The next day arrived, and the long-anticipated Royale was finally here. The tension in the air was palpable as Sam, Tushar, and Eislyn stood in the elevator, ready to descend into the field. The faint hum of the elevator mixed with the sound of their steady breathing.
Eislyn adjusted her gloves, glancing at the two. "So, what's the plan?"
"Same as last time," Sam said, rolling his shoulders. "Eislyn, you focus on guarding and protecting us. Tushar, use your blood manipulation for distractions and crowd control. I’ll handle direct combat."
Eislyn tilted her head. "Where’s Lexine? Isn’t she joining us?"
A voice crackled through their comms. "Up here in the proxy room," Lexine said, her tone confident.
Eislyn looked up instinctively, even though Lexine was far from their sight. From her vantage point, Lexine sat in a sleek, glass-encased room overlooking the entire battlefield. Another proxy was stationed nearby, monitoring their team’s actions. With a snap of her fingers, holographic monitors materialized around her, and she quickly rearranged them with swift gestures.
"I’ve got eyes on everything," Lexine continued. "Remember, I’m guiding you, so don’t screw up. Everyone, let’s win this!"
The elevator jolted slightly as it started ascending. Sam began stretching his arms and legs, shaking out any tension. Tushar leaned against the elevator wall, putting on his signature sunglasses, his face cool and unreadable.
Eislyn paced a little, fidgeting with her gloves. "Okay," she muttered to herself, "when we step out, I’ve got to act cool. Thousands of students are watching. Just... don’t trip. Don’t trip, Eislyn."
The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open, revealing a dense forest bathed in golden sunlight. Birds chirped, and the rustling of leaves painted an almost serene picture—a stark contrast to the chaos that was about to unfold.
Eislyn took a deep breath, bracing herself. But as she stepped out of the elevator, her boot caught on the small gap between the floor and the elevator frame.
Thud!
She went down flat on her face, her body sprawled on the forest floor.
The sound of her fall made Sam and Tushar stop dead in their tracks. They turned slowly, exchanging a glance as the realization hit them.
"She tripped…" they both thought in unison, barely holding back their amusement.
Back in the proxy room, Lexine nearly fell out of her chair, desperately trying to contain her laughter. Her face turned bright red as she clapped a hand over her mouth. Tears welled in her eyes as the other proxy next to her raised an eyebrow, curious but staying professional.
Meanwhile, in the forest, a low murmur of laughter echoed around the field as the other participating students caught sight of the scene on the giant holographic screens.
Eislyn groaned, her face still planted on the ground. Slowly, she pushed herself up, her cheeks flushing crimson. "Why does this always happen to me?" she muttered under her breath, brushing dirt off her gloves.
Sam, trying to keep a straight face, walked over and offered her a hand. "You okay?" he asked, his tone betraying the slightest hint of humor.
"Fine," Eislyn said, her voice stiff with embarrassment. She refused to meet his eyes as she stood up, avoiding the gaze of the cameras hidden in the trees.
Tushar chuckled, adjusting his sunglasses. "Well, at least you’ve got their attention now."
Lexine’s voice chimed in through the comms, her laughter still evident. "Eislyn, if this were a comedy contest, you’d already have first place."
"Shut up, Lexine," Eislyn snapped, glaring up at the sky as if Lexine could see her.
Sam turned serious, trying to steer the team back on track. "Alright, enough messing around. Let’s focus. Eislyn, you’ve got a job to do."
Eislyn exhaled sharply, shaking off the embarrassment. "Right. Let’s do this."
The three of them regrouped, their focus returning to the task at hand. The forest loomed around them, shadows stretching and sounds echoing through the dense underbrush. Somewhere out there, their opponents were waiting.
As they moved deeper into the forest, Lexine’s voice came back through the comms, now calm and commanding. "Stay sharp. I’ve got three enemy signals moving west of your position. "Lexine said.
The three of them nodded in unison and took off running, their movements swift and coordinated. Sam leaped up into the trees, darting between branches with agility, keeping a higher vantage point.
