When Ratface finally did get up she got why everyone had gasped.

  She’d assumed they were in a sewer, and if you squinted it still was. Instead, they were in what looked like a castle. The hallway was long and towered above them. At the top of it ran the water still, dancing lights flit through the water illuminating the area. Ratface gasped, it wasn’t just conjured lights but little glowing fish swimming through the water. Bugs were drawn towards the light and every so often a fish would dive out of the water to grab one then be pulled back up into its grasp. A quick glance at the mana of it all revealed this water at least wasn’t conjured. Was this also designed by Sofia or had she based her city’s design on them instead?

  Supporting her theory that the water had always pulled up to there was the fact that the hallways had been carved down from them. Ratface didn’t know anything about architecture but whoever had made it had put a handy plaque stating as much, after that it was murals of water serpents twisting through. It was an extensive series of murals that carried on throughout. Some were of the serpents fighting knights, but others were of them just swimming or caring for their young. It all culminated in a doorway that the rest of the trial takers were looking through. She was too short to see past them.

  She pushed her way through the group. It was surprisingly easy to do so, everyone would quickly make a gap for her whenever she brushed passed them. The skirt wearer even gave her a strange salute as she passed.

  Inside the room itself, giant pools lined the area. What was odd was that they were coming up from the ground rather than dug into it. It made for cubes of water you could just walk into. There were more pools than there were test takers and the pools themselves had wide spaces between them. The reason was clear, sitting inside the pools were curled creatures with wide faces and rows of teeth. Their scales glimmered in the light. Water serpents. It looked like Sofia hadn’t been as thorough as she’d been told.

  In front of the pools stood The Lady’s Champion. She was waiting with her hands clasped behind her back. She looked more at ease now that the trial was actually taking place though her eyes still lingered on Ratface.

  “Well done on making your way into the wells, and in such a large group as well,” she said. Some of the trial takers looked nervous at that. Ratface didn’t understand why. No one had said they couldn’t work together.

  “Yes, well done on finding your way down here,” Lily continued, “you may have noticed that no information was given to you before the trial. That is because making it down here is a prerequisite. No knight should consider what happened above something beyond them. The actual trial begins here.” She gestured at the pools behind her. “As any of you with eyes will have noticed, the story of water serpents being wholly extinct are exaggerated. Consider this part of the trial as well. Rune knights are protectors, but they also keep the kingdoms secrets. It would not do for the elves or demons to know we still have such creatures.”

  Lily kept talking about the kingdom’s security while Ratface filed that little nugget of information away. She wondered why the elves couldn’t know about it. To her knowledge they didn’t really care about monsters all that much. Oh, it looked like Lily was about to talk about the trial. Ratface tuned back in.

  “The trial here is simple; these serpents have valuable cores within them. A natural occurring phenomenon that was used to create golems cores. Your task is to retrieve one such core. Good luck.” She offered them a smile. It was not a nice smile.

  The group waited for her to elaborate. Realising she wasn’t going to, their gaze instead extended out to the two who had beat them there.

  The two were a perfect contrast of each other. The Champion’s squire was zipping through the water as she fought her serpent. She twisted on a dime and little jets of water were twisting her around. Bolts of energy slammed into her opponent keeping their own twists from being so smooth. She would dart passed and cut into them as she did so. The water in her area was gaining a red tint as it filled more with the creature’s blood. Ratface wouldn’t call it cruel, the serpents were big and the squire’s way was safe, but she couldn’t say that she liked watching it.

  The orc, in comparison, had met her serpent head on. She had simply grabbed its head and the two were locked in place as they wrestled. She picked the serpents head up and slammed it into the ground. It lay there dazed, and the orc lifted her fists and slammed down on its head. There was a mighty crack and the serpent lay still. Ratface whistled.

  “Strong,” she said. To be able to create that kind of force under water was nothing to sniff at.

  “There’s a reason no one wants to wrestle with an orc,” said someone next to her. A glance took in the skirt wearer who gave her a slight nod. “Fulgora, thank you for your help in the prerequisite.”

  “Ratface. Ah, no worries. I needed all your help too.”

  “I’m sure,” said Fulgora. She gave Ratface a smile that suggested they had a secret between them. “Do you know how you’re going to deal with the serpent?”

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  “Not really. I’m sure I’ll come up with something. You?”

  “It’s unfortunate for the serpents but I am made for fighting them. Using my bloods power may not be how a rune knight would do such a thing.”

  “The only knight I’ve met used every tool at her disposal. I think you’d be silly to not use something you were born with.” Ratface couldn’t keep the faint edge of envy out of her voice. To have magic here would be something she could only dream of.

  “Thank you, it’s appreciated,” said Fulgora. She walked away from the rest of them. The first of their group to attempt the trial. She walked to a random pool and placed her hand on the water. The serpent inside felt the vibration and started swimming towards her. Its mouth was wide and Ratface got to see row after row of teeth. She tensed as it got closer and closer to Fulgora.

