Pointing my hands towards the shadowed figures, I yelled. "No one move!" I tried activating my wristband and taking out my daggers, but I couldn't. It felt as if something blocked me from doing so.

Realizing a crucial detail, I bit my lip and looked down at my wristband. There was only one possibility, the Headmaster disabled all conveyance devices. If he could transport us to this area, then surely disabling mere devices wouldn't be an issue.

The other figures had their hands pointed toward each other. We all remained silent, waiting for someone to make the first move.

I was hoping the Headmaster would reveal more information, clearing the confusion before an unavoidable fight. But it seemed like a fight was fate.

The figure far to the right held their hands in the air. "Relax!" The shadow figure added. "I think the smog is clearing up."

Keeping my hands pointed, I didn't budge. For all I knew, the shadowed figure could be lying. I remained focused, gaping at the shadows, not allowing myself to blink.

After thirty seconds of waiting, the smog faded, allowing visibility to the figures.

The figure to the left moved forward, rubbing her temple. "We need to stop wasting time." She looked down at her necklace, shaking her head. "I think this idiotic predator and prey game already started."

"Allura, you're right," the male — Ash — to my right pointed to his armband.

"We're part of the prey," I clicked my tongue, examining the blue armband. Additionally, there was time ticking down on the armband: 59:40.

"What should we do?" Ash asked. "The Headmaster didn't go over the rules in-depth."

Allura scanned around the area, nearing us and whispering. "Our conveyance devices seem to be disabled, so you two hide while I test something."

Raising his eyebrows, Ash stuttered. "We should all hide! We're prey." He tilted his head, looking at Allura. "Why would we go into combat?"

"That's what I want to test," Allura shook her head. "The Headmaster never said prey couldn't eliminate others."

Ash nodded, looking at Allura and rubbing his chin. "Do you think prey can make others give u-"

Covering Ash's mouth with my hand, I narrowed my eyes, whispering. "Don't say those words. We don't know what will happen."

Ash held his mouth closed, nodding his head in agreement.

Shifting my eyes from left to right, I examined the area, attentively looking out for others. We were in a forest and a tremendous one at that. We needed to do something since squandering time wasn't going to help.

I turned my head to Allura, focusing on her blue eyes. "Do whatever you want but quickly come back" Pausing, I pointed at a tree. "I'm going to hide on that tree."

Ash quickly countered, shrugging. "Why don't we both hide under the ground? I'll create a space that could fit us both."

"You do that, but I'll hide on the tree," I affirmed, turning my back toward Allura. "Good luck."

Allura ran off, leaving Ash and me behind. Ash and I darted at each other, looking away, knowing what we needed to do.

Using my magic to strengthen my muscles, I started climbing the tree. I was a few branches high when Ash whispered. "Being underneath the ground is a better option."

"It's fine," I said, waving my hand. "Hurry up before others come!"

Nodding, he sank underneath the ground. The ground appeared normal, mostly due to the lack of grass in the area.

I re-focused, climbing up the tree. As I ascended, things on the floor began seeming smaller. I stopped climbing once I got more than halfway up. Even if I wanted to go higher, I couldn't because the branches were too thin to crouch on without breaking them.

Turning off my magic, I remained calm, examining my surroundings. I particularly eyed where Ash went underneath. The reason I didn't follow Ash was simple. I held the advantage when I was so high. I could see everything, and no one could detect my magic since I turned it off.

Of course, I couldn't tell Ash about my trick. But it was alright since if worse came to worst, I'd fight.

I turned my head, noticing a burst of fire, but I didn't need to worry. The fire formed considerable feet away from us. I didn't need to worry...

Another noise echoed from what I assumed was plenty of distance from us. It wasn't long until these noises were standard.

Shifting behind the leaves, I attempted to cover myself better. I remained silent, focusing on the floor.

Far-right, a subtle rustle echoed, but the forest's silence made it louder. A male ran out of a bush, followed by two females.

"I can't move!" One of the females said, holding her leg. She fell to the floor, causing the others with her to stop. The others in her team surrounded her, trying to pick her up.

But before they could...

"Stop running and just say the words!" A voice shouted, but I couldn't see where it was coming from.

Three individuals came through a patch of bushes: a Khausfallian, a dwarf, and another person. It was hard to distinguish between humans and elves without seeing their ears.

"Just say it!" The Khausfallian said, nearing the group. "Say the words!"

The preys positioned themselves around their injured teammate, preparing for battle.

"I'll help from here," the injured female cried, summoning a water sphere, launching it towards their enemy.

'Quite admirable. Perhaps I should do something?' I thought, shaking my head and continuing to observe.

The Khausfallian touched the water, turning the sphere into ice and forcing it to fall onto the floor.

The other prey both hurled their attacks toward the Khausfallian. A fire foray came to his right while another to his left.

"Not so fast!" The dwarf yelled, blocking both the fire attacks with earthen blocks. The dwarf dissipated his magic, shaking his head. "Just concede!"

"HALLOWED FLAME!" The male prey shouted, fidgeting his arm. He created a sphere and launched it.

The third predator used his hands, clapping the flame, almost like he was trying to grasp it. "We have to beat them up even more! That's the only way." He spun in a circle, redirecting the flame toward the female. The flame connected with the female's head, burning some of her hair and causing her to fall.

The other two predators headed into action, sprinting to the injured female. One ran to the male while the other to the injured female.

The male prey faltered, not moving out of fear. The male shook in fear as he screamed. He brought flames to his hands, running toward the predators.

The Khausfallian predator jumped up, dodging the prey's fire punch. The Khausfallian dropped to the floor, but as he did, he landed a clean punch on the prey's face, knocking the prey unconscious.

