Ace watched as the teams from House Steel, Lightning, and Beast fought each other.
Hovering high above them was a large holographic screen.
-----------------------------
House Lightning
- 1 Premier Team
-10 Auxiliary Teams
House Steel
- 1 Premier Team
- 10 Auxiliary Teams
House Beast
- 1 Premier Team
- 9 Auxiliary Teams
House Mind
- 14 Auxiliary Teams
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He squinted his eyes at the teams in the center of the clearing. Some had fallen to the rain of tree trunk ballista fired earlier but there were still over a dozen teams left. Looking closely, he could see that Stellis had been right, none of the teams fighting looked to be from House mind. Marcus had been the only one wearing formal clothing. Everyone else wore armor, leather hunting gear, or a gi.
Seeing the crowd, Ace started to cobble together a better understanding of the situation.
'There is still a lot of people because they're grouping up to fight a premier team. With the terrain it would be easy to run away if necessary... Anyone else who wasn't able to do so was caught by Marcus and forced to fight for him. I just have to hnggg-'
Ace felt his shoulder throb, making him wince in pain. He had about half of his heart shell left and healing the injury in his shoulder would cost a sizeable amount of it. It was still too early in the tournament to heal.
'At least we took care of one of the other Grade 2s. Still, House Beast and Lightning are gonna be a problem if we don't find them soon...'
With two other top tier competitors, Ace was beginning to get a bad feeling. Where were all the other teams? If they had joined hands and amassed another small army, then no amount of planning would save House Steel.
While his negative thoughts persisted, Silas appeared at his side, barely a blur. He had a few cuts and bruises but otherwise he was okay. With a look of concern, he pointed at Ace's shoulder.
"I'm fine. What about the other's?"
Silas gave him a thumbs up while pointing into the fray.
"In there huh... How are you on energy? You've used a lot today."
In response, Silas flashed all ten fingers before holding up three.
"About 30 percent? Hmmm. Don't use anymore until we find the other premier teams. We'll have to fight without enhancement. Just like back in camp. Lets go!"
Having caught his breath, Ace dashed into the fray, following closely behind Silas.
Together with Silas, he stayed true to his roots and fought like a true Slumdog, taking advantage of every possible weakness.
It didn't matter if an enemy was looking at them or not, they attacked without remorse or hesitation. None of the blows were fatal, but broken legs and light flesh wounds were enough to force other contestants to resign. In spite of their ruthless approach, Ace and Silas continued to take damage, receiving an array of small cuts and bruises. Still, they pressed on.
In the fray, they managed to save some other teams from House Steel, forming a small circle of security. As the fighting continued, loud cannon blasts continued to reverberate through the air. At the same time, fallen competitors were carried away by the flying stone platforms.
Slowly but surely, the large brawl in the central clearing was coming to an end. Looking around, Ace was relieved to see that House Steel had taken control. With both him, Silas, and Stellis there, it would have been ridiculous for them to lose.
After knocking out yet another opponent, Ace heard a loud cannon blast, and then... silence. The clamor of steel clashing against steel and cries of fury had diminished, replaced only by the sound of people breathing heavily.
The fight was over.
Completely out of breath, he took a knee. Silas slumped down next to him.
While hunched over, Ace caught sight of two pairs of armored boots at the top of his periphery.
Bell's teasing voice rang out.
"Well well well, already out of gas team leader? Stellis is putting you to shame right now! At least Silas has an excuse, you made him do all the heavy lifting with the trees!"
Ace smiled while looking up.
"The plan worked didn't it? We took care of House Mind's premier team, and we even grouped up with some other guys from House Steel!"
Catching his breath, Silas jumped to his feet and gave a thumbs up.
Stellis stood silently, giving Ace a pouty stare.
"What?"
Instead of answering him, she turned her back and walked away.
'huh?'
Bell patted him on the shoulder, trying to hold in a laugh.
"She's a little mad that your plan involved making her a punching bag. I would work on that apology when you get the chance."
Ace raised his hands in shock.
"It was a good plan though?"
Bell only shook her head before joining Stellis. After she walked away, Ace felt a hand on his shoulder.
He looked over to see Silas also shaking his head at him.
"You too?"
Letting go of his shoulder, Silas joined the girls.
Deeply annoyed, Ace turned his attention to the other House Steel teams that had managed to survive the battle. There were three of them, grouped up in a large huddle, listening to someone talk.
He stepped closer to get a better look.
The person speaking was someone he recognized, the spearman he had fought in his 8th battle during Knight Indoctrination. His voice came through loud and clear, full of both confidence and a steady calmness.
Before Ace could actually make out what he was saying, the group of 12 rose to their feet, prepping their gear and weapons.
The spearman approached him.
"I can't see your face but you're Ace right? I'm Aaron! I know you're the Premier Team's leader so I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to take the others up there."
He pointed to the small mountain that towered over the central clearing.
"We're going to get a vantage point and try to take out as many auxiliary teams as possible, maybe even meet up with some House Steel teams. What do you think?"
"Hmm." Ace nodded his head. "Sure. Just be careful... There are still two other premier teams running around. If you encounter them, run away and come back here."
Aaron nodded his head.
Shortly after, him and the others took off towards the tree line.
Before they could enter the clearing however, 14 canon blasts went off in quick succession. The announcer's frenzied voice followed soon after.
"And just like that folks! House Mind is finished, taken out by none other than House Lightning's premier team! The Son of Lightning is in great form today! Here's the battle report!"
Ace peered up at the floating blue screen.
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House Lightning
- 1 Premier Team
- 6 Auxiliary Teams
House Steel
- 1 Premier Team
- 7 Auxiliary Teams
House Beast
- 1 Premier Team
- 6 Auxiliary Teams
-----------------------------
'They took out 14 teams?! Just how strong is the Son of Lightning?! This is ridiculous! At least we're doing the best numbers wise. Still, maybe I should have asked Aaron to stick around...'
Lost in thought, he considered the situation for a few minutes before his team joined him.
"What's next?" Bell asked.
Ace waited a brief moment before replying.
"We wait here, and rest..." he said. "We've all used a great deal of energy, so it's time we rely on the Auxiliary teams for a bit."
As if to support his words, a few minutes later, 9 cannon blasts echoed out.
The announcers voice followed.
"Well folks, the last of House Lightning's auxiliary teams have fallen! Done in by House Steel! They lost three more auxiliary teams but it was a great trade! All that remains of House Lightning is two members of their premier team! Oh and what's this?! House Steel's auxiliary teams have teamed up with House Beast! Will they end the Son of Lightning's winning steak? I guess we'll see!"
After the announcement, Ace, Stellis, Bell, and Silas all looked at each other, shocked. Slowly but surely, a smile began to creep onto everyone's lips.
"This is great!" Stellis said while pumping her fist. "Marsha is the Lawless of House Beast. She's as strong as me, but if the Son of Lightning is tired... she can definitely w-!"
Stellis was cut off as the ground started shaking. Each second, the vibrations grew more vigorous. Before long, the group could see why.
Tumbling down from the mountain were dozens of large boulders with each of them being the size of a building.
The house sized boulders rolled at an impressive speed, easily flattening any trees and shrubbery in their way.
As Ace retreated with his team, he looked over his shoulder to see dozens of stone platforms swoop in between the rocks to retrieve a contestant. More canon blasts went off as the fighters were carried away. Turning his attention back to his attention, Ace could see that his teammates were unable to retreat back into the forest. He watched as Silas swung his sword, only for it to be stopped by a see-through wall of blue hexagons.
'What?'
Realization dawned on Ace too late. How could he have forgotten?
"It's the barrier!" He shouted. "Look out for the rocks!"
Heart thumping with adrenaline, Ace turned around only to see that the boulders had already tumbled into the clearing, moving incredibly fast. Unable to worry about anyone but himself, Ace rolled out of the way as a massive boulder tumbled past him. A few seconds later he could hear it smash into the barrier.
Still, he wasn't in the clear.. As the landslide had progressed it only grew in size, dragging along smaller rocks and even some trees. Their presence only made it more difficult for Ace to remain unscathed. Digging into his heart shell, he poured all of his energy into evasion, jumping over, ducking under, and punching through any obstacles that came his way. After a few perilous seconds the onslaught was finally over.
In the landslide's wake, it had completely destroyed the terrain of the clearing and had thrown large clouds of dirt into the air.
Peering through the dirt and debris thrown up by the giant boulders, Ace saw the battle report flicker and change.
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House Lightning
- 1 Premier Team
House Steel
- 1 Premier Team
House Beast
- 1 Premier Team
-----------------------------
'But how?! There were ten teams left!'
Struggling to wrap his head around what exactly had happened, he was dragged out of his stupor by a large vibration running through the ground. The shaking was tremendous, even worse than the tremors caused by the landslide.
When they stopped, he could hear the sound of a clash from within the depths of the dirt cloud. Momentarily frozen, he was unsure of what to do until Stellis ran past him, grabbing his arm and pulling him along.
"Marsha must be fighting the Son of Lightning, we should help her while we have the chance! Come on! Hurry!"
Together, they tore through the field of debris with each step only bringing them closer to the sound of the clash. After passing yet another boulder they finally caught sight of the battle.
On top of a tall piece of flat rock, two figures were fighting. One was wearing a black gi and a mask while the other looked to be a cross between wolf and human. The wolfen individual fought with animal instincts, using her mouth, claws and even tail as a weapon. The figure in the black gi wielded iron gauntlets, clearly doing their best to mount a defense against the monstrous assault. As the two traded blows, the ground beneath them shook. It looked like the figure in the black gi was losing ground slowly... but surely.
Wasting no time, Stellis jumped into the air.
"Marsha is the wolf creature! She almost has hi-"
Before she could finish however, a second figure appeared behind Marsha, clad in bone-colored gi.