The Almighty Dragon Rider Returns

Reynold’s eyes were fixed on Nymeria who was was standing close to Richard. She was whispering something in to his ear.

Whatever they were discussing seemed serious, because Richard was listening very carefully. But even while he listening, his hands did not stop moving.

Fwip, fwip, fwip.

He was still casually flipping his card back and forth through his fingers.

Does this guy ever stop playing with those bloody cards? Reynold thought, shaking his head slightly.

Reynold watched as Richard gave Nymeria a single nod. He then turned around and started walking to join the rest of the 3rd year representatives who were taking their positionz inside Wildland.

Richard did not stopped, instead he walked past them and headed straight to the senior professor who was standing at the boundary line, and acting as the tournament referee.

Reaching into his jacket pocket, Richard pulled out a small glass bottle filled with a red liquid.

"Professor," Richard said, holding the small bottle up between two fingers. "I want to give this to my team before we step in. It will help us communicate better when fully inside... Hope it’s not against the rules?"

The referee took the bottle and held it up to the sunlight, turning it around and staring closely at the liquid for a few seconds.

"As long as the communication stays strictly inside the Wildland and not with anyone on the outside, it is permitted," the professor said, handing the bottle back to Richard. "You may use it."

"Thank you, sir," Richard muttered.

He turned and went to his team.

The first rider was standing right beside a big green dragon. Richard held out the bottle in front of him. "Drink from it."

A few feet away, another boy standing beside a black dragon has his arms across around his chest.

A lazy grin spread spread on his face as he looked at Richard.

"What is this, Richard?" the boy joked. "Are you trying to poison us before the tournament even starts?"

Richard looked at the boy, his fingers now back at flipping the card.

"If I wanted to poison you," Richard replied, his eyes completely on the boy, "I’d lock you in a room filled with different card games and tell you who ever wins gets the antidote. So no... drink the damn liquid."

The boy grin disappeared immediately, as he unfold his arms. "Fu*king flame, Richard! Where the hell is your sense of humor?"

Richard did not answer him or even smile. Instead, he turned to the boy with the green dragon and then to a girl standing nearby with her black hair tied up in a tight topknot.

"The liquid is a mind-link spell," Richard explained, his voice calm. "It will let us talk in each other’s heads while we are inside."

He pointed at the rider with the black dragon. "You are Rider 1."

The boy frowned. "Hey, I have a name, you know."

Richard let out a long breath, the card still flipping in his fingers. "I don’t wanna know it."

He moved his eyes to the guy with the green dragon. "You are Rider 2."

Then, Richard turned to the girl with the black hair bun. He blinked as he stared at her face for a second then he muttered, "And you are..."

The girl snapped, as her hands fly to her hips. "Dude! We literally attend the exact same classes together! Don’t tell me you don’t know my fu*king name?!"

Richard swallowed. "And you are... Mage Number 2."

The girl gritted her teeth.

"Dammit..."

FWEEEEEEET!

At the spectator area, the crowd erupted into shouts as the referee blew the loud silver whistle.

The match had officially begun.

Immediately, the two Noble-High riders mounted their dragons and flew toward the right side of the Wildland, while the Wyrmwood team followed the left.

The board lit up instantly:

Round 2: Year 3

W.A [ 0 ] vs N.H.A [ 0 ]

The floating live-stream camera then zoomed in, tracking the Wyrmwood team as they crossed into the Wildland.

Suddenly, Richard stopped walking.

He was still shuffling his card. But then, his fingers also stopped moving.

He stopped flipping the card, bent down low to the ground, and scooped up a small handful of sand. He shoved the sand right into his pocket, stood back up, and walked over to a tree.

In the spectator stands, the Wyrmwood cadets stared at the screen in pure confusion.

"What the fu*k is he doing?" a cadet shouted from the second row.

"Why the fu*k is he climbing a tree?!" another voice yelled out.

A boy down on the front bench threw his hands in the air. "I knew it! Never fu*king trust a gambler!"

The entire crowd watched in silence as Richard scrambled up the rough tree. He then sat comfortably on a thick branch of the tree.

The live camera then zoomed in close to his face.

Richard reached into his pocket and pulled out the handful of sand. He held it tight in his palm. He closed both his hands together, and shut his eyes.

