Morning of the Tournament
Reality High – Crimson Class Dormitory
Bzzzt!
Chris's alarm buzzed angrily beside his bed. He groaned, cracking one eye open to see the sun already past the horizon.
"I couldn't sleep well yesterday…" he muttered, dragging himself upright. "Maybe because I didn't sleep at all."
The memories of last night flickered—rainfall, rooftop silence, and Kira's smirk beneath storm clouds. Chris rubbed his temples.
"I've got to get moving."
He dressed swiftly and opened his window. The wind met him with a chilly slap. Without hesitating, he jumped.
Mid-air, flames wrapped around his limbs like wings. He dashed across rooftops, vaulting over towers, skimming past anti-gravity sigils carved into the school's frame.
He landed with a roll just outside Room 001—Crimson Class's base.
When he opened the door, every student was already seated. Conversations quieted. All eyes turned to him.
"…Late," Lina muttered, though her tone carried more relief than irritation.
Chris chuckled under his breath and spotted Raya sitting in the second row. He slid beside her.
She glanced at him sideways. "We already had the briefing."
"I figured." He leaned closer, voice low. "Mind filling me in?"
She sighed. "We were given these—" She tapped the band on her wrist. "They track your HP. When it hits zero, you're out."
Chris was about to ask more when a familiar voice interrupted.
"Hope you were paying attention, Romeo."
Dice leaned against the edge of the table behind them, flipping a glowing red card between his fingers.
Kira, seated further down, narrowed his eyes. "Does this guy have teleportation or is he just that good at being annoying?"
"Both," Lina deadpanned.
Then the classroom door opened.
A breeze rolled in.
Rhea entered with silent grace, her silver-blue hair dancing as if it carried a wind of its own. She walked with that same unshakable calm she'd displayed when they first met her.
Students murmured in hushed tones.
"The Breeze Princess…?"
"What's a Sovereign doing here?"
Chris's brows rose. He glanced at Kira, who offered only a knowing smirk.
Behind Rhea, the instructor strolled in casually, humming to himself. He leaned back on the desk, arms crossed, and gave a lazy wave.
"Morning. Let's get to it. Rhea's your new classmate now—she'll be joining the Battle Royal with the rest of you."
The room exploded in disbelief.
"Wait—what?!"
"She's… Crimson Class now?"
Rhea stepped forward, graceful but unapologetic.
"I'm Rhea. Let's work well together."
Chris smirked slightly. So the wind joins the flame.
The instructor yawned. "That's all. Battle Royal starts in thirty minutes. Gear up, get ready, and… try not to die."
With a flick of his hand, he disappeared.
Rhea took a seat beside Dice, ignoring his smug grin. "You like to show off, don't you?" he muttered.
"I hear that a lot," she replied flatly.
Korran, sitting near the front, raised a fist confidently. "If the Breeze Princess is joining us, we can't lose!"
"…Breeze what?" Rhea frowned.
Kira leaned toward Chris and whispered, "This is going to be chaotic."
Chris's lips curved. "Good."
"I think you should find a place to sit since we have to discuss how we are going to handle this test"
The class discussed their strategy for the test.
Twenty minutes later, all the students were teleported to the school compound.
They were partitioned based on their classes.
A female instructor with blonde hair was seated in front of them with her hands resting on a table in front of her.
She starts to speak without getting up.
"I'm guessing by now the rules have already been given to you. If they haven't then it isn't my concern. Let's get straight to the point"
The air around her changed as she changed her expression from a calm tone to a serious tone.
"You will all be teleported to when the crimson incident occurred and you are to…. I'm guessing you already know." She smiles devilishly.
Chris who has been feeling an intense bloodlust coming towards him traces where it's from by sensing the area and finds out that it came from Jayze.
"My opponent is already confirmed huh…"
"The test will begin in the next…..fifty seconds so say whatever you have to say to your teammates before we start."
Kira moved towards Raya.
Shocked to see Kira come towards her asked him what he wants and he whispers.
"I'm not sure whether we will be placed together as a class but when the test starts I want you to survive since you are our trump card for us to win this test."
"Trump card… what do you mean."
