Their first challenge was a relay including a mounted segment, archery skills, and an obstacle course. Junseo was quick to bow out of any riding, "I'll be better with obstacles, they don't usually have a mind of their own."

"But you are one of the better archers we have," Me San said before directing everyone to their respective stations.

Trouble began at the end of the first leg when their rider was thrown. He passed the baton forward but their team was well behind the others. Sie Woo scrambled at the start of the obstacle course and started dodging and weaving as he ran. Other racers tripped and fell over one another. Junseo touched the tiger's eye connection and sensed the energy spiking. He could not shield his teammate but he was better prepared for the pass-off when it came.

Junseo brought his bow up to aim for the button that would release the gate through to the next runner. He focused his perceptions to get off a solid shot only to watch it pushed off-course. He nodded to himself, studied the arrow closely. He used his thumbnail to make a notch just above the fletching then inserted a small clear quartz. Junseo took a deep breath to center himself before his shot. The balance was a bit off but he had enough of an energy connection to push the arrow through to the target. Fighting the energy bursts drained him and he could only muster a slow jog to pass the baton forward through the open gate. He retrieved his crystal from the arrow hoping his special effort would not be flagged by the race officials. When no whistle sounded, he climbed the viewing stand to watch the rest of the race.

Other teams struggled through the energy bursts on the second obstacle leg while one seemed stuck at the first archery station. Me San had the baton tucked into his belt while he selected an arrow for his first shot. His arrow nearly reversed direction. Junseo caught Sie Woo' eye and they climbed a bit higher into the stands to get a better angle to create a shielded channel. After a near perfect shot, Me San acknowledged their help with a quick wave and ran the baton forward. He stayed on the course to try to deflect some more of the energy bursts coming their anchor's way.

All the waiting riders struggled to steady their mounts in the overcharged atmosphere. Junseo worried as he watched his teammate's horse dancing and rearing before they took off down the course. The last part of the race the horse ran sideways and it was a struggle to get across the line. As the whole team gathered to celebrate their second-place standing, Junseo sensed another energy attack.

"Duck!" he called as he mustered up another shield. He felt a boost coming through from his teammates so widened the circle of protection. The shield dampened all the sounds around them for a moment but then the cacophony of the havoc around them hit. They looked around appalled at the damage to the other teams. Junseo worriedly scanned the crowd for San Jin. His friend gave him a quick thumb up before going to catch the loose horses.

"What the hell!" Me San stamped his foot. "The race was over."

Junseo was going to shrug but decided it would be a better idea to just sit down. He put his head between his knees hoping the world would spin less from that vantage. The healers were busy attending to the more seriously injured but he was grateful for the water and cool cloth when they were finally offered. He took off his bracelets to examine each stone in turn. As he suspected, one of his clear quartzes showed a new fault-line so he set about rearranging the order of his stones to give it more protection. He focused on his moonstones hoping for calm clarity and started a quiet grounding ritual. The rest of the team joined in around him and it wasn't long before he felt the tiger's eye warming and some of his energy return.

The warm sensation continued to grow and he leaned into it, opening himself to the comforting vibrations. This time when he heard the chime it recognized the call to prayer so sent his silent thanks to the whichever temple friend had tuned in on his stone. He then drew himself back to the arena and the young men in the circle around him.

"How are you guys?" He asked as he studied each of the others. "Did anyone else catch the backlash on that one?"

"No. Your warning helped, so thanks." Sie Woo said and the others nodded in agreement.

"We could be a lot worse off." Me San added, "Looks like just about every team is sending someone to the infirmary." He would have said more but was beckoned over by a race official. He returned with both a healer and Rainbow-maker Mien in tow.

"Fast work with your shielding," the healer said while scanning each member of the team.

"Kind of makes me wonder, though," Rainbow-maker Mein's voice sounded brittle as he continued, "Are you all unusually skilled with crystals, or did you already know what was coming?"

"We do have skills but needed all the strength of our team's connection," Wen Sen held out a glowing tiger's eye. The other boys joined him with their own pieces.

"Interesting," the Rainbow-maker said. "I would not expect you to tune the group so quickly. Not without a very strong anchor stone to build from." The other boys all turned to look at Junseo but he didn't say a word. Rainbow-maker Mein followed their glaze and gestured for Junseo to respond.

Junseo kept his head down as he spoke. "I don't know much about how stones might interact but have always thought needs call and we definitely had a need. Even with our shield the blast fractured one of my stones." He pointed to the quartz he had just rearranged.

"Are you alright? Everything still in tune?" The Rainbow-maker's attitude shifted from suspicion to deep concern.

"I should be able to isolate and re-cut this one easily enough. The others are all fine." He kept his voice low as he continued. "Trust me, I know what a dissonant cascade feels like. This is nothing."

The Rainbow-maker looked like he wanted to say more but was dragged off to interview another team by the course officials. The boy from the prince's training yard stared intently at Junseo, took a breath like he wanted to say something, then shook his head.

"What is it?" Junseo's chin stuck out a bit.

"How are you still standing? A broken stone is no joke," the boy looked to the others for support and received a few nods.

"It isn't easy but I've been through worse," Junseo tried to reassure.

"We've heard rumors about an attack at the palace," one of the others started.

"Nothing new there," Me San interrupted then pointed to where the officials were gathering, "Looks like we need to line up for our next task."

Junseo nodded his thanks and got up slowly.

The next team challenge, sponsored by the Royal Engineering Corps, involved the teams building tools to facilitate escaping a locked compound. Me San came from a Maker family, and Sei Woo had experience with different styles of escape rooms, so they quickly agreed on some form of lighting and different lock picking devices. Junseo thought one of his wall crawlers might be handy but didn't suggest it until seeing the available materials.

