Author’s note- Again, I don’t have my laptop still. But this one came out faster than the other one, so I hope the wait wasn’t too long. Enjoy~!

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Orbs of Blood (1)

Author’s note- Again, I don’t have my laptop still. But this one came out faster than the other one, so I hope the wait wasn’t too long. Enjoy~!

__________________________________________________________________

Orbs of Blood (1)

A moment of silence passed after the voice proclaimed the start, and then lights streaked out of the tower, heading out like bolts of lightning. One struck me before I could react, and it formed into two items.

The first one was a circular shaped disk that pulsed with a green light. A timer of 10 minutes began counting down on it, letting me know that it was the tracker.

Glancing over to the other item, I saw a scarlet red orb. It radiated a bloody light, and it was the size of a human eye. As I stared into it longer and longer, I had a vision of endless slaughter and a resulting sea of blood. Rising out of the sea, an orb radiating a devilish glow appeared. It was the Orb of Blood…

The vision disappeared, and all that was left was this, evil, orb. I had an urge to throw it off the skyscraper, but reasoning convinced me to keep it, at least until the end of the trial. So placing it in my pocket along with the tracker, I waited for something to happen.

The wind barrier suddenly enveloped me, and I started to spin. When my surroundings started to merge into a single, grey color, I appeared on an abandoned street. Behind me was the giant skyscraper.

Me- “So I came down from there, huh… Well, I might as well follow this road. It will eventually lead to the tower…”

*************************

When ten minutes passed, the tracker revealed the positions of the others, who were all shaken off by my pace. Their positions looked like moving dots, moving relative to me. So all I had to do was change my direction, and I would encounter traces of them. The question was, should I continue to the tower or not?

Undoubtedly, continuing to the tower with my orb would definitely be the safest option. But I was sure this test wasn’t designed to rate my running speed and sustainability. If I continued on my way to the tower, I would get a D at most.

If I changed my direction to make contact with the other trial takers, I risked losing an orb. Once they figured out I was the independent, I would be attacked on all sides. And considering their battle abilities, I would not have to great of a chance if they all attacked together. Even regular mercenaries become a threat to my life in large numbers, much less other ability users.

Additionally, if I came to join one of them, I would have to act as either the negotiator, or a hunter. Acting as a protector wouldn’t work, because it would be too obvious if I said I just, ‘chanced’ along their path. And of course, if I pretended to be the negotiator, I would easily be exposed if I ever wanted to make use of my tracker.

So I really only had 1 option. And that was to be a hunter.

Reaching a resolution, I ran swiftly towards an area ahead of clustered dots. It was time to start the hunt...

*****************

I ran for about five minutes before my enhanced hearing picked up on the sounds of a conversation. I immediately went under a car, and waited for them to come closer.

Adam- “What do you propose?”

Viola- “An alliance. We can’t attack each other, so it would be best if we cooperated to kill the protectors.”

Adam- “And the orbs? How do I know you won’t just take both?”

Viola growled,

Viola- “We split them 50-50, and if the independent comes, I get their orb. My word will serve as my bond...”

They had come much closer than before, and I could pretty much confirm that they were on the same street I was. So, I stayed under the car, waiting for the opportune moment to introduce myself as a hunter.

They might figure me out later, but as of now, they couldn’t attack me for fear of being disqualified. As long as I didn’t make the first attack, I would most likely be safe. But playing the hunter card wasn’t ideal. Maybe I could pull the negotiator card off...

Adam- “Ok... but what if you are the independent? Or a protector? I was the one who found you anyways…”

Viola- “If I was the independent, you would be dead already! And as a protector, wouldn’t I be exposed once the 10 minute duration depleted? Think about things before you spout off your god-damn mouth!”

Adam stayed quiet for a while, and they started to walk in silence. And as soon as the sound of footsteps passed, I silently crawled from under the car and stood up.

Me- “So, when do you plan on hunting?”

They both whipped around, on guard. But I gave off a disarming smile, raising up my hands in surrender.

Me- “I’m the negotiator; I can’t harm you. Promise me an orb, and I’ll help you guys out.”

They relaxed their guard a bit, but the open hostility radiating off of both of them could not be concealed.

Viola- “Why should I believe you? For all I know, you could be the independent, or a protector.”

Me- “How could I have found you so soon? The trackers have a 10 minute cooldown, and it would take much more time for me to come. I don’t come from a neighboring building, so it would be incredibly lucky if I just happened to ‘chance’ upon you as an independent. No, I’m the negotiator.“

Upon hearing my explanation, Viola sent over a questioning glance to Adam. But Adam shrugged, and said reasonably.

