Signal Academy!
One of the first of many schools for those that have decided to enter the world of fighting!
Where youths starting from the age of 13 train until they are 17!
This is their first 「stage」, their first 「test」!
Glory! Fame! Power! Money! The hearts of the people!
The first 「Step」 to become a Hunter!
The first 「Napkin」 for them to take!
3 youths will be entering this 「stage」, to take their first 「Napkin」!
Today!
"Yang, Magenta, come on! You'll be late to the entrance test!
Black hair that shifts gently into red at the tip!
Hair that reaches down only chin, few tufts sticking out to the sides, front, and back!
Fair skin that looks like it had been untouched by the harshness of light!
Red sleeveless hoodie and black knee-length skirt!
The colour is matched by her black shoes with scarlet socks!
Only reaching the chest of the other youths entering the front entrance of Signal Academy!
Ruby Rose
Age: 11
Title: The red hooded child
Level: 15
Hp: 1,020/1,020
Aura: [Locked]
Vajra: [Locked]
Str: 15
Vit: 15
Dex: 22
Mnt: 2
Int: 18
Wis: 20
Chr: 16
This was Ruby Rose, age 11!
"Wait up, Ruby! You're not the one that's trying to get into Signal Academy today!"
"I knooow~, but I don't you guys to fail, just because you guys were too late to take!"
Golden hair that faintly glowed in the sun!
Reaching down to her chest, few tufts curl in and out like the corona of the sun!
Unlike her sister's casual clothes, the wheat-brown vest and orange shirt, and black skinny shorts indicate that she means war!
It's made clearer by the lilac socks and black military boots!
Even in the sun, the fairness of her skin challenges Ruby's!
She stands head to head with most of the youths that have also decided to take the test!
Yang Xiao Long
Age: 13
Title: The rising sun-drake
Level: 24
Hp: 1,520/1,520
Aura: 1,085/1,085
Vajra: [Locked]
Str: 34 (26 + 30%)
Vit: 31 (24 + 30%)
Dex: 30 (23 + 30%)
Mnt: 12
Int: 20
Wis: 18
Chr: 23
This was Yang Xiao Long, sister of Ruby Rose! Age 13!
"Don't you worry about that, Ruby. I'm confident that we will 「pass」, even if we're a good 5 minutes later than others."
Straight pink hair, glowing neon in the cloudless sunny sky, that reaches his cheeks!
His forehead is covered by a cyan headband, with a purple swirling pattern checkering it!
Few accessories, like a golden feather, or small pearls, dangle quietly on the sides of the headband!
Unlike the subdued colours and subtle clothings of his friends, he goes out flamboyantly, explosively!
Magenta nylon jacket, with the coat length only reaching down mid-way between his chests and the bottom of his ribs!
Underneath the unbuttoned jacket is a violet sleeveless shirt, that reaches down to his waist!
Black skinny jeans are complemented by black shoes and pink socks!
His knees, elbows, shoulders and chest are protected by guards, that are tinted rose gold!
The chestplate of his armour covers ¼ of a leather holster!
And the holsters are storing not guns, not knives, but balls!
2 Green, 「Steel」 balls! Waiting proudly, on both of his sides!
His face is fair and pale, though darker than Ruby's or Yang's!
He measures a good half a foot taller than the other youths his age!
Chapter 5: And his name is Magenta Valentine!
The Academy was a lot smaller than Beacon, and less extravagant.
But that didn't mean it wasn't grand.
The academy itself was one building: smooth and circular in shape. It was marble white and sky-blue, and it had been segmented into three areas: The lower floors, the middle floors, and the top floors.
It was like a conical pyramid.
It was a lot less intimidating to look at than Beacon, though. And I'd say that was intentional.
After all, most of the people that came here were simply kids that were just starting to become Hunters-in-training.
"Come on, Magenta! What are you doing, just staring like that! We have to go!"
"Yeah, Pinkie! We're actually going to be late now!"
"Shit, coming!"
I quickly broke away from looking at the top of the school, and quickly ran to catch up with Ruby and Yang.
The front entrance of the school had a sign driven into the ground.
Entrance Test participants: Please wait inside the lobby.
We quickly ran inside the school.
