As the days passed, huge explosions, earthquakes, and destroyed terrain became commonplace in the Survival Games Arena. Watchers across the world were fascinated and this event has already proven to be a grand success. It has cemented its grandeur in the hearts of Travelers and Traveler enthusiasts alike as the biggest event of this year, and for years to come.
The twenty-four starting contestants have been widdled down to four people. Those watching had their hearts in their throats as the deadly mist shrunk to surround the grasslands in the center of the arena, a small battlefield with little cover.
The time to finish this has come, this foreboding moment accentuated by clouded skies and heavy rain...
.....
With enchanted crossbows in their hands, Greg and Leah were back-to-back with The Rooks guild leader and Greifer's guild leader on either side. The two solos have come to a mutual understanding in the heat of the moment, this temporary partnership made easy by their recent successful business transaction resulting in Rango's (Crafter Guild's General) death...
All presents were out of consumables and most of their hole cards have been used up; only their weapons and armor remained...
Timothy's preflex activated and he quickly spread his legs into a horse stance while making a 'scooping' motion with his two arms finishing vertically parallel in front of his face at the end of the maneuver, causing a thick earthen wall to erupt in front of him.
Greg and Leah, in an impressive feat of cooperation, quickly turned and shot two rounds of their 'multishot' crossbows at The Rook. They were flabbergasted because it seemed like he predicted their combined assault, which ended in udder failure...
Kyle took advantage of their focus on The Rook and removed a glowing trident from his now empty inventory. He held the weapon firmly before, with a twisted and grim smile, he thrust it towards the sky causing his body to propel and twist, coming to a stop approximately two stories above the ground.
Greg and Leah felt imminent danger like never before and quickly spun around to see the now falling Kyle in the sky with a menacing look thrusting his trident in their direction. They didn't know what would happen, but they darted in opposite directions trying to escape the threat.
Leah, in her frantic escape, stepped in a small dip causing her to twist her ankle and stumble....*BOOM*.....a powerful streak of lightning hit her, killing the downed Crafter.
Kyle saw that his attack killed one of his targets and critically injured the other as Greg now lay face down trying to force himself to stand and fight. Kyle was not thinking of his decent as his boots were enchanted with feather falling, but he didn't predict the sudden betrayal of The Rook's Guild Leader.
As his toes touched the ground, an earthen spike the size of two humans attacked from directly below his feet, running him threw. He died skewed like meat, for everyone to see...
....
Greg was groaning and trying to stand, he has never felt so much pain. His ears were ringing and his body was shaking all over...' no, no, NO! Please, I can't go back...I can't leave Altissia. Why did I get so full of myself...I could've just built my guild and minded my own business, but I forced our people to participate against many of their wishes...I'm a f\/cking builder for God's sake, what was I thinking?!?"
Greg Watson started sobbing, he knew it was over. The only hope he had was that his idiot rival Kyle could beat The Rook. Although he hated him, they were both fellow MC divers and he recently lost Rango to those killers. His hopes were dashed, however, as he heard tired yet satisfied laughter coming closer to his prone body.
"Hehehehe.....HAHAHAHA! You're not that dancer b{tch but it will still feel good to win this thing. Try harder next time little one.....goodnight!"
A rock spike pierced Greg's head, ending his journey for now...
....
After it was all said and done, Timothy stood on the high terrace in his Rook Garb, shaking Raven Oscars' hand as the young man smiled and waved at the watchers.
"Dear Winner, would you like to make a speech? announce your name? or have me give your rewards publicly?"....Raven Asked for the crowd to hear, and the watchers went silent with a hopeful glint. Although many weren't satisfied with the result, they were still curious about the winner and winnings...
"No on all accounts..." to many people's chagrin, The Rook answered as expected and walked out of sight with Raven to upbeat music signaling the end of the games.
.....
"Congratulations Tim, you've surprised me. I hope you continue to do so...oh, and sorry about your partner Rachel..."
Timothy didn't seem at all bothered when Raven mentioned his ex-guild member's name as she was now a failure in his eyes. He quickly read over the list of possible rewards handed to him by Raven and finally, his finger stopped on one entry.
"If there is one thing I have learned in this tournament, it's that intelligence on abilities will be integral to surviving and flourishing. To that end, I want to perform a lottery draw and obtain a new ability from your next world..."
"Hmm, solid choice. Well, let's see here..." a seraph who was attending Raven brought out a huge bowl of folded papers and motioned for Timothy to draw one. The Rook drew out a sheet of paper and opened it only to see three possible choices...
"Make your choice Tim..."
After quite a while of pondering, he responded with his choice...
"Super Beast Imitating Drawing..."
---(End of Volume 1: "Pilot")---