Chapter 411: Covert Competition

Chapter 411: Covert Competition

As the brief opening ceremony concluded, the preliminary round of the Dragon Knight Cadet Selection officially commenced.

Suddenly, a powerful arcane pulse flashed through the air, and a white veil appeared overhead, covering the entire Colosseum-like arena where the Dragon Knight Reserve Camp was located.

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

Or perhaps, it resembled a sealed can.

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

A waiter holding a crystal box walked up to the candidates.

Everyone could see that inside the transparent box was a stack of folded papers, emitting a faint arcane pulse, seemingly to prevent some individuals from using mana or perception to detect the numbers written on the papers in advance.

The preliminary round's rules were simple: first, draw lots to determine the order, and then engage in combat.

The combat was limited to three minutes, and the preliminary round would end once the time was up, regardless of whether the opponent was defeated or not.

Next, five judges would score the candidates on-site, and the total accumulated scores would be calculated and ranked at the end of the preliminary round, with the top thirty candidates advancing.

Additionally, the selection of opponents was also done randomly using a spinner.

There were seven options on the spinner: Hurricane Elemental, Thunderstorm Elemental, Phoenix Flock, Stinger Hive, Shadow Vulture, Frostwing Serpent, and Bloodthirsty Wyvern.

The first two were legendary-tier elemental creatures with formidable power and immunity to physical attacks.

The middle two were groups of ferocious creatures, and if their numbers were high, they would collectively be considered legendary-tier combatants.

If the candidates had group combat techniques, dealing with them would be slightly easier; otherwise, it could get quite annoying, and even if they won, they might exceed the time limit or appear disheveled.

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

The last three were powerful flying ferocious creatures, each with unique combat characteristics and also of legendary tier.

Of course, all seven of these formidable creatures were flying ferocious beasts.

In other words, this battle tested the candidates' ability to control their flying mounts in aerial combat.

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

But achieving such a feat was evidently extremely difficult.

"Number thirteen," the waiter announced as he approached Ren with the crystal box. Ren drew a number, opened it, and muttered.

"Damn! I got number one!" Luther couldn't help but exclaim.

It was common knowledge that the judges needed to 'warm up' with their scoring.

Generally, the first and second candidates were unlikely to receive high scores.

Or, the scoring would be conservative, resulting in slightly lower scores.

Usually, the judges had a better idea of the appropriate score after the tenth candidate.

Luther, participating in the Dragon Knight Reserve Selection for the second time, naturally felt displeased.

"Number seventy-two!" Halowen's number, compared to Ren and Luther, was much further back, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

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

Luther drew the Stinger Hive on the spinner.

The Stinger Bee was about the size of a five or six-year-old child, with a tail bearing a sharp venomous stinger that emitted a dark purple glow.

Its distinctive features included incredible speed, a surrounding air turbulence defense, and decent resistance to both physical and magic attacks.

Its signature stinger, when fired, resembled a sharp stinger with excellent penetration.

A single Stinger Bee was no match for a Liquid Wizard, who could easily defeat it.

But at this moment, Luther faced a swarm of one hundred Stinger Bees.

"Buzz!"

The Stinger Bee, several times larger than a hornet, approached Luther and his two-headed Chimera like a cloud.

Luther clamped his legs and controlled the Chimera to launch an attack.

Although Chimera Rider Luther had the upper hand, as time passed, the Stinger Bees were swiftly eliminated by Luther, and their corpses rained down like hail.

However, by the time Luther cleared the area, the three-minute time limit had been reached.

This caused Luther's expression to turn sour.

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

Additionally, as it was the first round, the judges tended to score more conservatively.

"Six points!"

"Seven points!"

"A total score of thirty-two points," the waiter shouted.

As expected!

This score was precarious.

Whether he could advance to the next round was uncertain.

When Luther returned to the crowd, Ren and Halowen offered him a few words of comfort.

Then it was the turn of the other candidates.

Ren observed several candidates and noticed that although the preliminary round had a three-minute combat time limit, in reality, very few candidates fought until the time limit.

The more capable candidates often resolved the battle within a minute, earning them higher scores and placing them in the first tier.

The slightly weaker candidates could usually finish the battle within two minutes, but their scores varied greatly, making them the second tier.

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

So, despite the large number of people present, the preliminary round proceeded at a rapid pace once it started.

On average, it took less than two minutes for the next candidate to take their turn.

"Candidate number nine, Barnes, please step forward," the waiter called out.

"Oh, it's him," Ren exclaimed as he recognized a familiar figure entering the arena.

The candidate rode an ugly Bonebreaker Vulture and took his position in the center of the arena; he was one of the three individuals who had been observing Ren from the side earlier.

His opponent for this round was the Bloodthirsty Wyvern.

Ren narrowed his eyes, intrigued to see how this candidate would handle the challenge.

The Bloodthirsty Wyvern, a typical melee-type flying ferocious creature, was similar to the Blood Feather Wyvern.

However, it was evident that as a legendary-tier creature, its strength far surpassing the Blood Feather Wyvern.

