landbeastnovel Chapter 539
Chapter 539
Chapter 539
Ember and I look at her cautiously, not answering. So, she elaborates.
"I've been to the Bedrock Region plenty of times for private missions. I've never seen hunters like you... Your stamina, mentality, even fighting instincts... something is up. That blue crystal that took videos of everything it saw, how'd you even get your hands on one of those? I've only ever seen association officials use those—"
There's another long pause, however, this time I do reply while looking her in the eyes.
"I don't think any of these questions need to be answered. How would you like it if I started digging into your past?"
I can tell she's really just curious, but based on the heavy aura of foreign mana in the room, I can tell everything we're doing and saying is being watched and analyzed.
So, to nip this conversation in the bud, I decide to take a risk and open my telepathy link with her.
"You want to cause some havoc, right? The stronger nations are used to always controlling winning spots with their Elite hunters in the B-Class exams."
Her pupils shift, and I can tell she's very confused about the voice in her head, so I speak again.
"I don't feel comfortable talking about this where others can listen. This is telepathy. A special perk I acquired after... Actually, I won't elaborate. All you need to know is that It's how I coordinate attacks so flawlessly with Emrie. I'd appreciate it if you kept it a secret from the Association as well."
She nods once, and I peer over to Dane and Natalie, then to Ember and continue through my link.
"What if a few extra applicants won this year's exams? Wouldn't it be fun to place higher than the chosen Elites from the Apex Region and reject their honorary B-Class license anyway?"
She replies through the link.
"Well, if you put it like that. A scenario like that would be satisfying...."
I grin as she nods once, then replies out loud to split the perceived awkward silence in the room to make the conversation seem natural to anyone listening in through a surveillance system.
"Right. I guess I don't know much about you, and you don't know me. Let's just do our best to win this thing."
Ember stands up and lets out a long sigh while stretching his arms.
"Well, I'm glad that's settled. I wonder if any other teams are going to figure this trial out."
It takes over 30 minutes for the Apex Region's team to finally complete the trial, and after them, only two other teams even manage to finish before the time runs out.
Marcie decides to rest while Ember and I continue the trials.
While she's up to do more, it would be best to have her and all the others fully rested by morning to help with the later trials at full strength.
Once trial 9 starts, it seems clear that many teams are taking a similar strategy.
We get another standard dungeon collapse trial, and Ember and I speed off through the sky to the end of it without waiting at all.
We disregard any hunters that need saving and plunge right into the boss room.
There's a huge humanoid tusked giant creature with many minions that spawn inside; however, we aim straight for the vitals and don't have any teammates or baggage to protect. We can go in straight for the kill without having to think about the recoil of our attacks hitting anyone at close range.
The monster's counterattacks miss us by mere millimeters.
It looks like we've nearly died, but both of us know that even if these attacks hit us, it wouldn't feel like anything more than a pinprick.
[Congratulations! [00:50:47] Remaining! Trial 9 Complete! 1 Point awarded to all applicants! 1 MVP point awarded to Ray Anderson. You've come in 1st place, 1 additional point awarded to all applicants present! Please rest until your next Trial begins.]
Surprisingly, only 7 out of the 13 teams even complete this trial.
We rest in the room again and take on trial 10 alone too while our teammates all sleep and recover from their long day of testing and trials.
There's a wide open desert with a single boulder at its center that stretches about 2 kilometers in distance. The prompt reads [Split this boulder in two.]
Ember and I both verbally agree to use our ranked-up buffs, but in reality, we're just lessening the barrier of our mana suppression and letting out more mana to send off stronger attacks.
[Congratulations! [00:42:18] Remaining! Trial 10 Complete! 1 Point awarded to all applicants! 1 MVP point awarded to Emrie Carter. You've come in 1st place, 1 additional point awarded to all applicants present! Please rest until your next Trial begins.]
Ember wins the MVP point for having more explosive attacks.
Fire is far more destructive against rock than electricity is.
Again, only 5 of the 13 teams complete this trial completely.
As the night goes on, fewer and fewer teams complete full trials.
While the first few trials it was 13 for 13, now we're lucky if even half complete them. Some teams are up against the wire on time, completing the trials with just seconds to go.
Eight more trials go by.
We all jumped up in ranks a lot from performing well during this stage. This increase in rank is just what I needed to cancel out those test results of the first round. With 2 more stages to go, I only need to raise 2 more ranks to reach my goal.
I whisper out loud to Ember.
"Looks like you already made it into the top 12, not bad."
We walk through the door into a very large circular room with nothing inside. The walls are bright white and mana shielded just like the rest of this fortress.
Its diameter is 100m at most, and the ceiling is high, about 10m, but nowhere close to as massive as the training rooms we were standing in during the 2nd Stage physical tests.
Once all 5 of us step out, the silver door shuts behind us and I hear the same mechanical shifting sound like the room is moving away and being replaced with something else behind it.
There are at least 75 doors on the outer edges of this room, but only a few of them open and more teams come walking out.
While our team looks a bit tired and fatigued, others come out looking far worse.
Some are missing limbs, others are still covered in blood and deep unhealed wounds, while some teams even carry out sleeping or passed out members into the room before the doors shut.
The mechanical sound of moving parts outside of the humming shielding gets much louder once everyone is in this room, then numbers 1-66 light up on all of the doors on the outer rim of this massive circular room.
A screen appears on the ceiling of this room now and reads out a single sentence.
[Please relocate to your private suite to receive a full rejuvenation before the 4th Stage.]
Another timer counting down from 16 hours is visible below it, and no other instructions are given.
I look to Ember, and he looks to me with a nod and speaks.
"I guess, see you in the next stage—or whenever we meet again."
I nod.
"I guess so."
He walks off to the room numbered [10].
Marcie looks at me with the same serious look she's been giving me ever since I talked to her with Telepathy the first time.
"Thanks for being a good teammate. I hope we aren't enemies in the next round like that proctor said."
She turns to walk toward her door in the opposite direction that Ember walked and says a final line without turning to me.
"If we are, I won't hold back."
I smirk.
"Fine, me neither."
Then, Dane speaks next and I see a very unexpected notification ping in my ear.
"Thank you for the boost in ranking, It may actually be possible for me to go home to the Silca Region with good news and extra funding. It'll just take 6 more ranks. Whatever you need, I'm there for you, Ray!"
He looks up to me with a wide smile, and I see his status and geolocation in my Rising Emperor's Domain as clear as day.
For some reason, a link of loyalty was formed with this applicant from the Silca region.
It wasn't my intention, but it can't hurt to maintain this bond...
I smile and place out a hand for a shake.
"Of course, maybe when all of this is over you can show me around your home region."
He grabs my hand and shakes it, then thanks me profusely again before leaving to enter the door next to the one Marcie just left to.
The only person left near me is Natalie, and her eyebrows are still scrunched with confusion.
With her hands on her hips, looking me right in the eyes, she's about to ask me something, but we're interrupted by a loud yell from across the room.
"You traitor! I can't believe you! An Apex Hunter giving up simulation tactics to help the Bedrock Region! One of them even made it into the top 12 already because of your lapse in judgment! I'm going to kill you!"
My head turns to the noise, and I see all six members of the Apex Region's Elite team storming our way with angry looks on their faces.
Trax, the one who yelled, has a bright [1] on his wristband. He's leading their group and is crackling head to toe in violent electricity.