Chapter 64 Round 3

As the second round of the third phase came to an end, applicant 3360, Amethyst, was declared the victor. Like before, nurses from the infirmary came with stretchers, but not just for one applicant—before both. Both Dot and Amethyst were put on a stretcher and led away.

As Amethyst was being loaded onto her stretcher, she caught sight of her former opponent during the second phase, the young man with blonde hair that used an oversized broadsword. He was standing there with his arms crossed, watching as the nurses were putting the two applicants on their stretchers.

At this point, Amethyst's body was tapped out; she had no more energy to give. While looking at the blonde-haired young man, her vision started to drift and become blurry. She was passing out, and she knew it, but she had to do one more thing. Just one final thing before Amethyst was stabbed in the back by Dot's numerous knives.

She remembered that the young man screamed at her to look out. Even though they didn't know each other and were fighting not too long ago, for some reason, he still chose to warn her. It didn't do her any good, but to Amethyst, currently, it was the thought that counted.

As she was slipping away, she mouthed the words "thank you" to the young man, and he saw and made out what she had said. Because after she did it, he simply rolled his eyes and turned his head away. This made the purple-haired girl smile as she passed out.

Eventually, both Dot and Amethyst were led out of the ring when it was empty once again. T.K. looked in the direction of a female assistant holding the small black box. When he nodded his head, she proceeded to stick her hand in and pull out two more slivers of paper.

"I wonder if I'm gonna be next," Jake thought. As he did, he scanned the remaining applicants. "If I am, then I wonder who I'll fight." Not including himself or the little girl gabby, there were now 7 remaining applicants. Jake's eyes landed on each of them. If I do fight this go-round, can I win?

His eyes landed on the mysterious applicant with the wooden helmet on their head. Gazing at them, he was hit with nothing but confusion. Why the hell do they have that thing on their head? But his thoughts then went to if he could beat them or not. He looked at their massive frame; they were big and probably muscular, and because of that helmet, probably had a lot of hidden secrets and skills. Jake felt unsure if he could defeat them, so he put them in the maybe pile.

He then caught sight of a young man wearing thick-rimmed glasses. The guy looked small and scrawny; the rental weapon he had, was a bladed spear, looked bigger than him. He came off like a total pushover. "I hope I fight him," Jake thought. Jake put Mr. Glasses in the yes pile.

He then shifted his gaze to a young man with a buzz cut wearing jogging clothes. He seemed to be around his and Zack's age, but he had a fierce look about him. From the way he stood to the way he held his sword in his hands, Jake could tell that this guy meant business. He didn't come off like a rookie; he wasn't like him at all. He was more like Zack. At that, Jake's thoughts went to Zack, his partner in crime this entire exam.

Jake thought, if he was made to fight Zack, could he win? But those thoughts went from could he win to could he fight him at all. Thinking about fighting the energetic, smiling, spiky-haired guy that had saved his ass more than once throughout the exam made Jake hesitate. "I wouldn't want to fight Zack," he thought. "He has helped me at every turn, even when I wouldn't do the same for him." Jake felt that bit of shame once again for leaving Zack behind in the first phase. Guilt felt as if it was tying a noose around his neck. "Could I fight him?" Jake Thought. "Could I really fight someone who's helped me win this entire time?" Jake couldn't come up with an answer, but he let out an exhausted breath as he chuckled to himself softly. "Even if I could fight him, I wouldn't win. He's got years of experience on me," so Jake put Zack and the buzz-cut guy in the no pile. Then Jake looked at another applicant; something about this guy was very familiar, but he couldn't place where he saw him before. But by the way he looked, Jake smirked, thinking if I'm put up against him, I'm pretty sure I would win, so Jake put this applicant in the yes pile. Then Jake's eyes landed on the final applicant, the towering man, Heracles. Just looking at him sent a chill down Jake's spine. He immediately put the man from the land of Eden in the definitely not pile.

