Chapter 56: Battle Royale

In the heart of a valley, 1000 children could be seen standing on the center of a coliseum.

The coliseum was located inside the valley, with dozens of other buildings surrounding it. Walls and towers locked the whole place up, preventing anyone from entering, or exiting the complex. Inside the coliseum were 1000 children of different kinds, others had smaller stature, others were visibly taller, others were cautious while the others were scared.

A little girl was also scared. She stood in the center of the whole coliseum, surrounded by other children that were taller or wider that her.

Although everyone was different, there was one characteristic that they held same together. They were tied by chains in all of their limbs, preventing them from doing too much movement.

The little girl looked around, trying to find out what happened, or even how she went here.

Was she kidnapped?

That can't be, she was inside her room after all. And her home was guarded with countless knights so there was no way anyone could enter and kidnap her without sounding an alarm. The little girl looked around in fear as the atmosphere of the whole place was tense.

Everyone was eyeing everyone out with obvious fear and caution. There were also others who had malice in their eyes but something prevented them from doing malicious acts.

Just as she was about to observe further, a man suddenly appeared on a pedestal a few meters up from their level.

He banged a steel sphere, creating a loud noise that sounded weird but got the attention of all the children below.

The man was wearing a hooded robe that covered his entire body. Behind him were two women wearing armor, one with a spear and the other with a sword sheathed on her waist.

The man observed the children for a moment, then he coughed and said loudly, "Welcome, children. You have either been chosen to participate in this training regime, coerced, forced or even sold, but we welcome you all."

His voice sounded hoarse, as if he forced himself to make that voice.

"Anyhow, as everyone of you are candidates, we will now begin testing everyone if they have the will to become a Hunter. There will be a series of tests, 5 tests in total. Each of these would test you capabilities in all directions."

Then he grabbed a piece of paper and raised it up in the air for them to see.

"This is a Mark of Chalice, once you receive a note, that means you have passed the test. Once you have this in hand, we will give you 3 days to submit this to the authorities inside the training den and move on to the next test."

Then he put down the paper on the table. He grabbed a card and raised it up, "This is your Entrance Examination Pass. Once you have this, that means you have completed and passed all the tests, making you a bonafide Hunter and eligible to go to the wild to Hunt beasts."

He looked at the children's faces.

"Any questions?" He asked.

The children went silent, afraid and confused.

Then one child raised his arm, "Will we be able to eat or sleep?"

The man turned to the child, then nodded his head. "Yes, all "necessary materials" are to be provided to you for free. You can eat, sleep and even take a bath if you want to."

Hearing that, the boy nodded his head and put down his hand. Then another one raised her hand.

"What would the series of tests be?"

It was a little girl who had a cold face, her eyes devoid of light.

"Good question." The man uttered, "There would be 5 tests, Survivability, Combat, Physiology, Enmacht and Letting. These will be the names of the 5 tests that you will undergo, when you complete everything, you are eligible to be Hunters and can be deployed at anytime."

She put down her hand and nodded her head.

The man looked around and said, "Last question, anyone?"

The little girl raised her hand.

"Why am I included into this program?"

The entire place turned silent, most of the children turned their heads to look at her.

A small child with a petite build, she might probably be the smallest in the entire group. With light brown hair and black eyes, she was someone who looked adorable.

The man turned his head, "..Tell me your name, child."

The little girl raised her head just a bit higher and said in a haughty tone, "Gwynnevere Estas Villanos. The only treasured daughter of the Villanos Clan and the little sister of Justern Estas Villanos, an S Level Hunter."

The man turned to the women behind him, then to the child, "So its Lady Gwynnevere."

Nodding his head in acknowledgement, he pulled his hood down, revealing a man with a thin beard and a mature face.

"I'm Duke Phantaos Vel Gurne of the Gurne House. Its seems to me that your parents have sold you."

"S-Sold me? Mommy and Daddy did? Impossible!" The little girl, Gwynnevere gasped in shock, she placed her hand over her mouth, covering it.

"Yes, they did, a few weeks ago." Duke Phantaos gave her a smile.

"That's, no, they wouldn't! You kidnapped me!"

The duke only smiled as Gwynnevere panicked.

"Well, I at least have to tell you their reason for selling you to me."

He then grabbed a syringe and raised it up for her to see.

"This is God's Blood, an amazing liquid that could enhance your physical abilities into superhuman levels, enabling you to both have longer lifespan as well as do physically superhuman feats such as jumping into an 8 floor building in just one leap. This is also going to be your reward for passing the tests and become a true Hunter!!"

Gwynnevere stared at the syringe, having a bad feeling.

The duke turned her head to look at her as the children around her bursts into cheers and wails.

"They sold you for 20 of these. Worth at least 60,000 Mir's."

Her eyes widened, then sweat started filling her face.

"You are a smart kid, so you should understand by now, you are a genius just like your brother." The duke continued, "When you have that much talent, wouldn't it be better if your family had two powerful Hunters? More-so someone with the Villanos blood flowing within them?"

