Chapter 88 of 143

Chapter 81: Battle royale part 1

By TASTYLEADPAINT • 3,037 words • Code: NV-4lsEUpj

The horn sounded out again. Drawing attention to the large blue floating screen with a suited lady with thick-rimmed glasses.

“May I have your attention? Due to the high number of entrants and the incredibly high demand from our esteemed customers. This tournament will no longer be in the Bracket style format like usual, but instead, it will be in the battle royale format.”

A cacophony of chatter erupted amongst the entrants. Some were happy, others were not. I, on the other hand, couldn’t care less as long as I get to wring the neck of those pure spirits, I’ll be happy, ecstatic even.

“The rules are simple. Everyone is out for themselves. Your task is to eliminate the other contestants. And seeing how you are all performing in front of our higher-paying clientele, fatal blows are permitted for this event if any of you were not aware.”

I wasn’t. Of course, Andre neglected this detail. Whatever this works in my favour, actually. It means I don’t have to hold back against those arseholes.

“Creating teams in the battle royale is not penalised; however, please remember that only the last remaining 5 of the 70 who are here will be classed as winners. If you are maimed or incapacitated in a way that isn’t lethal but makes it impossible for you to fight, you will have 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, your body will be teleported out of the arena.”

“Tch’ the guys in charge are getting soft.” A voice next to me chimed.

“Not necessarily.” Another voice chimed in, “I hear the reason they do that is to attract more people. Think about it. If You only just manage to survive this place, are you gonna keep quiet about it? Of course not! You’re gonna tell everyone which will attract more people. Its free advertsing.”

His logic is sound, but whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter. Those pure spirits aren't leaving here alive.

“And finally, there is no time limit for this event. It continues until only 5 remain. And With that, all the rules have been fully explained. Commencing teleport in 3…2…1….”

Before I could react, blue light wrapped around my body, followed by a bright white flash. In the blink of an eye, I stood in a bright, seethrough blue cube In an empty white plane covered by a dense blue dome. I looked around, and there were other cubes like mine with people in it. I looked closer and noticed that some people were throwing up against the blue wall whilst others had nauseous looks on their faces as they leaned against the blue cube for support. Thankfully, I felt fine. I guess I can thank my new Alvearix biology for that one. Whatever the side effects of that spell were, I'm resistant to it.

The blue screen appeared again. This time, there was no face except there were 5 symbols. There was a tree, a volcano, an ice cube, a bunch of sand dunes and what looked like an old house.

“Contestants! ARE YOU READY!!!!!” A loud male voice boomed through the white plane, followed by a rumble from outside the dome. God, what has Andre got me into.

“Well if you aren't too bad! I am your host, Greya, and tonight! You will be battling on,…..”

I looked up at the screen. a green border started cycling between all the symbols rapidly before finally settling on the old house.

"The Desolate town! HAHAHAH YES! This one is my favourite. Get ready for an exciting match.”

There was a loud rumbling. Suddenly, the white ground started to change. Turning into chiselled and chipped stone. The ground kept rumbling more and more, and there was a loud crash as several dense stone walls appeared behind and at my sides.

“Am I in an alleyway?” The walls around me were chipped and dirty, and there were old stagnant pools of water at my feet. Hell, there was even an awful odour coming from some trash that lined the floor.

I looked around in awe! The stuff they are using here is way more advanced compared to the training room.

“Now contestants, the battle will commence in 10…9…8”

Suddenly, the large blue dome that surrounded us started to fade. Finally, I'll get to see what's out there.

“6…5….4”

More and more of the dome faded, revealing people. So many people. Hundreds, no thousands of people glaring down at us. Dozens of bright flashes came from among the crowd. Are all of these people here to see us all fight?

“3..2..”

The dome around us dropped completely, letting in all the noise it held back. The screams and chants of thousands of people hit me like a tree. This… is…. Cra-

“1………..FIGHT!”

The box dropped, and I bolted forward and out of the alleyway into the street. No messing around; I need to move quickly. 1st things first, I need to analyse my terrain and figure out where I am.

<Yes, big sis.>

“AAAAARAGHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” I looked to my right just in time to see a large human charging down the street at me. On instinct, my body turned to face him, and a small wave of water appeared at my feet, sending me flying forward.

“DIE BITCH” He yelled. Instantly, a faint green blade rippled into existence out of my right hand. His eyes bulged as I entered his attack range. “GOTCHA!” He swung his axe down. However, I was much faster than he thought. The blade sailed behind me as I flew past his left With my right Arm extended. Without any resistance, My mana blade easily sliced through his neck. I skidded to a stop and turned around just in time to see his head do summersaults in the air, spreading blood all over the floor and repainting the stone walls and windows a deep crimson.

