than a few pairs of eyes darted at our arrival, sizing up our forms or the equipment we wore.

"Don't worry about them," Leaf said, moving past the aisle of segmented booths which provided the barest privacy for the patrons. "Come this way."

He paused only when the tavern keeper appeared, a plump woman with dyed brown hair and fair skin.

"Leafy dear, you're early today," she said. "Don't tell me you're already out of the competition."

"Not yet," the youth said with a big smile. "I'm taking them to the betting room."

The woman spared each one of us a look before mumbling something with Leaf. With my attributes, I should have been able to listen in, not to mention the proximity. However, that was not the case. Before I figured out the exact mechanism allowing it, Leaf was already standing before us.

"Normally, only two people were allowed at once in the chamber, but I called in a big favour with Rosie here to get all of you to enter together. No need to thank me."

I rolled my eyes, while Priam snorted, "Nobody is intending to."