Each team had five full minutes to gather supplies from a common cache but there would be time penalties added for any materials taken from the pile not put to direct use by the team. Junseo was confident he would have not problems with extra material but cleared gathering the gears and chassis with the team. Just before time was called, he grabbed up a handful of tools overlooked by the others figuring if they were not needed, he could repurpose them as counter-weights. When the team took their haul to their designated work area, they found nothing but an empty table.

"Good call grabbing those tools," Sei Woo said reaching over to claim one of Junseo's picks.

"Hold on," Me San put his arm out to stop the cavalier borrower. "We should take an inventory of our supplies and the projects." He led by example laying out his armload of materials. He then pointed to the pair of boys from the prince's yard and suggested they buddy up for the build. "Put all the tools in the middle, if you are taking one let the others know how long you need it, and if there is anything else you might be able to work on without it. Be sure nobody needs the piece before you turn it into a working part. Make sense?" Me San waited for a nod from each of the boys before starting his build with Sei Woo.

Junseo partnered with the boy who had been their first rider in the relay race and who was still not very steady on his feet. The boy questioned every step in the build and was only marginally helpful holding pieces in place until they could be properly fastened. Junseo ended up sacrificing the back of his cloak pin but carefully tucked the league's symbol into his belt.

Winding the spring he needed without proper tools was the most difficult part of the build and Junseo make a couple of false stared before getting the proper tension. He waited until the others finished before claiming what he needed for the counter-balances. The crawler ended up looking like a cross between a weevil and a locus but the team kept an accessible toolkit with them.

Before being admitted back onto the course, each team demonstrated their builds for the judges. From what he could see, Junseo had the only true, self-animated, clockwork. The judges quizzed him about how his crawler might be used.

"It can easily get into places I can't," Junseo said quietly, "Like if we need to set a guideline." The judges nodded then went to the next team.

The first-place team in the relay got to pick the order and decided to make the first attempt. As the team settled in to wait their turn, Song-hee and Chenhui showed up with flasks of water. Sie Woo blushed when he saw the younger boys and hid toward the back of the group but they ignored his discomfort.

"Did you hear the Slack-harbor boys got banned from the grounds?" Chenhui asked.

"That's going to have the bookies scrambling," Sie Woo said.

"Doesn't seem to have stopped the interference though," Junseo frowned. "Maybe we should practice throwing up another energy shield with wider anchors."

"You don't think they will throw more bolts at us, do you?" Me San asked.

"I didn't expect any at the end of the race either," Junseo looked at the rest of the group and saw a couple of nods. They worked through the daily office together to strengthen their anchors. Song-hee could see a slight shimmer in the air as the group sang the last notes together and backed away.

"Did you see that?" he whispered to Chenhui.

"I didn't see a working, or a harmonic echo, or anything like the way we bond through morning salutations, if that's what you're asking. Didn't see a thing." Chenhui shook his head then grabbed onto Song-hee's sleeve to drag him along.

"But they just met," Song-hee could not let go of the puzzle.

"It doesn't look like anyone else noticed so let's keep it that way," Chenhui cautioned before conceding, "We can ask Brother Kuin about it later but let's get over to the stands."

The two boys squeezed through the crowd and climbed high enough up the stands to have a good overview of the course. They watched as the teams filed in from different directions but only caught a glimpse of Me San going into a completely enclosed area.

Junseo stumbled into the back of one of his new teammates. The boy grunted a warning then called for some light. Me San shone a faint beam around the outer walls to reveal a series of different panels marked with letters from an unfamiliar script. Junseo stood puzzling for a moment, then turned his head sideways and nodded to himself. He looked around at the other boys, waiting for someone else to reach the same conclusion. When they didn't, he asked if he could try turning the tiles. After he turned the first two, Sei Woo stopped him.

"It's a quote. Let me try to remember it before we turn anymore. We should turn the pieces in the right order." He then got each boy to stand in front of a tile. "Don't turn anything until I point at you." He started to recite, pointing to the corresponding tiles and as soon as the sentence was properly aligned the door to the next chamber slid open.

"Well Done!" Me San grinned as he ushered everyone forward. The next challenge included math puzzles they solved quickly to access two keys but when they opened the next chamber, they found the floor on a steep angle and the exit to the next space hidden by the disorienting patterns painted on the walls. The boys leaned into each other to stay upright.

"This is making me dizzy," one of prince's candidates complained.

"I know," Junseo agreed as he took out his crawler to explore. The odd-looking clockwork inched up the wall then motored around on a well disguised ledge before stopping. Junseo boosted his partner up for a closer look. A padlocked hatch was barely within reach. While another pair tried the lock-picking tool Junseo sent his crawler around once more. They were still struggling with the lock when the crawler knocked a key off the second ledge.

Soon they were boosting each other through the hatch and started climbing across the netting that bridged a ditch on the other side. The energy attach hit them when they were half-way across but this time their shield was well anchored. As soon as the bursts stopped, they moved as one over the next barrier and out of the maze in good time.

Sie Woo watched the scoreboard closely and made an uncharitable comment about the teams still working their way through the obstacles. Me San shook his head and warned the boys not to tempt the fates. Sie Woo snorted at this sentiment but then apologized.

Junseo did his best to ignore this exchange while he puzzled over the different types of energy bursts they had encountered. He watched the Rainbow-maker and course officials conferring as another team reached the nets and could sense the charges building. The team failed to coordinate their shields and two members fell into the ditch. The others had to climb down to help carry their teammates to the finish.

"That was pretty brutal," San Jin said as he approached.

"Yeah, makes you wonder what they are really looking for," Junseo's voice shook as he squinted into the distance.