Alex’s group stepped back into the ring, as Viviens call went round. The teenagers had digested their meals and were ready for a fight. The shadowblade stood back with Leon, both with their bows in hand. Althea stood alone, spear in a ready position. This would be the hardest fight. They knew they would stand against Theo and Althea had told the two boys, that the leader had a group buff, which gave his team the armour skill.

“I have an idea,” Alex whispered to Leon. Althea looked back at the boys, as they discussed the plan. Theodore meanwhile stepped into the ring and his teammates, two boys and a girl, spread around. As the two teenager finished their planning, Alex jogged to Althea and told her, her part of the plan. Hopefully it would work.

As both teams had arranged themselves, Vivien stepped into the ring and began talking, “Welcome to the second to last or last fight. If Theo, with the ‘Merciful Gods’, wins, we have a clear line-up of first, second and third place. If Team ‘wounded animal’ wins, we’ll have a match for the second place. Rules are as before. No attack skills.”

Vivien calmly walked back and as soon as she left the ring, she gave the command to start. Alex immediately summoned his clones and as he held his shadowbow, the clones spawned with a bow in their hands. All four archers drew back, while Althea held her position at the front. She would have to join the backline, to use her buff skills and as she was guarding it, it would be folly to walk back.

Theo yelled and a light shimmer went up and down on his teammates. He slowly walked forwards, building a human shield for his people. The mountain of muscle was calm, as Alex and his clones rained arrows down on him. The first arrow hit and a small wound opened on his calf. “Careful, Alex's arrows can damage me.”

“So what do we do,” a voice behind Theo’s broad back asked. “Either we charge, or we need another shielding skill.” Theodore was lucky, that Alex’s clones were much slower than the youth. He had gotten another small wound. If he was hit a third time, it would be his end and he would have to leave the ring, leaving his team without his defensive skill.

Alex was grinning inwardly. He hadn’t expected, that his clones would get the same weapon with magic penetration, but it seemed that they had. So the teenager could loose one attack after the other. Althea was still guarding them and the shadowblade suspected, that he still had time for a second salvo.

Meanwhile, Leon was still aiming his bow. If Theo’s team didn’t change their tactic soon, Alex would kick the leader out of the ring and then it would be three attackers against three defenders. Another salvo shot forwards.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blasted the three arrows of Alex and his two clones off their path, and Theo charged forward. His teammates yelled and shouted their warcries. Althea blocked the attack of Theo and whistled, but the teenager was prepared. He had his teammate make some ear plugs out of sand. Sadly, the sand and wind user were too weak to summon a sand tornado. Otherwise the fight would have already been over.

Alex quickly joined Althea and switched to his shadowdagger. The teenager concentrated, and one clone joined him, shadowdagger in hand. The other stayed back and as Alex had pictured, it still held the bow. ‘Awesome, another synergy of my skills.’ Both he and his clone went left and right of Althea, to pincer Theo.

For a short moment, the huge teenager was distracted by Alex and he brought the shield on his back forward. This time, he wouldn’t give the slippery eel any chance to get at his sides. The enormous tower shield blocked Alex, but Theo wasn’t his target. He dodged him and went for the other ‘Merciful Gods’.

A shower of sand welcomed him as he stepped by Theo. Fortunately the subterfuge with [shadowcloak] had worked this time, and Maurice, the sand user, had attacked his clone. As it wasn’t using its eyes to see, the clone had no problems and attacked the youth. Surprised, Maurice stumbled backwards, into his Teammate, who was preparing his gust of wind.

Alex laughed, as he watched the play and soon joined his shadowclone. Suddenly, a huge blast of wind in his back told of Leon’s skill release. The youth had finally shot his arrow.

Theo stood flabbergasted. One moment, he was guarding against Alex, a huge tower shield in his hand. The spear in the other hand looked like a toothpick compared to it. For this moment, he saw neither Alex nor Althea and as he lowered the shield, as no further attack came. Leon seized his chance and shot the edge of the shield, taking care not to hit the teenager behind it.

The arrow shot forward and Leon could have sworn, that it was burning slightly. The arrow hit the shield and went through. Theodore had no chance to strengthen it, or maybe he already had and his skill was just too strong, Leon didn’t know. He hadn’t used the skill, or better said stance, in real combat yet. It took too long to use. He had to concentrate on one target for at least a dozen seconds. Still, the stance [Farshot] was able to hit targets, which were hundreds of meters away. He had to aim for some time, but when he loosened his arrow, it was a sure hit.

“Theodore, out!” Vivien cried. The youth looked at Leon, mouth wide open. Then he cancelled his shielding skill and left the field. Alex meanwhile, had dispatched the second and third teammate with his shadowclones. A brilliant shot from the first got Maurice, who was still lying on the floor. The winduser was pincered by Alex and his clone, and one of them touched him with a dagger.