"Sam, on your left—a sniper in the trees," Lexine’s voice crackled through the comms.
Sam immediately shifted his weight and dodged just as a plasma bolt whizzed past him, singeing a nearby branch. He twisted his body mid-air, his sharp eyes catching sight of the sniper concealed in the canopy.
“Blood Freak, Type One: Angel’s Blood,” Tushar thought to himself, his hand extending as crimson tendrils of blood shot forth, precise and controlled. The blood surged through the air like a whip, aimed directly at the sniper.
But before it could land a clean hit, the sniper vanished into thin air.
“He got away!” Eislyn exclaimed, frustration evident in her voice.
"He disappeared into a portal," Lexine confirmed, her holographic monitors flickering as she analyzed the field.
Suddenly, a piercing laser beam sliced through the air, narrowly missing them. The three of them dove for cover behind trees, the searing heat of the beam leaving a faint scorch mark on the bark.
“Did anyone see where that shot came from?” Sam asked, scanning the dense foliage.
“Nope, not at all,” Tushar admitted, his hands readying another attack.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Same here,” Eislyn added, glancing around nervously.
Sam furrowed his brow, piecing things together in his mind. His thoughts churned as he tried to locate their elusive opponent.
Then, a faint, almost imperceptible shift in the air behind him caught his attention. Sam instinctively rolled to the side just as another plasma bolt seared through the spot he had been standing. Now fully exposed, he muttered under his breath, "Damn it. I can sense him, but I can’t pinpoint his exact location. Looks like I’ll have to take a different approach."
Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath, focusing inward. He contracted his flux energy, forming a tightly controlled two-meter radius around his body. He knew expanding it further would alert the entire battlefield to his presence, so precision was critical. This flux field would allow him to sense any disturbance within its range.
The moment the sniper fired again, the plasma bolt entered Sam’s flux field. His body reacted instantly, dodging with near-superhuman reflexes.
"Tushar, five clicks right!" Sam shouted, his voice sharp and decisive.
“Blood Freak: Blood Sickle,” Tushar thought, his hand morphing into a curved blade of crimson energy. He hurled it through the trees with pinpoint accuracy. The sickle spun through the air like a deadly boomerang, slicing toward the sniper.
A direct hit.
Or so it seemed.
“That’s odd…” Tushar muttered, his brow furrowing.
“What’s odd?” Eislyn asked, stepping closer to him.
“As soon as the sickle hit the target, the body just... disappeared. I felt it connect, but it wasn’t flesh.”
“It wasn’t,” Lexine interjected from the proxy room, her voice tinged with urgency. "It was ink."
“Ink?” Eislyn repeated, confused.
“Adwin…” Sam thought grimly, his jaw tightening.
Lexine’s voice broke the silence. "He’s playing mind games. You’re dealing with one of Adwin’s constructs. It’s not real."
Sam clenched his fists. "We’re wasting time here. We need to move."
The three regrouped quickly, their senses on high alert as they pushed forward through the forest. Sam led the way, his mind racing.
Adwin’s already trying to throw us off balance. If this is just the beginning, we’ll need to stay sharp. The real fight hasn’t even started yet.
As the three of them ran to a open field. They stop about to enter the field. And tushar grab eislyn arm to stop her running into the fields. “Why did you stop me?” she asked.
“Its trap,” sam said.
“Trap,” tushar said.
“It’s such a trap,” Lexine said.
“ how can you say that an open field is a trap… yeah I here it now,” she said.
“Eislyn throw a tree into the field,” Lexine said. Eilsyn uses her gravity powers and throws it into the field fastly almost like a blur. A guns appear and shot the feild.
“I thought we couldint kill each other,” eislyn said.
“Dont worry its prism bullets it only knock you out if you get hit by them or put in the hospital,” lexine said.
“So its safe to go across now?” eislyn asked. Tushar then pushed eislyn in their. And then she started scream. Covering her body. And nothing happen she immediately got up. “Are you crazy were on the same team!” she yelled.
“We had to test it,” lexine said.
