"Shit... Shit.... SHIT!!!" The boy roared in anger immediately he heard the announcer's voice.
He didn't even bother looking at Arin, he just began walking away, and well, Arin didn't bother to stop him.
"Now, everyone! Look behind you. The next three trees, there's a teleportation array there!"
Arin then turned back, and indeed, there was a teleportation array three trees away.
He began walking towards it, but he heard footsteps coming from behind, and when he turned back to look, it was indeed, the hammer boy.
'I knew he would come back,' Arin thought. 'After all, this is the only teleportation array he'll be able to go back with.'
Arin and the boy weren't the only ones who fought for a flag. A few other students among the other 12 also fought for flags.
Arin and the boy didn't say a single word to each other as they stepped on the pink coloured circle, and disappeared from the forest.
Arin appeared and found himself back in the room where the other participants of the different academies were.
Arin instantly located where Tessa, Alex and Ron were seated and he walked towards them.
"Ah, you got me scared at first," Ron said.
"That was a good one," Alex said. "It seems you were debating which way to go."
"Yes, it was kind of a wild guess, though," Arin said.
"Haha, I don't believe that," Alex said as he hit Arin's back twice.
Tessa stared at Arin. "Hope you're not injured..."
Arin flashed a smile. "Nah, I'm fine,"
Arin began looking around, and that was when he noticed that about 3 of the participants who partook in this first stage weren't in the room.
A man and a lady suddenly walked into the room. The lady was holding a small pouch, as she looked around the room.
Meanwhile, the man walked towards the hammer boy before speaking. "Come with me."
Of course, the boy couldn't object. Though, before he left with the man, the lady brought out a small vial and gave it to the boy. After that, him and the man exited the room.
The lady then began bringing out similar vials and giving it to the students who partook in the first stage.
Finally, she reached Arin and gave him one.
Before she could walk away, Alex suddenly stopped her.
"Uhm, Miss, I was wondering where the other students who partook in the first stage are. About four of them are not present," Alex said, flashing the lady a small smile.
The lady's cheeks instantly turned red as she stuttered. "Oh... th... about that, they weren't able to get a flag so they've automatically been disqualified from the tournament. Just them, though, not their entire Academy. So, they were sent to another room."
That was why that man came to get the hammer boy.
'I see...' Arin thought. 'So those individuals won't be able to participate in the tournament, but their Academy isn't disqualified yet.'
'This wasn't how it was done in the novel... A lot of things have changed...'
He squinted his eyes. 'First it was the introduction of a new stage, then the appearance of objects that were supposed to appear months after the tournament, like the teleportation array, and then the change of rules.'
There was also the fact that they had to use their uniforms in the first stage.
'Are all these things happening because the author has continued the story?' Arin thought. 'No... There might still be another reason, and I think I know what it is.'
"Alright, thank you very much," Alex said, smiling again.
The lady nodded with a smile. She was about to leave, but she suddenly turned back again and muttered, "I'm 23 by the way."
Alex tilted his head. "Uhm... okay."
Arin wasn't even paying attention to what they were saying. He was still lost in his thoughts.
'From the new pattern this tournament has taken, it's almost as if we're undergoing some sort of training instead of it being a tournament.'
This was quite obvious in the first stage. It was as if the stage was designed to teach them how to observe, and fight beasts at the same time.
'As for us doing this with our uniforms, I can say it was implemented to teach us how to fight under any circumstances, even if we're not wearing anything favourable.'
Now, this begs the question, why all these implementations?
'It's as if we're being prepared for something, and the only thing I can think of is the Vampires.'
And that was when Arin realized it.
His eyes widened slightly. 'When Arthur died by the hands of a Vampire... When I fought Alex in the forest, and when I fought him recently in the Academy together with Seraphine and Roxanne...'
All these events would certainly be known by the King
'And I believe Alex told the King about our battle in that forest during the expedition.'
His eyes fixated on the screen that was showing the announcer saying something to the students.
He had finally put the puzzles together.
'The last fight against Alex was tagged as the Vampire Attack by everyone. In that case, the King reconstructed this tournament to be a sort of training for the students in preparation for when the Vampires will launch a full-blown attack.'
And since his last fight with Alex was what caused this uproar about the Vampires, along with him making it possible for Arthur to get killed by a Vampire, this meant...
'This means that my actions are greatly changing the plot, and making things that aren't supposed to happen now to happen...'
Arin knew that his actions would eventually change the plot, but he didn't know it would be to this extent. This just proved that a single action was capable of changing a large part of the plot.
A slight chuckle suddenly escaped his lips. 'I'm changing the plot, huh?'
A certain thing that Liora told him back when he was still in his parents house suddenly flashed in his head.
'Then I might as well go all out with it...'