Chapter 22

>Fight!<

—Ivy runs out of her waiting area and into the arena, ready for action. She quickly realizes that her daydream of having a sunny and peaceful battlefield isn't going to happen. Rain and the torrential wind slapped across the bark of the trees surrounding her. The leaves of the trees seem to make a canopy that she could run underneath to be safe from getting completely soaked.

'This is the *WORST*!!!' She drastically thinks to herself.

She continued to pace around the wooded landscape for a little over five minutes, not finding any sign of another player. Ivy could easily wait things out—like the tree campers in Axel's match—but like Axel, she wanted action. She was here for a reason, not for free entry.

The trees surrounding her were thicker than any redwood she had ever seen in pictures. Their branches also were massive, covering up the other fauna and bush underneath them like how Goliath towered over David.

'They look perfect for climbing and stalking from!' She thinks to herself, 'I just have to find where Kira is, and we have this in the bag.'

Concentrating hard, Ivy activates her Aspect. In a short moment, one of the branches on the tree nearby sprouts a load of new segments that allowed her to climb her way to the top of it quickly. The wood felt soaked and slippery, but Ivy also used an all-purpose combat knife from the weapon rack to help herself climb with some moderate stability.

Her bow and her quiver both swang slightly as she reached for each climbing spot and advantage, throwing off her balance ever so slightly.

After reaching the branch she was climbing towards, she covered up her presence by shrouding herself with her surroundings. She then proceeded to leap across the forest, from branch to branch and from tree to tree.

It seemed that no one was in her radius, and Ivy started to slow her roll when she came across a stream of water below her. She stopped almost immediately as she approached closer and closer to it, seeing a color not visible anywhere else.

A deer-like animal calmly took a drink from the said stream, even with the dense rain and stiff winds. Ivy admired the way it continued to thrive through the environment, which motivated her further. Looking down the stream, Ivy notices another abnormal color in the distance, except this time it wasn't fur.

'A Player!' She thinks.

According to how they ran their hand through the stream, they seemed to have a water Aspect. From the looks of it, the drawback of their power was finding a water source first instead of creating water from the air's humidity.

Aspect isn't just conjuring up magic or summoning overpowered spells. It all dealt with the way Aspect changes the aspect ratio in the game's engine. Think of the game world being made up of three-dimensional pixels, and Aspect changes their properties, i.e., their aspect. Axel's Aspect—for example—changes the pixels around him to increase in temperature, creating fire. Some other players, like Stan, can make items such as a deck of playing cards much more valuable in practice by changing their properties and other related tricks.

For this player to require a source of water was beyond Ivy, but she didn't hesitate. Ivy quickly draws the bow she picked up in her waiting room bow and reaches for a Mythril-tipped arrow inside of the bow's additional quiver.

Steadying the projectile on the string of her bow, Ivy pulls back on it to draw it. The limbs of her bow go from being lazily horizontal to a straight vertical as Ivy focuses on this shot. The player hasn't yet moved, so she had to take this opportunity immediately.

She estimates the wind blowing hard to the east would affect her overall shot by a large percent. She compensates by tilting the angle slightly. Next was the accuracy, which would be hard to calculate on a new bow.

'Why can't I just use my weapon and arrows?' Ivy thinks.

Ivy breaths in deeply, closing her eyes and summoning her Aspect. Noise collected from the plant life around the area creates an image for her. On top of this, the rest of her senses kick into high gear, helping her create a mental picture of what's around said fauna. The smell of the dirt being covered in water and the sounds of the branches flailing in the wind. She can pinpoint the exact trajectory of the player in front of her by using this method she calls:

'«Laser Focus»...' Ivy thinks calmly.

She still has her eyes closed, but the rain would only make this task harder going off of vision anyways. Along with the trees and other plants around, her life Aspect creates a solid understanding of trajectory.

Taking a deep breath, Ivy holds it in at the climax. This was when she would typically let go of her drawstring and kill the player in her sights...

But she hesitates.

Something behind her back was rummaging through the trees and fast. Ivy hears the leaves crunch and some branches even snap. Animals like the deer-like creature run amock, some being the size of a modern squirrel, but this sounded bigger.

