Chapter 144
As soon as Rayne heard that Atticus was participating in the tournament, he felt as though the gods had decided to interfere with his life once again.
It almost felt intentional like the gods had moved the circles of his fate again to create some entertainment for them.
Unfortunately, he barely had time to process the information.
The halfgar behind the counter had already finished reading the registration form, and the moment the creature's eyes landed on Rayne's surname, the entire conversation shifted in a completely different direction.
As it turned out, the Fraysers were apparently infamous amongst halfgars as well.
Rayne honestly wasn't surprised.
The rebellion was still fresh in everyone's mind, but he just hadn't expected the halfgar eyes to shine as he looked at him almost as if the creature was looking at long lost gold.
Fortunately, Bran managed to steer the conversation away before it became an interrogation.
The old scout quickly redirected the discussion toward tournament rules while Rayne stood silent in the back. After that, the group did their best to leave before the halfgar could ask any more questions about Rayne.
Once outside, they began making their way back toward the longhouse.
The entire walk passed with conversation about the tournament.
Bran thanked Rayne more than once for agreeing to participate, while Jason seemed increasingly excited with every passing minute. Kesh and Nate spent most of the journey discussing the Crimson Guard, whether their reputation was actually deserved, and how much of a threat they could be in the tournament with Heins adding his opinion once in a while.
At some point, Rayne decided that it was better for them to know more about his personal relationship with House Arkala and what had happened with the Crimson Guard and him.
He explained that Atticus was his cousin from his father's side, then before they could take that in, he told them about how the guard had treated him while they had dragged him to the Magister’s office.
The reactions were immediate.
As it turned out, both Nate and Kesh had somehow forgotten that Rayne was technically noble-born.
Jason found the entire situation amusing that he was getting a chance to fight Atticus like this. Heins also immediately started talking about how the tournament might be the perfect place to teach a lesson to the Crimson Guard.
Rayne wasn't nearly as confident.
The tournament contained over a dozen participants. There was no guarantee he would ever fight Atticus. Still, considering his luck recently, he wasn't willing to dismiss the possibility either.
The rest of the day passed peacefully with the group having gotten a good amount of topics to talk over dinner.
But while they did so, Bran spent part of the evening discussing strategy and preparation with him and Jason.
Unfortunately, tournament organizers wouldn't reveal match pairings until shortly before the first match. According to Bran, it was done intentionally to build anticipation and prevent people from specifically preparing for a single opponent.
That meant everyone needed to prepare for everything. At the time, Rayne hadn't thought much of it.
The next morning changed that.
A groan escaped him as Rayne shoved his shield forward and braced himself.
Dozens of arrows crashed against it.
The impacts rattled through his arm and shoulder immediately. Most of the dulled arrows shattered against the reinforced edge of the shield or bounced away harmlessly, but the force behind them still made him wince as he held his ground.
Beside him, Jason was driven back a step and he let out a curse. Even the large soldier's shield shook under the constant assault.
Another volley followed almost immediately.
Bran stood several dozen meters away with a group of borrowed soldiers gathered around him.
The old man had somehow convinced them to assist with their training, and they were more than happy to rain down arrows at the both of them.
Rayne was beginning to suspect bribery had been involved, but he had no time to focus on that.
“Don't stop moving!” Bran shouted.
The soldiers immediately released another volley. Practice arrows filled the air.
Rayne raised his shield higher.
Several arrows struck directly in front of him. One clipped his shoulder. Another glanced off his helmet.
Before he could push forward again, movement appeared from the corner of his eye.
Kesh darted forward from the side and swung a wooden blade toward Rayne's ribs who immediately pushed his shield to the side to intercept it.
But rather than push on, Kesh immediately retreated. A second later, Heins appeared from another direction with his spear.
Then Nate came from right behind him, but Jason blocked his attack and before they could do anything about him, Kesh struck again.
The three men moved around them constantly, never staying still long enough for Rayne or Jason to properly engage them.
They weren't trying to injure them, they were just trying to overwhelm them, and it was working, especially with the arrows flying at them constantly.
Arrows came from one direction. Attacks came from another.
