Barrels!

His footsteps quickened as he reached the king. He raised his hand as he approached the face of the smiling king. 

As he reached forward and his hand outstretched, he noticed that his HP had dropped, he was inches away from reaching the king yet the soldiers that had been recalled from the outside had been drawn back by the AI. He had failed, he was so close to reaching the king, but he had failed. Soli and Basil left the stage as the round came to an end, they both accumulated and racked up a whole bunch of points but ultimately they weren't happy about it. As they left the stage, the audience stood up one by one as they started to clap. It didn't matter who was leading because their performance had already exceeded their expectations. 

Odrunn who was in the stands stood up and clapped as well. He turned to Vero and asked, 

"Why didn't they use their artefacts? They have their artefacts correct?" 

Vero smiled as he explained to Odrunn. 

"It was a matter of fact, they didn't want to use their Artefacts because they felt like if they were to use their artefact and they won, it wouldn't be due to their personal strengths. It is different from us Vanguards if they won they want it to be based on their manifest and abilities alone." 

Odrunn scratched his head as he was confused by this concept. He always thought that in a fight or in war, one should win by any means necessary, but of course, this concept was beaten into his brain by Z, who believed that if there is a way they could win, they should do it. Life is precious after all. 

Looking at the waiting area, he thought of Z, thinking that if it was him there, he would have used any means necessary to take them out and come out on top. 

Z felt a chill run down his spine as he focused his attention on the stage, the next couple of matches were exciting in their own rights, but they didn't make it quite as far as Odrunn and Soli, in the next matches the competitors were totally against the idea of running into the castle to engage the king, it was a foolish attempt, to begin with, and after seeing the horrific king's guard, they ended up avoiding the castle all together in hopes of racking up points by fighting on the outside of the castle or taking out the soldiers that are around. 

Z finally had enough information that he needed to formulate a working plan. He had gathered his wits as he prepared for his number to be called, on his back his pieces of 8 hung prominently like a shield as he prepared to enter. 

After his number was called he entered the stage with 3 other students as they split up into their own areas, they wished each other good luck as they went on their separate ways.  

Z did some light stretching as he prepared to enter combat. He knew that at the start the chances of encountering the enemy right next to him was slim, but he kept himself on alert as much as possible. 

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

And thus the trial began. The other students did what was expected and started to seek out small groups of soldiers to take out in order to score points. Z, on the other hand, ran full speed to the castle, timing it so he would avoid the soldiers as much as possible. 

In front of the castle were 3 soldiers on patrol, Z sneaked up behind them and using his hands he broke the neck of the 2 walking behind while he slit the throat of the one in front. Lifting up a corpse, he dragged it and used it as a shield as he avoided the arrows coming towards him. Upon reaching the wall, the ranged soldier atop the wall continued to shoot arrows at the corpse and therefore Z. With the corpse looking more like a porcupine now. 

In that instant Z threw the corpse directly up the wall and making it land on the ranged soldier, rendering him unable to move or try to struggle. 

Z grabbed 2 pieces of 8 as he jammed it into the wall using it as grips to scale the wall. Getting over the ledge he threw the piece of 8 down slitting the throat of the ranged soldier that was in his way. 

With great haste, he dashed straight into the stairwell leading down as he prepared himself for the attacks that came from the assassins. 

In the seats everyone was slack-jawed. 

"What the heck is with this speed? It's barely been a couple of minutes and he's already inside the castle?"

"Does it really matter? As soon as he enters the castle he's going to be dead anyway. Has he learnt nothing? The minute he enters the castle it's like walking into hell. He'll be better off clearing the soldiers outside before heading in to fight."

"How absurd, not using his manifest, is he just showing off? I don't think he'll make it very far."

Odrunn hearing all the comments around him balled up his fist tightly. He was about to say something when Vero grabbed his shoulder. 

"Zero will do just fine, you believe in him right? Don't let those people get into your head."

Odrunn nodded as he continued to watch the screen. 

Z entered the dark stairwell as he closed his eyes and focused on the sound. The assassins were practically invisible, but that didn't mean they were soundproof. Hearing the minor footsteps Z had predicted the movement of the assassins and dodged a blow coming from the assassin. He grabbed the wrist of the assassin and using his strength, twisted it until the blade was now pointed into the assassin's throat. Pushing it quick, the dagger penetrated the assassin's throat as he fell to the ground twitching. 

Z continued to make his way forward, finding the room that the student before him had found before, he stuck his finger into the barrel and brought it up towards his nose. Smelling it, he gave a wide smile before he started to move the barrels.