Cyrus Solaris
I sprinted behind my cluster as we made our way back down our assigned path. Using my Gravity Well Minor ability, I carried sixty percent of the celestium, while my teammates carried the rest in buckets.
When I initially proposed the idea in the cave, it seemed doable because fewer gravitational waves were flowing into my psyche. But now, back in this gigantic manifestation of a jungle, I wished I hadn't.
Everything from vines swinging mindlessly to animals jumping into our path made it hard to focus on just holding the celestium.
But I did not waver. I channeled more cosmic energy into my brain to handle the increased workload.
Even that was a risky play. But in moments like this, risky was the only thing I could afford.
Uphead Nerena slowed down and turned towards us. Everyone stopped in their tracks.
"What's going on, Nerena?" Sora asked.
Nerena pulled out her holographic map.
"While I was out doing recon on the other groups, I also mapped out more of the jungle, and I found a shortcut that might save us some time."
Sora had a hesitant look.
"We don't know if that is allowed. It could very well be grounds for an instant failure of the exam." Sora said, looking directly at Simon.
She's playing it safe again.
Then Voen spoke up.
"Let's take it; we can use as much help as we can get."
"I agree; let's take it if it means less time out here," I said
Sora's face scrunched.
"Let's take a vote."
Voen, Nerena, and I voted for the shortcut, and Sora and Simon voted for the safe route.
Sora gritted her teeth.
"Lead the way, Nerena."
We followed Nerena as she led us up this building-sized root. Everyone suddenly skidded to a halt again. A second later, I realized why. The root ended abruptly, its ends splintered, as if something large had snapped it in two, leaving us standing at the end of a mossy cliff in a jungle, with a chasm separating us from the rest of our shortcut.
"What are we gonna do about this?" I asked Sora, my breath labored.
I watched her as she scanned the terrain, taking her time to come up with a plan.
I looked at the time on my astral globe.
She is moving too slow.
"Simon, do you have anything that can get across this gap safely to the other side?" I asked.
Simon rummaged through his utility belt and looked up with embarrassment.
"How could I not have prepared for that?" I caught him whispering to himself.
Then Sora turned to us, her hands fidgeting with a tassel on her belt, and her white hair frizzing up in the humidity.
"You guys remember what we did in the last midterm, in the second stage of the prison?"
"Yeah, the mattress joyride," Voen said.
Sora nodded, "So you see that giant branch above us?" She pointed.
I followed her finger and saw the thick, thorny branch hanging over the chasm before us.
Sora turned to Nerena, "I want you to latch onto it with your tentacles, then use the rest to swing us across to the other side."
"My tentacles won't reach that far, though," Nerena interjected.
Sora faced me.
"That's where Cyrus comes in. He can use his abilities to lift and propel you forward, then we'll use your momentum to swing across like a pendulum. Can you manage that?" she asked me.
I hesitated because I knew I was close to where the mental strain was starting to become too much.
Only one way to find out, Cy.
I nodded and began to lift Nerena and her bucket of celestium with my ability.
She took hold of the branch and did just as Sora asked.
First, I lifted Voen and his bucket to Nerena, and once she grabbed hold of him with her free tentacles, I used a Tidal Pull to swing them back as far as I could. Then I released them at the highest apex.
They swung over us at ghastly speed, creating a gust of wind that nearly caused me to drop a pile into the swamp.
My pulse raced, and my stomach nearly fell into the swamp as well.
Sora looked back at me.
"Is this too much for you?" Do you need us to carry more of the load?"
I nearly took her up on the offer. But I didn't trust the others not to mess up and lose the ore.
"I'm good. Let's get going; I'm trying to finish the exam first."
She nodded, and we performed the same task until it was time to retrieve Nerena from the branch.
She was having trouble creating enough momentum to swing herself over to our side.
I quickly looked around our surroundings.
Nothing is coming.
I dropped the piles on the flat mossy surface we stood on.
She is lucky she is useful. Otherwise, I would have just left her here. Honestly, it might have been faster."
"Nerena, let go, and I'll catch you."
Everyone turned toward me, staring as if I had suggested something insane.
"Do it now. We're losing precious time. I'll catch you."
Nerena hesitated for only a moment before her tentacles dissolved, and she began to plummet.
I closed my eyes and focused on her falling body. The faster she descended, the more distorted the space around her became. The increased curvature made it harder to manipulate the fold and successfully activate Gravity Well Minor.
But with only a little extra strain on my brain, I managed to stop her free fall and pull her back towards our level. Once she was within range, I used Tidal Pull to draw her closer, allowing her to grab hold of our side with her tentacles.
I let out a deep sigh once she was fully secured on our side, and my head began to spin.
Breathe, Cy, breathe; can't pass out now.
While I was taking in deep heaves of air, Nerena looked at me and gave a soft smile and a curt nod as she continued to walk down the path.
Dang, no thank you?
Sora let us gather ourselves for a few moments as she looked at Nerena's map, and Voen gave me a rhodisandra berry for my focus.
"Alright, we have about another thirty minutes of travel, and we will finish our exam," Sora said, handing the map back to Nerena.
She looked each of us in the eye.
"Let's get going."
