John versus Elliott

"Yo, Digni. Welcome back! I like the new look, man!"

Upon returning to where my teammates were, I was greeted by Wang Jin in a loud voice.

"Quiet down. I don't want my cover to be blown."

"Where'd you get that, anyway? You know, the skill. I've never seen you use it before."

"It's something I bought from someone I know. I'll take you to him later."

"Sweet."

I stared at the empty arena. There were hints of it beginning to wear away from the various fights that had occurred.

"Oh, right. Before I forget, it was a great fight, Rokas. Do you know the guy?" I turned to Rokas beside me.

"I do not, Leader. He mentioned something about wanting to spar against me, but other than that, I have no clue."

"I see, I see."

Looks like it's about to start. The robotic referee from earlier appeared on the stage again and snapped his fingers.

The snap caused the entire arena to flip over like a cogwheel. It eventually stopped when the side that was underground was now facing upwards.

The flat square arena had changed completely into a forest!

Trees had populated the once barren battlefield, now shrouding the entire middle ground of the Colosseum.

Thankfully, the giant screen above us had divided its singular screen into multiple ones, allowing the audience full view of the forest.

"THE NEXT BATTLE WILL BEGIN SOON! CONTESTANTS JOHN AILEY AND ELLIOTT SERRANO ARE TO COME UP."

I still can't get used to that loud voice. Maybe the caster will take a hint and lower his volume, but I wasn't too hopeful.

Anyway, two figures began to approach the middle of the stage.

One of them was a well-dressed man who looked like he had come from Wild West times.

He sported slick black hair, a pencil mustache goatee, and a hat that looked like a cowboy's.

He wore a trench coat that was made from leather. Inside he had a black vest and a polo.

How… untimely? That's definitely not something I'd expect someone to wear in this day and age.

Alongside those, he had gloves that had the fingers cut off, and a gun belt tied around his waist. His bottom half was the same color as his hair; black in the leggings and boots.

I noticed that he had two revolvers strapped around his belt and a shotgun on his back.

Looks like he's the type to stay away and shoot with his gun. This'll be a tough match for John, even with his superior abilities.

The terrain was basically built for him, too. Maybe the Academy wanted to even the gap, since John was the top examinee.

It's starting. The arena seemed to have multiplied in size. Or maybe it just looks that way because of the trees.

Two of the screens showed Elliott and John preparing to head out. Once the referee gave them the green light, they'd start moving into their positions.

"Three, two, one. Fight!"

I focused my gaze on the cameras watching John. The moment the fight started, he scaled a nearby tree and began scouting the area.

This battle would be heavily dependent on who manages to attack first. A single shot from Elliot's revolvers looked like they'd do great damage to John.

Perhaps John was thinking of closing the distance in an instant.

Oh, he is. My eyes widened in surprise. John immediately used one of his skills: Mana Maxima.

This skill would boost his stats for a short period of time. It could be compared to Rokas' Overdrive, but Mana Maxima didn't have any drawbacks.

Using the skill, John probably heightened his agility stat. He was zooming through the forest at a fast pace, sort of like an energetic monkey.

From the map displayed on the screen, John was still quite a distance away from Elliott. It'd probably be three or four minutes before they make contact.

In the meantime, I shifted my attention to Elliott Serrano. He wasn't someone I knew, but from the get-up, I could surmise two things.

He was a die-hard fan of cowboys, or he was really skilled as a sharpshooter. Could be both, though.

I watched as Elliott's eyes, from under his hat, turned yellow. They shone for a moment before the light disappeared.

"Not here." He muttered.

Not here? Ah, he must've used a location-scouting skill. I wonder how big the range is.

Elliott continued walking through the area, using his skill every few minutes. The first few times, he wasn't so lucky.

It was only later on that I noticed Elliott's expression light up. He must've found John.

He took out his revolvers from his belt, pointing them in a random direction.

"There you are." He smirked and fired three shots from both of his guns.

*bang* *bang* *bang*

Nothing. No reaction whatsoever from John. I turned to John's side of the screen and saw that he had just barely dodged the bullets.

They flew past his face, slightly wounding his cheek. Damn, talk about a pinpoint shot.

"I was close, wasn't I? You'd better get moving, Ailey."

