'Why is the rain so damn persistent?'.

Raviel's entire body was drenched in water due to the rain.

Searching his surroundings, Raviel quickly moved and stood under a big tree, it's thick branches blocked most of the rain, but still some of the droplets fell every few seconds on Raviel's body.

He let out a breath and looked around. All he could see was the vast expanse of lush greenery and the ground covered in mud.

"Can't N.O.V.A just dampen the sensitivity, this is just torture."

Just as he tried to see further, his foot slipped on the mud underneath, where he was standing, Raviel panicked, he felt something tighten around his calf as he tried to move his foot.

...Sticky!

He froze.

Slowly he looked down, where his foot was stuck.

Something long, dark and swollen was stuck to his leg like glue.

His face twisted with pure visible disgust.

"Fucking blood sucker!..."

It was a leech, its body was bloated like a big tennis ball.

"Why the hell did they make this so real?"

He resisted the urge to squeeze that little bug to death on the spot, Raviel clenched his jaw, and the moment he pulled the leech, it burst with a wet pop sound.

Blood spilled down his leg and fingers.

Raviel stared at the blood for a second.

"May your next meal be a diabetic asshole", he muttered, as he threw the creature's dead body on the ground.

But, one thing was certain for Raviel after seeing all this. The virtual reality was really a work of art for producing the most realistically disgusting version of reality.

'Still this is crazy'.

Raviel stretched his leg once into the falling rain water, seeing the water cleanse the blood, he exhaled. "Alright time to move...".

He travelled deeper into the forest. The trees grew closer here, like a roof, their branches weaving into a thick canopy overhead.

The rain which struck Raviel mercilesly, barely reached the ground now, there was just a faint drizzle slipping through the leaves.

The air felt heavy, damp, and fresh.

It was too quiet, in here.

Then he heard it.

Squish—!!

The sound of mud being stepped on.

Raviel turned his head around.

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing visible in his eyesight, except the occassional rustling of branches due to the winds.

No movement, no figures, just trees and wet ground.

"..."

The moment, he turned back to continue moving forward —

BAM!

Something, slammed into his back from his blindspot.

Raviel stumbled forward, barely managing to twist his body slightly as another hit came. He threw his arms up to block, but the impact still rattled through his bones.

"Fuck—!..."

Pain flared through his forearm.

The drizzle started washing the mud off the attacker's head, streak by streak, revealing a familiar face.

'Henry?'.

Raviel rembered him — he was the same guy who had met him when he finished the enrollment exam. But, his whole body was covered in mud right now, from head to toe, like a armour.

Henry didn't say a word at first. He just stepped closer.

Raviel didn't wait for further explanations. He kicked hard at a nearby puddle, sending mud flying to the boy's face.

— But, before it could even reach him, it blew apart midair, scattered by a sudden force.

Raviel froze for a few seconds:

'There are are more!'.

That was the only explanation, his mind could muster off in this situation.

Henry shouted, "Focus on me, Raviel".

Raviel quickly examined the boy's stance and clenched his arms.

The Virtual Simulated world allowed the students to use mana, skills, weapons and their affinities by producing a sensation in their minds. The simulated reality replicated all the things which were present with them in real life.

Allowing the gravity to compress around his fist. Raviel lurched forward to punch.

— And his foot sank deep into the mud.

"Shit—!".

The mud grabbed him, pulling his balance away. In that instant, he knew it.

Henry had more than one teammate.

Seeing, Raviel dazed by the strike.

Henry didn't hesitate.

His foot crashed into Raviel's chest, the power behind it was intense.

Raviel stumbled back, breath knocked out of him, mud spraying everywhere as he hit the wet ground.

Raviel barely had time to breathe before something tightened around his neck.

A rope — no a whip, yanked him across the mud with the intention of strangling him. Raviel's vision blurred as his back scrapped against the wet mud.

"Hicckk!!".

Boots stepped into his view.

Henry walked slowly now, his face bore traces of exhaustion. Two more boys came up from the nearby bushes, mud dripping from their clothes. And then Raviel saw her — the girl who was with Henry before.

Eve.

She held the whip tight, eyes focused, her body shivering due to the cold drizzle.

Henry said flatly while panting, "We just need him eliminated. Knock him out, Eve. Do it quickly, don't take risks."

One of the boys laughed nervously. "Did we just take down a ranker!".

Another muttered. "Henry, your planning is truly impeccable".

Henry had the faintest of smile on his face as he heard their muttering.

Raviel didn't answer. He didn't struggle either.

'Think...there are four people.'

