Chapter 51: Challenge One — The Last Expedition
The light took everything.
Arthur landed on damp earth and looked around. Trees were wide enough at the base, light through the canopy, and broken by leaves.
No Mithra.
No Athena.
No Sun.
No Vedas, because the Vedas were in the Mana Realm, and the Mana Realm was still accessible, but Arthur wanted to see the landscape first.
"Guys?" he said.
Wind moved through the upper canopy. Nothing else answered.
...
Arthur found the tallest tree nearby and climbed it. Years of climbing trees in Greenleaf made it easy.
He saw an endless forest in every direction.
He cupped both hands around his mouth. "Mithra!"
The forest absorbed it, but nothing moved.
"Athena!"
The same nothing.
Arthur scratched his cheek, considered the problem, and took a different approach.
"Sun!" he called. "Mithra said if we lose this round she’ll increase your debt!"
A pause.
"WHAT?"
Arthur simply continued with a grin. "AND SHE SAID YOU’LL HAVE TO HELP HER FIGHT THIRD YEARS TOMORROW!"
Silence.
Then—
Golden light erupts.
The sounds of a monkey screaming and branches exploding echoed out. A light orb shoots through the forest.
"ARTHUR!" He could hear the disbelief and fear in Sun’s voice. "STOP MAKING THINGS UP!"
Arthur quietly watched. "...He’s even faster than Leon’s dragon."
Then he climbed down.
...
Sun arrived in the clearing first before saying one thing. "You are the worst," Sun said.
And then sagging to the ground, panting.
"Found you," Arthur said.
Mithra appeared from the south minutes later, pushing through a low branch with the calm of someone who had navigated forests before and was simply doing so again. "You could have called my name," she said.
"I needed an efficient approach."
Sun glared at them. "You two are insane! What is this about–"
Mithra calmly said. "I never said that."
Arthur nods. "I know."
"..."
"I just thought it would motivate him."
"..." Sun stared at Arthur; he was speechless. "...You’re truly the worst."
"It’s just me motivating you, Sun! And it worked."
Sun pointed at Arthur. "I am going to remember this."
Athy arrived before Athena did, which was how they found Athena: the owl had heard Arthur’s voice and navigated to it, and Athena had followed Athy through three separate wrong turns, arriving with leaves in her hair and her notebook open to a page that now had forest debris on it.
Vedas came last, stepping out of the Mana Realm with the steadiness of something that was comfortable arriving into unknown situations.
Arthur looked at the assembled group.
"See?" he said.
Nobody gave him the response he was clearly hoping for, which was the response he usually got.
♢♢♢♢
"Congratulations," Steven’s voice said, from somewhere that was not a specific location. "You have successfully regrouped."
Arthur started to say something.
The forest disappeared.
Everything was white for a moment that was long enough to register and short enough to process, and then the white became heat, and the heat became specific and immediate and total, and Arthur was standing on sand.
The desert extended in every direction without interruption except for one: a single green shape at a distance that was measurable but not close, with a pillar of light above it that rose until it met the sky and kept going.
Floating above the oasis in text that was visible from where they stood: REACH THE OASIS. OR GIVE UP.
No additional instructions.
♢♢♢♢
Twenty meters to their left, another team was assessing the same situation and arriving at the same conclusions Arthur was arriving at: this was a long way, it was very hot, and the oasis was the only thing in any direction that was not hot and far away.
They started walking.
Arthur watched them go and then started his own team moving, because there was no better option available.
The other team had covered perhaps three hundred meters before their pace slowed.
Nobody spoke.
Sweat rolled down faces.
One student stumbled before catching himself.
Another wiped trembling hands against his clothes.
Still...
Nobody stopped.
Arthur watched them quietly.
"They’re enduring it," Mithra said.
Arthur nodded.
"So are we."
Then—
A cheerful voice echoed across the desert.
"My goodness."
"Everyone is working so hard."
A splash interrupted the silence.
Between every team and the distant oasis appeared something completely out of place.
A small round clown floated inside a tub filled with ice water. It held a piece of watermelon in one hand, and a drink in the other, and the drink had things in it that clinked against the glass.
"Ahhhh," the clown said, with satisfaction as it leaned back. "I almost feel guilty."
The clown lifted a slice of watermelon.
Juice dripped slowly onto the sand.
"I said almost."
Everyone stared.
The clown smiled brightly.
"You’re all welcome to join me."
"It only costs three little words."
"I give up."
Silence.
Nobody answered.
The clown nodded approvingly.
"Oh."
"So we’re still pretending to be brave."
It took another bite.
The crunch echoed far louder than it should have.
One student from the nearby team swallowed.
His lips had gone completely dry.
The clown noticed immediately.
"I made lemonade too." Ice clinked gently inside the glass. "I don’t lie."
The clown then twirled around before saying. "If you give up... I promise, you get all of this."
The student looked toward the oasis.
Then toward the water.
His teammates noticed.
