1985: Dawn of a New World (A Summoner Fanfic)

Chapter 35 - Battle Royale

Hastily, Mark ran towards the audience area of the arena, uncertain of whatever he needs the rush for. He wanted to stop and think for a while but something in him emanates a very strong desire to pursue towards his current direction, having the arena as his destination in mind. Giving in to the desire, he nevertheless let his feet guide him.

Somewhat, a feeling of nostalgia engulfed Mark with unease. He felt as if he was expecting a large crowd once he got out the hallway however, the unsettling silence adds up to the anxiety that is building up inside him.

"Nothing's wrong, nothing's wrong..." Mark muttered in a continuous mantra as he approach the hallway. He tried his best to fight off his unease but of no avail. A few more steps, and he'll be reaching the place of the bleachers.

Coming into the arena, Mark indeed saw a crowd of people, all seemingly frozen. He saw a few familiar faces, quickly recognizing Simen's group just a few steps from where he came in. He looked around a few more times, then finally, averted his eyes towards the tournament ground.

Below, at the tournament ground, stands Myrtle staring blankly at the other end of the arena. Moving his eyes towards the direction of his fellow cadet's gaze, Mark was terrified to see Frost and his Yeti both lying dead on the other end of the arena ground. Mark wanted to scream but his shock kept him as frozen as everyone around him.

As if it wasn't already frightening enough, Myrtle had to stare back at Mark with a sharp gaze that seems to cut through the depths of the boy's soul. Even from afar, Mark can see a dark void right where Myrtle's eyes should have been. "You're next." Myrtle uttered in a low, yet frightening tone.

That last fright was enough to wake Mark up from his nightmare. He can feel his sweat almost covering his face and his heart pounding rapidly. It took him a while, before Mark can recover from the unsettling fear that the nightmare caused him. 

It was just five minutes past zero six hundred hours when Mark checked his SAT, just enough for him to prepare for the decisive battle which would take place at zero eight hundred hours. For the first time in his life, Mark felt it difficult to get up, thinking that the events ahead wouldn't be so easy for him to face. 

"Hey lazy jerk! What are you doing still dozing off in your room! Get out there and get to the canteen!" Mark snapped out from his deep thought with James' loud voice which was followed up by repetitive banging on his door. "Come on you jerk! We still have Myrtle's team to wipe out in the arena later! We gotta stack up with energy for the battle!" The banging continued which forced Mark to get up from his bed. "Coming!" Knowing that James wouldn't stop from bothering him, Mark quickly replied. "I'll just wash up for a sec. Just reserve a seat for me!" He continued while making his way towards a small wash room at the corner of his room. "You better hurry or I'll have this door blasted off if I don't see you in ten minutes!" James yelled in impatience before finally leaving Mark alone.

Mark took a deep breath after washing up then hastily made his way to the canteen. "Gah! There you are! What took you so long!" As expected, Mark was welcomed by an impatient James. "What are you yapping at! We still have plenty of time before the tournament!" Lyra interjected, pissed off at James' loud voice. "Plenty of time your face! It's almost seven and our battle starts at eight you dummy!" James fought back which lead to another quarrel between him and Lyra.

Walking towards the counter, Mark decided to ignore James and Lyra as they kept on arguing. "You are indeed a little late today Mark." Wiping off Mark's dismay was the cook's greeting that always met him with a smile. "Yeah, had a tough day yesterday." Mark replied, receiving his meal. "Well, better eat up for another of  those though days." The cook laughed, obviously pertaining about the finals. "You bet." Mark smiled in return then walked his way towards Lyra and James who were finally stopped by May as their mentor suddenly barged in upon hearing the voice of her two apprentice.

Mark did not witness exactly what happened, for May was already on her way out of the canteen in a rush. It was certain though that their mentor did well in silencing the two, let alone everyone in the canteen, for the place became as quiet as a lifeless morgue.

The situation didn't help Mark that much though as he can't seem to let his nightmare out of his mind especially that their nearing battle is against Myrtle. It didn't help as well that the girl that gave Mark that much fright wasn't anywhere around the canteen. It made Mark's imagination even more surreal.

After some preparations, Mark made his way towards the arena, accompanied by James who once again paid him a visit. Upon reaching the contenders' waiting area, the two noticed Lyra walking back and forth, obviously trying to calm herself. Unexpectedly, James did not try to start an argument against his teammate but instead, made his way on a bench near the arena ground's entrance.

"Ladies and gentlemen! This is the day that you've been all waiting for! The finals of our cadets' battle tournament!" The host announced with a mega speaker. "Now let me call on Team four and Team five in the arena!" Being summoned, the cadets made their way towards the arena grounds with Mark seemingly hesitant to step out. With his teammates already out of the waiting area however, Mark can't help but to walk after them.

Nothing much has changed in the tournament grounds, except for a large dome of mana shield that covered the arena, being maintained by four officers all standing on four equal distances at the far ends of the ground forming a perfect square formation.

"Now who among our audience here is as excited as I am!" A loud cheer can be heard in the audience area that encircle the arena grounds. "Well as you all can see, we went as far as setting up this magnificent mana shield specially for this event. Why, you all ask? Because on this day, everyone is to witness an all out battle royale among our contenders! This time around, there will be no team four nor team one. Everyone is to compete individually against each other. The last cadet standing will be given a good rank among the army!"

Mark looked around for a sign of May but couldn't find her anywhere at the audience seat nor any of their instructors. Not a single person among the government officials are present as well which made Mark a bit worried, considering that this is currently the final tournament.

Now we wouldn't want everyone to keep on waiting so let us start the battle royale in five!..." Each of the participating cadet can be seen to quickly take their battle stance, except for Mark who kept on his usual observing state.  "...four...three...two...one...and fight!"

With the host's signal, James lit both his gauntlets with a fire spell and without any hesitation, aimed a strike at Lyra, who was surprisingly quick enough to summon her Ent to block his assailant's fist.

"Stop it you two!" Mark tried to interfere between James and Lyra's fight with a surprising strict voice. "Aren't you listening dummy! This is a free for all fight!" James replied while still throwing his blows against Lyra's ent. "Well do you both really think you can compete with that alone?" Far from his frightened state earlier, Mark now appear to be composed, pointing towards the battle at the other end of the arena.

Amazement met bith Lyra and James as they witness a gigantic crane-like creature breathing fire towards Yvette and Randall who seem to have decided to team up against Myrtle. "Well that's a bennu alright, the one she used to quickly end the fight against Jerrell." Lyra spoke up, now seemingly seeing Mark's point. James stopped his attacks as well, now being amazed at how Myrtle controls the powerful demon with ease. "Well let's attack her while she's distrac..." Mark quickly covered Lyra's mouth before she can finish her sentence. "No wait, they might decide to team up as well once they notice us attacking as a team. Let's stay back for a while and observe them fight." Although hesitant, James once again decided  to follow Mark's lead and deactivated his fire spell. Lyra calmed herself as well, but let her ent stay out as her assurance of being safe.

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And I am back everyone! Did you enjoy that chapter? Kindly hit that star icon. Also kindly leave me a comment if you see anything wrong or want to tell me just anything at all.

And with that, see you again on my next chapter! I'll try to keep the wait as short as I can.

Next Chapter: Red Alert