Luckily, we weren't late. We went to the front desk to register for the entrance test, and the man on the front desk gave us a piece of paper (Yang said B-13, mine said D-17). We sat on the chairs that were lining up the walls, and waited.
While we were waiting, my parents arrived, and took Ruby with them to the visitors' section.
After a few minutes of staying silent, Yang decided to strike a conversation with me.
"So…. what do you think?"
"About what?"
"About the test. What do you think it's going to be?"
"... Well, either we're pitted against each other, or against the Grimms."
Yang simply frowned at my thoughts, and sighed.
"... If we're pit against each other, then I really hope I'm not pitted against you…"
I simply gave her a smirk.
"Oh, getting soft for me, are we?"
Yang groaned.
"You know it's not that! It's just…."
I leaned my head closer to her, the smirk on my mouth growing closer.
"Just what, Yang? What could possibly be having you wish that you weren't fighting me?"
The blonde girl just glared at me.
"... You know why…"
"I really don't, so I want to know why."
She simply leered at me smirking. She was grinding her teeth now. Her cheek was glowing with a tint of light pink from the embarrassment.
"Because I never got to beat you in our spar! Even when I was going all out, even when I was using my semblance! I mean, you keep switching from standing on your feets to your hands, and you're just dodging or blocking all my punches! I never got to hit you, not even once!"
She crossed her arms and simply turned away from me. Her lilac iris bled into crimson. Her hair was starting to glow incandescently.
"Hey Yang, do you know why?"
She remained silent, but I continued.
"It's because you just charge in, without any thoughts. You just try to punch at what you're seeing. You really don't plan ahead."
"..."
"I mean, you're really really predictable. I could tell what you're going to do, just from how you step in: How you're going to punch, which arm you're going to punch with, and which part of the body you can't protect or dodge. In fact, you don't even dodge, you just take the hit. You rely too much on your semblance, and you think that those hits are nothing if you can just shoulder through it and punch me. That's half the reason why you keep losing, because you keep thinking you can resist the 「Spin」."
She whipped her head back to me as soon as I mentioned the 「Spin」.
"Yeah actually, I really wanted to ask you! What the heck's with your semblance!? I mean, it makes a ball constantly spin and it makes my arms and legs turn the other way!"
"It's not a semblance. It's the 「Spin」."
"...Wait, what?"
"It's not my semblance, I learnt it. It's an ancient mistrali martial art."
"... What?"
"I taught my dad how to use it too."
"... And you never told us!?"
"You never asked."
Yang's mouth was left agape, wide-eyed. Her brows slowly furrowed as she took this revelation all in.
I gave her a moment to take it all in, before I continued.
"As I was saying, you're strong. But you're too goddamn predictable."
"... Geeze, ok fine… I get it, I'm easy to read."
"You're like a bull in a Torero. You just look at your target and charge at it. It's really easy to lead you in a circle, you know."
"I said I get it!... Geez, way to rub salt in the wound…"
She was huffing as she turned her entire chair away from me.
"... But, you know, you aren't the easiest opponent to fight."
She turned her head slowly to look at me, one eyebrow raised.
"Are you just saying that to cheer me up, or are you telling the truth."
"I'm telling the truth. I really am."
"... Really?"
"Yeah, I mean there's Ruby, who can't even punch properly. But so long as she's still bad at hand-to-hand combat, you're not the easi-"
BAM!
I was cut off from speaking by Yang throwing a punch at my shoulder. It stung like shit, but she didn't punch hard enough to have it bruised.
I was more focused on her frowning and glaring at me, teeth bared in anger.
"I just KNEW you were going to say that!"
I could do nothing but laugh at her.
I noticed other participants looking at us; some boys glaring at us especially, flaring with jealousy.
My laughter settled down as I looked back at Yang. She was now looking at the floor, her angry frowning was trying to hide her nervousness and anxiety.
"….. Yang."
"What." She answered flatly and concisely.
"... You'll do fine, you won't have to worry about a thing."
"Easy for you to say."
"It is easy for me to say, because I know how you fight."
"..."
"I know how hard your punches are, and how fast you throw them. While I don't like to toot my own horns, I'm pretty sure I'm the only boy around your age that you didn't get to win against."
