Not even a millisecond after Silas pulled him down, an object flew right through where his head used to be. It continued its descent, burying into the ground a couple feet away.

Heart pumping with adrenaline, Ace spared a moment to take a peek at what had almost decapitated him.

'A javelin?'

The pole was thick and heavy, with a large handhold for its wielder. Whoever had thrown it was a giant... and accurate.

While he analyzed the weapon, him and the others assumed a defensive formation, silently forming a triangle.

Despite being the team leader, he was on the perimeter of the formation with the person in the center being Silas. With his great speed, he could easily help allies dodge attacks or turn a one on one fight into a two on one.

Confident in the formation, Ace scanned the perimeter, looking for his attacker. A follow up projectile had not yet been thrown.

"You guys see anything?"

Neither Bell nor Stellis responded. Instead Silas patted everyone on the shoulder and pointed to the rock at the top of the hill and across the stream. It was a couple couple dozen yards away.

Everyone in their group turned their attention to the rock. As soon as they all focused on it, there was a small glint as sunlight bounced off someone's dagger. Almost as if aware of their mistake, the weapon was quickly pulled back into cover.

Following that flicker of movement, Ace and his teammates silently nodded their heads at each other.

***

Four armored figures were crouching behind a giant boulder on top of a hill.

They were all wearing leather hunting gear, a symbol of their service to House Beast.

The leader of the group whispered to one of his teammates.

"Did you get him?"

The boy who threw the javelin shook his head.

"No... the one with the scarf somehow saw my attack... I knew this was a bad idea. Why are we attacking Lady Stellis's team?! If I had known it was them, I never would have thrown the javelin! We're horrendously outmatched and we've lost the element of surprise. Hell, you heard our orders, we were suppos-"

The third teammate cut him off.

"Be quite! Nobody move! They're looking for us!

Too late to react, the fourth teammate slipped and fell on a rock, causing his dagger to bounce out into the sunlight. He immediately yanked it back.

Nobody moved a muscle.

The strained silence lasted for another few seconds before a scared shriek escaped the lips of the third teammate.

"They're coming! Get b-"

Before he could finish, the rock they were hiding behind exploded as a javelin was sent flying through it.

Immediately after, the team leader watched in horror as four armored figures jumped onto the hill and immediately beat down his teammates. As they fell, the cloaked figure who they had aimed to take out first approached him.

Their glowing purple eyes and unhurried steps only increased his anxiety. With his heart thumping rapidly and his teammates already defeated, the team leader swung wildly at the cloaked figure.

With smooth grace, they easily dodged his strike and touched his arm.

When that happened, he lost control of his body.

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His vision then tilted and he was sent crashing into the ground. Unable to process what had happened, he found himself on his back, staring into the sky.

After the cloaked figure released him, he regained control of his body.

Scrambling, he tried to crawl to his feet but was cut short by a sword pointed at his throat. He looked up into the darkness of the figures hood only to see two glowing purple eyes that only grew in intensity once the figure spoke.

They said only one word.

"Yield."

***

Ace looked down at the boy his age who was on the ground.

"W-We Yield!"

As soon as he said the words, there a loud cannon blasted that pierced the air.

The announcer's voice resonated shortly after.

"The premier team from House Steel has claimed first blood! Battle reports will be given every ten minutes as the borders collapse! There will also be an auditory notification every time a team falls! We're in for a real treat this year folks!"

After the announcer's voice faded, the enemy that had just defeated was carried away by flying stone platforms that were similar to the ones that had dropped them off in the arena.

Focusing back on the tournament, Ace started to worry about their competition.

With 58 other teams left, they would have to conserve their energy, especially if other groups decided to team up against them. Like Larcet said, it was best not to go around looking for fights. The time to prove themselves and fight with their pride on the line would be in the second phase.

Behind him, Bell was getting rowdy with Silas.

"Good throw there buddy! You totally caught them off guard! Keep that up!"

Silas nodded his head rapidly, matching her energy.

Turning away from Silas, Bell yelled up to Ace.

"Where to next?"

"We should head to the center. The borders of the arena will slowly shrink so if we head there now, it can be at our own pace as opposed to being sandwiched between a barrier and enemies. Remember though, last two teams standing win. Let's pace ourselves so we aren't caught off guard later."

Everyone nodded their heads in affirmation.

Settling back into their defensive formation, they moved closer to the center of the arena.

Ace expected to hear more cannon blasts signifying that other teams had been defeated, but for some reason the arena was silent... Too silent.

Just when he was thinking about how off things felt, he heard it.

The distinctive sound of a tree branch snapping.

Looking up, Ace saw a person, perched high in the trees and watching them silently. Before he could alert his teammates, the person turned into a blur, darting from tree to with practiced efficiency.

Getting a bad feeling in his stomach, Ace told the others.

"I think another team is scouting us out. Be on the lookout."

Treading more carefully, the group proceeded through the forest until a loud snap grabbed the groups attention.

"There!" Bell yelled. "He's on the ground this time!"

Before he could tell her not to, Bell dashed off after the figure who was spying on them. Left with no choice, him, Silas, and Stellis backed her up. Together they chased the figure for a few seconds before they lost sight of them in some shrubbery.

"This is strange..." Stellis said while putting away her sword. "They clearly know where we are, but they aren't attacking."

Bell pumped her chest.

"It's because they're scared."

Stellis shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe... Something feels off though."

Ace racked his brain as they reorganized and started heading towards the center of the arena again. Truth be told, he was also skeptical about what the scouts were doing.

'The whole point of having a scout is to gain information to either launch a surprise attack or prepare an amb-'

Bell's voice once again echoed behind him, cutting off his thoughts.

"Another one guys! Silas, don't worry about us, catch him!"

Once again, his teammates dashed off into the shrubbery... away from the center of the arena.

Ace stood still for a few seconds, letting the cogs in his brain turn. Suddenly, realization dawned on him.

'Shit!'

He ran off after his teammates, following the path of broken shrubs. It didn't take long for him to catch sight of them.

Because of Silas's absurd speed, he had managed to catch their stalker, pinning them to the ground with the flat of his sword. While he held them down, Bell tore into him with questions.

"Where is your team?! Why do you keep following us?!"

With a smirk, the boy beneath Silas's blade looked off into the distance and nodded his head.

Ace saw a flicker of movement high in the branches but was too slow to give chase.

Bell's loud questioning continued.

"What are you looking at?! Hey! Answer me!"

The boy remained silent as he pried his hand free from the ground and flipped his middle finger at her. From a distance, Ace could see Bell backhand the boy in return, knocking him out cold.

When he rejoined the group, Bell looked down awkwardly.

"My bad, I tho-"

Ace cut her off, his voice frantic.

"He wasn't going to answer you anyways! He was just stalling for time! We need to hurry towards the center... now! I figured out what the scouts are doing!"

Sensing the urgency in his voice, they all followed his lead without hesitation. During their run, they spotted other scouts who tried to lead them away, but with Ace's counsel they were ignored.

After only a few minutes of jogging, Ace stopped his team at the edge of the tree line.

"Look." He said, voice sounding resigned. "That's what the scouts were stalling for..."

His teammates peeked past him, gasping at what they saw.

There, standing in the central field, was a group of at least 15 enemy teams. Only they weren't fighting. They were standing on guard, forming a complicated defensive circle. In the middle of it was a blonde haired boy wearing a... suit?

"It's Marcus" Stellis sighed. "The Son of House Mind"