Moments Earlier
Abigail Reed was a normal human girl, who had dark long hair and brown eyes. She was a Class D student and when she awakened, her physical stats were on the lower end of the spectrum. She mostly kept to herself and although she did not have the same opportunities as those in the higher classes, she was diligent in her cultivation but still failed to reach the mid-tier ranks.
One thing that she had going for her, however, was her archery skills. From a young age, she had been fascinated with the bow and arrow. She learned from her father all there was to know about using a bow and an arrow for hunting. She knew how to select her prey, map her surroundings, choose vantage points that offered a view of her prey, and hide her from view.
At the start of the competition, she was smart enough to leave the crowded areas and find a vantage point where she picked off her competitors one after the other, quickly amassing 18 eliminations under her belt.
Whenever she felt she would be discovered, she would leave her hiding spot and find a different location. Her quiet and agile movements made it difficult for others to notice her and when she was noticed, she quickly disappeared. This hit-and-run tactic worked very well and she planned on continuing this spree until the battle ended.
About 30 minutes ago, she heard a loud explosion unlike anything she had heard so far. Realizing some students would be making their way over there, she quickly left her hiding spot and moved further away where she found a cluster of trees that provided a good shooting spot.
During that time, she had seen multiple students make their way past her area of hiding and chose not to engage until the numbers were reduced. Sometime later, the commotion passed, and she decided to get closer to pick off some of them, but she soon noticed a particular student standing on a cliff watching what was happening in the valley down below.
She didn't really care who the person was and decided to take him out. As she took aim and looked closer, her eyes widened in surprise, "Alexander…?" She muttered, a small smile forming on her lips.
"Well, what do you know?" She was pleased a big prey was before her. "I bet he has many eliminations already. No matter, it will soon be mine." She grinned and changed her arrow to an explosive type. She wasn't taking chances and if what she heard about him was true, then he was bound to be faster than her arrows.
"Sorry, Alex… But a girl's got to eat." She muttered to herself, let out a deep breath and released the arrow.
...
BOOOM!
The arrow exploded before Alex could even react. Because he was so close to the arrow, the force of the explosion sent him flying off the cliff.
Luckily for him, his badge was not exposed to the explosion, so he wasn't immediately eliminated.
"Fuck, I was careless!" He chided himself as he free fell from the height. He was not worried about the impact he would make when he landed, after all, he was considering going down that way earlier. Compared to the height he fell from after his spear throw, this was nothing.
After several seconds of falling, he performed an air manoeuvre to recompose himself and landed in the valley with a resounding boom, creating a mini crater. He swiftly got out of the crater, looking around. When he spotted no one nearby he looked up from the point he fell from to see if he could catch a glimpse of his shooter.
"No luck, huh?" He muttered and then looked in the distance where he spotted some students fighting earlier. They were currently not in his view due to the rough terrain of the valley. Alex made the decision to go after those students using the same hit-and-run tactics.
"No then, let the hunting begin." He whispered and dashed in the direction of the students, already forgetting about his shooter. To him, it was just another competitor taking their shot at him and did not hold any grudge.
However, that was only his thoughts…
...…..
Abigail noticed how Alex evaded her arrow at the last second but didn't show much response, knowing what was to follow. However, the particles of Alex she expected to see after he was eliminated did not come into play, only a free-falling Alex.
"Shit, it didn't finish him," she cussed and quickly made her way over to the location Alex was. When she got there, she looked down at the valley and saw him speeding towards the students fighting in the distance.
"You don't see me as a challenge, do you?" She was vexed Alex thought little about their brief exchange, if you could call it that. "Taking you out is going to be fun." She grinned and swiftly moved to the side to descend and chase after her golden goose.
Just like everyone else, she had heard a lot about The Miracle Boy and how many students planned on going after him with their numbers. She had thought nothing about it before, but now, her thoughts were different. Alex was like the forbidden prey she couldn't go after and the thought of stocking him to take him out excited her.
Once she got to the slope, she dashed speedily after Alex, and although not as fast, she was still faster than most students in this phase of the competition. Within seconds, she was the location of Alex's fall, and without pausing, continued her mad dash.
So far, only about forty-five minutes have passed since the start of the first phase of the first-year competition. Thousands had already been eliminated either due to their own stupidity, carelessness, being at the wrong place at the worst possible time or from the power of an apex predator and soon, more would be eliminated once the first hour passed.