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Chapter 1238 Chapter 1238 Practicing Fall

Gareth chapter

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It was almost time. This was rather obvious by the giant glowing numbers slowly counting down to zero. They\'d started at the minute mark and were just about there. The group was standing, ready to leave… and Kress had just snatched up the candy bowl hadn\'t he? Gareth sighed, "Kress my friend, is that really necessary?"

Kress shrugged, "Well I\'m not going to let free candy go to waste, and nobody else was eating it. So… I\'m claiming it for myself,"

"And you\'re taking the bowl as well because…?" asked Gareth.

"Because I need something to put the candy in of course!" Kress returned with a smile. "Where else would I put it? Certainly not my pockets. Even if the clothes are clean, the fabric would just stick to the candy making a mess of things anyway. Plus, this bowl is made from wood, something Thyme has a near infinite amount of. Even if I wasn\'t planning to give it back, which I am, it really wouldn\'t matter,"

*Kress, your arguments, while compelling, aren\'t really getting at the heart of the issue. Why do you think it\'s appropriate to just walk out with the whole damn bowl? Sure nobody else was eating it, but that much candy cannot be good for you. I still remember that time you got into the honey jar and ate the whole thing, only to be throwing it all up not an hour later. Made worse when it started to stick in your throat. Nearly suffocated you idiot.

Though in the end, I guess I\'m just not willing to say any of that aloud. Kress has been a lot better lately, not with me really but with everyone else. I\'d hate to start picking on him and have him go back to being an ass to everyone that wasn\'t me, or one of the guards. At least he chose to do this on a day he wasn\'t competing. Heck, worse comes to worst he doesn\'t have to compete tomorrow either so it will be fine. Just… hopefully he doesn\'t look like too much of a slob.*

Then the timer hit zero, and the five of them stepped through. Lily didn\'t step, she was of course in Kat\'s arms. When Gareth saw the other side… he noticed that two of the other teams had ALSO taken the bowls of candy. Gareth didn\'t know if he should laugh of cry about that one. Heck, March was eating them like they were biscuits or something. Gareth felt his teeth hurting just looking at her. Marigold at least was sharing the candy around.

"Chosen competitors make you way forward please!" said Thyme in that weird suit. Gareth wasn\'t sure why Thyme looked like a ball either. Regardless of those questions, Gareth just gave Green a kiss before heading forward. He was accompanied by Nabras, Willow, Cyan and Mauve. He studied the competition for a few moments as he started to think.

Right. Nabras… might be someone I can beat. I didn\'t see how things went yesterday, but I heard it was a shoddy performance. Perhaps that same overconfidence will be hid undoing? Or can he keep his ego in check now it\'s taken a beating. Willow… we haven\'t see much from her and it\'s hard to guess at her mana capacity. I\'ve never interacted with her much, as the second daughter of her house. Might have only seen her once before… maybe. Cyan and Mauve… well Mauve looks to be much happier then Cyan… but I think Cyan is a mage? I suppose those two will be the main competition then? I\'ll have to see what they do.

Once Thyme had all five of them nearby, he tapped the ground and platforms rose from the ground in front of them all. It was a pair of gloves with a very clear circle in the centre of the palms where the wind was almost certainly going to be expelled from. Gareth pulled them on and felt them constrict to match his hands. Giving them a quick flex he found the give in them was fairly generous. Better then his own metal gauntlets that\'s for sure.

"Now, you\'ve all got your gloves and they seem to fit. That\'s not really a surprise but it does pay to make sure. Now, in a moment I\'ll send you all off to your own practice areas. You get one dive attempt, but it will be a little different from the standard runs. Firstly, the runs that actually count will all be made from the same location. You can watch what your competitors do on the way down for hints as they go.

"Additionally, in the normal rounds there will only be one colour of rings, but in the practice run I\'ve thrown a whole bunch of them out there. Go for just one colour, or try to collect as many as you can, I don\'t really care. It\'s just to get you used to falling, to moving in the air, and to using the gloves. At the end of the practice jump, or if you haven\'t started but all four of your competitors have finished, I\'ll be pulling you back here and restoring your mana for the real thing. Are there any questions?"

*I don\'t think so. Everything was clear before and I think all the questions have been asked.* Gareth seemingly wasn\'t the only one to think this, because nobody else came forward with questions either. With a nod, Thyme snapped their fingers and suddenly Gareth was gone. Then just as suddenly he could feel the wind whipping around him. Gareth took stock.

He was in the middle of the air standing on what looked like a single plank of wood, surrounded by nothing else. The fact his toes were still \'on the ground\' despite being off the wood showed that his platform was a bit safer then it appeared… but perhaps only a bit. The wind itself could be a problem, he was already shivering just from standing here in place. Still, he had to get his bearings and… look down.

Now Gareth wasn\'t afraid of heights. It wasn\'t a problem he had really. That didn\'t mean he was comfortable looking straight down. Gareth felt his stomach drop out from under him and his legs start to shake as he properly took in his fall. There a whole host of glowing rings splattered about in a downwards spiral that ended at the water… the water that was just… so far down.

*Well shit. I think I know what Thyme specified that if one person was just standing on their platform not moving, they\'d still call the round. This is… something. Even as unafraid of heights as I normally claim to be… I can feel my heart pounding, and my mind telling me not to jump. I know I can. I am not so slaved to my sense of fear that it could stop me… but it is not a comforting drop either way.*

Gareth calmed his heart as best he could then took in the rings proper. Thyme was right, there really did seem to be a whole host of colours down there. At first, the colours seemed to go in a slight circle, with the matching one underneath it only slightly offset. Well, until there was a large break and suddenly the rings were all spread out everywhere.

*Are the rings just a trap? Isn\'t it better to use this practice to get more of a feel for how to move in the air? Then again, the rings do act as decent goals for trying to figure that part out. I guess I\'ll take the dive.*

Before Gareth could talk himself out of it he jumped. Gareth felt his stomach cramp even as the air rushed past his ears. He didn\'t even have time to think about it properly before he was falling through one of the rings. Cursing himself for panicking, he then started to move from side to side, trying to get a feel for it and found he really didn\'t move quickly at al. Hitting a few more rings essentially by accident as he fell.

Gareth then decided to aim for one of the outer rings, a red one that was rather obvious. With a grim look he pointed his arm away from him and triggered the enchantment. Suddenly a full quarter of his mana pool was ripped away from him. At the same time, it felt like his arm was nearly snapped in half from the knockback. He barely even had the presence of mind to keep going for the red ring. He managed it… barely.

*What the hell was that! I know Thyme said some people could only use the damned things twice but they didn\'t mention anything about it nearly taking an arm off! I\'m stronger than most and even I felt that. Probably a bit of an exaggeration… or maybe not? Do I need to hold whichever hand I fire against my chest or something to absorb the impact? And what the heck will I do with just four shots?*