The dwarf grabbed the fallen female, pinning her against the floor and shouting. "Say it!"

She began crying, looking back at her injured companion.

The injured prey had her hand raised but wasn't using any magic. She gaped at the predators, twitching her arms at them.

I assumed she was too shocked to do anything.

The dwarf pushed more force onto the fallen prey, causing her to squirm on the floor. The girl pleaded, kicking her feet onto the ground. "Stop, stop!" Her head banged against the floor, causing the dwarf to lighten his force.

"Freeze," the Khausfallian shouted, freezing the female prey's hand onto the ground. Consequently, the actions caused the prey even more agony, forcing her to bang her head harder.

"What are you doing?" The dwarf tried questioning.

The Khausfallian came closer, grabbing the girl's throat. "She was preparing a fire blast." He gripped harder, rendering the female unconscious.

The female turned into a white breeze, fading in thin air.

The dwarf stood up, gaping at the once seeable girl. Shaking his head and moving back, he yelled. "We made another one disappear!"

The Khausfallian ignored the dwarf, nearing the injured female and stomping on her leg. "Say it."

"AHHH," the injured female let out, tears falling down her face. "I-I-I give up!"

The injured female dissipated into nothingness, along with her other teammate.

'It seems if one person gives up, so do the rest,' I thought, focusing on the predators. 'But why did that one girl turn into mist? If she didn't give up, that could only mean one thing.' I remained focused, making sure not to shake the branch too much. 'The Headmaster said we could go all out. So I guess if someone gets too injured, they'll turn into white mist.'

The Khausfallian extended his arm, striking his fist against a tree. "We already eliminated two teams! Why the fuck are we still here."

I furrowed my eyebrows, leaning closer while using the leaves as cover.

"You tell me," the third member said — I didn't know if he was an Elf or Human. "You tell me, damn it!"

The unidentified male approached the Khausfallian, looking up at him. He was about to push the Khausfallian male, but the dwarf came in between them, breaking the fight.

The dwarf stood between them, grinding his teeth. "I think we passed. But we still have to survive. Survive until the end."

"What kind of bullshit rules are those!" Turning his body, the Khausfallian male gripped his fist, punching a tree with his ice magic. The tree created an abundance of noise, even startling his teammates.

The dwarf patted the Khausfallian's shoulder. "We need to move."

Agreeing, the Khausfallian and the unidentified male walked into one of the bushes.

But before the dwarf followed, he turned around, placing his hand on the ground.

"Yoshh, hurry up!" One of the males said.

The dwarf remained silent, glaring to the right.

'Damn it,' I clicked my tongue, gaping at Ash's hiding area.

"Yoshh, can you hurry up," The unidentified male said, poking his head out of a bush." The male paused, tilting his head. "Is something wrong?"

The dwarf glared at Ash's spot, shaking his head. "Nah."

Rolling his eyes, the unidentified male re-entered the bush. "Hurry up, we have to move!"

Nodding his head, the dwarf rejoined his team, leaving the area.

I closed my eyes, letting go of the branches that I gripped. 'That was too close for comfort...' I looked at my armband, seeing the time: 38:43.

Time passed by relatively leisurely. That was until a few wanderers entered the area.

A female and a male — both human — examined the broken tree caused by the raged Khausfallian.

The noise created by the idiot attracted unwanted attention.

Gripping my fist, I glanced at the individuals and Ash's hiding spot.

"We only need one more," the female said, walking towards another tree.

The male remained silent, nearing the middle of the area. He was now only a few feet away from Ash.

The male eyed the ground, examining something.

Grinding my teeth, I gaped at the male, getting ready to help Ash.

But before I could even move an inch, a hum echoed in the forest. A magic-like arrow zoomed through the male's head, turning him into a gloom of mist.

The female ran to her once visible teammate, positioning herself near Ash's hideout.

I gulped, trying to figure out where the shot came from. A crackle came from the right as a fire burned bushes. Through the burnt bushes, three individuals came out. They were two elven females and an elven male.

"Where's your third?" The female elf with long hair asked.

The female — human — stood still, positioning herself for battle.

The short-haired elf approached the human. "Any day now!"

The female human let go of composure. "We're both predators! We don't need to fight!"

The three elves remained quiet, looking at the female human.

"I don't have any more teammates left!" The human shook, stepping backward.

The male elf shook his head, placing his hand on the ground.

In the meantime, the other elves cornered the human, causing her to be right under my tree.

The human shouted, shaking in the process. "We're both predators!"

Again, the elves ignored her. The male pointed his hand at Ash's hideout, shaking his head. "Her teammate is under there."

My eyes opened wide as the male elf neared Ash's hideout. He placed his hand on top of the area, getting ready to use whatever magic he had.

"Just say it," one of the female elves laughed, pushing the human against my tree.

The human closed his eyes, positioning his palm on the ground. "It's fine. We'll just turn them into nothingness."

Breathing heavily, I focused on my palms. I didn't want to remember that period of my life, but I had no choice. I needed to act now.

'Thank you, Elji,' I smiled, tugging my lips to my left. I released my magic, forming lightning on my nails and causing my nails to elongate. 'Rule seven: anything is your weapon!'

Jumping down the tree, I caused a commotion.

All attention was now on me. Everyone gaped at me as I fell onto the ground.

Standing near the short-haired elf, I avoided looking at her. Instead, I stared in front of me.

I could hear the short-haired elf summon some type of magic.

Remaining focused on the male, I disregarded her magic. I twitched my finger and stepped forward. "Link!"