"WHO THE HELL IS NATHAN LANGLEY?!"

In a dimly lit room, Billy and two middle-aged men were kneeling before a woman.

The woman was dressed in a long, black gown with a veil. Even though the veil obscured her face, it failed to conceal her long and pointed ears.

The men shared a similar appearance, with pointed noses and black hair. They appeared somewhat mysterious due to the aura surrounding them, which had a purplish hue.

"The tournament has started so, the both of you can go now," the lady said.

"Remember, you must bring him alive." She added.

"Yes, master." The men said in unision.

The lady touched their backs and they disappeared, leaving only Billy.

"Don't worry, it'll soon be your turn," the lady said.

"I'll wait, master," Billy said.

******

"In twenty minutes, all the students present in this academy are expected to gather in the arena!" A voice announced.

'It's time.'

Nathan was currently in a room full of participants. There was a weapon rack at the edge where the participants were going to choose weapons.

Nathan was resting his body on the wall with his eyes closed.

The room was filled with numerous students from various academies. There were a lot of students in the room right now, though Nathan was unsure of their exact number.

Evaine was glaring at Nathan with a sword she had chosen in her hand, while Lena, Joey, and Declan were inspecting the weapons.

Even with his eyes closed, Nathan could still feel Evaine's gaze on him.

All of the participants were wearing latex battle cloth with their respective academies' names printed behind it.

After some time, Nathan went to the weapon rack and picked up a random short sword. They were all made from bones of lower rank beasts so, there was no need to be picky.

"I guess I won't use any weapon," Declan said while looking at the weapon rack.

Even in Vina academy, he has always been trying to see if there was any weapon he could use but at the end of the day, he still had to rely on his ability.

Joey had already picked a spear and Lena didn't pick any weapon.

"The tournament is about to begin. Students representing an academy should enter the ring as soon as their name is called." The voice announced.

The screen that was in the room was displaying the ring and the man that was announcing.

"Excel Academy," the man said.

Five students immediately left the room and walked towards the ring.

Their names were projected onto a massive screen that the entire arena could see as soon as they stepped into the ring.

The man continued calling names of academies and the numbers of people in the room were decreasing.

"Vina academy."

Nathan, Joey, Lena, Declan and Evaine left the room and walked towards the ring.

After some time, the ring became filled with students.

*******

A woman with short green hair was sitting idly in a room in one of the academy's buildings and staring at the screen showing the names of the participants.

"Huh!"

She abruptly stood up and walked in the direction of the door, but it opened before she could get there.

Flora stepped inside and shut the door.

"Lucy, I thi~."

"What did you say your brother's name was?" Lucy asked.

"Uh.. Nathan," Flora replied.

"Nathan Langley, right?" She asked again.

"Yes, why are you asking?"

Lucy pointed at the screen where the names were displayed.

Flora's eyes widened in shock and her hands began shaking. Not a word could escape her lips even as she opened them.

"Wait... Na-Nathan... Is Nathan alive?"

She turned towards her friend before speaking.

"I don't know but this can't be a coincidence."

She would need to see his face before she would believe anything at this point.

Flora ran out of the room with Lucy following behind her. She was going to see the face of 'this' Nathan Langley.

'Nathan is it really you?'

******

The man started telling them the rules of the tournament.

"After being teleported to area 19, the students representing a specific academy will have a mission to find a teleportation orb to return while avoiding hidden traps." The man said.

Nathan remembered that area 19 was where the golden furred gorillas resided and that was where he killed the rogue gorilla.

Some of the students started voicing out their complaints.

Most of them were worried about the beasts and how they'll fight them with these lower rank weapons.

The suprising thing was that they didn't receive any response.

Carrying teleportation orbs in their hands, a few teachers from Zur Academy approached the ring.

They started teleporting the students to area 19.

One of the teachers walked towards Nathan and after Nathan and his team held his hand, he pressed the button.

They appeared in the familiar forest. Nathan looked around before he heard the teacher's voice.

"Good luck," the teacher said before teleporting back.

Students could watch the participants' activities on the arena screen thanks to a device that appeared to be a camera that was hovering above each one of them.

"How are we gonna evade the traps?" Joey asked.

"I guess we'll have to start moving to find out," Declan said.

Nathan didn't say anything yet. He was just focused on the ground.

'I have a feeling that these traps are in the ground.' Nathan thought.

As they were walking, two men suddenly appeared in front of them.

The men looked alike and a purplish aura was surrounding them.

Without wasting time, Nathan raised his sword in front of him. The others were also alert.

'This isn't part of the tournament.' Nathan thought.

"Let's make a deal. Pointing at Nathan, the first man said, "Give me that boy and the rest of you will leave here alive."

