Scarlet

“Now this competition is a unique one, that’s for sure!” King Oberon declares, his voice echoing throughout the stadium while drawing my attention back to him again. “Unlike the previous competitions, the competitors are not allowed to participate in the combat! All they’re allowed to do is set up the defenses of their tower through whatever defenses are available. And they can send monsters to attack the other competitors towers during each competitors’ defense stage.” I swear the king turns his gaze to me as he adds, “Meaning no one can break this game. Even so much as using a single skill during it is grounds for disqualification.”

Is he looking at me?

“Do you really have to ask?” Tar comments.

All I did was use my Red Plague. It’s not my fault if the one who made these competitions didn’t anticipate my blood being a factor.

Tar snorts at that. In our minds, of course. Not out loud.

The Fae King continues looking at me – or rather, past me, because there’s no way he’d be upset with me for simply competing – for several seconds before moving his gaze again while raising a single claw and continuing, “To give everyone a fair competition, the competition will be separated into three modes. The first mode will be the building of your tower’s defenses, and everyone will be undergoing this mode at the same time during the beginning of the competition.” He raises a second and third claw. “Then we have the next two modes that will be ongoing at once, with one person undergoing the defense mode at a time, and everyone else participating in the offense mode, sending monsters at the current defender’s tower.”

This really is just a tower defense game. And since personal strength doesn’t come into play, I’m sure Aria will do quite well here.

Not so sure about the others though.

I have no idea how skilled these Class Vs are in strategy.

“Of course, the defenders won’t just be sitting there watching their defenses get trampled,” the Fae King says, a grin beginning to appear on his draconic face. “Every monster killed by their defenses will net them a fourth of a point. They can then spend these points to further strengthen their defenses by ‘leveling up’ the current defenses they have that are still standing.”

Yeah. Tower defense.This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Scarlet…” Tar mutters in my mind. But he doesn’t seem to be able to figure out a retort, since it really is just a tower defense game. So he doesn’t say anything else.

He does huff at my thoughts though.

“Amongst the many defenses they have available, there will be three different types,” King Oberon says, returning his clawed ‘hand’ to holding up three claws again. “There are traps, ‘towers’ that attack the monsters passing through such as turrets and the like, and your own monsters that are able to defend your tower for you. All three cost varying amounts of points, with some being far stronger than others. But everyone only gets a certain number of each type of defense for free. Everything else will cost points.”

Overall, the competition does genuinely sound a lot more interesting than the previous ones. It also shows the competitors ability to strategically think their way around a problem. In this case, defending a position from attackers.

The competition also proves that the first round, while focused mostly on combat isn’t just combat. It’s more like it’s entirely competitions directed solely at the competitor and not their fae, with competitions focusing on more than just direct combat power of the competitors. The second round of competitions is for both fae and competitor. And the third and final rounds are for just the fae.

All in all, a rather thorough way to test the potential rulers of the fae and their contracted partners.

“Last but certainly not least…” King Oberon adds, his eyes narrowing slightly as the crowd awaits his final words, “…the competitors will not be allowed to speak with their fae partners during this competition.”

As soon as he says that, I feel a strange block appearing within my bond with Tar. Something I didn’t realize the Fae King could do.

I frown slightly, finding the lack of the tanuki’s presence in my mind odd. But at the same time, a little peaceful. Probably because I’ve basically been sharing my thoughts with him for years now, the guy only being temporarily gone when he goes to the void.

The Fae King spreads his wings out as he raises his voice, “Now let’s get this competition under way!”

Then I find myself appearing at the top of a rather large tower with the wind blowing rather strongly around me. Meanwhile some rather… amusing music starts playing out. A song that has rather staccato notes and gives a feeling of waiting for something to happen. But in a slightly comedic way.

I can’t help but crack a grin at it before shaking my head when a System notification appears in front of my face with a list of possible defenses. Meanwhile the rather large core floating at the center of the tower’s peak right in front of me flares with a crimson light once, then twice.

Hmm. There are a lot more possible defenses than I originally expected there would be.

I can’t even find the end of the list…

They’re separated into the three types the king mentioned before. The defenders, towers, and traps. Symbolizing the monsters that can move around or can be stationed at one spot to defend the tower. Defenses that are placed and automatically activate to attack monsters. And traps that are, well, traps. Some automatically activate, others don’t. Some can only be used once, others multiple times.

Now it’s really starting to feel like this is a game. And since we can’t actually die or get hurt in this competition, I guess there isn’t any reason not to treat it like a game.

I find myself grinning when I begin thinking of this round as a game.

Time to start building my defenses.