Adam- “Well then, lead the way. Once the next ten minutes passes, we will be able to tell whether you’re lying or not by the direction we’re going. Negotiations can start from there.”

I already predicted he’d say something like that when he asked me to lead the way… But I had a trick up my sleeve! Like when I was rolling the dice in the dreamspace, I could influence objects to act in my favor.

So what would happen if I kicked part of the rubble on the ground, infusing it with just enough aura to make it unnoticeable? And what if I desired that rock to point me in the direction of the closest protector? I could replicate the effects of looking at a map with my ability!

Kicking a random rock by the road at my leisure, I began to jog in the direction it rolled. And they followed.

During the run, I would occasionally stop and pretend to look at a map. My act was convincing, I assume, because when the 5 minutes passed, they did not attack me. Instead, Viola grudgingly put away a grey, metallic disk. Why was it different than mine?

Viola- “Ok… You’re the negotiator. But why should I allow you to take an orb? You’ve already led us for 5 minutes. I’m pretty sure I can catch up to the protectors from here.”

I smiled, and shook my head.

Me- “Then you won’t be able to hunt the independent; he can view your position as soon as you can view his. As the negotiator, I can provide real time information on the location on the position of every person here. Saving you both valuable time, time that can be used to win.”

Viola didn’t look convinced. Instead, she had a small, irritating smirk playing on her lips.

Viola- “So? All it is, is some time, right? Without you, I can get a better score.”

Adam- “Then why did you team up with me? Did you plan on reneging on your promise?”

Viola lost the smirk, but I saw an opportunity. If I could get Adam alone, then I could take little to no risk in killing him. And he betrayed me at the seats, so I wouldn’t feel any guilt! So, putting on a sympathetic mask of my features, I reasoned with Adam,

Me- “Adam. We can do without this b*tch. If we work together, I’m sure we can beat people like Stewart, Natalie, and Stella.”

Adam- “Well-”

Viola interrupted, clearly in somewhat of a panic.

Viola- “Wait! That’s not what I meant! It’s just that Nathaniel is a sh*tty b*st*rd, and we can do without him!”

Interesting… Is there a special reason on why she needs Adam? Logically, there would be no reason to panic by losing someone you could beat in less than 2 seconds. But she had a tracker, so she couldn’t be anything but a hunter. Right?

I couldn’t let her be alone with Adam. Even though I already ‘proved’ myself to them, having suspicion on me was an easy way to get exposed. And Viola was a likely candidate for all of the 3 roles because of the fact that her tracker is a grey and metallic disk, and the fact that she seems to need Adam.

She could be telling the truth about being a hunter, and the color issue of the disk could be just a matter of randomness. But that would leave a unanswered questions. Why did she seem to need Adam? Does it have anything to do with the outsider?

She could also be a protector, and that would mean the disk was forged through clever use of her ability. She would need Adam to find the other protector, but preferably the independent first. Then she could kill the independent, and then after Adam kills the other protector, she could betray him, taking the last orb. I would be unsatisfactory for this role because I couldn’t fight anyone else.

The only other role she could be was the actual negotiator. The disk would still be forged, but this time she could act like she was looking at the disk while actually observing the map. Once they encountered a protector, she would get Adam to do the dirty work, and let him have the first orb. Then when they went to hunt the second protector, she would disappear on a seemingly convincing excuse, to reveal herself as negotiator to the person she was previously hunting.

Counter-killing Adam would be easy after setting up an ambush with the second protector, and she could claim his orb for her own. After another believable excuse she would then leave and try and ally with the independent, setting up another ambush for the unsuspecting protector. The protector would be killed, and she’d take his orb.

Escaping the independent would be the next priority, as independents don’t get penalized for killing negotiators. And when she escaped, the next step would be to ally with the hunter to kill the independent. She’d take the independent’s orb, and then relax, as there would be no one else able to kill her. That would be what I would do, at least…

But my appearance now made her role much harder. If she was the negotiator, she would know that I was lying. Therefore, she had to seperate Adam and I in order to allow for a chance at the first ambush tactic.

Ok… I admit, the second option is based on the premise that she would do what I would do, and it doesn’t factor in the outsider at all. So it is a bit of a stretch to say she’d do all of that for sure. But something similar is likely if she is the negotiator, so… I will have to be on the lookout for excuses to leave the group as we approach others or after we kill a protector and hunter.

I broke my train of thought, and looked back up to Adam, questioning his decision.

Adam- “Unfortunately, Nathaniel, I simply do not posses the combat power needed to defeat them alone. ”

Viola smirked once again, her smile reignited by his words.

Viola- “Yeah, that’s right! He needs me to fight them off! So scr*w off Nathaniel!!!”