She turned her waist around. Her eyes were back to being lilac.
"That's because the other boys don't really put up a fight."
"And I know that the guys here will, and I know that you'll get up just fine."
"..." She was looking at me with her eyes half-squinted, expecting me to tease her like last time. I looked back at her with a serious expression, face intent on showing that I wasn't joking around this time.
"Yang. Remember. It doesn't matter how hard you throw your punches. Life, and everything it throws at you, can't just be solved by punching as hard as you can. What matters is how hard of a punch you can take, and stand back on your two feet. Yang, keep this in mind. Life is 「unforgiving」. It doesn't pick favourites, it doesn't pull back on its punches. And when it starts to dish out hits against you, you have to 「Stand」 back up. You have to 「Stand」 back up and throw punches back. You can fall, it's inevitable that everyone will fall someday. Sometimes, the hit from life will make your legs shake. The hit from life will make your arms weak. But remember, just because you fell, doesn't mean you can't stand back up. I don't care if it takes you seconds to get back or, or minutes, hours, days. Hell, I don't care if it takes you months or years. Get ready to stand back up and grin at the bastard we call 「the world」. Get ready to punch its teeth in."
Yang silently looked at me, mulling over my words.
"So, what does that have anything to do with today? I'm saying that whatever they throw at you today: Grimms, those girls over there-" I pointed at the girls that were talking to themselves, before looking at me pointing at them. They simply frowned at me."-, those boys that have been staring at you for the past 10 minutes or so-" I pointed at them, and they all instinctively turned their heads to other directions, trying to avoid Yang's gaze. Yang simply smirked at them. "-or even me. You're going to take their hits, and you're going to stand back up and punch them back. Understand?"
Yang's eyes softened. She gently smiled at me.
"...Yeah, I understand."
Her gentle smile turned into a confident smirk as she started to bump her fist together.
"I'll take their hits, stand back up, and beat them to the ground!" She announced confidently. She looked at me with a grin.
"And I won't be going easy on you, just because you went all 'old wizard' on me!"
"... Considering that you never won against me, I think I'm the one that's supposed to say that."
"... Buzzkill…"
We both giggled at each other. Heavy footsteps started to echo out of the hallway on the right of the lobby desk. And a figure: a teacher of the school, walked out of the hallway and into the lobby.
It was uncle Vienna.
"Welcome to Signal Academy!" Uncle Vienna shouted in confidence and authority. "We will no longer be taking any more participants, and the entrance test has now started! The participants would have gotten a slip of paper from the front desk: A letter, and a number!" He pulled out a slip of paper, length and width the same as ours.
"When I call out the letter that is on your paper, you will be following me in a straight orderly fashion! Those that have finished their test can head to the visitor's section to watch the rest of the participants in their attempt!" He waited a few moments.
"Now, those with the letter 'A', form a straight orderly line, and follow me!"
Kids started to hastily get into a line, and started to follow Uncle Vienna.
When they all left, Yang leaned in.
"Do you really think they're gonna pit us against each other?"
"It's the most likely choice, with all the categorisation and having us forms lines."
"... Then I guess I'm not fighting you today."
"Oh, is that 「relief」 I hear in your voice?"
"... I will hit you again."
I simply snickered, as we waited for our turn to come.
Uncle Vienna came in again.
"Those with the letter 'B', repeat what 'A' did and follow me!"
Kids started to stand up and form lines, and Yang soon started to follow.
"Welp, guess it's my turn. Wish me luck, Pinkie!"
She grinned as she started to walk over to the forming line.
"I don't think you'll need it."
Yang simply groaned.
"Come on, just humour me for a bit here."
I smiled at her, and gave her a thumbs up.
"Good luck, and break their legs!"
The 'B' kids simply glared at me. They were already on edge, they didn't need the Pink haired clown deciding the fate of their limbs.
Yang simply laughed at me, before walking off into the hallway.
I simply closed my eyes, crossed my legs, and waited for my turn to come.
….
"...All right! Those with the letter 'D'! Follow me!"
It was my turn now. I took a deep breath and stood up. I was joining in the line as I looked at the rest of the 'D' kids. They were looking around as well, anxiety and caution were written all over their faces.