"Don’t."
"We’re almost getting used to it."
"You can keep going."
He shook his head.
"...I can’t."
The clown smiled warmly.
"Excellent choice."
"I give up."
Light erupted beneath the student’s feet.
His teammates immediately reached toward him.
"WAIT!"
"No!"
"You idiot!"
"We’re a team!"
The student blinked.
"..."
"...Wait."
Before he could finish—
The magic circle expanded.
Covering every member of the team.
His face drained of color.
"...The whole team?!"
Light swallowed them.
They vanished.
Silence settled across the desert.
The clown snapped its fingers.
The eliminated students appeared again.
Not back in the desert.
They were sitting beneath a shaded pavilion beside the clown.
Cold drinks.
Fresh fruit.
Comfortable chairs.
The student who had quit grabbed the lemonade first.
He emptied nearly the whole glass.
His shoulders relaxed instantly.
"..."
"...Worth it."
One teammate glared. "...You idiot."
Then he accepted a slice of watermelon.
One bite.
He closed his eyes. "...Okay...This is incredible."
The clown smiled pleasantly. "I always keep my promises."
Across the desert...
Nobody laughed anymore.
Arthur started walking again.
It was not a speech. There was no announcement. One foot moved forward, and then the other, and the team moved with him because the alternative was standing in the desert watching a clown eat watermelon.
And when one of the members who was eating the watermelon saw Arthur moving again and his team following. His smile slowly faded, and he looked down at the watermelon.
"What’s wrong?" Another member asked.
"...Maybe..." The man furrowed his brows. "...we could’ve done it."
...
The heat was accurate in every detail that heat could be accurate in. The sand held warmth from below as well as above. The distance between where they were and where they needed to be did not change quickly.
The clown appeared again approximately twenty minutes later, without the tub this time, walking alongside them with no apparent difficulty and carrying a bowl of cold fruit like someone out for a pleasant stroll.
"Just thinking," the clown said pleasantly. "Out loud. To nobody in particular. About how interesting it is that people choose difficulty when comfort is available. Philosophically speaking." It ate a piece of cold mango and looked thoughtful. "Very interesting. Nothing more."
"Hm?" It walked with them for a while. "Still walking? You know most teams start arguing by now."
Arthur’s team and some of the others kept silent.
The clown sighed before vanishing.
It returned with ice cream. "Did you know," it said conversationally, "that the flavor I have here is one that technically does not exist outside of simulations? You genuinely cannot get this anywhere else. It would be a shame to miss it purely on principle."
The teams kept moving even when some members turned their heads. Another of their teammates would smack them in the head or drag them forward.
"...You’re making this more difficult than usual." The clown said after seeing this.
Then it appeared with the suggestion of a soft bed somewhere that was not a desert. "Not even a full bed necessarily. Just somewhere to sit that is not sand. A bench. A very comfortable bench. No commitment required."
Then it arrived with what appeared to be a complete swimming pool, which Arthur privately acknowledged required significant logistical commitment even for a simulation and probably deserved some respect on those grounds.
Such a sight forced some teams to give up as they rushed over and jumped into the pool. The clown offered them drinks and ice cream. Then he looked over and waved the others over.
But no one else joined.
The clown glanced back once. "...Seriously? No more volunteers? I thought you guys enjoyed a nice swim. I guess it’s just me~"
And then he vanished.
Then with a roast feast that smelled exactly right and was steaming in the way food only steamed when it had been recently and competently prepared. "I want you to know," the clown said, standing beside the feast with the air of a professional making a final presentation, "that I made this myself. The seasoning alone took considerable effort. I am not asking for recognition. I am simply noting it."
The clown never pushed.
It never raised its voice.
It simply arrived with increasingly impressive things, noted that they were available, and left.
...
Arthur noticed Sun slowing before Sun mentioned it.
He noticed Mithra’s breathing change before she adjusted her pace. He noticed Athena watching her feet instead of the horizon, which was the specific sign of someone managing discomfort by narrowing their attention to the next step rather than the distance remaining.
He began organizing.
"Sun," he said. "You set the pace. Whatever feels sustainable, that’s the pace."
Sun looked at him. "That would be considerably slower than we’re going."
"Then we go considerably slower."
He looked at Mithra. "Keep checking everyone. If something changes, say it."
Mithra nodded.
"Athena," he said, "watch the oasis. Tell us if it’s getting closer."
Athena raised her eyes from her feet and looked ahead. "It is," she said. "Slowly, but it is."
"That’s the job," Arthur said. "Keep watching it."
Sun looked at Arthur. "...And you?"
Arthur smiled. "I’ll watch all of you."
Nobody argued because that sounded exactly like Arthur.
Mithra smiled. "You really don’t notice when you’re leading people."
Arthur blinked. "Hm?"
"...Never mind." She kept walking.
Another team passed them, and their pace was much faster. Sun watched them disappear toward the horizon. "...Arthur. We’re falling behind."
