The Almighty Dragon Rider Returns

The board flashed, and the score updated immediately.

W.A [ 6 ] vs N.H.A [ 6 ]

The entire Wyrmwood stand erupted in to a cheerful laughter as they jumped to their feet. Some even clapped their land so hard. Others screamed until their voices started cracking. A few even hugged the person next to them with out knowing.

Before the excitement could even die down, the board updated again.

W.A [ 7 ] vs N.H.A [ 6 ]

High up in the front row, Gwyn slowly shook her head, as a small smirk appeared on on her lips. "A Xylaria will always be a Xylaria..."

Beside her, Nyx gave nodded with her eyes fixed on the live-stream screen. "Yes. He is just like his cousin."

The Wyrmwood stand was already roaring with wild taunts, and booing the Noble-High section.

Down in the representatives’ stand, Phineas was standing with his arms tightly folded against his chest.

He watched the score updated again and he angrily kicked the empty air in front of him as the board right in front of their stand updated almost immediately.

W.A [ 8 ] vs N.H.A [ 6 ]

"Fu*k!" Phineas spat out under his breath.

He turned and marched straight over to a Noble-High professor who was standing in the corner. He is one of the official judges for this tournament.

Phineas wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and stretched out his arm out toward the Wildland.

"We can not allow this, Professor!" Phineas hissed, his voice laced with frustration. "Richard is clearly crossing the line! He is using an illusion spell on his opponents to buy time so his subconscious can wander around the forest figuring out where all the flags are!"

The professor let out a slow sigh, looking at Phineas over his glasses. "Richard is not breaking any rules, cadet."

"But..." Phineas tried to argued.

"He is using his environment and what he has to his advantage," the professor interrupted calmly. "Which is very much acceptable."

The professor paused, turning his eyes back to the floating screens.

"Sometimes, tournament victory is not always about fighting. It is about thinking outside the box."

Phineas gritted his teeth. "Fu*k..." he muttered.

He turned around and stormed back to his stand, with his hands jammed deep into his pockets.

Back on the Wyrmwood stand, the crowd went absolutely wild as the board updated again:

W.A [ 11 ] vs N.H.A [ 6 ]

"WYRMWOOD!" a boy screamed at the top of his lungs, as he jumped right on top of a wooden table. "WYRMWOOD! WYRMWOOD!"

"WYRMWOOD!" dozens of other cadets roared in unison.

Most of them climbed onto their benches, raising their hand into the air and pumping them up and down, and chanting Wyrmwood.

Back inside the Wildland...

Richard was still sitting on the tree branch with out moving. His eyes were still closed. But under his eyelids, the skin there was starting to turn a sickly, bruised black. And it was cracking slowly too.

Richard gritted his teeth hard, his face turning paler by the second, but he did not stop the spell.

In another part of the forest, a female Noble-High mage cadet with short, cropped hair slowly slapped her leg.

"Tch. Bloody mosquitoes," she muttered, rubbing the skin.

She took two steps forward backwards, then she froze. "Huh?"

She blinked, staring in total confusion.

Three different forest directions were laid out directly in front of her. She stopped, her eyes darting between them.

Wait... those three directions were not there a few seconds ago, she thought, with her brow furrowing.

A faint, voice sounded faintly inside her mind:

"Only one direction is safe. The other two are not."

The girl took a step back. There was no timer counting so it was just her and a choice.

She followed the middle direction, but she suddenly found herself standing right back at the exact same spot where she started.

"What the...?" she muttered, her voice trembling.

She stared at the three directions. She hesitated before she took three steps left, the she took another step backed away, then another two to the right direction, and then she stopped again.

The trap was simple: there was no penalty for waiting, but her own extreme caution had become her cage.

Another few miles away, a Noble-High male dragon rider with cornrow braids landed his large dragon in an open view.

"Hold on, boy," he muttered to the beast. "I need to find a spot to pee."

He walked inside and hide behind a tree. He unbuttoned his trousers and so he was done. But as he turned back around, zipping his pants, he froze.

Standing right in front of him was a dark, glowing shadow-double of himself.

A voice resonated inside his head:

"Beat me in a duel, or confess a truth you have never said aloud. Lose, and the stakes double."

The rider drew his sword out. "Confess a truth? To a goddamn shadow? Like hell I will!"

He lunged forward, swinging his blade. The shadow blocked it effortlessly and shoved him back.

His pride was much important to him and there was no way his ego would let him walk away while down.

He raised his sword again, completely trapped in his own stubbornness.

Meanwhile, Richard’s floating subconscious was still walking around the forest.

He had cleared out the minor and medium flags, but he still has not find the commander flag.

He stopped mid-air, scanning the Wildland.

Drip. Drip!

Richard felt something wet hit his lip. He raised his hand to his face and stared at it.

Blood.

His physical body was reaching its limit and time was running out.

"Think, Richard, think..." he muttered to himself. "Think like the professor... Where would you hide a Command Flag that would be almost impossible for students to spot?"

His mind started racing with his options.

Option one: buried under the roots? No, too obvious.

Option two: high up in the sky? Too easy for dragon riders to spot from up.

