The sixth day came faster than Rei had anticipated as he had only a few remaining supplies left til tomorrow. He didn't expect it to deplete quickly since he had needed to eat loads of food in order to keep up with his physical wellbeing. "Shit…" he muttered to himself as he counted the supplies, he had known this would come soon but not like this since it looked like he needed to ration it til tomorrow. "I should've rationed this earlier if I knew that eating a lot just to keep up with my eating plans and this workout of mine…" he sighed before keeping the rest in a secluded area where only he knew while making sure he doesn't get greedy enough to just throw off his plans for his own selfish benefits in order to follow his personal interests.
Rei memorised the scoreboard from the day before as he was now on high alert for Haru. He could tell the guy is extremely mad considering his own total elimination was higher than his. He has 448 eliminations since he had lots of people challenging either from pure stupidity, ego, bounty or for honour to test themselves. He enjoyed most of the fight since half of the opponents he had fought that didn't care about his status focused more on what they could perform against him despite Rei having the ability to mimic their prowess. Each elimination ended with Rei giving them a motivational statement on how to improve their prowess usage as they could only nod in respect to him. It felt like Rei was getting the respect he deserved but he knew he still had a lot of work to do in order to achieve it.
He eventually went out to scout for supplies or to find some participants to eliminate since he felt the need to try aiming for a secured placement on the scoreboard. Rei knew he might agitate Haru but he wasn't willing to give up for something he had worked hard on in this event. "Ice Formation: Multiple Glacier Wall!" He chanted upon seeing three individuals as he trapped them within the boundaries. Rei walked closer but upon closer inspection he eventually disposed of the wall by replicating a flame related prowess to melt it down. "How is it going for you guys?" He asked as he helped them, offering his hand to Hinata who looked worn out and unconscious but not out of the match since she wasn't glitching out yet while Erika and Haruki looked like they've been through hell.
"Fucking horrible…" Erika cussed out before Haruki followed suit. "We barely got out of Haru's sight… That guy is insane… He is just setting everything in fire no matter what…" Haruki's statement made Rei flinched as he soon realised that it was a matter of time til he had to face Haru. "Just stick close to me now. I'll figure out the rest." Rei comforted them as he showed them the way to his base. He was contemplating whether to stay out longer to get more supplies but he didn't need to as he saw Erika and Haruki carrying what seemed to be a supply that could last them for tomorrow until the end of the event.
Rei helped them adjust at his shelter as he nursed them with his own medical knowledge when wrapping their injuries while forming some ice to ease up some pain and heat that they have experienced a while ago. He started to try replicating a healing prowess to start healing them. "Just bear with me. This is my first time using a healing prowess without copying it." He stated as he carefully healed them to his best efforts.
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Haru was frustrated again from letting three of his targets escape his sight. He should've saved his reserves but his rage and anger got the best of him ever since he had tried to overtake the first position of the scoreboard but ultimately failing in the process for the past few days. "This fucker…" he gritted his teeth as he was able to take out his anger on the poor group that accidentally stumbled upon him. His eyes glowed bright as he executed his technique onto them with such brutal execution. "Flame Control: Amaterasu's Judgement!" He chanted as he reached out his hand towards them as a massive flame surrounded them while a giant figure stood up before slamming what seemed to be their hand onto them. Ultimately crushing and burning them almost immediately which eliminated them so quickly that they were out of the event.
"Warning! Participant Haru Sasaki! This is your fifth warning! Do not injure the other participants to a near death state! If you push this warning once again, you have no choice but to be banned from the entire event!"
The announcement made him even angrier but he had to control himself as this is his only chance to make up with last year's events. He muttered angrily as he subdued his rage before finding a spot to get his bearing straight and formulate a plan to get what he wanted for now.
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A male with green hair walked around the rocky terrain, a smug look on their face as they smiled at the sight below the cliff as if they were proud of their work. "Third place… Not bad since I'm supposed to let Haru-kun be on top of the scoreboard ~" He said playfully before checking what seemed to be a notebook he pulled out from his pocket. "Rei Nishimura…" He muttered before their eyes glowed a shade of purple while grinning to themselves. "Let's see how well you are ~" He chuckled before hopping off the cliff as the group of participants below panicked while they tried to run away, although futile as they soon meet their end of seeing the last thing of a glowing colour of purple.