The Dragon Eagle, as its name suggested, had a dragon-like body with an eagle-like head, a sharp red beak, and massive wings resembling a butterfly's, adorned with blood-red feathers.

The creature had a dragon-like body, covered in red scales, with large hind legs and a pair of sharp claws.

As the Bloodthirsty Wyvern was released from the iron fence on one side of the camp, it immediately spotted the Bonebreaker Vulture in the arena and let out a cry, charging towards it with fierce momentum.

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

"Chirp!"

Just as everyone thought the Dragon Eagle would choose to engage in close combat, suddenly, about ten meters away from Barnes, the Bloodthirsty Wyvern inhaled and exhaled a burst of flame.

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

Facing the Wyvern's breath attack, most people assumed Barnes would choose a safe response, either dodging or using defensive spells to block the attack.

However, to everyone's astonishment, Barnes chose to counterattack! As the conical Dragon Eagle Breath rushed towards him, Barnes' entire body suddenly swelled, and red scales appeared on his skin. The Bonebreaker Vulture beneath him seemed to be affected by some force, causing it to plummet from mid-air.

"Roar!"

After transforming into a Dragonkin, Barnes opened his mouth and breathed a flame breath towards the Bloodthirsty Wyvern.

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

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

Standing nearby, Ren, who was observing the battle, was surprised by Barnes' Dragonkin form. His appearance was extremely similar to Ren's own first-stage Dragon Warrior transformation—a short tail, a height of four to five meters, and a similar build.

At the same time, Barnes seemed to be of Red Dragon lineage, but for some reason, the red dragon scales faintly glowed with a hint of black.

This detail matched the information Claire had mentioned, and it was highly likely that it was related to the potion he had taken within the Dragon Scale Brotherhood.

As Ren's thoughts turned, the battle in the arena took a sudden turn.

Suddenly, the Dragon Eagle's breath attack came to an abrupt halt.

Its beak was tightly gripped by a sturdy dragon claw.

Barnes, having transformed, took advantage of the momentary obstruction caused by the collision of the two flame breaths and charged forward.

Unable to open its beak, the Wyvern couldn't use its breath attack. In this situation, the Bloodthirsty Wyvern seemed enraged, and worm-like veins suddenly appeared on its body, bulging and writhing.

"This is the innate ability, Bloodthirst!" said a candidate standing next to Ren.

Despite the Wyvern's increased strength due to Bloodthirst, its desperate struggles were futile against the unyielding grip of the dragon claw.

"Crack!"

The sound of breaking bones echoed as the Dragon Eagle struggled even more fiercely.

"Smash!"

As the dragon claw closed, the Dragon Eagle's head shattered like a watermelon, completely crushed by Barnes in his Dragonkin form.

This was a legendary Dragon Eagle, and its skull was the toughest part, yet Barnes had crushed it with ease in his Dragonkin form.

"Hiss... Such power!"

"Is that Red Dragon lineage?"

"In just five seconds?!"

The onlookers gasped in disbelief.

At that moment, Barnes' body rapidly shrank, returning to his human form.

His mount, the Bonebreaker Vulture, let out a few excited screeches and quickly descended, landing next to the fallen Bloodthirsty Wyvern. It began devouring the Wyvern's remains.

Barnes didn't stop his mount's actions but instead scanned the crowd, his gaze lingering slightly on Ren.

Ren could see a hidden, subtle challenge in Barnes' eyes.

It was as if he was saying, 'Look, I've finished my task, now it's your turn.'

"Ten points!"

"Ten points!"

Even Prince Everett gave a perfect score of ten.

With a total score of fifty points, the first perfect score candidate emerged.

The following candidates were also powerful, with two of them finishing their battles within a minute.

However, after Barnes' impressive five-second victory, the highest score among the remaining candidates was only forty-five.

"Candidate number thirteen, Ren, please step forward for your assessment," the attendant announced respectfully.

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

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As Ren stepped forward, many in the crowd began whispering.

Although Ren had an impressive combat record, there were still many who didn't recognize him. Seeing Ren's youthful appearance, they started to introduce themselves and share stories of Ren's previous battles.

After all, many of the candidates knew who Ren was, and they were eager to share his past achievements.

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

"Now, this is getting interesting."

"I heard he's a Metal Mage?"

"Candidate Ren, please spin the spinner," the attendant said politely.

"Alright!"

As Ren stepped forward and spun the needle on the spinner, it began to rotate rapidly.

To prevent interference, candidates were required to step away after spinning.

Ren, of course, moved away from the spinning platform.

The needle slowly came to a stop, pointing to the Thunderstorm Elemental option!

"Damn, what bad luck," Luther and Halowen muttered, exchanging glances.

They both knew that Ren was a Metal Mage, and facing a Thunderstorm Elemental would be a significant disadvantage.

Why?

Metal conducts electricity!

Whether using Metal Mage spells or wielding metal weapons against the Thunderstorm Elemental, the battle would be extremely challenging due to the paralyzing effects of the powerful electric current.

It was clear that Ren's score wouldn't be very high in this situation.

However, both believed that Ren could defeat the Thunderstorm Elemental, even if it might be a strenuous battle, and he might even get struck by lightning, making it more challenging.

