Isla might have hated being paired with Alex from the start. In truth, he may have preferred being alone rather than stuck with someone like him. But once everything changed, once the situation turned dangerous, the reality of it all finally landed on him.
He had watched the Anakim strike Alex.
He saw the blow clearly.
From everything Isla knew, not once did it cross his mind that Alex could survive a hit like that, let alone continue in the tournament afterward.
'There is no way Alex survived that punch,' Isla concluded as he ran the scene through his head again. 'That kind of hit would kill him before the wristband even reacts.'
There was no sympathy in him.
Not a trace.
His concern moved elsewhere almost immediately.
'Now I am alone.'
That thought weighed heavier than Alex's supposed death.
He stood in the open part of the woods, breathing harder than he wanted to admit. The Anakim had already chased after Alex, leaving this side of the forest empty.
Too empty.
'I need to get out of here… I can't stay in one place,' Isla thought.
Standing still felt dangerous. In a tournament like this, stillness was an invitation to disaster.
He quickly looked around, eyes scanning the trees, the brush, the uneven ground. Then he chose a random direction, making sure it was nowhere near the path the Anakim had taken.
Smart first. Brave later.
Isla took off.
He ran through the bushes, pushing branches aside as he moved. Leaves slapped against his arms and face. Roots tried to catch his feet. Low branches hung like traps.
He weaved left.
Then right.
Then ducked under a hanging limb without slowing.
He kept moving deeper through the forest, not daring to pause.
'It's a good thing I have the pain-canceling ring,' Isla thought as he ran harder. 'That means I might not feel the pain of getting tired too.'
The logic sounded beautiful in his head.
Whether it was true or not was another matter entirely.
Still, confidence was free, and Isla spent it generously.
He continued sprinting between the trees, body swaying side to side to avoid trunks, feet hitting wet ground in quick rhythm.
Behind him was danger.
Ahead of him was unknown danger.
He ran for a long while without stopping, and thanks to the ring he had been given, he felt no strain in his legs.
No burning muscles.
No aching knees.
No heavy breath warning him to slow down.
To Isla, it almost felt unfair in the best possible way.
So he pushed harder.
Then harder again.
Each step carried more force than the last, his body launching forward faster and faster until his movement was nearly a blur through the forest.
Trees flashed past.
Ground vanished under him.
Wind whipped against his face.
For a brief moment, Isla felt unstoppable.
Then he discovered the problem.
'Shit… I can't control the speed.'
The thought hit him as panic followed.
'I can't control my movements at this pace.'
Too late.
His shoulder smashed through a thin tree trunk.
Crack!
The small tree snapped and fell behind him.
A bush came next, then another cluster of branches. Isla burst through them all like a wild beast that had forgotten roads existed.
As a stage four warrior, his body was strong enough to endure collisions with smaller trees, weak trunks, and hanging branches. His momentum simply overpowered them.
Branches broke.
Shrubs tore apart.
Saplings bent or snapped completely.
The forest was losing an argument with him.
Fortunately, the ring continued doing its job.
He felt none of the pain from the impacts.
Not the bruising.
Not the cuts from sharp leaves scraping across his skin.
Not even the stings from bark tearing at his arms.
That alone was probably saving him from screaming like a fool.
Isla didn't care.
He had already passed a few participants from other clans during his reckless sprint. Some had turned at the noise. Some had barely seen him.
He never stopped.
Never even looked twice.
'I can't stop. I can't stop…'
His thoughts raced with every step.
'If I stop, I'll likely get surrounded.'
That fear drove him faster than courage ever could.
'I need to find the others.'
That was the only plan he had left.
But while he was thinking that, it finally happened.
His luck ended.
Without warning, his body slammed into something thick and solid.
Clang!
A metallic sound rang out on impact.
This was no tree.
No weak obstacle waiting to be broken.
Whatever he hit was strong. Strong enough that Isla's full-speed charge meant nothing.
The next second, he was sent flying off course.
His body skidded across the ground, rolled twice, then tumbled again through dirt and leaves before crashing hard into a tree.
Thud!
The trunk shook from the impact.
Isla slid down and came to a stop, half-sprawled at its base, staring blankly ahead as the world spun around him.
For the first time since he started running…
He had stopped.
'Shit… what was that?' Isla cursed as he forced his head up.
The long skid across the ground should have hurt badly.
It should have torn skin, bruised bone, and left him groaning like a broken man.
But he felt nothing.
The ring had taken the pain away.
That strange gift now felt more disturbing than useful.
Isla looked down briefly and saw one of his legs bent at an ugly angle, the joint twisted in a way legs were never meant to turn. Another part of his lower body looked just as wrong.
