Chapter 705 - 649: Doors and Numbers
Although Rosea didn’t not beat John’s record, she passed the bridge with relative ease, unlike some of the other participants. She didn’t even resort to her powers or use Nether Energy, it was a pure display of her physical capabilities.
Right after her was the aloof Cristina, with her black spear in hand, she recklessly charged head-on, sweeping her weapon horizontally and deflecting all incoming projectiles.
Her speed was commendable but she underestimated the miniature metallic balls and was slowed down at the very end. By the time she reached the other side of the bridge, 97 seconds passed.
When her time was announced by pigolo, the girl unhappily harrumphed and glared at Rosea, who was widely grinning, pleased that she beat her new rival.
The third one was Ho Qing, who didn’t not struggle at all. Two large phoenix wings appeared on his back, allowing him to jump high and glide a considerable distance but the balls were still aimed at him. His time was worse than his two predecessors, nonetheless, he seemed content as he nodded his head once and went to stand next to the two bickering girls.
Shu Ru and Arden did it in 94 seconds but, unexpectedly, Bora managed to stun the audience as well as his own teachers, Arthur and Lucy.
The Archer’s speed was incredible as he slipped through the tiny gaps between the balls’ trajectory and easily arrived at the end in just 79 seconds, beating John’s record of 83 seconds.
"Bora of the MoonStar sect, 79 seconds. 43 points."
Actually, the way the points were attributed was based on the difference between the highest and lowest individual scores.
Cosima from the Demonic Team was the slowest, taking 122 seconds, whilst Bora’s was 79 so... 122-79 = 43.
The closer your time is to Cosima’s, the less points you are, basically. Moreover, as the worst one of the bunch, the demon girl got only one pitiful point.
***
"I didn’t know that kid had it in him."
Seeing the proud and cheerful smile on Bora’s face, Lucy chuckled and spoke words that seemed like a compliment. Even Arthur was pleased but he chose not to comment, after all, the first test is the easiest and it tests Agility and reflexes.
"Color me impressed."
Isadore was rubbing his chin and looking at the MoonStar team, seemingly lost in thought.
"Don’t forget our bet, your majesty."
"About that..."
The young golden-haired king faked a few coughs and avoided Arthur’s gaze.
"Nevermind..."
****
"Welcome to the second stage."
Gutcha had an ugly smile on his hideous face, enjoying the puzzled looks on the participants’ face. They were teleported again, this time appearing in an area filled with swamps with all shapes and sizes.
"For the second stage, the goal is to escape this place. Each team will be given a number from 1 to 12 and there are 10 numbered doors, which are, 15(5+10), 17(6+11), 6(2+4), 16(9+7), 20(8+12), 8(1+7), 12(10+2), 14(9+5), 3(1+2), 23(11+12), and they are the combination of two specific numbers that will be in possession of the teams. Meaning, you need your number plus another appropriate one to open one of the doors. Note that only the team that opens the door can pass through it and when it has been used, it’ll disappear. Additionally, a door can be opened by only two numbers, no more, no less. Good luck!"
Just as he finished explaining the rules, Gutcha activated a device in his hand, causing the twelve teams to be enveloped in a white light then vanishing, each randomly teleported to an area of the stage.
...
Rosea and co appeared near a very small swamp, they were surrounded by strangely bent trees. They could hear the croaking of several frogs and barely audible roars of faraway monsters.
"What’s our number?"
Cristina frowned and looked at her teammates. At first, they were confused but, soon enough, a giant silver card that was thrice their size descended from above and kept hovering a couple of meters away from their heads.
The card had the number 9 engraved on it.
"It’s 9... which means we can either enter door 14 or 16." Shu Ru gazed at the silver card and commented.
"So, what’s the plan? Do we separate and look for the team that has number 7 or 5?"
The spear-wielding black-haired girl was pumped, holding her weapon in hand. In response, her friend, Bora, shook his head and, while carefully choosing his words, said,
"It’s better to stay together. This is a team competition and if one of us gets caught alone, it’ll only decrease our chances of winning."
"Wait, if we separate, the card follows who?"
All curious about this, they distanced themselves from each other and noticed that the silver card was drifting slowly to Bora’s direction.
"It must be because he got the best score in the last stage." remarked Shu Ru.
"Alright, it’s decided that we’ll stay together, right?"-Bora
The other five nodded their heads in agreement. They chose one random direction and started walking, their guards-up.
They did not know how big this swampy area is but, considering that they soon started hearing explosions and fighting noises, it shouldn’t be that big.
In this stage, it’s definitely advantageous to have a team composed of many members, and it was done by purpose. Just like there are stages that favor numerical advantage, there others which the smaller your team is, the better.
...
After ten minutes of walking, the MoonStar team stumbled upon their first enemies. A group of five bald youth wearing brown and yellow long robes were circling a swamp and carefully tapping the water.
Above them, there was also a silver card with the number 1 on it, which means that Cristina and the rest need not waste time or energy battling with the Buddha Team.
"Let’s make a detour." Proposed Ardor as he retracted his gaze from the group of bald youths. They took the opposite direction and were about to leave but one of them raised his hand.
"Wait."
Ho Qing, who rarely talks, motioned them to stop before pointing at an area on the other side of the swamp, right in-between the cl.u.s.ter of strange trees.
There, he spotted short silhouettes peeking from the trees. It was hard to hear what they were whispering to each other but, it was clear that they were dwarves.