Chapter 55: Battle Royale(2)
"Begone Awakened."
She landed on the ground but stayed still as though unable to accept her defeat.
Dale turned away from her, he had to keep his focus on the other people in the arena. Aside from the girl he had just eliminated, some of the other recruits seemed to have been kicked out.
During his thought process, he ensured to keep walking in the opposite direction of the spinning arena.
He turned and counted the people still there, ’Twelve in total. There’s me, Austin, Gary, Sarah, Trevor, and then the seven others I’m not familiar with.’
Everyone was engaged in a fight except for him and one other recruit who just stared at him as he owed him money.
He stared at the recruit and tried to take down any notable features. The only thing that would have been unique about him was the flower earring in his ear.
Aside from that, brown eyes and black hair were quite common features. For all he knew, that might have been the reason.
Given Dale’s past, it wasn’t totally outside the realm of possibility. But as he so clearly remembered, he hadn’t had a reason to seek out a loan so that was obviously not it.
There was another possibility. The recruit was watching him because he was the only Dormant left in the arena.
It was only natural to seek out the person or people you considered weaker than you. Dale knew it was no different because if there was another Dormant aside from him, he would’ve certainly gone after the person.
’This will be a lot more difficult than when it was that girl.’ The boy had certainly been watching him for quite a while so he had seen the speed Dale was able to achieve.
The only surprises he had left were the lightning bolt and his ability skill. Knowing this, he forced an awkward smile.
"Don’t you want to go after the other ten Awakened in the arena? Think about it, if you successfully eliminate all of them then I’ll be a sort of reward." His voice came out extremely sincere.
The boy scoffed and pointed a finger at Dale. "Nice try but I’m not a fool."
Dalw shrugged, "I never said that but it was worth a try." Then he leaned forward and gripped his sabers.
Lightning coated him and he ran so fast that he seemed to vanish. While he would have liked to keep some cards to himself, life seldom gave people what they wanted.
In this case, a jerk decided to force him to reveal more about himself than he wanted to.
The recruit stepped back slightly. Not enough to topple his balance but just enough for Dale’s blade to miss him.
Dale swung his left saber and the recruit jumped back, avoiding the blow entirely. No attack seemed to faze the boy.
It was already beyond abnormal that he could keep up with the speed given to him by quasi-Ascended sabers but the ease with which he used to avoid Dale was simply unnerving.
’Damn him.’ He used [Lightning Rod] and a bolt of lightning left both blades and started to converge on the recruit.
For the first time, he seemed genuinely distraught. He seemed about to dodge but froze, letting the lightning bolt strike him square on the chest.
The force sent the recruit flying but mid-air, he spun around and landed gracefully, skidding to a stop.
He stared at Dale with wide eyes. "Amazing! I didn’t know a Dormant was capable of battle prowess as versatile as this." Then bowed slightly.
"I am Gustav Rose and it’s my pleasure to make your acquaintance." Gustav lifted his eyes to meet Dale’s.
Then he stood up and took on a fighting stance of his own. The outline of his body blurred and he charged in faster than Dale could blink.
Dale swung both sabers down just as Gustav swung his arms up.
They collided and the right saber was knocked out of his hand. Dale’s eyes widened, ’What the fu—’
[Lightning Rod] unleashed a bolt of lightning which Gustav easily dodged. That was never the plan though.
Dale jumped back and caught his right saber, quickly adjusting his stance.
Gustav appraised him slowly and spoke without a care in the world. "I was wondering why I recognized that stance. The flexibility and lethality of your battle style can only belong to The Winged Snake. Am I right?"
The latter ignored his question. The last thing Dale needed was to let his opponent’s words faze him.
It might have been a lucky guess for all he knew. ’But there is a chance this is someone who isn’t normal.’
Whichever it was, it didn’t matter. What did was ensure he knocked him out of the arena?
Dale was about to move when Gustav shook his head slowly. "You’re still so focused on this trivial assessment? No matter, I can always raise my ranks." The latter jumped out of the arena.
He landed softly on the ground, eliminating himself, and turned to him. "I don’t believe I got your name."
Dale hesitated but eventually gave in, "Dale Green."
Gustav smiled as he walked into the stands.
’Crazy.’ Dale remarked and turned back to the arena. One other recruit had been eliminated so it remained ten people.
A girl walked in front of him with ill-hidden contempt written all over her face. He was sure he had somehow offended her.
Luckily, he didn’t have to wait long to know what he had done. "You knocked out my friend." It wasn’t hard to figure out who she was referring to.
He raised an eyebrow, "Porcupine head is your friend? Sheesh, how do you guys hug? Must be painful."
The girl’s lips curled up and she pointed a finger at Dale, letting her comically large bracelets dangle.
She threw out her hand and her bangles flew out of her hand. Dale swung his blade to deflect them.
A few inches before hitting the edge of his saber, the bracelets dismantled, wrapping themselves around his wrist.
"This is for her!" She raised her hand and the bracelets lifted Dale off his feet. He struggled, even activating the skills of his weapon but it did little to help.
"I would have loved to gloat but I’m not giving you a chance to escape." Then she waved her hand launching Dale out of the arena.
He struck the ground and was eliminated. The bracelets unlatched themselves from his wrists and returned to the girl.
Before she could receive them though, she was suddenly tossed out of the arena.
Austin stood over the edge and nodded at Dale, "And that is for my friend whom you just eliminated." Then he returned to the eight-way battle.
Even though he was eliminated, Dale couldn’t stop smiling as he walked to his seat. It wasn’t because he made it to the top ten.
It was simply because the girl who had eliminated him soon followed him. ’Vindication is the sweetest thing.’