They were thinking about who they had to fight against.
We started to walk through the hallway, twisting left and right.
We stopped in front of a large entrance. It was like the entrance to a football field.
"I'll give you 5 minutes to prepare." Uncle Vienna spoke out. "Use that time to check your weapons, check your armour, and get your Aura up. Once you step into the arena, you will get the 「rules」 to the entrance test. Best of luck." Uncle Vienna walked into the arena and disappeared from sight.
The kids immediately went to work, grabbing their weapons and getting ready to fight any second now. Few kids started to glow, while others were already trembling. Some were whispering to each other. I didn't have my personal weapon yet: you were supposed to forge them yourself in Signal Academy. But it didn't matter.
I had my steel balls, that packed a lot more punches than the Tennis balls.
And I had my temporary weapon in my pocket, inside my jacket.
"Looking pretty confident there, are those your weapons?"
I heard a mid-toned voice behind me, and I instinctively turned around.
It was a boy with blonde hair. If Yang's hair was like the sun, then this guy's hair was like metallic gold. He had a white T-shirt on, that reached down to his waist. He had a black vest over his white shirt, which had multiple metallic cylindrical containers stuck vertically on the chest area. He had low hanging pants on, with the right leg rolled up and pinned. His belt had more of those cylindrical containers dangling to his sides. He had black basketball sneakers on.
And he was short.
Really short.
Taller than Ruby, though.
But the top of his head only reached up to my chin.
That meant he was about half a head shorter than the average 13-year old.
"..."
He saw my gaze locking on his head, and just laughed.
"I know, I know, I'm short. But you know what they say: it's not about the size, it's how you use it."
I couldn't help but snicker at the guy.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to… you know, make you…. Conscious about it."
He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. He was really lax about it.
"It's fine~ It's fine~. I've been conscious about it for the past 4 years, you pointing it out is nothing now. Besides, you're a good half a head taller than the others, so it lessens the damage."
I chuckled at his relaxed forgivings.
"Heh..heheh… Oh, yeah, to answer your question." I pulled my steel ball out and showed it to him. "These are indeed my weapons, but they're not my only weapon."
He raised one of his eyebrows curiously.
"Oh? And what're the other weapons?"
I winked at him, giving him a smirk.
"Now that's a secret."
"That's fair." He shrugged. "My weapons are… well, these things you are seeing." He pointed at his containers. "Or rather, what's in them."
"What's actually in them?" I was curious.
"You'll have to see when we go into the arena." He shot back the wink and smirk.
He then extended his hand to me.
"I'm Vegas Dandelion, by the way."
Vegas Dandelion
Age: 13
Title: Casino-King
Level: 32
Hp: 1,820/1,820
Aura: 2,485/2,485
Vajra: [Locked]
Str: 41.6 (32 + 30%)
Vit: 31.2 (24 + 30%)
Dex: 41.6 (32 +30%)
Mnt: 12
Int: 34
Wis: 32
Chr: 20
I grabbed his hand and shook it firmly. Giving him a smile.
"Magenta Valentine. Let's hope that both of us get into this school."
"Agreed."
An announcement blasted through the Hallway.
"Would Participants 'D' enter the arena, please."
Vegas turned to look at me.
"Guess it's our turn to shine now."
I turned to look at him, patting his back as we walked out of the entrance.
"But of course, let's give them a show."
The arena was circular, right in the middle of the building. It really was built like a football field, or a colosseum. The seats were filled with spectators, who were protected in a wall of transparent hard-light constructs, enveloping the edge of the arena and separating it from the spectator's seats.
"Go Magenta~!"
"Go Pinkie~!"
Ruby and Yang were calling out to me, cheering me on. I could feel embarrassment creeping up my face, as I simply waved at them and turned away.
"Jesus, I didn't know you already had a girlfriend."
Vegas raised his eyebrows, giving out a short whistle and looking at me.
I just looked at him with a blank stare.
"They're my childhood friends." I deadpanned.
"That's what they say one moment, then they're caught kissing each other in the next. Come on, no need to deny it."
"... I'll hit you."
"Hehehe."
The entire arena suddenly boomed with a voice, making all of us keep our mouth shut and listen.