Option three: hidden near the boundary line? Too risky.

Option four...

Richard’s eyes snapped open wide.

"Option four."

He rushed forward, shooting through the trees toward an wide, open view of the valley where no trees lined up at all.

By the time his subconscious stopped running, his his physical body was shutting down slowly.

"Block it all out," Richard gritted out.

"Focus..."

He closed his eyes.

BOOM.

The space shifted like heatwaves, and the Commander Flag suddenly showed right before his subconscious eyes.

Back in the real world, sitting on the rough branch of the tree, Richard’s physical form was in a bad state.

The black cracks under his eyes had spread very well. It was now looking like shattered glass under his pale skin.

Blood was dripped steadily from his nose and staining the collar of his shirt.

"Mage Two... are you there...?" his voice was very weak.

Miles away, the Wyrmwood girl with the black hair bun gasped as his voice sounded in her mind. "Richard?! Yes! Are you okay? You sound... you sound weak!"

Richard did not answer her question.

"The Commander Flag... it’s hidden in the west... near the open..."

Before he could finish the sentence, Richard’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. His hands went limp, and his body gave out.

He tumbled off the high tree branch, and crashed through the leaves and hitting the the ground.

He lay there without completely moving.

Inside the mind-link, Mage Two’s eyes widened in panic.

"Richard?! Richard, are you there?!" she screamed in her head. "West where?! Richard, fu*king answer me!"

Silence.

She panicked. Mage Two quickly re-routed the spell, opening a link to the two Wyrmwood dragon riders flying above.

"Rider 1! Rider 2! Are you there?!"

A second later, Rider 1’s voice responded. "We copy, Mage 2. Are you okay?"

"I don’t think Richard is okay!" she yelled back, her voice shaking. "He was telling me where the Commander Flag was, but the link cut off completely!"

Rider 2’s chuckle. "Ah, it’s just Richard being Richard. Maybe he probably got distracted by a shiny object or something."

"No!" Mage Two snapped. "His voice was extremely weak! He sounded like he was dying!"

Rider 1’s tone became serious. "Mage 2, give me his profile."

Mage Two thought fast as she tried to come up with something. "He was keeping the entire Noble-High team trapped in an illusion loops while simultaneously walking his subconscious through the Wildland... So his magical core must have drained completely and his body gave out!"

"Dammit," Rider 1 swore. "What did he say before the link went dead?"

"He said the Commander Flag is in the west!"

"Alright," Rider 1 ordered instantly. "Use a tracking location spell and head straight west. Me and Rider 2 will go in search of him."

"Okay," Mage Two breathed out. "Keep me updated!"

She drew a quick air, activating her tracking spell, and rushed toward the western side of the forest.

Above the trees, the two Wyrmwood riders turned their dragons around. They were flying low now and keeping their eyes glued to the ground.

In the spectator stands, the roaring Wyrmwood crowd had gone completely silent.

On the massive live-stream screen, everyone watched Richard fall straight out of the tree and crash into the ground.

A collective, worried gasp sounded through the stadium.

"He’s... he’s not moving," a cadet in the third row muttered, his voice trembling.

Down in the front row, a young girl had her fingers tightly interlocked against her chest like she was praying.

Over at the representatives’ stand, Reynold was not looking at the screen. His eyes were fixed entirely on Nymeria.

She was standing and staring at the smaller display board.

But Reynold noticed something strange.

Her left hand was suddenly scratching her right arm. Reynold’s eyes shifted down from her face to her hands, her left hand was shaking violently as it scratch her other hand. His eyes then shifted lower to her feet. Her leather boot was silently tapping on the floor.

Reynold looked back up at the main screen, where Richard lay motionlessly in the ground, then, he shifted his eyes right back to Nymeria. Her face look worried, her hand was shaking, and she is tapping boot.

Who is he to her?

Back in the Wildland, Rider 2 pulled his dragon’s reins hard, and hover over a small view.

He leaned over the saddle, squinting at the ground.

"Rider 1, I see a body," Rider 2 called out through the link.

"I’m heading your way," Rider 1 replied immediately. "Go check it out!"

Rider 2 landed his dragon on the grass, climbed down, and rushed toward the body.

When he reached the spot and saw Richard lying face down in the ground, his blood ran cold. He quickly opened the mind-link.

"It’s him!" Rider 2 yelled, dropping to his knees beside Richard.

"And... blood of the flame, he’s not breathing!"

"I’m almost there!" Rider 1 barked back.

Rider 2 grabbed Richard’s shoulder, shaking him gently. "Hey! Hey, Richard, wake up! Come on, dude, you have to wake up!"

Richard did not react. His skin was ice-cold, the black cracked marks under his eyes were looking like permanent scars.

Then, sound swoosh of wings sounded as Rider 1 landed his dragon nearby and rushed over.

Both riders knelt over Richard, desperately shaking his shoulders.

"This is bad," Rider 2 muttered, his hands trembling as he saw the dried blood covering Richard’s face. "We can not even end this game if the Command Flag is still standing!"

"Mind-link Mage 2!" Rider 1 ordered.

"Mage 2, what’s your progress?!"