Arthur glanced toward the distant figures. "...Yeah."
A second team passed several minutes later.
Then a third.
Each one moved faster than Arthur’s group.
"If we keep walking like this..." Sun frowned. "Our time will be terrible."
Arthur looked around.
Athena’s breathing had become uneven.
Mithra’s steps were shorter than before.
Even Vedas’ shoulders were beginning to tense.
Arthur looked back toward the teams disappearing ahead.
Then quietly said, "Keep walking. This pace is fine"
"...You’re not worried?" Sun asked in surprise.
"I am." Arthur smiled. "I’m just more worried about you guys."
Everyone trembled but said nothing.
Vedas smiled quietly. "Commander."
Arthur blinked. "What?"
"...Nothing."
...
Arthur started talking after that, and the talking was partly about nothing. He told a version of the blacksmith story from Greenleaf. Sun, despite himself, added something about a merchant he had known who had tried to sell maps to people who were already lost. Mithra contributed observations about the oasis that were technically analysis but kept the forward-facing attention in everyone’s mind.
The clown returned and walked beside Arthur with its hands behind its back. "...That’s interesting. They’re hiding their weakness from their leader."
"Huh? What do you–"
"You haven’t noticed? Come now, you have to be better than that–"
"Just tell me."
The Clown did a fake sigh before saying. "They’re pretending."
Arthur looked ahead. "Pretending?"
"They’re pretending they’re fine." The clown whispered in his ear. "They’re exhausted, but they don’t want to disappoint you."
Arthur remained silent.
The clown tilted its head.
"...Still nothing?"
Arthur simply smiled and kept walking.
"...You’re not even going to answer?"
Arthur grinned at the clown. "I don’t need to."
The clown stared and then laughed. "...You’re exhausting."
And then it vanished.
Mithra and the others blinked before they moved close to him with questioning gazes. Arthur kept walking and saying. "Don’t worry about it."
"It was trying to get you, huh?" Athena asked with a frown.
"Yep, but it doesn’t know how stubborn we are!"
"How stubborn you are!" Sun shouted, leading Arthur to blink.
"Sun, you don’t have to compliment so much... It’s kinda embarrassing."
"I’m not!"
...
The clown’s final appearance was its best work.
It arrived beside Arthur in a personal swimming pool of ice water large enough for several people, wearing the expression of something that had prepared carefully for a closing argument.
"Last chance," the clown said, with genuine warmth. "Cold water. Real food. Rest that will actually feel like rest." It gestured around at the team, all of whom were showing the specific qualities of people who had been walking through a desert for a significant portion of their afternoon. "You’ve done well. Nobody would fault you. The bed is comfortable, I’ll tell you that specifically."
The clown appeared one final time.
Its cheerful expression hadn’t changed.
Its voice had.
Quieter.
Sharper.
"If you weren’t here..."
"...they’d already be finished."
Arthur stopped walking.
The entire team slowed.
The clown smiled.
It thought it had finally reached him.
Arthur scratched his cheek.
"...Can I ask something?"
"Of course."
"...Do you always lie this much?"
Silence.
The clown blinked.
Arthur smiled. "Because you’re really bad at it."
Then he continued walking.
Behind him...
The clown stood perfectly still.
For the first time since appearing...
Its smile cracked.
And then it rushed over and said, "Lying? I already told you~ I don’t lie."
"Really?" he said.
"Of course!"
"Then can I ask a question?"
"Go right ahead."
"Every time we get closer to that oasis," Arthur said, "you come back with something better. The first time you had watermelon. Then ice cream. Then the swimming pool. Then the feast." He scratched his cheek. "Now this. A bed that adapts to my personal preferences, which is genuinely impressive attention to detail."
"Thank you," the clown said as it puffed out its chest. "I worked hard on that part."
"Here is what I keep thinking though," Arthur said. "If we were not getting closer, you would not need to keep escalating. You would just come back with the watermelon again, and it would be enough." He looked at the oasis ahead of them. "But you are not doing that. You keep making the offer bigger. Which means the offer has to be bigger. Because we keep getting closer and what you started with keeps being less convincing."
The clown’s smile eyes twitched and froze again.
"So," Arthur said, "doesn’t that mean we’re winning?"
The clown looked at him and then at the oasis before opening its mouth. And then closing it and then opening it again. "...I dislike you."
"Thank you!"
"That was not a compliment."
"I know," Arthur said, and turned back to the team. "Come on. We’re getting closer."
The team walked with him.
Behind them, the clown sat in its pool of ice water and looked at the group moving away from it across the sand.
"Interesting," it said quietly.
None of them questioned Arthur.
None of them hesitated.
None of them complained.
"...No wonder they follow you."
The oasis waited ahead.
"But how long can you keep this up when everything becomes ten times worse?"
The clown grin grew until it almost split its face.
"This year’s challengers have made things far more interesting... For cracking my smile, I want you to say those sweet magical words~"
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