Author’s note- Warning, this chapter is a bit graphic. And I mean bloody graphic. Oh yeah, my physics class has been recently teaching on how to calculate impact force. And now it seems interesting because I could calculate roughly the amount of damage my main character is dishing out.

For example, from that fall Viola would realistically not have only a broken leg, lol. The force was enough to break lots of her bones at once, even up to her thigh. She wasn’t surviving that fall, even without the main character’s interference… And for my research, this chart was really helpful. (Nerdy document incoming)

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Orbs of Blood (3)

I had climbed down about 3/4ths of the way before I jumped the rest of the way down. Landing, I saw Adam limping away as fast as he could, ignoring the cries for help of Viola who he left behind. I didn’t blame him; she would only be dead weight. And I would deal with her first…

Taking a cursory glance at the fleeing Adam, I walked towards Viola in a relaxed manner. And when she saw this, she shuddered. Was it fear? Or rage. I didn’t know, but at the same time I didn’t care. She was going to die.

Me- “Any last words?”

Viola gritted her teeth.

Viola- “Ahhh! F*ck you!”

She materialized a knife in mid air, and sent it flying towards me! But, it seemed she had forgotten one of the most basic rules about abilities. They repel…

Summoning my golden aura, the knife flew backwards, powerless to harm me. But the very act of her futilely trying to stab me pissed me off. So with an intention from my mind, a flame point X10 exploded right above her body.

“BOOM!!!”

She went in deeper to the ground, but a deformed red light surrounded her. She wasn’t dead. Yet.

“BOOM!!!”

The concrete around her body cracked, but somehow the barrier was still intact! I frowned, and set off yet another explosion.

“BOOM!!!”

The barrier was now incredibly deformed, and at parts it pierced into her body. But suddenly, laughter mixed with coughing came from underneath the rubble. Was she driven insane?

Deciding that my explosions weren’t enough to truly finish the job, I stepped forward and stomped towards her throat!

At the point of contact with my foot, the barrier instantly shattered. My foot continued without obstruction, and then it felt like I had stepped on a pillow. A slight squishing sound was heard, and blood started to seep from under my foot.

The area that was once filled with insane laughter now descended into eerie silence. It was finished…

Suddenly, her unrecognizable body was covered in a blue light, and she was turned into a streak of light that flew towards the Tower of Resurrection. All that was left of her was a steel disk and a bloody orb. The orb rose up to float in front of my head, and the orb I already had was summoned out as well.

And at that time, a voice sounded within my head.

???- “Congratulations, a contestant has obtained two Orbs of Blood. Thus, this game has advanced to the second stage! As contestants, your goal is still the same: to make it to the tower alive and hopefully with as many orbs as you can. One thing is different though. The outsider has started hunting. It wants the orbs, but it doesn’t know which contestant has them. However, it does know where each and every one of you are, so once again, be careful, and stay alive. The best of luck to all of you!”

Once the voice finished speaking, the orbs stopped levitating, and they fell to the ground. I stooped to pick them up, and placed them back within my pocket. But once I did, I felt the back of my neck start prickling. Was someone watching me!?

I whipped around, summoning my golden aura! But no one was there… I murmured to myself,

Me- “The outsider… He said the outsider was hunting...”

Deciding I wasn’t in danger just yet, I refocused my attention upon the escaping Adam. He had already vanished from my line of sight, but I could still hunt him down. Killing him would silence any notion that I wasn’t the negotiator, so he was the next target.

Kicking another rock, I began to run after him.

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Adam didn’t get very far. It took me about 45 seconds before I found Adam. He was positioned behind a car, and he seemed to be trying to ambush me. Unfortunately, my ears easily picked up his heavy breathing, so that plan of his failed before it started.

I set off a flame point X10 to the right of him.

“BOOM!!!”

He was sent sprawling in front of me, and I kicked him so hard he was sent flying back! Landing about 6 feet away from me, it seemed like he completely lost his ability to fight. He reverted back to his normal self, and started to cough pitifully.

Me- “So. It comes to this. Are you ready to die?”

I walked forward, the golden aura swirling around my hand. But his answer was delayed, and he started to look at something behind me.

Adam- “Oh, so it started hunting already? Ha ha ha!”

What? Did Adam become crazy as well? Or was there something going on?

Me- “Why are you laughing?”

Adam sneered,

Adam- “When a family targets someone, they make sure they have the assurance of success, so from the beginning, you were marked to be its target. I guess I could say, you ran out of luck…”

I was about to respond, before suddenly, I heard something rapidly approaching me from behind my back!

