Chapter 5

The cold breeze blew in the arena, chilling the air. Rain stared up at the huge plasma beast. A grade six plasma beast had less than average intelligence, but he still had to be careful. He charged at the plasma beast. It immediately stretched out its tongue to crush Rain. The tongue moved fast, but Rain managed to dodge. As soon as he dodged, the lizard swung its tail. 'Shit. The tongue was just a distraction'. The tail crushed Rain into the grounds, destroying the dome.

The dust that had covered the whole arena cleared. The crowd gasped. Rain stood under the huge tail perfectly fine. He had blocked the tail with his left arm. The shock wave from this collision had destroyed the dome and created a crater. Rain frowned at the beast.

"You've just ruined my clothes"

Rain grabbed its tail with both hand and threw unto its back. He leaped into the air and concentrated his plasma force into his fist, crushing into the beast. He stood on top of the beast, which lay on the ground unmoving.

There was silence in the arena. The crowd stared in awe. Rain stood in the middle of the demolished dome, staring down at the dead demon beast. Rain turned to the coordinator.

"Announce the results"

"R-Right"

He turned towards the audience.

"Rain Azaro D'Rudolf passes the first round"

Rain smiled, picked his sword, and left the arena. The figures in dark cloaks hovered above the arena. The leader among them was pondering on what he just saw. Since the higher ups had asked him to capture Rain, he knew there was something special about him. But he didn't expect Rain to defeat a grade six beast with just a single calculated punch to the demons core. Rain had punched the area where the demon core was located and slipped a decent amount of plasma force, just enough to shatter its core. This type of precision required years of training. It could be the training from the bloodlord. He had heard Rain had been trained by the bloodlord herself.

"Master, it seems we were right about him. He is the one"

"Begin the plan now. We don't have much time"

"Yes master"

Sonia stood at the entry way of the arena with her arms folded. She didn't know there were such people in the nation. His plasma force wasn't anything to be proud of, but his skill and technique were far above hers. Now she had one more person to be concerned about. She shook her head to clear her mind. She had a much stronger plasma force and most importantly her intelligence. She was hailed as one with a genius level intellect since she was born, and this was all she needed to challenge Rain.

The coordinator cleared his throat.

"The next round will start two hour later, at the sound of the bell. Until then, participants can rest and recuperate"

Two hours later, the bell was sounded to signify the start of the second round. The participants assembled while the coordinator walked towards the podium.

"As you know, this round involves an all out war between all the contestants. Only two hundred and ninety six people passed the first round, and only forty five people will pass this. Killing is allowed. The match will only end when there are only forty five people left in he arena"

The coordinator flew off the arena.

"Now begin"

Immediately participants pulled out various weapons and artifacts, and begun the blood bath. The sounds of weapons clashing echoed throughout the arena. After a few hours, the last remaining contestants summed up to forty five. Keziah stood in the arena all bloody and tired. She had lost count of how many people she had killed and injured. Cassandra rose from her seat and left the VIP area. There was no reason for her to stay anymore since Rain had made it into the top forty five. The king rose up,walked to the podium, and addressed the participants.

"The second round had ended and you are the last ones standing. You deserve the title of this kingdom's top geniuses and will be granted the privilege to join the special ops. The last match which will decide your unit and rank, will be held three days from now. You have done well"

The king finished his speech and left the podium. Rain flexed his arm muscles. This round was barely a workout for him. He couldn't even use his physical strength to its full potential, not to talk of his plasma force. But, he was looking forward to the third round. There were a lot of strong people, so he could fight to his hearts content. He looked in the direction of the other participants. 'This was going to be fun'. Rain walked out of the arena.

Three days came in a flash. The participants had assembled, while being addressed by the coordinator.

"The third round will be a one on one battle. The more opponents you defeat, the higher your rank. You can fight until you don't want to anymore. To win, your opponent has to admit defeat, fall out the ring, or die"

He lifted his hand and pointed to a wooden box.

"There are wooden planks with numbers in that box. Every participant is to have one. Go pick them, and let the games begin!"

Cassandra sat in her office working on some official cases. She wanted to go and watch Rain's battles, but she had a lot to do.

Knock!knock!

"You may enter"

The door opened to reveal the leader of the previous special ops first unit, Luck Jal. He bowed.

"Report. What have you discovered?"

"It is as you suspected bloodlord. The cult of Delaric plans to assassinate the king today"

"Where did you get this information?"

"It was leaked by one of our insiders"

Cassandra thought about what Luck had just told her. There was no way this intel could be right. There were to many flaws. Cassandra smirked.

"Do they really think they can fool me? Find out how many elders will be absent from the today's selection, and assign soldiers to guard them"

"But what about the king?"

"Jal, think about it. Delaric cult thrives on the concept that they are the only one that can bring about order. Why would they murder the king? This would only cause chaos and disorder. Isn't this the opposite of their aim? Moreover, the king will be present at the selection, there is no way the cult would make a move in broad daylight. The people who have less protection and wont be in the public eye are the elders who wont be attending the selection."

"I see. Does that mean our insider is against us?"

"No. He was probably found out. Go and begin the operation"

Luck bowed and left. Cassandra stood up from her desk and stood by the window. She stared at the sky. 'What were these people planning'. She sighed.