Chapter 15: Combat Trial (4)
(A/N: I gave the trial an objective, which is to reach the peak of a mountain instead of just surviving, since it'll give the amateurs a chance besides surviving the three days.)
Layla continued to slaughter any recruit she found until night came, bringing her kill count to 203. With there being fewer recruits crossing the stream, she decided to finally cross it.
Layla, who stood on a branch facing the stream that was being lit up by the moon, entered the shadow beneath her, and emerged 300 feet away, on another branch on the other side of the stream.
'Now let's begin the hunt.'
She jumped off the tree branch and moved through the trees in search of another recruit to kill. Upon sensing a presence, Layla changed her direction and stopped once she was above the presence.
"Show yourself. I already know you are here. You might've concealed your presence, but that only stops me from being able to tell your precise location." The man said, throwing a knife in the direction where he got a glimpse of her presence.
Layla shifted her body to the left, avoiding the knife while keeping herself from making any noise.
'His sensory abilities are keen'—Layla entered the shadows, prompting the man to throw another knife after sensing the change in the air around the branch—'But he's still an amateur, even though he's a bit stronger than the others.'
Appearing behind the man, Layla immediately slit his throat with her knife, prompting the golden barrier to envelop him and teleport him out of the trial.
Layla tilted her head to the right, avoiding the knife of the previous recruit's partner by a few inches. She grabbed the recruit's wrist and arm with both hands and flipped him over her body, slamming his body against the soft snow. She then took the knife and jabbed it into his temple.
'The first recruit was used as bait, while the second would sneak attack. Nice plan, but in the end, it still failed.' Layla placed her knife in its holster before turned her head. 'No wonder they set an ambush here.'
What she found was at the foot of the mountain, which meant that all the recruits would attempt to climb the mountain with the single objective of reaching the peak. But there were some who decided to stay at the foot of the mountain and ambush the recruits that hadn't arrived yet to shorten the competitors and gain kill points. It was like killing two birds with one stone.
'I'll kill the ones attempting to ambush the recruits before I head up the mountain.' Layla smiled, entering the shadow created by the tree, and emerged on the branch of a tree tens of feet away. She began moving through the trees once again.
After traversing through the trees for a few minutes, she sensed five presences, each concealing themselves, as they waited patiently for a recruit to show up.
'This trial is kind of boring, so I'll do some acting.' Layla thought, entering the shadow beneath her.
They communicated telepathically with an etheric earpiece that one of them had, which could only happen because they all grew up knowing each other, allowing them to have complete trust in one another and giving them an advantage in good teamwork, unlike others, who had to be wary about their partner.
They heard footsteps heading their way, so they put their guards up.
'Leia, how many recruits and weapons are there?' asked Owen.
Leia closed her eyes, placing her index fingers on her temples as her etheric tool glowed a faint green hue.
Several seconds later, she opened her eyes and said, 'There is only one recruit, and she is armed with a knife, two handguns, and five throwing knives.'
After hearing this, Owen placed his hand under his chin, looking down. 'Has she noticed us yet?'
'No, she doesn't seem to have noticed us, since her guard is down.' Leia replied.
A man across from Leia named Gage said, 'Let's just attack her, with her guard down.'
He was none other than a musclehead that only wanted to fight, but since Owen was the leader and he knew the importance of completing this trial, he reluctantly agreed to this plan, even though he would rather charge straight in to fight.
'I know you want to fight, but if we charged straight in, she would immediately be alerted and try to run away.' Lucas who was to the right of Gage, said.
'I know.'
'Good, we'll attack once the recruit is in center of the pentagon.' Owen said.
They were spread out in a pentagon like shape with Owen in the center, Leia to the right of him, and Zion to the left of him, Gage to the left of Zion, and lastly, Lucas to the left of Gage, waiting for their opponent to step into their trap.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone