Their voices were coming from behind a rock and they were muffled but still understandable.
"We can't just keep hiding! We need to eliminate others if we want a chance at a higher ranking!"
"And get ourselves killed in the process? No thanks! Let's wait until there are fewer people left!"
They seemed like a girl and a boy duo.
Perfect.
I silently climbed up a tree nearby, positioned myself to see them and got ready.
In one hand I had my dagger ready to throw and in the other I had my bow, my plan was simple.
Hit the guy in the head with the dagger than shoot the girl once again in the head.
But just as I was about to attack, I realized they were the Janet twins. Laura Janet and Rufus Janet.
They both had red hair mixed with a touch of black like molten lava, their family signature hair.
Laura had nothing on her hands while Rufus had a rusty sword.
I didn't like how they were sis and bro-cons anyway so there was no need to hesitate.
I threw the dagger towards Rufus but I realized it was not going to hit.
If it didn't hit then all the plans I had would be gone for good and I would lose here.
No, I couldn't let that happen.
I felt the mana within my hands and tried something I hadn't done yet.
Controlling a projectile without the help of a skill, by purely relying on mana.
"Grh"
A sweat crept upon my face slowly reaching towards my eye.
I managed to shift the path of the dagger but it pierced through his cheek, dealing critical damage and giving him the bledding status although not killing him.
"ARRRGH-"
Rufus let out a bloodcurling scream.
"Brother!"
As they tried to understand where the dagger came from I took out an arrow and shot it towards them this time aiming for Laura.
She swiftly dodged it but still the arrow grazed her shoulder, injuring her and giving her the bleeding status as well.
She bit her lips to not let out her voice.
"Brother come with me" she screamed out.
They tried to get behind a rock to not get shot but Rufus was considerably slower than Laura due to his HP being lower than her.
I didn't miss this chance and sent a arrow towards Rufus and...
Participant eliminated.
I jumped down and rushed towards while sending stray arrows to keep Laura away from her brothers corpse.
Rufus disintegrated into pixels.
I picked up the rusty sword and dagger, put the dagger in my backpack and rushed towards Laura who started running.
"Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT" Laura started shouting.
Laura's shouts echoed in the air and there were definitely more people who heard that shout so I went the opposite way into the forest, letting her live for now.
I looked at the timer on the corner of my vision and it read 01:14. And my HP read 66/100.
I crouched near a tree and scanned my surroundings, it seemed most people were dead and the remaining were being cautious.
As I looked around I spotted something with a faint glow. It was a wooden chest or rather a loot chest.
It felt too convenient at this point and it was most likely a trap but still the greed within me wouldn't budge to let me not get it.
I spread my mana around to sense if anybody was around and I didn't sense anybody.
Kneeling beside the chest, I examined it for traps. Carefully, I pried it open with the tip of my dagger.
And... surprisingly, it was not a trap.
Inside was a small glass of red liquid
'This is most likely a health potion'
Or was that what they wanted us to think? I couldn't be sure but I wanted to try so I drank it.
Suddenly, I felt as if my heart was being crushed.
-40 HP. Next time, don't drink anything that you aren't sure about.
A robotic voice said.
00:27 Seconds left. 24/100 HP left.
Just as I was thinking it couldn't get any worse I heard a rustling from the bushes.
I gripped the rusty sword and turned around.
A boy stepped out of the bushes, his weapon a seemingly better sword than mine.
"Hmm, don't show that expression as if you're about to die."
I didn't answer, keeping my stance low and defensive.
He smiled.
"Relax. I don't plan to kill you. For now, at least. I want to have a little spar in the time we have left."
00:19
"Fine." I said before lunging at this battle junkie, surprising him.
Clang
He parried my sword, than swung his own in retaliation.
I barely sidestepped but the sword still grazed my side, lowering my already low HP
00:10 Seconds left and 16/100 HP left.
I tried to focus my mana in my leg and at first it was working, I gained a little speed boost so I tried to find a gap in the opening but...
Bam
My legs blew up
1/100 HP left.
The guy stood over me.
"Good match."
Right when I thought I was about to die a voice went off in my head.
Trial Over. Remaining Participants: 102 Eliminated Participants: 198
I went back to the half asleep like state and after a while I heard the capsule door opening which made me regain my senses.
Around me, others were emerging from their capsules. Some looked triumphant, others exhausted.
The male instructors voice called out,
"Congrats to everyone who survived, the first test of the Ranking exams is over."
I breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over, at least for now.
"Now, those who won shall come and get an O shaped card and those who lost come and get a X shaped card."
"Tomorrow, after every class ends their test. We will continue with the second test. The O's and X's will have a tournament within themselves and our AI will objectively rate each participant to decide their ranks."
"If you have no questions, you may leave after getting your card."