Once Alex and Abigail agreed on their partnership, Alex went ahead and cleaned up a few students by taking out her legs and giving Abigail the chance to finish them off. This brought their eliminations in the thousands. After many eliminations, Alex asked something that had caught his attention.
"Why don't you run out of arrows?" His curiosity about the issue stemmed from the size of her quiver and yet never ran out of arrows.
They were currently out of the ruined city heading towards what they presumed to be the centre. This notion came from where the timer appears in the sky when the countdown starts.
Abigail gave a smug grin and replied, "The quiver has a small storage space underneath that replenishes my arrows once I press a button located at the side." She said, pointing to the button.
"That's cool. But I still prefer polearms." Alex acknowledged the ingenuity of the archery class and chipped in his take on weapons. Besides, once he masters the use of his abilities and increases his 'mana' pool, he can construct any weapon he desires. Light was a very versatile ability that was like a one-for-all.
"Everyone has their preference and motivations." He nodded, agreeing with her words. After a couple of minutes of running and a few eliminations. They reached the woods on the outskirts of the city and entered.
"Yeah…"
...
Alex and Abigail for the rest of the battle moved together eliminating as many students as they came across. Whenever they encountered a warzone, Abigail would take a high vantage point while Alex dashed right into the mist of the battle, eliminating and crippling some for Abigail to eliminate.
At times, Abigail would be discovered and Alex had to rush it to prevent her from being eliminated. It became difficult for her to fight when her opponents got too close and while she could fight, she was no match for true melee fighters.
It's been a few hours and many eliminations and just as Alex had said, the prowess of the surviving students was nothing to sneeze at and the number of students they were encountering was increasing rather than decreasing. This gave Alex's theory some credibility. He shared her thoughts with Abigail who was shocked as she did not think about any of that at all.
"So, that's why the students aren't decreasing. We're all being pushed forward for the finale battle royale."
"Exactly, and if am right, we might not even do the whole twelve hours," Alex added another bit of what he thought the more time passed.
Abigail furrowed her brows in confusion. Of course, she knew that if the number of surviving students were up to the required 5000, the battle royale would come to an end. This was what they all knew as it was mentioned in the beginning. But from how Alex mentioned that it seemed there was something else that was not mentioned.
"Why do you think that? Also, why didn't the instructors say anything about the shrinking continent and the rest? There's no point in keeping that from us, is there?" She asked, not bothering to think about it. She could simply ask for the answer.
Alex looked at her with a small smile, "In the beginning, the instructor said our intelligence, wits, and strength would be tested, but he didn't say how. Some things are meant for us to figure out."
His words momentarily caused Abigail to pause, recalling what was said in the beginning. She had only thought those words were simply said without much substance. After all, their intelligence and whatnot would be needed just to overcome this challenge. 'It seems there's more than meets the eye.'
"See through the veil of normalcy," Alex muttered, mostly to himself.
"What?"
"Oh, it's just something someone once told me," Alex replied and explained what he meant.
"That person sounds like a wise dude." Abigail complimented, the words resonating with her. While it wasn't that profound, most people tend to overlook simple things because they see them as 'normal' while it could be more than that.
"Yeah…
"And to your first question, I think the continent is shrinking faster than the number of students being eliminated. We've encountered too many students already and it's only been 6 hours so far. The battle royale would be starting soon." Alex shared his thoughts on the matter.
The only reason they were not being overwhelmed right now was because they had taken a spot where there was not much activity as most students were gathered in areas where they could have lots of targets.
Alex and Abigail then made changes to their plans before descending to continue with their hunt.
....
"Your boys seem to have a good head on his shoulders." A first-year instructor said, glancing at Horvey Doe, the instructor to Alex. Most of them if not all, had their personal screens focused on Alex as he was the most domineering force on the battlefield.
"That's all him… Besides, it was easy to deduce some of the things he said if one was paying attention." Instructor Horvey replied.
"Maybe, but how many out of the millions had figured this out without actually seeing the continent shrinking?"
"…" Instructor Horvey had nothing to say about that. The boy mostly kept to himself and his few friends They did not stand out too much either. In fact, if it wasn't for Alex's publicity, not many people would have known about him.
The instructor simply shrugged at Instructor Horvey's lack of response. Even he wondered if he could figure this out if he was among the students. 'This kid is more than just strong. Whatever the issue is with his level, I hope he finds a solution as soon as possible. But first…'
"No matter, with the actual battle royale approaching, let's see how he survives this." That was what every instructor present was thinking. So far, Alex had shown exceptional performance, ingenuity and intelligence, but what would he do if he is forced into a limited-spaced warzone where everyone wanted his head? That was what they all wanted to see.