Chapter 411: Covert Competition

Chapter 411: Covert Competition

As the brief opening remarks concluded, the preliminary trials for the Dragon Knight Cadet selection officially commenced.

A powerful surge of arcane energy rippled through the air, and above the arena, which resembled an ancient Roman colosseum, a white light curtain suddenly appeared.

Looking down from above, it was as if a lid had been placed over the entire arena.

Or perhaps, it resembled a sealed can.

"Now, let's begin with the random draw!" announced one of the officials.

An attendant carrying a clear crystal box approached the candidates.

Everyone could see that inside the transparent box were folded pieces of paper, emitting a faint magical aura, seemingly to prevent anyone from sensing the numbers written on them using mana or other forms of perception.

The rules of the preliminary round were simple: a random draw to determine the order, followed by combat.

The combat was limited to three minutes, and whether the opponent was defeated or not, the trial would end when the time was up.

Next, five examiners would score the candidates, and the cumulative total would be used to rank the participants at the end of the preliminary round, selecting the top thirty.

Regarding the selection of opponents, a random method was also employed, but this time using a spinning wheel.

There were seven options: Hurricane Elemental, Thunderstorm Elemental, Flame Phoenix Swarm, Stinger Wasp Swarm, Shadow Vulture, Frostwing Wind Serpent, and Bloodthirsty Dragon Hawk.

The first two were legendary-tier elemental creatures, formidable in strength and highly resistant to physical attacks.

The middle two were groups of aggressive creatures, and if their numbers were high, they could easily be considered legendary-tier in combat.

If the examinees had experience in group battles, they might find it easier to handle, but if not, it could be quite challenging, and even if they won, they might exceed the time limit or appear flustered.

Although it wasn't necessary to defeat the opponent within three minutes, being attacked or failing to defeat the enemy within the time limit would result in a noticeable deduction of points.

The last three options were powerful flying aggressive species, all of legendary tier, each with unique combat characteristics.

Naturally, this meant that the battle would test the candidates' ability to fight against flying opponents.

However, it wasn't against the rules to immobilize or force the opponent into a ground battle.

But achieving that would be extremely difficult.

"Number thirteen," the attendant announced as they approached Rain with the crystal box. Rain drew a number, opened it, and muttered to himself.

"Damn! I got number one!" Luther couldn't help but exclaim. It was common knowledge that the examiners needed to 'warm up' before giving high scores.

Typically, the first and second candidates rarely received high scores.

Or rather, the scores were naturally lower at the beginning.

Usually, after the tenth candidate, the examiners had a better idea of the scoring range.

Luther, participating in the Dragon Knight Cadet selection for the second time, couldn't help but feel annoyed.

"Number seventy-two!" Halowen's number, compared to Rain and Luther, was much later in the order, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

With so many powerful individuals present, it was beneficial to observe and learn from them.

Luther drew the Stinger Wasp Swarm from the spinning wheel.

The Stinger Wasps were about the size of a five or six-year-old child, and their tails were tipped with sharp, black-purple glowing stingers.

Their speed was incredibly fast, and they had a protective air current around them, making them resistant to both physical and magical attacks.

Their signature move was their stinger, which they could shoot out like a dart, penetrating their targets.

A single Stinger Wasp was no match for a Liquification Mage, who could easily dispatch it.

But Luther now faced a hundred of them.

"Buzz!"

The Stinger Wasps, their bodies ten times the size of regular wasps, swarmed like a dark cloud towards Luther and his two-headed Chimera.

Luther clenched his legs, controlling the Chimera to initiate the attack.

Although the Chimera Knight Luther clearly had the upper hand, as the Stinger Wasps were swiftly eliminated, their bodies fell like raindrops.

But by the time Luther cleared the arena, the three-minute time limit had been reached.

Luther's expression turned grim.

Having participated twice, he knew that the duration of his battle would result in a point deduction.

Additionally, this was the first round, and examiners tended to score more conservatively.

"Six points!"

"Seven points!"

"Total score: six points!" the attendant shouted.

As expected!

This score was rather uncertain.

Whether he could make it to the next round was hard to say.

