*The Last Day*
Twenty five hours had passed, Kaelin has split ways with Jarren. His order.
[{You have a grand total of 165,600 points}]
Her face was filled with joy, letting out a chuckle. She was sure that no one would be able to catch up to them now. Thanks to Jarren alerting her about their hunt, the two decided to part ways, with her walking with five of the seven ball points and him with two.
An act she grew fond of as it meant that he trusted her. 'I would have never managed to accumulate so much points on my own let alone with another student.' She mused in her head, her figure perched on a tree. Being the last day they all had, she recalled his words about a large scale clash occuring.
She was on her way back to the entrance where few students were. Looking back at the forest, she wished him good luck. 'It's a shame that I don't get to see him use his elemental.'. A small loss on her end as she had only seen him resort to physical combat for all of his engagements.
...
[{Ding}]
[{You have found two golden ball points}]
Callista looked at the notification, brushed it off before looking at her grand total.
[{You have 91,200 points}}
[{Due to you acquiring two ball points in such a quick succession, you have received an extra five thousand points}]
[{Your total points are 96,200 points}]
With two golden ball points and six silver ball points, it was a matter of time before no one else could catch up to her. However with Jarren, only time could tell if she would be able to surpass him. The two had been conversing through her pendant and with it she was able to avoid other parties.
But she knew that that wouldn't be the case for long. With a short sigh, her figure continued to walk through the forest, undeturbed with the drone never failed to let her out of it's scope.
...
"Damn it!" Ingrid cursed looking at his points. He had hoped that Callista would have at the very least run into some resistance but that wasn't the case. "96,200 points?! She's already surpassed us." Orissa cursed, her face exuding a mixture of rage and helplessness.
"A person like her couldn't be helped but it's Jarren that we shouldn't be concerned about." Brose interrupted, his eyes shifting away from the screen that portrayed his points.
[{You have a total of 66,000 points}]
They had the advantage over her at the beginning but now she had overtaken them. And the worst part was that they operated in shifts thus they continuously kept on accumulating points. "This is the last day. If we don't stop one of the two then there's no way that we can compete."
Their fourth member mused, his face tired from his late shift. "You don't have to do much. You can stay here with Ingrid, we'll keep looking for him or Callista." Orissa urged, her tone light and warm. Ingrid first against the idea agreed.
"We'll stop them." And with that the two disappeared into the foliage.
...
*Thud*
"Hello , I've heard that you have been looking for me." Jarren made his presence known, his hands pocketed as he gracefully fell from a tree. "There he is." By instinct he was thrown scowls and looks of hatred while he smiled off, his demeanor casual. "Well here I am so let's get this over with."
None of them had ball points, his presence here was one thing. Game. One yelled making their move only to be perfectly countered, sent crashing to a nearby tree.b
*Whoosh*
Rain pellets were shot his way, dispelled by his pyro elemental he shot back. "Here!" Another shouted to his side. A heavy sigh, his mind already laughing at their childish attempts to land an attack. A punch to the gut made them stagger followed by a sweep.
Two which were dampening the terrain to his disadvantage were disappointed as he leapt into the sky and landing on a tree. Mimicking a gun he shot at the pair which set up barricade of stone. "Damn it!" One of the two cursed. "I still can't believe that we're still not enough to take him down."
The other added.
*Bam*
Two quick taps to their necks left them unconscious thanks to Jarren who merely let out a playful grin. Looking at the students at his feet, he took his leave.
...
"I didn't think that they would be so incapable!" One of the professors grunted, their face masked with a face palm. "They're too focused on gaining his ball point to work as a coherent team." Another added. They had all watched what had occurred and embarrassment ate them whole.
Be it the professors of Vorthmere or Caelbridge, the outcome was less than ideal. "A hundred and sixty five thousand points! I doubt that anyone catch catch up." Timothy smiled, his eyes flickering from screen to screen.
He was more of a spectator if anything, pleased with whatever occured on the screens. The more the trial went on, the more intrigued he grew with Jarren and Callista. 'Callista Vaewlyn, I wouldn't imagine such a high profile individual would get associated with Jarren.' He had the research of the two and was baffled with what he came to find.
