CHAPTER 51: DING! DING!

Emma Croft had only just made it to 5 points, earning a spot on the leaderboards when her wrist device rang out with a familiar notification bell, a string of bold texts appearing on the screen of the supposed wrist watch.

[ANNOUNCEMENT: Congratulations to participant, Sean Storme for being the first to kill a Stage-2 out-worlder]

[Rewards: +100% to all current points]

[LEADERBOARDS]

[1. Sean Storme — 22 points]

[2. Thorne Hiddleston — 12 points]

[3. Emma Croft — 5 points]

Her gaze raised up in surprise at another unfamiliar name. She had expected the top spot in this exams to he between herself, Seraphina Hemlock, and Blaze Hilton.

There was no remarkable vampire to worry about this year, and the scions of the other noble families in this generation, were either older than they were, or younger.

Blaze Hilton himself was an oddity amongst them, and it was unknown if he would even try to get something good for himself, considering his reputation of being a very lazy bum.

But against her expectations, it wasn’t the other two she was competing against, but another set of unknown figures with unknown surnames.

"First Hiddleston, now Storme..." She frowned. "Two major announcements, two unknown figures. Who are they and what’s going on?"

Her eyes suddenly widened.

"Isn’t the White Witch’s name Richelle Storme? Could Sean Storme be related to her?" She muttered quietly.

A white haired, smug bastard suddenly appeared in her mind, but she shook her head.

"It can’t be him... Can it? But that would explain his arrogance."

The White Witch (Richelle) was rumored to live outside Elysium, and she might just have found the reason why.

"No..." She shook her head. "I can’t be certain, until I’m sure."

Her gaze remained transfixed on the leaderboards, as her mind raced, this time for a different reason. There was a pattern to the major achievements, and if she got it, then she would shoot forward like a slingshot.

"Stage-3 out-worlder, fifty or a hundred points..." She muttered slowly, listing out monumental achievements that she felt would land her a bonus.

"...Eliminating, another student."

Her gaze shone, and she blasted off the ground with crack of lighting, shooting into the distance.

Out of all three possibilities, eliminating another student was the current easiest, and even if she couldn’t reach a student on time, farming points with out-worlders could push her to fifty points.

In a different scenario, trying to win all could backfire into winning none... Maybe it wasn’t even any different in this one, but for her, it was the best possible solution.

If she continuously killed any out-worlder she encountered, then her points would continue to rack up.

And when she finally eliminated a student, the hundred percent reward would catapult her towards the top, and perhaps, even past the current top one.

Well, that was as far as someone else did not get it before her. For that, she just had to stop holding back.

As for killing a Stage-3 she didn’t believe it was something a single person could do.

Therefore, if she divided the two remaining achievements between herself, Seraphina and Blaze, there were only two more, to go for three persons.

She was yet to encounter a student, and the next one she met, better surrendered easily, or he or she, would be in for a world of pain.

---

A short, red haired young man, walked lazily under the dark red sky of the Gate. His face was scrunched up in annoyance, as though holding a perpetual scowl.

"Tch," he kissed his teeth, feeling irritated.

Left for him, he would rather be at home doing something else, but not only was he forced to attend the exam against his will, when he could’ve simply enrolled as a student with a word from his father, he now basically had to do more work, in the name of upholding the family name.

Even the out-worlders seemed to hate him as well. Since he arrived he had already been attacked by three of them, while he was on his own, unlike those who were actively hunting for them.

He just wanted to be alone.

"Hmmm?" His brows raised as he sensed presence up ahead.

He was just about to turn around in another direction when he paused.

"People?"

His expression eased as he made his way towards them.

’This could be a good opportunity.’ he thought.

##

The three boys seemed to have just met each other as well, and were discussing amongst themselves, their guards not lowered.

"Why don’t we work together?" One proposed sincerely, eyes warily scanning the surroundings for any sign of danger.

The other two paused, finding sense in his words, but did not agree right away.

"Sounds like a good suggestion but..." Another one began, his chestnut hair, blending with the hue of the dark red hue of the sky. "How do we share the points?"

"Yeah..." The other affirmed.

"Well, I guess we can substitute on who deals the killing blow, that way each of us gets equal points, and have a chance of aiming for one of the top spots," the first one replied, a hidden light flickering behind his gaze.

"Seems you’ve been looking for teammates for a while," the last one probed, intent on finding any suspicions.

"Well, ever since the two announcements, I have..." The first one replied. "I know I’m not strong enough to win this, especially when compared to that monster that took down a Stage-2 this early."

"But I still want to win, or at least, try to be in the top hundred out of two thousand plus other students. Since I can’t do it myself, finding teammates is the best possible option."

He shrugged at the last part of his sentence, as though stating an obvious fact.

"Makes sen..."

The three suddenly paused, as the sound of lazy footsteps approaching, cut through their discussion.

They raised their head in the direction of the sound, and coming close was a red haired boy, with heat radiating off his form.

Blaze stopped before them, and with only a single sweep, was able to know that they were just in the middle of forming a pact.

"How many points do you all have? Have them over." He said shamelessly, expressing his words with an outstretched palm.

The three frowned... They already had frowns and wariness in their gazes from the moment they noticed him, but this time, it was a different kind of frown... One born from displeasure rather than curiosity.

"Excuse me?" One asked.

They of course knew who he was... Who didn’t know of the Hiltons? But his words were still astounding since in this exam, they could do whatever to him, without repercussions... At least for the time being.

Raging flames erupted from Blaze’s outstretched palm, causing them to flinch, the heat blowing really hot against their skin even with the distance.

"We don’t know how?" One of them gulped.

"Oh... My bad," Blaze scratched his head sheepishly. "Just press that red button."

"Huh, that means forfeiting!" The one with chestnut hair, exclaimed.

Blaze let out an audible sigh, before he unleashed the large, blazing flame in his hand, towards them.

Shrieks and shouts, instantly deafened the surrounding the next instant, until one of them suddenly disappeared.

DING!

The device on his wrist rang out.

The other two quickly used the button, when they heat became too much, fearing not to die.

Blazes lips curled slightly, feeling satisfied. It was only a small win to compensate for all his troubles. If he couldn’t get what he wanted, then others shouldn’t as well. The way he saw it, it was only fair that way.

DING!

The device rang out again.