Chapter 21

—Axel and Dillan both walked out of the arena with a high sense of reward. They had fought bravely to be the last two remaining players, securing a spot somewhere in the Slayer's Pack, and in turn, becoming Slayers. Jay watched the screen in his waiting area and was proud of his friends for overcoming such a challenge.

Soon it would be his turn to fight, and the players in this room would be his competition. It seemed that once prospects were put in their areas, they would only be let out of their waiting areas for the sole purpose of being placed into the arena. This meant Jay couldn't congratulate Axel and Dillan on their success in person, which made him upset.

Jay's sheath for his sword rustled against the wall as he watched his friends regain possession of their weapons from the confines of his waiting room. Now every prospect knew the unspoken rules of the fight, which made winning even more complicated if his group wasn't going in blind like Axel's.

Regardless, Jay is as prepared mentally as he would ever be.

"What, do you know them or something?" Sandra asks Jay, floating above him.

Not expecting Sandra to talk to him again, Jay was surprised at her presence and cringed as she asked him her question.

"Oh, you mean those two?" Jay says, pointing at Axel and Dillan on the screen, "Yeah, they're my friends."

"I figured you were close to them since you looked so excited when they won," Sandra responds.

"Wait, were you watching me or something?" Jay says, embarrassed.

"W-what? Hey, that part of the story doesn't matter!" Sandra blurts out, "I was only looking at you because I needed to ask you something..."

"Huh? And what's your question?" Jay responds.

"The same one I have." Blaze suddenly speaks up after being silent next to Jay, "How in the world did you get Tide so mad at you? He's treating you like a worthy opponent!"

"Oh, him..." Jay starts.

To be honest, Jay had no idea why Tide suddenly grew to hate him. It was probably because of their first interaction Jay continued to question him on his actions. Tide had killed ten players in the race portion of the tryouts, which Jay argued over a little bit. For some reason, this caused Tide to become angry. Jay assumes it's because he doesn't ever get challenged, but even so, having Tide dislike him like this was terrible news.

"The first time we talked didn't go too well. Ever since then, Tide's been calling me his 'target' or something. I didn't get it at first, but in this final section of the tryouts, it dawned on me what he means." Jay explains, "How do you guys know him? I had never heard of him before the tryouts."

Sandra looks away after Jay asks his questions. It seemed to bring back some disturbance she was trying to forget.

"Nothing, he's just popular." She replies.

Blaze looks away from Jay after Sandra cowers from them in some sort of state that was incomprehension to Jay.

"Look, Tide's just a strong player, and I'm sure it bugs her that you got singled out by him," Blaze explains.

"Yeah, but it's not like I want the attention!" Jay says further, looking in Tide's direction, "I mean, look at him!"

Blaze nods in understanding and turns to look at Tide. Jay had no hope at beating him one on one, but that wasn't Blaze's business.

"I wouldn't want to go up against him either..." Blaze says, "But it's your fault if he's mad at you, I guess."

There was silence after Blaze made his remarks. Sandra was floating nearby but wasn't at all paying attention, and Jay twitches instinctively.

"So, you're actually a hero? Or just a shopkeep in need of a title change?"

"*Hero*!!!" Blaze proclaims, putting his hand over his heart, "I don't enjoy participating in combat myself, but if it's necessary now, then I have no choice but to go along with it. I prefer guarding and protecting those that mean something to me, so I'm a hero!"

"Sure thing, I guess I kind of understand where you're coming from," Jay says, "And 'Blaze' sounds a lot like a fire-hero name, so I'm guessing that's your Aspect?"

"..." Blaze resists the urge to explain further, "Nope! We're enemies, remember? I can't just go telling everyone my weaknesses and my moves! Then I wouldn't have a chance at winning this thing!"

"Sure thing, right..." Jay says, looking away from Blaze.

Blaze, who is—without a doubt—a fire Aspect user, and Sandra, who is an air Aspect user. These two, along with Tide, make this matchup almost impossible to win.

'As long as I focus as I did in my training,' Jay thinks, 'I should be able to fend off any player at my level!'

Looking back at the tv in the waiting room, Jay gets the urge to fight at that moment. It was like it was calling him. Although he doesn't know if he even has an Aspect ability, he has his sword. His two friends on-screen had just passed and made it to Slayer status. Next up was Ivy and Kira, then him. It seemed Blaze and Sandra weren't keen on helping him with his Tide problem, but he didn't need to rely on others. It would be helpful, but Jay had accepted the fact that he would have to go at it alone.

'Please just don't mess up...' Jay tells himself.

As Jay waited for his division to participate in their match, Axel and Dillan made it to the main lobby of the Decimation.

"Congratulations!!!"

"Yea, what she said."

Ivy and Kira awaited Axel and Dillan's return from the arena since they had to make their way to the starting chambers themselves. Their fight would start in roughly ten minutes.

"I knew I was gonna win!!" Axel yells.

"Well, I don't know about all that, but I'm glad it all worked out in the end!"

"Ok, maybe it got a little crowded at the end, but we kicked ass!!" Axel says in excitement, "Me with the kicks!! And you with the... uh... the tree!!"

