Two dark disciples are resting under a tree, Leo and Vincent. Someone is walking up to them. Leo looks back to see who it is.
“Oh shit, Daku!”
Vincent looks back, surprised. They both stand up and walk towards him. Daku has his hands in his pockets.
“So, you’ve been getting me points?”
“Yeah. These punks ain’t nothing to us.”
“They’re all just desperate to prove themselves, it’s embarrassing. We need a better challenge.”
Daku narrows his eyes towards Leo after he says that.
“Is what it is, though. So, have you seen Ho-“
Daku positions his hand into a claw and swiftly hits Leo in the stomach. Vincent’s eyes open wide. Saliva escapes Leo’s mouth.
“Daku, what are you doing! That’s Leo! Our friend!”
“You want a better challenge? Challenge me!”
He raises his aura at his fingertips. Leo struggles in pain, dark veins grow all over his body, slowly rising from his neck. Leo is struggling for breath. Daku’s face stays straight.
“He-lp, me.”
Daku, let's go. Leo disappears while his aura enters Daku’s bracelet.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Huh DAKU?!”
“You know, I don’t need you two. I can get enough points on my own. You won’t even do much anyway. Will you beat a Prodigy? No. As for Hoshiko, her time will come.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“The 5 Prodigy Disciples made it seem like we’re our separate teams, alongside our teammates of course. Like you.”
Daku looks back. A team of 3 appears behind them.
“Oi, you three! Let me finish this with my friend over here. Then I’ll deal with you.”
The team of three are confused.
Daku looks back at Vincent.
“What I’m trying to tell you is, there are no teams in this skirmish. After I get rid of you, I’ll beat those three behind us, and anyone that I come across! We're all alone.”
Vincent sees that the eyes of his friend are drowned in darkness.
“And then in the end, I'll be the only one at the top!”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Daku raises his aura and eliminates Vincent.
“Huh?”
“Did he just eliminate his teammate?”
“Maybe they weren’t in a team after all.”
Daku slowly turns around. His eerie dark aura places fear in the three of them.
During the skirmish when someone gets eliminated, their bracelet sends them to a hall. In this hall, the Nature Health Order(NHO) are there to tend to the shorai’s injuries.
The Nature Health Order is system funded by the D.O to give free health care across all the sections. They have multiple huge hospitals across the world where anybody can access.
At the hall where all the eliminated players get sent to, Yakone is there sitting in a corner alone with a tablet watching Kiyoko.
Another person appears in the hall. They have a large hole gaping through their stomach. Blood is dripping heavily. Yakone puts down the tablet and stands up.
“What the hell?”
Leo appears, and he’s having a mini seizure.
More nature disciples rush into the room.
“The injuries are worse than we thought. Where’s Ruri? We need her!”
Even more appear with sword scars, metal engraved in their bodies, burn marks, everything.
Yakone is concerned. He goes to pick up his tablet. As he makes contact, he coughs out a lot of blood that splatters on his tablet.
His eyes turn shallow as he collapsed on the ground. A few NHO workers notice and rush straight to him.
Hoshiko is surrounded by 10 Shorai.
“We got her cornered.”
“Those 50 points, they’ll be mine!”
Hoshiko chuckles. She raises her light aura.
“Such a shame you guys are only 5 points.”
Isamu just beat a group of 4. Their aura enters his bracelet.
“I should find the others. It would be best if my team get together.”
“Diu!”
Cherry extends her branch, eliminating two people. Their aura enters her bracelet. She wipes the sweat off her forehead.
“Just non-stop fighting. It’s tiring.”
She looks up at the sky.
“It’s getting dark.
A team of four are raising their aura in front of Sasaki. Sasaki concentrates his aura on his sword. He dashes towards all 4 of them. With one slash each, he eliminates them all.
Sasaki sheathes his sword.
“That’s 20 more. This skirmish is easier than I thought-“
He hears leaves rustle all around him. He quickly turns around to one noise. He saw someone flicker away.
“They’re fast.”
He takes out his sword once more. The person comes out of the shadows and exposes himself. He’s running fast towards Sasaki. This Shorai is also a swordsman.
As soon as their one step away from each other, Sasaki swings his sword. The Shorai flickers away.
“What the-“
The Shorai is behind Sasaki in the air. He raises his aura and swings his sword, releasing slash like projectiles. With each swing, he flicks right. The Shorai is laughing.
Sasaki jumps back after every slash, dodging them all. Each slash creates a dent in the ground. The Shorai suddenly flickers and appears on top of Sasaki. He has a huge smile on his face.
With both their auras raised, their swords clash. Impact of the clash blows some of the trees around them away.
Sasaki raises his aura even more and swings his sword, pushing the Shorai away. He lands on his feet.
“Hello, you fake prodigy!”
Sasaki has no idea what he’s talking about.
“Fake Prodigy?”
Kuragami carelessly walks around a forest. He looks up at the orange sky. His tone is louder than normal.
“Wow! It’s getting dark. I know! I’ll sleep early so I can wake up early and catch others off guard! What a great idea!”
He finds a big tree to rest under. He drops to the ground and lies his back on the tree.
“This will do.”
He slowly closes his eyes and goes to sleep.
Kiyoko, Pakku and Varrick all watch Kuragami from a distance, concealing themselves.
Kiyoko’s heart starts racing as she smiles. Her blue eyes gleam. She runs her fingers through her silky blue hair and flicks it back.
“He’s asleep, you two. Take positions.”
The twins look at her and nod.
Pakku jumps to a tree on the left of Kuragami while Varrick jumps to one on the right.
Kiyoko carefully hides herself inside the top of Kuragami’s tree. Her slight movement makes a single leaf fall.
It slowly glides down in front of Kuragami. As it gently reaches the ground, with his eyes still closed. Kuragami smiles.
