The next day, I went to school and made sure to get to my seat in homeroom. Classes were a bunch of similar minigames that you had to get three questions right before the period ended. At lunch, Aenos called out to me. The table had no seats and they were doing their best laying their lower bodies on the floor. He had a trio of fellow centaurs with him. Agamos was a blue eyed centaur with snow white hair and fur. Cesus had jade green eyes and a flank of coal black. Michus was a black and white tobiano with sliver hair and dark brown eyes. The three of them were also trying out for the Cross Country team. I wished them luck and did my best to stay out of the way until the period ended. Aenos engaged me in small talk to keep me in the loop when I had not said anything in a while. From time to time I could see Metrec, Tokac and Murgred all glaring at me from their table on the other side of the cafeteria. As long as they did not come over to bother me, I was fine. I was a 37 year old grown man. No way some kids were not going to initmidate me. Especially not some NPC children.
Classes came to an end and it was time for the second half of tryouts began. This time football was going to be first. When Murgred appeared on the field, I was more than a bit surprised. "Don't get all cocky. I already got my spot on the team. Metrec just has to get his today. You aren't going anywhere." he declared openly. He actually had a gameplan. Whenever I got on the offensive, he found his way on defense and vice versa. He made sure to tackle me or slam past me at every opportunity. With my cheats, he never took me out. He did manage to take me down roughly 60% of the time. I certainly wasn't confident I'd be picked based on this showing. I would have to put my all into a great showing in tennis. When the coach let us go, he said to look for the team roster on the boards during lunch. I was walking off the field to get to the tennis courts when Murgred pulled me into a headlock. It hurt as he wrenched my neck as we walked. "So, what should I do with you now, Sunny? If I froze your legs for a bit, I wonder how long it would take for you to thaw them out. A day maybe!?" he said.
With a malicious laugh, he put more pressure on my neck as he continued. He was dragging me at this point. I still needed to keep my cool. "You really care about Tokac and Metrec, huh? You think they can't win without help." I said. That shook him and he paused. He turned his face to me with murder in his eyes. "What the fuck are you saying, you shitty human!?" he spat. "You never joined the bet. This deal has nothing to do with you. If you have to get in the way to make sure I lose, that means you really didn't think they could win fair and square." I said with a hiss of pain. "I know those two since we were eggs. There is no way they won't make it. Those two are fucking beasts on the field!" he snapped. I just smiled. "That just means that you know, deep down, there is a chance I can make it. The deal with Tokac was using his slit for a whole year for just getting on any team. Even if I don't get to ever be a starter or second stringer, that's already a win. So... what the fuck are you so afraid of?" I added. He glared at me for a moment, but released me. "I don't need a lesson from a human."
Getting to the tennis courts was an easy task when I was not being harassed. All I needed was to show what I could do. For this part of the trials, we all did 10 volleys and 10 overhead smashes. Once that was over, we were all paired up and allowed to play a single game against each other. My opponent was a catboy underclassman that looked really determined to win. He was very agile and I had to put lots of power and spin on the ball to get it away from him. I took the game 40-30. It was a close contest though. He did get me on two points after all. We shook hands and I smiled at him. He did not smile back. I just shrugged. This was a competition after all. Tokac and Murgred were facing off against each other. Murgred won in the end. We ended the tryouts soon after. Once again, we were told to wait and look for the results at lunch. When we got to the locker room, the four centaurs were waiting. "Sunny! Hurry up in there. We're going to the park." Aenos said. I nodded and changed my clothes. I was still sweaty and feeling a bit gross, but all three dragons were waiting for a chance.
