...…
After passing through the metal spikes and iron arrows field, Shin, and the rest of the group continued to advance and encountered a few more troublesome traps along the way.
There was a field where a huge log was rolling on their path. That log was so huge that it covered the entire path and with a height that expanded up to ten meters high. There were also metal spikes attached to it, making it look threatening, especially when it was leaving a bunch of holes on the ground as it moved.
Shin just told the others to jump as high as they could as he also created small platforms that the group could use to ascend higher in the air. But when they leaped over that huge log filled with metal spikes, another one of a much larger size quickly greeted them, forcing them to jump over it once again.
The group repeated that process a couple of times as such logs continued to roll toward their way. And each time a new one appeared in front of them, its size was much larger than the previous ones that they encountered.
Fortunately, the group was able to survive in that field without having any problems. Though, it quite exhausted them in the process, especially Shin who continuously created a solid tile that everyone could use in the air.
Shin was thinking if what their crazy training instructor had said was true. He was doubting that anyone would be able to survive after getting rolled over by such a huge log with metal spikes attached to it.
In the meantime, Molton was curious about where those logs were coming from and going. Not only they appeared out of thin air, but they also disappeared after reaching the entrance of the field.
He was thinking that only Void Manifestation Stage Experts and above could summon and unsummon such huge logs with their spatial abilities. Moreover, it had to be someone who specialized in void and spatial manipulation.
A Mentalist in Ruler's Realm could also achieve such a feat by setting up a special mentalism formation or array that produced a similar cycle of such rolling logs.
The group could not even catch their breaths after passing through such a scary field. It was because the next stage of the course in front of them forced them to move their feet.
The next stage was a field filled with sinkholes and quicksand. The group carefully found their way out of that field, avoiding those two things that would pull them under the ground.
Of course, the group could also use the same strategy that they had used earlier and relied on Shin. He could just create a solid tile above that field as the group traversed it as if they were walking on solid ground.
Unfortunately, such a trick would not work in this field. It was because anything that was traversed above the field without touching the ground would be attacked by humongous sandworms, which was somewhat ironic.
Any form of energy would attract the attention of those sandworms and would charge at the source of energy with unimaginable speed.
With that, anyone who would want to traverse this field had to prevent themselves from using any kind of martial arts or mentalism techniques that needed them to summon their energies outside their bodies.
Aside from circulating their energies within their bodies, they could not summon their energies or any kind of moves that could summon them externally.
At this point, the group really started to doubt the words of the crazy old man watching them from the distance while enjoying their sufferings.
"Is this crazy obstacle course could really not kill them?" – This was the thought that was running through the minds of the entire class.
Instead of being on an obstacle course, everyone was thinking that they were inside an ancient labyrinth full of traps that could take their lives with a single misstep.
Having that in mind, the group could not help but look at Cloe with gazes full of sympathy and pity. They could somewhat imagine how much suffering she would experience while training under such a crazy and scary old man.
The rest of the class, who were showing jealousy and envy toward her earlier, were now thankful that they did not attract the attention of Old Man Lin. They could not imagine what kind of hellish training would they experience if they followed this insane yet legendary figure.
…
Shin examined the whole field with the help of his 'True Sight' technique and Spiritual Sense. From what he could see, this field was meant to test their tracking, sensing, and path-finding abilities as well as their intuition.
It would also test their knowledge and intelligence on how to deal with such a troublesome situation.
Shin was not afraid of those huge sandworms. Given that Old Man Lin let such creatures in the field, he suspected that these sandworms were skillfully trained and would know their limits. They were only following the orders of their master to eliminate the students from the race and not harm them.
Regardless, the sight of someone being besieged by a swarm of huge sandworms could strike fear in anyone who sees it. And naturally, no one would not want to have a first-hand experience with it.
Shin purposely did not lead the others as he wanted them to showcase their own abilities in this area. This situation was a little different from the previous two fields, so he wanted to see how they were going to traverse this field with their respective strengths.
He would not be on their side all the time and always help them solve difficult problems, so he wanted them to solve the problem by themselves. They could always help each other anyway, so there was no harm in trying.
Shin and Arthur would not have any problem navigating their way on such a troublesome field. Given the background of their family, their tracking and path-finding abilities were on the same level as those of soldiers in the military.
Leonard was relying on his Bestial Instincts to sense their danger and his fast reaction speed when he accidentally stepped on a sinkhole or a quicksand. There were also others to support him, so he did not encounter any dangerous situations.
The Potter twins seemed to have powerful Spiritual Senses, which let them find the safest routes that they could take. Shin was even suspecting that they could combine their Spiritual Senses somehow, which let them share what each other was sensing.
Alice was also using her Spiritual Sense. As a mentalist, she naturally had the same ability. But what surprised Shin was her Spiritual Sense being a little different compared to the others. He could not pinpoint what exactly it was since Spiritual Sense could not be seen by the naked eye, but he could feel that hers possessed certain abilities that were different from the others.
Lorraine, on the other hand, was relying on her sharp eyes, which were trained to help her become a marksman. As a family of gunsmiths, the Goldstein Family was famous for their gun-making and manufacturing abilities.
But that was not the only ability that they had – they were also skilled at using all kinds of guns given their familiarity with them. And because of that, members of the Goldstein Family were also known to be the greatest marksmen in the world, making them one of the Aristocratic Families without any Martial Arts and Mentalism specialties.
They made their way into that rank by relying on the abilities that were unique to them.
As a good marksman, one had to possess sharp eyes and great observation abilities, which Lorraine had inherited from her family. Moreover, she was also a Dual-Practitioner, which gave her good environmental awareness of a Martial Artist and the sharp senses of a Mentalist.
She might not be the perfect Dual-Practitioner like Shin, but she had her own skillset that made her stand out among the rest of her peers.
In the meantime, Cloe seemed to be rather ordinary compared to the rest. Yet, she was also the most efficient among the group if the monster trio was excluded.
She was solely relying on her observation abilities which seemed to be much better than the rest. Her sharp eyes were observing and monitoring the movements of the sand while also feeling the vibrations of the ground with her hand.
With that, she was able to navigate her way in the field without stepping on the sinkholes and quicksand. And if she accidentally stepped on either of the two, she was fast to react and find a way to escape the predicament.
There was even a time when she did not need the others to help her. When a quicksand suddenly pulled her down, she suddenly infused her Internal Qi on a rock and threw it a few distances away from her.
Her actions made a couple of sandworms head over her direction, making the others panic a little. But what they saw next impressed them to a certain degree.
She quickly withdrew her Internal Qi after briefly releasing it. And due to that, the sandworms headed over the rock that she threw earlier since it was infused with her Qi.
The huge body of the sandworms created a ripple in the quicksand, which Cloe used to escape. She borrowed the momentum of the strong ripple to launch herself into the air and land in a safe spot with Shin's little help.
Her quick wit and creativity made Jillian and Molton looked at her in a new light while Alice looked at her with complicated emotions.
It was unknown what this idol was thinking but given that she was secretly clenching her fist after seeing the sight, it must be related to abilities or something similar.
It was only a short episode in their advancement on the obstacle field.
The group quickly advanced and constantly conquered the other fields without a problem. They even caught up with some of the students, who were leading the pack and encountered a few top-ranked students along the way.
Then everyone could not help but halt in their tracks when they reached a certain part of the obstacle course. Everyone stood at the edge of one of the stages of the course, unwilling to take another step forward.
It was because they encountered something that made them think that this was no longer an obstacle course.
...
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