Chapter 306: Plots and Snacks

Chapter 306: Plots and Snacks

Alexandra turned in a slow circle. Sweat streaked her face and her chest rose and fell with quick breaths. She’d been chasing Lee for the better part of three hours, and she hadn’t even stopped once.

And, for all the effort she’d put in, her reward had been a fat nothing. In fact, she was confident that Lee was screwing with her. Every time Alexandra started to close any ground and catch up with the short girl, Lee would just turn around, grin, and then vanish in a blur of sudden speed.

She’s definitely toying with me. How does she have so much energy and speed? I’d understand her being this fast if she also had low stamina, but she somehow has both. What kind of Runes does she have?

Alexandra’s only consolation was that nobody else was doing much better. She was well ahead of pace of the other students, and even though Todd’s use of explosions to propel himself forward actually let him move in slightly faster bursts than she did for short periods of time, he – unlike Lee – actually had a limited amount of energy to work with.

He’d fallen behind over an hour ago, unable to keep up with their speed. She’d been pretty sure that she wouldn’t see him again during the exercise, but Alexandra slowed as she realized that Todd was heading straight toward her.

She glanced around her surroundings, then cursed under her breath. Lee had turned around and led her straight back to the other students.

“Yeah, we’re definitely getting screwed with,” Alexandra muttered.

Out of the corner of her eye, Alexandra spotted Emily jogging in their direction. The silver-haired girl slowed, likely coming to the exact same conclusion that Alexandra just had. The three of them walked up to each other, all taking a moment to catch their breath.

“This is pathetic,” Emily complained, wiping her forehead with the back of a sleeve. “I wanted to come back and show off how strong I’d gotten.”

“Tell me about it,” Todd said with a sigh. “But it’s not like any of us can actually catch Lee. At least she isn’t making us stretch.”

“What’s wrong with stretching?” Alexandra asked.

Emily and Todd both sent a harrowing look in her direction.

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Todd flopped to the ground and stretched out on the grass with a groan. “Damn, I’m sore. I don’t know why I even bothered trying to chase after Lee. It’s not like any of us can catch her.”

“Tell me about it.” Emily sat down beside him and tugged at her hair. “I don’t even want the damn Rune.”

“You don’t?” Alexandra looked at Emily in surprise. “Why not?”

“It’s useless for me,” Emily replied. “My fighting style is all about range and mobility. I don’t have the stamina or desire to suddenly start hunkering down and taking hits.”

“You could sell it, though.”

Emily frowned. “I could, but why would I? Todd and Isabel can both actually use it. It would be better if they got it.”

You say that, but you weren’t exactly standing to the side so Todd or Isabel could win. Is this some tactic to get us to drop our guard?

“Then why are you chasing Lee?”

Emily looked over her shoulder, then craned her neck back to stare up at the sky. “I wanted to show Moxie how much stronger I got over the summer. The problem is, everyone else got stronger too, so I–”

“Kind of just feel like you’re in the same spot as when you left.” Todd sat up. “Same here. Not the impressing Moxie part – she’s not my type.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Emily punched Todd in the shoulder and he cackled.

“Sorry, sorry. You’re more into the sleepy looking ones, then?”

Emily’s face went red. “What are you talking about?”

“You spent all summer with James,” Todd teased. “And you seemed pretty close when we got back. I guess he’s got all that trauma from dealing with Revin. Trying to fix him?”

“Oh, shut up.” Emily rolled her eyes.

“You aren’t denying anything.”

“Get your head out of the gutter, or Isabel is going to show you up and get the point for herself.”N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.

“Food,” Todd and Emily said in unison.

***

Isabel was no closer to finding Lee than when she’d first set out. She hadn’t bothered wasting her energy when it became clear that Lee was actually going all out to avoid them, so she’d slowed to a walk so she could try to formulate a plan.

The most obvious way to get Lee within touching range was food. She’d tried setting some jerky out to catch Lee’s attention, but after sitting in place for nearly three hours with a pile of food before her, Isabel hadn’t made any progress.

And, of course, in the brief second it took Isabel to start to stand, Lee flashed by her, grabbing the entire pile and disappearing before Isabel could so much as say a word.

“Damned Plains,” Isabel cursed. “My food!”

A laugh rose up from beside Isabel. The air rippled and James appeared standing beside her. “Sorry. That was pretty funny.”

“Were you standing here the whole time?” Isabel asked, narrowing her eyes.

“No. Just for about thirty minutes or so. I figured you’d probably know a better way to get Lee than just chasing after her pointlessly. It became clear pretty quickly that we weren’t going to catch her.”

“Fat load of good that did,” Isabel complained. “I thought I was being clever.”

“Well, it almost worked. You just weren’t fast enough to do anything when Lee got here.”

“I hadn’t figured that out,” Isabel said dryly. “Are you hoping to sell the Master Rune if you get it?”

“I don’t really want it.” James scratched the back of his neck. “And even if I did, it would be a little weird if I won. I’m not even really part of your class. I’m just taking cover from Revin.”

A pang of sympathy ran through Isabel, and she nodded her understanding. “I don’t think any of us would hold it against you if you won it. We’ve all seen Revin.”

“He’s not terrible, but he’s definitely got more than a few problems up here.” James tapped his head, then glanced over his shoulder – probably to make sure Revin wasn’t going to pop up behind him. “But no, I don’t want the Master Rune at all. Emily wants to win, though.”

“So you’re planning to help her?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because Emily wouldn’t want me to help her directly.” James’ cheeks reddened and he cleared his throat. “I don’t want to make it seem like I don’t think she can do it herself, but she’s been talking about showing Moxie how much stronger she’s gotten for practically all our vacation. This is a great way to do that.”

“So you want to help her but don’t want her to know you’re helping,” Isabel concluded, hiding a grin. “Cute. What’s that got to do with me, though?”

“Emily is partnering up with Todd and Alexandra, so they might actually have a chance of catching up to Lee.”

Isabel’s brow furrowed in confusion. “If that’s the case, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be waiting invisible somewhere to try to help from the sidelines?”

“I think you misunderstood me.” James adjusted his shirt and tugged at his collar. “I don’t want to help Emily catch Lee. I want to help her show how far she’s come – and that means giving her good opponents to face so she can really prove herself. The best story is a comeback, not someone who keeps the lead the whole way.”

“You mean–”

“I want to make sure she loses the round,” James said with a nod. “Which means I want to help you win.”

Isabel burst into laughter. “You’re more like Revin than you think.”

“Egh.” James shuddered. “Never say that again. Do you want my help or not?”

“Sure,” Isabel replied. “How are we going to do this, though? I’m out of food.”

“By getting something that takes Lee a little more time to eat,” James replied, rubbing his hands together as a cold wind howled past them. He turned his gaze toward a plateau below them, where several Fluffants grazed. “Why don’t we start with those?”