<h4>Chapter 1234 Chapter 1234 Exnationse in Three</h4>


    Thyme smiled at the crowd, showing off their white teeth that seemed to squish slightly in the mouth. *Thyme is really going for this balloon theme.* "Right, seems like there''s no other questions so far. Let''s move onto the events. For this first event, I''ll keep the description extremely brief because we''ll being back to it swiftly for a full exnation soon. The goal of the first event is to fall through a series of glowing rings as quickly as possible. There will be three courses, and you get one practice jump, exactly once, not once per course."


    *I think I could probably have participated in that one without an unfair advantage right? Falling is faster then flying surely?*


    [Perhaps, but I imagine that it''s not a straight shot down. Part of the challenge is probably working out how fast you can fall while still keeping horizontal movement in mind. Thyme isn''t going to just have these rings all in straight line. Plus, Thyme said previously that there would be equipment provided. Your wings probably negate, or do the jobs of said equipment.]


    *Hmm… maybe. I''m not exactly mad about this. And we did use it to our advantage to have me participate in day one and two with almost no downside. Admittedly, we didn''t think Thyme would give Romilda''s team a pass to use someone an extra time… but I''m not sure it matters.*


    [I''m not sure anything they do at this point matters]


    *Rude. It''s not evenpletely true either. I''m sure that they have a chance to catch up if they do well.*


    [I''m betting thest day is underwater. Both Blue and you can sweep any of those you choose. Blue for being a water mage, and you because you can hold your breath a long time.]


    *Time might provide something for that though. And hey, we don''t know if Stan can hold his breath for any longer then a human or elf can.*


    [Guess we''ll just have to see]


    "The second event, will be based on both duration, and distance. I''ll be providing everyone participating in this event a choice of contraptions. Once chosen, everyone will kick off into the air. You will win the round by staying in the air for the longest amount of time, but, learning from my previous mistakes, I''ll be implementing a two hour time limit.


    "If multiple people make it all the way to two-hours withoutnding then I''ll instead take the distance travelled into ount. This distance will be calcted not based on distance flown in total, but by your distance away from the starting tform. Doesn''t matter what direction you go, just that it''s further away from the tform.


    "Unlike in the first event, you WILL be able to attack each other, but said attacks will be limited based on the equipment you''ve chosen. No using magic or your own weapons against each other. Though, do keep in mind, many of your options for attacking people will include enchanted objects that drain mana. More details will be avableter."


    *Oh wow. Yeah I''d destroy that event. So would Romilda probably. Being able to fly, and fly quickly, is definitely something I can do. Even if I have the restrictor band on.*


    [Yeah no way either of us could participate in this one. Even if I don''t have the same ariel speed you do, I have stamina to glide around for two hours and make it a good distance away.]


    "The final event will be a mid-air obstacle course. It''ll be no-holds barred. Everything is allowed. If you fall off the obstacle course, you''ll be teleported back to thest ''safe-point'' a concept I''ll exinter. The same will also happen if you go unconscious or take a serious wound I judge you unable to recover from in ten minutes. The various obstacles contain both boons and banes for people engaging with them.


    "Perhaps you''ll wonder off-course and find a teleportation item? Maybe if you rush ahead you can find a way to drop a wall down and stop your opponents from advancing? If you see a safe-point perhaps you''ll use it to have a ce to return… or you might try to destroy it so nobody can make use of it, including yourself.


    "Now, the main theme of the course will be that it''s all built of floating tforms of various sizes, mostly smaller ones. So falling is a very expected part of the course. You''ll also be quite far from the ocean, which you''ll need to be a moment away from hitting to return to the course. This is part of the penalty for falling off the course.


    "One final note, is that the course was designed to be just barely impossible for a Rank 0 mortal, and reasonablypletable for a skilled Rank 1 individual. Obviously this is a time based challenge, and you''re all at least Rank 2, so I expect you to get creative, push your limits and try to make it through as quickly as possible,"


    I kinda wish I could''ve participated in that one. Even if I know why I can''t, that challenge seems really fun.


    [It also seems surprisingly militant. I''m surprised Thyme would have an obstacle course considering this is meant to be a ''fun and casual round of the tournament''.]


    *That''s… an interesting point. I guess the fact that you can ''respawn'' essentially is what makes it more casual? Are the traps all going to be silly? Is this going to be Thyme''s version of Wipeout or something?*


    [Huh… yeah I can see that actually. I can already imagine what it might look like, and I agree that it sounds fun. In fact, it sounds so fun that I think we should ask Thyme if they''ll leave the obstacle course up for us after the event is over.]


    *Good idea I like love thinking.* Kat purred thest two words in her mind, trying to make them as sensual as possible. Based on the wave of embarrassment she was getting back from Lily, Kat was pretty sure she seeded.


    While Kat and Lily were messing around, Thyme paused their speech, and pretended to get a drink. Pretended being the operative word because Thyme was only just barely disguising the fact the water was being thrown behind them instead of going in their mouth. The fact you could now see a puddle of water at Thyme''s feet only reinforcing it. Kat… didn''t get the joke. Neither did anyone else watching, including those in the basement.


    "Right. That''s the basic overview of it all, do you have any questions? Do keep in mind, I''m still holding back quite a few specifics for the day, and those will be exined to you before the relevant challenges. The first challenge especially. In fact, I''ll just make it a rule. No questions about the first challenge. I''ll answer those questions after I exin the specifics of that er," said Thyme.


    [Kat we gotta ask]


    *Why don''t you ask?*


    [I''m a cat at the moment.]


    Kat rolled her eyes. It would take Lily less then a second to transform but Kat didn''t really mind so she put her hand up to indicate she had a question, and Thyme waved in her direction. "Will you be leaving the obstacle course up after using itter today so that it can be run again? It sounds quite fun. Lily and I would love to take a crack at it, even if we do understand why we can''t during the tournament itself,"


    Thyme pulled at their chin, letting their face stretch out like it was a beard before letting go and having it snap back into ce. "Sounds interesting. I hadn''t nned on leaving it up and running but if you''re interested in having a go I''m happy to reset it after the official round is over. I''ll have to leave a way to ess it somewhere… but I''ll just use one of the spare rooms in the inn. You can ask Mint about itter,"


    Kat nodded in eptance as Thyme turned to the rest of the crowd. As Kat did her own look around, she met March''s eyes who flexed a bit in her direction with a grin, and a thumbs up, followed by miming at running. Kat was pretty sure that meant March wanted to run the obstacle course as well, so Kat sent back a nod and her own thumbs up of eptance. This made March grin wider, so Kat was probably correct in her guess.


    Marigold, seeing this interaction just straight up said aloud, "Sign me up for that run as well, it sounds super fun," Kat nodded at Marigold, not wanting to speak aloud herself when Thyme was trying to field questions. Still, she was looking forward to the end of the day. *Should we skip out on watching the final round of the day so we''re surprised when we do our run?*


    [Nah. Marigold and March should be watching as well, so they''ll know some of the tricks like we will. It might even make the round more interesting, if say, everyone knows where the safe points are.]