"You know, it's just the first day inside the battleground. Do you really want to die so soon?" Lara said, her voice edged with concern as she summoned a gauntlet Alex had never seen her wear before. It was clear now that Lara was using every resource at her disposal.
Alex immediately drew his sword, its blade gleaming in the moonlight as he took a fighting stance beside Lara, determined not to hide behind her any longer.
It was now Alex's fight as well, and he knew he could not rely on others to carry him the entire time. He had to make at least one kill. He had never killed a human before, but he was prepared to earn points by killing others, comforted by the principal's earlier assurance that no one would actually die in this battleground. Those who died would be transported back to the real world. How the principal managed such feats remained a mystery even to Alex.
Eldric also called forth his spear, the same weapon Alex had seen him brandish earlier when he was chasing them at the beginning of it all.
As if on cue, Eldric dashed forward, and his runebear lumbered after him, its massive paw reaching out as it moved. Though slow due to its immense weight, the runebear was still faster than Alex, who was only level one.
Alex clenched his sword, ready for the confrontation that would begin in mere seconds and would decide his fate—whether he would earn his place in the academy or not.
Alex set his right leg forward, bending his left to the side, when suddenly Lara whispered, "Sorry," beside him. Without warning, she grabbed his left hand, and with a force Alex could never have anticipated, she leaped into the air, pushing against the ground with her small right leg, and hurled Alex into the forest to the right, sending him in a completely different direction from where they had run before.
Alex felt his body soaring through the sky, his face stung by the midnight air as he struggled to keep his eyes open against the force of his flight. He shot forward like a meteor, his legs trailing behind him and his hand raised in front of his face, trying to shield himself. His sword remained clutched in his right hand, ready to strike at anything that might appear.
Soon enough, his ascent ended, and he began to fall, plummeting like a fish leaping from the water only to dive back in again. Alex's head was pitched forward as he hurtled down in a straight line, and below him the trees were stacked upon one another, their branches obscuring the ground and their dark leaves casting an ominous shadow.
Alex braced his sword before him, and as the first leaves brushed against his skin and a branch loomed into view, he slashed it diagonally and then drove his blade into the massive trunk of the tree. He pressed his foot against the bark, desperately trying to slow his descent, but the sword failed to gain enough purchase in the wood and slipped free. He tumbled down through the branches, his body colliding with each one in turn, the impacts so fierce that he groaned in pain again and again as he fell.
"Arggh!"
"Aggh"
Aaaahh!"
And finally, after being battered back and forth—sometimes on his body, sometimes on his legs, other times on his head and face—Alex crashed to the ground, his sword already having slipped from his grasp. He landed face-first, his forehead striking the earth directly, his chest, waist, knees, and legs all taking the brunt of the impact against the hard, solid ground.
"Aaaah!" Alex screamed in pain as his sword landed beside him with a metallic clink.
Alex felt his consciousness slipping, drifting away toward the unknown. For a moment, he believed he would die. He feared he had struck his head and suffered internal injuries, though he knew his body had endured immense pain; the armor he wore had protected him more than he expected. Yet his head was exposed, and he felt blood trickling from his forehead and palms, both unprotected. The wound on his forehead, having taken the full force of the impact, bled steadily.
The only thing keeping Alex from fainting was the fear that Eldric or his runebear might come after him to finish the job.
Alex opened his eyes, blood dripping down his eyelids. The pain in his forehead was so intense that he wanted to scream, but he forced himself to remain silent, knowing any noise could attract nearby enemies. Biting his lower lip, he reached for the sword that had slipped from his grasp. With the sword in his left hand, he used his right to brace against the tree he had crashed into and push himself upright. He plunged the sword into the earth and leaned against it for support.
Alex loosened his armor slightly and tore a strip from his shirt, using it to wipe the blood from his forehead before pressing the makeshift bandage against the wound to staunch the bleeding.
Unable to stand any longer, Alex tightened his armor once more and slid down to the ground, his back pressed against the tree. He held the sword in one hand while pressing the cloth to his forehead with the other.
Alex lifted his head to gaze at the sky, but the leaves and branches above him offered little view. The timer he had seen before was nowhere to be seen; it seemed to be at the center of the battleground, and because Alex was facing the opposite direction, he could not see it now.
Alex took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, which had been frayed ever since he exited the cave. First, a black hole that devoured everything had chased after him, and then a girl had saved him, pulling him out when the dark circle had already swallowed half of his body.
Just when it seemed that everything was finally starting to improve and he had cleared the suspicion from Lara, finding out that she meant him no harm, Eldric and his minions emerged and blocked the way ahead, closing on them from the front.
Without warning, Lara had bolted away, grabbing Alex and carrying him as if he weighed nothing, hauling him along like a sack. And, Instead of finding a place where they could hide away from Eldric, the two of them ended up standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking the river, and just as Alex was readying himself to fight, bracing for whatever might come, Lara hurled him into the air once again, and instead of falling into an open field or onto earth cushioned by grass or soft soil that might have softened his landing, he crashed straight into the an enormous tree, his body slamming against the tree and its branched. His forehead ended up striking the ground with such force that blood immediately began to flow. Had he not been wearing his armor, his body would already have been broken beyond repair, and he would likely have been left lying on the ground, taking his final, shallow breaths as he waited for death, or perhaps he might already have slipped away into darkness.
Alex lowered his gaze from the starry sky to the ground before him, searching for any sign of the runebear or Eldric. Instead, he saw a boy—an elf—seated on the ground much like himself, his back pressed against another tree. The boy's yellow hair was streaked with red from blood, his pointed ears and black eyes giving him a familiar look, though Alex could not quite place where he had seen him before.
***
On Patreon, you can read 50 chapters ahead. Your support would greatly help me continue working toward completing the story.
Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/imissmysun