Chapter 49 - Playtime’s Over (3)

'Only four of them? I swear I sensed at least 5 different people...' Ashton thought when he saw four brute-like people rushing towards him.

There was something off, but well, eliminating four of them simultaneously should give him enough points to maintain his lead. As long as he qualified for the second round of the exam, he wasn't going to complain about anything.

"Rip him apart!"

Ashton heard one of them roar at the top of his lungs. They were enthusiastic, but their courage was misplaced.

'They have a pack mentality as usual. Their items look shabby as well. Maybe that's why they came rushing out of their hideout wanting to claim the items I have on me for themselves. Let's teach them a lesson.'

"Wait! Something's wrong-"

One of the lackeys realised that the way the last prowler was attacking the examinee wasn't normal. But before they could realise what was happening the corpse of the prowler was hurled in his direction, knocking the wind out of the lackey's lungs.

"He baited us out! The prowlers were dead already! Fall back-"

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Armour Skill: [Aggravate] had been activated.

Number of targets affected: 4

The affected targets are found to have a lower level than the user and can not use any abilities for the next 5 seconds.

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"What in the world!? I can't use my dash skill!"

"I can't either!"

"Fck! I knew it was a bad idea."

Panic and chaos ensued among the four of them. However, little did they know it was just the beginning of Ashton's attack.

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You have activated [Wolf's Mark].

Number of targets affected: 4

You will be able to see a crimson wolf mark hanging over the head of the affected targets. When you're close enough to a target, your damage and agility will be increased by 10%. This effect can be stacked up to a maximum of 50%.

Current Boost: 40%

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Ashton wasn't the only one who could sense the increase in his powers. The four lackeys were also aware of the fact as they recognised the wolf mark hanging over their heads. All of them knew what the mark signified, but none of them had ever seen the skill in action.

Luckily for them, Ashton was kind enough to give them a first-hand demonstration of exactly what someone with that skill was capable of doing.

"Get a hold over yourselves! We can't run away nor hide while we are marked." The leader of the lackeys tried to gain some control over his panic-stricken gang, "The only way for us to get out of this mess is to get rid of that man. He might be strong but he can't take down all four of us simultaneously!"

'Are these idiots blind?' Ashton could not believe their misplaced and naive way of thinking, 'I just killed a dozen Prowlers in front of them and they think they can get me? What kind of drugs are they running on?'

At first, it seemed as if they were just going to try and run away. But as soon as their leader mentioned his intentions, all of them did a complete 180 and drew their weapons out. They were not going to go down without a proper fight. The next moment, all of them had Ashton surrounded.

'Trying to blindside me with your attacks so I wouldn't know where you're attacking me from?' Ashton smiled, 'That would have worked against others, but my perception skill gives me an unfair edge over you.'

All of them simultaneous drew a bunch of throwing knives and hurled them towards Ashton, who thanks to his enhanced agility, blocked all of them. Why did he block the attack instead of dodging? He wanted to trigger the whip's ability and get rid of them as soon as he could.

[You have been stunned.]

This message appeared in front of the ones who attacked Ashton... but only three of them had the notification pop up in front of them.

A second later, Ashton heard someone's footsteps and turned around to realise that the one leading them was running away. That bastard had tricked his own party along with Ashton. He did not have any intention to stay there and fight. He just wanted others to think that he was and use them to get as far away from Ashton as possible.

'You can run, you can hide. But you can't escape. Not so easily.'

Ashton was in no hurry to chase after one of them when he had three of them in front of him. Also, how far did the kid think he could run away? Ashton would catch up to him in no time.

But first, without wasting any more of his precious time, he destroyed the chest pieces of the three of them, before chasing after the fourth of them. He couldn't see the person, but he could still see the wolf mark looming over his head.

'The more I see it work, the more I realise I made the right choice during skill selection.'

Using the whip as a grappling hook, Ashton swung his way over to where the man was... inside the abandoned building. There when was greeted by a welcoming sight.

"I knew there would be five of you here." Ashton smiled as he saw two people hiding inside the building, 'So, shall I get rid of both of you?'

Seeing Ashton their petrified Lucas. Due to the darkness, the Lackeys had not been able to recognise the man whom they were going up against. But in the room filled with light, it only took the two of them a glance to recognise the one who had been leading in the contest.

"Fcker! Couldn't you find us anyone easier to hunt?" Lucas slapped the lackey hard across the face, "Why did you anger someone as great as a Bismark?"

Lucas then immediately turned to face Ashton whose face had been plastered over their watches thanks to the killing spree he was in.

'Look, it's an ass-kisser... why am I not surprised?' Ashton shook his head as Lucas started throwing false words of greatness in his way.

But there was one thing even Ashton could not deny. Lucas had a way with words. If Ashton didn't know what Lucas was trying to do, he would have accepted his false praises without thinking about it.

However, Ashton Lucas was trying to talk his way out and decided to get rid of him first. Yet, before he could even do anything about it, an announcement was made. The exam was over due the most of the candidates being eliminated...

'I thought there were still around 60-70 of us remaining?' Ashton was surprised but soon his surprise turned into shock when he saw the leaderboard.

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Zone 5 leaderboard:

First Place: Nicole Grunta [90 points]

Second Place: Nick Grunta [84 points]

Third Place: Ashton Bismark [83 points]

Fourth Place: Anna Swan [67 points]

Fifth Place: Kristin Hodgson [54 points]

Sixth Place: Alanah Cross [52 points]

Seventh Place: Isabell Moon [45 points]

Eighth Place: Selin Cain [33 points]

Ninth Place: Micheal Bonowich [14 points]

Tenth Place: Lucas Wring [13 points]

Please leave the arena and collect your suitable rewards. Thank you for your participation in the Annual Academy Entrance Examination and congratulations for making it into the academy!

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Ashton had achieved his primary goal but still, he was having a hard time believing that within a matter of seconds, not one but two examinees got past him in the rankings. Just who were these Gruntas?