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Author’s note 2- This chapter was brought to you by working on it for hours on end in the library. And I should have the next one ready by thursday at most, tuesday at least. See you soon!

A moment of silence passed after the voice proclaimed the start, and then lights streaked out of the tower, heading out like bolts of lightning. One struck me before I could react, and it formed into two items.

The first one was a circular shaped disk that pulsed with a green light. A timer of 10 minutes began counting down on it, letting me know that it was the tracker.

Glancing over to the other item, I saw a scarlet red orb. It radiated a bloody light, and it was the size of a human eye. As I stared into it longer and longer, I had a vision of endless slaughter and a resulting sea of blood. Rising out of the sea, an orb radiating a devilish glow appeared. It was the Orb of Blood…

The vision disappeared, and all that was left was this, evil, orb. I had an urge to throw it off the skyscraper, but reasoning convinced me to keep it, at least until the end of the trial. So placing it in my pocket along with the tracker, I waited for something to happen.

The wind barrier suddenly enveloped me, and I started to spin. When my surroundings started to merge into a single, grey color, I appeared on an abandoned street. Behind me was the giant skyscraper.

Me- “So I came down from there, huh… Well, I might as well follow this road. It will eventually lead to the tower…”

*************************

When ten minutes passed, the tracker revealed the positions of the others, who were all shaken off by my pace. Their positions looked like moving dots, moving relative to me. So all I had to do was change my direction, and I would encounter traces of them. The question was, should I continue to the tower or not?

Undoubtedly, continuing to the tower with my orb would definitely be the safest option. But I was sure this test wasn’t designed to rate my running speed and sustainability. If I continued on my way to the tower, I would get a D at most.

If I changed my direction to make contact with the other trial takers, I risked losing an orb. Once they figured out I was the independent, I would be attacked on all sides. And considering their battle abilities, I would not have to great of a chance if they all attacked together. Even regular mercenaries become a threat to my life in large numbers, much less other ability users.

Additionally, if I came to join one of them, I would have to act as either the negotiator, or a hunter. Acting as a protector wouldn’t work, because it would be too obvious if I said I just, ‘chanced’ along their path. And of course, if I pretended to be the negotiator, I would easily be exposed if I ever wanted to make use of my tracker.

So I really only had 1 option. And that was to be a hunter.

Reaching a resolution, I ran swiftly towards an area ahead of clustered dots. It was time to start the hunt...

*****************

I ran for about five minutes before my enhanced hearing picked up on the sounds of a conversation. I immediately went under a car, and waited for them to come closer.

Adam- “What do you propose?”

Viola- “An alliance. We can’t attack each other, so it would be best if we cooperated to kill the protectors.”

Adam- “And the orbs? How do I know you won’t just take both?”

Viola growled,

Viola- “We split them 50-50, and if the independent comes, I get their orb. My word will serve as my bond...”

They had come much closer than before, and I could pretty much confirm that they were on the same street I was. So, I stayed under the car, waiting for the opportune moment to introduce myself as a hunter.

They might figure me out later, but as of now, they couldn’t attack me for fear of being disqualified. As long as I didn’t make the first attack, I would most likely be safe. But playing the hunter card wasn’t ideal. Maybe I could pull the negotiator card off...

Adam- “Ok... but what if you are the independent? Or a protector? I was the one who found you anyways…”

Viola- “If I was the independent, you would be dead already! And as a protector, wouldn’t I be exposed once the 10 minute duration depleted? Think about things before you spout off your god-damn mouth!”

Adam stayed quiet for a while, and they started to walk in silence. And as soon as the sound of footsteps passed, I silently crawled from under the car and stood up.

Me- “So, when do you plan on hunting?”

They both whipped around, on guard. But I gave off a disarming smile, raising up my hands in surrender.

Me- “I’m the negotiator; I can’t harm you. Promise me an orb, and I’ll help you guys out.”

They relaxed their guard a bit, but the open hostility radiating off of both of them could not be concealed.

Viola- “Why should I believe you? For all I know, you could be the independent, or a protector.”

Me- “How could I have found you so soon? The trackers have a 10 minute cooldown, and it would take much more time for me to come. I don’t come from a neighboring building, so it would be incredibly lucky if I just happened to ‘chance’ upon you as an independent. No, I’m the negotiator.“

Upon hearing my explanation, Viola sent over a questioning glance to Adam. But Adam shrugged, and said reasonably.

Adam- “Well then, lead the way. Once the next ten minutes passes, we will be able to tell whether you’re lying or not by the direction we’re going. Negotiations can start from there.”

