Chapter 44 – What Mockery

  The ruins stretched before them, an endless maze of broken walls and jagged stone. The once-proud structures were now reduced to skeletal remains, their crumbling facades covered in creeping ivy. Shafts of dim light filtered through cracks in the ruined ceilings, casting shifting patterns across the moss-covered stone.

  Kaelin exhaled slowly, forcing herself to stay calm. Her arms still ached from where the pitfall trap had nearly taken them both, and the effort to pull Kana up out from it. The encounter had left her rattled, not just because of her failure to react fast enough, but because Kana had immediately turned it into a joke.

  She glanced sideways. Kana walked with her hands in her pockets, a lazy smirk tugging at her lips as if they were strolling through a festival rather than navigating a dangerous ruin. It was infuriating.

  “I don’t get you,” Kaelin muttered, breaking the silence.

  Kana hummed, tilting her head slightly. “You don’t always need to get people. Just try to live your life without analysing every little detail for once.”

  Kaelin ignored the jab. “You’re strong. You’re fast. You could take this seriously and actually win. So why don’t you?”

  Kana’s smirk widened. “Oh? Are we having a heart-to-heart now?”

  Kaelin rolled her eyes. “Forget it.”

  Kana’s gaze lingered on her for a moment before she let out a dramatic sigh. “Fine, fine. Since you’re so curious—”

  She stretched her arms overhead, lazily cracking her knuckles.

  “Maybe I just don’t care about proving myself to a bunch of instructors who think a few trials determine our worth. Maybe it’s funnier to watch you stress over it instead.”

  Kaelin scoffed. “Right. Because you definitely don’t care.”

  “Bingo. I knew you’d get it eventually.”

  The worst part? Kana probably believed that.

  Kaelin shook her head. “You’re impossible.”

  “I prefer irresistible, but that works too.”

  Kaelin turned away before she lost her patience entirely.

  For a moment, silence stretched between them. Only the distant echoes of their footsteps filled the void.

  Then Kana spoke again, voice deceptively light. “So… how’s it feel?”

  Kaelin frowned. “How’s what feel?”

  Kana smirked. “Being abandoned.”

  Kaelin stopped walking.

  She turned, slowly. “What?”

  Kana shrugged, feigning innocence. “You know. Lena. Zephyr. Seems like your closest friends are drifting away. Like an empty raft on the ocean.”

  She said the words with mock sympathy, like a cat toying with a trapped mouse.

  “They both seem much better now that it’s just the two of them. In fact, now that you’re out of the picture, I heard they’re actually making some friends. Looks like they finally found better things to do than babysit you, huh?"

  Kaelin’s fingers curled into fists at her sides. “Shut up.”

  Kana’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “Oops, I didn’t hit a weak spot, did I?”

  Kaelin clenched her jaw, trying to tamp down the sudden surge of anger twisting in her chest. She wouldn’t let Kana get to her.

  It wasn’t true. Not entirely.

  Lena was still her best friend. Sure, they hadn’t spent as much time together lately, but that didn’t mean anything. And Zephyr—

  She exhaled sharply. “You don’t know anything.”

  Kana hummed, tilting her head in mock curiosity. “Don’t I? People leave, Kaelin. Maybe not all at once, maybe not even on purpose. But eventually, they always do.”

  Kaelin turned away, resuming her pace. “I’m not doing this with you.”

  Kana followed, chuckling under her breath. “Oh, I know. You’d rather bottle it all up and pretend nothing’s wrong. Very mature.”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Kaelin refused to respond.

  They walked in silence after that.

  But the words lingered.

  ***

  The ruins grew darker as they ventured deeper. The air thickened, damp and heavy with the scent of earth and rot. The distant sounds of battle had faded, either the other team had moved too far ahead, or they were being more careful.

  Kaelin forced herself to focus. She couldn’t afford to be distracted.

  A low growl cut through the silence.

  Kaelin stopped.

  Kana’s smirk vanished instantly.

  From the shadows ahead, three hunched figures slunk forward. Their long, wiry limbs twitched, jagged teeth glinting in the dim light.

  Goblins.

  Kaelin tensed. Not good.

  Goblins weren’t particularly strong, but they were quick, vicious, and smart. And the one in the centre, clutching a gnarled wooden staff wrapped in twisting vines—was a shaman.

  Kaelin’s stomach dropped.

  Magic.

  The shaman hissed something in its guttural language, tapping its staff against the ground. The air shifted, Kaelin barely had time to register the movement before thick roots burst from the floor, lunging toward them like snapping jaws.

  She leapt back, narrowly avoiding being ensnared. Kana sidestepped effortlessly, eyes sharp.

  “Well,” Kana muttered, “this just got interesting.”

  Kaelin didn’t hesitate. “We take out the shaman first.”

  Kana snorted. “Wow. What a brilliant strategy.”

  “Less talking, more fighting,” Kaelin shot back.

  One of the goblins lunged, swinging a rusted blade at her side. Kaelin ducked, twisting to drive her elbow into its ribs. The creature snarled but staggered back.

