It was time for combat training now.
The professor who was supposed to guide them through combat was currently sitting far up in the air, a pair of glasses framed above her nose as she read a book with palpable intensity.
Which wouldn't have been a problem if she wasn't supposed to be teaching a group of students right now!
From what Elias could gather from a few snippets of whispers, her name was Sylvia Mickert, the Nightless Rumbler. Apparently, she was a prodigy who excelled in martial arts and had a familiar habit of not teaching anything for the day if she was engrossed in a very interesting book.
Obviously, today was one of such days.
As a result, the Candidates usually issued challenges among themselves, testing their skills in an exchange or venturing into the VR pods to pick a fight among opponents in a simulated setting.
As for now, Elias decided to stay back in the Combat Arena, curious about exactly how strong these candidates could be when they had all their cards on the table.
And he wasn't disappointed at all.
A few candidates had also remained in the Arena, some of them already fighting above large, circular platforms jutting out of the ground to reach tens of meters into the air, the stage continuously rumbling with violent explosions.
Songs resounded as artifacts kept ringing out, the effect of which was closely followed by waves of debilitating destruction.
It was total, fucking madness.
"These guys are damn freaks," Elias couldn't help but speak now, his face amazed. He was currently leaning against one of the numerous pillars in the large arena, already in his combat outfit.
After he had his ID updated, he had also been given new clothes for combat training and the new uniform exclusive for the candidates, all of which he had kept in his inventory.
So now he was dressed in a fitted long-sleeve combat shirt, its high collar wrapping around his neck. His dark, tactical pants made walking easier than it was supposed to be, and the chest plate and shoulder guards gave him the peculiar feeling of being a knight.
A very dashing knight, if he says so himself.
After all, it was no secret that he was drop-dead gorgeous, beautiful beyond comparison—
He coughed, straightening his back.
"Priorities, Elias. Priorities."
Watching these groups of guys battling seemed to make Elias realize the extent of the gap between him and the true elites of his generation.
At the very least, most of them had already crossed over to the apprentice stage. If he was to fight even one of them, there was every possibility he would lose.
But...
He would like to think that it would only happen when he played fair. And... well, he almost never played fair.
He cracked his neck.
'Thinking about it, I can't remain a novice for long. It's high time I cross over to the next stage.'
The true elites participating in the entry trials were just as strong, or even stronger than these guys. While he would certainly want to think of himself as not any weaker, he didn't want to be just that...
He wanted to be far stronger, fucking overwhelmingly stronger. Blasting enemies apart without giving them a fighting chance.
He winced, a rush of violent wind blasting against his face from the adjacent stage where a brawny guy with his arms curling with bulging muscles beneath his armor was in a frenzy.
His fists were covered with a shimmering metallic gauntlet that rang with a sharp sound like that of metal grinding against stone whenever he raised his hands to punch.
🎶 SCREEAAAAA....🎵
His punch kicked up blasts of air, his gauntlet now coated in sparks of flames from the air pressure as the air seemed to howl and whistle, almost like it was protesting against the force of his momentum.
"Damn you, Alicia! Face me head-on, bitch!"
The petite girl he was fighting kept dodging his strikes, moving with finesse between his punches with movement so graceful that it looked like she was dancing.
But the insulting part that made Elias feel a little sorry for the guy was the fact that the girl was eating a chocolate bar the whole time she was moving.
If anything, she looked more annoyed that he was disturbing her from finishing her snack.
"Over here, fuck face."
Elias raised an eyebrow, turning his head to look at the outline of a girl who had moved to stand behind him without him noticing.
She was quite tall and had large circles beneath her eyes, a jotter clutched tightly between her hands.
She looked like someone who survived on caffeine and was allergic to sleep.
Elias spared her a glance, his lips curling slightly at the edges.
"It's weird calling someone that when you look exactly the part."
She rolled her eyes, clicking her tongue.
"Great, we are both jerks. I have a feeling we will get along."
She continued in the same breath, flipping the pages of her book.
"Every new candidate is supposed to join a new unit. As of now, Sophia has only acknowledged five units, the scouting team, which has the fewest numbers, best for those with Classes that help with stealth. Then there is the Assault, Defense and Offense Unit, for traditional fighters, and lastly the support unit for the buffers and those capable of healing injuries."
She slapped a hand over her forehead.
"I am Rosa, the general secretary of our Skyward Faction responsible for keeping records of the members of each unit and other stuff we both agree you don't wanna know. So? Which Unit does your graceful self think is more suitable for you?"
Elias really wasn't interested.
"I think I will pass."
She looked at him, startled.