  The world flashed as Fulgora cast. Ratface rubbed her eyes to get rid of the little spots. The serpent wasn’t moving anymore. No, it was still moving, it kept twitching. The thing was covered in burns. Fulgora had electrocuted it. The sheer amount of power that must have taken was astounding but Fulgora didn’t seem even tired.

  Ratface used her eyes properly. Power wafted off Fulgora now, though it hadn’t been there before. It was a strange mana, Ratface couldn’t quite place it. It felt like it had a different weight to it. Fulgora took a breath, and the mana soaked back into her. She turned back to the group. Her eyes had changed to sparking things of lightning, their blue light bathing the girl in an alien light. They faded back into normal hazel eyes a moment later. Ratface whistled. Another strong contender.

  Not one that she could emulate though. She turned her eyes back to the squire fight. It was winding to a close but with the benefit of actually using her eyes she could see the serpent was controlling the water around it with mana. It let it move smoothly through the water but gave away its movements. The squire was using smaller applications of mana to keep the creature close to the wall. Ratface didn’t understand until a part of the serpent fell out of the wall. It immediately started to fall, and it took effort for the thing to move back in. Ah, so they really were creatures of water. A look at the other trial takers who had started attempts confirmed as much. They moved through the water with grace, but their mana trailed ahead of them, and they were careful at the borders.

  “I thought they could control water to move outside of it,” she mused.

  An amused snort next to her had her turning to the orc, the first one back. “Maybe if they let them grow, these ones are still adolescents.” She held up a core. “Other creatures have cores so I can tell, this thing is still developing.” It did see to still be pulling mana from the area to grow. “So you going to go fight or what?” the orc asked.

  Ratface shrugged. She’d been watching for a while now and she had a plan of sorts in her mind. It was dangerous, but it was the best one she could come up with without suddenly doing magic.

  She walked away from the orc who followed her path with wide eyes. As well she should, Ratface was going after the biggest one.

  It lay curled up in its enclosure and eyed her hungrily. It looked cramped in there and Ratface hoped her plan would hold up.

  She stood at the edge of the pool until the creature uncurled and raised itself up. It had to keep its head bent to stay inside as it swayed side to side. Ratface nodded to herself. Her suspicions were right. The thing was too big for the enclosure. The fight would be over for both of them in the first move.

  Ratface stepped into the water. It felt weird, like a wall but permeable. She couldn’t see for a moment as she walked through and that’s when the serpent struck. It darted towards her hoping to snatch her in its jaws. Ratface didn’t wait for her sight to become clear and kicked herself up and too the side. She didn’t go perfectly up, nor perfectly to the side. All land creatures would jump or roll. She was hoping using the weird angle would stop the thing anticipating her. Her plan paid off as the thing tried to catch her but missed. Its head shot out of the water and Ratface grabbed on. Its head slid on the dry land as Ratface rode it out. It went to pull itself back in but Ratface’s sword in-between its nostrils stopped it.

  She’d been right. The enclosure was too small for it. No doubt it had made that same strike before and been able to pull out, but now its body nearly filled the pool. She’d been putting it out of its misery by killing it.

  That’s what she tried to tell herself, but she could feel how the thing trembled underneath her. They both watched as more of the trial takers killed their own serpents and dug inside them for the core. Ratface sighed.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered in goblin, “you don’t deserve this, but I need a core to advance.” She offered it a sad smile. “A pity you can’t just give me one.”

  The serpent’s eyes widened in recognition as Ratface talked to it. Could it understand her? She shook her head; it was probably just her imagina-

  “Can,” thought a child’s voice to her. It seemed hesitant, like it hadn’t talked before. Ratface paused.

  “You can understand me?” she asked. The thing tried to do but it was still out of water.

  “Can,” it thought again.

  Ratface sat down on its nose in shock. She’d never heard of anything like this.

  “You can give me the core?” she asked, “do you even want to live here?”

  “Can. Want live. Help?”

  Ratface hopped off the creature. It was slowly pulling its head back, but the weight was just too much for it. She got under its jaw and lifted it up. The two of them carefully put it back in the water. Ratface really hoped she hadn’t imagined this all or her death was going to both quick and stupid.

  The serpent eyed her for a moment, then scrunched its face in concentration. It coughed and a glowing core came out of its mouth. It lowered to Ratface, and she grabbed onto it. This one was nearly formed, and a bubble of water came with it even as she pulled it out. She held it with shaking hands.

  “Thank you,” she told the serpent. It tilted its head.

  “Is fine. Was Deal.” It paused, then leaned down to Ratface. “Voice… old. I remember. Deep memory. Good luck.”

  The serpent pulled away and curled into the corner in exhaustion. Ratface turned back to the group who all watched her in mute surprise.

  “Does that count?” she asked. She really hoped so or she’d have to fight another serpent.

  The Champion didn’t say anything, just nodded in mute surprise.