Wrath of the Extra

"Good morning, Free Em-pie-ya. Dees is ya rah-dee-oh host Raheem on de mic, Radio Raheem, Raheem on da rah-dee-ohhhhhhhh."

"Alright, Raheem'll stop with all that bullshit. Y'all want the news and your boy Raheem is here to give it to you. Y'all know how much Raheem loves the Dim, right? Right? You should know. Now you know."

"Well, in an official press release this morning, the Dim's own, former Excursion Corp S-Rank, Vice Principal Everett Staal announced that the first-year Entrance Exams will be broadcast live, along with a plethora of important guests watching it in person. First. Time. Ever. Oh my goodness."

"That means audio and visual broadcasts for all of y'all. Get y'all artifacts out NOW. I don't care that it's in four weeks. Make 'em squeaky clean, charged, and ready. Cause your boy Radio Raheem will be covering it live, blessing y'all ears with high-level commentary from one of the most exciting events ever."

"Mannnn, when I heard that I got to not only watch these never-before-seen exams but also commentate? Holy shit. I started jumping up and down like crazy, punching the air and shit like that, I almost knocked my homegirl out, but y'all know how I be. No, not domestic violence. Snitch ass bitches. Shit was just an accident."

"But man, I'm so excited. Hell, I've got something on the grill right now. And for the next month, I'm gonna be cooking something on that grill. This shit means something to me, man."

"This might be the most stacked roster of first-years I've seen. I don't even have to introduce the Big Five. But I will. We got 1st Rank Alexander 'Man of Gold' Landeskog, 2nd Rank Leara 'Mad Raven' Mateiko, 4th Rank Josi 'Coldblooded' Blackwood, 5th Rank Maximillian 'Thunderbolt' Stamkos, and my personal favorite, 6th Rank Valeria Drysdale, the 'Bloody Wolf'."

"Raheem! Raheem! You skipped number 3! Yes, I did! Black Horse Alert. Black Horse Alert. Scholarship student Sebastian Cossa might just be the greatest swordsman I've seen with my own two eyes. Hey Brodie, sound the Swordmaster Alert."

"SWORDMASTER ALERT. SWORDMASTER ALERT."

"Thank you, brother. In other news, I was walking down 27th Avenue the other day and this pig-faced motherfucker in all-black tried to run up on me, but y'all know I ain't no easy…"

I go to turn off the audio Artifact.

"Yo, yo, wait, wait, don't tune out Raheem, I'm not done with the fucking story—"

…

I turn off my room's audio Artifact.

I've spent three days in the air, mostly listening to Radio Raheem for news. He's a character and wildly too unprofessional to be hosting such a high-profile radio show.

The stage has been set.

Everyone will be watching the Entrance Exams. Everyone.

To broadcast it publicly is an entirely unprecedented move. It's always been private. I guess they're trying to attention whore for all the Big Five heirs who are just entering the Dim this year.

They want to make all their heirs into micro-celebrities. They already have, but the Free Empire wants to throw them into superstardom to leech as much money and power from the lower classes as possible.

It's both a positive and a negative for me. On one hand, attention whoring becomes easier. On the other hand, the competition is beyond stiff. I want to stick out like a God among men, not an eyesore.

Usually, the Dim keeps the Entrance Exam secret to ensure aspirants don't prepare beforehand. In the novel, the format was random solo duels in changing environments, but that doesn't appear to be a guarantee. Their rubric on evaluation is even more secretive and was never revealed.

All that I can control in advance is my power. My stats are average, but with the Hereditary Imprint I seek to obtain, everything I have now will be dwarfed in comparison.

My only fear lies in the complete unknown. If the Hereditary Imprint has somehow gone missing, I may be completely fucked.

Only one way to find out.

***

After landing at Landeskog City, I took the lift down and, after a bit of a struggle, found a place that rented out Pteigeist for a few thousand Gold.

I'm getting a bit choked up on money already. I should've asked Leara for a hundred thousand Gold on top of the Excursion Pass. She probably would've paid it; money flows more abundantly than water for the Big Five.

Pteigeists are absolute beauties. They are so economical that the world hasn't cared enough to reinvent ancient transportation methods, such as motor vehicles.

They are one of the few types of Corrupted that Humanity has managed to pacify and domesticate—translucent blue bison, native to these Central Plains. During the day, they nearly glow blue through their nearly incorporeal forms. You can't even see them at night.

Pteigeists are faster and stronger than horses; they don't need water, they're completely docile, they can defend themselves, they live for three dozen years, and are extremely durable.

It makes them very expensive, which is why I struggled to find one in my price range. I settled for renting. I'm certainly not allowed to take it on an Excursion, but I'm a noble. I do what I please with what I please. Rules don't exist for people like me.

So with my pack of compact camping gear and other supplies, I ride a small wooden carriage pulled by my new Pteigeist, whom I will endearingly name Bastard.

Bastard doesn't do much. His wispy eyes stare at nothing as we ascend a larger airlift. I'm all about getting to business as well.

Excursion Corp members await me at the top. The Sergeant there keeps a good poker face as I hand him my Excursion Pass, smiling ear to ear.. I look like a moron going on an Excursion by myself.

The Excursion Pass is confidential, but that doesn't mean I'm a complete ghost. These few Corp members get to see my identification and my face, but my name won't be recorded in the logs. If anyone wants to track me, they'll have to interrogate some military men.

No one has followed me on this trip. That I'm sure of.

My spirit is light as I descend the wall's lift, and for the first time, enter the wilds beyond the walls.