When Luther returned to the crowd, Rain and Halowen offered him words of comfort.

Next were the other candidates.

Rain observed several of them and noticed that, although the preliminary round had a three-minute time limit, in reality, very few candidates actually fought until the time was up.

Those with strength often ended the battle within a minute, and this high probability of a quick victory usually resulted in a higher score, placing them in the first tier.

Those with slightly less skill typically finished the battle within two minutes, and their scores varied greatly, making them the most numerous and forming the second tier.

The third tier consisted of those who reached the three-minute limit without defeating their opponents, and they were relatively fewer.

So, despite the large number of candidates, the preliminary round proceeded at a rapid pace once it began.

On average, less than two minutes passed before the next candidate was called.

"Candidate number nine, Barnes, please take the stage," the attendant announced.

"Hey, it's him," Rain suddenly recognized a familiar figure.

Riding an ugly Bonegnaw Vulture, Barnes arrived at the center of the arena to face his opponent, the Bloodthirsty Dragon Hawk.

Rain's eyes narrowed as he watched with interest, curious about Barnes' strategy.

The Bloodthirsty Dragon Hawk, a typical close-combat flying aggressive species, was very similar to the Bloodfeather Wyvern.

But it was evident that the Dragon Hawk, true to its name, was far superior in strength to the Bloodfeather Wyvern.

The Dragon Hawk, as its name suggested, had a dragon-like body with eagle-like wings, massive wings resembling a butterfly's, and a head resembling an old eagle.

As the body resembled that of a dragon, covered in red scales, its hind legs were thick, and it had a pair of sharp claws.

As the Bloodthirsty Dragon Hawk was released from the iron fence on one side of the camp, it immediately spotted the Bonegnaw Vulture on the field, and with a cry, it rushed towards its opponent with a fierce momentum.

With each flap of the Dragon Hawk's broad wings, its speed increased in sync.

"Chirp!"

Just as everyone thought the Dragon Hawk would choose to engage in close combat, suddenly, when it was about a dozen meters away from Barnes, it inhaled sharply and exhaled a stream of flames.

At that moment, many people remembered that the Bloodthirsty Dragon Hawk also possessed the breath ability common to dragon-like creatures, known as Dragon Hawk Breath, which inflicted powerful fire damage.

Facing the Dragon Hawk's breath attack, most people thought Barnes would choose a safe response, either dodging or using defensive magic to block it.

But to everyone's astonishment, Barnes chose to counter-attack! As the conical Dragon Hawk Breath rushed towards him, Barnes's entire body suddenly expanded, and red scales appeared on his skin. The Bonegnaw Vulture beneath him seemed to be affected by some kind of influence, and it suddenly descended from mid-air.

"Roar!"

The Dragon-Man transformed Barnes opened his mouth and breathed out a stream of flame breath towards the Bloodthirsty Dragon Hawk.

Instantly, the two streams of flame breath collided fiercely in mid-air! For a moment, the flames raged!

It was as if two flamethrowers were firing at each other, and the heat waves rolled, sweeping the surroundings.

Rain, who was observing from the side, looked at Barnes in his Dragon-Man form, feeling quite surprised! His form was extremely similar to the form of the first-stage Dragon-Man Warrior transformation, with a short tail and a height that seemed to be almost the same, about four to five meters tall.

At the same time, the opponent should be of the Red Dragon Bloodline, but for some reason, the red dragon scales seemed to have a hint of blackness.

This point corresponded with the information Kayla had mentioned, and it was highly likely that it was related to the potion they consumed in the Dragon Scale Brotherhood.

As Rain's thoughts shifted slightly, the battle in the field took a sudden turn.

"Crack!"

The sound of breaking bones echoed, and the Dragon Hawk struggled even more fiercely.

"Slap!"

As the dragon claw closed, the Dragon Hawk's head, like a watermelon, was completely crushed.

This was a Dragon Hawk of legendary strength, and its toughest skull was crushed by the Dragon-Man transformed Barnes.

"Hiss~ Such strength!"

"Is that the Red Dragon Bloodline?"