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Rei shuddered as he felt the mana waves emitting from the northern region. "There's a guy that powerful?! Were they hiding all this time?!" He whispered to himself as he focused on prioritising taking care of his friends. Rei checked Hinata's injuries to double check her progress while helping Haruki strengthen the defense of their stronghold by adding more rocks or any materials that are durable enough to handle any projectile related techniques or prowess. "This should hold us til tomorrow." Rei said as he looked over to Erika who was contributing herself to do some simple work like piling up the firewood they had left. "I hope so…" she uttered before parting her clothes down to dust herself as she laid next to Hinata who had just woken up from their continuous activities. "I just hope that guy or anyone strong would be able to locate us…" She said before accepting the water that Erika had offered with what seemed to be a makeshift coconut cup. "Thanks…" Hinata, grateful for her offer, gulped down the water almost immediately which was not surprising since people wake up feeling their throat dry and hoarse when resting for a long period of time.
Rei didn't want to tell them the bad news but had to break it to them so that they could prepare in advance despite the lack of rest they seemed to be in except for him. "We may only last here for a couple of hours… lucky enough if we can get through tomorrow." He stated as most of them groaned and frowned but accepted the harsh truth. "So, what's the plan?" Erika asked as she awaited his answer since his strategies were somehow superior and better than her strategy classes.
"We have to be prepared at all costs no matter how exhausted we are." Rei started before continuing. "First, we have to prepare some supplies for one last time that we can sustain until the event finishes tomorrow." They all nodded in unison to his reasoning. "Second, we have to gather our mana to sustain our reserves til tomorrow early morning or afternoon in order for us to keep up in longer duration combat." Hinata flinched at his statement since she barely had any mana to hit the burnout drawbacks which she didn't want to experience after hearing it from him or from people who had experienced the burnout drawback. "Third, we gotta use techniques that are not flashy or way powerful. Just enough to throw them off our backs or knock them out in order for us to buy time and wait out the remaining countdown to secure victory." This one gave them the insight of how good he was with strategizing their use with prowess in combat situations
They all tensed up for the last one Rei had to say. "Lastly, if we were to encounter Haru or Neon. Fall back while using every powerful technique you have to knock them off our trail or to buy us time like the previous one. I know I can hold on my own but not for a longer duration since they could be at the same level as me or slightly higher." They all agreed on his statement as he added more. "And as well… the fact that they could be more experienced than me." The last one told them enough on what the situation could happen if it were to happen. Nevertheless, they have a solid plan for now while Rei could make back up plans depending on the variation they encounter later or tomorrow.
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The next day, they were lucky not to have any troubles since yesterday afternoon and evening except for Rei to continue helping them earn some elimination points by letting them get the last hit onto the people who were on their way or challenged them. They were able to eliminate about 30 to 40 asides from Rei, increasing his count with 100 more which secured his placement on the leaderboard. "Everyone ready?" Rei asked as he finished packing up the cooked meals they had prepared last night. "Yup. Ready when you are." Haruki answered loudly while the two girls gave him a thumbs up. They immediately dashed to the south west of their position. "Remember. Stay in formation unless it's Haru or Neon." He warned as he stayed behind them to cover their backs. "Only separate when we need to buy time or to escape til we secure victory today without getting eliminated unless one of us is injured." The trio nodded at Rei's command as they felt like they were being led into a battlefield.
They immediately encountered a group of participants, five members as Rei covered them by shooting out crystal bullets while the other three delivered the final blow by hitting them as hard as they could with their enhanced physical attributes upon activating their prowess without using any techniques. "Keep going!" Rei shouted with authority as they responded back. "Yes! Captain!" Rei felt his pride and confidence growing from their response but he had to stay calm and in control since he couldn't afford to make any mistakes that could lead them to a hard loss.
