More and more students followed after Seth, jumping one after the other while trying to swallow their fear.

After jumping off the plane, Seth did his best in order to enter the storm at a point where it could be less likely that a lightning bolt hit him. However, the chaotic storm didn't seem to have such a place.

'So it all comes to the ability to dodge the bolts once in the storm huh?' thought Seth as he approached the storm. 'Either way, I have to get through the storm as fast as possible,' he thought as he dived into the storm.

Once he entered the storm he wasn't able to see anything beyond twenty meters around him. To make the situation the rain clouded his vision. Most of the students had put on a pair of goggles before jumping off the plane while most of those who happened to use masks didn't need them. Even though Seth had his mask on, the amount of water he encountered still clouded his vision making it even more difficult to see.

Shortly after entering, Seth noticed another participant diving through the storm at around 15 meters from him, he wasn't the only one who thought the best option was to get through the storm as fast as possible. The participant was diving almost as fast as him.

Bang!

Suddenly, a lightning bolt hit him, and his body began falling lifelessly, disappearing among the clouds.

'Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t,' thought Seth as he quickly focused back on what was in front of him, he couldn't allow himself to lose focus.

One minute had passed since he had entered the storm and it still didn't seem like he would come out of it soon.

'This storm is really thick, however, at this rate, I should be able to get through it in around another minute,' Seth thought.

Suddenly, all his senses screamed at him. He quickly extended his arms and legs as he positioned his body parallel to the ground, trying to slow his falling speed.

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Bang!

The change in speed was just enough for him to dodge a lightning bolt that shot below him.

'That was cl-'

His senses screamed again and he quickly repositioned his body.

Bang!

He was able to avoid being directly hit by the lightning bolt, however, it almost grazed his leg.

After less than a minute, he finally got through the storm. As he finally got out of the thick wall of clouds he was finally able to see the test area. It obviously wasn't the same as the one they showed them in pictures however it wasn't that different. The city had the same abandoned look and stretched as far as the eye could see. Plus, even from Seth's distance, the different plants that had begun to grow in the streets and buildings could be seen.

Seth looked to the sides and was able to see the different participants coming out of the cloud ceiling and falling directly to the city below them. More than a thousand participants were dropping into the city. In fact, the only reason why they had been separated into different hangars was that not all the participants could enter in a single plane. However, they were all dropping in the same city.

Some seconds later, Seth opened his parachute. The rest of the participants also deployed their parachutes almost at the same time. Now that he was able to see the city, Seth chose a relatively tall building to land on since he would be able to scout the area from there.

He modified his trajectory in order to land in the building, then, he looked to the sides again to see where the other participants would land, and if any of them was going to land near him.

At that moment he saw a big spike shot from the ground at high speed toward one of the participants who was only able to activate his ability to defend himself. However, he was still sent flying against another building, quickly followed by a weird creature.

Another participant was attacked by a flying thirio. He tried to defend himself however the thirio aimed at the parachute, tearing it apart and making the participant fall from midair. Unless he somehow used his ability to stop his fall he would probably die from it.

'It wasn't a coincidence that he aimed at the parachute,' Seth thought as he realized what the actions of the thirio meant. The thirio had completely focused on aiming at the parachute which meant that he had been able to analyze the situation and think of the best solution possible to deal with its target.

Seth quickly focused on his surroundings, making sure that no thirio was going to attack him. He looked around the different buildings, but it seemed that no one had focused on him. However, he still prepared himself in case a thirio was waiting to ambush him.

He landed on top of the building and quickly checked his surroundings, his hand resting on his katana's handle.

Boom! Bang! Boom! Boom!

Suddenly, the sound of battle rumbled all around the city.

From the top of the building, Seth turned around and was able to see the different participants engaging in battle with the welcome committee of thirios as all kinds of abilities were activated all around the city.

From the top of the building, Seth could only watch as the test area quickly became a battlefield.

The participants currently fighting weren't weak at all, no one weak would enter the tournament, however, a couple of minutes later, the sound of battle was followed by the sound of the desperate and helpless screams of the participants who had been outclassed by the thirios.

The first phase had only just begun, but hundred of participants had already been defeated.