An unprecedented sense of crisis rose up within me, and I immediately dropped to the floor!

“Whoosh”

A black shadow passed over me and landed about 7 ft in front of me. And I rose up from the ground immediately, getting a good look at the thing.

It was a humanoid being made of a material like shadow, and its limbs were sharpened, like weapons. In its ‘hands,’ it held a giant broadsword with red runes etched along the middle of the blade. Chains connected the sword to its hands, and they seemed to extend further into depths of shadow. Standing about 7ft tall, it dwarfed me considerably, and the scythe in its hands added to the image, making it look like death itself.

Suddenly, its voice resounded through the surroundings, and it sounded grim, emotionless.

???- “Give them back...”

Its face turned to look at the side, but its aura wasn’t directed at me. It was directed at, Adam?

Adam’s face turned pale with fear, and he started to back away hurriedly.

Adam- “No! This shouldn’t be happening; he’s your target, not me! I don’t have any orbs, he does!”

What he said however, seemed to fall on death’s ears. It tilted its head and brandished its broadsword menacingly. And I stood there, frozen in shock. Was it about to…?

Suddenly, Adam seemed to be moving in slow motion compared to the being. It started moving at a rate even my grandfather couldn’t keep up with, and then with a single slice, Adam was gone. Nothing was left of him.

With this, my mind reeled, and suddenly, I was broken out of my stupor. What if he came at me next!?

Activating the flame tornado and the hot feeling simultaneously, I immediately fled with the fastest speed I could muster!

But suddenly, I heard the slight sound of the grinding of a chain on metal, and I moved to the side without hesitation.

“Whoosh!”

The broadsword had slashed into the area where I was moments before, and then it was pulled back to the being. Its footsteps rose into a tempest, and I knew it was giving chase! How would I escape?

Summoning my golden aura without restraint, I let it flow all over my body! And with my desire to survive flooding forth from every area of my body, I kicked out at a piece of rubble! Please work!

But when my foot touched the rubble, I felt my sense of balance shifting. And instinctively, I knew what was happening. I was tripping! What kind of bullcrap luck ability do I have to trip at this time! And in a situation as this!?

But whatever regrets I had were not able to be expressed at the time, as I tried to find my sense of balance again by using my other leg. However, who knew that there would coincidentally be another rock disrupting the way my other foot hit the ground?

Before I could react, I had already fallen halfway to the ground. And in that moment, something passed over my head, taking a couple hairs with it. I was not able to see the object, but I knew it was the sword! My ability saved me!

The resentments on my ability immediately turned to gratitude, and I resumed trying to run from the being. And strangely enough, his footsteps didn’t seem to follow. What was going on?

Turning my head back as I ran, I could see that the being seemed to be huddled over the sword, pulling on it. It was stuck in the ground!

With a massive pull, the being dislodged the sword from the ground and continued the pursuit. But I was currently a bit faster than the being, and I was already out of the broadsword’s range!

Realizing my apparent safety for the time being, my body started to instinctively relax. But my mind was still on full alert, knowing the battle could reignite at any wrong move… So I continued to let my ability define my path of where I ran.

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Eventually, I had shaken it off of my trail. And in hindsight, it should've been simple.

The being was blind. It found the direction of us by using sound. For example, when I dodged the preemptive strike, it had no idea where I was. Instead, it tried to use its aura to feel around in an attempt to find me. But when Adam spoke, it confirmed his position.

That spelled his doom, as he was powerless to resist being cut in half. And that was when I started running.

The heavy sound of my feet striking the pavement was enough for the outsider to find me. And when I dodged the first strike, it had a full grasp on my position. If it had not been for my ability, that second strike would of killed me.

It was blind then, but the fact that it found us means it has some other way of knowing where we are. A tracker maybe, but I think it is more likely that it is following the orbs. And the fact that I have two makes me its prime target. I would need to abandon getting the third if I didn’t want to die to that thing.

I was also tired of all the killing that had been happening recently. I just wanted to finish this mission, and go back home… At least Chloe was there, no doubt waiting for me. And I had just abandoned her, abandoned the whole situation because it was too much.

But after this mission, I could come back. Therefore, I needed to finish it as soon as possible. My next target was the Tower of Resurrection…

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Author’s note 2- Ok, I’m sorry if this felt a bit rushed. This chapter has not been delayed because of my laziness as I promised; I worked on it every chance I had. But the problem is my SAT is coming up, and every time I go to a public place to write, I’m being bombarded with questions on why I’m working on my story and not studying for the sat… Lol, rip me.