363 Chapter 363: The Fourth Stage

"Richie! You made it! Just in time!"

Dong Fang Yue Chu almost barreled into me, grabbing my shoulders excitedly. Behind him, the rest of my team approached, looking equal parts relieved and equal parts pleased. I nodded at them in greeting.

"Sorry, guys. What's up? How goes the qualifiers?"

Harrison actually grimaced as he closed the distance. Rubbing at his cheek, he sighed heavily and tried to weigh his response. Eventually, he decided on telling me the truth.

"Well, to be honest…not good, actually."

"Sorry, it's my fault." Cody Crosby looked ashamed of himself, raising an apologetic hand and hanging his head. "I lost the third stage."

"I also screwed up the second stage," Theodore Hammond added sheepishly and placed a comforting hand on Cody's shoulder. "It's not just your fault. I wasn't able to get as many points as I should." He turned to Craig Carlson and lowered his head. "Sorry…the both of us ended up wasting your efforts in the first round."

"Stop that." Craig waved his apology away. "This is a team sport, not an individual effort. There's no point blaming other people. We go up together, or we go down together."

"That's right," Harrison Reed agreed. "Right now, we should focus on thinking about how to gain the necessary points to not get eliminated from the qualifiers."

"Okay, I'm going to need you guys to bring me up to speed on what happened in the past three qualifiers." I was trying my best to conceal my confusion, without much success. Suppressing my frustration at not being able to be present during the first three stages, I took a deep breath and made my request. "Could you start from the beginning?"

"Right." Dong Fang Yue Chu conjured a holographic screen and quickly explained everything to me, tracing what seemed like charts and replaying a few videos here and there.

Apparently the qualifiers were, just as the tournament staff said, free-for-all matches where all of the representatives were pitted against each other in a bloodthirsty battle for the ultimate prize – survival. Okay, maybe that was exaggerating too much, but basically there were not much in the way of restrictions other than you couldn't kill your opponent, and obviously attacks with malicious intent and actions that went against the spirit of the tournament (torture, bullying, etc.) were not allowed. Otherwise you could attack anyone and everyone.

Of course, alliances were allowed and encouraged, especially since the last ten got the most points out of the entire group. Consequently, most alliances centered on ten-men teams. But there were many who chose to operate independently, or chose instead to work in smaller teams, such as trios or quartets. After all, a huge team would draw a lot of attention and was basically a massive walking target or firemagnet. No sane participant in their right mind would leave such a powerful alliance alone, and there were instances of several teams temporarily setting aside their differences and combing forces to take out one of the top tiered ten-man teams.

Even the most skilled students couldn't win against overwhelming numbers. There were more than a few occasions where such large teams succumbed to the weight of numbers, despite their enemies supposedly being less skilled. Even so, the difference between our skill levels were not that far, considering that each school sent their best and brightest, so there wouldn't be one Mary Sue figure who dominated the entire tournament like those you saw in manga, light novels and web novels, where a single solitary figure could literally defeat a thousand enemies on his own.

"Sorry…I thought I could maximize my skills if I worked alone and strike from the shadows, but it turned out to be a bit too difficult for me." Cody scratched his head and looked apologetic. "Instead, my hubris was what caused me to be eliminated early on. I was barely able to earn any points for our team. This is my fault."

"I also got eliminated midway, without earning many points." Theodore squared his shoulders. "This qualifier is pretty difficult."

As it turned out, Craig was the only one among the three of them who managed to get into the top ten and secure us the extra ten points. However, adding the middling amount that Theodore secured, and the admittedly abssymal number of points Cody scraped in the third stage, our Jing Tian Academy team was rooted near the lower middle. Not exactly a poor position, considering our performance last year, but not enough to allow us to qualify for the next round.

We were far from reaching the tally of the top twelve teams. Even so, the number of points that each team had earned were much closer than I imagined. Scanning through the tallies, I estimated that a single excellent performance or two would be more than enough to propel us all the way to the top.

The problem, of course, was to actually perform well on stage.

"All right, I get the gist of things. So basically we have to secure two top-ten finishes in the last two stages to ensure that we make it past the qualifiers."

"That's correct," Harrison affirmed with a sigh. "I know it's a long shot, but…I still want to do my best."

"We all do!" Pearl Pang argued hotly. "We came this far, there's no way we'll give up now!"

"We'll fight to the bitter end!" Lily Liam agreed, throwing a fist into the air. She turned to me. "We've discussed earlier, before your return, and come to a consensus that you might stand the best chance out of all of us to get into the top ten for the fourth stage."

"Yeah!" Sheila Scarlet added with an encouraging smile. "We'll be counting on you for the next stage."

"Don't feel too pressurized to do this, though," Harrison warned. "I understand that it's unfair to place so heavy a burden on a single person – you. To be honest, it's also not guaranteed that we'll make it past the qualifiers even if you managed to get into the top ten of your stage. There's still the team captain stage that we have to deal with. Even if you succeed, the moment I fail, there's still a very high chance that we would crash out of the qualifiers."

"Come on, Harrison!" Craig slapped his back. "Don't look down on yourself too much! You'll definitely score well!"

"You should believe in yourself more," Pearl said quietly but firmly. Harrison smiled briefly at that and slapped both of his cheeks, almost as if to wake himself up.

"Well, yeah. We won't get anywhere by being pessimistic and giving up. As you girls said, we'll fight all the way to the very end!"

"That's right. One thing at a time." I nodded determinedly. "There's no point talking about the last and final team captain match if I don't achieve the target number of points necessary for us to qualify for the elimination rounds."

Taking a deep breath, I placed my hand on Harrison's shoulder and offered him an encouraging smile.

