Chapter 780: Zones [GT Ranking Bonus Chapter]
At AlyxAtlas’ words, the students whose expressions had been returning to normal frowned again. What AlyxAtlas had said only made it worse for them. If they were at the top rank with a thousand points, and they spent that one thousand points, it meant they would immediately drop to the last position.
This only meant they would have to work like slaves and double their efforts, working both for the ranking system in order to squeeze into the top fifty and also working to unlock their abilities and affinities. After all, only by unlocking them could they gain the strength required to gain more points.
’Sigh... who designed this point system? Are they working us like slaves? They probably love watching people suffer,’ Asher thought to himself. But despite his minor internal complaint, his brain was spinning as it worked its usual magic.
Although Thomasinho and AlyxAtlas hadn’t specifically pointed it out, Asher could tell they had left out a crucial detail.
Someone unlocking their elements didn’t mean they unlocked all their elements at once. No, if someone possessed multiple elements, they had to pay every single time to unlock every single element.
Someone like Asher, who possessed five elements, would have to pay five times to unlock each element. This worked against him, meaning he would have to work harder than other people. Any other person in his shoes might just choose to unlock one or two elements and be done with it in order to save points, which would enable them to remain within that top fifty ranking as required.
Asher could already imagine a few students with multiple elements unlocking elements they didn’t need at the moment or the ones they didn’t possess the best control over simply because they thought they could unlock all of them at the same time.
Asher felt like laughing at the moment but held his laughter back. He was literally being watched by millions of people at the moment.
With that, the staff who held trays in their hands began to move. They distributed the bracelets to each student, and not only that, the staff also took their space rings, labelling them and documenting the contents of the space rings while also making the students sign a form.
After all, a student could come back and claim they possessed some type of artefact within their space ring and that it had been stolen during the Inter-Empire Competition. Of course, people weren’t dumb enough to do this, as it would be equivalent to accusing the Overlord of theft. But you would be surprised at how many dumb people actually existed.
Asher put the bracelet on his left wrist with an indifferent expression. It was as light as a feather. The moment he put it on, it beeped, reading him and listing out his elements on a screen built into the bracelet, while a point balance of zero could be seen at the end.
Asher stared at it for a moment, then lost interest. To him, it didn’t matter whether they blocked his ability to manipulate Astra Energy, he could still manipulate the Astra Energy in the atmosphere. Asher immediately decided to test it now and be sure rather than try later, and to his surprise, he couldn’t even manipulate the ambient Astra Energy.
’So they totally blocked everything,’ Asher mused to himself. But Asher understood why, he had already guessed that a few older and talented students would also definitely be able to manipulate ambient Astra Energy.
Asher didn’t know how the bracelet worked or how it catalogued everyone’s abilities and affinities by merely scanning them. But after thinking about it for a while, he chose to forget it. After all, no matter how developed the combination of technology and abilities was, it still couldn’t block his Star Energy.
Asher could still feel his connection with Star Energy, but as for his Astra Veins, those had long been sealed.
As the staff finished their work, they turned and walked away with trays of space rings.
’I wonder if that is all,’ Asher thought to himself.
"If you are ever in danger, just destroy the bracelet, and it will automatically teleport you back to this Coliseum," Thomasinho explained calmly.
Asher gazed at the bracelet on his left wrist again. It seemed flimsy, easy to break even by unawakeners.
’A trap,’ Asher mused to himself as he shook his head.
Although many people hadn’t realized it yet, throughout these four days, they would need to protect their bracelets. After all, with how weak and flimsy they appeared, if one was destroyed by accident, by a Monster, or for whatever reason that wasn’t intentional, they would be teleported back to the Coliseum.
And although both hosts didn’t say it, Asher was smart enough to understand that if anyone was teleported back to the Coliseum for whatever reason, that would count as immediate disqualification, whether they were within the top fifty or not.
’Although I’m sure some type of staff would be scattered throughout the battlefield or survival grounds in order to save students who couldn’t save themselves in time,’ Asher thought to himself as he knew that such a scenario was one hundred percent possible.
But again, the two hosts made no mention of this, leaving students to figure certain things out for themselves.
"Now, onto the next rule," AlyxAtlas spoke again with a smile on her face as she floated downward.
"The organisers of the Inter-Empire Competition recognise the difference that comes with fighting for points to unlock your abilities and also to stay on the rankings," Thomasinho stated with a smile, "which is why they’ve decided to bless everyone with the Zones," he spoke enthusiastically.
Both students and spectators fell into their thoughts as they wondered what the Zones were.
"If you are wondering what the Zones are, the answer is simple," AlyxAtlas spoke, "there are two types of Zones, both named after the Emovirae, the Positive Zones and the Negative Zones," her voice echoing from the speakers and into the ears of millions.
"The Positive Zones, as their name suggests, are there to help you. But they aren’t all of the same type. A particular Positive Zone could contain food, another could contain water, another could hold a bed and pillow," Thomasinho began to speak, "but those are just the least of the things the Positive Zones can do, as they can scale to the level of multiplying the points of a Monster or Emovira you kill within that Zone by two or even half, depending on the Zone. Some Positive Zones could even give you percentage-point discounts on unlocking your abilities, affinities, and Astra Energy," he explained calmly, pausing for a moment to make sure everyone, both students and spectators alike, understood.
Hearing this, many students’ eyes immediately lit up in fervour. Every Positive Zone helped them one way or another. Even the Zones with just beds and pillows would be accepted graciously.
Although unknown to them, each Positive Zone was a one-time-use Zone. Someone couldn’t use a Positive Zone just for another person to head to the same Zone and use it afterwards. Meaning, friends couldn’t help each other even if they happened to encounter one another.
