"How!?" shouted Malcolm.
"Her bleeding is rapidly decreasing," said Gordon. "Alisa Matar looks different. Her eyes are red and unlike before she looks completely calm. Bear in mind we don't know anything about this person to shrug her off" said Miya pleased.
Lisa looked into the pit and wondered "How much pain would someone feel if they fell in there. "Must be painful". The Reaper pulled out his gun and aimed at Alisa. "This time for sure you're going to die," he said.
Lisa looked around her and saw nothing but trees. "This is literally the worst environment to be in if you want to kill me. Call me Lisa by the way" she stated.
The Reaper took three steps towards Lisa with the gun in hand. He expected her to start shivering and run away like last time. He went out of his way to inflict a huge amount of fear on Lisa. Enough for her to be paralyzed. When he stood in front of Lisa face to face he noticed something different. "Something feels off. She gives no sign of fear. This is the first"
POW!
The Reaper shot Lisa in the head but the bullet surprisingly bounced back. The Reaper watched as the bullet fell on the ground and began questioning his whole life's worth. "Eh? That should have killed her" The Reaper said.
"Fool! Take a good look at me" said Alisa harshly. She swiftly snatched the gun away from the Reaper.
CRAAASH!!
She broke the gun in two with just brute force alone. Her body build changed slightly with her having more muscle and her chest stopped bleeding. Alisa inhaled deeply and tensed her entire body as hard as she could. The bullet inside Alisa's chest was pushed out. It fell on the ground startling everyone. The Reaper and the Golden Circle spectating were terrified by the sight. Alisa still felt a lot of pain in her chest so she slowly walked up to the Reaper. "YOU BITCH!" He shouted confused. Alisa stepped on his shadow and after that, he couldn't move a muscle. The Reaper's heart accelerated from the fear he feels from being unable to move. Minutes ago Alisa was running for her life. The Reaper could never have predicted this change of events. Alisa pushed him on the ground and rested her right foot on his head.
"When I touch someone's shadow I can paralyze them. That's how you paralyze someone, fear is not guaranteed. This gift can't be used by my partner. It's exclusive only to me" she said. Alisa stomped her right foot on the man's skull. Each time she swung her foot down on Reaper's face his mask cracked. She didn't let up on the stomping until the mask was in pieces and beyond compare. The Reaper's face was revealed for all to see. His face made Alisa question if he's human or not. "You're disgusting. How can such an ugly face have such a beautiful voice" Alisa said loudly in her head.
"I accidentally ruined your face with my stomps. Not sorry though" she said. Lisa jumped off of The Reaper's shadow and said "You had your fun. It's weird how they didn't announce that you passed this round when I was unconscious. HEY, DRONE COME OVER HERE!" A drone quickly flew towards her and announced "THE WINNER HASN'T BEEN DECIDED YET. BOTH OF YOU ARE STILL CAPABLE OF FIGHTING!"
"This must be your gift. You hid it up till now to give me a false sense of victory" The Reaper said furiously. Lisa turned her face away from him and glared at the drone. "That's too bad!" she sighed. The Reaper tried standing up but Lisa wouldn't let him. She held his left foot then dragged him harshly on the floor. Reaper realized that she was heading towards the pit and began panicking. "Wait No! Please let's not go there! I'm begging you please don't drag me in that pit" he begged. Alisa threw him inside the pit without a second thought. She turned around once she heard Reaper's landing. "That man would have won if he wasn't up against me. The only person I am afraid of is my creator" said Alisa strongly.
The confident expression on Alisa's face made Malcolm happy. "This is the first time someone overcame his fear. Mhmm that was a pleasant surprise" said Malcolm.
"Shut up Malcolm. I'm glad we didn't rush to give him a passing grade. If we did we wouldn't have known the potential of Alisa. She just broke a gun in two" said Gordon. Miya bit her thumb upsettingly. She was hoping that Alisa would be knocked out in the first round. "That's not the same Alisa. Could it be split personality disorder? Or is it deeper than that" wondered Miya. Alisa sat under a tree and waited to see if The Reaper could climb out of the hole he dug himself in.
"If you come out Mr. Reaper then I am going to kill you. Your clothes may look clean on the outside. Your briefcase and mask look stylish too but the faint blood stench won't go away. You've killed more than you've saved" Lisa said casually. A pigeon flew out of the hole and landed on a tree branch. "Hmm, feels like it's been ages since I've seen a pigeon. How nice" Lisa thought. Seeing a pigeon in the middle of nowhere reminded Lisa of what Ronald said before the first round began.
"Apsychos Island has no living organisms other than trees and The Last Dragon on earth. Not even fishes are near this island despite it being surrounded by water. Don't ever forget that" said Ronald.
