The Battlegrounds

'What… What am I looking at right now…?' Asper wondered as he stared down from the top of the broken building of which he stood.

A city, or more specifically, the remnants of s city. A large field filled with broken down apartments Nada debris scattered around as far as the eye could see. Broken vehicles, pieces of shards lying around.

Real remnants. It was just like the ruins which Asper with, only… it felt strangely different. Despite all, that wasn't what had confused and surprised the young man. Rather than it being the city itself, what surprised him was-

'Is that a person flying?'

*BOOM!*

A sonic boom resounded as a humanoid figure flew right past Asper who had been hiding his presence. Another humanoid figure seemed to follow after flying behind the first figure as if chasing them.

Asper who had crouched on top the of the building felt a strong burst of air as the two collided with one another.

*BOOOOM!*

Asper could feel the repeated vibrations and surges of wind flowing through them as they clodded over and over.

The pacing of their battle was way too fast paced for Asper. Even with his perception having been improved through the upgrade of his SEN stat. They were simply moving too fast for his eyes to see.

One second they'd be east then the next they'd be to his north. He couldn't keep up. He wasn't even sure what he was trying to keep up with, they were moving as fast as missiles.

*BAMMMMMM!*

Followed by the gathering of large dark clouds, a large thunderclap struck down on the city. A few buildings away from Asper's building.

*BAM!* *BAMM!* *BAMMMM!*

One after the other, thunder struck and struck and struck.

Suddenly-

*Swoosh!*

Large bright red flames heading straight to the clouds ruptured from the area where the thunder was striking.

The flame was significantly weakened as rain poured down from the clouds.

Confusion and nervousness. These were asper's feelings as he watched these events unfold. There was no way what was happening could have been a natural phenomena as it was only happening on one specific area, such a thing was definitely not a natural phenomenon.

There was no doubt it was being caused by magic.

*BAM* *SWOOSH!* *BOOM!*

Asper who was crouched slowly got up to get a better view of what exactly was happening around him. Once he did, his eyes widened.

Those two fights which he had seen weren't the only ongoing fights around him. All over the city, there were people fighting with one another.

Asper was too dumbfounded and surprised to be able to think clearly.

It was the first time.

The first time which he had seen anything like this. Words couldn't describe the phenomenon's transpiring around Asper.

With a dry throat, he forced himself to gulp down whatever spec of saliva which rested inside of his mouth before muttering with a trembling mouth.

"S…So this is… The battlegrounds."

…

"Asper… Why are you crying?" Stella asked. Suddenly as if having realized something, with a proud smile, she quickly added. "Ah- Could it be… Those are tears of joy and gratitude to me for saving your life?" She asked

'So that's how I lived…' Asper thought to himself as he turned his head.

"Shut up… And I didn't ask you to save me." He replied

"Is that so…?" Asked Stella as a vein began to pop on her forehead.

'Damn this little…! I even offered him a lap pillow too…! Why is he so hard to talk to!? Curse? Should I place a curse on him so he falls on a banana peel or stubs his toe? Or maybe I should…'

Stella stopped once she noticed the empty look on his face.

His eyes were open but they looked so hollow and lonely. They were the eyes of someone who had nothing left.

Stella was able to recognize those eyes clearly. After all, she too…

"Where's that wind guy?" He asked

"Wind guy? If you're talking about the guy who you were fighting, I felt someone use a teleportation crystal so maybe it was him." She replied.

'So he got away… Does that mean I've completed the quest?' Asper wondered.

<Quest completed>

<Rewards received>

<Congratulations! You have levelled up!>

<You are now Level thirty>

<Initiating Class Change Exam!>

<You will be forcefully teleported to class change field>

<New Class Change Quest commencing>

"More importantly… There's something you need to know about level thirty-"

Stella was interrupted as a strange distortion in the space suddenly appeared in front of Asper. Knowing that she wouldn't have much time she simply shouted.

"Already!?" She questioned before quickly turning to Asper. "Damn it! Asper! Hide! After you're teleported don't let anyone find you! Stay well hidden! And once you're in the arena, make sure you don't-"

Those were the last words asper could remember before his body was sucked into the portal.

***

The battlegrounds. It was truly something out of this world. Asper couldn't miss this opportunity, he needed to find out as much as he could about the others fighting while he stayed hidden. Their faces, their fighting style. He needed to memories it.

But the opportunity never came.

Everything suddenly went dark and when Asper finally came to it, he was frozen. Frozen in place.

There wasn't any physical object stopping him from moving, he just simply couldn't move, breathe or do anything.

'Wha- What's happening!?'

It was then that a notification came.

<Adapted to stopped time>

<Due to low level adapt, unable to move in stopped time>

<Time taken to adapt: 29 seconds>

'What?' He questioned.

Did he heart that right? Did the system just say that time had stopped?

Asper's eyelids which had been shut prevented him from seeing what was happening around him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't open them. Nor could he hear anything.

Before Asper could give it anymore thought, he suddenly received another notification.

<Timer has reached 0:00>

<2 minutes have passed>

<First part of the quest: Survive two minutes has been completed>

<Commencing teleportation to second area.>

'Oh for fuck sa-'

Asper could do nothing but remain frozen as the feeling of being dragged and pulled somewhere surged through him body once again.

————— Next chapter preview.

<60 seconds before match begins>

<Match will soon commence>

<Objective: Kill the opponent>

<Penalty: Death>