"Earlier, you said that it's unfair to place a heavy burden on one person. I should say that too. Even though you're the team captain, that doesn't mean you should shoulder everything by yourself. Allow us to carry some of the weight with you. That's what teammates are for. Just like everyone mentioned earlier, this is not an individual effort but a team one. I will do my part, you will do your part, and whatever happens, happens. The most important thing isn't that we win and make it to the elimination rounds, but that we all did our best and fought all the way to the end – as a team. And that we have no regrets at all."

"You are right." Harrison returned my smile and clasped my wrist in a brotherly manner. "I shouldn't be faltering here. Thanks for reminding me of my duty."

He then turned away to face the rest of the team, swelling in confidence with each passing second. Not because he was really confident, but because he acknowledged the necessity of putting on an impressive front of resolve to his teammates and inspiring them with self-belief.

"We will not give up here! Let's do our best for the next two rounds!" he paused and glanced at the hotel lobby, then came to another decision. "Strategy meeting in my room. Let's go now!"

Buoyed up in mood, despite the somber results we had gained so far, we headed to the lift in slightly higher spirits. Still, I could sense some sort of urgency in Harrison's steps. It was no wonder. The next match was tomorrow. We didn't have a lot of time.

The hotel rooms assigned to us were fairly large. While we were given individual rooms (because the parents committee were worried about boys and girls rooming together, which would result in…um, well, unexpected pregnancies sometimes…or so they say, anyway), it wasn't practical for the hotel to reserve the luxurious suites for so many of us. So despite the relatively big size of the hotel room, it still felt cramped with the ten of us all packed tightly into the confines.

Not that anyone complained. We were all used to it by now. Each of us took up a corner in the room, grabbing a chair, sitting on a low wardrobe, or sprawling on the huge bed that Harrison usually slept in for the duration of the qualifiers. The three girls, in particular, claimed the bed for themselves, so Harrison merely sat on the chair near the dresser and placed his smartphone on the desk to beam a holographic screen right into the middle of the room. The remaining guys had to find their own corners, with Bu Fan grabbing the only other chair in the room and settling into it.

Craig leaned next to the television, Dong Fang Yue Chu and I sat on the low wardrobe usually meant for shoes, and Theodore plopped down in the space between the bed and the two chairs, nestling on the carpet. Cody withdrew to a corner, near the bathroom, and I glanced at him worriedly. I hoped the Assasin wannabe wasn't feeling guilty over his performance during the qualifier stage, and his decision to go solo.

"Okay, so what do we know about tomorrow's stage?" Harrrison asked. Everyone stared at him blankly.

"Nothing. They haven't told us anything yet. They usually leave it until the last moment." Dong Fang Yue Chu sounded like he was reminding our team captain of what happened in the previous stages. That was good to know, but…

"By the way, where were the last three stages held again?" I asked, raising a hand. Once again, I cursed my luck for not allowing me to be here when my teammates were busily doing their best in the tournament. I mean, it was great that we managed to save Anastasia, but…her Woeful Poison Body couldn't have chosen a worse time to erupt.

"The first stage was held in an industrial district, a place filled with warehouses and factories." Craig leaned back against the shelf where the television was propped up. I said television, but it was nothing more than a blank transparent screen that would usually light up as a holographic display whenever people wanted to watch a movie or something. Technology had advanced pretty far a thousand years later…well, not as far as I thought it would, but you get what I mean. Craig smiled as he carefully angled his body so as not to collide with the seemingly fragile screen. "It was a perfect place for me to carry out hit-and-run attacks."

"The second stage was located inside a gigantic mall – Aurora Mall." Theodore shrugged. "Or a replica of it. I don't think they'll close down a whole mall and disrupt local businesses for a single day just for a tournament. It was pretty confined, and there wasn't a lot of places to hide. Melee battles erupted everywhere, and I got taken out midway through because…well, there wasn't anywhere for me to go, so I ended up encountering opponents after opponents, and the team I was allied to ended up being worn down eventually."

Apparently Theodore had joined an alliance with nine other representatives, and because of the size of their team, they ended up drawing a lot of attention. As I said earlier, big teams tended to be a juicy target for the other representatives who chose to operate in smaller teams.

"The third stage took place in Aurora Park," Cody informed me sullenly. "There's a huge cluster of trees there, so I thought I could hide in the shadows and silently eliminate the other representatives one by one. However, I didn't expect to be caught by a wood mage so soon. She used the terrain to her advantage and eliminated me very early on."

Ouch. I winced at that. I understood how frustrating it must be for Cody, to get taken out almost effortlessly by someone who had the environmental advantage, way before he could display his abilities. This was basically terrible luck, and not a true reflection of his skills.

"Do you think we'll be able to narrow down the possible locations for the fourth stage from there?" Bu Fan asked, folding his arms. Harrison scratched his head and grimaced.

"It would be difficult…but do you have any idea?"

"Um…well…" Bu Fan thought for a while, and then shrugged. "It'll be in Aurora City, I guess?"

That wasn't very helpful. We already knew that all five stages would be held within Aurora City. The question was which part of Aurora City exactly.

"Well, we'll have to discuss potential strategies then. For now, Richard, you might want to watch the replays while we brainstorm."

"Good idea." Having missed out on watching the first three stages firsthand, I might as well watch the video analysis and commentary. Perhaps I might even learn more from this.

Before I knew it, evening had come, and we still hadn't managed to iron out a proper strategy despite me having watched all three replays. However, right before Harrison could come to a decision, his smartphone buzzed. Blinking, he pulled a tiny holographic screen toward himself and flicked it open. It wasn't just him – all of us received notifications at the same time, our smartphones informing us that we had just received an email.

"Looks like the stage for the fourth match has been decided," Harrison declared as he glanced up at the rest of us, his eyes hard. "It's the docks."