"The Heck!"
Alisa looked into the pit and didn't see The Reaper. She quickly turned her attention to the pigeon above her. "No way! He turned into a Pigeon" she shouted in her head. She climbed the tree in hope of catching the bird. When she reached high enough the pigeon flew even higher. "Hehehehehe, I thought you would look surprised or something but you're taking this quite well. A little expression on that face would be nice" said the pigeon.
"What now? You turned into a bird but what does it accomplish for you" said Alisa. Suddenly the small pigeon grew larger and larger with his skin changing drastically. The Pigeon transformed into a bear. Brown furry skin, black eyes, large teeth, and 8 feet tall. He fell harshly on the ground but he suffered little damage. "SORRY GIRLY! YOU FORCED ME TO USE THIS GIFT. I HATE THE SHIT OUT OF IT!" Reaper shouted. "This is getting ridiculous," said Alisa annoyed.
"First you beat up my partner and even cut our hair with some half-assed ability. Next, you got your ass whooped by yours truly and lastly you feel like revealing some useless gift that's not going to save you in any way. A bear, really dude" she said walking towards Reaper. The Reaper swung both his claws at Alisa. Alisa made no attempt to block or dodge the bear's strike. The second Reaper's claws touched Alisa's forehead he froze in place. He couldn't move even if he wanted to. Alisa sighed and shook her head in disappointment. "You've already forgotten about the time I paralyzed you eh"
BOOOM!!
Alisa punched The Reaper in his chest as hard as she could. Reaper fell on the ground not moving a muscle. His eyes were wide open but there wasn't any life in them. Lisa's punch made Reaper's heart stop beating because of the impact. She clapped her hands at stared at the drone closest to her. "When I fight. Lives are lost. Hope you are fine with that" said Alisa. The drone announced "ALISA MATAR, YOU HAVE PASSED THE FIRST ROUND. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN THE FUTURE!"
Everyone in the Golden Circle watched when Alisa punched the bear. As the youngest participant and being a girl no less everyone expected her to be eliminated. She changed everyone's view with just one punch. It was a sign to everyone that she held back and that she still had more to offer. Herriot and Sue in the hospital noted that "Her eyes changed back to blue the moment her victory was announced. What do you think about that dad?"
Alisa was now in possession of her body. She quickly picked up the Reaper and saved his life. After escaping death herself Alisa learned how to delay death by an hour or two. She absorbed life energy from all the trees around her then forced it inside of The Reaper's body. It may not have healed him physically but it made the soul remain inside the body. While transferring life energy she noticed that the evil spirit was no longer present. The Reaper's heart started beating again soon after Alisa finished her treatment. She rested her forehead on top of The Reaper's and cried. "I am so happy for you Lorain. You can finally be yourself again. No more troubles".
Alisa heard a voice inside her head. "Thank you as well, words cannot express my gratitude. That killer is finally gone at long last. You gave me a chance to turn things around. How can I make it up to you?"
"By living your best life of course. We were destined to meet today. Plus it wouldn't hurt to be friends too. I don't have anyone who's considered a friend. You'd be my first" replied, Alisa.
"It is done then"
Everyone in the private room tried speculating about Alisa's gift. "She had super strength when her eyes turn red. Plus I saw her freeze The Reaper in his tracks. She is also healing a dead person. This girl is in danger. Why didn't Ronald erase the memory of her gift if it was so dangerous" said Harriot wondered to himself...
Gordon asked King Almon what he thought of the Reaper. "His gift was terrifying at the beginning but as the fight goes on he wasn't much. There are those who don't fear him even with his gift to inflict fear. That's super lame. He had a gun. Alisa should be dead by now. I have seen a handful of gifts in my life and I have to say. Alisa's own is the most intriguing. She is most likely one of the X I've been searching for" said the King. Gordon was surprised by the amount Almon had to say.
"X? What are you talking about?" asked Gordon.
"Nothing, forget I said that" the king replied.
Ronald heard the news of her daughter making it to the second round. "I should rearrange her memories to be safe" he said. When the sun finally set 14 participants passed the first round while the rest are either dead or getting ready to go home. The number of Golden Circle members drastically decreased. Only fourteen remained on the island when the day was over. King Almon gathered everyone and announced the order of who passed the first round.
"The first person to pass this round is my personal guard Isaac. As expected of him he flawlessly completed his task within four hours. The next person is a monk called Oden Alli. The third is a youngster who's been hired by my daughter named Cj Coley" said the king. Fei was seventh to finish while Alisa was thirteenth. When the King finished the order he stated "This order will be used to group you up next round. It will be Odd vs. Even. I'll explain the rules for the next round at a later date. Right now I expect you fourteen to use the three weeks of resting to good use"