It had been thirty minutes since Tendra's win against Yuji, Ralfold called to all the boys attention who were standing on the battle stage "Alright boys, I am happy to announce that you all are done with the elimination round. White, Volt, Kazuma and Tenra would all be going to the next round of the examination, also known as the gladiator round. As for the rest of you who lost, well you all did your best and fought extremely hard just the same way your winning opponents did.". Kazuma had a teasing smirk on his face "Well, when you put it like that, it's still the same thing.", Kito turned to him with a serious but funny look on his face "What's that supposed to mean?", he asked, Kazuma replied "Nothing, sorry!". White replied Kazuma while still having his straight face "Kazuma, don't get too cocky just because you won just one round.", Kazuma tilted his head again with the same teasing smirk "Ah? You jealous that I looked cooler than you in victory?", Volt just sighed with a tired smile "This is the same guy who we all agreed was the worst among us tho.", Yuji replied "I know, right?", Ralfold then exclaimed with slight annoyance "You four should shut it!", "Yes Sir!", the boys replied with their casual tones. Ralfold then further explained "As for who you all would be fighting in your gladiator rounds, the news would be in this arena's hall way before next week Monday.". Kito then asked "Ralfold Sensei, aren't we going to have to fight some other set of people at the gladiator match rather than ourselves?", Ralfold then explained "Yeah, you boys will. There are lots of participants in this aspect of the assassination exams, and not everyone who wins can make it into a match in the stadium, so they system splits different young assassins into different groups and stadiums. As it is, some of you kids here might not fight in the same stadium, you might get separated.". Volt took a sigh "So at the end of the day, there's still something much more difficult and more dangerous than the previous event.", Kito tilted his head to Volt's direction in response "Not really dangerous. But it's going to be more high staked. The gladiator round is a round where people from all over the city would come to see a certain match in a certain stadium, the people pick whatever match they want go watch and then go watch it.", Yuji sighed "So at the end of the day, we are like performers trying to entertain the audience. Only difference is that we are almost trying to kill each other.", White replied with a look of disinterest "Enfaces to the almost killing each other part.". Kazuma sighed while scratching his head "Ahh, hasn't this arc gone long enough? I mean we've been at his assassination exam for two days now.", Yuji replied "Stop being lazy, Kazuma. It's just been two days.", Kazuma replied "Yeah, two days of standing on your toes with anticipation and excitement on seeing who's gonna win and who's gonna almost get killed from the mini natural disasters of both opponent.", Ralfold then asked with slight shock "Actually, Kazuma. How do you think up of these phases? Is it some kind of special ability?", Kazuma replied as he waved both arms apart "I don't know. All I know is I say whatever I think when I feel like.". Yuji muttered to himself "This is the most matured minded person among all of us tho.", Volt replied with a tired smile "I know, right?". Ralfold then explained "Alright kids, that's all for today. By next week Monday, your gladiator match would start. By Saturday or Sunday, you'll see the list of your opponents at the arena's you fought at. That and the fact that your stadiums would be assigned to you. You kids are dismissed.". The boys wasted no time walking out "Finally!", Kazuma exclaimed and stretched as he and the rest of the boys walked out, Yuji looked at Kazuma "Dude, it's just been three hours.". Kazuma replied as he and the rest of his friends walked out "Yeah, yeah. The moment I had my match with Baroka, I just wanted to go home and get some sleep", Kito replied "You say that like you were forced to fight him, but you were excited as hell. Speaking of Baroka, let's go see him in the hospital or something.", Volt then explained "He's probably at home taking a rest.", White replied "You right.", the group of boys walked out of the arena, their voices fadded away as they walked off. Ralfold just smirked "Hm, that kind of friendship those boys have is the kind that's gonna last for a very very long time.", he thought to himself before turning to Tendra "So? You gonna keep standing there crashing out in your mind, or you going to exit too.". Tendra was standing in a place with built up anger and frustration in his eyes "I won! I definitely won! But why...? Why do I feel like I lost?! Is this how defeat feels even tho i still won? It makes no sense!", he squeezed his chest and thought to himself with anger "Never again! Never again would I lose to ANYONE!!" Most of the assassination exams elimination rounds were finishing either today or the next day, so many people won and so many lost. Some won with extreme ease, some won with high difficulty. Some lost because there wasn't any chance of winning for them, and some lost because despite how close the fight was between them and their opponents, they still lost. In another stadium, Monoma Star and Roy Blaze had a devastating fight, the battle stage they had fought on was filled with huge burn craters and scorched grounds. Roy had an excited grin on his face, his palms had heat building up in them and his hands were scorched due to the amount of fire power he forced out of his body, his skin was also releasing smoke as well. Monoma on the other hand was extremely tired and had lost a lot of stamina. His body was filled with sweat due to the amount of stamina he had lost, his energy gun was pointed at Roy, Monoma clicked his tounge and thought to himself "There isn't any point anymore. We both have lost a lot of energy, I'm not willing to give up, and he's not willing to give up either. We'll both run out of stamina and fall to the ground, the only thing that's keeping us standing is will power. But this is a waste of my time! I know I wasn't no slouch, and I fought with everything I had, so It doesn't matter if I give up now! It's not like this is some kind of mission.". Monoma took a sigh and raised his hand "I give up.", the referee of the match then declared "Monoma Star has decided to give up, which mean Roy Blaze is the winner!", all the boys and girls cheered on "HECK YEAH!", "WAY TO GO!", "THIS MATCH WAS INSANE", "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO WON OR LOST, BOTH FIGHTERS WENT CRAZY TILL THEY WENT OUT OF STAMINA!", "MONOMA IS PRETTY COOL!", a female voice muttered, another guy replied "YEAH, HE SURE IS COOL. I LIKE HOW HE HANDLES HIS GUNS!", a guy then commented "YEAH, BUT ROY WAS AMAZING! SENDING HEAT BOMBS LIKE THAT WAS INCREDIBLY INSANE! EITHER WAY, THE FIGHT WAS STILL FUN!". Monoma took a sigh and made an attempt to turn around and leave, Roy called out to him "Monoma Star...!", Monoma turned back with a casual frown "Hm? What is it?", Roy smiled at him "I enjoyed the fight between you and I. I like how you use your guns in a smart and deadly way, let's be friends.", Monoma looked at him for a few seconds before turning to his front "Yeah, let's. I like strong guys around my set of allies.", he walked off. Roy just smiled, he thought to himself "He sure has changed compared to how he used to be so arrogant. By the way, I wonder how Fred is doing back in his arena.". Fred Armstrong( Roy's teammate) was standing with a tired smirk and stab wounds all over his body, he was holding huge sharp kunai's. Kairo Star(Monoma's Twin brother) was standing adjacent him, he also had stab wounds and cuts all over his body, especially his face. Both Kairo who had a serious look on his face, and Fred with a tired smile understood each other at the moment, they raised their hands up in the air "I give up!", they both said in unison. The referee of the match declared "Both fighters are unable to do combat. It's a tie!".
END OF CHAPTER.