The Challenger

by Harlon Banks

  "It's not a normal wolf skull because the noticeable features like the saggital crest, zygomatic arch and even the canines and carnassial teeth are drawn rather robust and enlarged." She explained, Jonath side-eyeing her with a deadpan stunned expression. He didn't understand nearly anything she just said... Girl must be an anatomy nut as much as she was a shy type. Thankfully her pointing made the words at least somewhat understandable. She was basically pointing out how it was drawn much more robust built than what a typical wolf skull would normally be drawn as. Still, that raises the question of why there's a werewolf skull on this paper surrounded by that written script.

  Jonath had forgotten Kayda was still talking during his thinking. Snapping back to attention only when she said something that made his eyes widen more than ever.

  "It might be a rare summoning contract? Where'd you find it?" She asked glancing up at him. Jonath staring at the paper then back to her with a surprised look across his pale features. A summoning contract? Did she mean like, he was holding an actual item to summon a real werewolf?

  "I got it off a job I did before coming here..." The amnesic answered, keeping details out-of-the-way as he took the paper back and pushed it into his pocket. "Didn't really think too much about it till right before you came by. A summoning contract though? You mean I can summon this thing?" He asked. Kayda slowly nodding to him, a bit confused he didn't know that but not about to make any remark on it. Preferring to simply explain to him in her calm voice instead.

  "Mhmm! Summons are basically soul familiars to Nightborn. The contracts are created by killing the life equivalent of the animal you want to have and crystallizing their fading life energy into a seal, usually written on papers like these. The stronger the beast the more cryptic the seal. It would explain the writing surrounding the picture; this one must have been an above average one of its species." She shrugged tapping her chin in thought. Jonath listened rather interested, he'd never heard of summoning. It sounded pretty cool. Eyes glancing back down to the paper he'd cant his head to the side in thought, focusing on the skull drawn in black ink. A werewolf summon...

  "How do I summon it?" He asked looking back at her. Kayde looking his way again with stormy hues before humming in thought. If Jonath could learn how to summon this thing himself maybe he could learn more about the script without having to rely on other people. It was a start!

  "I've never summoned anything myself... I do know however that you need to have a summoning crest to sync with the seals on the paper." She recalled while gazing up at the ceiling. Jonath furrowing a brow, a summoning crest? That didn't sound like it would be difficult to get at all, not at all... He sighed to himself, hating having to ask...

  "How do I get a summoning crest? What is that even anyway?"

  "Oh! A summoning crest is easy to get! Well, a basic one anyway." She shrugged at him with palms briefly leveled with her shoulders. "They go by levels for the safety of the user. Each summoning contract if professionally crafted has a seal ranking requirement written on the page and a seal typing. The rankings go from beginner, adept, expert, master and then divine tier while the typing are based on the classification of the summon. There's bestial, angelic, demonic, draconian, spectre and humanoid. Judging by this one though it's easy to tell this is a bestial class summon." She paused giving him a minute to process such a large amount of information in such a little time. Kayda despite being shy and timid seemed to enjoy being helpful when she found herself truly comfortable around someone. Jonath couldn't help but like seeing this side of her especially since it was helpful to him.

  "Oh there's also some elemental typing to some of the summons too! Like such as if you summoned a draconian summon like a wyvern or dragon the summon could breathe fire or ice. The systems really cool when you look into it, it's like one big strategy manual." She chuckled with a nod. Jonath nodded back in agreement, this did sound like some balancing mechanic of a video game what with tier rankings and classes and all. Oh well, not like he were complaining either way. With a folding of the paper and stashing it back away the amnesic looked down the hall with a yawn.

  "Okay so we have the rest of the day to relax till the E-Chips go active in our phones. You want to help me get a summoning crest? See if I can get this thing out of the seal?" He asked. Truth be told if she didn't want to he wouldn't have minded, it was a werewolf after all he was trying to conjure. Kayde blinked at his request, then rather surprisingly shook her head at him. That was rather unexpected, but at the same time not unexpected.

  "Sorry..." She said apologetically. "I don't think summons are allowed to be used on the facility grounds, especially ones of the bestial class. They're known for being extremely violent and unpredictable on their first summoning. A lot of times the summoner has to defeat and subjugate them too before they yield their power."

  Well shit, Jonath wished she would have told him that earlier and he wouldn't have asked. This certainly threw a wrench in his plans. Damn...

  "Figures." He sighed with an eye-roll. "Ah well, not like the contracts going anywhere so I'll just hold on to it until I'm ready to summon it. Still though I'd like to know how I get a summoning crest." As he said this he turned his back to the door again and leaned on it while looking at her with hands idled in pockets. Kayde nodding at him, a bit relieved he didn't get mad at her denial of assisting him with something she deemed rather dangerous. Hands reaching up to run fingers through her light grey hair she cleared her throat as pale lips parted to speak.

  "You can get a summoning crest from any magic oriented Group. I know the Archives Group in Luminous City has a guy that brands the crests on those who ask him for a small fee and some questions answered."

