Shattered Sanity

Meanwhile, on the other end of the Northern Forest, Batista, Randy and Flair were similarly hiding amongst the thick branches of several trees, looking down at the ground below while waiting for the Aureate students to approach.

”Come on... come on.... How much longer is this shit going to take?”

Batista complained, as he impatiently shifted his position for what must have been the fiftieth time.

They had already been sitting there for roughly twenty minutes, and despite Circuit’s calculations suggesting that at least some of their pursuers were going to eventually come this way, there had been absolutely no sign of anyone approaching.

”Would you please stop fucking moving?” Randy whispered, as he glared towards him from the neighboring tree.”Your impatience is making me impatient.”

”My ass is numb.”

”Then suffer quietly.”

”Easy for you to say. Your branch actually has somewhere to sit.”

Flair suppressed a laugh from farther ahead before suddenly raising his hand.

”Shut up.... Someone’s coming.”

The other two immediately fell silent.

Faint footsteps gradually became audible from somewhere behind the trees, followed by several voices that grew clearer with every passing second.

Seven Aureate students eventually appeared in the distance.

They moved considerably slower than the earlier pursuers, with almost everyone carefully studying the terrain around them as they approached a narrow section of forest where thick thorny bushes covered either side of the otherwise clear path ahead.

One student immediately stopped.

”I’m telling you, we should take the less-treaded path,” he said, as he pointed towards the bushes. ”I’m no tracker, but what’s ahead looks extremely suspicious to me. There are thorny bushes on either side, so any rational person is going to walk straight through the middle.”

Nobody responded.

”And that’s exactly where I’d plant a trap if it were me.”

He continued, as he looked towards the clear pathway suspiciously.

”I’d rather spend a few extra minutes cutting through these thorns and making our own route around, than risk going through it.”

He suggested, as the others shook their heads silently.

”We can’t waste more time by cutting bushes.... Jona.”

One of his companions protested.

”Dawnriver is already getting farther away from us.

We will walk cautiously, but let’s just make way.”

He suggested, as the others nodded in agreement and continued walking.

Meanwhile, high above them, Batista’s grin widened.

Flair slowly reached towards the release cord tied beside his branch.

Unlike the earlier traps, nothing particularly large waited beneath the leaves this time.

Instead, Jeff and Matt had set up several crude wooden launchers amongst the thorny bushes on both sides, each loaded with blunt training arrows and connected through cords to the same manual release.

The trap wasn’t designed to seriously injure anyone.

It was designed to make seven people believe they were suddenly being attacked from every direction.

The first Aureate student entered the firing zone.

Then another.

Within several seconds, all seven had walked between the thorny bushes.

Flair glanced towards Randy.

Randy nodded.

Flair pulled.

TWANG!

TWANG! TWANG!

”What the—”

THWACK!

”ARGH!”

Blunt arrows suddenly erupted from the bushes on either side of the pathway.

One struck an Aureate student across the shoulder, another slammed into someone’s thigh, while several more tore through the middle of the formation and forced everyone to scatter instinctively.

”TRAP!”

”WATCH THE SIDES!”

”WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY?!”

Another volley fired from the opposite direction.

TWANG! TWANG!

”SHIT!”

The seven immediately drew their weapons and turned towards the surrounding bushes, with several crouching behind trees while the others desperately searched for whoever had attacked them.

”Left side!”

”No, that came from the right!”

”I saw one come from behind us!”

”WHERE ARE THEY?!”

Randy remained perfectly still above them.

This was precisely what they wanted.

The concealed launchers had been positioned close to ground level, making the arrows appear as though they had been fired from somewhere amongst the surrounding bushes, and none of the Aureate students had bothered looking directly above themselves yet.

All they needed to do was wait.

Let them spread farther apart.

Let them search the bushes.

Then attack once two or three became separated from the others.

Randy looked towards Batista and silently raised his hand, signaling him to remain where he was.

Batista looked down.

Seven confused Aureate students were running around beneath him.

One had even wandered almost directly underneath his branch.

His smile grew wider.

Randy immediately recognized that expression.

His eyes widened.

He shook his head.

Batista nodded enthusiastically.

Randy shook his head harder.

Batista gave him a thumbs-up.

’Don’t you fucking—’

”Oh, to hell with waiting! I’M GOING DOWN!”

”BATISTA!”

Batista threw himself from the branch.

”WHAT THE—”

THUD!

He landed directly across the upper back of the Aureate student beneath him, driving the unfortunate boy face-first into the ground before rolling away from the impact and immediately springing back onto his feet.

”HAHAHAHAHA!”

For half a second, everyone simply stared at him.

Then Batista punched the nearest student across the face.

BAM!

”COME ON, YOU FUCKERS! LET’S HAVE A GOOD OL FASHIONED BELT TO ASS BEATING.”

”You fucking idiot!” Randy screamed from above.

The entire ambush collapsed into chaos.

Three Aureate students immediately rushed Batista at once, while another finally looked upwards and spotted Randy amongst the branches.

”THEY’RE IN THE TREES!”

”Well, so much for hiding....”

Flair muttered before jumping, while Randy cursed and followed.

Within seconds, what had been intended as another carefully controlled ambush transformed into a filthy three-versus-seven dogfight in the middle of the Northern Forest, with Batista already in the center of it.

A fist coated in fire smashed across his cheek and snapped his head sideways, only for him to laugh before grabbing the same student’s clothes and driving his forehead straight into the man’s nose.

THUD!

”ARGH!”

”HAHA! THAT FUCKING HURT!

Too bad I’ve got [Iron Skin], asshole! You’re gonna break your fucking hand before you break me!”

Batista explained, before he was suddenly tackled from the side.

CRASH!

Both crashed into the dirt.

Another Aureate student attempted to pile onto him, only for Flair to race in and kick the man’s legs out from underneath him before he could reach Batista.

”Get up, you fucking lunatic!” Flair shouted, as he barely ducked underneath a wild punch from another opponent.

”I’m having fun!”

”You’re bleeding!”

”So is he!”

Batista pointed towards the man he had headbutted before receiving another punch across the mouth, as his reinforced body took less damage than it should have, while his attacker shook his wrists as though he had just punched a metal pole.