The Veilwalker

He asked himself as he observed their skirmish. He found the boy\'s overbearing assaults impressive, not giving the archer any room to retaliate. As he observed, he wondered if he should go in and take them both out. But he wanted to find out if the archer was the same one who nearly eliminated him.

"There\'s only one way to find out." He had to prevent the girl from dying. He moved forward slowly, prepared to intercept if the girl was about to be eliminated. Then he observed as the girl attempted to go for the twin-blade.

However, a move by the boy rendered that plan useless as she was left exposed to a throw she had no chance of surviving.

"I guess this is as good a time as any."

Alex brandished his spear and accurately calculated the speed and trajectory of the twin-blade throw. He sent his spear towards it and used the momentum generated to create an arc blade from condensed light, gathering the mana to his right foot and spinning around in the air, directing the arc blade to the boy.

.....

Ethan was surprised someone was able to aim at his twin-blade accurately but he didn\'t have much time to dive into the realm of how that was done as a speeding arc blade was heading for him.

Using his gale force, he spun around mid-air, successfully evading the arc blade. Once he landed, silence pervaded the group as everyone had different expressions on their faces.

Abigail was surprised to see Alex here and more than that, he was the one that saved her from being eliminated. She wondered what his goal was, but she still had to survive this to find out. Find your next read at empire

Alex on the other hand was mildly shocked that Ethan was able to dodge his attack. \'Well, the attack wasn\'t really all that fast and powerful, but still…\' His gaze lingered on the boy and then shifted to Abigail, scrutinizing her to see if she would give away anything that suggested she was familiar with him, and he got his answer from her expression.

Ethan looked at Alex with narrowed eyes, wondering why he stopped his attack when he could have just taken him on after he eliminated the girl.

Now, all three students were in a standoff, and no one making any moves. The commotion in the surroundings not bothering them in the slightest.

Ethan was the first to break the silence, "Why did you stop my blade?" His curiosity demanded he find out why before anything else. Alex heard his question and glanced in the direction of Abigail.

"I have a question for her." He said, pointing at her. Abigail just remained in her position with a stiff smile. \'Is this really necessary? Also, how do I get out of this situation?\'

She looked around trying to find a path for an escape. Naturally, it wouldn\'t come anytime soon.

"Was it you?" Alex finally asked, most of his attention moving to the girl.

"…"

No reply came from her as she decided to be quiet about it. There was no point in Alex knowing that, now was there? It wouldn\'t change anything.

"I\'ll let you go if you answer." Suddenly, Alex proposed, getting the attention of Abigail. Her expression was that of disbelief. She narrowed her eyes at him, waiting for him to continue.

"There\'s no rule that states that we should eliminate everyone we find. Only 5000 students would be coming out of this as winners, and you could be one of them."

"Why?" She finally couldn\'t help but ask his reasoning for such a proposal.

Ethan was slightly confused about the content of the conversation, but one thing was clear to him though; none of them were leaving here without becoming his points. He knew Alex was stronger than he was, but he didn\'t care, strength was the be-all and end-all.

Alex shrugged, "Because you made me realize a few things about myself after I fell for your attacks. It really helped me..."

He finished and then added a last bit that took Abigail by surprise. Her attention had been overtaken by what Alex said that she momentarily forgot about Ethan.

"… Like now."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

BOOM!

Alex clashed with Ethan who was already on him with a powerful right fist. He responded in kind with his own right fist, their clash disrupting the air and the rubble lying around. The attack Ethan threw at Alex was powerful, but Alex was prepared. He did not move an inch from where he stood, however, the ground beneath his feet shattered from the exchange.

"Not bad," Alex commented on the punch Ethan threw at him.

Ethan however, responded with a scoff, "Not bad? Then try another one!"

He pulled back his right hand and sent the left hand, aiming for his face. Still, in the eyes of Alex, he was moving too slowly. Alex used his left hand to palm the next blow, but he had forgotten something; he wasn\'t fully healed.

\'Oh shit.\'

He realised, but there was no pill for regret. He immediately felt the pain in his shoulder the moment he threw the palm out. This resulted in his left hand having very little power to defend against the blow, sending him flying with a spin into the rubble behind him.

BOOOM!

Ethan grinned when his punch sent Alex flying, "Strong my ass. Is that the best you can do?" He scoffed at how easily Alex was sent flying with his second blow.

Abigail was frozen in her spot, not making any attempt to move. She was still in Ethan\'s sight after all. However, her thoughts were currently occupied.

\'Was Alex that weak? No, that can\'t be right. He was able to stop the first blow, but when he switched to use his left, he was sent flying. Ahh... His left shoulder.\' She figured out the reason behind Alex\'s failure to stop that blow.

"Yeah, that one\'s on me." Ethan heard a reply from the rubble Alex was buried in.