Conquering The Novel

After examining the bounty list, the teams made their way to their allocated VR rooms.

"Hey Livia, do you want to make a bet?" Diana whispered excitedly to Livia, her eyes sparkling.

Livia looked at her with a sour expression, "What kind of bet?"

"The one between us who performs better in this match gets a chance to go on a date with Ares," Diana replied with a bright smile.

Livia's eyes widened and she immediately turned to look at Ares, who was gearing up in his VR set.

"What do you say, Livia?" Diana asked for confirmation.

Livia nodded, a huge grin spreading across her face. "Alright, but you won't be there to bother us, right?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

Diana laughed, "Of course not! If you win, I won't disturb your date with him, and you can have him all to yourself. But, if I win, you have to do the same for me."

Livia hesitated for a moment, imagining the possibility of Diana going on a date with Ares, but eventually shook her head and accepted the challenge.

"Deal!" she agreed.

Ares looked at the two of them, shaking their hands with huge grins on their faces, and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What are you two doing? Put on your gear already, we don't have much time left," he reminded them.

"A-Ah Ok, We will gear up quickly," Diana said, and they all put on their VR headsets.

However, seeing the excited expressions on Diana and Livia's faces Ares already got a gist of what was going on in their minds. 'They seem to be making a bet to spend time with me, I presume.' He thought inwardly but shrugged it off, not bothered by their antics.

And after getting equipped with their VR gear, they all entered their respective pods.

Beep—

They were instantly transported into the virtual reality world with a beep.

Swish—

[Preparation phase: 2 minutes!] a voice announced.

The team found themselves standing in the lobby of the virtual reality world, all dressed in matching red attire with the insignia of the Soreh Academy.

Ares wore a crimson tunic with black pants, gloves, and leather boots. Diana wore a red leather tunic and leggings.

while Livia was dressed in a red and white flowing robe with a fur-trimmed hood. Emi wore a similar robe but in a red and gold color scheme, marking her as a defense mage.

Hiro wore a red and gold armor set with intricate designs.

Diana checked her status screen and commented, "Our mana for this match is just above average, but it's manageable."

Emi, on the other hand, seemed anxious. "This amount of mana won't last for much longer for me, and I can only cast a few defensive spells at best without a staff," she said.

While mages don't necessarily need staff to cast spells, using them helps them manage their mana usage and improve their control over their element.

Livia spoke up, "I don't see any problem with the amount of mana to deal with these potatoes."

Emi looked at her in surprise.

"What?" Livia asked.

Emi hesitated before replying, "It's just that I assumed you used a staff to cast spells."

Livia shook her head, "I don't need one. I have a large mana pool and better control over my element, so I'm used to using magic without a staff."

With one minute left in the preparation phase, the team took a final moment to strategize and prepare themselves for the upcoming match.

"T-This is not fair! We have to move around and search for our weapons while she can use her magic without any weapons," Diana suddenly protested, pointing at Livia.

Livia simply smiled in response, revealing her teeth.

"Can't you create a bow out of your mana as well?" Ares asked Diana.

"I can, but that will quickly deplete my mana," Diana replied, sounding hesitant.

As they continued to discuss, a robotic voice suddenly interrupted them.

[The preparation phase has ended.] the voice announced.

Beep—

The beep signaled the start of the match, and the teams were teleported randomly inside the battlefield.

Soreh Academy's team found themselves in a broken and abandoned building. Its walls were shattered revealing the surroundings outside.

"...."

"...What a way to start the match," Ares commented as he looked around.

And Suddenly, the roof above them collapsed and a student fell right in front of them.

!?

"Ugh, why did they have to teleport us randomly like this?" the student groaned before realizing he was surrounded. As he slowly turned to look at them, he noticed the team from Soreh Academy staring at him

"...."

'Just my luck of all the teams, I have to fall right in front of these monsters,' he pondered as his team was teleported to the rooftop of this building but the floor crumbled under his feet and he fell right into the tiger's den.

"Uh, hi there," he said awkwardly, unsure of what to do next.

Swish—

"Bye!" said Livia as she gestured her hand toward him and released an ice shard flying toward him, piercing his throat.

"Arghh"

In an instant, his HP reached zero and he was eliminated and turned into particles before disappearing.

[Your teammate Livia had eliminated a member of Team Blitzeirg Academy!]

They heard the notification echoing in their minds.

"It was a free potato!" Livia said, nodding to herself.

"...."

"We need to move fast and find weapons before the other team does. They could be close, and if they get their hands on weapons before us, they'll come after us," Ares declared.

Everyone nodded, and they quickly spread out to search the building for any sign of weapons. The building they were teleported to had two floors, and Ares could already hear footsteps from the floor above them.

'The other team must have received notification of their teammates' elimination, and they know they're up against us now,' Ares thought as he searched the different rooms for any weapons.

In a regular match, any academy would have fled upon realizing they were facing Soreh Academy, but with the huge bounty on their heads, their opponents would see this as an opportunity to eliminate them and gain massive 22 points - more than double the victory points.

Ares searched the different rooms on the ground floor, hoping to find a weapon. As he walked through the kitchen, he spotted a glimmer of metal behind the shattered silverware.

He cautiously picked up the object and found a rusty knife. "It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing," he thought to himself.

Quickly tucking the knife into his belt, Ares rushed out of the kitchen to continue searching for better weapons.

While Diana assessed the situation and realized that finding a bow in the abandoned building was unlikely. She knew that the match was designed to make it difficult for the players to find their desired weapons easily.

Her best bet was to venture into the nearby forest to search for a bow and arrows, which were more likely to be found in such an environment. As She remembered from the games that the organizers of these matches always scattered weapons that could be found in the forest or open areas.

With that in mind, Diana sprinted towards the forest nearby, keeping a sharp lookout for any signs of her opponents. As she reached the edge of the forest, she slowed down to avoid making any noise that could give away her position.

She scanned the trees and foliage, hoping to spot something useful.

Finally, after several minutes of searching, she saw a sturdy bow hidden among the branches of a tree. She quickly climbed up the tree and retrieved the bow, relieved to have found it.

However, she still needed arrows. Diana knew that arrows could be easily misplaced or lost, so she started scouring the area around the tree for any sign of arrows or something that could serve as an arrow.

To be continued...