The hallway on the top floor was beautiful. The left side was lined with doors while the right was lined with massive wall-sized windows wherein the sun that was almost overhead was shining its final drops of light. The result was a blinding effect as the rays were magnified by the angle, and the patterns of the dirt from the unclean windows were beamed onto the floor. Frost wasn't paying attention to any of that. There was something much more important.
The metal pole of the flag gleamed in the light. It was no more than ten metres away from him now. He'd just eliminated the only competition in the vicinity. It was as good as his! He kicked off and sprinted towards it with haste nonetheless.
Frost reached out for the flag desperately.
"Not a step further if you value your life, Frost Direshard."
A bullet cracked past his head. The boy obeyed and skidded to a stop not even a metre away from the flag. Still, this wasn't a risk he wanted to take. Capturethe flag was quite ambiguous as a request. Surely it didn't just mean grabbing it. He probably had to take it to some external location, which would make grabbing it and getting shot immediately a futile endeavour.
He looked up to meet eyes with the stranger. It seemed he'd come from the East building through the connector, and was now standing with a pistol pointed at him. He seemed confident enough in his shooting skills even from that distance that Frost in turn lost confidence to fight back.
Also, the stranger in question was none other than Lex Aitsuko.
"What the hell–" Frost groaned. After Lex had produced a similar feeling to Lana, he should have guessed that this might happen. Still, it was a pain in the ass.
Lex looked totally different now. Standing tall, decently built. Slick glasses rather than the goofy ones he'd been wearing. Most of all, confident. This wasn't the same nerd he'd seen less than half an hour ago, and yet it was undoubtedly the same man wearing the same outfit. Short black hair, button-up shirt and dress-pants complete with loafers as the footwear. Could it be that Lex was putting on the exact same facade as Frost? He'd come here expecting to dominate, not to tussle. He moved with calm and grace. A truly competent opponent. As if that wasn't strange enough, he was holding a book in his off-hand.
"Damned four-eyes" Frost grimaced, holding himself to the spot like a statue.
Lex gestured with his gun. "Only a fool entertains the opponent with futile conversation. Step away from the flag or the next bullet is going between the eyes." He spoke with perfect clarity and lacked his usual hesitance.
A doorway two metres to his left, a window two metres to his right. Frost had the same chance of dodging those bullets as a paraplegic winning a hundred metre sprint. Even so, he did consider it for a moment.
"Alright," he said, taking a few steps backward.
The man approached slowly. He tossed the book into the air and it vanished with an aggressive puff of black energy. Using the freed hand, he pulled the flag up from the stand upon which it had been firmly planted. The distortion seemingly remained, which meant that Frost's suspicion was correct. He hadn't lost yet, but the situation was looking less than ideal.
"You ditched the glasses, I see," he noted, looking at the flag curiously. "The Void does have a way of bringing Voidhunters together. I suppose we'll be getting to know each other." For a moment, he appeared troubled. "You're new, though… That means that the fourth Voidhunter is still…"
"Hm?" Frost asked. Right. There were supposed to be four Voidhunters in the area…
"Don't concern yourself with it. I'll be going now." Lex walked past Frost and started towards the stairs, which was likely a more efficient way to make his escape. "Ah, and don't bother with your pistol. Lana Whitehall only loads two bullets just in case she misses the first. She's not much of a killer."
Frost drew the pistol back out and checked the magazine to find out with great horror that Lex was correct. If she'd only had confidence in her shooting, then maybe she'd have saved her own life. What a bizarre habit.
As he was thinking this, the door to the stairwell swung open. The one who walked through it was none other than the woman of strange habits herself. Lana Whitehall stepped directly into Lex's way, her shoulder bleeding profusely with a bullet hole. An aura of void energy permeated her entire body. Her appearance had fallen into disarray with her hair broken free of the ponytail that had once restrained it. She had her teeth gritted with such ferocity that Frost would've expected her to start frothing at the mouth.
"I take you to lunch," she said, "and this is how you repay me!?"
Frost squatted down and drew the knife from his boot. Now might be his only chance to attack Lex, who was busy pointing his gun at Lana.
Lana, willing to put aside her grudge to fight a common enemy, dashed towards Lex. Three bullets rattled off, but she drew a knife of her own from her belt and swiped it with blinding speed. The bullets deflected in three different directions, one into the roof, one into a wall, and one into a window which exploded into a rain of shards. With nothing but a knife, she parried three bullets at a speed Frost couldn't yet comprehend.