Dillan scratches his head at the thought of him holding a literal tree.

'Well, when you put it like that, it sounds goofy!' he thinks.

So you guys fought off four players on your own? How weak were they for that to happen?" Kira asks in a sarcastic tone.

"*HEY, SHUT UP, YOU EMO PRINCESS*!!" Axel bites.

Dillan holds Axel back as he throws some fascinating remarks in Kira's way. Ivy isn't paying that much attention to this debacle, which makes Axel question what she has on her mind.

"Hey, everything chill, Ivy?"

"Yeah... it's just..."

"What if *he* doesn't make the cut?"

"Who? Jay? Of course, he's gonna make it!!" Axel says optimistically.

Everyone fell silent, and no one agreed with Axel. This made him really confused. He hadn't really thought of Jay losing, but that reality started to sink in very fast.

"I guess... I don't know..." Axel stutters.

"Does he really not have an Aspect?" Kira asks.

"It's not that he doesn't have one, but more that it doesn't activate correctly." Ivy replies.

"Yeah, on the train during the first tryout section, he told me that his entire body just tenses up to an extreme, making him immobile until he deactivates his Aspect," Dillan adds.

"Right, but what does that mean?!" Axel says further, "Me and Ivy have our thoughts, but what about you guys?!"

Everyone else looked at each other and were all likely thinking the same thing:

'I have no idea...'

"Well, he's been training just like the rest of us, and he hasn't talked about it yet, which is still a mystery in its own, but I'm sure he's gonna whip out some new moves in front of us today!!" Axel says.

Ivy and Kira turn to the arena entrance that Axel and Dillan had just walked out from. Trying to turn the conversation towards a more positive light, Ivy looks at Kira with a big smile. Kira is taken aback by her sudden change of attitude but plays along to steer the conversation as well.

"I wonder what our playing field is gonna look like!" Ivy says to Kira, "Maybe it'll be a beach or somewhere sunny!"

"Most likely, but it could just be the same arena Axel and Dillan fought on," Kira says, crossing her arms and opening up more.

"I just hope the weather is nice, is all!" Ivy says.

>Prospects in the second group, please make your way to the door with your name on it, and make it snappy!<

Stan's voice sounded across the Decimation over the intercom, letting the players know where to go. Ivy and Kira look at each other and nod.

"Team?" Ivy says, extending her hand out.

For a second, Kira looks at Ivy's hand. She seemed to blank out for a second but came to after catching herself staring. She looks back up at Ivy and grabs her hand for a shake.

"Team!" Kira says excitedly.

Ivy and Kira split up from the group and started to head down the same hallway Axel and Dillan walked through for the start of their fight.

"Woah, the vampire looked happy for a second!!" Axel comments.

"Shut up, or I'll break your neck." Kira mumbles, still walking away from him.

'I guess she does have a good side to her after all!' Dillan thinks to himself, seeing Axel and Kira exchange remarks.

Dillan then looks up for a moment, thinking to himself still. There were still so many questions he had for Jay, and he was still scared of seeing Jay fail or something close to it.

'You got this, pal, just hold your ground!' Dillan thinks, 'You helped me see me for who I am, so don't forget yourself!'

After this, Dillan walks back to Axel, who was looking down at the ground, thinking to himself as well. After seeing Dillan get closer, he looks up and crosses his arms.

They made eye contact without extreme tension being present in the room for the first time.

"Well, I know I wasn't going to, but... thanks... for the backup..." Axel says quietly.

"Huh?"

"I SAID THANK YOU!!" Axel screams, going back to his usual self.

Axel grits his teeth at Dillan, who hadn't responded yet. It looked like he was convulsing or something, and then Axel heard it for himself. Dillan was laughing at him!

"Hey!! What's so funny, smooth brain?!" Axel says.

"Nothing's funny! I just never thought you would say it out loud!" Dillan explains, "You're usually the one to berate me, not thank me!"

"Yeah, well... don't expect to hear another thank you from me again!!" Axel says, looking away from Dillan passive-aggressively.

Dillan nodded his head, which gave Axel the right impression. All this time, Axel had been trying to get in Dillan's head, which never actually ended up working. He wanted to teach him a lesson, but Dillan ended up being the one learning something. Axel grinned and extended his gauntlet-covered hand to him in a closed fist.

"Alright, you got me. Enough with this charade." Axel says, "Are we cool?"

Dillan sees Axel's gesture and doesn't waste the moment by extending his fist forward. They fist bump.

"Sure, if that's what you *really* want now!" Dillan teases.

"Oh, *CAN IT*, you little...!!" Axel starts his insult but gets cut off from the intercom.

>For those who have already participated in their final exam, you may join the live audience in the stadium's seating for the next two fights!<

After hearing Stan's words, Axel and Dillan both decide to head up into the rows of players viewing the playoff matches live. They climbed their way to the top floor of the available bleachers and were given a spectacle to behold once they made their way into the actual seating areas.

Axel had completely undermined how many people were present and was thankful he didn't get the greater scope during his battle. His nerves would've never subsided.

Trying to find a spot suitable for them, Axel and Dillan realized very quickly that there weren't any more seats left where they were. The visibly open seats were across the entire arena and would likely get picked up very quickly by other players.