"Greetings. I am Cloud Cielo, the Headmaster of Vale. First off, I would like to welcome you all to my school. I see all of you, gleaming with life, gleaming with a fire to fight."
I saw a few kids smile, while others puffed their chest up with pride.
"Today, you will learn that life, and the fire to fight will be useless against the world you will be stepping into. Nothing more than wasted energy. And it is already ascertained that some of you, who had entered with hope and dreams, will fail the test, and return home a failure."
The kids were already getting uneasy. Those that were trembling back in the hallway were already having their legs shaking.
"As you take this test, remember: Those who cannot fight, cannot survive."
I saw Vegas slowly take 2 containers from his chest, and grip them in each hand.
The staff members entered the Arena, each carrying a box lined neatly with scrolls.
"Each of you will be given a scroll, pre-registered with your name and Participant letter-number. You are to keep it on you at all times during the test. These are to be returned to the staff members once the test is over."
The staff members were going around us, handing us a scroll.
"Here are the rules: All of you will be fighting Grimms. You will be gaining points for every Grimm you kill, or take part in the killing."
Point for killing blows and kill assists. Sweet.
"The Grimms will be released in waves: The difficulty increases as the waves are sent. If you no longer deemed able to fight, or protect yourself, the Staff members will step in and escort you out of the Arena. There should also be a tab on your scroll: you can tap on the tab to forfeit the fight."
Everyone else started to get ready for the fight. I started to take out my steel balls from my holster.
It wasn't going to be like last time, when I first fought the Grimms.
I improved in my Aura control.
I improved in my 「Spin」.
I trained my ass off for the past 5 years.
I was Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.
….
And I developed brand new Mantras for these Grimms to see.
"Best of luck, aspiring hunters. The test will start in 5…"
4…..
I saw Vegas crouching down, getting ready to open the containers.
3…...
I started to 「Spin」 the steel balls.
2….
We all waited in bated breath. The staff members were waiting, the weapons drawn and ready.
1….
The gates in front of us opened.
START!
Hordes of Grimms started to rush out of the gates.
For the first wave, they were all Beowolves.
[Horde] Beowolves
Average Level: 15
Individual HP: 280/280
All of us started charging at the incoming horde.
New Goal created!
Objective: Pass the test
Optional Objective: Place 1st place
Reward: 15,000 Exp, Title: [Signal Initiate]
Optional Reward: +500 Fame, 15,000 Exp, Title: [Top of Signal]
I threw one of the balls, straight into the crowd of beasts.
The ball soared through the air, spinning.
It shot through the beowolves, leaving holes in their heads and chests.
The steel ball ended up lodged into a bone plate of a beowolf, the rotational inertia and the 「Spin」 causing the Beowolf to twist its claws sharply into the throat of another Grimm.
You killed 10 Beowolves!
+1 X (10) = +10 Points!
I saw other kids rushing in, stabbing and slicing at the black wolves. Some raised their shields to protect themselves, or bash in the Beowolves' heads. Some rushed in with lances, dragging the Grimms through the dirt with them.
The steel ball spun in the air, back into my hand.
Gunshots ringing in the air told me some decided to stay behind and shoot from cover.
A Grimm ran up to me, trying to swipe as I was looking around.
As soon as it brought its claws down to strike me, I immediately dropped to the floor, landing on my hand.
And sweep-kick the beast in the ribs.
Enhanced with Aura, the Grimm was effortlessly cleaved into two.
I swiftly turned to my feet, throwing the other steel ball at the horde.
You killed 12 Beowolves!
+1 X (12) = +12 Points!
The Grimm horde was thinning quickly. But they weren't the only ones who were losing numbers.
Participants were starting to get escorted out by the staff members, either because they were no longer deemed able to fight, or because they were forfeiting.
I was ready to push on, and apparently so was Vegas.
I was too busy fighting to pay attention to my new friend, so I wasn't able to see how he fought. All I saw was him throwing away his empty containers after the first wave was finished. The ground in his direction was sparkling.
The 2nd and 3rd wave was finished without any injuries.
For me and Vegas, anyway.
Number of Participants still fighting was halved. We could see some of them going to the spectator's seat to watch the rest of us fight.
