Chapter 94. Semifinals
Rhys found his name easily. There were only two fields left; each of the semifinals took place with all the stadium’s attention, with no other Tier fights going on at the same time. Earlier this morning, the Tier 1 semifinals had occurred; now it was the Tier 2, and after them would be Tier 3. The stone platform before him was pristine, which came as a bit of a shock, because Rhys’s battles had shattered several platforms, let alone the other battlers who had even less care for collateral damage than Rhys did. Looking closer, the platform was made up of squares, and each square was a block of stone, so it wasn’t that they had complete platforms, but instead, these final two were cobbled together from the surviving pieces from the previous platforms.
“Sure hope the Academy owns a quarry,” Rhys muttered to himself.
“The Empire owns many,” his opponent announced proudly. Laurent stepped forward, his white hair snapping on the breeze. He wore it in a ponytail, like Rhys wore his hair, but where Rhys’s hair was a frazzled mess barely pinched in place by a ribbon only to immediately spring back to the width of his head, Laurent’s was like a ribbon, narrow and silky, flowing as one solid piece when the wind played with it.
Bit of a waste on such a boring design, Rhys thought, eying Laurent’s strict obedience to the Empire’s white military uniform.
Abruptly, Laurent frowned. He looked Rhys up and down. “Something about you… your aura, perhaps… is familiar. Have we met?”
Rhys stiffened. Haha, nope! You and me? Never! Definitely didn’t go on a date with you as my crossdressing persona Rina! He coughed and quickly changed the subject. “Your hair. I’ve noticed many of the Empire’s soldiers wear white hair, but for the most part, the students’ hair is naturally colored, the ordinary hodgepodge of brown, blond, black and red. Why is that?”
Laurent puffed out his chest, proud to discuss his home country. “So you’ve noticed! Yes, you’re right. When we graduate from the military academy as fully-fledged soldiers of the Empire, we are granted the honor of our white hair, to match our beautiful country’s purity! As the student president and my fellow students’ commanding officer, who also happens to have a few commendable moments of service himself,” Laurent turned a little, to emphasize the badges and ribbons on his chest. They were few and constrained, but doubtlessly hard-earned. Rhys had often found that the less shiny the medals were, the more the soldier had worked to earn them. “I was granted the honor of being granted the permission to bear white hair early.”
“Is that a magical technique, then? It’d be a pain in the ass to keep bleaching everyone’s hair,” Rhys commented.
Laurent nodded. “Permanent and irreversible magic! Until your hair is white, you are still permitted to back out of the military, return your core, and resume your life as a mortal. White hair is a signal of our dedication to the Empire! As someone deeply committed to the Empire, I didn’t hesitate to take up the guise when asked, and now I bear the glorious white hair you see before you today.”
Rhys nodded slowly, once more reminded of the terror of the Empire. His only option was to become a soldier, or else return to mortal life? Die in the fleeting blink of an eye, with no ability to influence anyone or anything until his short life ran out? To say the Empress brooked no dissent was to state it lightly. Truly, how terrifying.
Maybe Az is right. Maybe I should secure an exit route. But at the same time, Rhys knew it was hopeless. He would make a dive to get onto Bast’s ship, whatever that was, then attempt escape on foot. Better to be tracked down one-on-one and chance it against the Empire’s dragnet, than attract attention to himself flying away on a ship.
But probably I’ll be captured. He sighed. His future didn’t look bright, and yet, he hadn’t given up yet. Even if he ended up under the Empire’s control, he wasn’t afraid. His path wasn’t something so fragile that it would fade when the regime changed overhead. The Empire might be efficient and ruthless, but it would still generate trash. And where there was trash, there was a route ahead for Rhys.