"I would have an easier time fighting the muscular woman than him," Jake thought as he quickly turned his head away. When he did, the female assistant had pulled out two new slivers of paper and began to read them. "Round 3 will be… Against applicant 0707, Zack, and applicant 3892, Banjo." After this was announced, Jake heard a snicker come from right next to him as he saw Zack walk towards the ring with his hands in his pockets, smiling as he took each step. As Zack was walking towards the ring, back in the viewing room, the beastmen Angus perked up, "Ah, so he's fighting next?" Moon D shot a look at Angus, "You interested in that applicant?" He asked. Angus smirked in response, "Yea, you could say so. That boy and I fought in the first phase." Moon D snickered, "Oh, so I'm guessing he's the one who cut you like that, ugh?" Angus rolled his eyes, not wanting to let the annoying announcer get under his skin. Moon D still laughed anyway. As Zack was entering the ring, Angus thought to himself, "I wonder if you have any more tricks up your sleeve, boy." But where Angus was a little excited, someone else was slightly put off from what they were seeing.

One of the assistants in the viewing room narrowed their eyes when they watched Zack enter the ring, and they weren't the only one. But so did T.K, the assistant standing in the ring currently. He cocked his head to the side as he looked at Zack, "What the hell are you doing here?" He asked the spiky-haired young man. Zack shot a glance at the bald referee with a blank expression on his face. When he figured out what the man was asking, Zack flashed him a toothy smile, then said, "What does it look like? I'm participating in the entrance exam." T.K rubbed his head in annoyance, "Yeah, I can see that, but you and I both know you shouldn't be here, hell, you don't have to be here." Zack jokingly waved his hand in front of his face as if he was gently swatting at a fly, "Yeah, I know, but there isn't any rule that says I can't be here, so I came." Zack walked up closer to the referee, chuckling as he did, "Besides, this beats just sitting around doing nothing." The man went from rubbing his head to his eyes as he and Zack stood face to face. Watching this was Jake. He nor anyone else heard what the two were saying, but by watching how the two were reacting around one another, it came off as if they knew one another.

"Does Zack know that bald guy?" Jake thought. As Zack was facing T.K, he heard a heavy footstep enter the ring. He smirked, "Well, that sounds like my opponent." He thought, thinking of Heracles. "Can't say I'd win, but it'd be fun as hell." Zack turned in the direction of his opponent, and when his eyes landed on them, his smile melted away into a frown as he looked at the applicant that stepped in the ring. The person who was Zack's opponent in this round was very large. Their rental weapon was a butcher's knife. They had unkempt hair, wearing a biker's jacket with the sleeves removed. They had yellow rotten teeth, and they were ugly as sin with a sword slash across their face. The applicant that entered the ring was the troll-looking applicant that tried to fight Zack and take his armband in the second phase. His appearance was unsightly and made Zack very unamused.

"Hey, tubby," he said, already bored out of his mind, "Looks like you somehow managed to waddle your way all the way to the third phase. Good for you." Zack gave the ogre-looking applicant a lazy, slow clap as he looked at him. The ogre-looking applicant smiled his rotten smile as he gave Zack a fake laugh, "Oh, haha, very funny, you son of a bitch. I managed to make it this far with my skill." Zack rolled his eyes, "What skill? Eating, not showering, tooth decay?" The troll-looking applicant brandished his weapon at Zack as he chuckled, "Keep making your little sassy jokes, punk, 'cause they're about to be your last. I'm about to show you how outclassed you are compared to me." "Yea, yea, yea," Zack said as he rolled his eyes once more, taking steps towards his opponent, "Let's just get this over with."

"Wait," called out T.K, "You don't possess a weapon. Allow one of my colleagues to get you…" But before T.K could finish speaking, Zack cut him off, "Thanks but no thanks, there's no need to bother against this asshole. I won't even need one." The referee couldn't help but shrug his shoulders as he said, "All right then, let round 3 begin."