Grey Speed 9

One hulking, armored form skittered toward me, cutting my conversation with Regis short. Despite the spider’s large frame, it moved incredibly fast.

The runes on my suit began glowing brighter as one of the spider’s clawed legs slashed past me.

‘Hey, do you think the runes on your gear react to the runes on the spider’s armor?’ Regis asked.

Artificing was not my field of expertise, but I thought Regis was probably onto something. Perhaps the shadowy judges above could track my performance with the runes, similar to how Emily had helped me train back in the castle. I could just imagine how fascinated Emily or Gideon would be if they saw something like this firsthand.



Actually, Gideon would probably feign disinterest while getting grumpy out of envy, I thought with a smile.

I dodged another barrage of strikes from the spider, glancing toward the other two, which were still waiting at the edge of the assessment hall.

The giant spider lunged at me and I grabbed its fangs, holding it at arm’s length. “Uh, excuse me?” I called out as I turned into the momentum of the spider’s attack, using its own weight to send it tumbling away. “What exactly am I supposed to do for this assessment?”

There was no response.

Frustrated, but hesitant to do anything that might give away my strength, I continued to defend against the relentless assault of the first spider, feeling like a mouse fleeing from a tarantula. As I threw myself back from a slash of the spider’s claws, a warning sounded in my mind and I was forced to spin and dive to the side to avoid the stabbing fangs of the second spider, which had suddenly burst into motion and joined the battle. Had the mana beasts’ armor been designed to be more silent, I might not have heard the creature’s hurried approach in time.

‘What do you suppose happens if those things bite you? Do people die in this test?’

Thanks for the concern, but I’m fine, I thought back, sliding under one spider’s thick legs just as the other leapt at me, causing them to collide with a crash.

‘I’m not concerned, I’m bored.’