>>6306210You stare at Butch, doing your best to hide your surprise upon the bandit’s revelation that he’d been assisted by the mastermind behind the Cult of the Serpent. Marek had boasted that he’d had a man on the inside in this competition. One who would champion his cause, ensuring that Tartarus was opened on behalf of the Cult. You’d expected whoever it was to have been deep undercover, biding his time until the opportune moment. You never expected that he would just up and reveal himself in exchange for some suspect yogurt, the likes of which you’d assumed poisoned.
“Heh, you stunned or something, man?” Butch asks you. “Don’t worry. I may be a hero, but I always remember those who do right by me. When I’m ruling this joint, I’ll be sure to pay you back ten times over. You’ll have enough yogurt for a lifetime.”
>“That’s good to know. You really are a hero, Butch.”You saw no point in explaining to Butch who Marek really was. He might not be the brightest amongst the bunch here, but you’d seen enough of him earlier to know he definitely ranked amongst the strongest. Better to have him on your side for now. The last thing you needed was this hulking freak of a man coming at you with his Hero’s Relic when you least needed it. There would be time to deal with Butch later, and that would be in the Top 8. Assuming he made it that far, anyway. You didn’t think he answered a single question on the written exam.
“Attention class!” Stelios announces at the top of his lungs. The Yasha stands up, carrying a stack of exams in his hands. “Grading has now finished! That means no more talking! I’ll be passing these back to you so that you may review. If you have any complaints about your score, too bad! You should have studied harder, fools! But don’t despair. Those of you with a poor grade may yet have a chance to improve your standing.”
Stelios begins patrolling up and down the aisles of the “classroom” as he hands back each exam to their competitor. You wait with bated breath as he draws closer towards you. Tests were never your thing. Frankly, they made you more uneasy than being on the battlefield did. Still, thanks to the endless blathering of your friends such as Cassius and Nadia, you knew there was no way you didn’t at least get some questions right. Stelios places your paper facedown on your desk, and you eagerly snatch it up and turn it over. Elation surges through your body as you find at the very top, the number 9 has been written in red ink, accompanied by a cruelly drawn smiley face, and some scrawling that reads “Nice Job!”
