The smirk had long since vanished from Kay's face. After waiting to ensure that the knight had left the campsite, he and Sanson had begun their trek to the tower.
They'd been traveling for at least half a day and were making shockingly little progress. Stopping every hour or two to rest and rehydrate was a necessity. He and Sanson had been the same kind of person before dying: those who preferred to leave their house, little as possible.
Though Kay wanted to believe that high willpower would make their journey a cinch, he couldn't possibly have been more wrong. His black dress shoes had started to chafe his heels. Additionally, his larger than average body caused serious overheating.
Sanson wasn't faring much better. Most of the journey he spent cradling his back, while complaining of the plights of the old.
During their perilous walk, the jungle had transitioned from night to day, providing enough light to avoid tripping over tree roots and gnarly, overgrown weeds. However, the progressing time was cause for concern. They had precious little left.
So, despite their failing bodies that heaved tumultuous breaths, they picked up their advance after their short respites. And finally, after most of the day had elapsed, their gazes finally met the tower.
The tower… and the man guarding its only entrance. Peeking from behind a tree, they strained their eyes to see the armored man standing in an open-field, the towers entrance at his back.
Muscular and imposing, it was the same figure they had evaded last night, but he somehow looked less intimidating than before. For one, though he was leaning on his sword, his entire body lightly trembled. For another, though his gaze was generally focused on their direction, he showed no signs of alertness.
"I don't believe it. Has he been waiting for us this whole time?" said Kay.
"It appears so," said Sanson. "Though surely no sane man would voluntarily torture himself in such a way."
The two men exchanged laughs, as they watched the unmoving guard await their arrival.
Kay couldn't imagine a single good reason why the knight was acting this way. Simply falling backwards would earn him four points. Waiting only gave him and Sanson a chance to counterattack.
From the plains, Kay could clearly see the sky, which had constantly been hidden behind the canopy of trees. The sun was beginning to set; twilight had arrived. In a few short hours, the first trial would be over.
However, funny as the sight of the knight was, it didn't change the fact that Sanson and his own stamina had been depleted in its entirety.
His initial plan for confronting the swordsman had been simple: use Sanson's fire or earth spell to catch him off guard, while he body-blocked to secure a path into the tower. It went without saying that Kay was a novice at fighting. Yet, he did have some experience with bullying.
Once, when he'd just started elementary school, a 5th grader had shoved him under a bus seat. Shortly after, the same kid had poured a carton of milk over his head during lunchtime.
They were both called to the principal's office, and although the kid had earned himself detention he didn't look to have learned his lesson.
Afterwards, Kay's parents had tried enrolling him in karate classes at the local community center, however, as was often the case in his life, he quit because he found it too challenging. Those events had repeated many times.
Soccer: He never scored any goals. He quit.
Video games: Everyone else was way too good. He never made the effort to improve.
Friends: Nobody in his class talked to him. It never occurred to him to start the conversation himself.
So, despite being bullied on a regular basis, he preferred that to putting in the effort. However, the bullying stopped soon after. Kay's dad had given him some advice.
"Bullies tend to go after easy targets. Don't make it easy for him to bully you. Make it more trouble than it's worth."
Days later, the older kid had been looking to cause trouble. They'd been on the bus to school again, and Kay was humming the Pokemon theme song when his bully materialized at his side.
"Quit humming, or you're gonna end up on the ground again," he threatened.
The 5th grader was lanky, and dressed in a dark hoodie and jeans. He wore chains around his neck, and had several of his baby teeth missing at the time. Trying to look badass, he also wore a skull and crossbones cap that he had on backwards. There was nobody people feared more on the playgrounds.
Kay kept humming. His parents often told him that it was one of his bad habits. When someone he didn't like told him to stop doing something, it only made him want to do it more. He continued producing the sound, as a smirk crept onto his face.
"Think it's funny. Do you?" he yelled.
The other kids on the bus watched. The bus driver yelled for everyone to sit down, but unable to abandon his post he couldn't stop the conflict.
"That's it!"