“Shut up,” she yelled back. Then in proxy room lexine see something in the radar. “Something approaching you guys quickly,” lexine said.\
“What is i..” she cutt off byt a fast ink like monster punching her in the face and sent her flying. Tushar and sam watched. “She cant catch break huh?” sam said.
“Never in a dull moment ready?” Tushar said.
“Yeah,” sam said. In a spilt second they disappear and ran towards eislyn who was still in the air by the hit. As the ink monster was about to attack her again. Sam tushar apeeaer beside Eislyn in the air and then eislyn recoers and three of tem throw a punch at the ink like monster. Then Tushar charges at the monster getting into a stance he bits his nail to bleed out to cover both of his hands and hardened the blood in their hands. Tushar chrages at the monster as monster attacks Tushar it was not effeected at all because he surrounded his body with his blood as a sheild. And the eislyn appears grabbing hold of the monster with the telekinesis. Then sam and tushar come in and punch the monster and the body disappear as the ink disspear.
“How on earth is Adwin creating so many of these things?” Sam asked, frustration in his voice.
“It’s not just him,” Lexine replied through their comms. “He’s part of the art club at the academy. His team specializes in creating constructs on the battlefield. Most of the other teams have already been taken out because of them. Actually, it’s just you guys and Adwin’s team left now. Oh, wait…” Lexine paused as she checked the radar. “Scratch that. The last team standing against them just got eliminated. It’s down to you and Adwin.”
Tushar clenched his fists. “We can’t stop for anything. Destroy any monster that gets in your way.”
Sam and Eislyn nodded in agreement.
The three of them broke into a sprint, racing toward the center of the battlefield. In the distance, the massive central building loomed like a fortress.
“There it is!” Sam shouted. “Let’s get inside now!”
As they neared the entrance, black ink oozed out from the walls and slithered across the doors, sealing them shut. Before they could react, three figures emerged from behind, blocking their retreat.
“We can’t deal with them right now,” Sam said, glancing toward the building. “Adwin’s got to be inside already.”
“You go ahead and win this,” Tushar said, stepping forward. “We’ll hold them off.”
“We will?” Eislyn asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, we will,” Tushar said firmly, standing his ground.
Sam hesitated for only a moment, then nodded. “Don’t get knocked out.”
Without another word, he charged forward, breaking through the layer of ink and forcing his way into the building. Inside, he sprinted up the stairs, the sound of cheers and shouting from the stadium outside echoing around him. As he reached the top floor, he saw Adwin standing in front of the academy’s flag, hand extended to grab it.
“ADWIN!!!” Sam roared.
The entire stadium went silent.
Adwin froze, his hand stopping just short of the flag. Slowly, he turned to face Sam. A faint smirk curled on his lips.
“So, the Voidskin actually made it,” Adwin said, resting a paintbrush casually on his shoulder.
“Let’s end this, right here, right now,” Sam said, determination blazing in his eyes.
Around the stadium, the guardians seated in their booths watched the standoff intensely. Sasha, one of the division leaders, leaned forward with a small smile on her face.
“Sasha, is this the Voidskin you were talking about?” a woman beside her asked. She had an elegant presence, surrounded by an aura of blue and white stars—the division leader of the Stars, Celeste.
“Yes, Celeste. That’s Sam. I have faith in him,” Sasha replied, her tone confident.
Celeste studied Sam on the monitors and smiled. “A Voidskin making it into the academy… how extraordinary. The stars in him shine brightly.”
“Adwin’s your brother, isn’t he, Argon?” Celeste asked, turning to the man sitting on Sasha’s other side. He was cloaked in red and gold flames—the division leader of the Flames.
“Yes,” Argon said coldly, his eyes fixed on Adwin through the monitors.
Back in the arena, Sam and Adwin stood perfectly still, their eyes locked. The tension in the air was electric as they prepared for their duel.
Adwin finally raised his paintbrush, his smirk growing wider.
“Let’s see if you can keep up, Voidskin,” he said, the tip of his brush glowing with black ink as he moved to write.