"Do you just want to stand by the guardrail?" Dillan asks.

"Works for me!!" Axel says.

The two players lean against the guard rail that keeps players from falling another level down, waiting patiently for an announcement. As soon as they got comfortable, a counter was displayed in the middle of the arena.

>30<

>29<

There was a giant screen or jumbotron in the middle. However, small holographic robots—like those outside the Decimation that scan player tickets for entry—show scoreboards and display player information. There were also screens across the stadium that showed each player's health bar and other valuable information for the audience to know. This countdown was the same one Axel had seen before, which announced the start of his fight.

"This is it!! Don't choke you shrimp!!" Axel shouts into the arena.

>5<

"Who's 'shrimp'?" Dillan asks.

"Don't worry about it!!" Axel says, holding up a thumbs up.

>4<

'So that's Ivy, I'm guessing...' Dillan thinks.

>3<

>2<

>1<

>Fight!<

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-

"I heard one of your referrals made it into our ranks, and he didn't even use his weapon!" Crash laughs it up.

The three Guildmasters, who were silently grading each player, sat in place inside a V.I.P section of the Decimation. It overlooked the entire playing field and included player statistics as well as body cams from their vision. This allowed V.I.P guests to feel immersed in the match, but only the rich and the high in status usually end up becoming V.I.Ps.

Helmet—Guildmaster of the Wolves, Crash—Guildmaster of the Sharks, and Rayna—Guildmaster of the Pythons. All were writing their detailed feedback from Axel and Dillan's match into their notes from their game menu. This was part of their judging process, which was made known to them by the other figure in the room. The leader of the Slayers Pack and the Guildmaster for the Raven's, Corvus.

Corvus wasn't grading that much but gave good insight into player strategy and even predicted the winners before the match.

"Yeah, I can see that." Helmet responds to Crash.

For a moment, Helmet watched Axel walk bravely out of the stadium with positive intent.

'You pulled it off, you berserker.' Helmet thought proudly.

Rayna hadn't written much and watched each match with little intent, keeping mental notes of what players stood out to her. So far, no one has made an impact.

"None of my referrals even got this far in the tryouts. What a pity." She whispers to herself.

Crash stood next to Helmet and watched Axel as well, remembering the week of training they had together.

"I think I might've helped your referral out a little bit, Helmet, so I think some appreciation is due!" Crash says.

"Yeah? You helped him?" Helmet asks.

"Well, I played basketball with him and used echolocation to give him tips. Then we played ball every day for a week straight!"

"So you played a game. That's not training, you idiot." Helmet responds in a joking manner, "I don't have time to play games."

"You're playing one right now!" Crash laughs.

'Obviously not like that...' Helmet thinks.

Corvus stands up out of his chair in the back and walks close to the large glass window encasing the V.I.P room from the rest of the stands. He motions his hand towards Stan, who was in his own V.I.P room at the other side of the arena. Stan nods at the gestures and signals the start of the next match.

>Prospects in the second group, please make your way to the door with your name on it, and make it snappy!<

Corvus stands next to the glass still as he awaits the start of the next tryout match. Helmet watches eagerly to see how Ivy will perform.

"After all of ~what I told you~..." Helmet whispers under his breath, "Just go with the flow, and don't force anything..."

"What was that?" Crash asks Helmet.

"Nothing, just something I picked up earlier from a fan..." Helmet says, still concentrating on the playing field. Crash turns his attention back to the middle of the arena as well, watching the previous environment fade away.

"Hey, Helmet," Rayna asks, "So I have a question."

Helmet turns to Rayna, "What is it?"

"Have you thought about which player you wanna draft yet?"

Helmet visibly flinches at the question. He hadn't thought about it all too much, and after all, he's seen and taught, Jay, Axel, and Ivy were his prime candidates. However, there was one that stuck out to him like a sore thumb.

"Yeah, I have one in mind." He replies, "Have you?"

"I haven't seen anyone that's crazy good yet, but maybe this match will have someone like that."

Helmet nods his head and checks his game menu. He scrolls to his notes and prepares a new page of notes for the next match.

"I sure hope so as well." He thinks.

"That 'Axel' kid might be my pick, but we'll have to see!" Crash says with a smile.

"Remember not to have bias. Your draft will join your Guild." Corvus adds to the conversation, "And Rayna, make sure to actually pick this time. You didn't choose anyone for the past two tryouts you've been a part of."

"Yea, cause none of them were interesting at all," Rayna says.

The Guildmasters all watched as the counter for the beginning of the match appeared above the playing field. The players in the stadium are all rolled up for the beginning of the second round of the third tryout section. The Prospects were among the most enthusiastic.

"What should the arena be like this time, Corvus?" Crash asks Corvus.

"I'm thinking..." He says.

"Rainforest theme!" Corvus proclaims, extending his hand outwards as if to give a command.

As the counter reaches zero, the playing field bursts with large trees and a constant downpour. This playing field was sure to give any player a challenge, as it was more than two miles long in size.

Ivy and Kira—along with the other eight prospects—are let loose into this enclosure.