"That…. That cannot be…" Her eyes shook as tears formed in the edges of her eyes, then she bent down and cried.

The duke stared at the child with pity in his eyes, before he turned to the other children and gave them a smile as he raised his two hands high up in the air.

"Now then!" He yelled as the cheers died down.

"The first test has began right at this moment." The children eagerly looked towards him.

"The first test, Survivability."

The speared woman took a step forward, her eyes gazed at the children.

"Only 500 candidates can pass. In the next couple of weeks, you can do anything you want in order to survive. The test will only conclude when there are only 500 candidates left, The testing place shall be this coliseum."

Then she coldly proclaimed, "Also, food, water, resting place and such will only be given after the test concludes. The test has begun."

A shrill voice then screamed out as soon as the test began.

A child grabbed a little girl and pushed her down, then pushed his hands on her neck and started choking her.

The others stared at him in disbelief and hurriedly tried to pull him away when he suddenly shouted, "Fools! Do you think we can survive without drinking or eating for one-"

"Four weeks. A month." The woman with the spear cut him off.

"For a month! We won't have any food, anything to drink!" He gritted his teeth as the little girl grabbed his hand and tried her best to push him away. "Do you think we would survive that!?"

The little girl soon stopped crying as her hand fell lifelessly on the ground. The boy stared at her, his eyes shaken, and stood up.

"Its clear what they want. They want us to kill each other until only 500 remains."

"..."

"..."

Everyone suddenly realized what the test was all about, they then distanced themselves and cautiously looked around, their guards up.

Most of the children had already assumed a stance that was prepared for a fight. They were the ones who had cuts, bruises and other wounds on their body, they were the vagrants, the beggars who had no home and had to survive by finding food in the wild or in the trash cans. And as vagrants, they learned very early that in order to live, they have to fight someone.

The minority were children of nobles, or other children who had a home that didn't require them to fight in order to get food so they were panicking and afraid that they would be targeted by the bunch.

Gwynnevere stared at the whole place as she suddenly understood why her mother told her to not sully the family name. Her brother had also gone through this examinations and passed with flying colors. He became a powerful Hunter.

It was her turn.

She glanced around, trying to find a safe spit that could hide her from the conflict that was about to erupt.

Most of the children here were either coerced, recruited or sold to participate into this training program. She knew how much of a honor it was to become a Hunter in Arkvem. 2 years ago, the pandemic erupted and started sprouting monsters and beasts, to combat this, the first Hunter raised his arms and started fighting back, soon most of the people also raised their arms and fought back.

In just a little over a month, the entire continent was plunged into chaos. Death and destruction were everywhere, only when the Crown and the First Hunter appeared that the people were safe.

Arkvem was founded in the Forest of Depravity, a large sea of forest that encompassed 20% of the entire Victorian Continent. The forest was also safer because not many Beasts and Monsters enter because they would immediately run away when they were in the vicinity, but not all of them ran. It was also thanks to this weird phenomenon that Arkvem was founded at the heart of this forest.

The city itself was still in construction, it was already about 86% complete because every male in the city worked together. And as a noble of the Ghernan Kingdom, a Kingdom near the forest, her Villanos Clan became a Noble Family in Arkvem.

Probably due to the fact that they also had the most Hunters in their possession, just two folds less than the Crown.

Becoming a Hunter meant glory, money, food, a place to sleep and such. And for these vagrants and lower class people, that was a dream to have and now, they were given a chance to become one. Also most of the children here still had parents, that also added pressure into their shoulders, making the strive to become a Hunter.

Gwynnevere knew what the other kids were thinking. Why they didn't move yet is because they were still hesitating and also afraid that this might be the last time they may breathe alive.

The whole coliseum became a standstill, none moved an inch as they patiently waited for anyone to start the conflict.

Gwynnevere had already wiped her tears away and cautiously planned a way for her to avoid this conflict. The whole coliseum was wide, at least 300 meters in radius. She turned her puffy eyes towards the children, observed for a moment, then found a path where there were the least amount of them standing in her way.

Then she looked at herself and knew that she would be a target of many children due to her short height and petite figure, she also knew that she cannot beat anyone in here in direct combat. She was at a disadvantage.

But I also have a good advantage due to my height, in the moment the scuffle begins, I should run to the center first before evading anyone. That would make me the least targeted because im going to the center, most would probably not follow after me to kill me….

She thought to herself.

Now all I need to worry about is where I'm going to go hide in safety. Gwnynnevere turned her head, looking for more advantageous places to hide in.

Silence ensued as the rapid sounds of breathing sounded throughout the whole coliseum, the silence was deafening. Gwynnevere waited patiently, holding her breath as she prepared.

Bang!

Gwynnevere hurriedly turned around to see the duke holding a pistol in his hand, the nozzle of the pistol pointing upwards as he looked over with cold eyes.

