"Get your battle pass and tickets to watch the freshers' duels here" Mr. Guab, a sales rep in the university's marketplace shouted, attracting elite students.
The battle passes were for those who would be entering the battle lab for their duels, while those getting tickets were those who wanted to watch the duel from the battle lab's Arena.
Usually, students buy tickets and go to the Arena to watch the duels, so they can learn new battle techniques also, analyze the warrior's strength and trump card in case they have to face off with any of the warriors in the future.
Today's duels were scheduled to start by 10:00 am. Ten duels were scheduled for today, including Dan and Mike's duel.
Dan got his battle pass and headed to the battle lab before the duels started.
As Dan approached the battle lab, he saw lots of students outside waiting for the duels to start. Usually, the battle lab will broadcast the battle on their huge screen outside for those who are unable to get battle tickets to watch the duels from the Arena.
Walking into the battle lab for the first time, Dan was captivated by the intricacy and advanced technology of the building. The steel walls of the battle lab reflected the warriors passing through.
As Dan walked through the passages of the battle lab in search of the Arena where he would wait till it was time for his duels, a machine voice echoed in the room where he was.
"Welcome Jack Daniel, please show your battle pass or battle ticket so I can transport you to the Arena"
At first, Dan wasn't certain of how he was to show the invisible machine his battle pass, after standing still for a while pondering, he decided to just bring it out and waved the battle pass. Immediately, Dan disappeared into thin air.
ahwoof!!
In less than a second, Dan appeared at the arena, and saw his friends Malakai and Aiden already seated and waiting for the duels to start, he ran towards them and took the empty seat that was there.
10 minutes later, the machine voice echoed in the arena again.
"The Duels start in 5 minutes, Malakai Bukai and Jehoshaphat Newland get ready."
"Bro you're starting," Aiden said excitedly
"yo bro, I think you should move to the battleground now," Dan said as he pointed at the transparent battleground in the middle of the arena. The battleground was made of powerful glass, that could withstand even blows from an advanced-level warrior, so there have never been a record of the glass breaking or energies leaving the battleground, making the arena a safe place to get a first-hand view of the duels.
Malakai stepped forward smiling and waved the students there to watch the match - one of those royal waves in Euphoria. Dan and Aiden, knowing what he did, chuckled as they watched him enter the battleground.
As Malakai and Jehoshaphat entered the battleground, a machine voice echoed in the arena, and a large holograph displaying their opponent's details appeared for everyone to see. The screen outside also changed to the details of the elite students about to battle.
Name: Malakai Bukai
Energy Core level: 25
Rank: Beginner-level 2 warrior
Special ability: None
Innate abilities: Telepathy and Hypnosis
Department: Symphony
…
Name: Jehoshaphat Newland
Energy Core level: 20
Rank: Beginner-level 2 warrior
Special ability: None
Innate abilities: Telekinesis
Department: Controller
Both opponents lacked special abilities and were beginner-level 2 warriors. When their details appeared on the holograph, everyone nodded in agreement that it was a fair combo, although they knew that Malakai, an Ultra Elite student, would most certainly have the upper hand in battle, due to his high energy core level.
Every warrior had innate abilities that they could unlock through their training, depending on their departments and energy core levels. For the Symphonist, the highest number of innate abilities that they could unlock was two, which are Telepathy and Hypnosis. Most of the newly admitted Symphonists have already mastered the art of telepathy, as it was the simplest skill they could learn at their level, but very few have started comprehending the power of hypnosis, Instructor Eldora after the class on Telepathy, had started training the students on how to hypnotize their opponents through connecting the right melodies to form a song so they could buy themselves some time to end their opponents effortlessly.
Nevertheless both warriors were specialized in long-distance combat, which meant they avoided close combat. This heightened anticipation about the match's outcome.
Ding
"Battle starts in sixty seconds" The machine reverberated in the Arena. "Please note that you have just two minutes to end your opponent, or the both of you will be kicked out of the battleground."