"Don't have time to explain so just promise me that you will survive until I find you."
"Sure…..if you have a plan to win then I'm in"
The instructor then speaks up.
"The winners will have anything they want granted to them…. The test begins now." She said and teleports everyone to a random locations.
The world changed in a flash of blue light.
Chris landed hard—his boots skidding across rough stone as the teleportation glow faded.
The sun was blazing overhead. Arena 7 stretched out around him: a wide, open battlefield with broken terrain—abandoned stone ruins, fallen columns, and jagged cliffs surrounding the perimeter. It felt like an ancient battlefield trapped in time.
He wasn't alone.
Dust rose nearby as Raya appeared next to him, breathing fast. Then Dice. Then Lina, Kira, and the rest—one by one, the Crimson Class materialized.
Everyone wore the black and crimson bands on their wrists—the tournament HP trackers. Each one glowed faintly, reacting to their pulse.
Rhea appeared last, landing softly on a rock with the wind swirling around her ankles.
A loud buzz echoed from the sky.
Above, floating drones hovered like silent watchers, each projecting holographic maps and stats into the air.
Then—BOOM.
A horn sounded.
BATTLE ROYAL BEGIN.
Chris's heartbeat thudded in his ears.
Across the arena, shapes began appearing—other teams, other classes. Some were already running. Some standing still, observing. Every student here was a real opponent, trained and dangerous.
This was no longer a drill.
"This is it," Chris muttered. "Stick close. First team to scatter gets wiped."
But they weren't given the chance.
"INCOMING!" Lina shouted.
SWISH—WHAM!
A bolt of lightning exploded at their feet, sending rocks flying. Chris barely rolled out of the way before a second blast struck where he'd just stood.
From the north ridge, a squad of students dashed toward them—armored in white, trimmed with blue.
"Skyglass Class," Kira muttered. "Range-types. They're forcing a long-distance engagement."
"Not happening," Chris growled.
He crouched low—then blasted forward with Ignis flaring from his legs, launching himself across the field like a missile.
His fist collided with the lead attacker before the boy could cast again. A shockwave rang out.
THUD!
The Skyglass mage hit the ground hard, his HP band blinking orange.
"Chris! Left!" Lina called out.
Two more came from the ruins. Lina threw up a light shield—BOOM—it cracked, but held.
Behind her, Rhea raised a hand calmly. "Back off."
She swung her arm down.
A sharp gust of wind struck the attackers like a wall, flipping them through the air and slamming them against a column.
Chris turned around to regroup, only to see Dice casually flick a glowing card at an enemy about to sneak up on Raya.
POP!
The ground beneath that student cracked—he dropped into a pit Dice had conjured.
"Traps, baby," Dice winked. "Never gets old."
More students poured in.
"They're trying to overwhelm us early!" Korran yelled, slamming his gauntlets together.
A brawler from another class lunged at him—Korran caught the punch and threw him over his shoulder, sending the poor guy tumbling down a hill.
Marin leapt up behind him, landed a flying kick on another attacker, and grinned. "Let's go, Korran!"
The battlefield was chaos—but it wasn't uncontrolled.
Crimson Class moved like a unit.
Ard raised a glowing rune circle behind the front line, activating a support barrier that reflected incoming fireballs.
Sage vanished—then phased behind a pair of students attacking Dawson. With one strike, she knocked both down, disappearing again like a shadow.
Dawson raised his hammer, let out a deep roar, and slammed it into the ground. A mini-shockwave burst outward—just enough to scatter the enemy line.
Then silence.
The immediate attackers were down—either knocked out or retreating.
Chris stood in the center, breathing hard. His band pulsed yellow—still plenty of HP left.
He looked around.
His class was still standing.
Rhea brushed dust off her shoulder. "Are all your exams this violent?"
Chris grinned. "Welcome to Crimson."
Overhead, a new announcement rang out:
6 TEAMS REMAIN
CRIMSON CLASS – RANK 1
But it wasn't over.
Far across the battlefield—someone stood alone on a crumbled tower. He hadn't moved at all.
Jayze.
He was staring at Chris.
His aura flared with something unholy.
Hatred.