Chapter 714

“Now, I’m sure you’re all wondering why you’ve just been tied together. Perhaps asking yourselves where I might be going with this? Well, I remind everyone that the theme for this round of the Tournament is COOPERATION. So, I thought an all out brawl is a bit standard, but if you throw in some jolly cooperation things get much better. To keep everything interesting, that vine binding you all to your partner is somewhat tough, but not enough to stand up to a weapon strike or both of you pulling each other in the wrong direction more than a few times.

“If the vines holding you together get destroyed in any way, well, then you’re a Nigel No Friends and we can’t have that. Leaving your partner behind isn’t in the spirit of cooperation is it? So keep your enemies close, but your partners closer! Good luck with your planning and praise the sky!” finished Thyme as they posed, reaching up to the clouds before vanishing in a flash of light.

*Well, I suppose that answers things.* “Um... hello...” said Kat turning herself as best she could to face the elf she was now tied to, “I’m Kat, and I guess we’re working together what’s your name?”

“Kevin,” said... well Kevin.

Kat looked the elf up and down, trying not to focus on the snowglobe hat and wondering how careful she needs to be of it. *I really hope that my horns don’t nock into that and crack it or something. If that’s just normal glass it won’t need a lot of force... surely it can’t be normal glass. What was that hardness scale? Would my horns scratch diamond? Why am I asking myself this. Oh right, to distract myself from the fact that the fantasy pretty boy elf is named ‘Kevin’ of all things. Even Kress has a more fantasy name.*

“So... any plans?” asked Kat hoping to distract herself from the myriad of questions she had like, what was up with his name, why did his spear wobble like it was made out of jelly and was it useful, what’s with the hat? Still, Kat didn’t think it was the time or place for any of these questions.

“Hmm...” mumbled Kevin as he looked out over the battle field. He spotted Nel and nodded, “I think, if you are confident in your strength, the bear girl should be our target. She is strong, and frankly I can’t really tell the dwarves apart even after working with them last round,”

.....

“There are actually a few ways to tell...” said Kat but saw Kevin just shrug at her. “Ok fine, I agree that it probably doesn’t matter. Even if you can tell them apart... I haven’t really seen evidence that any of them are much better then any others. Then again, it really wasn’t that kind of challenge when we worked together with them.”

Kevin nodded, “Indeed. They have similar enough weapons and the alchemist won’t have time to make any concoction during such a hectic battle. If we see that happening I’m sure someone will go out of their way to stop them. We can if we’re the closest.”

Kat nodded while Kevin tapped his free foot a few times. “Actually, who were you paired with last round? I was paired with Dwarf Three, but I can’t really tell you anything you don’t already know about them. Used a mace well, didn’t have to use any potions. Can’t play chess to save their life...”

*Hmm... how much do I want to reveal about Blue? I... I think this is the final round right? Wait no it can’t be because if we win it’ll be a tie... but I doubt Blue’s team will participate if that’s the case. Plus, what can I really tell him? She’s a water mage? He’ll figure that out quickly enough.* “Blue is a water mage and fairly accurate with a water bullet spell. That’s the only one she needed to use,” answered Kat.

“How good is she at chess?” asked Kevin. Kat raised a confused eyebrow at the question. *What the heck does that matter?*

“I have no idea, we managed to skip the chess fight and ended up fighting this weird monster that kept trying to eat us and was bound to a chair or something. Blew her ear drums out fighting it,” explained Kat.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“So she has sensitive ears?” inquired Kevin searching for a weakness to exploit.

Kat just had to shrug at the question though, “I mean maybe? The same thing happened to mine but my regeneration meant I got to experience it over and over and over again! Blue’s was just a more permanent problem before we got it fixed up at the healers,”

“Hmm... that means she can’t use any water based healing magic...” mumbled Kevin under his breath. Something Kat caught easily.

“Wait... there’s water based healing magic?” asked Kat

“Everything technically has a healing magic spell Kat,” said Kevin snidely, “It’s just not usually worth it. I mean, fire spells can be used to cleanse you of disease and stop infections... but there’s also a good chance it cooks you alive in the process. It’s not for low level mages even if it is possible to cast at lower ring counts. Water sometimes has low level healers though. With enough training it’s possible, just unlikely. Still I’ve seen it done before and wanted to check,”

“Well that’s interesting... I didn’t know anything could be used to heal,” said Kat.

Kevin shook his head vigorously, “No, everything has the potential for healing, but it can just as easily cause more harm during the process unless someone actually has healing as their element. You also really need the temperament for it. Just... just forget I said anything, it isn’t something anyone should aim for really,”

Kat raised an eyebrow at her partners. *That was a shut down if I ever heard one. Why don’t you want to talk about that more?* “So are you a mage?” asked Kat.

Kevin shook his head, “No. I COULD be a mage, but I was never trained in it,” said Kevin firmly. Kevin’s eyes had a hard look to them, the face of a man who’d seen more than his fair share of the world. Which was odd because he didn’t have it before, and Kat couldn’t see any other sign of it... but...

*Hmm... I’m detecting some... hmm let’s go with repressed anger right there. Why does he seem so bitter about not being a mage? Maybe it has something to do with the healing? Hmm... I want to know... I want to ask... but... maybe I should make sure that my partner is willing to work with me during this round first instead of trying to annoy them.*

“How should we move?” asked Kat, letting them get away from the topic with all the subtlety of a jackhammer.

In the end though, she read Kevin correctly. He wanted nothing to do with the previous topic and was happy to pick up Kat’s new train of thought. “Well, I’m right handed so... the fact that your left leg is bound to my right is not ideal. I’ll need to keep attacking from the centre... hmm... can we...” Kevin paused to stab his spear into the ground and shout out to Thyme, “HEY THYME CAN I SWAP TO KAT’S OTHER SIDE?”

“No need to yell,” Kevin and Kat whipped around... separately, pulling the vine tight and nearly bowling Kevin over. The strength difference was a bit much, but they managed to stay on their feet, mostly due to Kat’s good work with her tail.

“If your partner is agreeable, we can swap things around for you both,” said Thyme. Kat glanced at Kevin and gave a shrug. Kevin of course, nodded eagerly. Thyme snapped their fingers and the vine came undone before the ground shifted again, to spin Kevin around to Kat’s other side while keeping her in place, before their feet were bound once more. “I’ll go see if anyone else wants the same treatment.

“Thank you for this. I have a greater range of movement now that my right hand is free to move about on its own. Hmm... as to how we should move... are you capable of following my movements?” asked Kevin in such a way to imply Kat likely could not.

Kat frowned at the question. *I want to say no. I’m not capable of that... but I already know how that will turn out. It’d be a lie. The restrictor bracelet is annoying but it does nothing to slow my perception. Now matter how fast Kevin is, if I keep my mind moving at a fast enough speed reacting alongside him wouldn’t be all that hard... I don’t really want to though. I could just lift him up with the right hold. Let him have free range to attack while I do the movements... would that be something I can safely suggest though...*