Immediately the machine went quiet, the battleground started transforming, and the freshmen watching the match from the Arena opened their mouths in disbelief, Jehoshaphat and Malakai who were already in the battleground struggled to maintain balance, the change continued for about thirty seconds before it finally stopped.
What was previously an empty glass-enclosed space now resembled a wilderness, complete with towering trees and abandoned structures. The simulated battleground gave off an airy feeling making Malakai and Jehoshaphat have goosebumps. They were startled by the sudden transformation of the battleground.
About ten seconds later, they could hear the sounds of beasts far away which sent cold shivers down their spine. Both of them gritted their teeth, and grabbed the leaves of trees closest to them. If the leaves weren't as strong as a rock, they could have pulled off with a sudden and terrified grip on them.
The Machine reverberated inside the battleground, depriving those in the arena of hearing it next words. "The more time wasted in the battleground, the closer the beasts get to you," It said and continued "The beasts are simulated, but a bite from the beasts transports you out of the battleground immediately, automatically making you the loser. Within the time of your battle, the battleground will be contracting, drawing the beasts closer to you. Meaning you would have to defend against the beasts, and at the same time try to defeat your actual opponent." Immediately after the machine finished speaking, the battleground started contracting signifying that their battle time had started.
Jehoshaphat quickly started throwing stones at Malakai using his telekinetic energies, giving Malakai no opportunity to attack. Sixty seconds into the battle Jehoshaphat was still suppressing Malakai with flying objects. At this point, Malakai was already exhausted from dodging the objects being thrown at him. Seeing that Malakai was weak, Jehoshaphat decided to use the opportunity to end the match before the Beasts got to them. He concentrated his energy on a heavy rock nearby, using about 60% of his energy to lift the stone and land it on Malakai.
Seeing what Jehoshaphat was about to do to weak Malakai, the students outside gasped in fear of him.
Malakai looked at the rock coming towards him, and death flashed through his eyes, his heart began to beat very fast. He knew he would definitely die if the rock should land on him. He thought of running deep into the wilderness and getting bitten by a beast so he would be transported out of the battleground, away from this maniac, but before he could even stand, the rock was already very close to him. As he saw the rock approaching him in full force, he screamed, sending the rock back to the opponent who was immediately transported out of the battleground.
"Congratulations Malakai for completing the duels and unlocking your first special ability, Waveguard."
Woohoo
The hall erupted with excited shouts, the elite students couldn't help but continue clapping their hands in joy and celebration as the Machine announced Malakai as the winner and also him getting a special ability.
Malakai just let out a heavy sigh as he smiled inside the battleground seeing how it returned to its original form, and seeing his friends cheering for him outside the battleground, he waved at them and blushed as he stood from the ground. After thirty seconds, the machine transported him out of the battleground.
"Yo bro, congrats," Dan said as he hugged Malakai tightly, Aiden quickly joined in as the three of them celebrated Malakai's victory.
"So what exactly does your special ability do" Aiden asked curiously
"Uhmm, it's called Waveguard, and it utilizes sound waves for defense. It forms a protective barrier with sound waves preventing any object from passing it" Malakai explained.
"How come the rock attacked Jehoshaphat instead?"
"Oh, that, well, Jehoshaphat's rock was coming in full force, so the moment the barrier was formed, it reversed the motion of the rock making it hit Jehoshaphat" Malakai sighed
Dan couldn't help but speak immediately when he saw that Malakai became sad. "Hey bro, you don't need to pity him, that guy was relentless. He was even lucky he didn't die."
"What!?" Malakai's eyes widened, "He didn't?"
"Yeah, he was transported out the moment the rock hit him. It seems like the rock was a simulation for death," Dan said.
"Definitely! That rock was going to kill anyone it landed on. Well, thank God it was just a simulated death rock." Malakai said as he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Next students to battle are, Jack Daniel and Mike Lawrence, please proceed to the battleground" The machine voice resounded again.