Elliott grinned widely, a smile practically covering his face. In his hand, a stick of dynamite appeared from thin air.

That's going to hurt John.

"Catch this."

Elliott threw the dynamite with his full force, sending it deep into what I believed was John's position.

Elliott wasn't done yet. After swiftly reloading his revolvers, he fired their entire magazine at John.

I once again turned to John's side of the fight. From the looks of it, he was unharmed but was tired. He had been able to deflect all the bullets that would potentially cause fatal damage.

"I should try harder, too! Mana Maxima."

John once again activated Mana Maxima and started to circle Elliott.

He's not following him? The location tracking skill must have a cooldown. Elliott

doesn't even have a clue that John is gearing up for an ambush.

Finally realizing that John wasn't in his original position anymore, Elliott kept his guard up. He retreated back into the bushes and began waiting for an opportunity.

The entire forest went silent once again. Two hunters, both hiding in the dark somewhere.

Who would strike first, I wonder?

"Who're you betting on, Digni?" Wang Jin asked me.

"Me? Definitely John."

"John? But isn't he having a hard time right now?"

"Yeah, but there will come a time that Elliott runs out of ammunition. From the looks of it, he doesn't seem to have one that passively produces them."

"I see."

Having ended the conversation with Wang Jin, I turned back to the screen.

"Where is that guy? Is he just going to hide forever? I'm getting impatient."

No, don't go out!

I screamed inside. Elliott didn't know it, but John was right behind him. He originally couldn't find him, but after seeing Elliot get out from hiding…

"I'm sorry."

John appeared from behind Elliott and swung down his sword.

The sound of metal clashing against something else rang across the forest.

Whoa. Elliott managed to block the sword with his gun. Now that's not something you see every day.

But it was different now. Elliott was in John's range.

It seemed like John anticipated his slash getting blocked, and so he kicked off the ground and launched his body at Elliott.

The gunslinger was sent flying, his body crashing against a tree.

"Heh. I didn't want to use these many explosives, but you've forced my hand."

In his hand, two, three, four dynamites materialized. Elliott hurriedly threw them in all directions and covered his ears with his hands.

Four deafening bangs resounded across the entire forest. The explosions had managed to clear out a large portion of the trees.

The smoke from the chaos began to clear up only a minute later, and John's kneeling body was seen in the middle of the explosion radius.

Surprisingly, he managed to survive the blasts.

"He really is something," I remarked.

Confident that he had won this match, Elliott lowered his guard and approached John.

With his revolver in hand, he raised his gun to fire.

*click*

But all that was left was a subtle clicking sound.

He had run out of bullets!

Realizing this, he immediately reached for the shotgun on his back.

But by then, it was already too late.

John had gotten up and thrown a punch at Elliott, knocking him backward.

Elliott was able to withstand the blow, however, and kept himself up.

This gave him the advantage he needed. Thanks to the attack, Elliott was launched back a couple of meters, giving him time to bring out his shotgun and aim at… John?

"Wait… where is he?"

John had seemingly disappeared and was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't try to hide, buddy! I'll just sniff you out."

Elliott's eyes began to glow yellow again, a sign he was using his tracking skill.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to process the information quick enough that John was right behind him!

He raised his other revolver to block the hit, but it was struck away by the blow from the sword.

With nothing left to fight John off, Elliott switched to his fists.

Which again, wasn't a great idea.

His gloves had holes in them where the fingers should've been. They were unprotected from the cold hard steel, and were now bleeding from the cuts.

Elliott attempted to grab John's sword from him once, but it only led to him being shoved backwards and losing his balance.

Now on the floor, Elliott spotted a small glimmer in the corner of his eye.

It was his revolver. This one had a bullet inside it, he remembered.

"Ah, it's over." I smiled.

Elliott was left unable to move. John's sword was just a few centimeters away from his throat.

"Huh… damn, it was a good fight. Alright, I surrender." Elliott took out his arm and asked John for a handshake, which he took happily.

"It indeed was! I see so much potential in you, Mister Serrano. Thank you for the battle."

Well, that's it. It was a bit closer than I expected it to be, but in the end, John won.

Looks like this part of the story stays the same.

"JOHN AILEY WINS!"