Althea stood against the last of the ‘Merciful Gods’. She hoped that the boys wouldn’t join her. This fight was hers. The Huntress feinted left and her intimidated opponent cast a small flame to the side. Immediately, Althea jumped to the right and stabbed at the other girl. She knew that Tania wouldn’t be able to block or dodge her attack.

Suddenly the girl went up in flames and startled, Althea let her speartip drop and she missed the other girl. The huntress quickly jumped back a few steps and looked at Vivien, but the camps' leader was calmly watching their fight.

Reassured, Althea gripped her spear harder. She didn’t want to get any nearer. While Hugh, the doctor, should still have all his mana, she didn’t want to risk a nasty burn. Tania finally raised her weapon, preparing for the huntress attack. The flames spread to her weapon and she smiled evilly. She wouldn’t go down without a fight and she would get even with the other team. Her mates may be out, but she was still standing.

Althea abruptly whistled, stunning Tania. In that short second, she raised her spear, drew it back and let it fly. The wooden brace hit the other girl in her chest and the flames went out. “Aaaaand Tania out!” Vivien yelled. “That’s match for ROOOOARGL!”

Althea laughed uproariously, “She did it, she fucking did it. I told you boys, she would do it!” Alex and Leon could only shake their heads. Still, the boys met their teammate and group hugged. They had won the team matches.

It wasn’t really that surprising, as apart from Theodore, they had the highest level. Alex may be only level five, but he had strong skills to support the team, or even win the day. Leon and Althea were both around level eight, while Theodore was level nine.

Soon the three went to Vivien, to get their prize money. “Leon,” she scolded, “your shot was an attack skill, wasn’t it?” The boy shook his head. “It’s a stance. When I activate it, I can shoot as often as I want, it just takes a bit more time for each arrow.” Althea chimed in, “While his wasn’t a skill, Tania used her flame shot, and that’s definitely an attack skill.” The tiny girl nodded thoughtfully. “You’re right. I’ll have a talk with her,” silently, Alex hoped, that Tania's seed gave her fire resistance, as sparks were shooting out of Vivien’s eyes.

With a heavier purse, or character description, wherever their wealth was saved, the trio left the judge and soon split up. Leon went to the shooting range, intending to train his [Farshot]. Althea debated, whether to join him, but she went for food and Alex looked for his two friends. Lin and Jane were somewhere in the crowd of onlookers, probably waiting for the third match.

‘So, my clones get copies of my weapons. Do they get a direct copy of every weapon I carry? What if I find a legendary weapon? Do they get that weapon, or do they only get a shadowcopy? Still, it seems like they can use every [shadowweapon] that I can.’

The youth continued to think about his skill synergies as he slowly walked through the throng of people. Finally, Lin spotted him and called for the shadowblade. He joined his two friends and they soon found a seating spot.

The three watched the team fight silently for a time, until Alex began talking, “Sorry guys, I was kinda absent the last few days…There was so much to do and…you know…I’m sorry.” Lin nodded in agreement, “Yeah, it’s a bit sad, I thought you had forgotten about us, with your new, strong and shiny friends,” Alex made to respond, but Lin continued, “But we can understand you. We all have new things to do besides sitting near our tents and watching the day go by. Jane is training with the others, I’m being helped with my crafting and to be honest, we don’t have that much time for each other, too.”

Jane smiled and put her hand around Alex’s shoulder, “It’s okay to stray a bit, but we’re still your friends and want some of your time.” Alex hugged his friends and they spoke for quite some time, even after the fights had ended. They told stories about mishaps during training or how the three hunters had seen the firebird. After an hour or two, Alex couldn’t really tell, Althea and Leon joined them and the evening grew later and later, but nobody wanted to leave.

The five watched the sun go down and switched to a campfire, cooking a late evening meal. After finishing their meal, they sat together, enjoying each other's company, until a question from another youth broke their contemplating.

“What do you think happened to the adults and what will happen if one turns 20?” Alex watched as shock spread through the teenagers. It appeared that nobody had thought about it, and even if they did, they hadn’t voiced their thoughts yet. He himself was unsure and honestly a bit happy, as there were more than a few people older than him. He wouldn’t be the first to turn 20 and be thrown into uncertainty, again.

“I believe we’ll be transported to wherever the others are. I don’t think we’re supposed to build a new society here,” a girl nearly whispered, and Alex had to strain his hearing to understand her. “We don’t have much choice but to sit and wait until one of us turns 20. I don’t think we’ll get strong enough to search for the rest of humanity. At least in a normal timeframe.”

Alex thought about that idea for a moment. To become strong enough, to wander the globe, searching and uniting the rest of humanity? Finding the surviving pockets and liberating them? Those were admirable goals. He still had more than three years until he became 20. Would this be a feasible goal? He was happy here with the others and quite content to continue this life. But maybe…He broke out from his thoughts, as Lin shook him slightly.

“Earth to Alex, are you there?” Lin looked at his friend, a question on his tongue, but he kept it to himself. He knew his friend well enough, and Alex would share his thoughts, if he was ready. There was no use to rush him.