That was the pattern. It wouldn't have been hard to handle with [War Pulse]. He would have been able to see everything before it hit him, but Bran had specifically told him to not use any of his mana skills since this was an exercise to train their mental strength more than anything.
The whole training wasn't to make their skills better. It was to get them used to being overwhelmed.
After all, in the arena, it wouldn't be like a normal battlefield. There would be crowds, cheers and shouting of all kinds. There would be a hundred things looking for their attention, but they would have to focus.
This training was to prepare for that.
Rayne was actually better in it because of his training with Casper who also did her best to overwhelm him, but it was clear that Jason wasn't used to it. He grew frustrated with every attack he missed to block because his attention was taken by the arrows.
They weren't in a shield wall, hence he had to learn how to fight more individually.
Actually, Jason wasn't bad at that.
The large soldier had always been built for direct combat. With his size and strength, he was the strongest fighter in the entire party other than Rayne himself when it came to standing in front of an enemy and trading blows. The problem wasn't that he lacked skill. It was that he wasn't used to not knowing where his attention should be focused.
Every few seconds something else demanded it.
An arrow volley would descend from above, forcing him to raise his shield, only for Kesh to immediately attack from the side. Then before he could deal with the swordsman, Heins would thrust forward with his spear while Nate looked for an opening somewhere else. By the time Jason handled one threat, another was already waiting for him.
Without somebody beside him constantly giving orders and helping him focus, his attention drifted far too much, and every time it did, an opening appeared.
Rayne noticed several arrows striking Jason simply because the man had become frustrated by Kesh dancing around him.
Part of him wanted to tell Jason to calm down and focus on one thing at a time, but Bran had specifically forbidden that. For this exercise, Rayne wasn't a party leader. He was just another soldier standing beside him, which meant Jason had to figure things out himself.
So instead of helping, Rayne focused entirely on surviving.
Another volley descended from above and crashed against his shield. The impacts rattled through his arm, but by now he was already paying less attention to the arrows themselves and more attention to the timing behind them.
At first the exercise had felt completely chaotic.
Arrows came from one direction. Attacks came from another. Kesh, Nate, and Heins never stayed still for more than a few seconds, constantly circling around them while looking for weaknesses.
But the longer the exercise continued, the more Rayne started noticing patterns.
The soldiers couldn't release arrows whenever the others were too close. No matter how good they were, there was always a chance somebody would get hit accidentally. That meant every volley happened during the brief moments when Nate, Kesh, and Heins had disengaged.
Once Rayne realized that, the entire exercise changed.
The arrows were arriving roughly every eight seconds.
In between those eight seconds came the attacks.
A volley, then Kesh. A volley, then Heins. A volley, then Nate.
The order changed constantly, but the rhythm remained almost identical.
After figuring that out, the training became far easier to endure.
Rayne stopped reacting to every threat individually and instead focused on the pattern itself. His shield handled the arrows while his weapon redirected attacks coming from the sides. He never attempted to strike back because Bran had specifically ordered him not to. The purpose wasn't winning. It was learning how to remain calm when multiple threats demanded attention at once.
Meanwhile, Jason was having a much harder time.
The larger soldier grew more frustrated with every passing minute, and eventually that frustration caught up to him.
Heins managed to jab him across the shoulder with a wooden spear before immediately retreating. Jason spun around to chase after him without thinking, exposing himself for only a moment.
Unfortunately, a moment was all it took.
A fresh volley immediately descended from above.
Several arrows struck him at once.
The impacts staggered him, and before he could recover, Kesh and Nate attacked from opposite sides. Jason tried to deal with both at the same time, lost his footing, and ended up sprawling onto the dirt while the others laughed shamelessly.
Unfortunately for Rayne, the exercise didn't end there.
If anything, it became worse.
Now all three of them focused entirely on him while the archers continued firing. Even then, Rayne didn't panic. The pattern hadn't changed, and as long as it remained the same, he could deal with it.
So he simply endured.
His shield rose and fell. His feet shifted constantly across the dirt. Every attack was blocked, redirected, or avoided while the arrows continued striking against his shield.
Eventually, Bran finally raised a hand and the training came to an end.