  Jonath grimaced at hearing that. Of course, he should have known the answer to this. He'd have to go back to Wren, it was the perfect bait. That sly old bastard was playing him like he were a chess piece. Kayda tilted her head, wondering if she said something that made him upset and was about to apologize when her phone rang in her shirt scaring the daylights out of her. The yelp she made causing the few Nightborn walking through the halls to turn their attention to her and Jonath. The amnesic promptly looking back at them all without any fear; the others soon going back to whatever it was they were doing. Kayda looked over her phone, another much softer mutter left her throat and she quickly looked up to Jonath.

  "I-I have to go! My grandfather is calling me. We were supposed to FaceTime over the computer so I could tell him how I'm doing so far!"

  Jonath couldn't help but chuckle at her words, that was rather cute. An understanding nod and he pulled his left hand from his pocket and have her the two finger salute farewell.

  "No problem, go do what you gotta do. We'll keep in touch, feel free to call or text me when you want." He said. Kayde nodding promptly and then turning away as she waved over the shoulder and smiled at him, phone still gripped in her hand.

  "Likewise! I'll see you around Jon!" She bid farewell and then quickly took off to exit the barracks and head back to her own. Jonath watching her leave with a content smile, she was a sweet person to talk to. That conversation was extremely helpful to him too, he knew most of what he needed to know about this contract now. All he needed now were the means to attain the reward in this summoning paper... He'd have to go see Wren one way or another now. There was no avoiding it. A snort, and he turned to enter his room again, figuring he'd just spend the rest of the day loafing around after all.

  The next day, when Jonath awoke there was a notification in his phone. The E-Chip had finally activated and everyone was to report to the field again.

  It was time to get to work.

  My Label's Better than Yours!

  The Challenger Chapter Forty-One: My Label's Better than Yours!

  Everyone had gathered back at the field, Jonath glancing about at all the Nightborn situated around him. Chatter going on as they all compared their labels with those they grew friendly with over their time here. A bit of chuckling superiority m
ixed in with sighs of relief and upset expressions everywhere he looked. Seemed the reactions were rather mixed all things considered. That was a bit of a shocker, he expected most to be at the least mid tier, to see so many who supposedly got low rankings though was kind of more than unsettling.

  Wait, Min only said one person had failed though. That could only mean that only one person here could have gotten the lowest label ranking, unless their failure meant they didn't get a label at all?

  His eyes cast around the crowd again looking for any reactions that were a bit more distraught than the rest. He hadn't bothered to look at his ranking yet, the lack of any significant despair from any of those around him though have him a sinking feeling in his stomach. What if he actually was the one who failed after all? No, he had to give himself some sense of credit. Sure he had only studied extensively about the world around him in that library for all of a few hours but the written test still didn't seem that difficult. If anything what concerned him was the fact he got one shot by Kelgard during their fight, he hoped that didn't cripple his evaluation.

  "What label did you get, pretty boy?" Melissa lightly squeezed Jonath's right shoulder as she passed him. Her feet pivoting to swing her body around to his front as she smirked tauntingly at him as if expecting a low result. Jonath simply stared right back with an unmoving gaze of his own, she wanted a negative reaction. He'd be damned if he indulged in her teasing the same way Kayda did, he wasn't that easy to taunt and goad. A chuckle from Melissa as she eased up on her goading tone and she pulled her phone from her pocket and flashed the screen at him. Jonath's eyes widening against his will as her lips creased into a superiority complex driven smile.

  She had a Black Label; her scores on the tests shown directly beneath the rectangular color bar. Damn near perfect on both accounts with little to be desired in either. Seeing this only made Jonath grow more reluctant to actually look at his own labeling, especially in front of this type of girl. Putting away her phone the cerulean blue-eyed girl winked at him and raised a finger to her lips. A secret gesture that jokingly asked him without words not to tell anybody her score as she turned and walked off with a confident swagger to her step. This girl really was a jackass, but at this point she had every right to be he guessed. She could back up her attitude, he was kind of jealous.

  "How the fuck I get the same label as you when you got your ass kicked you icy bastard!?" That all too familiar aggressive tone graced the silver-haired man's ears.

  The amnesic blinked looking over his shoulder to see Delaren irritated and pointing at Wrain with a vibrantly expressive scowl. His fiery red phone gripped tightly in his hand, dark smoke emanating from between his fingers around the device as he were tempted to just melt the entire thing in anger. Wrain staring back at him with a blank, disinterested expression before cyan eyes closed and he exhaled frost from pale lips. The two near same height men drawing attention from those immediately around them as the cryomancer replied with an almost exasperate sigh. As if he were explaining something for the nth time to a child.

  "I scored higher than you by a bit on the written test. I only lost my fight because of that Ylrah girl pulling a fast one on me as well while you only managed to hit a stalemate." He opened his eyes again with a condescending scoff, as if he were vaguely intending to provoke Delaren. The pyromaniac growled, a a distorted wave of heat blowing off his left arm when lashed it through the air in frustration.

  "Fuck out of here with that bullshit logic! Melissa was going to kick your ass regardless of whether you knew what she had up her sleeve or not!" He barked with a taunting grin of his own. Wrain narrowed his icy gaze as frost began to fume up off his exposed pale arms. Patches of ice creeping across the black outfit he donned as he took a step closer to Delaren in challenge.

