Chereads / Wish Breaker: The Battlemage Academy / Chapter 5 - The Ring Closes

Chapter 5 - The Ring Closes

[100 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING]

[THE ARENA IS NOW SHRINKING]

[ONLY ONE MAY REMAIN]

Kaos turned himself in circles trying to find the nearest edge of the arena, until he finally spotted it in the opposite direction of the main tower, and it seemed to be slowly getting closer.

"So the big tower must be the center of the arena. The closer I get to that, the less chance I have of getting caught by the edge of the arena."

He began walking towards the central tower, making sure to stay close to any rocks or structures that could hide his presence. The arena slowly shrinking made him want to sprint towards the central tower, but he knew if he didn't preserve his energy and take it slow, then he was dead the next person he saw.

"Three hundred more points" he said under his breath, "that's all I need".

He had maintained a healthy distance from the edge of the edge of the arena, but he was still too out in the open. He had been creeping in between large sandstone boulders, but in order to get any closer to the central tower, he was going to have to cross about a hundred yards of desert without any cover.

Kaos looked back at the arena wall, and decided to wait for a little bit to make sure no other contestants were passing through. He looked up at the central tower

[88 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING]

There was still a long way to go if he was going to get any bonus points for placement. Fifty-five more people would have to be eliminated before he even saw a hundred bonus points. He began to get worried again, he needed to get more eliminations, at least two, then he could focus on hiding until he was thirty-third place.

Then he saw someone crossing the desert about fifty yards to his left, they definitely didn't see him. They weren't holding a weapon, but they had an air of confidence that made him hesitant to attack.

He had been hearing occasional noises of battle all around the arena for quite a while, but if someone was making a loud enough noise during a fight for him to hear it from a distance, he was better off avoiding them.

Then there came two people, one obviously was stalking the other, waiting for a chance to strike. This was his opportunity, if everything went well, he could snag an elimination right after they fought each other, if he got lucky, he could maybe even get both of them.

The first contestant was obviously not used to fighting and was oblivious to the second contestant's presence, as they both skirted the desert area, ducking between large boulders.

By this time, Kaos had made his way not far behind the second contestant, and was at a distance where he could join in the fight whenever it began. 

Then the second contestant made a mistake, and stepped on a loose rock, creating a quiet, but still audible noise.

The first contestant paused for a moment, then whipped around, flinging his right arm in the air, and emitting a bright flash of light from it.

Luckily, Kaos had ducked behind a boulder before this had happened, but the second student was watching quite intently and began to stumble about, momentarily blinded. The first student rushed the second one, brandishing a short sword similar to the one Kaos started with.

The second student hadn't fully gotten his bearings again, but he was able to parry the attacker's haphazard swing, using a scimitar that he looked confident using.

Despite the initial blinding, the second student was holding his own against the onslaught of swings from his attacker.

Kaos clenched his spear, ready to jump into the fray, but then paused, only one of the two had used their wish yet, and it would be a little unwise to jump in without having seen them both.

The first student jumped back and attempted to use the blinding flash again, but the second student looked away just before the flash, and began pressing the attack.

There had been enough waiting, Kaos knew that the second student had something up his sleeve, and was about to win the fight, so he charged at him from behind.

Kaos was a couple yards away when it happened, the second student deflected an attack, and at the exact same time, A scorpion–like tail burst from his back and extended in a flash, finding its mark on the first student's upper chest, turning him to sand.

Then Kaos's spear found its mark in the student's back. It wasn't a killing blow though, it did some damage, but the student had twisted at the last moment, only causing the spear to pierce a small portion of his lower back.

"That was a cheap shot!" The student yelled, spinning in a full circle, using both the scimitar and the tail to attack at once.

Kaos easily dodged the flailing scimitar, and used the center of the spear to deflect the whipping tail.

"Oh please!" Kaos grunted back, deflecting another attack of the scimitar, "you were trying to do the same thing to that other kid!"

The student didn't object, but instead swung slower, but with a lot more power. He was getting desperate. The wound was definitely having an effect. Kaos just needed to not get hit and the student would get even sloppier.

The scorpion tail made a flashing strike in an attempt to pierce his shoulder, but Kaos turned just enough to dodge it, and grabbed it with his left hand, yanking the student off balance.

As his opponent stumbled, Kaos stabbed forwards with his spear, driving a much more damaging wound into the student. This student was definitely someone who could do well in the Dek class, but lucky for Kaos, he was a first year student who obviously hadn't ever gotten any instruction in combat.

Another half-hearted strike came from the scorpion tail, but it didn't even make it all the way to Kaos before the tail, along with the rest of the student, turned into sand. The golden sand circled around his feet again, reading:

[+200 POINTS! CURRENT POINTS: 300]

Kaos laughed to himself and dropped to a sitting position. "A bounty of two hundred? If that's half his points, then he had gotten three other kills before that guy. So I guess he got his four hundred points to make it into the Dek class then!" Kaos gave an exhausted smile and looked at the scimitar laying on the sand.

"Good thing too… I would have felt awful about eliminating someone with that kind of potential"

Kaos leaned out from behind the boulder, and glanced at the central tower again.

[67 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING]

"Just have to stay alive till thirty three and I'll have my four hundred" Kaos whispered to himself. This had been working out all too well, apart from being completely exhausted after the fight. "Just a little more" he said to himself, looking out at the edge of the arena, which had grown too close for comfort.

He listened, and heard the loud sounds of battle, coming from every area of the arena.

Kaos waited around for a little while longer, but as the edge of the arena got closer, he realized he had used this hiding spot to its limit, once again looking back to the central tower.

[64 PARTICIPANTS REMAINING]

"Ugh… why is everyone staying alive for so long all of a sudden?" he groaned.

"I just need to hold out a little longer"