As if the gunshot was their chance, immediately, everyone pounced and tackled their targets, one by one many children fell down and the whole place turned chaotic. Screams, shouts, the whole place turned noisy.

Everything was chaos.

There were some kids who choked others, some worked together to kill a bigger foe, some stomped the other to death, some fought with their hands, some bit each other so hard that they took the flesh of their opponent with them. It was a cruel act.

An act that forced the primal instinct of man to survive. Violence.

Distracted by the viscous primal instinct of Man, Gwynnevere was caught in the head. She hurriedly turned to see the girl with a cold face staring at her, then she pushed her head down, forcing Gwynnevere to squat down as she punched at a boy who was trying to pounce on them.

The girl then swiftly turned around and pushed her body down, grabbed the legs of a girl who was trying to hit them on the back and brutally punched her until she was bleeding on her nose.

Then she turned to look at Gwynnevere.

She stared at her coldly before she grabbed her and placed her on her shoulder and ran to the other direction.

Gwynnevere was baffled, then panicked as she trashed around, trying to get the girl to let her go.

"Let me go!"

The cold girl only stayed silent as she ran.

When she arrived in a place where there were a lot of dead children, the cold girl placed her down gently and pushed her down, "Lie down and stay still. Act dead." She said then turned around abruptly.

Gwynnevere stared at her leaving back, flabbergasted that that situation just happened.

"W-Wait!" She called out, only to see the cold girl place her index finger over her lips, signaling for her to stay silent.

Gwynnevere stared at her in disbelief, then she hurriedly looked around, crawled around the dead bodies of children before she plopped down and became still. The fighting slowly died down as night soon came. Gwynnevere continued to stay down and not move, afraid that someone would see her and kill her.

After all, she was the easiest to kill with her small frame and petite figure. She was also pretty weak physically so there was nothing she could do. So she did what she had to do, stay silent.

Soon the entire coliseum became dark, no light shined upon them. Gwynnevere couldn't even see a few feet away from her.

Should I move away? She thought to herself, after all if someone saw her get carried by that little girl and memorized where she was, she might get stomped to death in a few moment.

Just as she was hesitating, footsteps sounded out. It sounded like it was approaching her, prompting Gwynnevere to stop moving and lied still as a stick on the ground. The footsteps got closer and closer as her heart beat faster and faster.

What should I do? What should I do? Panic overridden her head, she made many thoughts and plans in her tiny head, trying to make sense of the situation.

The footsteps stopped right at her head.

She braced herself to get stomped before a voice sounded out.

"Get up." It was a familiar voice.

Gwynnevere didn't dare to move as she continued to pretend that she was dead.

"Its okay, I won't hurt you."

Still, Gwynnevere didn't move.

The girl curled her lips to the side and sat down beside her.

"Fine. I'll stay beside you until you stand up." She proclaimed, then lied down on Gwynnevere's back.

Silence ensued.

Then it was broken by the little girl.

"I can feel you breathing, you know?" Gwynnevere flinched. " No matter how much you try, you cannot stop your lungs from expanding to gain air.

Then the girl sat up and pointed at her chest, "Try and breathe in this specific way."

Gwynnevere turned to her and watched her breathe, although it was dark, she could see clearly what the girl was doing. It was a miracle how she could see so clearly.

She observed for a moment, then tried it.

The cold girl observed her for a moment, then shook her head, "Don't force it in, rather, relax, breathe slowly but inhale deeply."

Gwynnevere did as she asked, the girl nodded her head. "Then let out small bursts of air slowly. Let it out naturally."

Soon, Gwynnevere mastered how to breathe stealthily.

The girl nodded her head in approval. Then she lied back down and closed her eyes to sleep, somehow sure that no one would bother the two of them from sleeping.

Gwynnevere stared at her with surprise in her big eyes. "…Why did you do that?" She asked softly.

The cold girl went silent, not answering her.

"You looked beautiful and I didn't want your beauty to get hurt." She opened her eyes and turned them to look at her.

"..."

Then the girl sat up and patted her head. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from now on."

"..." Blushing all of the sudden, Gwynnevere grabbed her hand and pushed it away gently.

"Aschura. That's my name."

"...Aschura.."

Aschura then smiled at her and asked, "What's yours?"

Gwynnevere looked at her, hesitant for a moment, before saying, "Gwynnevere Estas Villanos."

"Gwynnevere Escras Vellanous?"

"No! Its Estas Villanos, Estas Villanos!" She corrected.

Aschura scratched her cheek in embarrassment, "I apologize."

Gwynnevere pouted, feeling humiliated that her name was pronounce wrongly.

"Too complicated. I'll just call you Gwynne instead. From now on, your called Gwynne."

"Ehhhhh…."

Aschura stared at her coldly, then grabbed her head and gently guided it down to her leg, helping her lie down.

"Go and sleep. I'll protect you."

Gwynnevere stared at her, then blushed and turned to the right to hide her embarrassment.