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The entire class stood at the start of the obstacle course, staring at it and unwilling to move. It was because they could feel the overwhelming threat that it had. In their eyes, this obstacle course seemed to be alive.
No one wanted to be the testing subject for the others and check what was wrong with the course. They continued to stand in their places, waiting for someone to make the first move.
Seeing that from the distance, Old Man Lin clicked his tongue before muttering to himself. "Tsk! This is why it is troublesome to deal with clever kids."
Understanding what everyone was thinking, the old man quickly yelled at them. "Hey! What are you brats waiting for? Move!"
"I will be evaluating your performances, so you better not slack off!" he added with a slightly frustrated voice before continuing. "The ones who finish that finished the first five laps the fastest will be receiving a bountiful amount of merit points, so stop being lazy and start moving!"
Unfortunately, given how clever the group was, they still refused to take the first step and continue to wait.
At this point, Jean Camus looked at Simone Bartolomeo and tilted his head toward the course, telling the latter to get ready to move.
But before they could even make their move, someone in the class stepped forward and headed toward the obstacle course alone.
"Cowards," he said as he moved ahead. He was ranked in the middle rankings of the class, so his skill shouldn't be that bad. But when compared to the top rankers, his skill, and performance were not that significant.
Because all of the attention was always being attracted to the top rankers, he was rather upset. They were supposed to be in the same class, so he felt that he should be at the same level as them.
At the same time, he was also quite jealous of those students at the top of the rankers, especially Cloe, who attracted the attention of such a legendary figure as Martial King Lin Huang.
He could not understand why someone less talented as Cloe attracted the eyes of such a distinguished figure. From his perspective, she was only able to be ranked at the top of the class because she was lucky enough to be acquainted with such talented people as Shin and the rest.
He wanted also to prove himself and this situation seemed to be the perfect time for that. Having that in mind, he flashed a mocking smile to the others before confidently stepping on the obstacle course.
He was slightly nervous at first as he could also sense the danger coming from it, but after taking a couple of steps without having anything strange happen, he quickly built up more confidence and started advancing in haste.
They just heard from Old Man Lin that the ones who finished the first five laps first would be receiving merit points, so he had to take this opportunity to create enough gap between him and the rest.
He was laughing inside and mocking the rest for being too cowardly in front of this obstacle course when there is nothing wrong with it aside from the dangerous feeling that they were sensing from it, which he suspected to be something fake.
Clack!
Then he suddenly sensed that he stepped onto something, making him pause his actions for a moment. A dangerous air quickly swept through his body, making his body freeze momentarily.
Boom!
What followed was a huge explosion that blasted him toward the air, turning his entire body into human charcoal as he fell back on the ground with a loud thud.
The corner of everyone's mouth could not help but twitch after seeing his outcome. They now understood that the air looming around the entire obstacle course was this heavy. Moreover, they could sense that there was more to it aside from those landmines.
"Landmines? This feels like we are in a military training ground," commented Arthur as he fixed his eyes on the spot where the landmine had exploded.
It was at this moment when Old Man Lin suddenly shouted from a distance. "You guys don't have to worry. Anything that is installed in that obstacle course can't kill you."
"Though, it will give you a lot of pain – enough for you to feel like dying," he added while wearing a creepy smile, which signified that there were more surprises waiting to be uncovered by the entire class.
Bang!
That was when Simone Bartolomeo made his move. He stomped strongly on the ground before launching himself forward, charging through everything without hesitation.
During his charge, he purposefully made large and heavy steps that destroyed the path that he was taking. And due to his actions, the broken ground sank and created a lot of inclining boulders that revealed the landmines hidden underneath.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions quickly followed as his actions triggered the landmines behind him. But despite that being the case, Simone continued to charge forward, crossing his arms in front of his face to block the fire embers and shrapnel produced by the explosions.
Simone Bartolomeo used the toughness of his huge body to charge through the explosions as he created a path for Thomas Brooks and Jean Camus, who was following behind him at a considerable distance.
The other students of the class quickly reacted and chased after the three, using the path that they had created. They were completely taking advantage of them.
But how could those three let these guys take advantage of their efforts for free? They would naturally prevent the rest from catching up to them. After all, this was still a competition where they needed to prove themselves and showcase their skills.
Thomas Brooks opened his palms and summoned a bunch of metal strings that spread in every direction and attached themselves to the landmines that were not triggered by Simone, who was running in front.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Not long after, he triggered the landmines behind them, preventing the others from completely advancing and catching up to them.
On the other side of that field, Mavin and Marie were casually making their way forward. Marvin was holding a phone-looking device that was telling him where the landmines were located as he lead the way while Marie was walking behind him in a leisurely manner.
There were other students that noticed their movements and tried to follow after them, but before they could even step onto the field that they just took, Marie tossed a coin in their direction which accurately fell on the spot where a landmine was located.
The moment when the coin bounced off the ground, the landmine instantly exploded, making everyone chase after them.
"Tsk! Isn't that cheating?" asked one of the students after seeing that Mavin used a device that could locate the landmines.
He might have blurted it out of instinct, but it clearly reflected his mind. This cost him scornful looks from the others. And due to that, he could not help but lower his head in shame.
Ezio Williams, on the other hand, suddenly disappeared and shrouded himself in the cloud of dust caused by the explosions. And not long after, he suddenly appeared at the forefront of the class, closely chasing after the leading trio.
Meanwhile, Dylan, who was bidding his time up until now, finally made his move. He unsheathed the sword hanging on his waist and swung it forward.
His actions produced a series of sword waves that flew forward and drew a long trail on the ground that triggered the landmines on their path.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After that, he walked casually as if nothing happened. With his sword waves creating the path for him, he had an easy time traveling on the first section of the obstacle course. He did not even turn his head behind him as he let the others follow him on the path that he created.
Shin and their group watched from the sidelines for a while, observing everything. They did not make their moves up until now as they were gathering information.
"Are we still not going to make our move?" asked Arthur impatiently as he was eager to charge ahead since earlier.
Shin shook his head in response. "This is not only a contest of speed, but also of endurance and performance."
"The old man said that we must finish at least 5 laps. Do you think everything will be this simple?" he added with a scorn look before continuing. "Moreover, this is just the start. There are still a lot of traps waiting ahead of us, so there is no need to rush."
"We must hide our full strengths and save as many cards as we can before the real climax of this 'race' is achieved," said Jillian as she could completely understand what Shin was thinking.
She completely agreed with his plan, but lagging behind the pack a little too much would also put them in a disadvantageous situation. She looked at Shin and waited for his decision before voicing her own idea.
Shin calmly observed the entire class before finally turning to Leonard. He tilted his head toward the course before saying. "Lead the way and we will support you from behind."
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