I already predicted he’d say something like that when he asked me to lead the way… But I had a trick up my sleeve! Like when I was rolling the dice in the dreamspace, I could influence objects to act in my favor.

So what would happen if I kicked part of the rubble on the ground, infusing it with just enough aura to make it unnoticeable? And what if I desired that rock to point me in the direction of the closest protector? I could replicate the effects of looking at a map with my ability!

Kicking a random rock by the road at my leisure, I began to jog in the direction it rolled. And they followed.

During the run, I would occasionally stop and pretend to look at a map. My act was convincing, I assume, because when the 5 minutes passed, they did not attack me. Instead, Viola grudgingly put away a grey, metalic disk. Why was it different than mine?

Viola- “Ok… You’re the negotiator. But why should I allow you to take an orb? You’ve already led us for 5 minutes. I’m pretty sure I can catch up to the protectors from here.”

I smiled, and shook my head.

Me- “Then you won’t be able to hunt the independent; he can view your position as soon as you can view his. As the negotiator, I can provide realtime information on the location on the position of every person here. Saving you both valuable time, time that can be used to win.”

Viola didn’t look convinced. Instead, she had a small, irritating smirk playing on her lips.

Viola- “So? All it is, is some time, right? Without you, I can get a better score.”

Adam- “Then why did you team up with me? Did you plan on renenging on your promise?”

Viola lost the smirk, but I saw an oppurtunity. If I could get Adam alone, then I could take little to no risk in killing him. And he betrayed me at the seats, so I wouldn’t feel any guilt! So, putting on a sympathetic mask of my features, I reasoned with Adam,

Me- “Adam. We can do without this b*tch. If we work together, I’m sure we can beat people like Stewart, Natalie, and Stella.”

Adam- “Well-”

Viola interrupted, clearly in somewhat of a panic.

Viola- “Wait! That’s not what I meant! It’s just that Nathaniel is a sh*tty b*st*rd, and we can do without him!”

Interesting… Is there a special reason on why she needs Adam? Logically, there would be no reason to panic by losing someone you could beat in less than 2 seconds. But she had a tracker, so she couldn’t be anything but a hunter. Right?

I couldn’t let her be alone with Adam. Even though I already ‘proved’ myself to them, having suspicion on me was an easy way to get exposed. And Viola was a likely canidate for all of the 3 roles because of the fact that her tracker is a grey and metalic disk, and the fact that she seems to need Adam.

She could be telling the truth about being a hunter, and the color issue of the disk could be just a matter of randomness. But that would leave a unanswered questions. Why did she seem to need Adam? Does it have anything to do with the outsider?

She could also be a protector, and that would mean the disk was forged through clever use of her ability. She would need Adam to find the other protector, but preferably the independent first. Then she could kill the independent, and then after Adam kills the other protector, she could betray him, taking the last orb. I would be unsatisfactory for this role because I couldn’t fight anyone else.

The only other role she could be was the actual negotiator. The disk would still be forged, but this time she could act like she was looking at the disk while actually observing the map. Once they encountered a protector, she would get Adam to do the dirty work, and let him have the first orb. Then when they went to hunt the second protector, she would dissapear on a seemingly convincing excuse, to reveal herself as negotiator to the person she was previously hunting.

Counter-killing Adam would be easy after setting up an ambush with the second protector, and she could claim his orb for her own. After another believable excuse she would then leave and try and ally with the independent, setting up another ambush for the unsuspecting protector. The protector would be killed, and she’d take his orb.

Escaping the independent would be the next priority, as independents don’t get penalized for killing negotiators. And when she escaped, the next step would be to ally with the hunter to kill the independent. She’d take the independent’s orb, and then relax, as there would be no one else able to kill her. That would be what I would do, at least…

But my appearance now made her role much harder. If she was the negotiator, she would know that I was lying. Therefore, she had to seperate Adam and I in order to allow for a chance at the first ambush tactic.

Ok… I admit, the second option is based on the premise that she would do what I would do, and it doesn’t factor in the outsider at all. So it is a bit of a stretch to say she’d do all of that for sure. But something similar is likely if she is the negotiator, so… I will have to be on the lookout for excuses to leave the group as we approach others or after we kill a protector and hunter.

I broke my train of thought, and looked back up to Adam, questioning his decision.

Adam- “Unfortunately, Nathaniel, I simply do not posses the combat power needed to defeat them alone. ”

Viola smirked once again, her smile reignited by his words.

Viola- “Yeah, that’s right! He needs me to fight them off! So scr*w off Nathaniel!!!”

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Author’s note 2- This chapter was brought to you by working on it for hours on end in the library. And I should have the next one ready by thursday at most, tuesday at least. See you soon!