Empty canisters were littered around Vegas, who was pulling out 2 containers on his belt.
I still didn't see what he did, but the disintegrating corpses of Grimms near him were filled with holes.
It honestly could evoke trypophobia if one looked at the corpse long enough.
"How many did you kill?"
Vegas asked as he started to walk up to me. He was taking deep breaths.
There was some time left for wave 4 to start. It was enough for us to get prepared.
It was pretty exhausting, and we didn't know when the test would end.
Maybe it didn't, so long as there was a participant standing.
I quickly pulled out the scroll.
59 Beowolves (+1): 59 points
23 Ursas (+2): 46 Points
59+46= 105 Points
"59 Beowolves, and 23 Ursas. How 'bout you?"
"81 Beowolves, and 12 Ursas."
"Shit, guess point-wise we're even."
"...Guess we are. 105 points?"
"105 points."
We were both silently standing next to each other, looking at the gates. We were both taking heavy breaths.
"I was thinking….." I spoke up first.
"...? About What?"
"About this whole test. I think there's something more to it than what we were thinking."
"... I'm all ears, let's hear it."
"It was bothering me while I was fighting. About the rules."
"What's wrong?"
"If I remember correctly, he said that point was given for every killing blow and kill assists. He also talked about the waves, and how if we are deemed unable to continue, or forfeit, we'll be escorted out. I'm remembering this correctly, right?"
"That's how I remember it."
"Then there's something we're overlooking."
"And what do you think we're overlooking?"
"The 「condition」 for us to pass the 「test」."
"... You had my interest, but now you have my full attention."
"He told us about taking part in killing Grimms giving us points. He never told us what the points were for. We all assumed we had to get enough points to pass, but that's just us assuming."
"... I'm starting to see your point."
"For all we know, more points could make us 「less」 likely to succeed. Of course, this is just an example. I don't actually think more points will actually make us less likely to pass."
"Then what do you think the points are for?"
"「Ranking」. Nothing more, and nothing less. It's just there to make us think, motivate us, and or simply categorise our 「Fighting Capability」."
"Then what do you think is going to let us pass?"
"Well first off, let's see what they are doing: They are 「gathering」 us into an Arena, and making us fight the Grimms. They have been putting us not against each other, but against the Grimms. 「Us」 vs 「Grimms」, 「Participants」 vs 「School」."
Vegas simply raised an eyebrow, rolling his eyes around in thought. He raised his index finger up.
"I think I'm getting what you're saying, but please explain for clarification and confirmation."
"First off, with all this information given to you, what do you think?"
"... What do I think?"
Vegas sighed crossed his arm.
"First off, what you told me made me think: This is a Hunter academy. There's more to being able to fight to be a hunter. You need to be able to think, and learn to protect people. Learning how to fight is easy; it's learning how to have a heart and mindset of a hunter that's difficult, so they're trying to test that in some way. They can always teach us how to fight Grimms at school: We do have 3 to 4 years of it. So this test isn't just testing how well we fight."
He uncrossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders.
"But that's all I could confidently say."
"You're in the same mindset as I am. I think they're trying to see how we 「act」."
"How we act?"
"Yeah. First off, we're not just fighting the Grimms by ourselves: We have 「other」 participants in the 「fight」 as well."
"...Ooooh….."
"We're not being judged by our 「fighting prowess」. Well, we are, but it's not the main thing they're looking for in us: They're seeing how well we 「act together」."
"... How well we 「cooperate」 with each other…"
"Exactly. With our numbers dwindling down, and the difficulty of the Grimm hordes increasing, the test is going to get harder and harder for us; if, we fight alone. I see a hint for this in the rules Mr. Cielo gave us as well."
"... The point system ..."
"You're onto it. You saw the points given on your scroll. It doesn't matter if you were only distracting it or dealing the final blow: You get the same amount of points either way. It's there so that cooperation doesn't impede you earning your points. But I think a lot of us failed to see that. They were too 「focused」 on getting their points, because they assumed getting the most points meant that you passed. Some even resorted to sabotaging other participants, and I'm sure they automatically failed."
"I get your point. Hunters need to know how to act together."
"Exactly. Hunters may fight, but they don't compete with each other. They're both working for the same goal, competing with each other is counterproductive: it's a detrimental quality. And then there's the other quality they're trying to look for."
