Ring of Death

"Gotcha!"

Elijah was just barely able to grab the boy's feet, and was taken on the ride of a lifetime.

The feeling of butterflies floating in his stomach overtook his eyesight as they failed to stay open.

What Elijah did not realize was how close he came to an instant death. Likely, this kid has set up a perfect path during the first half of the game that allowed him to travel perfectly between the trees with the use of his power. 

Now, he took advantage of his preparations, zooming across the battlefield while easily swiping the flags of anyone who let their guard down for even a split second.

The two of them slammed into a silk web, gracefully slowing their speed to a halt before being thrown off the silk web.

Elijah had caught some pieces of dirt in his mouth, and spit them onto the ground while staring at the large pile of flags within his grasp.

Meanwhile, the blond-haired boy quickly rebounded his body like it was nothing, exactly like he had practiced such an act over and over again. 

"Did you grab onto my leg, waterboy?!!" The blonde-haired kid who had stood up before him hadn't noticed the missing flags until seeing them below Elijah's wide smile.

"I did! I hope you don't mind if I take these…" 

Expecting an attack, Elijah conjured a wave of water using a mix of the environmental mana and the mana that converted into water from his hands for a quick conjuring speed. The result was a defensive barrier that just barely blocked a silk web from sticking to his face — allowing him to escape.

Unfortunately, the kid was seriously adamant about taking back what was his. After all, he was against a water mage.

The spider-boy quickly released a silk web into a tree ahead of where Elijah was running towards, and quickly pulled himself within a few feet of Elijah's back.

Bam!

Elijah felt a sticky substance touch his back, and soon found him being hung up in the air moments before half his flags were taken.

"Dammit! He's too fast." Elijah twisted his body, blocking the further strikes of webs with a cocoon of water. He secretly tore the webs apart, and found himself on the ground again.

"I doubt I can get them back… But I know I can protect what I already have." Elijah blocked a silk web aimed at his face. The spider boy was still on his tail, but decided to weave through the trees and aim for a long distance disarming attack before stealing the flags.

However, moments before Elijah was getting ready to block another string of webs, he felt the pressure surrounding his body tighten.

From the opposite side was a black haired boy floating within mid-air — unaffected by the natural law of gravity. 

Water was already coalescing around Elijah's body before the attack, and was flattened to the ground revealing Elijah's awkward expression. 

While the gravity field was not painful, it almost removed the ability to breath.

"Stealing my flags! You get all of my power Curtis!!"

A call to arms resounded in the area from the spider boy, focusing the attention of the contestants who were already closing in.

Combinations of different elemental spells, telekinetic powers, wormholes, spider silk, temperature fluctuations, and shields that reflected everything coming into contact with it appeared directly above Elijah's head as he struggled within the harsh gravity conditions.

The human instinct of survival quickly took over inside his soul, causing his entire body to glow with the intent to unleash his strength.

What followed was nothing less than a miniature earthquake that overpowered the spells and powers by pure strength.

All it took was Elijah releasing his arm he had lifted under the stress of the intense gravity.

BOOOM!

Miasmic sparks of light sparkled and dissipated from the colors of white to tan as the ground surrounding Elijah became indented. 

Every spell that was previously within seven feet of Elijah had been somehow swallowed, thrown into the sky above trees.

In the center of that divot, was a tall woman with short black hair, whose feet touched the ground overtop of Elijah's body. Her black skirt fluttered in the wind.

The focal point being the bright pink pair of underwear.

"Pink?!"

What surprised Elijah was not the fact that he was looking at her underwear, but that she was dressed entirely in black, including the legging covering her thighs that sat tightly underneath her black skirt.

Visible to everyone who had stopped from the climax of the battle and the interruption of the mysterious spectator, her face turned as red as an exploding plum.

"Huh?!"

Elijah responded hesitantly, knowing that anything he would say would not help the situation. "So… Did I win?"

The woman paused before moving out from the overtop of Elijah.

"You, you, you, you, and of course, you! Follow me. Everyone else, return to the battle. You only have ten minutes left, so use your time wisely." The lady pointed at each and every one of them who had a major role in the destruction that had just taken place, even when Elijah was the main factor of the miniature earth quake that shook the battlefield.

Elijah stumbled to his feet while clutching his head. A warm sensation of water began to hit his body, slowly causing all the pain to fade away.

Outside the border of the forest, stood five individuals who had begun talking to each other in a rather unfriendly manner. Although, they did exchange names in accordance to Violet, a silent spectator of the academy entrance exam. 

The woman was by no means full of mascara and black lipstick, but dressed appropriately for the occasion.

The spider boy was known as Jace Chevalier, a messy blonde-haired freak with a warranted hatred towards Elijah. Elijah could only guess what his flaw must be, as it most definitely had something to do with his mind, or an unseeable consequence that only shows itself during his daily life.

The girl who reflected the powers against each other, leading to an eruption in power Kallus had barely saved, was someone by the name of Naila Grevrememt. Her reflection shields were similar to crystal magic, and could be arranged in any possible way. The question Elijah asked himself were the limits of said power.

It made sense if she could deflect any non-magical object. But magical spells and powers? That must be different, and based on her own core level…'

Standing quietly was a boy very similar to Niko, known as Thurgon Polstice. Black hair that blended into the night, and eyes of fire that easily gave away his power, and the one that had thrown a condensed ball of fire into the center of a myriad of attacks meant to disable each other. 

That boy had walked alongside Violet and another boy known as Curtis Lostent.

A boy made for war as he was gifted the destructive power to manipulate gravity — whether it be the gravity of a human like himself, or the literal space of which anything lays in. 

While his smaller stature, black hair, and brown eyes did not set him apart, his power did. Although, one can only imagine what must have been taken for him to obtain such power. Oh Curtis, the gods have hope for your future…

To Elijah, the most interesting one was Kallus Donimeire, a simpleton of all simpletons. With black hair and black eyes, he gave off the aura of a commoner. 

Elijah obviously grew an attachment to this fellow considering the nature of his abilities. A power related to space — wormhole creation. What he did not know was that this boy had saved him from catastrophe by swallowing up a good chunk of the spells and releasing them into the air above the tree line.

Violet was very adamant about praising this individual while everyone else scoffed in his face.

But hey, at least she started off the conversation on a good note, and right in front of Tigon no less.