"Flame Control: Heaven's spear!" Rei tensed up from such a powerful mana wave as he activated his own prowess to speed himself up to carry or pull his friends away from danger. Greyscale onto the area of the flames that was supposed to hit as he dashed in to save them before returning everything back to normal after saving them. The area lit up almost instantly upon having a black flame like spear pierced into the ground that his friends were in moments ago if he was late. The devastating outcome gave Rei an impression that it wouldn't be an easy fight as he signalled his friends to move on without him.
"What a foolish decision." Haru mocked Rei as he immediately drew out his sword before pointing it at him. "I'll kill you." His eyes glowed a bright blue before Rei retaliated as his eyes glowed a brighter hue of red hinting his use of a technique.
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The trio continued to move as fast as possible, not bothering to stop since they had planned this yesterday night in which way they should go when leaving the base or if they had a place to go to when trying to survive the final day. Haruki noticed a sudden movement ahead of them on the bushes as he stopped the girls. Erika and Hinata understood his actions as they executed their combined technique to draw whoever or whatever was in front of them. "Combination Release: Glacial Spikes!" They chanted as their mana poured into the technique which combined their efforts as large glaciers manifested from the ground to either pierce or move whatever was in the bush.
"Combined Technique? That's amazing!" a male's voice emitted upon dodging the glacier spikes with a playful and mocking tone as the trio looked in despair. "Neon?!" Erika said in total disbelief as all of them went into formation, Haruki activating his prowess while drawing out his bow.
The trio were panicking internally but had one goal in mind. To buy themselves time while continuing to move forward. "Fire style: Dragon's breath." Haruki chanted as he breathed fire before pushing its flow onto the bow as he took aim at the green haired male. The flame-like arrow immediately shot to the green haired male although it was futile since he only tilted his body to dodge it. Hinata took the opportunity as she shot out her technique immediately to make a chain reaction. "Wind Release: Wind bullets!" She shot out wind bullets from five of her wingers as the fire arrow that collided with it combusted into a greater fire power which forced the male to dodge it seriously as he sidestepped. The trio didn't hesitate to dash forward which confused Neon as he tried to play with them. He let them go through but as soon as he was about to hit them with his technique, a large glacier appeared in front of him as he was confused on why they didn't use the spikes from earlier since the one that was just used on him acted like a barrier.
Neon didn't bother to do anything worth an effort as he smashed the glacier with a simple burst of mana wave. He noticed that they were continuing to go forward as he smirked to himself. "I don't know what y'all are planning but I'll play for a bit ~" He chuckled before activating his prowess as his eyes glowed a brighter hue of purple. The trio continued to run while throwing out basic techniques that didn't require that much mana to buy themselves time.
"Fire Style: Phoenix parade!"
"Wind Release: Wind bullets!"
"Water Release: Water bullets!"
Each of their techniques had enough fire power to do damage if it only hit Neon. The flame phoenix hitting the ground which ultimately made cracks and difficult terrains that made Neon reconsider his track before changing his approach although the other two techniques made him counter them back by a simple form of mimicry. "Ethereal flame control..." he paused as a large quantity of purple like flames took the shape of their own techniques that were mimicked. "Heaven's authority!!!" He chanted as each individual flame that had the shape mimicked was immediately sent to them in which Erika and Hinata had no choice but to use some large amount of mana to block it.
"Combination technique: Giant Glacier Wall!!!" Erika and Hinata felt half of their reserves taken upon executing the technique as a giant wall made of glaciers manifested from the ground as it rose up almost instantly which blocked the purple flames effectively although it took some big chunks out of the wall. Haruko followed up as he was about to execute his technique but was interrupted when Neon appeared behind him before kicking him on the bend which sent him flying before finally crashing into a tree. Erika immediately tried to get her bearings from the shock as she gathered enough mana to try making some damage to Neon although she was subdued almost instantly when she was sent to the glacier wall behind her.
"Erika!" Hinata screamed in horror upon watching her cough up blood after crashing. "You should pay attention to the enemy, you know ~" Neon's playful and mocking voice caught her attention as she tried to fight back but it wasn't enough since he dodged her punch effortlessly before retaliating back by punching her in the guts as she coughed out blood from how strong his bit was.
