84

Chapter 84

Flange Orphanage, City: Three Prongs Fork, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat, the Year 2030, Planet: Grimoire

Tension gave Grifton's senses a razor sharpness which hurt. Immediately, he lowered the level of sensitivity. Even as he did it, the observers' eyes flickered in surprise. So, they registered that type of activity, eh? Hmm, this would be fun if that was the case. Grifton opted to remain polite and courteous. He refused to act humble or subservient despite his deficient rank.

Once the questions came fast and furious, Grifton settled into a trance mode. Clarity gave him crystal-clear focus. He could track everything happening all at once. It allowed him to answer the questions clearly and precisely. No more stuttering and lisping troubled him.

"So, to round out this set of questions, what do you wish to accomplish in the future?"

Grifton paused. "That I don't know yet." It had taken him this long to overcome those speech impairments. His apparent defiance in breaking through those limitations impressed quite a few individuals. "I fell far behind my peers. So now I'm working to catch up and surpass them." He gave a slight shrug. "Though I still face some challenges in doing so."

The questioners glanced at each other. At last, another inquired. "Do you have plans to become an artisan?" He looked at his papers. "I see that you've mastered quite a few trades."

Grifton bowed his head. "Yes, I did that while my verbal skills and hand gestures were lacking," he stated calmly. I do intend to become a traveling artisan. Therefore, whatever items or artifacts I work with in the future will have to accommodate that plan." It was not like he'd be able to do it right now. He was only eight years old, but it also meant that he would have more opportunities in the future.

"Would you consider entering the military?"

"Only as support," Grifton stated firmly. "I have yet to master any skills that would benefit me being on the frontlines." His limitations were still a problem he hadn't overcome regarding certain harsh realities.

The questioners grunted. "Fine, step forward so we can assess your primary element." An operator beckoned him forward.

"Yes, ma'am." However, Grifton knew it would put him under an increasingly harsher limelight as far as his peers were concerned. Undoubtedly, all the bullies would double down on their efforts to eradicate him later. He was not looking forward to the coming night hours.

Grifton approached the multi-faceted orb with puzzlement. He glanced at the operator with a questioning glance.

"It allows for multiple elements to manifest." The operator smiled with anticipation as she watched him.

Grifton's skin crawled. Ugh, creepy! Where had he seen that smile before? It took a moment, and then he remembered. Riiiight, she'd been one of those people giving speeches earlier. Barely able to conceal his disgust at her facial expression, he placed his left hand onto the crystal and poured in a small amount of power.

Since he wasn't sure what would happen if he maximized the output, Grifton was being cautious. He was startled when the crystal radiated bright hues. What fascinated him were the darker hues intermixed with them. What did those mean? After a few seconds, the crystal dimmed and returned to opaque.

Grifton removed his hand and let it drop to his side.

There was frightening silence. For a moment, Grifton thought he'd been transported to a dreamscape. There was that odd ticklish sensation that something horrible could potentially happen, and he stiffened warily.

A gasp went through the crowd.

That's when Grifton realized his wings had pulled him from the ground. Not only that, but his siblings also manifested their wings, horns, and claws.

A threat had encircled them earlier, but he'd evidently warned them without being aware of his subconscious alarms going off. Looking down, Grifton saw that the bullies he'd been worried about earlier attempted an attack when he'd been distracted. "Wow, I'm glad I took precautions earlier." He mumbled. "I'm not sure if I want to return there." However, now they were restrained, and their weapons were taken away.

"Hey, Grifton, thanks for setting subconscious alarms," Calico remarked sarcastically.

"Does this happen to you all the time?" Marlayne was displeased. Rage darkened her gaze.

"This is why his subconscious is always on high alert," Amberly commented. "Even though he'd lowered the intensity, he must've known those vindictive bastards would try something."

Grifton sighed. "Yes, to all of your questions." He confirmed with a scowl. "I'd really hoped they would behave for once. Hah, so much for that." His disgusted grumble made them laugh.

"Well, now I think they know better," Calico remarked.

"I sure hope so." Marlayne swiveled her head. "So, what were the results?" She looked at Grifton.

"Dunno," Grifton shrugged. He began gently descending only to halt and backwing to his right and left. "Arrows? Wow, someone really doesn't think highly of my agility." He was even faster with the wings than if he'd used levitation or flying magic.

"This is annoying," Amberlyn growled.

"Ditto," Marlayne and Calico acted and reacted with bolts of lightning thrown at the attackers.

Grifton and Amberlyn followed up with ice bolts that merged with the lightning bolts.

Once they were finished, there were electrocuted ice statues where contestants had stood.

Needless to say, they were disqualified for immature behavior. The families linked to them were also banned for life.

