Baiting-I

...

There was a gust of wind, and with it, carries a bloody stench. The stench of blood in which made the surroundings feel more suffocating. In addition to the rustic smell that seems to never go away, an aura of death hung above every student's head.

It's not that anyone really died, but the uneven intervals of the painful cries are quite horror-provoking, almost at the edge of terrifying.

The monster remains filled the path— the sight of mangled ogres, goblins, and trolls sends a shiver down Alfir's spine. It's as if a giant passed through here and mindlessly slaughtered the monsters.

'Judging by the toppled trees and cracks on the earth, it is Pierre's work.'

Alfir decided on a side quest to make his time here on the battlefield more productive. Staying put is one of the most difficult tasks Alfir finds almost unbearable.

He has to do something.

And with good intentions, he tracked his 'helper' with cunning. Alfir is planning to send the MC's two strongest rivals, to train Deron, and maybe fill up the gap that the butterfly effect caused.

Alfir decided to send Pierre first since this guy sucks with his detection abilities meaning— he is easy to bait.

'You will be thankful to me, eggplant... This will hopefully give you some motivation... Kekeke...'

...

Armin feels iffy. His instincts are telling him that something VERY INTERESTING is going to happen soon, but contrary to his instincts, there is nothing noteworthy going on...

'Is there something I missed?'

Half of the applicants are culled in the first 15 minutes. This group battle's duration lasts for an hour, and the 30-minute mark is about to come.

'Let's see the points.'

Armin summoned an interface detailing the students' scores.

[TOP SCORERS

Sheila— 521 points

Pierre— 312 points

Cain—309 points

Deron— 299 points

Lorie— 282 points

Jana—212 points

Heather— 132 points

Trom— 112 points

Rodney— 108 points

Philip— 98 points

... and so on... SEE MORE…]

Sheila's score is understandable since her targeted and long-range hunting is yielding tremendous results.

Pierre's oppressive assault, movement speed, and defensive capabilities are fearsome turning him into an unstoppable juggernaut. He simply mows everything in his path.

Cain's lack of mobility and defense is supplemented by his excessive powers of mass destruction. His AOEs, in every blast he blindly unleashes, earn him a point or two. If he is lucky, he gets 10.

Deron got so much better at handling trolls he can dispatch them within 4 strikes or less and given the lack of competition in his area, he is doing so much better at gathering points.

Lorie with her lack of destructive powers is doing incredibly well as she effectively makes use of her resources. With the goblins' cries for help, Lorie is able to farm in a consistent rhythm.

Jana is pissed. Monsters kept on targeting her for no reason. If it were other applicants, they would have been eliminated already, but not Jana. She disposes of them as quickly as they came. Too bad, Jana is unaware that this is on purpose. She thought these monster attacks are normal, but no. The principal, Armin, is having the time of his life as he sends these monsters to Jana...

'If you won't participate, this principal will make you! I don't want your talent to be wasted. With my decades of experience in baiting, this is too easy. Hehehehe...'

It looks like Alfir is not the only one interested in baiting.

...

Alfir needs to act convincingly. After all, the principal is carefully watching this event. Since he is not on the principal's radar yet, he can be bolder in this one.

The sight of Pierre's destructiveness is surely something else. Alfir can only imagine what happened here.

Alfir followed Pierre's trail without any mind of stealth. The traces are quite obvious granted by Pierre's power frenzy. Alfir followed it like a curious child, purposely 'showing' his presence to the Specter Eyes floating around the place.

"Fuck! I know that I shouldn't have followed that path!"

Alfir comically clamped his mouth shut as if speaking the obvious is not stupid enough. In front of him is a purple-haired guy resting on top of a giant rock.

"Sheesh, I have to be quiet lest the monster sees me. I thought that there was some hidden task worth lots of points..." He whispered to himself, trying his darndest to make a convincing act.

Alfir ducked carefully wanting to meld with the ground, like an ant or an earthworm or a plant... He hid his presence with his mutant powers. 'I am one with earth, I am nothing but a speck of dust.' With these words, Alfir felt himself merging with nature.

"Who is there!?" Pierre shouted a threat.

Alfir turned virtually invisible, but the ruckus he made just before going into stealth is enough. He can feel the trembling in the ground—

'It is time,' A smile emerged from Alfir's lips. '…to be Wussy'

"PLEEeeAaaase! DOoOooo-on't kill me! Yaaaaaah!!"

Pierre heard the most pathetic cry he heard in his entire life.

'What the fuck is that? Is that cry even possible? Don't tell me this is a trap?' He sent an invisible slashing wave to the greenery. Trees crash as the wind blows with destructive fury.

However, there was no response.

"Yikes! That was close. Thank the lord he missed, he must be blind or su'mthin!" As if he were a third-rate actor, Alfir can't help but mention the obvious.

Almost sarcastically, the cry sounded quite derisive to Pierre's ears. Alfir did this on purpose though, and he loved every second of it.

Pierre doesn't give a fuck to weaklings like this. Usually, he leaves them alone, but this one is an exception. He sent a dozen consecutive earth-rending slashes to wherever that poor bastard is.

"Ummm, why are you attacking? I ain't done nothing!"

"You!"

That familiar voice came adjacent to him separated by at least 10 meters. It was the same guy, this time, still hiding deep in the grasses. 'This nameless fella should be using a stealth-related ability' assumed Pierre.

Pierre activated his powers carefully setting up an entrapment. Space fluctuated. Creating an indiscernible barrier shrinking from where Alfir was hiding.

"Die you scum, know that the day you—"

"HeeeeEEELP! THERE IS A MURDEROUS PSYCHO HERE!!!"

But Alfir… just ran… easily escaping Pierre's still-forming entrapment. Alfir made it look so easy yet appear at the same time to be a byproduct of luck

"I won't let you go!" Pierre didn't see the scum's face, so it will be troublesome for him if this guy successfully escapes like that. This means this is Pierre's only chance to teach the impudent guy a lesson.

As a big bully, Pierre just can't pass this up. He has never been treated like this before, that guy must pay!