Chapter 689: Chapter 690 Is there an Opposite of Icarus?
Kat stepped around Green, stopping her tail from instinctively lashing out at the nuisance and pushed open the door to the next room. This time it was a long but well lit corridor with humanoid stencils carved into them. Kat could tell there was multiple walls all stacked together and at least the first stencil was designed for two people. It had one standing on the hands of the other. What Kat couldn’t understand was why the smaller member of the team didn’t just hide behind the taller avoiding the extra effort.
*So I guess I’m just in a game show now. Though I suppose one could argue this entire tournament has been like a game show hasn’t it?* Kat looked closely at the material the frames were made out of. It seemed to be a kind of wood and that said good things about her chances to simply bash through the frames. It was probably the best idea, as while the heads were large enough that with a little bit of extra effort put into the positioning of her head Kat’s horns wouldn’t get caught... but her wingtips that stuck out over her shoulders were a different issue altogether.
“Hey looks like we can work together for real this time!” said the fake Green cheerfully as she entered the room. “This kind of task is right up my alley. Balance, reaction time and a healthy dose of confidence is all that’s required. I don’t even need to use my speed or wind mana.”
Kat rolled her eyes and stepped forward onto the slightly raised platform. As soon as she did the wall started moving towards Kat and about the speed of a fast walk. It was a simple pattern and Kat didn’t bother destroying it just yet, turning herself sideways to use the extra width of the cut-out to avoid clipping her wings.
Green was originally content to just sit back and watch Kat if they weren’t going to work together. That’s when she felt herself getting zapped by a powerful electric shock. “Eep,” shouted Green as she jumped forward reflexively and ended up on the platform anyway. She managed to slide through the gap as well, mostly due to her smaller size and instinctive crouch.
The next frame was coming down the aisle this time increasing the speed to about that of a normal human jog. It was another easy shape just requiring Kat to make a star pose, and theoretically have Green sitting on her shoulders. For Kat, that space above her shoulders was perfect to avoid her wings getting damaged to another frame passed by easily.
The next frame sped towards them at the speed of a human sprinter, but still it was more than enough distance for Kat to adjust. This time the cut-out was two stacked circles on the ground that Kat was clearly supposed to crouch down with Green on her back also crouched to get through. Kat wasn’t interested in that. Kat’s punch slammed into the speeding wall, her skin bruising under the impact but the wood shattered, giving way easily enough.
.....
Kat glanced at her knuckles, watching the splinters force their way out and seeing the skin bruise for a split second before yellowing and then returning to normal. *Hmm... my regeneration is amazing but my skin isn’t exactly up to the task of matching my strength is it. I really should use my fans for this.*
Kat didn’t even look at what the next, much faster, wall looked like. She just grabbed her fans and swung shattering the wood a second time, then a third, then a fourth. The walls kept speeding up, presumably testing her reaction speed and ability to work with her teammate but in the end, strength was sufficient for this task.
*It’s a little weird that the black curtains seemed to be in place specifically for me to make it atmospheric but that none of the traps were really designed for me. My best guess is that the black cloth is actually standard for all the tasks nothing as made sense.*
A few more shattered wood panels and then Kat swung, hitting nothing but air, and pausing. Kat glanced around. The floor was littered with wood chips and the path forward wasn’t much better... but there were no more panels, just a standard doorway at the end of the path. Green glanced around Kat’s body and noticed it was over, “Well... that’s one way to go about it I suppose. Not really much of a teamwork thing is it?”
Kat shrugged, stepping forward through the woodchips without any hesitation. “Maybe not, but frankly I’m surprised you didn’t try and push me of course,” said Kat.
Green shrugged, not that Kat could see the motion, “I thought about it, but honestly, I didn’t want to end up like the wood panels if you reacted instinctively in your panic,” said Green honestly.
Kat nodded, “Yeah that doesn’t sound impossible. I’d love to say I’m not that bad... but after dealing with you slamming rocks into my head repeatedly and my only very recent strength control exercises I wouldn’t have been too surprised if I wacked your head off. I mean, I’m not going to just end people randomly I have enough control for that... when I’m not panicked. At least that’s pretty hard to do,” Kat finished speaking just as they entered the next room.
This one seemed to be one for people scared of heights. They were on a platform that looked to be very high up in the air but with Kat’s eyes she could tell it was just that the floor was painting to look that way. The drop was very much survivable for... well not quite a normal human but adventurer standard human. Kat didn’t think she’d take any major damage at all from the fall. Perhaps slightly strained muscles for a moment before they healed.
Hanging over the gap was two swing trapeze set. They were set much further apart then you’d see in any show on Earth. The one closest to them was attached to a hook on the wall, while the one on the other side seemed to swing freely. It was clear the idea was to work together to use the trapeze to get across the large gap. Kat gave a glance at Green looking for her reaction.
Green, for her part, was fairly pleased with this last challenge. It looked easy enough for someone of her skillset and if she wanted she could probably drop Kat down the hole. Green sadly hadn’t noticed the lack of true depth to it... nor had she noticed one crucial detail Kat hadn’t forgotten at all. Green’s head snapped up when she started to hear the sound of rushing air.
In front of her was Kat, just, flying across the thing. It wasn’t very fast but she was making progress clearly. “What the hell Kat?” yelled Green in shock.
Kat turned around, raising an eyebrow as she flew in place. “What? This is by far the best way to get past this obstacle,” said Kat confidently but knowing the real issue Green was taking with this.
“You... you can’t do this? What about me? Aren’t you going to fly us both across at the very least?” asked Green slightly panicked.
Kat grinned, showing a full set of shining white teeth that for the moment seemed all so sinister. *Finally, this stupid band is good for something.* “Now Green, why would I do that? Not only has this given me a great chance to get rid of you, it can’t even weigh on my conscience. You see, with this stupid bangle on, I can’t fly you over even if I wanted to. This way, I get to leave you behind, I don’t have to knock you out or... ‘kill’ you, and you can’t follow me. I couldn’t have thought of a better solution.”
Green growled for a few seconds and Kat, seeing no response forthcoming turned around to keep flying. Green used this chance to throw a wind infused dagger straight at Kat’s wing. It struck true burying itself into the membrane and causing a sharp pain as well. Kat struggled a bit to stay in the air as she let her tail navigate itself carefully around her moving wings to wrap around the handle and rip it out. Kat winced again as she felt a chunk of flesh going with it, but she managed to stay in the air by reducing the flaps on her good wing. It only took a few seconds to heal and Kat turned around to glare at Green.
Green shrugged, “I had to do it,”
Kat glared back, “Fine but you throw another one of those daggers and I’ll return it right to your eye. Don’t think I won’t. It’s not even like the fall will kill me, or injure me all that much. The drop is only a couple of metres, the rest is just fancy paint.
Green glanced down and threw another dagger towards the floor, watching it fall much ‘faster’ then it should have. “Well shit,” said Green.
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