Time smoothly goes by;
I arise from bed at around 5:30, early once again to train in the books.
This time a blue book that was razor sharp was calling to me.
Like always, I get into a sitting position and open the book.
I was in a black room, almost the size of my own bedroom; there was nothing here, though, just a pitch-black room.
After a couple of seconds, I heard almost a mechanical windup.
Then all of a sudden, laser beams started firing at me; the little guys were speedy. Nevertheless, I was able to dodge the first wave of them without any scratches.
Then a number appeared at the upper right of the room; it showed a 1.
I'm guessing the first round was round 0, and I took zero damage there, though I couldn't say the same for the next wave of lasers.
I could dodge the first few lasers, but then an unexpected one came from underneath me; it didn't hurt, but all the lasers stopped as soon as the laser hit me.
The number up top didn't change, and the round started once again.
The lasers weren't in the same path as the first time I failed.
It was a bit more challenging than the first round, but all I needed to do was ramp up my speed.
The number changed from 1 to 2. So it looks like I need to complete several rounds before I can leave.
We will say this is round 2 when technically it was around 3...
The second wave started, and the speed almost doubled; like last time, I could only dodge a few before I was hit not by 1, not by 2, not by 3, but 8 lasers.
The wave restarted; I rinse and repeated this wave almost 6 times before I could complete it.
That wave alone almost took me 10 minutes to complete.
Wavenumber 3 took place; before the countdown hit 0, I felt a presence behind me; I instinctively dodge the laser.
There was just one bullet though, it was 2 times faster than the second round, but I could dodge it.
I'm guessing it was a test if you're always ready...? It did come before the countdown finished.
Round 4 was staring; the first few lasers were fired, these little buggers were moving at near the speed of sound...
Each stage ends around a minute after starting.
My first run on round 4 was around 47 seconds before I got hit. After the third round, it seems as I am better at instinctively moving.
This round only took me 4 tries to beat it, only because I ramped up my speed by a large amount.
The 5th wave was underway, but the wave indicator was dark red; something big was bound to happen.
The countdown started as I got into position; as soon as it touched 0, the lasers filled my body with holes.
I couldn't even see the lasers that hit me...
The round started up again, but this time I ramped my speed up almost to the max; this is the speed I used to walk in front of that big tree...
The countdown once again hit zero, but I was able to see the lasers this time.
I could dodge only a few, but my body couldn't handle moving at this speed for so long, I got blasted by lasers.
After countless attempts at this round, I just couldn't beat it.
That's when I dropped my speed back to its normal state and just closed my eyes.
I wanted to see if my body would naturally react to the laser coming towards me.
And it did... for the first few, but I was still inevitably hit.
I sped up my body once again, but this time kept my eyes closed. I was able to feel everything around me, almost as if the ground felt more profound, the air was much sharper, the mechanical whirring of the walls louder than ever.
One after the other, I was able to dodge the laser, each moving at a languid speed for me, each being so clear yet so vivid.
After a minute, the round came to an end.
The display in the corner now showed "Stage 1, Complete".
I looked around confused, then the room turned white, it was bright, I couldn't see anything. Finally, after the lights dimmed down, I was back in my room.
I spent around an hour in the world, but only 30 minutes passed over here. It was now 6 o'clock, and everyone is usually awake by now.
I head downstairs to see everyone, including the king's family, at the dining table...
"Good Morning, hun'," Mom said.
"Good Morning," I replied.
"It's going to be a big day for you today; you must make everyone here proud." Said the king.
"I'll try not to let you down," I replied.
I washed up a bit and sat at the dining table; that's when the doorbell rang...
"I got it," I said.
I went over to the door and opened it up... To my surprise, Alice was waiting at the door.
"Alice?" I said.
"Oh, is that Alice? Come on in, dear," Mom said.
Alice made her way in as I was lost in a daze.
"I invited Alice over; I wanted to know my daughter-in-law better." Mom said.
We all sat at the dining table eating breakfast.
"Looks like today will be an important day for BOTH of you," The king said.
"Yup, but I already know how the leaderboards will be," I said.
"Oh really?" The king asked.
"I'm going to be first, Alice in second, and that Fire elemental kid who is in 4th right now," I responded.
"Pretty bold statement there, I like it," The king said while laughing.
"Okay, okay, enough, for now, let us eat, and then we can talk on our way to the school." The queen said.
"Yes, ma'am," The king responded.
We all quickly gobbled down our meal; I was sifting through some books that I borrowed from the school, Alice and Jiang were chatting with each other, mother and the queen were gossiping, the king and Shella were playing around.
It all honestly looks like one big peaceful family, which I didn't mind, if only this would last forever... But I know it won't; I know our world will be flipped upside down; I know that this peace won't hold for long; I have to become stronger.
With mom and the queen quickly finishing everything, we made our way out of the house and towards the school.
"Isn't this something dear? I remember when you and I were walking towards our competition, and I have gotten first, while you second... After all that time, we are now hhere married with a kid." Said the king.
"The Queen got second in The Kings Tournament?" I asked.
