Chapter 16

The Rupture Arena – part 3

"Nice teamwork, guys," Tisha beamed.

"Well done, everyone!" Peter followed up, "If the rules are the same as last year's exam, we should have qualified already!"

Though slightly drained from battle, everyone seemed to be in a good mood except Loretta.

"We're not out of the woods yet—no pun intended."

What do you mean, everyone seemed to express.

"Well, for starters, do you really think the academy can fill the 800 slots from each Arena? Few statistics are going around, but yearly, only 600 or so Hunters actually graduate."

"Whoa, hold up. So, you're saying that we might still fail?!" a troubled Frederick addressed, and an unsettled Loretta nodded in response.

Bellamy, whose thoughts had been elsewhere entirely, could not shake off the feeling that he had missed something but soon dazedly joined the discussion.

"Guys, let's not fret over the what-ifs. We haven't lost a single member yet, so let's keep it that way."

[The second stage of The Rupture Arena will commence in 3 minutes.]

[Reduce the Hunter count to 300 participants.]

"See. Rumors were true. That's a more realistic number," Loretta grimaced.

[Any Hunter with less than 120 Rupture points at the end of the examination will be disqualified.]

[Any Hunter not present at The Heart of the Arena in 2 hours will be disqualified.]

The whole Party grimaced.

Mina gazed at her Soul Window, and the Rupture points her Party had gathered.

"It seems we can't play hide and seek."

[Loretta Blaise: 70 Rupture points.]

[Mina Greysky: 60 Rupture points.]

[Bellamy Aarick: 60 Rupture points.]

[Frederick Gideon: 60 Rupture points.]

[Tisha Lyndon: 50 Rupture points.]

[Peter Lyndon: 50 Rupture points.]

"Everyone sees this, right?" she continued, "even if we survive the second stage, we need at least another seven more force-outs to not be disqualified. We started with nearly 1.800 Hunters, and now we're down 800. At this rate, we won't make it."

The Party's atmosphere turned somber. This time Peter took the word, seemingly still influenced by pep-talk he had received earlier.

"I agree that we shouldn't drag this round out… But I also think that everyone will play it more passively. Just look at us. We're indecisive right now. This is most likely true for most other Parties as well. Let's forge ahead in earnest!"

Although these were just speculations, Peter made some valid points, and his words slightly convinced the Party. Tisha, who had been sitting on a rock, leaned forward onto her staff and got up.

"Let's vote. Do we move ahead steadily together, or do we use Bell as a scout and proceed with a defensive position?"

Before the Party member had decided, Bellamy stepped away and jumped a few meters in the direction most likely to be The Heart of the Arena.

"I'll take a quick sweep ahead. I'll contact you immediately if I scout anything. Frederick and Loretta, tell the rest of the Party about my cloak's abilities. Luny, stick with the Party. I'll summon you if needed."

Luny gave his best military salute as Bellamy dashed off and disappeared behind the dense forest.

[You have lost 2% of your maximum Health and Mana in The Rupture Arena.]

Bellamy held a steady pace while traversing forward—fast enough so he didn't waste precious time and slow enough to be able to react on the four-meter Map advantage. Looking at his Map, he noticed that he was 1.130 meters ahead of his Party. In addition, four red dots had appeared on the Map's edge.

"Guys, I've spotted a Party of four. They're headed toward The Heart. I'll keep tailing them. Follow the marks I've left on the trees."

"Hey, Bell! Why didn't you tell me about your cloak earlier!"

"Not now, Pete. I have to keep track ahead."

"To think that a ragged-looking cloak like that actually had those kinds of powers..." Peter kept grumbling.

Peter being a pain in the ass was one of the reasons why Bellamy had kept some secrets. He couldn't possibly imagine what kind of swearing and curses Peter would lay upon him if he knew about his quadruple Awakenings.

Ten minutes passed, and Bellamy's Party had only caught up half of the distance.

[You have lost 2% of your maximum Health and Mana in The Rupture Arena.]

It was an hour and 20 minutes since the commencement, and the maximum Health and Mana, displayed on the Soul Window, were now lowered by 16%. As Bellamy glanced at the Map corner, he noticed that the Party ahead had halted and that they were within a 24-meter radius.

Shit.

The red dots didn't move immediately, but Bellamy knew that he had screwed up. As anticipated, the four red dots moved toward him at an alarming speed.

"Guys, I've been spotted. My Invisibility Skill won't work on other Hunters."

"Bell, we've been spotted by a Party of five! They aren't advancing on the Map, but I'm uncertain if that's the case if we start running toward you."

It was Tisha.

Shit, shit, shit.

The timing couldn't have been any worse. If Bellamy drew the Party ahead of him toward his own Party, they would be pincered from both sides. He hastily formulated a plan in his head as he began running, hoping to shake off the Party of four.

"Wind Sprint Lv1"

Bellamy tried hastening himself a couple of times with Wind Sprint Lv1 but noticed that the dots were still on his tail, less than 100 meters away from Tisha and the others.

They're using Speed Buffs as well? I can't draw them any closer in this direction then...

Since his initial plan had failed, Bellamy opted to change his route in a 180-degree turn and meet the red dots in a full-frontal confrontation. He hooded his face and swapped weapons. It was his fault for being so careless; thus, it was his responsibility to clean up the mess he was in.

Bellamy spotted a swift dual-wielding assassin. Following the nimble Hunter were an archer, a mage, and an armored swordsman. The Party of four ceased their momentum and got into formation.

"Summon Luny!"

Looking at his and Luny's Health values, Bellamy narrowed his eyes.

Luny will most likely die from one or two hits. And I don't exactly know what'll happen if he dies. Will he perish?

[If a Pet is reduced to 0 Health points, it will be put into Stasis and cannot be summoned for 10 days.]

"Luny will help Bell!" the little Sprite simpered.

"Hey, Luny. Cast Resilience on me and take some cover behind the trees. Support me with heals if I get hit."

"Luny rogers that!" the Wood Sprite saluted, cast his Buff, before swirling behind some bushes.

Did he choose bushes over trees because the Pet Loyalty is still off by a large sum? Scratch that-

The assassin came flying toward him, supported by archer arrows. On the grassy ground, Bellamy noticed that something had grabbed ahold of his feet.

"The Party of five decided to attack us, Bell! How's your situation?"

[You have been Rooted.]

[You cannot move for 5 seconds.]

[Defense and Elemental Defense have been reduced by 20.]