"And what's that?"
"It's like you said: we need to be able to think. They're seeing us how we 「act」. They're assessing our 「judgement」."
"You mean how we assess the situation?"
"Not only that, but how we assess ourselves: Hunters, in order to live, need to know what they 「can do」 and 「can't do」. We need to know our 「limit」. That's why he told us about the 「forfeit」. Trying to stand up, again and again, is indeed an important quality, but that becomes useless if we're not aware of the situation, and ourselves. If we don't lose anything from running away, then that's obviously the better choice than dying while you're trying to fight."
"... So that's why he said tapping the tab would have you forfeit the fight…"
"Correct, he didn't say it would have you forfeit the 「test」, just the 「fight」. He's seeing if we know our limits in this fight."
"I see…."
"So, on that note: I would like to make a 「request」."
"If it's about teaming up, then I'm all ears. It's actually getting difficult to fight these things, and you just convinced me that cooperation is best."
"Perfect."
The gates started to open as we finished talking, and a group smaller than the last waves of Grimms started to emerge.
All of them were Ursas.
Vegas was the first to speak.
"My weapon doesn't have the extra oomph against these guys, so I'm gonna need help!"
"Sure thing, partner."
I threw a steel ball into the horde charging towards us. Their thick hides stopped the ball from going through them like the beowolves.
But that wasn't my intention.
The ball hit an Ursa, directly in the stomach. The 「Spin」 caused the hunching beast to turn and twist, hitting its brethrens with its outstretched arms, and tripped up those behind it. The crowd helplessly slid to the floor, entangled with each other.
"I got them tripped, but they won't stay down for long!" I shouted to Vegas.
"It's all the time I need!" He shouted back confidently. He crouched down and opened the canisters in his hands, elbows at his waist.
Inside the canister was nothing but small disks, minted and plated in shining gold.
Coins
They were coins
And they were the reason why the ground near Vegas was always sparkling at the end of each wave.
He took aim, and I saw his eyes gleaming green.
And then I heard metal clanging together.
And saw the coins flying out of the canister at the speed of a bullet.
He was using his bare hands to fire these coins at the Ursas
The coins, like bullets fired from a machine gun, rapidly bombarded the restrained Grimms. It didn't break their hide, but the force from the coins slowly forced the entangled mass to be pushed back.
And then, enough force in a concentrated spot finally broke a bit of their hide.
And that was all Vegas needed to kill the behemoths.
The golden tokens dug into their wounds, driving deep inside. The numbers of coins fired into them grew, before they were pushed out the other side.
The Ursa mass was starting to get riddled with holes like a beehive.
You killed 15 Ursas!
+2 X (15) = +30 points!
You killed 8 Ursas!
+2 X (8) = +16 points!
Another herd of Ursas jumped out behind the dead pile.
I repeated the process by throwing my other steel ball towards them, having them fall in front of its dead brethren.
They too, got the same treatment as them.
You killed 20 Ursas!
+2 X (20) = +40 points!
You killed 6 Ursas!
+2 X (6) = +12 points!
We both heard stomping to our left. Vegas's eyes went wide in surprise.
"MAGENTA, YOUR LEFT!"
Ruby's voice synched in with Vegas's, as I turned to see an Ursa bringing its claws down towards me.
I quickly dashed into its torso, the lunge in its claws was too far to hit me now, or bring it back to its body.
I quickly reached into my jacket, and pulled out my secret weapon.
SHAAASSSSHIIIN!
I slashed at Ursa's throat, using my newly improved 'Aura Reinforcement(周)' Mantra to concentrate my aura into my weapon in hand, enhancing its sharpness.
Black gunk sprayed out from the Ursa's throat, and I jumped kicked into its chest, pushing it away from me and having it fall on its back. It flailed its limbs in an effort to stand back up, but to no avail. Its limbs slowly stopped moving.
The edge of my weapon was covered in black gunk, and it was open for everyone in the Arena, including the spectators, to see.
Vega stopped his firing to look at me, brows furrowed and his mouth failing to close.
"... Are you fucking kidding me?" He finally spoke.
"What?"
