Science/Magic 189 Prelude To The Selection 2

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One hour after the airship took flight, an abandoned city appeared in the distance.

Old and destroyed buildings, trees and plants growing in the streets, and an air of desolation. It was the perfect image of the ruins of a city.

"Many years ago, this place was a famous city called Primendol." Javelin explained to Bloed and the girls. "Back then, the beastmen were a race of slaves. Our people were hunted and treated like livestock, and this city was the capital of one of the nations that slaved us.

"But one day, our people raised in rebellion. They killed and expelled the people that slaved us, creating this free nation. Then, this city was abandoned and Apso was created as the new city of our people. You probably don't know, but in the tongue of our ancestors, Apso means 'New Hope'."

"… That is a good story." Bloed said. "Is this the place where the selection will be realized?"

"It must be. Although I don't know about the details."

While Bloed and Javelin were talking, the airship landed outside the city ruins.

Then, the people on the airship went out.

A group of beastmen was waiting for them outside the ruins. Bloed realized that some of them were people he saw during the ball one month ago.

Without much thought, he arrived at the conclusion they were the people in charge of the selection.

And just like he expected, not much after they left the airship, the people outside started to explain the details of the compet.i.tion.

"The name of the compet.i.tion is [Hunt]." One of the beastmen waiting for them, a burly tigerkin, explained with a solemn tone. "As the name indicates, it basically consists of hunting other partic.i.p.ants until only the winners remain.

"Each partic.i.p.ant will be dropped in a random part of the city. Afterward, you will have one hour to move around the ruins and find a place to hide or to ambush others.

"Remember, you are forbidden to attack anyone during that one hour. Moreover, you must limit your movements to five kilometers from the place where you landed. Anything more than that and you will be disqualified.

"At noon, you will see a signal in the sky, that marks the start of the compet.i.tion.

"However, a simple hunt will make things too easy. Therefore, we decided to modify the game slightly and add some special rules to truly test the abilities of the partic.i.p.ants.

"The first special rule is the existence of [Hunters]. As the name indicates, Hunters have the task to hunt the partic.i.p.ants. Each hunter will be an Rank pract.i.tioner, so it's best if you don't think about defeating them. Instead, your task is to escape from them if you met them.

"Of course, we know about the difference between B-Ranks and Ranks, so the hunters will not use all their abilities when they meet you. The task of the hunters is to test you, not to eliminate you. But if your performance is not satisfactory, you will be eliminated regardless."

Bloed frowned. This rule made things a bit complicated.

Before he could to think too much about it, though, the burly beastmen continued talking.

"The second special rule is called [Base]. Each candidate will have twenty-four hours to reach to the center of the city, where the base is located. Only the candidates that arrive at the [Base] in twenty-four hours will be eligible for the next round of selections. But remember, the number of hunters will increase the closer you are to the base, so you must be careful."

Several of the partic.i.p.ants looked at each other. This rule did not seem too complicated. In fact, twenty-four hours seemed like more than enough time.

"The third special rule is called [Badge]. And this rule is a bit unusual." The burly beastmen paused for a moment, looking at each one of the candidates. "As you know, we don't want to see deaths in this compet.i.tion. Thus, each candidate will receive a badge before the start of the battle. This badge will represent your right to continue in the compet.i.tion. If you lose it, you will be disqualified. Besides, to encourage the battles among partic.i.p.ants, the candidates with the greatest number of badges will gain an advantage in the last part of the compet.i.tion."

How troublesome. Bloed furrowed his brows. The existence of this rule meant that compet.i.tors would fight against each other as soon as they meet.

Plus... When Bloed reviewed the rules in his mind, he realized a catch in the words of the burly beastman.

He could only hope that his suspicions were unfounded. Otherwise, this selection will be much harder than expected.

"This compet.i.tion will test several things." The burly beastmen said when he made sure everybody understood the rules. "I hope you understand that being strong is not enough for the mission you will carry, so if you don't show qualities worthy of partic.i.p.ating in the mission, you won't be chosen. Now, any question?"

None of the candidates spoke up.

Bloed thought about the rules in his mind. The first rule, [Hunter], was to test the survival abilities of the candidates, the second, [Base] was to test their ability to attain goals, and if his fears were true, to work in a team; and the third rule, [Badge], was to test their abilities in combat.

In the end, the three rules were made to test the comprehensive abilities of the contestants.

Looking around, Bloed counted 120 candidates. Bloed knew that five, including Liu Ying and him, belonged to Moonlight Glow. 15 came from the aboriginal tribes, and the remaining one hundred came from the five beastmen countries, each one sending 20 partic.i.p.ants.

Bloed could imagine that some of these beastmen were surely very talented and powerful pract.i.tioners.

However, he was confident in himself.

While Bloed was lost in thoughts, the burly tigerkin spoke up again.

"If none of you have a question, let's start the compet.i.tion."

The young beastmen nodded.

Then, the 120 candidates were divided into six groups of twenty people.

Eve was in charge of Bloed's group. She would take them to their respective locations in the ruins.

"Master, be careful," Regina said before Bloed left. "You too, demon."

"Don't worry." Bloed and Liu Ying smiled confidently and went with Eve.

Then, Eve waved her hand, wrapping the twenty contestants in a layer of mana and flying with them.

Bloed was surprised. Looking around, he realized that the other five groups were being transported in the same way.

In other words, at least six demiG.o.ds were present in this place!

Bloed did not have too much time to be worried about that, though. Soon, Eve reached to Bloed's starting place.

When she put Bloed on the ground, the fox nodded to him.

"Good luck."

Bloed nodded in thanks and at the same time looked at Liu Ying.

"Be careful."

Liu Ying grinned and waved her fist.

"Fighting~"

Then, Eve and she left.

Bloed sighed and looked around. The place where Eve left him was on the roof of an old building.

Bloed was not planning to stay here, though. From this moment, he had one hour before the start of the compet.i.tion.

He was going to take advantage of that time as much as he could.

...

Hey Guys, Aidka's Here!

With today's two chapters, the week of double chapters comes to an end.

It was a bit hard, to be honest. Together with Fourth Prince's chapters, I published a total of 24 chapters this week, which is three chapters daily, and taking into account that I'm in college, that was bit hard. Fortunately, I did not fail you.

Thanks to my P4TRE0NS for the support you have shown me until now, and my readers for accompanying me every day. Unfortunately, I have not read the comments recently (Sorry if you asked something), but I promise to start to read them again tomorrow.

Very Happy, Aidka :p