"Calm down, Rowin. It's not exactly what you think." Chris whispered to Rowin as soon as he noticed his reaction. Rowin tried to control his breathing after the sudden triggering of his fight or flight response.
"Why do you always say it like that?" The man in black who had been quietly standing aside asked. He stepped between the two teachers forcing them to step back before addressing the students of each group.
"Welcome, young Sleepers, to Murder Jungle. I am Captain Furn, the head of this training facility. You might be wondering why you were brought here instead of your usual facility but don't worry. This is a facility that is ranked higher than your old one. The training you receive here will make you much stronger than your previous one.
The way this works is that you will compete with the group you see before you. You will sharpen each other's abilities and skills till one group breaks. I was requested by both your teachers to let you find your own way by withholding information so this is all I can say. Follow me so we can begin." Captain Furn turned around and headed for a hallway. The two groups followed Captain Furn through the hallway but there was an obvious division between them.
They reached another large room with white walls and a carpeted floor. Rowin felt bad for standing on the carpet with shoes on but he didn't have a choice. Captain Furn then handed out devices that resembled crowns and had every student wear them. The devices contracted around the student's heads, fitting snugly.
"Now that you're all wearing the IR (Immersive Reality) crowns, I can explain the training. You will transported to a virtual map and your task is to hunt and kill members of the opposing group. There are no pain dampeners so any injury you receive in there will hurt. If you get killed, you will relive the moment of your demise until a winner is determined.
The maps generated are entirely random and will change after twenty four hours have passed. The winning team of the competition will get to implement a single change in the next challenge. The student with the most kills will get a revive for the next challenge. Now, good luck." Captain Furn said and the students simultaneously dropped on the fluffy carpet.
" Why did you bring a new student today? You knew the kind of hell that they were going to experience and you still brought someone new! What were you thinking?" Captain Furn yelled at Mr B. He knew that Mr B had a reputation of being irresponsible but this was beyond his wildest expectations.
" The principal ordered me to add him to my class so my hands were tied." Mr B answered nonchalantly.
" Cut the bullshit, your rank is higher than the principal. You don't have to listen to anything you're told so you brought him here despite his inexperience. You will take responsibility for the psychological damage he is about to receive." Captain Furn said, a vein popping up on his forehead.
" We are training them to be ruthless killers, a little insanity won't change much." Mr B said with a shrug as he walked away. He was disappointed by Captain Furn's hypocrisy. He pretended to care for these kids yet his job was to turn them into weapons. Mr B clicked his tongue in annoyance as he left the students behind.
**********
".... good luck." Those were the last words Rowin heard before the world turned dark. He opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. Rowin realized that he was in an empty apartment, lying on the couch. He left the apartment and immediately saw another student standing in the hallway. The student was coated in a green light that made Rowin's eyes itchy when he stared at it.
Rowin decided to strike first and pinned the student against the wall with his telekinesis. The student turned his head to see who had attacked him and he frowned. "What are you doing, new guy? We're on the same team."
Letting him go, Rowin answered apologetically, "Sorry about that, I didn't get the chance to meet everyone."
"Don't sweat it, I'm Liam by the way."
"I'm Rowin." Rowin said as he approached the young man who was losing the green radiance that covered him.
"We should team up and try to find the others, it would be safer that way." Liam said, " Plus, my ability isn't useful in combat so I was hoping to tag along with you."
Hearing that, Rowin had half a mind to ditch Liam but he decided to gain more information first. " What is your ability then?"
" Healing. What about you?"
" Telekinesis." Rowin answered casually but his mind was already making plans. 'I need to find a way to abandon him. He already lied about his ability so I can't trust him.'
As Rowin thought this, he coated himself in a thin layer of telekinesis to act like armour. It would hinder his movements and weaken his telekinetic attacks but it was worth it. He would rather live with the discomfort than give Liam a chance to backstab him.
There was a sudden booming sound from the left side of the hallway followed by loud laughter. A short girl with yellow hair could be seen standing there, flames flickering on her exposed arms. There was a charred hole in the wall behind her which explained the explosion.
"Finally, I can burn everything I want with no consequences. This is heaven!!! Hahaha!!!" The girl finally noticed them and smiled maniacally. " Liam! You know I'll feel really bad about this later."
The boys barely processed her words when a torrent of flames flooded the hallway. Liam pulled Rowin into an apartment to their left. Flames shot into the apartment but Rowin created a barrier just in time to protect them. The flames finally stopped but they could hear the girl approaching the apartment while laughing loudly.
"Who the fuck is that!?" Rowin screamed at Liam who was peeking out of the window. He didn't like how calm Liam was when they had nearly been burnt to a crisp.
"That psychopath is called Anna but everyone calls her The Pyromaniac. She is one of the students who joined the special training class because they were too dangerous for their own good." Liam answered hurriedly before adding, "Which means that we have to get out of here before she finds us."
"Leaving so soon?" The two boys flinched when they heard the voice behind them. They had been standing near the window and hadn't noticed Anna standing at the door. Flames had gathered on her open palm that was pointed towards them.
Rowin didn't have time to think, he set up a barrier between them then blasted the window open with his telekinesis. Strong winds blew into the hole made by Rowin due to how high they were. Liam was staring at the flames that seemed to have struck a thick pane of glass.
There was a boom behind Liam followed by the roaring of wind. Many things seemed to happen all at once after that. He was roughly yanked backwards while the flames broke past the barrier. The sudden sensation of falling disoriented him but he couldn't mind it. The flames managed to reach him and burn his face and torso.
Rowin grunted in pain when the flames burned his back after breaking the hastily erected barrier. He used his telekinesis to accelerate his fall before rapidly reducing his speed as he approached the ground. Liam was beside him, also wrapped in a layer of telekinesis. They had safely reached the ground but Rowin's back was badly burned.
Turning towards Liam, he could see a green radiance covering his face and torso. The radiance disappeared and Liam's skin was exposed. It looked healthy and unblemished, the only proof of his encounter with flames being his partially burnt uniform.
"Let me heal you." Liam said as he placed a glowing hand on Rowin's shoulder. The green radiance spread to Rowin's back and fresh burns were replaced by healthy skin. Rowin was about to thank Liam when they heard Anna's maniacal laughter above them. She had leapt out of the building and was shooting flames from the soles of her feet to maintain a rather unsteady flight.
A ball of flames shot out of her palm towards the two boys. Liam tried to pull Rowin out of the way but he didn't budge. He was angrily staring at the yellow haired girl who had tossed a second fireball towards them. The fireballs were pushed aside when they were about ten meters away. A palm sized rock flew into Rowin's hand while he hatefully glared at Anna.
"My telekinesis may not be able to reach you but I can still throw things at you." Liam heard Rowin mutter under his breath. Anna was gathering a bigger fireball between her palms when Rowin pointed the palm with the rock towards her.
Liam saw the rock vibrating above Rowin's palm before it vanished. A sonic boom was heard as the rock broke the sound barrier. Anna's body was blasted out of the sky and fell like a broken doll. An eerie red mist was left in the air where she had been levitating.