1X human warrior Slain!

1500xp awarded.

Level up awarded! Lvl 1 -> 3

12 points were awarded.

“AND WOULD YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THAT, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN FIRST BLOOD GOES TO THE NEWCOMER KUSAMUREEEEEEEEEEEEEE! LETS GIVE HER A ROUND OF APPLAUSE.”

Cheers erupted from the crowd. How can these people be…..It doesn't matter. I need to move.

I kept on running through the forest. I need to pick as many as I can.

<Yes.>

He didn’t respond and instantly took off into the air. I quickly ran towards a building and lept upwards onto the wall. With one quick move, I threw myself onto the roof of a building. A quick flash of my status. That single kill used around 100 mana out of the 3000 I have. I'll have to manage my mana better if I want to make it to the top 5.

I looked to the side just in time to see him arrive.

< You're back. What did you find?>

<7 people within 30 meters of you.>

<Hahaha, thank you, let's knock them down.>

I bolted off the roof and back onto the ground.

I bolted in that direction. Ducking through alleyways and going through buildings . The small fly gave me good directions, and soon, the sounds of swords clashing hit my ears.

I skidded to a stop. The clashing of swords continued. Good, they are distracted. I looked towards a nearby shop and charged towards it. I built up a bunch of speed and then jumped up and grabbed a ledge. In no time, I scurried up the wall and onto the roof.

More and more clashes of swords came as I peeked over the roof's peak.

Down below, I saw two people clashing fiercely as one swung the other easily countered. I watched the two for a few moments. Something was weird about this,

<No. I mean, I don’t think so. It's just…..Why are they so slow?>

This fight was laughably slow. Each attack took an age to reach its target. Could this be a trap? I kept on watching, but no matter how long I watched. They still kept up this slow speed.

I let out a sigh. This isn’t going anywhere. If it’s a trap, there is one way to find out. I took a deep breath to focus before leaping over the peak of the hose skidded down the store tiles. The two swordsmen looked up just in time to see me land and dash towards them.

The two of them stared at me like a startled deer as I shot a blade of mana out of my right hand. The 1st swordsman tried to raise his blade to block, but I was faster, and before he knew it, his head was separated from the rest of his body. At the same time, I kicked my leg toward the second sword person, creating distance between us.

The second swordsperson planted his blade into the ground, allowing him to skid to a stop. However, before he could react, I was already on top of him. Unlike the earlier swordsperson, he managed to raise his blade in time to block mine.

“Oh. You can move quickly if you need to.”

“you're not gonna kill me as easily as you did the other guy.”

“Hmph. I wouldn’t be so confident.”

I took a deep breath in. However, this time, the air didn’t go through my mouth; instead, it went up through my mushroom cap. I held it for a brief moment before breathing heavily out again. Instantly a large green cloud of mushroom spores surrounded us.

“W...what *cough* the hell is this. *cough*”

The man yelled as I backed out of the cloud. He tried to follow me, but his legs crumpled as he tried to move. He screamed out in agony as the poison spread from his lungs to the rest of his body. He tried to cough it out, but all that came out was blood mixed with black chunks of necrotising flesh.

I watched as the effect of my 2 of the new abilities took hold. After the conversion, I was given 2 abilities. There was prolific sporulation, which allowed me to make more mushroom spores and also allowed me to blow air through the underside of my mushroom cap, spreading my spores further and faster. The second one was venomous mycogenesis, making all those spores venomous and deadly when inhaled or ingested.

The man’s coughing grew worse and worse. His blood vessels bulged and were a sickly black colour. His face and body were swollen, and his eyes were red like a rose. Eventually, he fell flat on the ground.

1x Demihuman Swordswoman slain1x Human swordsman slain4500xp awarded

Level up awarded 3 -> 4

4 points were awarded.

“KUSAMURE IS ON A HOT STREAK PEOPLE, 3 KILLS IN UNDER 6 MINUTES. THATS GOTTA BE A RECORD.”

Another round of cheers erupted from the crowd. Seriously, what is wrong with these people?

“KUSAMURE IS ONE TO KEEP AN EYE ON FOLKS. IT'S WAY TOO SOON TO CALL IT BUT TONIGHT IS GONNA BE AN EXCITING NIGHT. YOU BETTER NOT LOOK A WAY FOR A MOMENT”

I rolled my eyes and ran towards the next few targets. We’re gonna have to speed through them. The little one guided me through an alleyway, putting me behind a tiny girl dressed like a mage. Before she could even turn to see me, I dashed into her, planting my blade of mana through her stomach.