"It only took five seconds?!"

The onlookers gasped in surprise.

At this moment, Barnes's body began to shrink rapidly, returning to human form.

The Bonegnaw Vulture beneath him was quite excited and roared a few times before landing next to the dead Bloodthirsty Dragon Hawk and began devouring its remains.

Barnes did not stop his mount's behavior but instead looked around, and his gaze lingered slightly on Rain's side.

From Barnes's eyes, Rain could see a hidden hint of excellent provocation.

It was as if he was saying, 'Look, I've taken care of it, now it's your turn.'

Interesting.

"Ten!"

"Ten!"

Including Prince Everton, everyone gave a perfect score of ten.

reception hall.

The first candidate with a perfect score appeared, with a total score of fifty.

The next few candidates were also quite capable, with two of them finishing their battles within a minute.

But after Barnes's 'Five-Second Man' performance, the remaining candidates could only reach a maximum score of forty-five.

"Candidate Rain, please take the stage." The attendant shouted.

This caught Luther and Halowen's attention, and they were also curious to see how long Rain would take and if he could surpass Barnes's five-second record.

As Rain took the stage, many in the audience began whispering.

Although Rain had a formidable record, there were still many who didn't recognize him. Seeing his youthful appearance, they started asking around, and the conversation soon became lively.

After all, there were still many candidates who knew Rain, and they began to introduce his previous achievements.

"So, he's the one who killed Harold."

"That's quite a sight."

"I heard he's a Metal Mage?"

"Candidate Rain, please spin the wheel." The attendant respectfully requested.

"Okay!"

As Rain spun the needle on the wheel, it quickly started to turn.

To prevent interference from the candidates, they must leave after spinning the wheel.

Naturally, Rain also left the platform where the wheel was located.

The needle eventually slowed down and stopped, and it pointed directly at the Thunderstorm Elemental!

"Hiss~ Such bad luck?" Luther and Halowen exchanged glances, saying.

They both knew that Rain was a Metal Mage, and encountering a Thunderstorm Elemental was extremely unfavorable.

Metal conducts electricity! Whether Rain used any metal-based magic attacks or fought with a metal weapon against the Thunderstorm Elemental, he would be at a significant disadvantage.

The powerful electric current's paralyzing effect would make the entire battle extremely challenging.

Obviously, the score would not be very high.

Of course, the two believed that Rain defeating the Thunderstorm Elemental was not a problem, but it might be more challenging, and if he was hit by a lightning attack, he might even look a bit disheveled.

"Candidate Rain, if you're ready, we'll begin the summon." The attendant bowed slightly and said.

"Begin," Rain nodded.

At the same time, he controlled the Bloodfeather Wyvern beneath him and flew towards the center of the arena.

As soon as Rain nodded in agreement, the three Crystalization Wizards on the south side of the arena immediately began their summoning, placing a pre-prepared Thunderstorm Crystal Core into the summoning wizard array.

With the low chanting of incantations, a massive dark cloud swirling with fierce winds was soon summoned—the legendary elemental creature, the Thunderstorm Elemental.

The biggest differences between the Thunderstorm Elemental and the Hurricane Elemental were twofold.

First, in color, unlike the Hurricane Elemental's white-gray hue, the Thunderstorm Elemental was entirely black-gray.

Second, and most significantly, within the funnel-like body of the Thunderstorm Elemental, streaks of lightning constantly flashed, accompanied by thunderous roars.

If the lightning within its body were released, it would result in a lightning attack.

Lightning was a formidable force to reckon with!

Moving at the speed of light, it was impossible to dodge, leaving only the option to endure the attack head-on.

The only way to counter it was to preemptively disrupt or interrupt the Thunderstorm Elemental before it could launch its attack.

As soon as the Thunderstorm Elemental was summoned, it rushed towards Rain with incredible speed.

As it drew closer, the lightning within its funnel-like body became more intense, and the thunderous roars grew denser.

Obviously, the Thunderstorm Elemental was about to unleash a lightning strike at any moment!

At this moment, Rain silently chanted an incantation and pointed at the Thunderstorm Elemental.

