Let the games begin! [2]

Flying around a bit in the crowns of the trees, I was happy that the conjecture I had made before the survival event had been true. There were no predators this high up in the air, meaning I was already home-free.

It had been incredibly hard to master being a raven, having spent countless hours with all three of my bodies trying to get used to the sensation of being this small of an animal and having wings. This was the hellish training I had done, all for the sake of not having to engage in any battles and relaxing during my stay in the virtual world.

'I just hope that the cameras didn't activate before I escaped from Adriana...'

A bit part of why I was comfortable doing my little maneuver was because Mr. Brown had told us that they weren't monitoring us at all times, only when a battle had been initiated would they watch us.

'But man, the mana signature concealment of the mist element sure is nice...'

It turns out that almost everyone at the academy already knew how to send out their mana in order to sense others, mostly as a means of defending themselves against assassins. That is not to say that an assassin wouldn't be able to conceal his own mana signature for a brief moment, but my having a small amount of mist inside of me, I could conceal it indefinitely, as long as my mana didn't run out.

That was another reason why I was confident in covering myself in the mist, it would make it so no one could sense me flying away like a black raven. Now, for the last part of my plan...

Summoning sub-me, who was by default also a raven now, I split my bodies and let them roam the skies in two different directions, eager to get to watch the battles of the other students.

We had already spent about ten hours in the virtual realm, and so I had a feeling that things might start heating up soon.

****

[Sophie's Pov]

Having spent the first ten hours of the first day just walking around, me and Arthur had finally found our first opponent. Aside from having beaten up a couple of pitiful goblins and kobolds, I hadn't gotten to fight at all, making my fists itch a bit.

Now, I would finally get to move my body for real.

"Kukuku... So you are the first victims of the Harrower?!"

Yes, it was Peter Harrow, the edgelord in my class. In his hand was a pure black dagger that, sadly, looked like he had spray-painted it by hand.

Completely ignoring the things that were coming out of his mouth, I dashed forward with a smile. "You can wait here, Arthur! I'll be right back!"

Activating my [Draconic Strength] I felt my body powering up, but I actively chose not to transform my hands, not wanting to use them if I didn't have to. Mr. Brown had been pretty clear about it; I shouldn't show it without thinking.

Just before I got in range to attack Peter, something grabbed my ankle, making me fall down due to the change in momentum. Following that, several more arms started to emerge from the ground, wrapping around and holding onto me to make sure I couldn't move. "Ugh!"

"Kukuku! Did you think it would be that easy?! I am the Harrower!"

Looking up at the moron who was slowly walking up to me, licking the blade of his knife while speaking nonsense, I was somehow still a bit impressed at his skill.

The arms were holding me pretty tight, having circled around all of the vital parts efficiently and rapidly. 'Still, this is nothing...'

"Ha!"

With a shout, I burst out from the arms, freeing my body, and quickly stood up again.

Peter's cocky smile quickly disappeared as he saw me forcefully tearing out of his skill, "Impossible! That's my strongest skill!"

Not giving him the time to activate another skill or use a spell, I now launched myself the final two meters between us and struck him in the stomach with my fist. "Gah!"

As his body folded in half, I got behind him and put him in a chokehold until his body dematerialized and was eliminated from the competition.

After repeatedly sparring against Mr. Brown and Arthur, I didn't carry the slightest feeling of hesitation anymore, so it felt natural to bring down the enemy as efficiently as possible.

"Sophie, that was amazing!"

Arthur had come up to me, his eyes shining in admiration of what I had just done. If it was a week ago I might have reacted differently but now, "Stop that, Arthur. You already know how strong I am, we spar every day, you know."

Although it did make me happy to receive his praise, my raging love for him had mellowed out a bit after getting used to his presence. My attraction to him was still as strong, it just wasn't as intense.

His smile still made me a bit breathless though, "Haha, I guess you're right. I just wish I was as strong as you!"

'That's funny, coming from the man who already started to win some spars after just training for two weeks...'