1x Dwarven Mage Slain

1000 xp awarded

That’s 3. Where are the oth-

KABOOOOM*

The ground shook as a large plume of smoke appeared in a northwest direction.

<Yes, big sis>

I chuckled as I started running. Blasting past different shops and houses. I'll have to be quick don’t want them to die before I get the chance to-

My feet skidded to a stop in front of a building. Is that what I think it is?… I walked up closer to the shop. Any signage the shop had was all gone; however, despite that, there was a very faded logo I could make out on the window. Elderfern Botany Co. I walked up to the door and pushed it open. Instantly, I was hit with the smell of dust, cobwebs, and a hint of dry earth. I headed straight towards the rear, where the storeroom would most likely be. What I'm looking for will be in there. I kept moving until I hit the cashier's desk. Behind the desk, there was a heavy oak door. I hopped over the till and pushed the door.

*Kachunk*

Figures I wound my leg back before delivering a swift kick to the door, breaking it in two. Once inside, I started searching looking for what I wanted. I pulled old boxes and crates to the ground, all of them filled with useless crap, until I saw it Hiding away in the corner, A collection of seed packets. I dashed over and started rummaging through the seeds.

“Come on, come on. It's gotta be BINGO.”

I picked up two packets of “Healthy Green Vine” seeds and one called “Ferocious Venus fly traps.”

<KABOOOM!>

The ground shook violently. That one was very close.

The ground shook heavily again, causing pieces of the wall and ceiling to fall to the ground.

I bolted towards the exit, not needing any more motivation. The building shook more and more. Old plants, pots, and garden tools fell to the floor. As more of the shop collapsed around me.

I summoned one small wave of water under my feet that sent me flying forward out of the shop's glass window. I tucked my head in and rolled into the fall, putting myself at a safe distance from the collapsing building.

“Good to see you didn’t die too easily, kusamure.” A voice echoed from the smoke.

“That voice. You're the big stupid one, aren't you? Toe rag. Was it?”

“Hahaha, very funny”, the voice said as it walked through the dust cloud to reveal who I thought it was. A large, pure spirit who had a mallet on his back he called a Warhammer.

I looked closer, and behind him, there was that other, more timid, pure spirit. She was tiny, somehow even shorter than me. I glared at her, causing her to shrink back.

“My name is Torg, and you will die here today, simple as.”

I chuckled. “I guarantee you. The only person leaving here alive is me….”

If you haven't noticed, releases have been getting slower and slower over the past few months, and for that, I apologise. The reason is that I've been finding writing a little bit daunting lately. Don't worry; this isn't me saying I plan to drop the story, far from it. I'm invested now, but I am saying that I'm just not enjoying it as much.

Why?

Mainly because of editing. Anyone who has ever published a story to SHUB or any platform or anything, in general, knows that editing and proofreading are not fun. It's long, boring and taxing. Writing a piece of text is fun because it's very creative, but editing isn't. I've tried all sorts of methods to make the process engaging for me, but all they've done is slow me down. The funny thing about this is that this wasn't the case when I was writing chapters earlier. Yes, editing was still a drag, but it was never THIS BAD., so I decided to stop and asses and find out what changed. And one thing I noticed was my chapter length as of late. Chapter 80 was around 4.1k words, chapter 79 was 5.3k words, and chapter 78 was around 3k words as well. These are very long chapters, and with long chapters comes lots of editing. For those of you who don't know, I work full-time while writing this. My job is one that can be very physically and mentally demanding.

Now imagine you've come back from a 4th 10-hour shift in a row. You are mentally and physically checked out. You come and sit at your computer, and you see this massive 5k document you have to edit. It's just too much. Especially when you want to aim for at least 1 chapter a week to put in perspective let say it takes me 4 days to write the chapter and then 3 days to edit I would need to go through around 1.6k words each day just to meet the deadline for that chapter.

What I'm saying is that the chapters, as of late, have been too big. And I will start shrinking them down from 3k plus to closer to 2k and below. Starting with this chapter. What this means for all of you is that you will get shorter chapters; however, you will get more of them. This doesn't mean no long chapters. You will occasionally get one that goes up to 4k or 5k, but they will be rarer. The benefits for me are that I can start enjoying this hobby a bit more, and it also means I can stop being so petrified of editing 1.6k words a day (this is the same length as some chapters) and instead be excited to edit 500 or 800 words a day. Hopefully, this also means the quality of editing will go as well.

anyway I'm done yapping. If you can't tell, this has been on my mind for a long time, and it's been very cathartic to tell someone. See you soon, hopefully, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

-LS

TLDR: author is struggling. chapter length is going down.