Voen
Looking down at my communicator, I couldn't believe what I saw. They changed the rules of the game. Students who do not have a totem within the next hour will be eliminated from the game. A large lump grew in my throat.
I thought I had a week!
I was attending this school on a scholarship, contingent on my performance. If I were to be eliminated without making a significant impact, my time at the school would surely come to a quick end. I couldn't go back to the slums. I refuse to live like that again.
Deep in my panic, another notification went off on my communicator.
Going forward, all students' locations will be shown on your maps. Names will be revealed on the leaderboards and map. The last message made me feel like the world was closing in on me. My heart raced, sweat emerging from my pores.
I needed to move.
I hadn't fully recovered from my injuries, and I had no chance of fighting someone, especially alone. I needed to find someone to team up with.
But who would allow me to join them with no totems? I activated the holographic map while looking at the leaderboard. The closest group to me was Stravos's; they were also in the lead with a hundred.
Gotta go for broke, Vo.
I packed up the plants I harvested from the forest.
The slums were good for one thing: learning how to make even the worst of scraps edible. This game reminded me a lot of the frozen desert back home. But when it came to eating the carcass of a behemoth, I only ate it when I was desperate. It was too gamey for me.
I still couldn't believe that kid Cyrus ate it; he was mad in the head for sure. But his madness has gotten him high in the leaderboards, now placing fourteenth.
Dude could have at least said bye.
Walking out of the cave, a strong gust of wind from the storm clouds swept over me. Soggy moss squished beneath my feet, and the vibrations of the forest echoed into my ears. The forest was pulsing with energy, reminding me of when I'd sneak into concerts back home.
With trembling hands, I swapped my map out for my flute, my only weapon, and bolted for the northern quadrant of the forest.
As I ran through the forest, I could hear branches snapping. Looking up into the sky, I could see a faint outline of a translucent dome.
"What the hell is that?"
Thirty minutes had passed.
The vibrations of the forest started to attack my eardrums. Screams erupting through the white noise of the forest.
Students were becoming desperate, and it was only a matter of time before I had my first encounter.
I traveled another hundred yards or so, the faint whispers of students drifting towards my ears.
"He's alone." I didn't turn to look back, I just kept sprinting, my heart ready to burst from my chest. The vibrations of their words caused the hairs to prickle down my neck.
I quickly pulled out my map again and saw that only one was chasing me.
This isn't good, not good at all. Continuing my sprint, their voices grew louder. I didn't understand why I was being chased.
My foot hit a growth, and I fell flat on my face. Moss and dirt obstructed my vision, but the vibrations of my chaser were still present. Suddenly, I felt something pick me up off the ground.
Still blind, I dangled in the air. I didn't hear a voice, just the rustling of someone searching through my for totems, until I heard a voice puncture the silence.
"Put him down. He's worthless." A cold voice said from behind me.
I froze at the voice.
Then I was slammed into the dirt.
Whipping the dirt out of my eyes, I tried to get a look at the attacker, but the voice and invisible figure were long gone.
My camera honed in on me. I could feel the pity emanating from it.
I did not doubt that my benefactors were on the other side, watching me with disgust, wondering why they invested in someone weak. I still didn't understand what they saw in me. Why did they think I was capable enough to be here? All I did was put some astral behemoths to sleep.
More screams filled the air, and the vibrations of the invisible dome became prevalent again. I checked my communicator– ten minutes left. A glance at the map showed I was close to Stravos's group.
Time to go for broke.
I sprinted through the heavy trees and branches, tripping about half a dozen times as I made a beeline for my destination. I didn't care what shape I was in or what I looked like on the camera. I just wanted to continue on here.
I wanted to make my dream come true, and I would do anything to make that happen.
When I reached my destination, awe rooted me in place. Before me stood a fortress: a border marked the perimeter, huts and sanitation stations lined the grounds. From the outside, it looked like a small village, a base of operations.
The sheer authority it took to make others build this was staggering. If his ranking on the machine wasn't enough proof, this surely was. I glanced at my communicator; seven minutes left.
I knocked on the small wooden wall. "Hey, guys, mind if I join you? I promise I will be useful if you give me a chance."
Silence greeted me until the vibrations of approaching footsteps reached my ears. Sinister cosmic energy grew with every step, like a behemoth was stalking me.
A large figure standing around seven feet tall, its sleek metallic skin shimmering in the sunlight. Taut muscles rolling underneath its silver skin with every step. An oval head with no opening for its mouth, its eyes glowed a pure white, with two sharp points jutting from its head like a tiny crown.
The figure was menacing. It loomed over me, scanning me as if I were an intruder in its domain.
The figure cocked its arm back, erupting with cosmic energy. My mind said run, but my body seized up, paralyzed by the impending doom.
There was nothing I could do.