"Jesus fucking christ, that's your secret weapon?" He deadpanned
"Hey, you kept your coins to yourself as if it was an Atlas military-state secret project."
"Yeah, but these were specially tailored for me so that I can fire them faster than an average gun! I can tell from the pictures on them that those are just playing cards you can get for only 2Ⱡ in the fucking toy store in the Patch City Mall!" He hissed out.
I gave him a blank stare and a shrug from my shoulders.
He looked to the skies and sighed.
"...Unbelievable….. Fucking, Unbelievable…"
"I mean, it works as well as I expected."
"... Yeah, actually, let me ask you about that! How the fuck does that work!?"
"What works what now?"
He pointed to the dead Grimm with a slit throat.
"It fucking takes me a bitch and a half with my coins to put a hole in these guys, so how did a fucking flimsy piece of cardboard paper slice through these things like a hot knife on butter!?"
I looked at the dead Ursa, then to my card, and back to Vegas.
"What else would it be? It's Aura."
"Bull. Shit. No amount of Aura is going to turn a fucking 20Ⱡ playing card into a fucking state of the art knife!"
I pointed at him, giving him a smile that only showed my upper teeth.
"That's where you're wrong, kiddo."
Vegas stared at me, dumbstruck.
"... You know what, fuck it. I'll ask you how later."
"Sure."
He turned to the horde of Ursas that were charging at the other participants, and continued with his firing. The kids were simply taking a defensive stance, getting ready to either block, fight, or run. But they wouldn't have to choose either of those options anymore.
The steel balls finally spun in the air, and back into my hands. I put one back into my holster as I threw the other ball at the horde.
Taking the opportunity of them getting pinned by each other, I split the deck of cards into a quarter, and threw the 13 cards at the vulnerable horde. The cards flew in a curved trajectory, lodging themselves into the Ursas, and making wounds for the coins to shoot into.
The combined efforts neutralised the Ursas faster than the last 2.
You killed 17 Ursas!
+2 X (17) = +34 points!
You killed 18 Ursas!
+2 X (18) = +36 points!
"Jesus Christ, that was fast," Vegas remarked. "How many was that?"
"Counting from the start of the round? About… 84 Ursas, so 168 Points."
"Shit, that's a lot."
"It really is, isn't it."
The other participants were clearing out the remaining Ursas: Some of them taking an Ursa in groups, while others cleared them out alone.
The 4th wave was over.
Vegas sat down next to me and pulled out his scroll.
"So, counting the numbers of points we just got, we should be at..."
I crouched down next to Vegas and whipped out my scroll as well.
"... 273 points."
"Yep, I'm at 273 points."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say we're in the lead."
"Yeah, I saw the other kids fighting only one or two Ursas right now."
We both looked to the remaining Participants in the Arena.
If we included ourselves, we only had 7 left standing.
"... I guess we don't have that many waves to survive through now." Vegas commented nonchalantly.
"If we're lucky, the 5th could be the last wave." I added in.
Red screens suddenly started to pop up in front of my eyes.
[DANGER!]
[WARNING!]
[DANGER!]
[WARNING!]
[INCOMING BOSS!]
[INCOMING BOSS!]
Shit, that wasn't good.
THUMP THUMP THUMP!
The gate on the north side of the Arena started to bend due to the hits from whatever was behind it.
The Staff members were starting to inch closer into the Arena, weapons drawn in front of them, getting ready to jump in and protect the kids.
Vegas and I quickly stood up, getting ready to fight the beast on the other side.
The gate finally opened, and out came the beast, running full speed into the arena before stopping in front of us.
It was built like a tank, and I wasn't exaggerating.
Its arms were thick, we couldn't see where its wrists were exactly placed.
Wide and thick plates of bone covered its forearms, forehead, and back. Spikes were protruding out from its spine, knees and elbows.
It had a singular horn protruding out between its yellow eyes.
It turned to look at all of us, and roared in savage and ferocious anger.
Alpha Beowolf
[The advancing chariot]
Species: Grimm
Type: Bestial
Level: 47
Hp: 23,000/23,000
We both stared at it.
Vegas slowly turned to me and spoke.
"... The fuck you talking about us being lucky?"
"... Shit, sorry."