  Kana, meanwhile, flicked her fingers toward the second goblin. The air around it seemed to shift for a brief second, the creature hesitated mid-strike, its expression clouding.

  Then the effect faded.

  Kana clicked her tongue. “Tch. Resistant little things.”

  Kaelin had no time to question it – the shaman had raised its staff again.

  Her vision blurred.

  Time twisted.

  She saw it – three seconds ahead.

  The staff glowing—roots everywhere—wrapping around her legs—constricting.

  She reacted.

  Kaelin moved before the spell was even cast, darting to the side.

  The roots erupted exactly where she’d been standing.

  The shaman’s eyes widened in surprise.

  Kaelin was already closing the distance.

  She grabbed a loose shard of broken stone, gripping it tightly.

  One second.

  The shaman raised its staff in panic.

  Two seconds.

  Kaelin swung.

  Three seconds.

  The rock slammed into the shaman’s skull.

  The creature let out a choked cry before crumpling to the ground.

  The remaining goblins shrieked in alarm.

  Kana whistled, looking impressed. “Huh. Guess you can do something useful.”

  Kaelin, still catching her breath, shot her a glare. “Told you.”

  Kana smirked. “Still slow, though.”

  Kaelin groaned. “Just help me finish this.”

  Kana cracked her knuckles. “Gladly.”

  The last two goblins hesitated, then turned and bolted into the ruins.

  Kaelin let out a breath, lowering her stance. “That’s right. Run”

  Kana stretched her arms behind her head. “You know, you almost looked competent back there. You could’ve even given those goblins a run for their money.”

  Kaelin rolled her eyes. “Shut up.”

  Kana grinned. “Aww, don’t be mad. You should be proud. Three whole seconds? At this rate, you might be the next oracle!”

  Kaelin exhaled through her nose. “You’re insufferable.”

  “And you’re still too slow, let’s step it up a notch, eh?”

  Kaelin knew better than to argue.

  Because, deep down, she agreed.

  Kaelin’s fingers curled into fists as she forced herself to focus. The weight of exhaustion dragged at her limbs, but she couldn’t slow down. Not now. They were close, she could feel it.

  Kana walked beside her, moving with the same lazy stride she always had, as if the battle from earlier had barely even registered. Her hands were tucked into her pockets, her posture loose, but Kaelin wasn’t fooled. There was an edge to Kana’s silence, a calculation behind her dark eyes.

  Kaelin didn’t push it. She had no patience for another round of Kana’s taunts, not after what she’d said earlier.

  "Looks like Zephyr and Lena found better things to do than babysit you, huh?"

  Kaelin’s jaw tightened.

  She wouldn’t let Kana get under her skin.

  They turned a corner, stepping into a wider corridor lined with ancient carvings. The symbols were too worn to make out, but they felt important, like remnants of something far greater than the trial they were competing in. Kaelin’s gaze flickered to them briefly before scanning the path ahead.

  Still no sign of Rhen and Sienna.

  How far ahead were they?

  Her muscles tensed, frustration biting at her. They had lost too much time fighting that shaman. If they didn’t catch up soon, they might as well forfeit.

  She picked up the pace, boots crunching against loose debris.

  Kana, of course, didn’t match her urgency.

  “What’s got you so wound up?” Kana asked, tilting her head slightly. “Afraid your real friends are gonna win their own match without you there to cheer them on?”

  Kaelin exhaled sharply through her nose. “Not in the mood, Kana.”

  Kana smirked. “You’re never in the mood. I think that’s the problem.”

  Kaelin clenched her fists but forced herself to keep walking.

  She pressed on, voice mockingly casual. “You know, you and Lena used to be inseparable, right? And now she’s spending more time with that other girl from the advanced class. What was her name again?” She snapped her fingers. “Talia? Yeah, Talia.”

  Kaelin forced her voice to stay level. “Lena can be friends with whoever she wants.”

  “Sure.” Kana hummed.

  Kaelin’s fingers twitched.

  She would not react. She refused to give Kana the satisfaction.

  Still, the words dug under her skin like splinters.

  Kana let the silence stretch, eyes watching her closely. Then, she sighed, shaking her head. “You know, it’s almost sad. You talk so much about teamwork, about winning, but in the end, your team doesn’t really care about you, do they?”

  Kaelin stopped walking.

  Kana took another step before realizing. She turned, raising an eyebrow.

  Kaelin’s hands trembled at her sides, but when she lifted her gaze, her expression was cold.

  “Say whatever you want about me,” she said quietly. “But don’t talk about them.”

  Kana studied her for a long moment, then gave a slow, lazy shrug. “Suit yourself.”

  Kaelin took a steadying breath and moved. She wasn’t wasting another second listening to Kana’s nonsense.

  The passage ahead sloped downward, leading into a vast chamber. The stone walls widened, towering overhead in jagged arcs. And at the far end—

  She heard them.

  Faint voices, just beyond an ancient doorway.

  The idol room.

  Her pulse jumped.

  They had finally caught up.