We started the next fight like we were being graded.

  Which, in a way, we were, even if there wasn’t an actual score being attributed to our performance after the fight. It reminded me of when we’d been captive by Sipher in the Gar Bunker. Gesai had summoned monsters for us to fight and made us practice against them on a daily basis until we’d escaped. The only other time that I’d fought a boss over and over again was when we’d been in Wurn and I’d convinced the others to farm a boss until enough rings dropped for me to give one to both Oz and Ren.

  The moment the boss rose up out of the grassy floor, Aelin hit it with while Ether slammed into its face with her shield. The Wel staggered as the humped canine took visible damage from our Tank.

  I felt a surge of energy run through me and everything around me seemed to slow down. I sighted the canine boss’s head and pulled the trigger of my pistol. The loaded spells blasted out of the barrel, knocking the boss back with each impact.

  Fray dashed around the left side of Ether, putting her opposite me, while Aelin moved beside me so we could fire at the same side. Each cut of Fray’s katana gouged a deeper cut into the Wel’s brown hide than it had the last round.

  The boss stayed in a constant state of being pushed back, as each of our attacks kept it from using one of its own. Before I needed to switch to a new clip, the boss vanished in a cloud of dust.

  Ether picked up the boss crystal and put it in her CB, then held out a necklace lined with blue fur that matched the Wel’s mane. “It gives a point of Recovery.” She turned to Justia. “We’re getting all kinds of stuff for you today.”

  “Much better!” Gesai walked in. “You could have used to lock it in place, which would have let you finish faster, but that was much better than the last run.”

  “Great!” I smiled as I holstered my pistol. “We just need to remember that we need to treat each fight like it matters instead of just mindlessly smashing stuff.”

  I was reminded of my time as a Porter. I’d watched the farmers spend hours each day killing the same monsters over and over again as they walked in circles on either the 16th or 25th floors. Even the most enthusiastic farmers would get tired of the repetition after a while and stop using extra skills or items to make the fight go faster, opting instead to just use pure damage or simple weapon attacks to clear the groups of monsters.

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  “Are we going to know what we’re going to be fighting against in the prelims?” Aelin took the necklace from Ether and walked behind Justia. Our green Healer pulled back her hood, then gathered her brown hair together so her girlfriend could wrap the chain around her neck.

  “They’ll post the pool of monsters.” Gesai frowned. “When I was a student, there were five monsters that we had to prepare for, but now that there’s eight teams…” She shrugged. “I don’t know what they’re going to do.”

  “Double the pool?” I suggested as we headed for the exit.

  “Ten monsters is a lot of variability.” Gesai shrugged. “But the pool at the Adventurer’s Games is twenty, so it’s not too much to prepare for.”

  “What’s it like?” Aelin linked her arm with Justia and skipped beside the walking Healer. “I’ve never been to one.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me.” Gesai looked at the five of us. “I know Justia has been to a few, what about the rest of you?”

  Fray looked down at her feet. “I lived in Mundane household. We didn’t have All for the bus ride to one of the other Wards.”

  “Mom took us to the one in the Shrine Ward when I was six.” Ether moved over to my right. “There were a LOT of people.”

  “Most of the Nobility will show up for the games and it’s the one time when the Gods can go into another city, so the tent city outside whoever is hosting it tends to be massive.” Gesai looked over at me. “I’m guessing you’ve never been to one?”

  “Nope.” I shook my head. “Sometimes the Adventurers I was working for would be watching some of the matches and they’d let me watch with them, but most of the time I was working with a team that didn’t care about the games.”

  “Well, even though you can’t qualify this year, Trent is going, which means all of you will too.” Gesai looked at her CB and sighed. “Alright, let’s go get something to eat, then see what it is that my dad wants.”

  “Can we eat at the mall?” Aelin danced around Justia and walked backwards as she bounced from one foot to the other.

  “No.” Gesai shook her head. “If I let you go in there, then you’re going to want to go into some of the stores and we don’t have time for that.”

  Aelin pursed her lip. “What if we take our own vehicle?”

  “I’m not splitting the team or renting you a car.” Gesai shooed the short woman towards the exit. “If you hurry, I’ll let you use the pad to take us out of here.”

  Aelin frowned, but there was still a bounce in her step as she walked out of the exit to the next floor.

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