Underneath the arena, the contestants were all busy getting ready for the fighting event. The weapons and armour they had hidden until now were all out on full display. Even if one was to see what their opponent was wearing, there was too little time to try to come up with a countermeasure. On top of this, the participants themselves did not know who they were going to go up against.
Students for this event were also able to use whatever equipment they owned. It didn’t matter whether one person had higher gear than the other. It was all about individual strength rather than skill. The focus was to show how they would compete out in the real world.
Above, there were ten platforms, allowing for there to be ten fights happening simultaneously at the same time. The fighting event was one of the most important and most significant events so they needed not to have too much going on at the same time. Their goal was to allow the students to display their powers and if all the students were to fight at the same time, it would be impossible to keep track of them all.
Many factions and important members were watching this event, looking for their next recruits. Before going onto the stage, each of their stage names would be announced, allowing them to know who they were watching and something to remember the students by.
All of the students who were in the fighting event were split into groups of ten. This meant on the first day, half of them would be eliminated.
Nate continued to look around and eventually spotted Larry. “Looks like we won’t be facing each other in the first round. That’s good. Let me see how much you have improved before I fight you myself.” He said.
It wasn’t set in stone, but Nate was pretty sure that the groups had indicated who would be going out together. And those in the same group would be facing each other. When he looked over to the group to his right, he could see not only Larry but also the student who had the two guards who had never left his side once, standing at the back.
“I guess it’s worth keeping an eye out on you as well,” Nate said, still curious why they never left his side.
“We have something important to tell you.” The guard whispered into Peter’s ear. “Don’t even think about surrendering or giving up the fight. If you do, you will be paying a visit straight back to the dungeon, and trust me; I can guarantee you don’t want to go back there this time.”
Even with the mans’ threats, it didn’t bother Peter too much.
What he was far more concerned about was what they were planning to do. Were they really going to just let him have a fair fight with one of the students here? It was clear now after spending a whole day with the guards. With Quinn and the others’ strength, there was no way for them to save him.
He wasn’t stupid.
‘Whatever they plan to do, I won’t let them have it go their way.’ Peter thought, trying to make it as hard as possible.
“Alright, everyone, Group A, please start to make your way to the platform.” A soldier ordered, and the first group, which had both, Peter and Larry, started to make their way up to the stage.
Nate started to rub his hands together in excitement; he couldn’t wait to see what would happen. Inside the underground arena, they also had several screens, which allowed them to see what was going on above. He would have to observe from there.
The anticipation of finally meeting the Blood evolver was killing him.
They had all entered the field as the crowd heavily cheered for them. The noise was so loud it felt like the whole arena was vibrating slightly. Not everyone was here for recruitment, and it was clear some were here just to enjoy the show that would be put on.
“It looks like Peter will be in the first batch,” Logan said watching from the top platform in his seat.
“I wonder what they’re thinking?” Vorden asked.
“Rather than worry about what they are thinking, I’m far more concerned with what Peter is thinking. He is a little unpredictable when it comes to situations like these,” Logan replied back.
However, Fex was now sweating heavily. He crossed his arms and nervously tapped his foot away, staring at the screen. He was far more concerned about a bigger problem. Not being able to take it anymore, he had left his seat and walked over to the edge to look down at the arena.
Seeing Peter on the screen had made him worry even more.
“Oh, no!…” Fex thought. The second he looked at his sister, he could tell from the expression on her face. She had discovered Peter.
As soon as Peter had entered the arena and started to walk over to the platforms, in an instant, she could smell that there was someone different among them. Then when they further split up, she finally had spotted who and where the smell was coming from.
‘I was meant to be the only one stationed at a military base; there were meant to be no others, not only that… It’s a subclass. Don’t tell me..’ A worrying thought started to go through her head. It was clear that the subclass vampire was illegal. She would have been informed before coming otherwise. There were no doubts about it; the problem was who had created it.
Was it her brother? If so, there might no longer be any way for her to save him anymore. After breaking so many rules, he would not get off with a light punishment. Unable to do anything in the middle of the tournament, for now, all she could do was keep an eye on the illegal, while continuing to judge her own fight, since it looked like she wouldn’t be judging the battle with the illegal.
Underneath the large, stone cylinders, two students stood either side. The pillars were spread evenly throughout the arena allowing the audience to see a fight no matter where they were, but they also had screens that would display the other matches in case they were interested, and if some fights ended quicker than others.
In the crowd, every so often, there were soldiers stationed, and this included General Duke. The audience didn’t think it was so strange since it was the fighting tournament, but the reason for the high level of security was something else.
“Is everyone ready? During the fight with the student known as Peter, everyone is to keep an eye. They could come out at any second.” Duke ordered into his communicator.
The soldiers were there in case of an attack from Pure. In fact, there were even more soldiers than the audience knew off. For several members of the crowd were also disguised. Not knowing the importance of the member they had in question, they were also unclear how much effort they would make to rescue him.
There was also the possibility that they weren’t even going to rescue him at all. The four leaders and Supreme Commander were here, any rescue attempt would require their full power, and in all the years before, there had never been an attack on the event.
However, there was one thing they were sure about, and that was the fact that they would be watching. Jack, sitting in his booth, was excited. He didn’t really expect anyone from Pure to come. That’s why he wanted to put Peter up for the fight in the first place. So they could brutally see one of their own being beaten to death.
By each of the pillars, there was an additional soldier down below. Their job was to catch anyone who would fall off the stage. As the first stage names were announced, the soldier below stomped his foot hard on the ground, and a smaller pillar raised the student onto the fighting platform.
This was readily done as each of the students’ names was being called. A cheer followed with each name until, eventually, they had reached the last platform, platform ten.
The soldier stomped his foot, raising Larry steel, to the stage.
“And on stage ten, introducing Octopuncher.”
Looking at the screen from underground, Nate was slightly confused by the name choice. “So you’re not going to reveal your Blood Evolver in front of everyone, huh, but what kind of lame name is that?”
The man then stomped his foot again, and a pillar rose from underneath Peter, allowing him to step onto the platform.
“And next, we have his opponent, ZombieP.”
When this name was called, there wasn’t much of a reaction from the crowd in the arena. However, the students above and below underground were stunned and Nate couldn’t keep his jaw closed.
*****
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