Grabbing Kay, he pulled him from his seat. He then began applying pressure to the smaller kid's back, attempting to force him to the ground. In his anger-induced frenzy, he was oblivious to the bus driver's further commands to stop, as well as the other children's screams.
Kay could feel himself falling down. The weight difference was simply too great. He tried punching and kicking, but the bully continued pushing, ignoring the light blows. If anything, they just seemed to make him more angry.
The bully reeled back his knee, and forced his joint into Kay's stomach.
"Maybe that'll teach you to stop fighting back."
All of the air left his lungs, and pain extended far beyond where the blow had landed. He couldn't breathe. His body fell to the dirty bus floor.
Though he continued to struggle, the bully began to inch his body closer to the seat. Once there, the leverage would keep Kay from escaping until the bus came to a stop and the driver could free him.
Then, Kay remembered his dad's advice. This time he'd tried fighting back. He'd tried kicking, punching, and resisting, but the older boy still saw him as an easy target. He was about to give up, when he thought back to Pokemon.
Each Pokemon usually had four moves at its disposal, normally moves of varying types that covered its weaknesses. Kay had only used three attacks on the older boy. Surely he must have had others, right?
He tightly clenched his little fist, feeling the sharp pinch of his long nails sinking into his palm. Despite being a boy, he always kept his nails exceptionally long. They were just more useful that way. If his pencil lead broke during class, he simply chipped the wood until more shone through. They were also good for peeling off stubborn tape.
Extending an open hand backwards, Kay found a part of the bully's forearm not covered by the hoodie. With every ounce of strength he could muster, he sunk his claws into the tender flesh.
"Ouch! What the hell was that!?" the bully uttered a rare curse, surprise evident on his face. He took a moment to examine his arm, releasing Kay, who quickly stood up.
Blood trickled from small indentations etched into his skin, red nail length marks imposed by the small child.
"That stings, dammit!" He once again tried grappling with Kay.
Still struggling, fighting a losing battle of strength, Kay decided not to punch or kick. Instead, he eyed the bully's uninjured arm. Embracing the bully's grasp, he plunged his head towards his intended target.
Forcing his jaw to snap shut, he bit like a savage dog. The bully recoiled, flailing his arm frantically. With his other arm, he punched the boy's small face repeatedly, though he refused to let go. Eventually, he stopped holding onto him, pushing him away, and only when he did that did Kay laxen his jaw.
"What's wrong with you? Do you have rabies?" The look on the bully's face was one of anger and disbelief.
By this point Kay was severely unhinged. His face was bruised in several spots, and each labored breath caused him pain. In spite of these things, he smiled. The sight of the ravenous and demonically possessed kid, sparked a change in the older bully.
"Forget this. You're a freak! You're not worth my time." he started to walk back towards his seat.
The fight was over; Kay had won. Yet, he was still the same kid from minutes ago. Seeing the chance to further anger his opponent, he felt he had no other choice.
Gathering a mouth full of saliva, he hacked the slimy substance toward the bully. It landed right on his unguarded neck, the liquid dripping down to his back.
"You son of a…!" The bully surged towards Kay once more.
By the time the bus stopped, Kay had bruises spanning his entire body and was bleeding from his lip. The bully's arms and face were marred by bleeding scratches and bites, with a considerable amount of mouth fluid staining his jacket.
That was how Kay had fought back then, without pride or restraint. The idea of an honorable sword fight or a hand-to-hand brawl was unthinkable to him. In this particular case, tired though he was, the knight could easily kill him in a matter of seconds.
He was only gifted at inciting others and making use of his limited weapons. Though he now had a gifted mage at his side, he would use those same skills to claim victory.
"Sanson, there's probably a few hours until the trial is done, right?" he asked.
"Yes, so do you have a plan?" asked Sanson.
"Yeah. To start, how about you take a nap?"
"Excuse me?" asked the mage, a look of perplexion on his face.
The knight had been waiting for their arrival for a long time. He could wait a bit longer.
"While he lies in wait, we'll bolster our strength" said Kay, the same smirk he'd had all those years ago plastered across his face.