'Another player?' Ivy thinks, opening her eyes and losing focus.

Turning around, Ivy continues to have her bow drawn. The other player down at the stream was still there, unaware of her presence, but this other player was closing in on her exact position.

The sounds kept getting closer, and as soon as this other player was about to get in range, Ivy turned around and let go of her drawstring, sending her arrow flying in the new player's path. She was surprised to see no one emerge from the area the sounds were coming from, and in fact, the sounds themselves ceased to exist.

Confused, Ivy turns back to the player at the stream.

"You almost hit me, you know?" Kira says to Ivy, sitting comfortably in a criss-cross on top of Ivy's branch.

"Kira...!" Ivy says in shock but is quickly muted when Kira lays her hand over her mouth.

"Shh! Don't make a scene!" Kira whispers back.

After meeting up so suddenly, Ivy did not accept that Kira had just up and found her. It was good to have her teammate, but she was still so razzled.

"H-how did you find me?" Ivy asks.

"No time. You almost cost us the match." Kira whispers back, pointing at the player down by the stream, "Thank goodness you didn't tag that guy."

Ivy looks back down at the water Aspect user struggling to activate his Aspect. Ivy looks back to Kira, still not understanding. Kira gets frustrated.

"Cmon, you seriously don't get it?" Kira insists.

"No!" Ivy angrily whispers.

Kira and Ivy get down low as Kira points at the player down by the stream once more, issuing Ivy to take a closer look. Even though Ivy had used Laser-Focus just moments ago, she missed some crucial information that she would need to use her sight to spot. Ivy flinches at the sight of what Kira is trying to explain.

"H-he... he doesn't have a player name or icon!" Ivy says, "Is he a ghost?"

"Close, but no cigar." Kira replies, "That's not actually a player, but a mirage of one."

A mirage of a player? Was this bait for a trap? Ivy closes her eyes and starts to use Laser-Focus once more, trying to see if another player is close by.

"Why are you daydreaming?" Kira asks.

"Shh!" Ivy replies, "It's a new move I'm working on!"

"Uh... huh...." Kira says with a strange expression.

After using laser-Focus for only a minute, Ivy notices a pattern of strange capillary waves across the river that the mirage player was leaning into. Ripples in the water like the ones she sensed had to be made by another player or a creature. They weren't natural at all. Upon further inspection, Ivy suddenly comes to a fair conclusion.

"They're the same wavelength!" She bursts.

"English? Also, keep your voice down!" Kira whispers aggressively.

"Sorry!" Ivy responds, "Look at the mirage player down there again."

Kira glances over at the player once more.

"Yeah, so what?" Kira asks.

"Do you see what he's doing?" Ivy insists.

Kira looks a little closer this time and notices that the mirage seems to be causing some sort of disturbance in the water. This looked like a newbie trying to activate a water-style Aspect.

"He looks like he's trying to massage the water, honestly..." Kira says, turning to Ivy, "What are you thinking?"

Ivy smiled proudly as she had a victorious aura around her.

"The ripples this clone is making are the same ones I can sense farther down the river!" She claims, "Which means a player has set up their own alarm system!"

"Um... I guess you deserve a gold star?" Kira says, overlooking Ivy's big moment

"Hey! rude..." Ivy says, "But what was that you said earlier? That I was about to cost us the match?"

"It's exactly as you said. Someone has set up an elaborate alarm system across the arena." Kira says, "I'm guessing if one of their clones dies or something similar, they'll investigate the area immediately, meaning if you would've committed to your shot, we both would've been in deep trouble."

"Oh, ok... wait, you knew all that already and didn't tell me first?" Ivy says in amazement.

"God, you're so slow. It makes a snail look fast in comparison!" Kira laughs.

"Again, rude!"

The pair of girls start to trek through the cast of trees and bush, making their way down the stream. The plan was simple, and Ivy's new Laser-Focus would aid in their success. Kira stayed relatively quiet during their expedition, and surprisingly enough, Ivy did as well. Whoever this trickster was, laying traps down and the sorts, Ivy and Kira knew they were their biggest enemy.

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

"*AHHH*!!!"