  "How about I kick your ass and show you that you even being in the same ranking as me is bullshit then?" The messy cyan haired one growled stepping within a couple of feet of Delaren. Delaren giving a rather villainous smile of his own as he popped his neck and slammed his hands together causing a spark of heat.

  "You'll die trying." He stepped forward about to attack before two hands, a left and a right, belonging to two different people, a man and a woman, stopped both of them from getting closer to one another. The two men turning their gaze over to see Lee holding back Delaren with his left and Orath keeping Wrain away with her right. Lee seemed to have a habit of trying to stop confrontation, Jonath figured. This was the second time already he's held back Delaren from doing something rash. Though he never expected Orath to be the type to do so as well, guess they were twins through and through.

  "Please calm yourselves, we are in a crowded area and your fighting could hurt someone." Orath said softly, her fuchsia eyes looking at the ground with her waist length long, beautiful white hair threatening to cover away her left eye with its uneven hime-cut bangs. She was dressed in a white sleeveless turtleneck, leg contouring black pants and open toed black shoes with black arm warmers. "Especially considering both of you have powers that are heavily area of effect." she paused again now looking up at the slightly taller Wrain. The cryomancer calming down, and then nodding rather tamely as he relaxed and Orath lowered her hand from his chest. Something about her ghostly pale visage and eerily calm eyes soothed the soul; no wonder she was so effective at diffusing antagonism.

  Lee meanwhile didn't say anything, his calm, fuchsia hued stare towards Delaren supplementing his sister's words and making Delaren relax with a slight snort. Moving his hands to his pockets the pyromancer glanced over at Jonath whom he caught staring at them all. The amnesic blinking surprised at the sudden eye contact but keeping his cool all around with a slight nod of his head at them all. Lee, Orath and Wrain now mimicking Delaren's gaze as they looked upon him.

  "So what color ranking did you both get that's causing you to want to tear each other's throats out?" He asked nonchalant and approaching them to reduce any sudden awkwardness he'd gotten from such an on the spot moment. Thee snow-haired, pale skinned twins reaching down to pull from their pockets nigh identical white phones. The only difference being Lee's had a black trim around the casing that was barely noticeable. Screens lighting up as they showed him their results without much in the way of words. As expected, Jonath couldn't say he was surprised by what he saw.

  Both of them had ranked blue, the second highest after black. Although that confused him, didn't Lee at least beat Kayde rather easily?

  "We got blue because Orath stalemated Delaren and Kayda wasn't really much of a fighter, given how quickly she folded during our match." Lee as if having read his mind through his very vague facial expressions, answered his mental inquiry with a calm and relaxed tone. "I'll assume that these two got the same ranking considering they seem to be arguing about being tied over complaining." He gave a very slight chuckle of amusement that nearly went unnoticed as he put away his phone. The polar opposite elementals growling at each other while Orath slid her phone back into her left pocket. A hand running through pure white hued bangs as she closed her eyes briefly and spoke in a soft voice that almost came off as a whisper.

  "From what I've gathered only four people in all the Nightborn assembled here had gotten a Black Label. Melissa Ylrah and Kelgard Crimson are two of them." Orath commented glancing nowhere in particular among the crowd around them of chattering people. Jonath's stomach churned a bit, of course Kelgard got Black, why would he ever think he wouldn't? The way he handled Jonath in their fight and the implied intelligence he possessed finally came barren across the table. He was as good as everyone thought he was, without a doubt. Melissa was up there too, Jonath bet if Liariana was here she'd easily have been a Black Label ranked Nightborn too.

  And here he was, too scared to look at his own ranking off the E-Chip in his phone. As he fell silent and looked off to the side in slightly annoyed thought, Lee's next question quickly made him veer his attention back to the man. The short spiky white-haired one talking in a rather chill yet genuinely curi
ous tone.

  "What label did you get, Jonath? You're the only one who has said anything yet." When he said this the entire group tilted their heads at him, curiosity blatant. A bit of hesitation, and the amnesic finally decided to just say fuck it and pull out his smart phone. The label wasn't going to change and he would have to look at it sooner than later anyway; might as well stop being a little sissy and just show the world why don't he? Unlocking his phone and activating the app he awaited his loading results with slightly bated breath. Time to find out if he'd be the laughing-stock of the immediate group or not.

  The page loaded, and he turned screen away to show the group without looking himself first. His features staying as apathetic and indifferent to it as possible even though deep down he was tensed up to hear them (most likely Delaren) burst out laughing. The four Nightborn squinted and looked at the screen, each having varying reactions to what they had seen. Lee looked almost pleasantly surprised, Orath had a neutral expression, Wrain looked rather confused and bewildered and Delaren looked to be in complete disbelief.

  "How in the fuck did you get a Black label!?" The amber-eyed man scoffed now more pissed off than normal. "Yo this ranking system is bullshit, he lost his fight!" He threw his hands up and just turned to walk off while muttering something about this entire database being completely shit. Meanwhile Jonath actually seemed stunned for a moment, did he hear that right? He got a Black label? No way!?