"Indeed so, she's quite fierce, as it was only I who was able to tame the beast," The king says proudly.
The queen pinches his cheeks, "It seems as so," she angrily says.
"It looks like history will be repeating itself," Said the Queen.
Alice and I look in confusion.
As we made it towards the gate of the school, people were peering over at us...
You could almost hear what they were whispering, "The King is walking with The Reaper," or "Is The King and The Reaper close?"...
"You'll get used to this; you are a big shot now; the whole world knows about your presence now since your performance at the previous rounds was abnormal." Said The King.
The academy principal showed up to greet us, "How is the King and his Nephew getting along," The Principal said, very loud and stern.
Everyone started talking even louder while giving me the stare-down of a lifetime...
The Principal chuckled, "Alice and Stephen, get inside and get ready, and the rest of you guys follow me to the VIP stand."
"Good luck, guys! ALSO Alice! Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid!" Said mom while walking away.
"You got it, mother-in-law!" Alice happily said...
While Alice and I walked away, we got even heavier stares; since The King was no longer here to burden some of the pain, I'm now in the limelight...
We made our way backstage, where all the students were getting ready.
"The Reaper has come," Chase said while busting out in laughter.
"Shut up..." I replied.
"It's quite amazing though, both of you made names for yourselves in the tournament, especially you Stephen, the whole world regards you as the being of death, hence, "Reaper," which is still quite weird to call you by," Said chase...
"Eh, if The King didn't say anything, I wouldn't be in such a cringe situation... But, wait, Alice also has a nickname now?" I asked.
"Yes... It's weird, though; she's being called the "Blade Goddes," even though no one even knows how she fights. I think it because it's because of the daggers that decorate her belt." Chase replied.
Alice blushes all over...
Why does she look so happy? And why does her one sound so much cooler than mine?
We laughed it off when an announcement was made saying there were only 2 minutes before the final round started.
All the students made their way into the arena, that's where the principal made the announcement,
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the final round of the king's tournament; this is going to be a fierce round, as we will now see the combat capabilities of each student." Said the principal.
"Students will pick a number plate from the box; a machine will randomly call this number alongside another number, in which both students will have to fight it out, the winner will proceed to the next round until it comes down to the final 1v1. Any weapon is available, if a student has their hands on a profound weapon, so be it." Said the principal.
Any weapons... If I were to use my scythe, this would be even more one-sided than it already is...
"But before that, there will be prelims; since there are a lot of students, we will have to cut it down some. So we will take 50 students at a time, and they will be in an all-out free-for-all; the remaining 5 will proceed to the 1v1s." Said the principal.
The first round of prelims took place; I was there alone, no one I knew was here with me.
"The first round of prelims shall start in 3...2...1... GO," said the principal.
The round started, but no one moved...
"So, is anyone going to move?" I said.
All the students snapped back to their senses.
They all started fighting, one falling after the other, then there was an overconfident ranked A student.
"The "Reaper," huh, if I beat you, do I become the next Reaper?" Said the student.
Everyone stopped fighting to look at us...
He launched an attack, but it looked like he was moving at a snail's pace... it was... very underwhelming.
I launched a low-powered lightning bolt, and he was instantly launched back out of the ring...
"Really? That was so goddam underwhelming." I said.
The King started laughing uncontrollably, *Cough* *Cough*, "That was funny," said the king.
I sat down in the middle of the ring crisscrossed... everyone started fighting again, but none challenged me.
I already foresaw this happening, but I really hoped this wouldn't have happened.
There were 6 students left, including me.
"Well, that's a problem; there seems to be one extra person," I said.
"Go on, vote on a person you want out, make it quick..." I said.
I wanted this prelim to end fast; it was such a waste of precious time.
The remaining students came to a consensus.
"So? What have you guys picked?" I asked.
"You, we want you out," They said in unison.
"I don't think that's available at this time; please pick another student," I replied.
"We want you out," They said.
"Stephen, control yourself," Said the king.
"haha, you guys gave me the ridiculous name, "Reaper," The being of death, yet you guys defy what I say? That doesn't really make sense to me, but whatever, I couldn't care any more than what I'm about to do." I said.
I charge up a powerful AOE electric attack, the students tried to move closer to me to stop me, so I increased the gravity around me with my aura.
None of the students could move; they were all just sitting ducks, ready for the hunt.
I release my attack; it really wasn't an attack centralized around damage but more about crowd control.
A big wave was released, which launched the remaining 5 students off the ring. I was the last man standing.
"I hope this is an alright outcome," I said to the principal.
"It's fine... more or less, the 1v1 ladder might have to be changed, but it should be fine..." The principal said.
"You are one scary kid..." Said The King.
I shrugged my shoulders and walked off stage.
The next few prelims went on; everything went smoothly. Alice also blew away all the competitors on her ring... I guess that fixes the 1v1 ladder?
The principal came up on stage and said, "After 3 hours of continuous battling, we are left with 42 students, we would've had 50, but there were some... occurrences during the prelims. Let us now start the long-awaited 1v1s!"