Chapter 103: The Forest Moves…

*Author’s note: I know I referred to the teams in color the first "scoreboard update," but moving forward I will use the Format and label them as Ability Academy 1 - x points, Armitage Academy - x points, BloodCrest - X points, etc. I wanted to clarify the change to avoid confusion!

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(2.4) - The Forest Moves

Tyler and Sophie traded with Nyx, Kass and Amanda, who all got into a sleeping bag and fell asleep. They didn’t want to admit it, but they were exhausted from an earlier battle. They spotted an enemy team in the middle of the night nearby and Nyx teleported to them.

’Artic Academy team 4...I hope they’re stupid enough to chase me,’ she thought with a wide grin.

She moved in quick large gaps, causing the members to chase the single target. She used ’form 69’ as bait and it worked. Kass and Amanda were ready at the cavern and when the enemy team came into view, they sprung from one of the hidden entrances and Kass used her demon art on one of the members, becoming the student’s puppet master.

Confused, the team didn’t know what to do with one of their members attacking them while Kass allowed that person to talk.

"Don’t hurt me I’m not doing this! Someone else is!" the brawny student screamed while swinging his sword and using magic directed at his teammates.

"What do we do?!" Another shouted in a panic.

This was the opening Amanda needed to debuff them and shoot Qi blasts while Nyx switched to another offensive form and ripped through the team quickly. She was too fast and too powerful for a confused, unorganized team and fireworks shot off into the sky.

Artic Academy team 4 eliminated. 500 points for Ability Academy Team 1!

Tyler and Sophie were going over their strategy because the night passed and they estimated it was late in the morning. They knew the forest changed every 24 hours but weren’t sure how or when. There was no timer signifying any chance but they knew how the forest worked and wondered if the other schools did as well because the fighting slowed down.

Most of the point gains shown over the several hours they spent on look out so the other girls could sleep came from beast kills. A few of the teams went up by 100 points, which made Tyler frown. Even if he didn’t know them, he felt that the Eidolons were different from beasts because they could turn into a human form.

"Tyler, they’re rogue Eidolons and you slay beasts without a problem. You can’t assume they are all good, just like not everyone on this plant is good," she reminded him with a stern tone.

"You’re right. I need to let it go. It’s a tournament and the VanHorn’s snuck Eidolons here. I wonder if they are enemies to the Land of Summoned Monsters or something. Why else would they stay here and not go back?"

"That’s a good point. Just like when you visited the Eidolon Realm for the first time and realized some of them weren’t good," Vivian reminded him in her charismatic tone.

"Tyler it’s great you think of us as equals but Sophie is correct. Just as not all people on Vexarra or any other planet are good, there are plenty of Eidolons who would quickly take your head out without question. Remember PyroMax?" Rex said calmly.

"I completely forgot about that. You are right. I needed this. I’m still pretty pissed off about the mythological heart though." Tyler sighed.

"Use that to fuel you to make sure you win this thing and we figure out this forest’s secrets," Shadow said with a wide grin.

"Just make sure you are the hunter and not the hunted," she added.

They watched another set of fireworks go off into the sky and checked the scoreboard.

#1. Ability Academy 1 - 2550

#2. Armitage Academy 1 - 2300

#3. BloodCrest 3 - 2260

#4. Armitage Academy 3 - 2010

#5 Armitage Academy 2 - 1990

25 Remaining Teams

"Looks like the action between teams has slowed down. When the girls wake up, we should go scout the area?" Sophie asked.

"Yes, that’s a good idea. We’re probably going to have to make adjustments whenever this thing changes. Do you know when it happens?" Tyler asked quietly, trying not to wake the other girls.

"Sometime in the early evening," Nyxara yawned while stretching her arms.

"Morning!" Amanda said cheerfully while sitting up in her sleeping bag.

"That felt good. I need some food and a potion if that’s ok?" Kass said while standing up and stretching.

"I appreciate that you ask but take whatever you need," Tyler said with a kind smile. "Did you all sleep well?"

"Yes!" They said in unison.

Tyler told Kass and Nyxara to eat the 24 hour food pills they stored because they seemed to be using the most energy. The other two girls ate an eight hour one and Tyler ate a twelve hour one. They all drank one of each potion, just to be safe.

[Your health and mana are fully restored.]

Tyler felt better, not that he was feeling particularly unwell, but the food and potions always gave them a nice boost in energy.

They scouted the area and ran into a few beasts which they took down with ease, adding another 70 points to their score. Tyler continued to check his map, which still only showed 7% of the forest complete. Before the tournament they had scouted 4% of the tournament so he wondered how big the area actually was.

They turned a corner and saw another Ability Academy team captained by Blake. The two locked eyes but simply kept moving in the opposite directions. They saw a small tiny chest nuzzled into a tree.

"Looks safe," Nyxara said without hesitation.

Tyler inspected it just to be safe and came to the same conclusion. He trusted her judgement but he wanted to ensure their safety as well. They opened it and were surprised to see the contents.

"Woah! We hit the jackpot..." Sophie gasped.

Tyler grinned. In addition to the several mana and health potions, he noticed the orange food potions that existed in the Eidolon realm. There were pillows, blankets and hunting gear. A pristine bow and arrow set with a quiver filled with hundreds of arrows sat neatly on top of the large fluffy pillows. The best item was a five pound bag of human flesh in a magically sealed frozen bag.

’Inspect the bow.’

[Legendary bow: Shockwave. Bow shoots electric arrows that will paralyze any beast below Punisher grade. Great for hunting and preserving beast meat.]

"Nyx, are there beasts that you can eat?" Tyler asked, surprised.

"Yes, there are certain beasts with flesh that are beneficial to eat?"

"Yes, even I can eat some of them," Kass smiled.

The forest started rumbling and shaking. Tyler and his ladies were pulled into the air despite their best attempts to fight it.

"I guess we will find out what happens when this thing changes now!" Tyler said while grabbing them in a group hug.

"Look at the forest, it’s moving!" Kass exclaimed.

"So is the sky! What the heck is going on?" Amanda screamed.