"What group are you in?" Moon asked, checking his own display. "I'm in Group B."
Selene tapped her watch and sighed. "Group A."
"I see." Moon glanced at the map projected above his wrist. "Want to team up?"
Selene tilted her head. "Team up? We're in different groups. And since the section assignnts are random, we'll probably be sent in completely different directions. We might not even cross paths."
"I know." Moon nodded. "But that doesn't matter. We team up early, and if our paths happen to cross, we fight together. The rules never prohibited forming teams. In fact, most of the participants will start pairing up the mont the gates open."
He gestured subtly with his eyes toward a cluster of five Evolvers standing nearby, already deep in hushed conversation, clearly negotiating an alliance.
"They're doing it already."
Selene followed his gaze to the group of five, then back to Moon. "Yeah, alright. We can team up." She studied him for a mont. "But what do you have in mind?"
"When the tournant begins, we wait the ten minutes out before moving."
Selene blinked. "Wait? Why? Everyone else is going to charge straight into the battleground the second it starts to get any advantage they could. If we hang back, we'll fall behind on the section points. Not to ntion the disadvantage of having no advantageous positioning."
"You'll see why." Moon smiled, the knowing kind of smile that gave away nothing.
Selene narrowed her eyes at him. He wasn't going to explain. He never did, not when he had a plan brewing behind those calm eyes.
But she also knew Moon. She had fought beside him in situations where a single wrong decision ant death, and every single ti, he had seen the danger before it arrived. He anticipated things other people missed. If he said wait, there was a reason.
"Alright." She relented. "I'll wait with you."
"The countdown will begin." Klein announced from above. "When it ends, the tournant officially begins."
Silence fell over the gathered competitors. Every eye locked onto the holographic tir projected above the zone's entrance, the numbers ticking down from sixty seconds.
At ten seconds, the fighters dropped into running stances, weight balanced on the balls of their feet, ready to explode forward. Others remained relaxed, treating the start in a calr manner.
~Ding~
The tir hit zero.
Obvious to say, chaos erupted.
Hundreds of Evolvers launched forward at once, scattering in every direction like a flock of startled birds. So left alone. Others moved in pre-ford teams. A few sprinted at their absolute limit, desperate to gain early ground, while others paced themselves, conserving energy for what was sure to be a long competition.
In the middle of the stampede, Moon stood perfectly still with his arms crossed.
Selene stood beside him, her elental wolf beast soul still at her side. The wolf was part of her strength, and summoning it was allowed, the sa way equipnt was allowed. It was her advantage, and she intended to keep it close.
Within a minute, the two thousand competitors at the starting site had thinned to roughly a hundred.
Selene's eyebrows rose. She had expected herself and Moon to be the only ones who stayed behind. But clearly, others had seen what Moon had seen. Sothing she still hadn't figured out herself.
'Why would they wait?'
She replayed Klein's speech in her mind, from the first word to the last, searching for the detail she had missed.
After several seconds, her eyes widened.
"That makes sense." She murmured.
The sections were assigned randomly, and the first assignnt wouldn't arrive until the ten-minute mark. Charging into the zone imdiately ant running blindly in a random direction, only to potentially have your assigned section appear on the opposite side of where you'd run. The people who waited weren't being lazy. They were avoiding wasted movent. Why sprint sowhere when you didn't know where you needed to go yet?
But that wasn't the only reason behind it. If she was right, then the first assignnt would be closer to them than anyone else. There was a risk in it, but it was worth the risk.
A portion of the remaining hundred seed to reach the sa conclusion at different tis, peeling off and heading into the zone in waves.
Ti passed. The second counter approaching the ten-minute mark.
Only a dozen Evolvers remained at the starting site.
Moon studied each of them carefully, committing every face to mory. If these people had waited for the sa reason he had, then they weren't part of the mindless flock. They were thinkers. Potential threats. The kind of competitors worth watching.
"Ten minutes has passed! Combat is now allowed!" An announcent arrived at every watch, alerting all participants.
Simultaneously, the first section allocation arrived. A notification pulsing on Moon's wrist.
Just as he had predicted, his assigned section was close. Very close.
Selene checked her own display. "A6 for . That's not far either." She glanced at Moon with a small, impressed smile. "Waiting really was the smart move. The direction I was about to run earlier was on the complete opposite side."
But the section assignnt wasn't the only thing that arrived. The combat restriction lifted at the exact sa mont. The protected window was over.
Combat was now available.
Moon's eyes swept across the dozen remaining competitors. As expected, none of them attacked. There was no benefit in fighting this early. Everyone here had been smart enough to wait, which ant everyone here was a capable fighter. Picking a fight against a strong opponent for zero points, while burning energy and revealing your skills, was foolish.
One by one, the remaining Evolvers turned and headed toward their own assigned sections.
Selene moved to follow them, then noticed Moon hadn't budged.
"Why haven't you left yet?" She asked, turning back. "Am I missing sothing? We've both seen our sections. We should head out."
Moon shook his head. "Do you trust ?"
Selene sighed. "What is it this ti? There's sothing else?"
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