[Checkpointer20: Voidhunter enhancement easily surpasses a bullet.]
Lex fired two more shots before his revolver ran out of bullets. Lana adjusted her head, allowing the first bullet to skim past as she swung her knife at the second.
[Lana Whitehall is activating an attribute: Perfect eye.]
They collided at a perfect angle with a satisfying ping that sent the bullet hurtling towards Lex's forehead. The man snapped his neck to the side, his ear exploding with blood as the bullet carried on to just barely miss Frost and shatter another one of the corridor's windows.
[GreatGadly30: Perfect eye. That must be her main attribute.]
Main attribute? Frost allegedly had two of those. [Wildcard] and [Connected]. The only issue with attributes was that they stated their name and declared their existence, but didn't explain their purpose or use. [Connected] seemed to represent his ability to see the chat. What of [Wildcard] then? What was it, and would it help him win?
Frost thrust his knife at the back of Lex's neck.
[Lex Aitsuko is activating an attribute: Contact swap.]
A hand brushed across Frost's arm, and suddenly he was a few metres forward as if he'd teleported. Lex himself had vanished, and Frost's knife was now heading straight for Lana's throat. He pulled back and just narrowly avoided stabbing her. Frost was fully falling forward now, utterly swept off of his feet by the absurdity of Lex's seeming teleportation. For an instant he was at Lana's mercy.
He looked into her eyes and saw clearly that she considered stabbing him for at least a moment. Frost was prepared for the stinging pain. Instead she caught him by the shoulder and gave him a gentle shove back to his feet.
Frost slid to a stop and spun around. "What the hell is up with this guy?" He asked, looking at Lex whom he'd just swapped places with.
Lana's mind was on something else. She huffed loudly. "I should've stabbed you just now." While she wiped her hair from her face, Frost could see that her mood hadn't gotten any better.
Frost chuckled. "And I should've shot you in the head," he lied. Of course he wouldn't tell her that he'd very much intended to take her right between the eyes. Frost had never been a good shot.
Lana shot him a deadly glare, but it softened after a moment. "Tsch. I guess there's a heart in there somewhere."
Nope. "Can we talk this out later?"
"Fine."
[Checkpointer20: Lana isn't much more experienced than you are.]
[Checkpointer20: You're outmatched here.]
Frost ignored the warning and ran with Lana. She arrived before he did, and swiped a few times to catch nothing but air as Lex redirected her strikes with expert precision. She looked like a child trying to beat up an adult, uselessly flailing and having her blows batted away. The second she showed an opening, Lex stepped into it and punched her across the face. She reeled into the wall and caught herself, clearly dazed.
Frost stabbed into what he thought was an opening and found his arm stopped in its tracks. Lex grabbed his wrist and held it in place. Frost struggled with all of his strength and only managed to wiggle his arm a little bit. He growled out at this like a feral hound.
"Your experience level is inconsequential," Lex noted. "You should have stayed home."
Lex readjusted his grip in a flash, and then Frost felt his body start to lift. His arm, which felt like it would be ripped off, served as the fulcrum. His whole world flipped upside down for a moment, and then he impacted the floor with a loud crack of pain.
"Grahhhh!" Lana telegraphed her attack with a loud battle cry. This time, Lex bypassed the showmanship and just backhanded her to the face. Frost was certain he heard her cheekbone shatter upon the impact, but the strike carried enough force to send her to the floor regardless. Her head slammed against the ground. It was unclear whether it was the initial strike or the floor that ended up knocking her unconscious.
"What exactly did you wager?" Lex asked. "Give up fighting before I have to hurt you more than I'd like to."
Frost had never known the meaning of "giving up." One degree-essential class wasn't enough to flunk him out of university entirely, but it was certainly worth fighting for. He'd have to pick up slack in summer school, or retake the course next year. It sounded silly, but the pain right now was worth avoiding that scenario
He knew only one thing for certain. If he couldn't have that flag, no one could.
Frost Direshard's anger finally reached a boiling point. Black energy particles surrounded him as he stumbled painfully to his feet. It was a strange feeling, almost like floating. The pain in his body slowly started to vanish as his adrenaline pumped and his senses enhanced. For he who didn't know how to enhance himself properly, the heat of battle was the only way.
More than anything, faced with a strong opponent ahead, Frost grew excited.
Lex's face shifted to show a tiny hint of concern. Somehow he could tell that Frost had changed. "You're an interesting one."
"Hand it over."
Lex was amused by this new challenge. He twirled the flag around playfully in his hand. "Come get it."