"Damnit…" Hinata cussed as she had just recovered yesterday. She groaned in pain as she felt a tight grip on her hair, forcing her to look up at the cruel expression of Neon. His face expressed a cruel and sadistic grin as he licked his lips. "Awe ~ You look cute… Junior ~" he muttered playfully before leaning a bit close to her face. "You look better like this…" he grinned at her as he was about to finish her off, not before letting go of her as he dashed out of the way from something that felt powerful, as if its intent was to kill him off immediately.
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Tengen looked confused as he stared at the event while looking back at the direction of Eunji and Rinka, repeating it for a couple of more times before turning to the headmaster. "Headmaster… They're technically not out right nor cheating right?" He asked while the headmaster laughed at him. "Nope. All fair and square." He chuckled while Eri, who sat next to them, sighed. "Are you doubling my salary this month?" Her question made Tengen laugh out loud while Headmaster Sho sweat dropped at her. "Y-Yeah. Since this event takes a lot of skilled healers like you." He responded which made Eri nod her head before paying attention to the event.
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Rei had his clothes ragged and torn although not that much as he breathed heavily from avoiding another dangerous technique from Haru. "You know… You shouldn't take that much time since I can sense senior Neon from where your friends ran off to." He said harshly as if he was trying to gauge a reaction out of him but Rei stayed calm and composed. "Ice Release: Blizzard Vortex!!!" He chanted as he summoned a blizzard in the form of a rapid, dangerous and spinning vacuum that proved Haru difficulty of countering it with his own prowess by wrapping flames around it before both of their techniques dissolved from the impact.
"I don't know what your game is but it ends here!" Haru stated as he tried to cut Rei down but was surprised at how quick his reaction was when Rei blocked it while countering back as the blade managed to nick his cheek. "Fire Style: Great Ash Explosion!" Rei smirked as he executed his technique which engulfed Haru in ashes before it burst spontaneously into flames that seemed to look powerful as it took out some trees, bushes and rocks around them.
"Is that it?" Rei was frustrated at his mocking tone before going back into the fight as he swung his scythe to Haru. Their weapons both clashed although Rei managed to nick off Haru most of the clash which frustrated Haru a lot since he wasn't able to get anything off from their sword and scythe clashes. "You think I'm buying time for them but you're wrong." He smirked which got Haru confused before his eyes widened as he felt a familiar mana emitting behind at Rei from where his friends ran off to.
"You fucking bastard!" Haru cussed loudly as he flared up his mana to gather every ounce of his reserves to finish the fight which made Rei grinned even more since his plan worked. "Nice try. But I can do it too." He mocked him as he flared his mana in response, taunting Haru even more as he matched up- no more like he was slightly higher than him with the amount of mana he had gathered. "Let's go all out then." Rei smirked as he heard the announcement from the event signalling the soon climax. The two individuals prepared a powerful technique to execute as they clashed once again into their fight.
"2 hours left!!!"
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Neon was busy dodging every blood spears that was being thrown at him as he got annoyed with how everything was going down. "For fuck sake!!!" Neon lashes out to Rinka as he tries to hit her with his technique but seems futile when a familiar spell shield glows a hue of blue around her. "Protection spell?!" He panicked as blood spears went through his shoulders which he winced at the pain as he withdrew himself away from them.
"Thank you so much, senior Eunji and Rinka…" the trio thanked them as they felt refreshed once again from being healed from their injuries. Eunji who has now calmed down ever since she saw Neon moments ago as she threw out a devastating technique that produced a sea of bright blue flames to him.
"No problem. Although, I should go ahead to see if that fucker is trying to help Haru or not." Eunji said with a hint of venom as she went ahead while Rinka stayed to help the rest.
The trio had seen her scary since their second year but this expression she made was something even scarier which sent shivers down their spines. Also, some trauma due to her already known ruthless and cruel behaviour when she's focused or just in general to those she is not acquaintances with.
They hoped that Eunji could assist Rei if he was ever in danger.