At last, the four were waved to a safe area. Once they reached the ground, his ranking and tier were announced. He had the four basic elements as primary, with all the others coming in as secondary, and unsurprisingly, his spiritual element gift was immeasurable.

Grifton was now in the mid-to-high-tier and advanced level, which meant he could use all the spells at his disposal. Additionally, since his psychic abilities were off the chart, they were put into the advanced expert tier. That put him on par with Calico if not Marlayne and Amberlyn. "Well, I'm pleased with this news." Grifton was okay with not having reached the highest ranking. That would've caused him more grief than he wanted to deal with.

Once Calico and the others could calm down, their appearances turned entirely humanoid. Calico studied Grifton intently. "Huh, so after all, your psychic abilities have kept you alive this entire time."

Grifton shrugged. "Yes, though I have to admit," it seemed that he would have to work on adjusting his senses. "Even I was shocked when my subconscious startled you three into reacting." A sigh escaped Grifton when he shook his head. "When even I wasn't aware of what was going on."

"Well, I'm thankful," Marlayne growled. "I was almost gutted." She snarled in aggravation. "Let's just say those fools will have something worse than frostbite to worry about later." Her expression was downright vindictive.

When Amberlyn nodded, her expression was the same, and Grifton shivered. "I'm glad you three aren't my enemies. I'd be screwed royally if you were." He muttered, making all of them laugh.

"We make quite the combo when all four of us work together." Calico noticed. "It would be interesting if we get paired together."

Amberlyn frowned. "I'm more worried if we have to face off," She admitted. "I don't care for that notion at all."

An official overheard them and cleared his throat. Calico glanced at him. "Oh, hello, Mr. Crisante." He greeted him politely. "This is our cousin we're always bragging about." As Calico spoke, he revealed a hidden shirt. "This is one of the items that Grifton made."

Grifton blinked in shock. "So that's where it went." He hadn't known it had sold so quickly.

"Oh, all of us are wearing something you've made." Amberlyn grinned.

Marlayne nodded. "You create such good clothing items that we don't need to wear as much protective armor."

Well, if that didn't validate some of his earlier work, Grifton didn't know what would. "I think you should still wear armor just in case you wind up on the front lines," he warned.

The last thing Grifton wanted was the three hotheads to be foolishly overconfident.

They all stared at him briefly.

"Yeah, we'll keep that in mind." Calico quickly reassured him.

"What a buzzkill." Marlayne shook her head. "We're not fools."

"We just thought it would be fun to display your hard work, after all." Amberlyn huffed.

"All right, all right." Grifton held his hands up in surrender. "How about we see who goes first?" Usually, it was the lowest rank. It would take some getting used to not being one of the first eliminated.

His cousins exchanged glances. "Now what?" Grifton muttered.

"Why don't we just go sit down?" Amberlyn nudged him with her shoulder. "There is assigned seating now."

Uh, okay. Somehow, Grifton wasn't sure how to handle this new treatment.

Before, he'd been shunned and not allowed to sit, even if he had to stand for hours before his events began. This was entirely out of his sphere of expectation. "Have you entered similar competitions to this before?" Grifton was hesitant as he walked with them to the new area, where he would watch and exit whenever an event he registered would occur.

"Not for a while," Amberlyn told him. "The last time we were in one was when we'd left the central area of Shantu." Her eyes squinted briefly when she tried remembering.

"So, there are different mountain ranges beyond this area?" Grifton hadn't known about the others. The instructors kept the lessons to the local flora and fauna when it came to the mountain ranges and ecosystems. He found it somewhat restrictive, to say the least.

Amberlyn blinked. "Yeah, we visited a mountainous section, umm, the range which the republic is named after, as a matter of fact." She shrugged with a dubious expression. "Shantu mountain range. The lower elevations held a series of smaller cities that ringed the northern central mountain range." She recalled.

"Huh, strange, none of the instructors mentioned it." Grifton shrugged with a sigh.

"That's because it is a forbidden area to enter," Marlayne informed him. "Only expert hunters and adventurers that're S, A, and B ranked or higher can even attempt to penetrate the higher elevations."

Wow, that did sound deadly dangerous. Grifton exhaled. "Hmm, I'll keep that in mind when designing outfits for adventurers and hunters in the future." He would have to expand his imagination when it came to different outfits and possibilities for protective gear, it seemed.

For now, though, Grifton kept his attention on what was happening before him. "Good grief, so that is what the barriers are for?" The combatants were expert hunters and adventurers, as well as military personnel.

"Oh right, there will be some exhibition matches before we all begin." Calico smacked his forehead. "This would've been the best time to get ahold of some snacks and drinks." He trailed off when Grifton snapped his fingers. "What in the world?"

Now he could show off in a way that his cousins would appreciate. This way there would be no growling guts on his watch. Grifton smiled slightly when their jaws dropped in shock.