The soldiers stopped firing. Nate lowered his weapon. Kesh stepped back. Even Heins looked relieved that he could finally rest.
Rayne immediately dropped his shield and flexed his hands. His fingers had gone numb from the constant impacts, while his shoulders felt as though somebody had spent the morning hitting them with a hammer.
The training had just gone on for too long.
Beside him, Jason pushed himself off the ground finally before looking over with a huff.
“How did you do it?” he asked. “I got frustrated just standing there defending.”
Rayne rolled one shoulder before answering. “You need to be a bit patient. I think that's the other thing Bran wanted to teach us.”
Jason frowned at that. “You don't get that much time in an actual battle.”
Before Rayne could respond, Bran had already started walking toward them. The old man stopped a few steps away before folding his arms across his chest.
“Yes, you don't,” he replied. “But you certainly need this kind of training before our first match. You're gonna get more frustrated during that, especially if you're up against someone you aren't able to harm even a little bit.”
Jason frowned as he rubbed at his sore shoulder. “Then we won't win either way.”
Bran shook his head. “There's always a way to win other than brute strength.”
Jason let out a long sigh. “Sure, if you say so.” He took a drink from his waterskin before looking at Bran. “But aren't you going to join in too?" You're going to be there fighting alongside us.”
Bran simply shrugged. “I've had enough training with patience. I have my greys to show for that.”
Jason snorted. “Sounds like an excuse.”
The old man only smiled and offered no response.
That seemed to take most of the fight out of the larger man. Jason muttered something under his breath before moving towards a bench on the side. He dropped onto it and immediately drank more water, looking far too tired to continue arguing.
The rest of the party followed his example.
Kesh and Heins settled down nearby while Nate stretched his legs out and leaned back against a training dummy. The borrowed soldiers gathered their equipment and slowly dispersed now that their role in the training exercise was finished.
For a few minutes, the training field became quiet.
Rayne lowered himself onto the dirt as well, grateful for the short break. His arms still felt heavy from holding the shield up for so long.
A moment later, Bran walked over and stopped beside him. “You did better than I expected.”
Rayne smiled slightly. “This is nothing compared to training with Casper. You should get Jason to take part in it. Even he'll cry.”
That earned a laugh from Bran. “I'd rather not have him broken before the tournament.”
Rayne nodded, and simply closed his eyes as silence stretched between the two of them.
Honestly, a part of him still wasn't sure how ready he felt for the tournament.
He was confident in his own abilities. The tournament had a level fifty limit, which meant nobody stronger than that could participate. On paper, there would be people with higher levels than him, but Rayne knew levels weren't everything.
In actual combat, he was far stronger than his status suggested. Still, status wasn't the only thing that mattered in this world.
The possibility of facing Atticus also remained firmly planted in the back of his mind.
Part of him wanted that fight. Part of him wanted revenge.
Yet every time he thought about it, caution followed close behind. Atticus wasn't just another noble. He was a member of the Crimson Guard and the heir of House Arkala. Fighting him would not be as simple as fighting Fredrick, and even he had some skills.
And beyond that, there were still other things bothering him. What if—
“Enough resting.”
Bran's voice interrupted his thoughts. Rayne opened his eyes and looked around.
The old man had already folded his arms across his chest and now stood in the centre of the field.
“Let's get back to training.”
A loud groan immediately came from across the field.
Jason looked as though someone had informed him the world was ending.
Bran pointed at him. “Don't worry. I'll be taking part this time.”
The big soldier's expression brightened instantly and he got up. Bran nodded at him and then turned toward Rayne.
“Get up. We can't have the spellsword of the party resting too long.”
Rayne pushed himself back to his feet too.
As he stretched and rolled his shoulders, the worries occupying his mind slowly faded away as he picked up his shield once more.
The tournament was coming whether he liked it or not. Atticus might be waiting for him, or he might not.
Either way, there was no point worrying about it now.
As the others rose around him and another round of training began, only one thought remained in Rayne's mind.
Whatever happened in the arena, he was going to give it everything he had.
***
Author's note - Do you all want me to post chapters for a new book I'm working on? But once it launches, it won't be on this account as it's a co write like Magus Reborn/Dao of Money.