A subtle ding from the system awoke him.
[EP completely restored]
[EP: 230/230]
[You need no further sleep]
Of course I don't...
What the hell is that pressing against my chest?
Alley's eyes were beautifully closed in deep slumber as she rested her head on Eric's chest, her chest rising and falling in a consistent rhythm. She drooled out of the corner of her mouth, to Eric's disgust.
Clingy... Clingy. Personal space intrusion detected... New quest: subdue intruder.
With a single finger, he pushed her head slowly off his chest and rested it gently on the cold ground. Her long deep red hair stretched over the floor and covering half her face, giving an eerie view that looked like she's soaked in blood.
She doesn't need to sleep either since her EP is full.
I know you're always picking on me, I just can't prove it yet.
[I don't pick on you... You must be suffering from Main Character Syndrome]
Hell yeah, I'm the main character, only I'm not suffering. I'm the syndrome.
Everybody else lay scattered on the floor as well, some snoring loudly, a few talking in their sleep, but most half asleep. The fear of what they have to deal with lingered in their minds, so they couldn't sleep soundly. They twisted and turned uneasily, wishing the night never ends, but at the same time dreadfully waiting for the bang on their cell door, a signal of the start of their impending doom.
Xavi slept closest to Eric on a thick bed of ice, solid and as he had declared, unmelting. He had a smile plastered on his face like he was having a good dream...until the cell door was indeed rattled for the morning.
Ten heavy duty guards crowded the hallway, all looking direful and imposing as one of them rattled the door even more to wake everybody up.
"Follow me, y'all. An' I won't repeat meself!"
"The beasts awaits," said Eric with an ominous glee as he shook Alley and Xavi awake. "Let's go entertain the rich. Who knows, they might throw a few valuables."
It was well past mid-day before they finally arrived at the closed mini arena that belonged to the Echevarria family. They were all blindfolded and hand bound with fetters that Eric suspected to be ability inhibitors, because he felt a little weaker after it was clasped on him. He knew it was all for the guards to have a peaceful trip, devoid of any surprise attacks from the little special beings.
A roaring applause echoed through the thick walls of the locker room where they all sat uneasily. Before unclasping them, the guards started a routine check and separated them to different spots in the locker room. Eric suspected they weren't all going into the arena together.
'That's bad news for everybody.'
The boys were visibly worried.
To make matters worse, Alley was snatched away and led to a separate locker room where there are female players. She's one of them anyway, even if she didn't dress like a female.
"You said your boss handles this secret facility for a good reason," Eric snarled as the guard he knew from the airfield walked close enough to him. "You said he won't harm any of us. You promised."
"Easy there boy. What do you want me to do? Release you? Now?" The guard replied questionably. "You brought this upon yourself, can't you see? You left the cell like a brave man before. Why did you return?"
"Who said this is about me?" anger coursing through his veins. "Your measly beasts can't survive a single blow from me. I'm talking about the other kids. What cruel fate you've brought them. They were strays, and so? Is this better than being a stray kid with unappreciated abilities? Is dying while being bet on a proper ending to their already miserable life?"
"Oh, shut up. Nobody will miss them after they're dead. Why not just die with such dignity as entertaining the rich? Also, I don't know how you knew what is going to happen at the arena, but I can assure you, those beasts will eventually get you. Even if you kill one, ten, twenty, you can't kill a hundred...and the longer you last, the more they bet on you, and guess what? The crueler your fate is. So, good luck, my brave little friend. It was fun while it lasted."
Eric scoffed, a wave of both fun and pain coursing through him. "Can I at least know your name? I think it's right to know who I'm gonna kill after this is over."
"Sa'ad," replied the guard, unbothered. "I'm Sa'ad, and I'm not from here. I fought my way to be accepted here, and don't think you can threaten me because you have a little power you kept hidden. Let's say you see yourself through the many beasts, don't think you can kill me after. 'cause I in my entirety, am a beast. And an unforgiving one at that."
Eric smiled broadly as he watched him go out of the locker room with a little victorious bounce to his steps.
Damn. I've never lost a battle of words before. He sure knows how to use his words, even with that awfully thick accent.'
I will take you up for your words then. Fucking bastard.
"Hey! Hey, Eric. What are we gonna do now?" Lood asked, bewildered as he saw their plans falling through with the separation between them. "We can't go as we planned. They got us pretty good!"
"They can't get me. My icicles don't melt easily," said Xavi, already growing weak lumps of ice on his fettered hands.