Everyone returned to the formation Sora had arranged earlier, each carrying their designated amount of Celestium. Meanwhile, I activated Gravity Well Minor on the largest pile resting on the floor, lifting it from the ground and preparing to transport it with us.
Once they reached the desired height, I immediately felt the strain on my brain. I had never pushed my ability to this degree before. There had never been a reason to keep this much weight suspended while moving, and now I was regretting not testing my limits sooner.
But I couldn't wallow in it; we had a mission to finish.
Everyone ahead of me began sprinting again, clearing a runway for me to transport the rest of our ore safely.
I quickly followed behind.
As we navigated the enormous jungle, I was starting to feel good about our chances of being the first ones done, at least until Voen spoke up.
"Guys, I'm starting to hear some strange activity coming this way."
"You sure it's not just some jungle critters?" Simon asked.
Voen paused.
"I'm sure."
"What do you think it is?" Sora asked, looking over her shoulder as she continued to sprint forward.
Wait, could this be the creature I was looking for?
"I'm not sure, but I do know that six objects are approaching quickly."
Six? Wait, don't tell me…
"Simon, guard the flank," Sora yelled out.
Then all of a sudden, large vines shot out of the growth like bullets. Simon tried to jump and intercept them.
But right before my eyes, he tripped and fell flat on his face, and a vine wrapped around my ankle and threw me against a soggy tree, causing me to gasp and lose control of the ore.
My head wrung. My eyes darted everywhere, looking for the piles of ore that I dropped, but things got worse when six students came out of the tangled growth.
Sora, Nerena, and Voen recovered quickly and engaged the cheating students.
Simon, on the other hand, kept slipping in the mud as he tried to get away from a vine controlled by a girl with bronze skin and orange hair.
He's useless.
Two other students charged at me.
I pushed myself back onto my feet just as a lariat came swinging toward me. I ducked under it and rolled away, my eyes catching sight of my stress ball on the ground.
With a command, it rose into the air.
Using Tidal Push and Tidal Pull together, I sent the three-hundred-pound sphere flying in a wide arc, smashing into their chins and dropping them instantly.
I scanned the area and saw Voen and Nerena group up on one kid, while Sora sent a bolt of lightning at another.
Looks like they got it covered.
I started searching the jungle floor for the piles of Celestium that had been flung everywhere.
Simon called out my name as he was getting flung across the jungle.
Not my problem.
I focused in and locked onto the mass of the Celestium ore. This drastically reduced the time it took, and within a couple of minutes, I had gathered all the pieces back to me, floating around my body.
The task was once again making my brain ache.
I looked back at my cluster team, and everyone was starting to gain the upper hand in their matchups… Except for Simon.
"Cyrus, help!" Simon yelled again as he was being tied to a tree.
He's gonna just have to wait there. Winning is most important.
Just as I was getting ready to dash away and finish the mission, I locked eyes with Sora.
I paused.
Then continued sprinting down the path.
It took ten minutes to finish sprinting down the rest of the path.
The clearing opened up to the starting point of the exam. Above each group's container were screens displaying the amount of ore they had delivered. Near the rift anchor, I spotted Professor Varn standing by.
Two groups were at the weigh station.
The highest group had seven hundred pounds of celestium ore collected already.
How did they pull that off?
I began to walk out to the weigh station, but I felt a small spark in my back.
"Cyrus, what's your deal?" A voice called out.
I turned to see the rest of my cluster sprinting up to me.
"What are you talking about, Sora?"
"Simon was calling for your help, and you just left him high and dry. Imagine if this were an active rift and those were behemoths instead?"
"Well, it's not an active rift, and I took out two of them. I thought we said we were gonna put our personal feelings aside to pass. That's what I was doing by taking out two of their members, making it easy for you guys.
Now, if you excuse me, let me deposit this ore into the container before another group shows up. One of them has seven hundred pounds already." I said, turning my back to the cluster.
I felt another zap in my back, and I froze.
"I tried to put those personal feelings aside. Mira even tried to talk me down, too. But you keep doing things to tick me off."
As she said that, I noticed the purring of the astral anchor keeping the rift open and inactive grew faint.
I then sensed countless tiny masses moving all around us.
My attention snapped toward the rift exit.
It was shrinking.
I looked back toward the rift anchor. Professor Varn stood in front of it, his back turned towards us.
I ran toward him.
"Professor Varn…"
Silence.
I reached out and tapped his shoulder.
"Professor Varn…"
Slowly, he turned around.
My body froze.
Something was wrong.
His shirt was covered in small, scattered stains. At first, I thought they were dirt or residue from the rift.
Then a single crimson drop slid down the fabric.
My eyes followed its path upward.
Up his chest.
Up his neck.
Until it reached his face.
Both of his eyes were gone.
The empty sockets stared back at me, filled with hundreds of tiny legs crawling over each other.
Centipedes.
His mouth opened, but no sound came out at first. His jaw shifted unnaturally, struggling against something I couldn't see.
Then, from somewhere deep inside him, a voice escaped.
"Cyrus…"
Then the rift anchor behind him exploded, centipedes bursting out of the core.
The rift exit disappeared.
The ground began to shudder.
The insects began to swarm and bite at the Professor, and with his last breath, he said.
"Run."