Looking around, Lucas found himself surrounded by what looked like a devastated city. Debris filled the ruined streets, and there were only a few buildings in the surroundings that were still standing. Many of them had parts missing, as if they had faced some sort of attack long ago. He also noticed about twenty-nine other people forming a circle he was part of.
Their appearances varied greatly, but all seemed moderately young, with the oldest probably around thirty. The most disturbing one out of them all was definitely the creepy smiling figure with white hair and the weirdest eyes Lucas had ever seen.
They were of dark purple, and they had a glow about them where the iris should be, the only normal part being the black pupil, which did nothing to help mitigate their overall peculiarity. Lucas wouldn’t believe he was human if the identify didn’t clearly state that.
For some reason, the sight of the man gave Lucas chills, so he shifted his eyes to the others. One thing he quickly noticed was that they were all heavily armed, with a couple even carrying things futuristic-looking fire weapons, the likes of which Lucas had never seen. At that point, Lucas realized he still had his system privileges, which gave him moderate reassurance, despite the hostile looks on the others’ faces.
He had been quite nervous about this floor; few had ever reached it as far as he knew, and none had gone above it until now. It had been hard to control his nervousness, considering all that was at stake, and he even made two extra elixirs to be ready for whatever was to come, but he had to admit having his skills helped mitigate that a little. Whatever he needed to face, he would rather do it with his blades and spells.
As Lucas was considering if he should try interacting with the others to get a sense of where they were and what exactly he needed to do, a voice spoke. For a minute, Lucas was taken aback. The voice seemed to be coming from inside his head, which had only happened on his last day on Earth and first day on Ponos.
However, the more the voice talked, the more he realized it was considerably different from the system’s—less robotic and more like that of a host rather than a machine. So he soon discarded the idea that it was the system that was talking to him. Instead, he believed there was some sort of device inserted into his head, which did nothing to ease his concerns, but he made an effort to pay attention to it.
Each one of you has been chosen to represent your country in this year’s Survival Showdown, and is bound to bring glory and pride to your family and country.
This year’s Showdown location is the ancient city of Gladort, long ago bombarded and later regarded as a wasteland and forbidden area. But worry not; the radiation has long left the environment, and the only deadly dangers you’ll be facing will be your fellow contestants.
As always, there will be only one winner: the one left standing. As you probably already know, here in the Survival Showdown, we have only two rules: Don’t leave the city’s premises and have fun. After all, we are expecting a good show. May the best win!
While the woman’s voice was still at the beginning of her speech, more precisely as she mentioned the name Survival Showdown, Lucas picked up his staff nervously as his heart started beating faster and faster, realizing what was about to happen.
He was expecting many things from this floor since no one had been able to best it, but he never expected to be thrown straight into the fire like this. All his opponents were on the same level as him, which gave him some reassurance. However, in a chaotic battle like the one about to unfold, it was hard to predict how things would go down.
He could easily get killed while engaged in fighting someone else. Therefore, he promptly chose to go with the staff once he realized what was about to happen and was expecting all hell to break loose the moment the voice finished its speech, and the objective appeared in his sight.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
*Objective: Be the last one standing.*
The things in the hands of two of his opponents were, as Lucas had predicted, futuristic fire weapons. Colorful lasers started flying everywhere merely seconds after the speech ended, and Lucas was just lucky to get out of the way moments before one of them passed by his side, scorching the ground.
However, before Lucas could curse the tower about how unfair that was, everyone else’s attention suddenly shifted to the two with the weapons. Under a barrage of attacks in the form of spells and arrows, one of them soon succumbed, and his weapon was destroyed, while the other was forced to flee under the protection of an invisible force field.
That invisible barrier, Lucas realized after some reflection, seemed to stem not from a skill as he had previously assumed but from a bracelet the man possessed, judging by the way he frenetically waved his arm towards his back to stop the inbound attacks.
The whole group wasn’t ready to let that matter be, however, and soon all of them chased him through the ruined streets, temporarily establishing a silent truce until they managed to kill him.
It didn’t take long for Lucas to understand why they had such a reaction. That weapon the man was holding was clearly superior to anything the others had brought with them. Lucas didn’t doubt that, given time, an arrow or a spell could become just as powerful as that fire weapon, but at the moment, they didn’t stand much of a chance.
Therefore, the tacit agreement to finish off both of those “cheaters” first was instantaneous. Using numbers against the overpowered tool just seemed logical. Seeing how things had turned out, Lucas assumed that such phenomena happened very often during those Survival Showdowns when someone was brave enough to bring such a weapon.
Following the others, Lucas watched as they chased the man into a ruined building. At that moment, he seriously considered if he should just blow the whole structure down with them inside. But after taking into account that the building was only two stories high and already partially demolished, he doubted he could kill all of them. Sure, if he left them sufficiently injured, he could take them out one by one afterward, but after seeing some of the spells and skills they could pull, he doubted that would be the case.
At best, he would be able to kill one or two while having to face the rage from all the others. At that point, he would become the new target of the chase, and he doubted he could hold nearly as long as their current target. So he quickly dropped the idea.
Despite following them on their chase, Lucas had no intentions of spending his valuable mana on an opponent who was essentially dead already, judging by the pretty angry faces around him. Instead, he had a different plan in mind.
While many attacked their tired-looking opponent furiously, Lucas had eyes only for one thing. Can I get that bracelet? From the first time he set eyes on the gadget, he could think of nothing else. He had been working so hard and for so long to find a protective measure against his innate weakness, and the solution was right in front of him. The only problem was how. How would he take the bracelet without anyone being the wiser?
Until he figured that out, he decided to follow the others. He didn’t doubt that he would likely become the target if he managed to take the bracelet and was caught doing it by the others. But while it wasn’t worth it to become the target in exchange for only two lives, it was totally worth it for the acquisition of such a cheat gadget, judging by how long the barrier had held against so many opponents.
That tiny thing could drastically change not only his performance on the fourth floor, but on the others too if he managed to take it with him. Lucas was sure he wasn’t the only one thinking this, judging by the few glances of greed he captured, but no one had made a move so far.
The barrier from the bracelet wasn’t perfect, however, and it only covered one side. That’s why he had to keep the bracelet toward his back when running. But based on the injuries he had sustained while doing so, Lucas believed the effects were diminished when the man wasn’t fully focusing on defense, forcing him to keep facing his opponents and preventing him from running for long. But that was more than enough for Lucas’ needs.
Waiting for the right moment to strike and take the bracelet among the others, Lucas suddenly had an even better idea when the now very scared man cautiously started to climb the ruined stairs to the second floor. Sneakily, Lucas left the building when no one was looking.
After leaving the building, Lucas hurried around the ruins. There, he found what he was looking for. He had already noticed from outside that the building was missing a wall almost completely on the second floor.
He didn’t need to wait long. When he saw the back of his target slowly appear in that gap, he wasted no time: he ran and jumped towards the wall, placing his feet on a small ledge before using all his strength to jump again.
He felt the leather in his hand and knew he had succeeded. His hand had gripped tightly onto the man’s jacket, and thanks to gravity, he brought him down along with him. The unsuspecting man had no chance at all and fell with his back onto the concrete, while Lucas landed hard on his feet, mildly twisting his left ankle.
Ignoring the pain, Lucas quickly removed the bracelet from the unconscious man and didn’t wait another second before starting to run in between the other buildings, quickly disappearing from sight in a matter of seconds.