The arena shook with a thunderous explosion. Ya Nu swiveled to see where it originated. Six students lay unconscious in a circle of billowing smoke and fluttering pieces of paper. Their listless forms were outlined in glowing white, the quick reinforcements from the instructors doing just enough to stop them from being ripped to pieces from the blast. Four instructors jumped in and carried them off; among the fallen was her roommate Erina. Overhead, the announcer screamed, “500 points awarded to the pretty Ms. Marigold! What a plan! She took herself out with that blow, but well worth it.”

The number of students remaining in the arena thinned. The fervor slowed as exhaustion overcame the rest. Another wave of awarded points and students carried off, then the announcer said, “At last, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, ladies and gentlemen! We’re down to our last five students on the stage. The winner of Class 1120 NE will be awarded 500 points! Who will be the final one standing?”

Ya Nu, who had distanced herself and was eyeing the rest of the players, retreated further to the perimeters to better assess the scene. She saw three students do the same. If they wanted to survive to the end, they needed a strategy. Only one of the five remaining walked into the middle, standing at the center between the four. She recognized him as a famous student among them, Lucas Lobelia. A BLOOD-Y. Although visibly battered, he stood grandly smeared in blood. He pivoted around to meet all of their gazes and said, “I’ll take on all of you. Together or one by one.”

While Ya Nu hesitated cautiously, two students sucked in their breaths. Both ran in. As if preplanned, they went in from opposite sides. Of the two, the boy was huge, the tallest that Ya Nu had ever seen towering even above Lucas. His body was thick and muscular. He was capable of overpowering anyone in the class with raw strength. But his sprint was slower.

The girl, also tall and lanky, reached Lucas first. She rushed forward in a stoop, aiming for his midriff. He leaped over her, then rolled to his feet at her back, but she expected it. In her dive, she’d secured a broken rod, instantaneously spinning around on her knees and flinging it at him. The muscular boy ran past the girl to follow-up with a consecutive second offense. Lucas blocked the rod with upraised arms; in the next second the boy’s fist connected with Lucas’s shoulder and propelled him back a dozen meters.

“Amazing! What unexpected coordination! Mr. Dahlia and Ms. Iris have shown they’re a force to reckon with against the Lobelia. Will he regret his challenge?”

Buck Dahlia glanced down at his fist that was smeared in blood. Meanwhile, Polar Iris stood up and realized she had glided through a dirty puddle of mud water and blood, and the bottom of her jumpsuit that had dried in the prolonged exam was soaked. She muttered, “Disgusting.”

Lucas rotated his shoulder that had taken the impact. He winced but it miraculously wasn’t broken.

Without a second thought, again Buck rushed towards their lone adversary and tried to engage in hand-to-hand combat, but Lucas was content to dodge his every attempt at contact. Ya Nu had been aware of Buck on the field from the start, after all it was not hard to notice with his size and physical strength, and she had also recognized his weakness. To a quick eye and lithe individual, his movements could be read and avoided. It was impossible for him to catch up with Lucas in speed.

Polar ran at them, approaching Buck from behind, and to everyone’s surprise she hoisted herself onto Buck’s back. He recoiled but he wasn’t her target as she only used his frame to propel herself into the air above their heads. At the peak of her trajectory, her BEAST-ly transformation was instantaneous, shocking the crowd and Ya Nu who’d never witnessed such a swift change. In seconds, a snowy white mammal of a quarter of a ton plunged down on Lucas.

Ya Nu inadvertently squeezed her eyes shut, but the deafening screams of the excited crowd instead of the thud of a body being flattened wasn’t what she’d expected, and her eyes flew open. The ash white polar bear was impaled in midair by four scarlet spikes, by some miracle all four just missing her vital organs. Lucas squatted underneath her. His usual blonde hair was snowy white, his sea-blue pupils had turned red and bloodshot – the physical symptoms showing a BLOOD-Y Attribute in use. Polar’s distressing roars drowned out the surrounding noise.

Breathing heavily, Lucas crawled out to a stunned and shaken Buck, who was frozen in disbelief at the nightmare in front of him. In those few precious seconds, Lucas pressed his bloodstained hands onto Buck’s forearms. Scarlet spikes broke through the larger boy’s limbs, incapacitating him. His shrieks of pain were as deafening as Polar’s roars. Two instructors intervened before any more damage could be inflicted. Lucas slumped to his knees but he liquefied the bloody spikes to allow the instructors to take the two students. As he disengaged his Attribute, his color returned to normal. Polar fell into awaiting arms in her original human form.

The announcer shouted, “That was wild! Lobelia scores! 200 deserving points! That’s the might of a BLOOD-Y. Remarkable skill. And now we’re down to three, ladies and gentlemen! We’re down to the final three!”

Ya Nu looked from the gasping, kneeling Lucas to the other remaining student opposite her, still similarly on the sidelines. A skinny boy she had never seen before. He had no visible signs of wear or tear on himself. He was either so good he’d dodged all oncoming offense and overpowered other students without a sweat, or he’d been hiding until this final moment. Perhaps it was the latter as he was suddenly embarrassed to be waiting for her to make a move, and he shakily reached down to pick up a broken stick. Visibly trembling but without thinking, he rushed out towards Lucas with a strangled war cry. The boy was being quite courageous going at it alone, especially after Lobelia’s powerful showing against two attackers at once, so Ya Nu was slightly ashamed to find the look of it funny.

Ensuring the comedy, Lucas grabbed a discarded sword sheath lying near him and stood. He didn’t have to do anything extra. As the skinny boy came within distance, Lucas flung the sheath with all his might. No surprise, it clocked the boy squarely between the eyes. The boy flopped backwards slamming onto the ground. He was not getting back up. Another one down. As an instructor dropped in to collect the fallen student, booing filled the space.

The announcer was furious. “Huh? What the rotten bananas was that!? Weak! Awful! 100 points awarded to Lobelia! We’re down to the last two! Let’s make this a worthy fight for a winner, eh? Everyone, let’s hear your enthusiasm. Scream!”

Thunderous roars replaced the earlier disatisfied sounds and filled the space. A chant began. “BLOODY. LOBELIA. BLOODY. LOBELIA. BLOODY. LOBELIA.”

The crowd was not on her side. Ya Nu’s studied the bloodthirsty audience then her gaze moved to Lucas who likewise returned hers steadily. Both of them waiting. It was her move.

This drawn-out exam had wiped out most of her strength, but she wasn’t ready to give up. In fact, Lucas’ strong showing motivated her. She had many advantages. She wasn’t ragged and worn like Lucas. Her capabilities were also more suited for long range.

The previous skirmish had moved Lucas off center of the arena. She estimated the distance between them. Just about good enough for her.