Miles away, Mage Two was standing in the middle of an open field, sweat pouring down her face. "My tracking spell just started beeping loudly! I have to concentrate to reveal it!"

"Do it fast!" Rider 2 yelled into her head. "Richard is not breathing!"

Mage Two’s heart was beating as the link ended.

Panic flared in her chest.

"No, no, calm down..." she muttered to herself, taking a deep, shaky breath.

"Focus."

She closed her eyes, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and concentrate.

Then the command flag appeared in the empty air right in front of her.

She flipped her and strike the flag.

The moment the Commander Flag was done, the illusion spell sweeping across the Wildland dissolved into thin air.

In different parts of the forest, the Noble-High cadets suddenly snapped out of their loops. The female mage found herself standing on a normal direction. She was looking around in utter confusion.

The scarred rider’s glowing dice vanished, leaving him blinking stupidly at the empty air, his hands still raised.

Back at the spectator stands, the board updated

W.A [ 16 ] vs N.H.A [ 6 ]

Round 2 Over: WYRMWOOD ACADEMY WINS.

Normally, the Wyrmwood section would have exploded into cheerful noise and celebration. But not a single student jumped.

They were quiet, with their face filled with worry as they stared at the screen showing their fallen cadet.

Mage Two rushed through the woods until she finally reached them.

She threw herself onto her knees next to Richard, immediately pressing two fingers against his neck to check his pulse.

Nothing.

She hastily started weaving a glowing green spell, pressing her hands firmly against Richard’s chest. A warm light traveled from her palms straight into his body.

Beside her, Rider 2 clasped his hands together, "Please work... please work... come on, man, please work..."

Mage Two wiped the sweat from her eyes and pushed another wave of magic into Richard’s chest.

COUGH!

Richard suddenly convulsed, coughing violently as he spat a mouthful of dark blood onto the grass.

He gasped for air, as he bloodshot eyes fly open.

For a second, he looked completely lost, staring at the sky.

Then, his memory seemed to return.

He blinked, looking up at the three panicked faces surrounding him.

"Mano... Reese... Copper..." he rasped, his voice barely a whisper. "Did you... did you guys strike the flags like I asked?"

Mage Two let out a wet laugh, tears springing to her eyes. "Yes! We won, you idiot!"

Rider 1 blinked, stunned. "Wait... did he just call us by our real names?"

Richard slowly dropped his gaze down to his legs. He stared at his boots for a long moment, then muttered softly, "...I can’t feel my legs."

Rider 2 froze. "What?"

Richard did not answer. He gritted his teeth, attempting to push himself up off the ground, but his lower body was complete dead.

He immediately keeled over, but Rider 1 was fast enough to catch him before his face hit the ground.

"Easy, mate," Rider 1 said gently, lifting Richard’s arm over his shoulder. "We’ve got you. We’ll carry you out."

Richard hesitated for a second, then let out a weak breath, allowing them to support his weight as they slowly walked him toward the Wildland exit direction.

They were almost at the boundary line when the Noble-High third-year team came marching out from the tree line.

Seeing Richard being carried, the Noble-High rider with the deep scar on his cheek lost his temper completely.

He stormed over, his face red with rage.

"You motherfuker!" the boy roared, stomping toward them. "What the fu*k did you do to us out there?!"

The Wyrmwood team stopped walking.

Rider 1 stepped slightly in front of Richard, his eyes narrowing. "Back off, Noble-High."

"No!" the scar-faced cadet screamed, pointing an angry finger at Richard.

"This bastard crossed the line! He cheated!"

Richard slowly raised his head, his face pale.

"I did not cross any line," Richard said softly. "The illusion game was not about winning... If you were smart enough, you would have figured it out in seconds."

The boy stopped in his tracks, his teeth grinding together. "What did you just say to me?!"

"I said..." Richard wheezed, a faint, mocking smirk touching his bleeding lips, "...if you were smart.."

"You little sh!t!" The boy raised his hand as he stepped forward to punch Richard right in the face. "I’ll show you who’s not smart.."

"Hit my cousin and you will never use that hand again."

The boy went dead silent hearing the voice.

Nymeria was standing just outside of the boundary line. Her eyes were on the boy.

Reynold’s eyes widened in shock.

Did she just say... cousin? What the actual hell?

Before anyone could say another word, an academy healer came rushing over with a wooden stretcher, pushing through the crowd. "Move! Get out of the way! Bring him here, quickly!"

Rider 1 and Rider 2 gently laid Richard down onto the stretcher.

Nymeria immediately stepped up beside the healer, her usual cold mask completely gone, and was replaced by raw anxiety. "How is he?" she asked. "Is he going to be fine?"

The healer placed two fingers on Richard’s forehead, casting a quick diagnostic spell. A soft blue light covered Richard’s body before fading away.

The healer let out a long, breath and looked up at Nymeria.

"He is lucky to even be breathing," the healer said. "He pushed his magical core far beyond his limit, and in return, his nervous system completely collapsed. The price he has to pay for this stunt..."

The healer paused, looking down at Richard’s unmoving legs.

"...is that it will take him at least a month to fully recover and walk again."

.....

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