Novel Full Chapter 495: First Place?
Chapter 495: First Place?
Moon watched the two Evolvers for a moment, then turned and walked away in the opposite direction.
The previous fight had made a significant amount of noise during the fight. Other competitors in the surrounding area would have heard it, and curious Evolvers tended to follow noise expecting either an opportunity or a strong target to avoid.
Whilst Moon still had plenty of energy left, he wasn’t eager to engage another high-level fight so soon. His stamina was solid,, but his stomach was still bleeding around the dagger he had yet to remove, and pushing himself into another major battle right now was unnecessary.
He sighed internally as he walked.
’Shame about his class.’
The assassin’s skills had been really impressive.
Veil Step. Crescent Reaper. Bloodthirst.
Any one of them would have been a strong addition to Moon’s arsenal. Together, they would have made him a far more dangerous assassin in his own right.
But his copy ability was still on cooldown from earlier. The window wouldn’t reopen until well after the tournament had ended.
He wanted to let the assassin go, to copy his skill at a later stage of the tournament, but the lunatic was never going to surrender peacefully and let Moon study his class at leisure. The man had wanted blood from the first moment he saw Moon’s face. The fight had been the only way to end the encounter.
Moon consoled himself with the obvious truth.
’There are still plenty of other competitors out there. I’ll find another class worth copying when the cooldown ends.’
He pulled the dagger from his stomach carefully and immediately cast Minor Mend on the wound. The healing energy spread across the puncture, knitting flesh together, stemming the bleeding.
The bigger damage would need more time to fully recover, but the wound was no longer life-threatening.
Moon kept moving toward the contracting safe zone.
Contestants continued to drop as the area shrank. Fights broke out more frequently now, the smaller play space forcing competitors into closer proximity whether they wanted it or not. Points changed hands at a rapid pace, and the leaderboard reshuffled constantly as eliminations cascaded across the map.
Despite the chaos, Moon held his first place position firmly.
[Score: 1,530 Points]
[Rank: 1st]
Second and third place sat with a hundred-point gap between them, both significantly behind Moon.
Either way, he had a five hundred point lead over second place. His position in the top three was secure for the foreseeable future.
An hour passed.
Moon moved through the shrinking play area at a steady pace, encountering two Evolvers along the way. They were low-end Third Star fighters who had been somewhat pro-active throughout the tournament and were now being squeezed out of their cover by the contracting Zone.
He dispatched them quickly.
The two of them brought him an additional one hundred and sixty points.
Score: 1,690 Points
Moon glanced at the time on his watch and the remaining competitor count.
[239 Competitors Remain]
"The tournament should be ending soon."
The bracket needed to drop to exactly two hundred for the first round to conclude. Thirty-nine more eliminations and it was over. At the current rate, that was less than an hour away.
♢♢♢♢
In another part of the shrinking zone, Selene had just eliminated a fleeing Evolver when she heard two distinct footsteps behind her.
Just a few meters back, moving calmly, clearly not afraid of showing their presence.
She spun on her heel, her staff snapping up in their direction. Her elemental wolf moved with her, growling, its body crouching low, ready to spring at their enemies.
"Miss Selene." A voice called out before she could attack. "Long time no see."
Marcus walked into view, his weapon sheathed, his hands visible. Sarah walked beside him, they both appeared tired but not severely injured.
Selene recognized the young man from the preliminary stages. He had introduced himself when she had been with her brother and Emma.
"Your name was Marcus, right?" She lowered her staff slightly but didn’t fully drop her guard. Her wolf stayed crouched. She turned her eyes to the woman beside him. "And you are Sarah."
Both nodded.
They stopped ten meters away, maintaining a respectful distance. Marcus’s posture was relaxed, and his smile was polite.
His public image was clearly controlled in front of the young maiden before him. Her perception of him, mattered to him, alot.
"So, would you be interested in teaming up? With the three of us together, our chances of qualifying for the next stage are practically guaranteed. The bracket is almost down to two hundred. A trio of our level coordinating for the last stretch makes everything easier.
I don’t see any loses in doing so, only benefits. What do you think?"
Selene remained silent, weighing her options.
On the surface, the offer made perfect sense. Three strong fighters working together would be safer than three fighting alone. They could share information, watch each other’s blind spots, and cleanly eliminate most threats that crossed their path. The probability of all three advancing went up significantly.
But Selene’s gut said no.
She had spent the entire tournament alone, by her own choice. If she had wanted to team up with someone, she would have stayed with Moon when they parted ways at the starting site. He was the only person whose teamwork she fully trusted, and even then, she had chosen to walk away from him to prove a point to herself.
Teaming up with Marcus and Sarah now, after hours of solo combat, would feel like abandoning everything she had built. She had earned her current ranking through her own skill. She wasn’t going to dilute that for the sake of safety.
There was also something else.
She was feeling a small, persistent feeling she couldn’t quite name or grasp.
"I appreciate the offer." Selene said calmly. "But I’ll continue on my own."
Marcus’s smile didn’t change. If he was disappointed, he hid it very well.