After only a couple more minutes of running across the treetops, Ivy and Kira both hear a bloodcurdling scream to the right of their current position. Offset from the sudden noise, Ivy and Kira look at each other and nod in understatement. This could lead them to their target or something similar.

Going off course, Ivy and Kira both jumped off of the tree they were currently on. The rain was continuing to downpour, which meant they dropped off instead of jumping. They didn't want to risk slipping, costing them some HP.

After falling for about two seconds straight, Ivy curls in her knees as she makes contact with the ground below, rolling across the forest bed to brace her impact. Kira lands easily with the help of her «Shadow Hands»—Her secondary limbs that radiate green energy—she has previously used to save Axel during the first section of the tryouts.

When both girls team up at each other's sight, the sight in front of them is grim. A player that looked identical to the mirages down the river stood next to another player who had just died.

It seemed this player meant some serious business, giving Ivy and Kira a chance to ready their weapons. Ivy draws her bow, and Kira readies her already-loaded crossbow. The weapon rack included one with its own quiver, just as Ivy's bow came with.

This player was very obviously a male player, and he was covered in all black, similar to Kira, covering his pale appearance. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt with some pop-culture reference on it, with matching black jeans. There was a chain coming out of his right pocket. He was also wearing black shoes with black socks. His hair was long and curly, colored black with red highlights. This guy looked like an average rock enthusiast by the looks of it.

The one detail that solidified this fact was the big electric guitar he was holding with both hands. It looked more like an instrument than a weapon, but the girls stayed weary.

"So you're the one cloning yourself, right?" Kira asks.

"...Right on the money, princess!" The player says.

"Shut up, you metal head!" Kira responds.

"So you go the extra mile setting up bait just to outright hunt other targets anyways?" Ivy asks.

Something didn't add up. If this guy was setting up traps down the river, why would he divert his attention to another player or situation?

"The hunt is only part of the equation!" He says, "Also, can you stop pointing your weapons at me when I'm trying to talk? It's so out of practice!"

Ivy and Kira are confused but agree to lower their weapons, holding them tightly just in case this guy tries to make a move.

"Well, to be honest, those clones of mine weren't my bait or even a trap of mine. They were just decoys to make players like you waste your time! They were just distractions!"

'*Huh*?!'

'*Huh*?!'

"You see, depending on what tune I play on this here guitar," the player explains, "I can create a variety of different things as clones and some other tricks..."

"If you want to call me anything, call me «Larx»!"

'Who in the world asked?' Kira thinks, 'We can see your name above your head, you dumbass!'

'Larx? How'd he come up with that?' Ivy thinks, 'Also, I can just see his nametag!'

"So you're a material Aspect user, I suppose..." Kira says to herself, but loud enough for Larx to hear.

"Right again, princess!" Larx teases.

"Quit calling me that punk!" Kira calls.

Ivy stayed silent for a moment, surveying the area. It was still raining pretty heavily, but where everyone was at had a large canopy of trees blocking most of it out. They could stand and have a conversation without the wind being that big of an issue. As much as it seemed they were just chatting, Ivy still felt uneasy about this entire interaction with Larx.

"So, what's your plan now? I mean, it's two against one!" Ivy says.

"Oh really?" Larx mumbles, "Are you sure about that?"

Suddenly, Kira flinches. Ivy turns to her and sees a look of horror on Kira's face. It seemed like Kira had just seen a ghost.

"What is it?" Ivy asks, "Kira, what's wrong?"

"T-they're..." Kira stutters, "They're e-everywhere!"

Looking away from Kira, Ivy notices a considerable uproar surrounding the small area that Kira, Larx, and herself occupied. It almost sounds like a stampede. Ivy's stomach dropped as she realized what Kira must've meant.

"Now, I did say my clones were a distraction..." Larx says, "But I left one important detail out."

Ivy and Kira both look frantically in all directions, sensing an unknown amount of players crowding their area. With how Larx was monologuing, they feared the worst.

After a moment of looking in every direction around them, Ivy and Kira start to spot at least thirty different Larx clones running in their path. After they get closer, Larx's clones slow down and just stand idle.

"I never said they * couldn't* be weaponized!" Larx grins.