"H-How unlucky..."
"You can s-say that again..."
The two shivered relentlessly.
It was cold.
Too cold.
At the start of the Battle Royale, Brandon and Amy found themselves in a vast expanse of tundra.
Ice sheets were layered on the ground, as the trees around them were draped in a pristine layer of white snow.
"Brr..."
Even the Virtual Simulation accurately captured the sheer coldness of a tundra biome.
Truly, Virtual Simulation was a groundbreaking technology.
"I s-should've worn a thick coat before entering..."
Amy shuddered, rubbing her arms with her hands, trying to warm herself up however she can.
If Brandon could, he would conjure up flames right at the moment.
But he can't.
'Not when Amy is here.'
She'd already seen Felix's ashes. The fact that he wasn't known to have the Fire Affinity was one of his alibis to the crime.
"Can't you change the weather?"
"No, I can only make it slightly rain."
'Useless.'
Amy knitted her brows, still rubbing her arms.
"You just thought I was useless, didn't you?"
"..."
Staring at her, Brandon shrugged it off.
"You're imagining it."
Amy rolled her eyes at Brandon's response.
Scanning the area, for whatever shelter he could find, he could see a cave nearby.
"Let's h-head there."
He pointed towards the cave with trembling hands.
Amy immediately nodded, following him closely.
Scrunch– Scrunch—
Each footstep made a rustling sound as they walked towards the cave, stepping on lumps of foliage.
Scrunch– Scrunch—
Finally they arrived at the entrance of the cave.
But before they entered, Brandon leaned down, grabbing a bunch of flints, sticks, and leaves.
Amy approached him, tilting her head. Her hands clasped behind her back.
"What are you doing?"
"I'll make a fire out of this."
"You know how to do that?"
"I think so."
Brandon was glad to have read a survival book back when he was in the bookstore.
He just grabbed as many books as he could, regardless of the content.
Of course, he had lingering regrets with that decision.
Because...
'Three of the books were smut.'
And he had to pay for all the books before reading.
Of course, when he returned home, he immediately burnt the three books.
'A necessary sacrifice.'
After picking up an appropriate amount, he beckoned inside the cave, signaling for Amy to enter as well.
...
Voosh—
"Woah, you really did it."
Amy clapped her hands in astonishment.
Seated face-to-face with her, Brandon was surprised as well.
He never thought it would actually work.
He'd only read the application of making a fire. But this was the first time he'd actually done it.
Accelerated Cognition working its magic.
Tearing his gaze from the flames, he looked above. Just hovering in the air was a system interface.
It was quite similar to his system, but it was one of the Virtual Simulation's features.
Click-
Clicking on it, a virtual map materialized in his view.
On it displayed the current safe zone, as well as the timer, just below it.
[4:46]
4 hours and 46 minutes.
They were informed that the safe zone would shrink every 30 minutes.
A warning would appear on the map on whatever the amount of space the convergence zone would take.
Glancing at the map, it seemed like they were still within boundaries.
After that, he closed it.
"Brr..."
Too cold.
The two continued to shiver relentlessly, despite the flames keeping them warm to a certain degree.
Staring at the fire, his attention was redirected to Amy who shuddered, as she pursed her lips to say,
"W-What should we do next?"
Brandon pondered for a while, unsure of what to say.
The best choice was to relocate to a different biome.
But in doing so, would expose them to attacks in every angle.
It had to be noted that–every 15 minutes, everyone who's out in the open would be exposed on the map.
A red dot would appear, signaling the location of anyone that was outside.
And to their surprise, there wasn't an indicator of how many students were still alive.
Meaning, they wouldn't know what ranking they'd place if they died.
For all they knew they could be expelled even if the timer was down to the last hour.
So for now...
"Let's wait."
"...Okay."
It was then when the system interface notified him.
[4:45]
Instantly, Brandon opened the map, trying to see if anyone's location was exposed.
And to his surprise...
"Amy, get up."
"I know."
There was someone nearby.
Just outside the cave.
For some reason, Amy was hiding behind Brandon.
But Brandon didn't mind, Amy's water magic would be a good support for his lightning.
Step-
Footsteps became audible, just outside the cave.
Step- Step– Step—
As the footsteps became louder, two silhouettes emerged at the entrance.
***
"What Battle Royale? This is a vacation!"
Splash-!
Claire stood at the sea, splashing water at Raven, as he motioned his hand to block the incoming water.
"Haa... How are you so–"
Splash-!
"Calm in this–"
Splash-!
"Situation."
Splash-!
"Please, stop."
Raven raised his hand to his face, dabbing at the droplets of water.
Claire flashed him a wide grin, placing her hands on her waist.
"It's because I'm strong. And plus, you're here, Mr. Ranked 1 Student."
"Are you that confident in winning?"
"Of course, we're both the top 3 students within the first years. We're practically a cheat. Can anyone even oppose us?"
"I can name two people."
"Ah, right."
But...
Splash-!
"Do you see them around?"
Claire stated, continuing to splash water at Raven.
Drenched in water, Raven responded,
"Nope, but we shouldn't let our–"
Splash–!
"Guard down... Claire, please..."
"Fine, fine. What a killjoy, it's not everyday we get to go to the beach, you know?"
"It's not even real."
Splash-!
"Is this not real enough for you?"
"..."
After that, the system interface notified Raven.
"Claire..."
"Yeah."
Their location was exposed.
And to their surprise, there was a red dot that appeared on the location near them.
Rustle–
The bushes in front of them rustled with movement.
Immediately, Raven retrieved his daggers, holding one in each hand.
SHIIIING–!
From behind him, Claire did the same, unsheathing her rapier from her sword belt, which was placed on her waist.
As two figures emerged from the bushes, Raven immediately used [Shadow Step], teleporting right behind him–or rather, his shadow.
The man's eyes shot wide open.
"How–"
Slash-! Splurt—!
He gave him no time to finish his words, as he opted to slit the man's throat.
Voosh-!
From beside him, a torrent of flames tried to engulf him.
But Raven quickly dodged it, stepping to the side.
What met his line of sight was a woman, a mage. With long brown hair and black eyes.
She wore a look of shock, as she spoke,
"P-Please spare me, I don't want to get expe–"
Swoosh– Tszzzzzz—!
Claire immediately bolted from her position, as sparks of purple lightning left her trail. Giving the woman no time to plead for her life, as she mercilessly stabbed her in the abdomen.
Both the man and the woman dispersed, dematerializing. As particles fluttered in the air and blood splattered from where their body was.
At that, they've successfully killed the pair.
The Battle Royale was still in the early stages after all.
Glancing at Claire–who was still fixed in a crouched position, her rapier facing forward, Raven gave her a nod.
"Good work."
"You too."
"...Still, is it just me? Or do I feel bad."
"It's just you, remember, Astrea Academy is a school for elites. Only the best of the best survive here."
Raven immediately dismissed his thoughts. Erasing any feelings of lingering guilt.
"You're right, sorry."
"It's fine. Just reminding you."
"Thanks."
Raven then glanced up at the sky as he muttered,
"I wonder how Brandon and Amy are doing."
[AN]
A short chapter, just to introduce the start of this arc.
This arc will be quite long.
But I hope each chapter of it is enjoyable.
Thanks for the support on this book, a discord server will go live in a few days.