Due to the nature of the game being suddenly introduced to all of the participants, the start had been slow, with only the most proactive and well-trained participants having a fast start.
Of course, with all the variance in the plans of dozens of different students, the game was bound to devolve into chaos at some point.
At some point, the groups flanking, the groups rushing, the groups hanging just behind, and even those who stayed back, either out of cowardice or a naive thought that they could 'Protect' their team's actualization, all advanced up to a point of clash.
You see, both teams had very similar strategies, as in the lack of one altogether.
The lack of cohesion led to a small bit of order in the chaos, that being the end result of both teams colliding in the center of the arena.
Amidst this battle was Sacril and his group; the fights had many added elements like surprise and distraction that made each opponent they ran into much easier than the previous ones.
However, that did not stop the eventual halt of their advance from occurring.
Eira cursed, "Back up! There are way too many up there!"
As she said this, Sacril noticed that there was essentially a tide of enemies heading towards them.
He ran, and confusion raced through his mind regarding just how many people there were. He was unsure of the exact number of people in his class; he knew it was between a few dozen and fifty, but definetely no where close to... well... that.
As he and Eira attempted to escape, he heard a massive clamour behind them.
Looking over his shoulder, he noticed that the raven-haired young man had not followed suit and, for some inexplicable reason, was engaging the enemy.
That is, at least until he heard what the raven-haired young man was shouting.
"Fools! They are only clones!"
Sacril snapped his gaze over to the horde that was close to overwhelming the poor awakened.
Indeed, many of them shared the same young man's face; it seemed that they had been duped.
Of course, it was too late now to turn back and try to fight clone man, or whatever he was.
They fled into the trees as the raven-haired young man shouted in anger.
The red-haired young man had disappeared a while back, leaving just the three of them, and now it was just him and Eira.
They ran until the sound quieted, though more noise was coming from several directions.
They stopped for a moment before heading in what they assumed was forward, hoping to reach the other team's actualization.
It was clear that the battle was swaying to either side, and any event could lead to sudden victory or defeat.
Of course, they didn't even know where the other team's seal was; the person carrying it could be fighting Albert Iron Breaker right now.
Seizing the moment and pushing through as fast as possible was crucial in a game like this.
But it isn't like the Actualization would be easy to find; that would defeat the purpose of the game.
He could only hope just the two of them would be enough to find it; it's not like it would just come to them, anyway.
"The seal is there!"
Sacrils' eyes shot up, a woman holding a large sphere of energy in her hand was flying in the air him, she radiated an aura, similar to only one other he had felt before.
The actualization.
He could not comprehend this outcome, even a genius would have had a hard time predicting it, as it was stupid in a way.
But if he had time to think about it, it would have made more and more sense.
The ball of energy pulsed and was fired.
Thankfully, the instant the voice had sounded out, Eira had not wasted any time.
She seized Sacril, and they were suddenly submerged in a deep, dark expanse of water.
All of Sacril's calculations regarding the current situation vanished; he initially panicked at the inability to breathe, then at something far worse.
He felt... observed in the dark water, but could not see anything.
The sensation was so chilling that he nearly fainted from fear.
But it was over a few long moments later.
They stood where they had, Eira quickly let him go, and he jumped away. The ground around them was entirely levelled and flattened, leaving him to wonder if this had broken the supposed "Non-lethal" rule of this game.
Somehow, he doubted that the organisers could enforce it even if it did.
In the middle of the flat plane, the woman stood; the air seemed to stand still around her, and her white blouse seemed to blow majestically despite the obvious lack of wind inside the indoor forest.
She wore a somewhat indignant expression.
"Who do you think you are, surviving that! The plan was excellent and proposed to me by a very promising young man!"
Her hands lifted, and dozens of smaller balls of light formed and were subsequently fired at them.
Had Sacril been a normal awakened, he would have been unable to evade the attack.
Of course, as he was, he was also unable to avoid all of it.
Eira simply vanished into the dark water once again, giving slightly more of an idea of how her ability worked.
Ever since emerging from the water, he had felt slightly stronger in every way, like it had enhanced his abilities.
Most of the light wizzed by him, but the sheer number led to some of them clipping him, or hitting the ground and messing with his footing.
He was surprised by just how well he was avoiding the attacks of something three ranks above him, but that feeling did not last.
All of the attacks had not been for the purpose of eliminating him instantly, although they would have if they had hit.
Instead, they had corralled him into a perfectly lined-up spot, which was now about to be obliterated by a much larger ball of energy.
Indeed, rather than a riskier course of action that might have led to him closing the distance and sealing the Actualisation, he had been forced into the outcome of being eliminated, along with the seal.