Artix materialised his avatar, while the others condensed huge weapons. Two of them condensed 40 metre tall avatars. But, the colour of their avatars didn't change.

Artix looked around, 'Damn! Shouldn't these two wait till I finish the others first?'

'This is unfair, unfair I tell you!' Screamed Artix inwardly.

"Can we talk this through?" Said Artix.

"Attack now! He's trying to buy time," said Noah, one of the two freaks.

"..." Artix, 'I swear I wasn't planning on buying time!'

Immediately hordes of objects and spells made their way towards Artix. The group held nothing back! Artix immediately began to dodge while frantically hypnotising himself.

'I will die if I lose'

'I will die if I lose'

'I WILL DIE IF I LOSE!'

Unfortunately, Artix's efforts proved to be in vain. No matter how he tried, he couldn't get to strengthen his link.

The audience watched Artix as he dodged without doing anything. Questions plagued their minds.

"What is he doing? Why isn't he attacking?"

"He should be waiting for something."

"Waiting for what? He is obviously draining them."

"Draining them? More like draining himself."

"What do you know? This is like an adult playing with a child. It's the child that gets exhausted in the end."

"Ooh!" The others nodded in enlightenment.

Finally, Artix decided to discard his previous plan. His avatar condensed a huge red sword and slashed towards the normal bunch. He planned to clear them first. Unfortunately, it was blocked by a larger sword.

"You can't do much against him," said Max, the other freak, to the normal bunch, then he ordered, "gather together and use programs to launch spells at him."

Unexpectedly, the battle royal turned to a 1 vs 17 fight.

The audience looked at the one who gave the previous analysis. The boy turned red from embarrassment.

'Nothing is going my way today,' thought Artix, 'But, this is going to be fun,' a plan formulated inside his head.

**********

Outside, students gathered around screens broadcasting the battle.

"Things aren't looking good for him."

"Just wait and see, he's going to turn it around like last time."

"If it was a one on one, then maybe he would've had a chance. But, I don't think he can do much in th..." He stopped talking, for the situation suddenly changed.

**********

Jacky, an elite boy among the 15, was trying to build a nuclear fusion program with the help of 7 others. Suddenly, a thought struck him, 'Why am I doing this? Why do I need to involve myself with the ghost and the two freaks? I only need to finish off these six people to qualify for the tournament. It's not like I am competing for the champion position.'

Sasha, who was in the same group as Jacky, was sending eye signals to her friend Mary. It was unknown what kind of plan they were brewing.

Leonard, who was among the other 7, was trying to build a pair annihilation program with his group. A different thought struck him, 'I can use this opportunity to get rid of these three freaks, this way, I will have a chance at becoming the champion,' he shared his thoughts with the others and reached a tacit agreement.

Max who was holding back Artix with the help of Noah was thinking about something else, 'I will let Noah deal the finishing blow, then I will end him before he can react.'

Noah was thinking exactly the same. Neither of them were giving their best in defeating Artix.

Each of the 17 had something going on in their heads.

Suddenly, Artix placed his palms on the ground. He activated Aging to turn a small portion of the platform into dust. He struck the ground with his avatar and spread the dust. The platform disappeared from everyone's view.

One thought went through everyone's head at the same time, 'A chance!'

Explosions and screams came out from within the dust.

After some time, the dust finally settled. The audience looked intently at the screen.

Six people emerged. Five of them looked to be in a terrible condition, among them were Noah and Max. The last one was unscathed as he stood in the distance beside the barrier at the edge of the platform. Without any surprises, this boy was Artix.

Artix immediately dashed to the middle of the platform and finished off the quintet.

The battle ended just like that.

**********

Artix appeared outside. He ignored the confusion of the crowd. He had no thought of explaining what happened. 'I will be an idiot to expose my trump cards,' he thought.

He went to receive his pill and made his way back to his room. He finished practicing and went out to celebrate his win.

Naturally, Blue Dine was his target. He invited his friends and they made their way there.

Boss Manny spotted the septet and greeted them. The septet went to their usual place beside the window and sat down.

"Hey Art, what happened in the end? We couldn't see anything," asked Alex as they waited for their meal. The others nodded and looked at Artix.

"I told you about Murmurs of Death last time, remember? Basically, all I did was to insert thoughts of betraying each other and thinking about themselves inside their heads. So, when I covered the area with dust, it acted as a trigger and they started to attack each other," explained Artix.

"And you decided to hide in a corner," pointed Edward.

"This is called a strategic retreat!" Corrected Artix.

"Anyway, did you come up with this yourself? You don't strike me as the smart type," said Zack.

"I got inspired by Mr. Jacob's lectures when he told us about his own experience," said Artix, "Wait, what do you mean by I don't strike you as the smart type? Are you saying that I am dumb?"

Zack spread his arms and said, "I never said that. You just mentioned it yourself."

Laughter filled the table. The chat continued until their order arrived. The group finished their meal and went out to spend some time together before they disbanded. Like that a day passed.