Cyrus Solaris
The familiar glow of magenta light radiated from my chest; my gravity now crushed the girl who stood before me. Her amber eyes narrowed as she desperately tried to find a way out of her invisible shackles.
Mustering all the remaining strength I had, I went through her dimensional storage. I didn't care for any of the mechanical trinkets she had in there; all I wanted was her totems. She had ten. Increasing my total to thirty.
"No matter my condition, I will never let someone look down upon me," I said as I knelt beside her.
"The last guy that did isn't alive anymore."
I knew this was a game, but I also understood the importance of asserting my dominance; that's all everyone respects now. I just wasn't expecting to exhaust myself this much. Now I really understood what Head Master Naga meant.
"Sharpen your soul like a blade…or get crushed under a thousand suns. It's quite fitting, don't you think, Mira."
"Piss off," she spat.
Feeling gravity well's grip weaken, I activated it once more, slamming her into the earth again.
"Enjoy your nap," I said as I chopped her in the neck, causing her to black out.
I dragged my feet; all I wanted to do was rest my eyes, with the lack of sleep and exhaustion finally catching up to me. I had overused Gravisense to the point that it was hard to process anything at the moment; I almost forgot that Mira had trapped students of the Kazehoshi clan.
Two were still past out from the injuries I gave them, but the others still squirmed in their imprisonment.
I walked over to one of the students and opened up his dimensional storage.
"Earlier, you mentioned Stravos. Are you teamed up with him?"
"Yes, we are, he's the strongest in the school, why wouldn't we?"
My jaw tightened at the response, "He isn't." The kid laughed in my face.
"My clan desires freedom over anything else. Anything that can chain us is a threat. We also know that to gain freedom, we have to sacrifice something. Here, it's easy to see who is strong and who isn't. You've got some power, sure, but it's nothing next to someone who is raised for this."
The kid was annoying me now. I wanted to use gravity well to shut him up, but I needed the energy to walk right now.
"By the end of this game, you are gonna wish you asked to join me, I promise that. I'll even take your leader head-on to prove it, so Stravos, where is he?"
"You sure you want to know?"
"Yes, I'm trying to end the game as quickly as possible."
"Well, our base is in the northern part of the woods. Knock yourself out, you would be just delivering him the totems anyway, bringing us closer to victory."
I pulled out my map and saw I was at the southern end of the forest. I needed to travel another six miles or so to reach their base. In my current state, that was a difficult task, but it needed to be done.
Taking a deep breath, I grabbed my shoulder and forced it back into its socket. The action sent a sharp pain that ran all the way through my spine, certain there was muscle and ligament damage, but I was no stranger to pain.
I took the remaining totems from the other students, boosting my total to forty. I was starting to make some headway on the leaderboards now, but I still needed more.
Limping away from the students, I heard my camera come and hover right beside me once again. I couldn't help but imagine how weak I looked. I just knew he was chuckling under his stupid mask.
"Just to let you know. We have the greatest weapon at our disposal," the Kazehoshi kid said while struggling against his shackles.
"And that is ?" I said, turning slightly, trying not to aggravate my broken ribs.
"Where have you been living? You're from the same continent as me. I would expect a Pyrralis branch member like you to know about the Warbrand constellation."
If only the kid knew the truth. "Nah, it doesn't ring a bell. Have fun fighting a rock." I said, limping farther away from them.
I pushed through the forest searching for somewhere to hide and recover. So that I could meditate and recover some cosmic energy. I felt naked and vulnerable, my left arm was numb, and my brain was fighting the backlash of overusing Gravisense.
I could be attacked at any moment, and I didn't have enough in the tank to take on a full assault again, but I pressed on. My advantage was that it was nighttime, and most students were not active.
Looking up in the sky, I searched for a specific set of stars. The Solaris arrow, a star formation our clan used to make sure we knew where north was pointed. This was my guide for the night; I couldn't risk bringing out my map now.
When I gazed upon the Solaris arrow, memories of grandpa and dad taking me to the planetarium resurfaced. The first time I learned, I had a deep love and curiosity for what was beyond our planet. I never would have guessed it would help out so much now.
Trudging further into the forest, my smart watch dings. I looked at the message. All I could do was smile.
The edge I thought I was losing, rekindled, blazing like the sun.