"That's cool, Xavi, but out of line," Eric commented while trying to sound less angry as he really felt. "From the way I see this game going, I'm sure they'll pick the lower tiers first, then–"
The door swung open and two guards forced four of the boys who all belonged to tier-1 up. Their brute strength countered the restriction from the boys as they half carried, half shoved them out of the room...to the arena.
Faintly, Eric heard a commentator start the show, saying:
{The first game begins. The hounds shall be released as soon as the shackles have been removed}
{Easy bet right here! It's four boys and three girls, all belonging to the weakest group for special beings, but with varying abilities}
{Let's see how they perform and how long they last against four Red-bellied Hounds, the most infamous beast from Tihara star}
{All stakes are up on this one}
{...but the odds are low}
{Player with the code name 'Lord of the Fireflies' staked the highest for this round. A whooping 9-earling in total. But with such ridiculously high stake, you can only get about 0.6 returns on your stake}
{They are Tier-1 beings anyway, and again, the odds… are low}
They heard a bell ring and the sound of open gates slamming against the wall, followed by a roar of pleasure from the audience.
"They've begun."
"Why the hell are you still smiling? We're about to get killed by aliens beasts from Tihara or whatever star they just mentioned." Lucid was sweating, eyes bulging, red and teary. "Their fangs can cut through my steel body, I know! I know!"
"Well, they can't cut through my ice. My icicles…"
"Your icicles don't melt easily. We knows, Xavi," Eric cut him off.
"Don't lose your spirit, any of you. Now, what's the highest Tier here?"
"Tier-4, which is just me and three others," Lood responded, his brows already stiff from unconsciously hardening due to pressure.
"Good. They'll play that damn game moving up the Tiers. Now it's the lowest tire Next, Tier 2. Till it gets to us, 'cause I'll be joining you guys after that."
He smirked. "Also, we might get the chance to fulfill our plans. We will still be pairing with the girls. It's a good thing Alley has been sent there. With any luck, she'll get them to comply with what we originally planned for ourselves. They can make up for out number loss."
"I can cut through any beast. My icicles don't melt easily," again Xavi.
Eric cringed. "Is he glitching or something?"
"He normally doesn't speak. You opened his mouth," said Lood as his eyes closed, tired. "But you know that our plans falling through is not the worst-case scenario. You're not talking about the beasts. Can we really handle them?"
"Yeah, I know. The dark side of it all is that the higher the Tier, the more deadly the beasts. Practically everyone with Tier-2 or 3 abilities is here. You'll be dying soon enough, and there's no better way to prepare your mind than this. I wish they could mix us all together, then maybe you can survive this. But you'll be going out there alone, and you'll fight… and you'll die."
But he darkest part is, I will summon your mana and consume it to make me stronger.
Of course he didn't say that out loud.
The system screen popped up at that moment, blocking his view.
[Mana from dead victims ready to be consumed]
[Total: 8 human mana units]
[1 beast mana unit]
[Use your ability to summon]
"Heh. They're all dead," Eric announced absentmindedly, his eyes still fixed, unfocused, on the screen in front of him.
Eight of them. Yet they only managed to kill a single beast. How weak were they?
Lood sprang up with newly ignited life and immediately got distracted by his hardening ability. "They are dead? How did you know it?"
"It's none of your concern. The next Tier should get ready. They're coming to get you too."
The heavy doors of the locker room slammed open again. Four guards jumped in and grabbed the only three boys who belonged to Tier-2, and off they went.
They didn't even make a single noise.
I like them, they are tough. Either that, or they've just lost all hope.
"The ones who just died. Do you know their names?" Eric asked, eyes focused on Lood.
"Kren, Pippin, Mellington, and Frodo. The first three with abilities different from elemental ones.The last one, Fordo, can conjure rings of fire. We call him Lord of the Rings."
"That's commendable. You might be a bully, but you sure know your victims. If we survive this, I promise to call you by your real name."
Eric summoned all the mana from the arena using his Mana Summoner ability. The eight human manas—whitish, foggy, and dancing as they hovered in space. While the beast's mana was a glow of red, still hot and humming, flashing slowly and ominously. They were all visible only to him.
This is for Kren, Pippin, Mell, and Frodo, and the three other dead guys whose names I do not know
He thought as he summoned all the human life-force, leaving the beast heaving and thrashing before him.
How long does it take for a beast's mana to disappear?
[It varies from beast to beast. A low-tier beast like the Red-bellied hounds can only last about fifteen minutes before dissipating]
Bad. I can't continually use them. I need my sanity for the first few rounds. When things get more tense, I can then summon them and then phase into my beast-made.