**Adam's POV**
"That was crazy, man," Tokito grinned, though his terrifying visage gave off a very different impression.
"And reckless," Lara interrupted from our side. I guess she did as I instructed and managed to evaporate the slime she was struggling with.
"But it worked, didn't it?" I countered. And effectively shut her up.
"Let's get out of here before the slime pulls itself back together," Tokito said, gesturing at the pieces of goo that were already beginning to slither toward each other. How many seconds has it been?! I thought the flag would at least turn blue before the slime began to reform, but apparently not. It had barely been fifteen seconds, and the damn thing was almost whole again.
"You three!" Lara called out to the others. "Come help me pick up these flags!"
In the end, we scrambled away with eleven flags in hand. I only held two—ours and the first one we had grabbed. Soon, the gold flag Tokito held turned blue, and we all let out a collective sigh of relief.
That slime was a nightmare. Even though I wasn't the one actually fighting it, the stunt I pulled at the end had been one for the books.
Fighting something that didn't die, that regenerated every cut, that shrugged off punches like they were nothing—yeah, terrifying. The only thing that worked at all was Lara's fire.
"That... huff was... intense," Tokito panted.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Lara chuckled. "To think we'd struggle that much against a single opponent." I silently wondered who it really was, though his bloodline might not have much attack power, he/she was pretty versatile. And let's not forget, it could take on appearance.
---
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the ruined city, while our group was fighting slimes, two other groups of cadets met at a crossroad. One group was led by a golden-haired girl.
"Look, boss," one of the lackeys whispered to his leader. "They've got a bunch of flags, and their leader looks weak. If we take them out, we'll be set."
"What are you talking about, you idiot?" the leader snapped and smacked him. "Do you even know who that is? That's Lady Ashley Wellington. Rank 6 in the academy."
The lackey paled visibly. Not because she was ranked sixth among the first-years, but because she was one of the Big Seven.
Ashley, meanwhile, only watched their little drama unfold, arms folded and silent.
"Please forgive us, Lady Ashley. We surrender our flags," the leader of the other group said, kneeling. It was the smart move; they only had two flags anyway. He handed them over to Ashley's group without further resistance.
"We've got two more flags, Lady Ashley!" one of the girls in her group called out cheerfully. But Ashley didn't respond. She was lost in thought, wondering why she ended up with such a weak team.
Her group had no other rank threes. She was a rank two, sure, but all her teammates were rank fours. That meant she was at a disadvantage when the real contenders—the other members of the Big Seven—started showing up. Unless, of course, they were also dealt useless teammates.
Her group now had ten flags. But if she wanted second place in this trial, she'd need more.
Yes, second. To her and the rest of the Big Seven, it was a foregone conclusion that Aurora would claim first. The true competition was for the second spot.
"You guys are doing great," she told her team, forcing a smile. Even though, truthfully, they hadn't done all that much.
"Thank you, Lady Ashley!" they chorused back.
"Let's keep going. We might still have a shot at first place!" She smiled even more brightly, though inside she didn't believe a word of it.
---
Elsewhere in the city, a boy waved his hands like a composer. But instead of music, cadets floated mid-air, flailing under his control, responding to the movements of his fingers.
"Ready to surrender your flag?" the boy asked smugly.
"Never," came the cold reply from the group's leader—a silver-haired girl.
"Come now, Nevaeh. You know you're no match for me. If you'd reacted before I lifted your entire team into the air, maybe you'd have stood a chance. But even then, it would've been just that—a chance." The boy grinned. "Maybe if you were a rank two, it would've been different."
"You bastard," Nevaeh hissed through clenched teeth.
"Oh, what would Damien say if he heard his oh-so-well-mannered cousin cursing this young lord? If only I'd gotten that on reco—"
SMACK
Owen turned, rubbing the back of his head. "Hey! What was that for?"
The purple-haired boy next to him—Jared—just shrugged. "You were wasting time. Just take the flag already."
Owen sighed. "I swear, of all people, I had to get paired with you again. Just like the last outing."
"No hard feelings, Nevaeh," Jared said as he leapt up and snatched the gold flag from her grasp. Not long after, Nevaeh and her team shimmered into sparkles and vanished. "I'll deal with you later" she growled at Owen just before she disappeared.
"So… how are we supposed to carry all these flags?" Owen asked. Including Nevaeh's, they now had eight.
"I don't know. Give some to the rest of the group." Jared paused. "Oh wait, we don't have any. Because your dumb stunts got all of them eliminated."
"Hey! It's not my fault they were useless," Owen argued.
"Whatever. Let's just keep moving. The boundary's coming by midnight."
---
Adam's POV
Time slipped by quickly, and before we knew it, it was the night of the sixth day—one step away from the final trial day. We hadn't encountered any other groups after our slime battle, but that didn't put us at ease. We knew we had enough flags to rank in the top ten, but our concern was running into a powerful group and losing everything.
"Is it weird that I feel hungry even though I'm not supposed to be?" Tokito asked. Over the past several days, I'd made an interesting realization—Tokito and Owen? Definitely brothers from another mother. They'd get along like old friends. Which surprised me, honestly. Maybe the reason Tokito was always so quiet in class was because he'd never had anyone to talk to.
"No it's more like psychological hunger, your mind is accustomed to eating at least three or four times a day, and currently according to your mind, you've spent six days without eating" I replied. And just like Owen, I was warming up to him. Right now, all six of us were holed up in a crumbling building we picked to rest in overnight. We knew things were about to go to hell tomorrow.
"What nonsense are you two blabbering about?" Lara said, clearly unimpressed.
"Oh, chill out, Lara. I bet you feel hungry too," Tokito teased, earning a sharp glare from her.
"So… can you fully turn into a fox?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"No," he replied, pausing briefly. "At least not yet. You've seen my six tails, right?"
I nodded.
"I'll only be able to fully transform once into a fox once I have nine."
More tails? I thought.And how did he know that. 'It probably had something to do with his revelation' I concluded. And asking about someone's revelation was taboo, so I didn't press.
"What about you?" he asked suddenly. "What can you really do?" Even Lara perked up at that.
Should I tell them? I hesitated. But he had just told me about his ability, so maybe it was fair.
"Well you've already seen me use repulsive forces, I can also use attractive forces. I also have a hyper gravity field, and a null attribute field" I explained.
Lara's eye twitched. "Then why the hell have you been just standing there while we've been fighting!?" Even Tokito looked stunned.
"Because if I activate my hypergravity or null field, it'll affect all of you," I argued. "Besides, I was the one guarding the flags."
"Good point," Tokito nodded in understanding.
---
Time flew, and soon enough, it was the morning of the final day. We had already packed up and begun heading toward the center of the zone when the sky shimmered with an announcement.
Based on the light, I'd say it was about 5 or 6 a.m.
"Attention cadets," a voice boomed. "This is your proctor. I'm glad to see you've been doing well in this trial. I have an announcement to make."
A dramatic pause.
"There are twelve hours left until the end of the exam." As soon as he said that, a giant countdown timer appeared in the sky, ticking down from eleven hours, fifty-nine minutes, and counting.
"Now, there'll be a little change in the trial" he continued. "The boundary moves by days no more, instead, now it moves by the hour. And it covers more space than before. So if you don't wanna get eliminated, you'd do good to start moving towards the center as fast as you can. The boundary will stop moving at exactly 1.5 kilometer radius from the center of the city. Good luck!".
---
A/N:
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