Ch-7

Now it was time for the phase-2 of the ranking tests. The same man again came up and started speaking, "Congratulations to all of the 1246 who have passed. Now you will all participate in the phase-2 of the ranking test. The phase-2 of the ranking test will be… Multiple battle royal matches."

We all looked at each other. Battle royal? So, it was the last man standing? Then would we get our ranks based on, in which order we get defeated? We all had many questions. Asralyn looked as calm and composed as ever. It was like she did not care, how or where the fights would be. She was so confident. Of course, she was stronger than me, Laimas and Caelia together, but I knew that there were going to be many others who would be as strong as Asralyn and Zarek. There were many more, who could not come here, as they couldn't figure out the riddle on time. I did not want to imagine, how far behind from the others I was.

The man continued, "This will not be our regular battle royal. The remaining 50 in the matches qualify for phase-3 in each battle royal. There will be 5 matches. Your teammates from phase-1 will not be in the same match as you. Each match will have 250 participants. So, your job will be to make the 250, into 50, in each match. There might be some, who would have performed brilliantly in these matches, but couldn't pass. So, the best 6 of the failures in the Phase-2, will also be selected for Phase-3. Your matches begin from tomorrow. All the best, for your ranking tests. May, you have a good night of rest."

We all went to our rooms. We all started to think of a strategy. The main aim of the test was to survive. I did not know, who all would pass the phase-2. I was not sure about myself either, as I knew that the distance between me and the best was too big.

The next day, the first match of the 5 matches of the battle royals began. Asralyn had to go in the first match. She was very carefree. Her match ended fast. She herself had taken out around 17 of the opponents. She did not hide even once. There were many strong opponents, but whenever they met each other, they walked past each other without attacking. The weaker ones were defeated, and the strong ones passed. After Asralyn came back, I asked her, "What was that all about, when you people walked past each other without attacking?"

"Oh! That was nothing. As we had to defeat only 200, we went for the weaker ones. Whose ever flow of power was around the same level as them, avoided fighting each other, as it would waste a lot of time and energy."

"So, if someone met me, would they walk off?" Asked Laimas.

"No, they wouldn't. Your flow of power is weak."

How much ever bitter it felt, it was the truth. There were many people who were stronger than us. The next fight was of Laimas. He went and hid above a tree. He hid the flow of power in his body. We were given a watch, where we could see how many people were still remaining. When around 120 were remaining, someone noticed Laimas. Laimas fought him, and defeated him. The noise from the fight attracted another person. After defeating him too, Laimas went into hiding again. He passed, but was very tired, from fighting two people.

The next fight was of Caelia. We all had thought that she would be the one who would lose, as she was the weakest in our team. She was a healer, and had not focused much on her fighting power. But she had a plan. She used a sharp needle made out of water, and pierced the ground. She then filled the ground with water. The surface was still intact, and Caelia used her powers to clear up the ground a little, and fell inside that underground pool she had made. She, then made an arm made of water, even though it was nearly not as good as Zarek's control, but it did the job. She used it to fill the surface with mud again. She remained hidden underground in the pool of water for the whole match. No one came very close to the underground pool she had made, and could not notice her. She passed, while remaining hidden the whole match.

When she came back, we applauded her, for her great plan. The next match had no one from our team. And then, it was time for the last match.

I had to participate in it. I went into the battlefield. I quickly found a hiding spot, and used my move

-Wind barrier.

I created an invisible barrier of air 200 metres around me. I would get to know, if anyone is near me, if they passed through that barrier. The time kept passing by. I looked at my watch, and saw that they were only 56 people remaining. I thought that I would also pass the test, without fighting anyone, just like Caelia. But right then, someone passed through my barrier. I looked at my right. There was someone there. He had not yet noticed me. I was on high alert, ready to attack. He was walking closer to me. I knew I had to attack, and so I did.

-special move- wind tornado

I also added some fire and electricity to the tornado. It was strong. The attack was strong enough to hurt him bad. But then, he summoned his weapon, his axe and so did I, my sword. He cut my attack right through. The flow of his power. It was stronger than Asralyn's! I used my attack

-Black Fiery Strike.

He attacked back with his axe. He used

-Magma Flow

The attack was very strong. It not only cut right through my attack, but it also hit me. It hit me hard. He was too powerful. He kept coming closer. I tried running, but it looked like my leg was hurt too. I was about to give up, my whole body was paralyzed with fear, as I knew that he was way more powerful than me. But then suddenly a voice filled the air.

"The match is over. Further fighting will not be allowed."

I was saved. I had qualified. The man came up to me, and gave me a hand to get up. He helped me and left me to Asralyn and the others. He told me his name was Angun before he left.

Caelia healed me. I was able to walk again, and was in good condition. Then, there was another announcement, "To all the 250 people who have passed, congratulations. The remaining 6, who have also passed will get the message by evening. All the 256 who have passed will now participate in the Phase-3 of the ranking tests. The Phase-3 will be the simplest of them all. It will be 1v1 matches. Losing gets you disqualified. 8 wins, and you will be the winner of the ranking tests and be known as the strongest of them all. The fights will begin two days from now. So, all the participants can get enough rest and prepare accordingly.

We all went to our rooms after that. I knew that there were going to many stronger people out there. Angun was even stronger than Asralyn, I knew that. I did not know how further I would go in this ranking test, but I knew that my next fight, could also be my last in this competition.

I rested up the next day. I was completely fit by the day of the Phase-3. The fights started. Caelia's fight was before any of us. She did not look too motivated. She mostly knew that her fighting skills were not enough for her match. And the one, she had to fight was none other than Angun.

The fight was ended quickly. He did not even need to absorb his weapon, and defeated Caelia. Caelia gave up, when she understood, that she had no chance of winning.

The next fight was mine. I was taking on someone named Akkar. We were standing face to face. My parents and siblings had called me yesterday to encourage me. I had to win this match, and look pathetic to them. For them, I could at least win this match.

The match started. I summoned my sword and he summoned his spear. He attacked. A sudden gust of wind hit me. I flew close to the end of the fighting field. If I had gone out, I would have lost. He didn't stop. He came at me again. This time, I attacked too. We both could use wind, but as I could fire as well, I had the advantage. My attack broke through his and hit him. He then absorbed his weapon, and used the soul's power. I did the same too. It was already a fight with us using our full powers. I used

-Fiery strike

He used

-Rigid wind.

The attacks were almost equally powerful. He attacked again

-Air compressor.

The pressure of the air around me changed, and that took me off guard for a second. He leapt at me and hit me. I went flying, again close to fly off the fighting field. I stood up and used

-Partial Lightning Boost.

I became more faster than him, and then went behind him and hit him with my full power.

-Black Fiery Strike.

It connected. He was hurt very badly. But he still stood up. I attacked again

-special move- rage of ice.

This time, Akkar could not get up, after getting hit. He was knocked out. I had won. I had somehow defeated him.

The fight was very close. If I had not used my Partial Lightning boost, I could have lost. I had won this fight with a very narrow margin, but I could not predict what would happen next.

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