There were all types of new obstacles, but the most common were simple walls, most of which were about thirty feet high. Several objects also hung from the ceiling, starting from about fifty feet off the ground. Even with our enhanced strength and the reduced gravity, it would be impossible to reach them just by jumping. The walls were also about ten feet, apart, making it highly unlikely that I would be able to “hop” up them to reach the top.
As soon as the buzzer sounded, I began sprinting as far as I could from my starting location to a corner of the field. Unfortunately, my way forward was hindered by the maze of obstacles.
I didn’t mind, though — the maze was the only thing keeping me alive right now. It was also the greatest tool I had at my disposal, other than my gun.
Now, you may have picked up when I said I’d needed to don the combat suit, that it wasn’t our normal suit, the one that could be summoned from a watch. This was an older suit, lacking just about all the fancy technology I’d grown accustomed to during training.
Instead, aside from providing a bit of armor, which in my case was but harmful to me, as they’d modified the armor to take more damage from energy blasts, the only tools available to me were a grappling hook gun, two smoke grenades, and two flashbang grenades.
Hopefully the others were similarly equipped…
Just as I was about to reach the corner I’d deemed as my initial hiding spot when I suddenly saw a shadow overhead.
I reacted instinctively and twisted, rolling out of the way as I shot blindly towards the spot I’d just vacated.
A giant mass landed where I’d been standing, and my shots connected. Almost immediately, the figure’s movements ceased, and mass of flesh and muscle slumped to the ground. From just a glance, I could see that the mass was actually just the giant from last year’s graduates.
Without a second thought, I turned to run in the opposite direction, back towards my original starting point.
If the giant was there, his team couldn’t be far behind. They’d failed in their sneak attack, but only by the smallest of moments.
Two walls away from where I’d been ambushed, a group of six stood together, eyes to the sky, as if they were waiting for something. One of the girls frowned.
“2-6 should have sent the signal by now, yes?”
The others nodded, and a male spoke up. “I believe he’s failed. 2-4, come with me and we’ll verify. The rest of you, stand guard. We don’t want to lose this positioning.”
“Roger.”
“Understood.”
…
Halfway to my starting point, I paused, having just realized something.
The giant had been able to get into his position because of the combat suit’s grappling hook. Could I use my own to scale the walls and objects surrounding me? High ground was highly valuable, after all.
I reached forward with my left hand and shot the grapple hook towards the top of a nearby wall, then used its retracting function to pull myself forward.
I clambered atop the wall, then used the grappling jump to some higher ground before settling down.
By this point, I was well above the field floor, by around sixty feet. From this vantage point, I could see where the two teams were.
If I was to have any chance at winning, or rather, surviving, the competition, I’d have to be a truly honorable participant.
That’s right! It was time to “third-party” the other two teams.
But first, I needed them to fight each other. Even as I was thinking of ways to bring the two teams together, though, I saw a burst of light out of the corner of my eye.
Again, my reflexes saved me as I quickly tucked my head back behind cover. From what I could tell, the shot had come from the direction of the graduate team.
As expected, the difference in a year’s worth of real-world experience was quite fearsome. My own team hadn’t seen me yet, but the graduate team had already taken two shots at me. At the beginning of the match, they’d somehow guessed that I’d be heading to the far corner of the field.
Fine. It made sense for me, the disadvantaged party, to try and distance myself from the others. But what now? I’d taken care to hide as much of myself as I could, and even if they were paying to their surroundings, I shouldn’t have been an easy target to spot.
Did they have something that could track me? A thermal scanner of some sort, perhaps?
No.
That wouldn’t make sense, as it would be an unfair advantage. But, it did feel as if this graduate squad knew where I was at all times.
Were they just predicting my movements?
It was possible. After all, not much had happened in the contest, yet. Then the best solution to this was… to create some chaos!
I quickly fired a few shots off at the graduates, then used my grapple hook to swing over to another object, farther away. Along the way, I shot several shots in the direction of the third year team.
None of my shots hit, but that was fine. I was just trying to introduce a bit of chaos into the equation. With how close the two teams were, and my high position, they could see where my shots had been headed towards.
With that, they could easily judge where the other team was. As I bounded away, each of the opposing sides had a decision to make.
Would they pursue the runaway, or devote their attention to their strongest opponent? The answer had been clear to me, and it was clear to them, as well.
Screw the rabbit — it was time for the two tigers to fight for control of the mountain.
As shots began to sound behind me, I grinned.
From here on out, the tasks at hand were far simpler.
First, I needed to stay far enough from the fight to guarantee my own safety, but I had to stay close enough to keep an eye on the fighting. Second, with what I could see of the fighting, I had to control the flow of battle. If one side was winning, I had to help the other.
Ideally, the two teams would simultaneously K.O. each other. At the very least, though, I had to make sure only one, or at most, two, survived their battle.
I wasn’t confident in dealing with more than that. So, it was incredibly important for me to properly control the flow of battle.
I jumped and grabbed onto the edge of a wall, then peeked over.
“Wait, really?”
