And so, they were down to eight.
Dale knew for a fact that whatever position they received would have little impact on their overall ranking when the assessnt was over.
Nobody moved in. Instead, they watched one another carefully, a silent agreent burning beneath their eyes.
If any of them moved in, everyone else would get rid of that person, thus resuming the fray.
Naturally, no one would want to sacrifice themselves to make the battle royale finish quicker.
Dale watched Austin as the latter kept his feet above the spinning arena. While the speed wasn’t too much, it was undoubtedly starting to affect their focus... well everyone except for himself.
It was quite ingenious to entirely avoid the problem rather than trying to brave through it, and that was saying sothing, considering Austin relied on his physical strength.
A humorous thought crept into Dale’s mind. ’Is it because of ? Certainly, he couldn’t be that effective of an influence.’
Nonetheless, he knew that the rest of the battle royale would be a fine watch irrespective of who won.
In the arena, tensions had started to increase alongside their nausea. Their eyes constantly darted amongst themselves, looking for a sign of action.
Eventually, the one who broke the silence was none other than Trevor. He turned to a random recruit and passed on a command.
"Snap!" All of a sudden, the piling tension and thick air beca too much for the recruit and he snapped at the closest person.
That was the mine that set off everything. Austin clenched his muscles and a strong force slamd into a recruit.
Her hair was tossed in the generated wind but her body refused to move. She t Austin’s eyes and smiled nacingly.
Her foot kicked off the ground, launching her at him.
Before the redhead could react, she headbutted him with such force that he flew out of the arena.
Dale smiled and called out to his roommate. "Got girls jumping head-on for you."
A few people turned to him and gave the most incredulous expressions their faces could muster. Not that Dale even cared.
Austin stood up and walked to the stands. His hands cradled his temple while his eyebrows were furrowed. He undoubtedly had a headache.
He sat beside Dale and the forr tapped his shoulder, "Well done. You did very well."
His roommate shrugged. "That is the bare minimum, is it not?"
Before Dale could reply, a familiar figure sat in the other seat beside him. He looked to his side, noticing Gustav.
"What?"
Gustav’s face tugged down into a small frown. "I have been cordial and sincere with you since we t yet there’s still so much distrust." He sounded genuinely hurt.
Dale rolled his eyes, "I’m sorry but as long as I don’t know anything about you, I’m not going to suddenly trust you... Heck, I’m probably never going to trust you. Might as well give up."
Austin chuckled lightly at Dale’s response then the two of them focused back on the arena much to Gustav’s disappointnt.
Trevor stared at the girl who had eliminated Austin and raised an eyebrow, "Really? A headbutt? How... unladylike. Raw force is the tactic of brutes and barbarians."
She opened her mouth to respond but before she could, Sarah flicked her wrist, sending a wall of earth drifting towards her at max speed.
Gary charged in close behind it, hidden away from the girl’s view.
Rather than using her head again, she pulled back her fist and threw a blow at the encroaching wall of earth.
Gary smiled and a forcefield surrounded him and by extension, the wall. Her fist slamd into his forcefield, pausing for an instant before shattering it.
The goal though was never to stop her from breaking the forcefield... no, not at all. Gary had already deduced that her ability skills seed all too related to physical strength and capabilities so he had sought to consu the strength of her punch.
He had succeeded.
The earthen wall slamd into her, sending her flying out of the arena.
A large portion of the watching crowd burst into laughter. The way she flew seed almost cartoonish.
Dale barely regarded the girl, keeping his gaze on the interaction between Trevor and a male recruit.
Trevor opened his mouth and the recruit raised a finger, bringing it to his lips. "Shh." All sound around both of them vanished.
Dale and Austin watched as their friend tried speaking out commands yet failed. He seed to have lost his voice.
"He can’t use his ability skill? Interesting." Dale pondered. Neither he nor Austin was foolish. They knew that Trevor could give himself commands or adjectives without needing to speak so vocalization wasn’t the issue.
It seed the recruit had taken sothing fundantal from Trevor.
Dale raised an eyebrow, ’Damnation. Are there actually people here capable of ridding soone of their very ability skill?!’ It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility.
That, though, didn’t make it any less frightening.
Trevor watched his opponent in silence — imposed or otherwise — then glanced at Sarah and Gary. The two were engaged in a four-way match against two other recruits.
His ability skill worked by letting the world itself hear his commands and adjectives. Even if he didn’t speak, it could be inferred from the concepts and ideas he passed to it.
Now though, it seed as though he was just like anyone else. Unable to be heard by the world.
That was the crux of the issue.
"You seed to be able to counter quite well," Trevor spoke slowly. He couldn’t be heard but his lips could be read.
The recruit tilted his head. "Of course. Why else would I have gone for you next?"
Dale raised an eyebrow as he read their dialogue, prompting Austin to ask questions. "What are they saying? I tried to read their lips but got sothing along the lines of ’accountant bees?’. Unless they’re talking about job-minded insects, I don’t think I read correctly."
He turned to the redhead and smiled.
"I’m not too sure myself. What I can say though is that the battle is about to change."
As Dale completed the sentence, a wave of energy swept through the arena.
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