"Never!" Lena's expression turned fierce as she sneered.

She would never let any harm come to her saviour.

"Oh, really?" The man looked at the others and saw that they weren't backing down.

The fact that Evaine was still standing with them and even willing to fight surprised Nathan, to be honest.

She always glared at him as if she wanted him dead that second so he didn't really expect her to stay.

The first man instantly increased the amount of aura he was exuding, making their eyes widen in shock.

'Legendary rank!' Nathan thought.

"What do you want with me?" Nathan asked.

"You don't need to know," the man replied.

'This guy is stronger than the other one.' Nathan thought.

The aura that the first man was releasing was far more stronger than the second one.

*Sigh*

"I have no other choice," the man said.

"Lena!" Nathan called out.

Immediately Lena heard Nathan's voice, she knew what he wanted.

The man stretched out his right hand and a purple spike formed that headed towards Nathan.

The spike was fast but Lena was a little bit faster.

She brought Nathan's new short sword out from her space ring and threw it towards him.

*CLANG*

Immediately Nathan caught the sword, he deflected the spike.

"Fast... I see," the man said.

He stretched his hand again and this time, lots of spikes moved towards Nathan.

While Nathan was deflecting the spikes, the others weren't standing.

They were locked in battle with the second man.

From the man's aura, Nathan could guess that he was at least a special rank gifted.

The strength gap was much but their numbers helped them to stand their ground.

Meanwhile, the teachers in the arena were trying to teleport to area 19 but the teleportation orb wasn't working.

"Why isn't it working?"

"I don't know, this hasn't happened before."

None of them had an idea who the two men were but they could see that they were powerful.

"Shit..we have to save them," one of he teachers said.

"I'll tell headmaster Verne. The rest of you should stay here," the man who was making the announcements said.

*******

Celine was sitting in her office with the masked girl standing behind her.

They were both watching the tournament from a holographic screen in front of them.

Suddenly, a surprised look appeared on her face immediately the two men appeared.

"Amara.. you're still alive, huh?" Celine muttered.

She closed her eyes for some seconds before she opened them again.

'This boy can't die now, I still need him.' Celine thought.

"Elysia, you know what to do," Celine said.

"Yes, Lady Celine," Elysia, the masked girl, said.

"If there's any sign of 'it' happening, retreat immediately."

"I understand, Lady Celine," Elysia said before she disappeared.

"We'll meet again, Amara." Celine muttered.

*******

Nathan was having a tough time against the man. Even though he wasn't injured yet, he knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid it for much longer.

He could even see Joey and the rest struggling to keep up with the other man.

"Ugh..."

Nathan groaned as one of the purple orbs hit him.

"Just give up already, there's no need to fight," the man said.

Nathan stood up and gripped his sword tightly. He wasn't going to give up yet and moreover, he had a quest.

[Quest]

[Survive]

[Rewards]

[1500 points]

[Two vampiric skills]

[Two fire element skills]

"You can sa~"

Someone suddenly appeared above Nathan and the man.

It was a girl with blonde hair and she was wearing a white mask that only showed her blue eyes.

The wind made her skirt flutter, showing the full length of her leggings.

Her two arms were spread out like wings and her left leg was slightly raised.

Everyone raised their heads to see the newcomer.

Even the arena was silent as all the students watched the girl coming down gracefully.

Her right foot touched the ground and then..

*WHOOSH*

A green wave of energy left her body, making the man leap back.

Nathan immediately recognized the girl. She was Celine's guardian or something like that.

"What are you doing here?" Nathan asked.

"Just let me help you," she said.

Nathan didn't know her true intentions but he actually needed help now.

The other man was battling with the rest so, they were in no position to help.

Nathan held his sword and took his stance. Elysia tapped her space ring and brought out two daggers. A green glow covered the daggers and she also took a stance.

Nathan wasn't a fool. He knew that his physical abilities and earth element wouldn't be enough.

"I'll have to," Nathan said.

"I understand," Siena said.

In an instant, lightning and fire surrounding Nathan's legs. His feets were filled with energy and his body glowed brightly.

"Hahaha, you've finally decided." The man laughed out.

Earth spikes and fireballs swirled around Nathan. He activated the venomous blade skill and his sword was covered with a green liquid.

'This has to be finished quickly.' Nathan thought while looking at the other man.

"Are you guys ready?" The man asked with a grin on his face.

Nathan and Elysia just stared at him and he took that as a yes.

The battle was about to begin.

In the arena, the students jaws were dropped after seeing Nathan using the elements.

"WHO THE HELL IS NATHAN LANGLEY?!"

*******

[The story will get more interesting from here on. Please support me. Thanks]