Still nothing.
No pain.
No warning.
And somehow, that made it worse.
Instead of worrying about the injuries, his attention snapped back to the thing that had stopped him.
He planted one hand on the ground and pushed himself halfway up, dirt sliding under his palm. Leaves clung to his clothes as he raised himself enough to look ahead.
Then he saw her.
'Shit… shit… shit…'
The panic came instantly.
'Why… why me…? Of all people… I ran into someone from the Synapse Circle…?'
His thoughts tripped over each other as his chest tightened.
'A member of the Synapse Circle…'
That name alone was enough.
He remembered Lucius' warning clearly.
They had been told one thing with absolute seriousness.
Never approach a member of the Synapse Circle.
Not test them.
Not provoke them.
Not casually engage them.
Avoid them.
Even Isla, with all his pride and habit of overestimating himself, knew when to listen to orders from those above him. Arrogance had limits. Fear usually drew the line.
And right now, fear had arrived early.
A short distance away, Rhyssa stood still, her white hair shifting lightly with the breeze. Her eyes moved from Isla to the floating interface before her.
Cold.
Calm.
As if she were reading the weather.
The system flashed again in front of her.
[Identification: A member of the Wyndham faction.]
[Priority: Must be Eliminated]
The words hung there like a death sentence.
'Hauh... Priority?' Rhyssa thought.
'All because of some stupid bet,' she concluded as her eyes returned to Isla.
'I guess I should make this quick for him.'
Her posture lowered. Her fingers curled slightly. She was about to move.
But before she could take a step, a burst of qi shot through the air.
Bang!
The strike slammed into her shoulder.
Rhyssa's body jerked backward half a step. Her balance broke for a moment, more surprise than damage.
She looked up at once.
Isla's hand was stretched toward her, fingers pointed straight like a blade.
'When... when did he launch that?' she thought, genuinely caught off guard.
She had underestimated him.
Meanwhile, Isla wasted no time.
His leg was bent badly from the crash, twisted at an ugly angle no normal person should ignore. He grabbed it with both hands.
Crack!
He forced the bone back into place.
No scream.
No flinch.
No hesitation.
The pain-cancelling ring did its work well. A brutal tool, but useful now.
'I have to get out of here,' Isla thought, panic pushing every move.
He turned and tried to run.
Rhyssa's eyes sharpened instantly as she shook off the brief stun.
"Where do you think you're going?" she taunted.
She swung one arm through the air.
A sharp crescent of qi tore forward.
Slash!
It struck Isla across the back.
The force smashed him face-first into the ground and sent dirt flying around him.
He groaned, more from shock than pain.
Rhyssa did not pause.
She chased pressure with pressure. That was how fighters finished things.
From the metallic suit wrapped around her body, a compartment near her waist clicked open.
Then something fired out.
Tschk!
A cable shot forward at high speed.
It was thick, reinforced, and metallic. At the tip was a sharp arrowhead built to pierce and hook.
The cable screamed through the air as it raced toward Isla.
The cable struck Isla's leg.
The pointed tip punched through flesh, pierced the bone, and burst out from the other side.
Blood sprayed across the ground.
Before Isla could even process it, the cable tightened.
With one savage pull, his whole body was dragged across the earth toward Rhyssa.
"Damn it!"
He reacted fast.
Qi rushed into his fingernails, hardening them like claws. He slammed both hands into the soil and dug deep trenches through the ground.
Dirt scattered everywhere.
For a brief second, the pull slowed.
For a brief second, he thought he had stopped it.
Then Rhyssa moved.
She stepped forward, grabbed the cable with one hand, and yanked with raw force.
Snap!
Isla's grip tore free from the earth.
He shot toward her like prey on a chain.
The next moment, her hand wrapped around his throat.
She lifted him off the ground with one arm as if he weighed nothing.
Isla kicked wildly in the air, both hands grabbing at her wrist.
"I wanted to make this quick for you," Rhyssa said, her voice cold and sharp.
"But I changed my mind."
Then she drove him downward.
Boom!
She slammed Isla into the ground so hard the earth cracked beneath him.
Spiderweb fractures spread across the surface.
Dust burst upward.
'Heck... heck...!'
Isla choked for air, eyes wide, body trembling.
'How... how...? This isn't the strength of a Stage Four warrior...'
Fear climbed into him like ice.
He had bragged before. He had looked down on others before.
Now none of that mattered.
'How did people like this even enter the tournament...?' Isla panicked as he felt the crushing strength pouring from Rhyssa.
And worst of all, she did not even look serious yet.