During their exchange the day before, it didn't feel like romantics rather than a pet and it's master. "The only strong contender for Jarren is Callista who now had two golden ball points. Maybe she could find more and completely overshadow Jarren."
Vorthmere professors had dark faces, already dreading the third trial of the tournament. The first was already set in stone, the second though entertaining made them realize the position they had in the tournament. That they had no chance of winning to begin with. So far they had been keeping tabs on Jarren and Callista, students of Caelbridge with no noteworthy exception from Vorthmere.
However they couldn't actively shift the game in their favor thanks to Timothy. Sure he was a regular mortal with no rank but the power he held made them reconsider. He was a royal court operative meant to carefully watch the second half of the tournament and relay it back to the royals.
If it was conducted within themselves and Caelbridge professors then they would have made some form of advantage for their own students but that option wasn't on the table. Timothy would type frantically on his keyboard, his actions mostly a bewilderment to the professors.
Whether he was piloting the drones, relaying information back to the capital or managing the bracelets, they couldn't tell. "It's the last day so I'm sure that those with nothing to lose will make a move. However if it's like what we've seen then it would be rather disappointing."
And with that Timothy sank into his chair, taking a sip of his coffee. "It looks like we won't have to wait after all." Esdora chuckled, her eyes glued to a specific character in particular.
*Two hours later*.
"Hah!" Callista gave a heavy sigh not out of fatigue but performance. With the drone watching her, she had to maintain the illusion that she was still an above average student. Students lay callously on the floor, some with burns on their clothes, their flesh sizzling and some in despair.
They had threatened to take one off her by force, she retaliated and this was the result. However the scene drew a lot of attention as sparks and explosions filled the air. 'I'll have retreat for now.' For a party of ten, the professors were baffled that she could take care of it by herself.
But of course they wore malcore regulation bracelets thus their full potential wasn't brought to display. Just as she was about to leave, she ran into a party that she wasn't thrilled to see.
"Come on Callista, just hand over some ball points and we won't have to fight you." It was Brose and Orissa, their fists clenched ready for a battle. With Ingrid in their midst, she couldn't make a bluff of how many ball she actually had. Rather than resistance, she caved in.
Without warning, she threw four ball points to the pair. "We know that you have more than just four Callista." She squinted her eyes, her breathe growing shallow. "And so what if I do. You should be grateful that I blessed you with some unlike others." Her words cold and sharp.
"With how far ahead you are, I'm sure that you could sacrifice more than just four." Brose chuckled however his tone suggested something more turbulent brewing. "Beggars can't be choosers." It was clear that she wasn't planning on yielding.
"Do you really think that you could take two of us at the same time? You're smart so you should know when to quit!" They had walked in after she had freshly engaged in a fight thus they were sure that she had exhausted herself. However that was far from it. The exchange barely made a dent in her malcore reserves.
However if she were to display any more feats after a heated battle then she was sure the professors would bombard her with questions that she didn't want to answer. But that wouldn't mean that she would back down either. "Try me." Her hands limply hang, lacking in any offense.
The two let out heavy sighs, as much as they hoped that she was worn out, they had to see the full display of her strength as the people she faced fell rather quickly. Orissa made the first move, bolts of water thrown at her figure.
*Whoosh*
They quickly evaporated before they could reach her. Brose on the other hand had closed the distance, his fist writhing with flames.
*Swish*
Her body was coated with dark light and with a step to the side landed a punch to his guts. Not enough to put him down but to stagger him. A water rapier shot out to her from Orissa only to be blocked with a sword of her own.
The pair backed up, reassessing their options at the moment. Callista stood amidst it all, her grey locks swaying lightly in the sun's rays. Her eyes blank and devoid of any life. "We should do that move." Orissa whispered to which Brose nodded. The two immediately darted towards her in a pincer attack, making sure that she landed in the middle of the attack.
Callista looked at the pair, her mind already concluding a way out of their trivial attack. Darting backwards, Brose let out a barrage of fire bullets however thanks to the limiter the potency wasn't lethal. With a magnificent twirl, she managed to dodge most of them.
*Bam*
One catching her figure, she staggered to the side where Orissa was waiting.