His fingers twitched slightly in the mud. The storage ring was still there, pressed cold against his index finger.

'Good.'

He tapped on it.

Before, the katana could fully form, Raviel quickly compressed the gravity on the half formed handle and drove the blunt sheath straight into Eve's foot.

"Khuee— aahh!!..."

She screamed, the whip falling instantly as she collapsed back, clutching her leg which had a huge red bump present on it now.

The pressure on Raviel's neck vanished.

The others froze, seeing this.

"He is armed".

Raviel rolled hard to the side, mud spraying as he scrambled up and put distance between them. His lungs burned. His body screamed at him to stop. His neck was burning with a thin line of red mark stretching on his skin.

"This hurts... you know". Raviel groaned.

The three boys rushed at him anyway.

"He's tired!", one yelled.

"Now!... move and eliminate him!"

Raviel's hand tightened around the hilt.

Raviel saw them rushing him, their boots squelching in the mud as they ran.

He didn't shout.

He controlled his breath first.

And, only whispered. ".. [ MINDLOCK ]"

The world dulled.

The pitter patter of the rain, didn't matter in his ears now.

Then he pushed the lightning mana into his eyes — fast.

Pain stabbed in his optics and skull for a few seconds.

And then.

Everything, slowed down.

Rain droplets hung in the air like glass beads. Mud splashes moved slowly halfway up. Even their faces looked stretched with frustration etched on them.

Raviel's eyes moved, assessing their positions.

He saw Henry clearly now.

Henry's right hand was sliding into his pocket.

His left hand was raised, pointing two fingers secretly to his other two companions.

A signal.

The other two boys reacted instantly. One shifted left. One lowered his stance. The mud splashing under their boots heavily as they ran.

Raviel whispered under his breath, calm and flat.

"One..."

Splash ~

"Two..."

Splash splash~

"Three...."

They crossed the invisible line inside Raviel's mind.

Raviel moved.

His katana flowed, not straight, not wide, but light, like wings. An elliptical slash, smooth and fast, like a butterfly fluttering through the air.

There was no sound at first.

Just, a thin black lines hanging in space like a jumbled up string.

Then.

Henry's right arm slid off at the shoulder, spinning once before hitting the watery mud below.

The other two… didn't even understand what had happened. Their heads separated cleanly as their bodies carried their intial momentum forward, their bodies taking one more step before resisting the motion and collapsing forward.

Red blood mixed with the brownish water, near Raviel's feet.

Time snapped back to normal.

Henry snapped his eyes to his right hand and then screamed and stumbled, clutching the empty space where his arm used to be.

The girl froze.

Eve saw, just the floating black lines, the two bodies dropping, the arm in the mud and the blood, nothing else.

"Kyaaaa!!". She screamed.

Eve turned around and ran.

Raviel didn't mind her.

His eyes were on the fallen Henry.

He walked up to Henry, who was shaking with his eyes wide and mouth opening and closing without words being uttered.

"Are there more?" Raviel asked, voice cold.

No answer.

Henry didn't speak.

Raviel flipped the katana and slammed the handle into Henry's jaw.

Henry dropped instantly on to the ground, face flat on the ground.

Seconds later, the two headless bodies and the severed arm shimmered, broke into pixels, and vanished along with Henry's body.

The rain kept falling.

Suddenly a window appeared before Raviel's vision.

[ 3 enemies eliminated: 30 points awarded ]

[ .... ]

[ precautionary warning imposed due to decapitation of two participants ]

[ Subtracting 10 points ]

[ Points: 20 ]

Seeing the text, Raviel laughed. "Don't you think it's fair when they tried to strangle me. And its not like i killed them really!"

Raviel walked back to the spot where Henry had fallen.

The mud was still disturbed, rain slowly washing the blood away. Right where Henry had dropped, something.... glowed faintly.

A small orb, glowing in pale blue colour.

Raviel picked it up.

The moment he did, the screen shimmered back into existence before his eyes.

[Item Acquired: Checkpoint Orb]

[Function: Can be used one time to view the location of other participants on the map.]

Raviel's eyes narrowed.

"So that's how he found me," he muttered.

Without wasting any more time, he tapped on the screen: Yes.

The screen shifted.

A map unfolded in the air with various red dots scattered across it. Many of them were highlighted with lighter shade of red while some who had clustered together were highlighted with yellow. Some were moving while others were stuck at one place.

Raviel let out a slow breath and smiled slightly.

"Alright then," he said quietly. "Time to start racking up points."

And with that, he stepped back into the rain.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.