"Is he... is he praying right now?!" someone in the crowd asked, sounding totally lost.

"I have seen enough," a senior cadet groaned, sliding down into his chair. "Someone go into that forest and drag that gambler out of the Wildland before he embarrasses us!"

Back inside the fighting area, Richard sat wuth his leg crossed on the tree branch.

He held the sand tight between his two palms. He took a deep, steady breath, and then his lips started moving fast as he began to mutter a strange, low chant:

"Ludus vantar, animus ligar..."

He paused for a moment, as he breathed in the cold air, and then added:

"Sabulum verum, oculus vagar..."

Instantly, a faint gold glow shone between his fingers and the sand in his hands immediately started to float up into the air. The sand split into tiny glowing specks that spread out into the wind like glowing dust, and then disappearing through the trees.

In another part of the Wildland, a female Noble-High cadet with a shiny silver chain around her neck was jogging.

Suddenly, she froze.

"Huh?"

She tried to lift her right foot, but it would not move. She tried her left foot, but it felt like her boots were glued to the ground under her.

"What the...?"

Just then, a soft, clear female voice sounded out directly inside her mind.

"Riddle me to continue your path..."

The Noble-High girl’s eyes went wide.

"What the actual fu*k?! Since when did this tournament turn into a riddle game?!"

The voice sounded again inside her ears:

"I have no voice, yet I speak to all, i have no legs, yet I rise and fall,.answer me true, or step no more."

The girl swallowed hard. Her heart started beating fast as she began chewing her gum nervously.

Her eyes darted left and then right across the forest.

"Is it... is it the wind?" she guessed quickly.

Nothing happened. Her feet remained stuck.

"No, no, wait!" she stammered. She was already sweating a little. "The tide! Is it the sea tide?!"

A tiny chime rang in her head, making her gasp. It felt like she was so close, like the spell was just about to break if she just guessed one more time.

"Wait, no! Is it a wave?!" she yelled.

She was completely trapped in the loop.

In another direction, a Noble-High rider with a deep scar on his left cheek was flying on his dragon.

He scanned the ground below and suddenly spotted two small flag facing each other.

The minor flag! he thought, as a grin appeared on his face.

He pulled his dragon reins hard, and his dragon landed on the grass.

The rider jumped off his dragon’s back and took two fast steps toward the flag.

ZIP.

A glowing, hovering image of three rolling dice appeared right in front of his face out of nowhere.

The same clear female voice sounded inside his head:

"Guess the sequence three times in a row to pass. Any hesitation resets your score to zero."

The scarred rider snapped his teeth together. "What the fu*k?! I am not here to play goddamn board games!"

He turned around, as he tried to walk away and ignore it, but his boots would not budge from the ground. He was completely pinned to the spot.

"Dammit!" the boy growled through gritted teeth.

He snapped his head back toward the floating glowing dice. "Fine! Three and six!"

WRONG. The dice reset with a red flash.

"Fu*k! Two and five!"

WRONG. The counter reset back to zero again.

"Bollocks! fu*king piece of sh!t game!!" the rider roared at the top of his lungs. His face turned red with anger as he kept tapping the air. He was trapped in the endless loop.

Back in the spectator area, the crowd was staring at the live feeds showing the Noble-High team standing completely still in different parts of the forest, staring at empty air and yelling at nothing.

"Holy flame..." a Wyrmwood student muttered, his eyes wide open. "This dude is actually playing mind games in an official tournament!"

"My bad..." the guy next to him said, scratching his neck nervously. "I was way too quick to judge you, Richard. "

Down at the front row, a senior cadet let out a low chuckle, leaning back in his seat. "A gambler will always be a gambler."

Back inside the Wildland, Richard was still sitting quietly on the high tree branch.

His eyes were still closed tight, his legs crossed, and his lips moving in tiny, rhythmic twitches.

His mind linked directly into the head of the rider 1.

"Rider 1, do you copy?" Richard’s calm voice sounded directly inside the boy’s head.

Rider 1 stopped mid-stride, looking up at the sky in shock. "Richard?!"

"Turn and take your left behind the big gray boulder. The first minor flag is sitting completely on the tree branch. Go strike it."

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