It had been a very short battle, something I attributed to the fact that I was probably an awful matchup for Peter.

If someone who wasn't as strong as I had got caught by those shadow arms, they would have likely been out for the count, forced to accept their loss. I, however, was strong enough to be able to just push through them.

'But I have to be more careful in the future... If this was reality, and his arms were stronger, I may very well lose my life...'

It was a huge blunder, getting too excited and rushing in without a thought, a bad tendency that Mr. Brown had pointed out on several occasions.

I just couldn't help it, I had already come to terms that I love fighting, and it just hyped me up so much!

*Tak*

"What was that?"

Hearing a small sound, I instantly tensed my body, readying it in case we would get ambushed. Putting his hand on my shoulder, Arthur pointed to a tree while laughing, "Hahaha! It's just a crow, look it's up there in the tree."

Turning my eyes up, I saw the black bird happily sitting in a tree, staring at us. My face reddened as a result of my overly dramatic reaction, "Oh... It's just a bird, huh..."

*Kraw!*

****

[James's Pov]

Sophie had kicked that edgelords ass in an extremely brutal manner. 'Jesus, Sophie! Choking him to death? Come on!'

It was scary, seeing that pink-haired gorilla just running straight forward like a bull, just overpowering Peter without even needing to care that he caught her in his skill.

"It's just a crow!"

'I'm not, you stupid hero!'

While I was angry that Arthur had called sub-me a crow (I was a handsome raven, dammit!), I was currently watching another battle go down with my main body.

"Argh!"

Yet another of Trishas arrows found its mark, piercing the flesh of Bradley's left thigh.

The whole battle had pretty much consisted of Adriana and Trisha weaving in and out of combat, using the bushes and trees to their advantage while launching ranged attacks at the twins.

This, very much to their dismay.

"Stop running and fight us! You are cowards!"

"Yeah, students at Ainu shouldn't act like rats!"

Brad and Bradley were both covered in blood, having several arrows and spikes of ice sticking out of their bodies. In contrast, their weapons were completely clean, showing that they hadn't been able to land a single strike so far.

'Those weapons are pretty cool though...'

Brad was equipped with a big, two-handed mace while Bradley held a pair of dual axes.

It was evident that they were purebred warriors, and if this battle had occurred in an arena or on a battlefield, they would probably be favored against the archer and the ice-wielding all-rounder.

Alas, it did not.

Having weakened their enemies enough, Trisha and Adriana decided to finish this fight. Adriana quickly dashed forward and executed a lunging attack with her rapier towards the exhausted Brad's neck.

*Ting!*

It wasn't over just yet though. Gritting his teeth to endure the pain, he managed to parry her strike with his mace, giving time for Bradley to assist him. Or so he thought... *Pierce!*, "ARGH!"

A glowing arrow penetrated his heart, unguarded because of the fact that he had raised his mace to parry the attack of Adriana, and he was eliminated.

"Brad!"

Bradley was furious, seeing his brother getting toyed with and slaughtered like he was a wild animal. Seething with rage, he rushed at Adriana, thinking that he would at least bring her down with him.

"[Ice Lance]."

"[Power Shot]"

Giving up your defenses to charge forward was a fool's game, even more so when you were up against two enemies who had ranged capabilities.

His head was blown up by an icy spike and, just like his brother, his heart was pierced by an arrow. Unfortunately, his body didn't get dematerialized quickly enough for me to not have to bear the disgusting sights of parts of his brain flying in the air.

'Fuck! That's disgusting!'

Trying my best not to puke, as it would surely look suspicious if the raven in the tree suddenly started to empty his guts, I kept on listening to the two ladies below me. Putting her rapier back into its scabbard, Adriana opened her mouth.

"Well done, Trisha. Now, let's get back to the puzzle, shall we?"

Trisha just nodded her head, "Un."

They started moving back to where they were, prior to the muscleheads attacking them.

'Guess I should move too?'

Spreading my wings, I took to the air once more, eager to find more battles to spectate.