Chapter 97: The Orb

Well at first it might seem like The Unfortunate Four had a much more robust and extravagant setting this was quickly revealed to not be the case. Their area was split into four, with each section representing a supposed interest of each of the members. The first section was lined from floor to ceiling with various swords and weapons from all over the continent. While the main focus was swords, a full third of the weapons falling under that classification there was also a number of others along with a chair of blades for someone to sit on.

The second area looked like someone had taken a chunk out of a library, the walls were covered in books with a thick rug carpet coating the floor of that quarter. In the centre of it all was a large table filled with a 3D map of the continent painted and model with exquisite detail.

The third and forth areas were combined together to look like a lavish bedroom. A large bed sat in the very centre of the room and various different plants in vases of different shapes lined the 'room'. The flowers within them were rare and exotic looking that Kat couldn't recognise, and the bed was well crafted and much larger then one would typically expect.

Of course the truth of this matter was a bit less grand. The chair of swords was impossible to sit in, various blades would dig into the sides and behind of anyone who tried. The library contained only walls that looked to include books, none of which could actually be moved and while the map looked impressive it was completely incorrect.

So the only real place to sit was in fact the large bed, which would have been strange if it wasn't for the fact it was solid as stone and had a backboard along its side instead of the head, clearly it was actually meant to be a chair and not for sleeping.

This didn't stop Green who promptly claimed the front section of the bed and fell asleep with her legs levitating off the end. Gareth sighed and took the place next to her sitting down properly as the other two joined him.

Thyme pulled out three more orbs and handed them to another version of himself. This one was dressed in a long frilly coat with a hunched back, a walking stick, glasses, and a grey wig. "Now dears don't forget, you can't let this touch the ground, that includes bringing the ground up to touch the orbs"

Thyme handed out the orbs like a Grandmother handing out candy, slowly walking between the contestants. The time this took was a bit ridiculous because Thyme kept up the kind old lady act the whole time.

"Remember dears, this is a test of endurance. The first leg will be just standing in place, and I don't want to see such strong children fail early"

Thyme finished handing out the orbs and vanished, leaving the announcer Thyme to start the round. "Everyone, in positions? On the count of three the competition will start"

"One"

"Two"

"Tree"

Thyme glanced around at the competitors who were still just holding the orbs in their hands.

"Good none of you were tricked by me saying Three instead"

Thyme quickly looked for any sign of hesitation or unpreparedness. *Thyme what are you doing? Sure the contest has technically started but you even said nothing was going to happen.*

"Good good, I'm glad you weren't tricked by that either" said Thyme "Suppose that might also be because you don't want to waste mana, what a novel idea"

Thyme nodded to itself, as if being congratulated on it's marvellous idea. "You guys are free to do whatever. As long as you don't sit down or something and the orb stays off the ground go nuts"

The contestants just stood there looking around awkwardly. *So what exactly can we do? We can't interfere with each other and we can't just rest? But the orb isn't even that heavy so why does it matter?*

##

After ten minutes there was no change in the contestants. Everyone just stood around awkwardly watching each other in silence.

##

After twenty minutes had passed Jack found himself yawning… but nothing else of note happened.

##

After thirty minutes nothing happened… To Kat. The other contestants all quickly threw the orb into the air. Dusk coated it in water, Jack coated his hands in earth and Lynn didn't seem to do anything but caught the orb again and seemed fine.

*Um?* Kat looked around in confusion just as the contestants looked at her the same way. *Why are you guys looking at me like I've grown a second head or something? Is it behind me? Kat looked behind herself and then back at the contestants.*

"What?" asked Kat

"Can you not feel that?" asked Lynn

"Feel what?" asked Kat

"The damned heat" replied Jack, who now that Kat examined properly was sweating.

Kat examined the orb in her hands, rolled it around a little, passed it from her left to right. "Nope no idea what you are talking about"

Lynn sighed and shook her head and mumbled "Stupid demon powers"

Kat just shrugged, she didn't really know what else to do.

##

After another thirty minutes had passed the other contestants let out a long breath and stopped their magic… well Jack and Dusk did, Kat wasn't sure if Lynn was doing anything at all. *I guess it's back to endurance, right? But this isn't so hard.*

It was at this moment Thyme walked to the centre of the arena and clapped his hands. The contestants all got pulled in closer to Thyme as the ground got sucked up. Slowly compacting the extra dirt a large ornate table was placed in centre of the arena.

Compacting the dirt over and over made it quite solid. Beautifully renditions of various foods were then carved into the stone. Lynn and Kat were treated to a lush jungle scene filled with fruits and vegetables of all kinds. As they were carved colour started to bleed into them making them seem much more lifelike.

Dusk and Jack were greeted with a different scene, it was a carving of a raucous dwarven bar, with cheering dwarves and alcohol aplenty. The tables in the scene were lined with various meats all cooked to perfection with steam wafting on them.

Of course they were all hardened adventures, just some lifelike looking food wasn't enough to interrupt their concentration…

So of course Thyme started to hum happily as it took out various dishes from the bag. Steaks, salads, gleaming sets of red apples, a full pig marinated to perfection, fish from the northern see piled high, with lemons. Then came the drinks, nothing was left out, fine wines, strong meed, potent concoctions of whiskey and a few others Kat would never recognise filled the remaining gaps in the table.

To make matters worse Thyme then started to conduct a small breath to waft the scents towards the four contestants. Man am I lucky that my smell hasn't gotten any better. At least that's what Kat thought. She was wrong of course, even if she had not had that sense enhanced during her awakening, just condensing her demonic flame had enhanced everything Kat was.

Of course that meant nothing considering she still wasn't interested in food, so she simply stared disinterestedly. The others though were more affected. Lynn had her nose pointed up looking away from the food but if one examined her eyes they would see it locked on the plate full of apples.

Jack was unashamedly looking at the table and gulping, hardly paying attention to the orb in his hands though luckily had enough wherewithal to not drop it. Dusk meanwhile looked completely unphased. Standing straight and unmoving in the face of the temptation, though his thoughts were betrayed by a line of drool that leaked out underneath his mask.

Thyme stepped forward and examined each dish closely. Rotating around the table once. Upon completion he started a second lap. This time with a monocle and a plate. Examining each item steadily without ever touching it, Thyme moved at a snail's pace as it examined the various things on offer. Thyme paused for a moment in front o the plate of apples. Reached out to grab one but then retracted its hand instead.

Eventually Thyme stopped once again, this time in front of a fish Kat didn't recognise. Thyme carefully loaded it onto his plate like he was dealing with delicate silk. Moving to the side he pulled a knife from his bag and cut carefully into it right next to Kat.

A thick fishy smell exploded from the fish the moment the cut was made. A mixture of herbs and spices quickly overwhelmed the senses and Kat placed the orb in one hand so she could use the other to cover the other.

"What, you want some?" asked Thyme

"Why would I want something that smells like that?" asked Kat