'Oh well, this is good too... I prefer working alone,' Gustav said internally as he dashed towards the structure ahead.
[Dash has been activated]
Fwosshhh!
Gustav moved forward quickly, surpassing some participants in a manner of seconds.
Some participants that were dropped closer to the entrance of the underground ruins had almost gotten there.
From above, it looked like a swarm of ants was coming from every direction, towards the same location, which was the structure that housed the entrance.
There were thousands of participants heading towards the entrance, which was a large crowd even the entrance was quite big.
Fortunately for them, the electronic backpack they carried had been spaced and separated so the participants wouldn't struggle to pass through the entrance at the same time.
After running for thirty seconds, Gustav was finally a few feet away from getting to the structure that housed the entrance.
At this time, some participants had gone in, while some were also arriving at the entrance the same time he did.
Swwooosshhh!
Being the fastest among the ones that were just arriving, Gustav dashed past them and went into the structure.
The place was dimly lit with pillars that resembled rocks connecting the ground to the ceiling.
The passageway that led underground had stairs constructed within and lamp-like lights that could be seen on the side of both walls as the participants climbed down.
The passageway was so big and wide that it could contain up to fifty people moving side by side.
Gustav looked around as he moved through the passageway, trying to see if he could identify a familiar person. However, since there was none, he kept moving.
Angy knew him all too well to understand that there was no way he'd wait at the entrance or expect her to do something like that.
They both knew that they were to continue with the test since that took priority unless they somehow found each other during it.
Participants were running down the stairs with as much speed as they could muster since everyone wanted to be the first to find grand stones.
Fwooosshh!
Gustav dashed past lots of them with ease causing them to push their speeds to the limit in order to try and gain ground.
'Just how deep does this thing go?' Even after crossing more down a thousand stairs, Gustav still hadn't gotten to the bottom.
At the moment, he had surpassed lots of participants that had arrived before him and was only behind about eighty participants. Still, a multitude of them was swarming in from behind.
Bam! Bam! Bang! Boom!
Gustav could hear sounds of fighting coming from down ahead on the stairs.
-"I will cut down anyone that tries to hinder me from going in first!"
-"You bastard! I'll blast you down!"
-"Out of my way, mongrels!"
-"Why don't we just work together instead?"
Loud voices could be heard coming from up ahead. `
As Gustav approached, he could see some participants ahead slowing down due to the disturbance.
-"Get the fuck out of the way, you retard!"
-"Such vulgar manner of speech for a young girl like yourself. I'll cut off your tongue!"
-"You wench!"
Even before arriving at the source of the main disturbance, another one had been created a few steps in front of Gustav.
A small-sized cute-looking girl around 4'11 with indigo-colored hair was engaging a 6'5 tall slim teenage boy with seven slithery tongues shooting out of his mouth.
A crowd was already forming here due to this.
Zwhiiii! Zwhiii!
Two tongues shot towards the girl with speed as the tip expanded.
Shiik! Shiik!
Thorns grew out of the tongues, and with the speed at which they were moving, it looked like they'd pierce through the small girl before she was able to dodge.
Grab!
The girl grabbed hold of both tongues with a look of anguish stopping them from moving any further.
"Let's see whose tongues are gonna be cut off!" She voiced out as her long hair floated upwards.
Swwiiinngg!
Both tongues were mysteriously sliced into multiple parts.
"Kiaarrhhh!" The boy screamed out as blood spurted out of the cuts.
Just as the girl was about to throw the disconnected parts of the tongues away, she noticed a figure jumping over her head.
Everyone turned to stare up after noticing the figure, who happened to be Gustav.
Zwweeiii!
He travelled more than a hundred steps in the air, crossing over thirty participants at once.
"Hold it right there you! Do you think I'll let you just surpass me like that!?" The girl shouted and threw the severed tongues away before dashing forward at full speed after Gustav.
Gustav landed in front, where he could see participants clustered together at a particular spot forty steps further.
They wanted to move forward, but they didn't have the guts to go through due to the battle going on in front.
Blast! Blast! Blast!
Attacks were slamming into the walls on the sides and the ceilings, and no one wanted to enter the crossfire.
From behind, the small girl with indigo-colored hair was already catching up to Gustav due to her speed, which was almost a match for Dash.
Just as Gustav was looking for a way forward since he didn't want to engage in the nonsensical battle going on in front, a dark-skinned boy who was about six feet tall with bushy afro hair phased out of the ground in front of him.
Zwwooonn!
He turned around to stare at the back and noticed Gustav a few steps behind. He smiled and nodded before turning to look at the front again.
"Oh boy, it's a big commotion out there," He muttered after noticing the battle upfront.
Tap! Tap!
He tapped his feet on the stairs twice, and a blue vortex appeared below him and swallowed him up.
The next thing Gustav heard was, "Ah, you bastards, someone has gone up ahead!"
-"I can't waste any more time playing with you fools!"
-" I'm off. I have to chase after that guy!"