"Y-you can't do that!"
"Oh, why not?"
"You just can't!"
Elias scoffed. "Then this conversation is over."
She took a deep breath, like she was mentally trying to resist flinging herself right at him.
"Listen, I am just trying to do my job, okay? This is a faction, so taking a role isn't really something that's negotiable. You have to familiarize yourselves with your teammates so that they—"
Elias cut in. "The scouting team."
Her mouth hung partly open. "What?"
Elias had his face bent downwards in a thoughtful expression. "I will join the scouting team."
Now that he had an Epic Class, or at the very least, that was what the rest of the world believed now, he was already more than qualified to participate in the entry trials on his own and no longer needed to join a faction anymore.
So there was really no need to go through all this when it wasn't even his style in the first place.
Yet, he also had to be pragmatic.
There might come a moment during the entry trials when he made enemies that were too much for him to handle on his own. See, the entry trials were always structured like a game, a battle royale of sorts.
It was very difficult to survive alone. Even the strong can be overwhelmed by numbers.
He needed some meatshie— uhh... a few shoulders to lean on if he ever encountered a situation that he couldn't handle. And he wasn't going to deny it, he had a particular penchant for pissing a lot of people off.
So he was probably going to make a lot of enemies. Enemies that might be far too many for him to handle if they ganged up on him.
By joining the scouting team, he could be able to use the excuse to scout out some places and head out solo on his own. If by any chance he finds himself in deep shit, he could always run back to these guys and dump all his problems on them.
Does that make him a jerk? Yeah, it did. A very horrible, selfish jerk. But this is also a competition for the top, even the so-called faction will eventually disband for the race to the apex.
There were no true friends, only personal interests.
The girl frowned, shaking her head before her lips curled into a pleased smile.
"Are you sure? The scouting team has way more casualties."
Elias narrowed his eyes. "I can change my mind—"
"No! No!" She interjected immediately with an anxious smile, already typing into the device strapped to her wrist.
"I have alerted Henry that you will be joining in soon. He is the leader for the scouting squad."
At the same time, there was a sound like the chiming of bells, a pouch manifesting in her hand in a whirlwind of bright sparks.
Pushing her hand inside the pouch, she took out a black badge that was twice the length of the container, making one wonder how it had fit inside in the first place.
She threw it towards him, talking in the same breath.
"That's your means of identification. Yeah, and Henry is in the Dojo. He wants to meet up with you, apparently."
Elias caught the black badge, brushing his eyes over the square plaque before quietly putting it in his inventory.
"I will be going now," she said, turning her face away, her shoulders slumped as she huffed under her breath.
"Goodness, I could use another cup of coffee."
Elias watched her leave, turning his face way back to the platform where the battle had been undergoing.
One of his eyebrows shot up before he noticed it himself.
The brawny guy that had been fighting the petite girl now had his knees on the ground, his face the perfect mask of humiliation.
On the finger of the girl was what looked like a signet ring, flashing with waves of invisible pressure that Elias could feel settle in his bones.
It rang with a sound like that of blaring horns.
The girl had her face twisted into a sour expression, although just looking at the chocolate bar now a splattered mess on the ground didn't take long for Elias to arrive at the conclusion.
"Slap yourself."
The boy gritted his teeth, his face reddening like he was fighting against a fierce compulsion.
Inevitably, he lifted his hand, striking his palm against his face.
"Harder!"
He began to strike again and again, his cheeks swelling up rapidly, his teeth gritting from withheld rage.
"That's better," she nodded, looking pleased with herself. "This is how a commoner should behave in front of their superiors."
She raised her boots, kicking towards his chest.
BAM
By the time he was midair, a bluish-grey resonance string was already in front of her, pulsing with a rhythm comparable to the sound someone makes when gasping for breath.
🎵 HIA HUM HIA HUM 🎶🎶
And then....
VOOM
In her place was now a roaring inferno of black flames, just staring making Elias feel like his soul itself was set on fire.
And the flames... were laughing. Laughing in the unmistakable voice of the girl that had been called Alicia, the eerie laughter spreading goosebumps across his skin.
"HIAHAHAHAHAHA HIHA HIHAHAHA!"
Then tendrils of those black flames shot out of the inferno, reaching towards the now frightened, midair boy....
Elias couldn't watch anymore. He turned away to leave, following the device strapped to his wrist towards the direction of wherever this dojo was supposed to be.
Behind him, the brawny boy was already screaming, his cries loud and filled with such gut-wrenching anguish that it made a chill travel down his spine.
His face twisted before he realized it himself.
"Dammit! These guys are all a bunch of crazies."