The infiltration of Hexside and the heart (goldric)

Laright listened to Hunter play. They waited to see if he would mess up, growing simultaneously more upset and impressed as he played flawlessly.

"As much as I didn't want to be paired up with the newbie, you're doing pretty good. So, do you have any suggestions on the piece?" they admitted.

Hunter could tell it pained them to say that.

"Nothing yet. How long does this have to be?"

"Like five minutes. We've done that."

"Okay. I just think this is a bit... hollow. There aren't enough parts."

"Do you have any ideas on how two people can fill an entire band?"

"Maybe. Do you know basic plant magic?"

"Don't you?" Laright scoffed.

"I'll figure it out at home I guess-"

"We're performing it next lesson. Figure it out at break."

Hunter wanted to scowl. He was used to making whatever face he wanted behind his mask but he had to hide it. Sure he was difficult to deal with quite often, but Laright was worse. Something Hunter had noticed was the lack of haze in his vision. Like the music meant nothing. And that was the thing. It didn't.

----

Hunter left the music room and sat against the wall, trying to calm down from the whole ordeal. And now he had only a few minutes to prepare for an exam.

"You good?" someone asked him.

Hunter looked up at the girl who asked him. "Luz? Why do you care?"

"I'm nice, remember? Besides, they announced stuff for the competition. It's down the hall. So, what happened to you?"

"We have to do an exam in pairs and my partner is being difficult. Like I was to you. The problem is that they are the top of the class and I don't know enough to question them. Now, we have to perform the next lesson because they're probably way too confident in us. I just don't know what to do."

"Wow. That sucks, so much. Come on, I wanna cheer you up." Luz held out her hand for Hunter to take.

He took it and she pulled him up, leading him in the direction of the bulletin board.

"Here. I'll let you read first, I gotta wait for my group." Luz said.

Hunter smiled and turned to the poster, reading it carefully.

This competition will be held in the auditorium every few days. The goal is to knock out your opponents in a battle. At the end, there will be four teams from each school competing for an early place in the Bard coven if they chose to accept it. If they do not, they will still be crowned the winner but second place will receive the place.

The poster then proceeded to list off all the brackets and all the battles and dates. It seemed very complex and yet it made some sense. Just show up when you are told and perform. Hunter took notes of his name and sighed. He wasn't up against any of his friends and they weren't up against each other. There was also much smaller text at the bottom.

The stage hands have been selected as well, they are only needed on the final night.The stage hands and their roles are as follows: Aherne, Mela- outfits Blight, Edric- lighting Blight, Emira- make-up Nur, Chase- set construction Silloth, Grant- special effects

Hunter was almost surprised at the size of it. He knew it was sort of important but he didn't think it would be this grand. He moved away from the poster and looked for Luz, who was standing by her band.