"Metal Cage!"

Instantly, a square metal cage trapped the Thunderstorm Elemental within.

Although it caused no harm, Rain's spell still managed to hinder the Thunderstorm Elemental's movement, causing its intended lightning attack to halt.

The reason was simple.

Metal conducts electricity, so even if the Thunderstorm Elemental unleashed its lightning attack, it wouldn't harm Rain; instead, the lightning would be absorbed by the metal bars surrounding it at that moment.

Although the lightning wouldn't cause any damage to the Thunderstorm Elemental itself, this attempt would obviously be an ineffective attack.

Therefore, the Thunderstorm Elemental chose to pass through the metal cage before unleashing its lightning strike.

The Thunderstorm Elemental's cloud body flickered slightly, and then the entire cloud form emerged from the metal cage.

It took less than a second to break free.

Seeing this, many of the surrounding candidates couldn't help but wonder if Rain had made a tactical mistake.

After all, whether it was the Hurricane Elemental or the Thunderstorm Elemental, these high-level elemental creatures had no physical form beyond their crystal cores.

Using a metal-based spell to trap them was fundamentally futile, and it would only waste mental energy.

However, just as the Thunderstorm Elemental stepped out of the metal cage, a fine mesh net, no larger than a fingernail and shimmering with silver, appeared before it.

"Shh!"

"Smack!"

The sharp metal net pierced right through the Thunderstorm Elemental's cloud body.

The crowd was surprised by the speed of Rain's spell, but they didn't agree with his decision to continue attacking with metal-based magic.

The Thunderstorm Elemental had a high level of immunity to metal-based magical attacks.

In comparison, using fire-based magic would have been much more effective.

However, before anyone could say anything, suddenly, the entire Thunderstorm Elemental vanished like smoke, leaving only shattered fragments of its crystal core on the ground.

This surprised the crowd, but they quickly realized why.

Rain had just shattered the Thunderstorm Elemental's crystal core! Some of the more powerful candidates understood why Rain had cast those two spells.

Rain's first spell was intended to disrupt the Thunderstorm Elemental's offensive rhythm.

At the same time, Rain anticipated that the Thunderstorm Elemental would likely retract its electrical energy, allowing it to quickly escape the metal cage.

So, he followed up with the second spell, a fine metal cutting net, which directly shattered the Thunderstorm Elemental's crystal core.

A one-hit kill!

"Hiss~ Three seconds?!"

"The fastest so far, right?"

In just three seconds, Rain had secured victory.

On the sidelines, observing Rain's strength, the three members of the Dragon Scale Brotherhood—Barnes, Reagan, and Bronson—maintained calm expressions, but their hearts skipped a beat.

Especially Reagan and Bronson, whose eyes briefly met, both seeing a hint of astonishment in each other's gaze.

Rain's combat adaptability was impeccable.

Facing the Thunderstorm Elemental, which was supposed to be highly resistant to metal-based magic, he managed to adapt instantly.

How strong was his combat awareness?

Not to mention them, but most of the people present, although they were all powerful, only a few could match such a feat.

Another tricky aspect was the extremely short combat time, which made it difficult for them to observe Rain's full strength.

The short combat time made it challenging to gather comprehensive information about Rain's abilities.

This added a layer of uncertainty to the trio's plans for the sanctuary.

Among the three, Barnes was the most powerful.

However, at this moment, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

When Rain drew the Thunderstorm Elemental as his opponent, Barnes had already considered various possible responses, but none were as effective as Rain's quick thinking.

"Ten points!"

"Ten points!"

One after another, all four examiners awarded Rain a perfect score of ten points.

At this moment, the smiling Prince Everton slowly raised his scorecard, and it also displayed a perfect ten points.

This caused the other candidates to gasp in surprise.

"That's the second perfect score!"

"With a perfect score, no matter how the rankings turn out, he's already secured a spot in the second round!"

A hint of surprise flashed in Rain's eyes as well, for he had declined Prince Everton's invitation to join the Dragon Scale Brotherhood, and yet, the prince didn't seem to mind.

He even gave Rain a perfect score for this preliminary round.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end