The morning after the explosive Gauntlet event, the entire capital seemed to buzz with a weird mix of fear, curiosity, and irrational admiration. People whispered about "the guy who blew up the obstacle course" like I was some kind of folk hero—or a walking natural disaster. I hadn't even meant to do it. I just… panicked and copied the wrong fire mage's spell. Again.
Still, despite my desire to hide in a cave for the next fifty years, my guild had somehow advanced to the next stage of the Guild War Trials.
Today's event was a team relay challenge—multiple zones filled with puzzles, traps, and timed combat encounters. It was designed to test coordination, trust, and skill. Naturally, we had none of those.
And we were also being sabotaged.
I didn't realize it at first. I thought the banana peel in our supply bag was a prank. I thought the fish stuffed in my boots was just... confusing. But when Lina found a disarmed explosive rune under her seat at breakfast, we all knew.
"They're trying to mess with us," Kaela growled, sniffing the rune. "It's laced with mimic dust. That's black market stuff."
"Great," I groaned. "We're famous enough to be targeted. I knew that goose incident would come back to haunt me."
"The goose is fine," Iris said. "You're the one with a bounty on your head in the Mage Meme Forums."
Wait. Forums?
Before I could ask, a trumpet blast echoed through the arena gates. The next challenge was about to begin.
We stepped into the prep zone, each of us paired with a solo route. The idea was to tackle our own paths, then reunite at the finish platform and activate the group sigil together.
"Good luck," a perky staff member chirped as she handed us each an enchanted compass. Then she leaned toward me and whispered, "Careful out there. Some of the other guilds are... salty."
I barely had time to nod before the floor beneath my feet vanished.
I didn't fall.
I plummeted.
Straight down a hidden shaft that hadn't been marked on the map. It was a classic sabotage pitfall. I screamed all the way down like a cartoon protagonist who never learns, flailing in slow motion, certain I was about to become a pancake.
But right before impact, something in my chest pulsed.
System Alert: Emergency Reflex Activation – Skill: Beast Tamer's Leap (Kaela Sync, 42%).
Time snapped back to full speed.
A surge of primal instinct kicked in. My legs flexed, muscles humming with borrowed power. Just before smashing into the ground, I twisted mid-air and bounced off a jutting rock like a mountain goat on espresso. Then another wall. Then another.
I ricocheted through the cave tunnel like a pinball, until I slammed into a mossy slope and tumbled to a stop next to an ancient door labeled:
"Trial of Endurance – Do Not Enter Without Clearance"
Naturally, the door creaked open on its own. Because of course it did.
Back on the surface, I imagined the rival guilds watching from their scrying mirrors, waiting to hear the squish that confirmed my demise. But instead, they'd be seeing my name blink awkwardly on the scoreboard, followed by "—Entered Bonus Trial."
"Wait," someone in the crowd probably muttered. "Did that guy survive the sabotage?"
Inside the bonus trial, I found a field of angry enchanted vines, a trivia quiz about ancient cheese, and a miniboss made entirely of hostile laundry. I barely passed. At one point, I tried to answer a riddle and ended up with my shirt on fire again. Not from magic. Just shame.
Meanwhile, the rest of my guild raced through their own zones like pros.
Kaela swung across vine traps and disarmed tripwires using her beast sense. Iris blinked through magical security runes, leaving only subtle distortions of time behind her. Lina straight-up blasted her entire section into submission, yelling "I'M NOT LOSING TO A PIT TRAP" like a woman on a mission.
When I finally staggered into the reunion platform, covered in leaves, smoke, and what may have been intelligent socks, they were already waiting.
"You fell in a pit," Iris observed, arms crossed.
"Correction: I escaped a pit. Using my majestic legs," I said proudly. "I am now 42% goat."
"Do not repeat that in public," Lina muttered.
We stepped onto the sigil.
It activated with a soft chime, fireworks exploding in the air. Our time: second fastest.
Not bad, considering I was sabotaged, launched into an illegal trial, and mugged by fabric.
Later, back at the barracks, a message arrived from Guild Admin: no proof of foul play could be confirmed. But I knew the truth.
So did they.
Somewhere across town, the Blazing Tyrants were probably throwing chairs. The traps hadn't worked. I hadn't been humiliated. I'd just... fumbled my way into another accidental victory.
The worst kind of revenge?
Success without trying.
And I was really, really good at that.