When Kitana completed the somersault, a step away from Alan, she leapt up, stabbing at Alan’s neck. Eve’s projection showed that it would stop right at his neck, not piercing it, thus he stood there, allowing the katana to brush against his Adam’s apple.

Kitana grinned. “That was rather impressive, though I almost cut your leg off.” Alan thought a slight amount of her health was missing, maybe 0.05%, but that might have been wishful thinking.

“Yeah, that was quite something,” Alan said, falling to the floor. He was amazed at how tired his body was; it felt like he had emerged from a trance. He was covered in sweat, but couldn't remember it bothering him during the sparring. Replaying the memories in his head, he was amazed at the various stabs, lunges and almost aerobatic maneuvers he’d been pulling off.

To Alan's surprise, in addition to his agility, perception and endurance increasing, he’d also gained seven levels and a series of new skills. What sort of game didn’t require killing things or turning in quests to gain levels? If training was all it took, maybe he should become a hermit and spar with Kitana. She’d probably need some convincing though.

As he was about to look more closely at his new skills, Eve said, Thiago is calling. Accept?

Accept.

“Where are you guys? Why aren’t you back yet?” Thiago asked, sounding almost frantic.

“What? We still have 20 minutes until round one is supposed to start,” Alan replied.

“Alan, where do you think the hounds are coming from? Did you think that they’ll appear out of thin air? They are travelling to the bunker, and will ARRIVE in 20 minutes. That means they’re racing closer, probably from your direction, right now. They could be at your position in five minutes! Maybe sooner if they smell you out in the city!”

“What!? But…” Alan said. Honestly, he had been thinking the hounds would spawn right outside the base.

Then, off in the distance to the south, Alan heard the loud howl of an animal. A series of other howls joined it. Like clockwork, the timer for the start of the round shifted from 0:20:23 to 0:07:53.

“Fuck,” Alan said.

Panicking, Alan began thinking through his options. He could try to sprint back to the base with Kitana, but they’d likely be caught out in the open before they got back in time. It had taken nearly all his effort to get there in 15 minutes, and he was still exhausted from the sparring.

Eve, I think we should try hiding in a building, do you agree?

That seems like an acceptable option.

Immediately, Alan began walking towards nearby buildings.

"Alan, where are you going? What is happening?" Kitana asked, grabbing Alan's shoulder.

Alan recalled that other people couldn't hear Eve.

“Um, right, sorry, I think we should try hiding in a nearby building, as we won’t make it back before the round starts, and getting caught out in the open would probably be a bad idea,” Alan said to Thiago and Kitana.