"Candidate Ren, if you're ready, we'll begin the summoning."

"The waiter bowed slightly and spoke, "Let's begin."

Ren nodded, and at the same time, he controlled the Blood Feather Wyvern beneath him, flying towards the center of the arena.

As soon as Ren nodded in agreement, the three Crystal Mages located on the south side of the arena began their summoning. A prepared Thunderstorm Crystal Core was placed within the Summoning Array.

With the sound of a low incantation, a massive cloud enveloped in a whirlwind was summoned, none other than the legendary elemental being, the Thunderstorm Elemental.

The Thunderstorm Elemental differed from the Hurricane Elemental in two main ways.

First, in terms of color, unlike the white-gray of the Hurricane Elemental, the Thunderstorm Elemental was entirely dark gray.

Second, and more importantly, the Thunderstorm Elemental's funnel-shaped cloud body had lightning constantly flashing within, accompanied by thunderous roars.

If the lightning within its body were to be released, it would result in a lightning strike.

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 it 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 Ren, soaring through the air.

As it drew closer, the funnel-shaped cloud body became increasingly dense with thunderous sounds.

It was clear that the Thunderstorm Elemental might unleash a lightning strike at any moment.

Ren, at this moment, was silently chanting a spell, pointing a finger at the Thunderstorm Elemental.

"Metal Cage!"

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

Although it caused no harm, Ren's magic still managed to stall the Thunderstorm Elemental's actions, preventing the impending lightning strike.

The reason was simple.

Metal conducted electricity, and even if the Thunderstorm Elemental unleashed a lightning attack, it wouldn't harm Ren; instead, the metal bars surrounding it would absorb the electricity.

Although lightning wouldn't harm the Thunderstorm Elemental itself, this attack would be rendered ineffective.

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

The Thunderstorm Elemental's hourglass-shaped body flickered slightly, and the entire cloud body emerged from the metal cage.

The process took less than a second.

Seeing this, many of the onlooking candidates were momentarily stunned, wondering if Ren had made a tactical error.

After all, both the Hurricane Elemental and the Thunderstorm Elemental, as high-level elemental beings, had no physical form other than their crystal cores.

Using metal magic to trap them was futile, a waste of mana.

However, just as the Thunderstorm Elemental exited the metal cage, a fine metal net with a grid no larger than a fingernail, shimmering with silver magical aura, appeared before it.

"Shh!"

"Crack!"

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

The crowd was slightly surprised by the speed of Ren's magic, but they didn't agree with his continued use of metal magic for the attack.

The Thunderstorm Elemental had a high level of immunity to metal magic attacks.

In comparison, a fire magic attack would have been much more effective.

However, before the crowd could say anything, the entire Thunderstorm Elemental suddenly disintegrated into ashes, leaving behind only shattered remnants of the Thunderstorm Crystal Core on the ground.

This left the crowd in awe, but they quickly realized the reason.

Ren had shattered the Thunderstorm Elemental's crystal core with a single strike! Some of the more powerful candidates, especially, understood Ren's previous actions.

Ren's first magic was intended to disrupt the Thunderstorm Elemental's initial offensive rhythm.

At the same time, Ren had predicted that the Thunderstorm Elemental would inevitably absorb electrical energy, prompting it to quickly exit the metal cage.

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

A one-hit kill!

"Three seconds?"

"The fastest so far, right?"

In just three seconds, Ren secured victory.

The three members of the Dragon Scale Brotherhood who were observing Ren's strength—Barnes, Reagan, and Bronson—maintained calm expressions, but their hearts skipped a beat.

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

Ren's combat adaptability was impeccable.

To have instantly countered the Thunderstorm Elemental, which was supposed to be the bane of metal mages, was a testament to his exceptional combat awareness.

Even among the legendary powerhouse candidates present, only a few could have pulled off such a feat.

Another complication was the brevity of the combat, which prevented them from observing Ren's full capabilities.

The limited information they could gather made their task more challenging.

After all, if they knew your strengths, the types of magic you excelled at, and your combat habits, they could prepare countermeasures in advance.

But with the entire battle lasting only three seconds and using just two spells, the information they obtained was extremely limited.

This added a layer of uncertainty to their plans within the mystic realm.

Among the three, Barnes was the most powerful.

However, at this moment, his eyes flashed with surprise.

When Ren drew the Thunderstorm Elemental as his opponent, Barnes had put himself in Ren's shoes and considered various possible responses, none as concise and efficient as Ren's.

"Ten points!"

"Ten points!"

All four judges awarded Ren a perfect score of ten points.

At this moment, the smiling Second Prince Everett slowly raised his scorecard, which also displayed a perfect ten.

The waiting candidates couldn't help but gasp.

"That's the second perfect score!"

"With a perfect score, he's already secured a spot in the preliminary round, no matter the draw."

Ren's eyes also flashed with surprise, as he had declined the Second Prince's invitation to join the Dragon Scale Brotherhood, effectively offending him.

But from the current situation, it seemed the Second Prince didn't hold a grudge.

He had even given Ren a perfect score in this preliminary round.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end