The Legend of the Devil
Ch. 48 - Preliminary Round II: Teamwork
Two days since the first preliminary round has ended now the next round has begun with a much different atmosphere from the first half, the competition is more intense and the opponents faced are also getting more difficult.
There are rumors that there is one participant who has even turned 30 years old and is still stuck in the Intermediate Swordsman Exam, of course open the good news for Xue Zhan who was starting to get nervous seeing the circumstances around him.
A man stood on the front stage with his hands behind his back, gazing respectfully at all directions while giving greetings and greetings to the participants present.
"Congratulations that you guys have made it through the first preliminary round, but don't feel satisfied just yet! There are still two preliminary rounds whose difficulty level is higher. Are you ready for the next round?!"
His loud voice echoed throughout, the whole participant compactly replied.
"Ready!"
"Good spirit!"
The man came down from the stage replaced by a woman in the formal dress of the Intermediate Swordsman Exam committee, he explained the division of the group and the direction of the participants before telling how the second preliminary round was done.
Xue Zhan was looking for a booth where the names of the group members would be announced.
Long enough to wait until the number is mentioned along with the names that are quite familiar. It made Xue Zhan startled, the five names were in one group, he could not imagine what kind of cooperation could be with them; lao Bao Li, Lun Ning, Xiao Rong, Lao Li, Xian Shen and himself.
It still felt a lot of anger on Lao Bao Li's face after the last time Xue Zhan injured both of his hands, as well as Xian Shen who lost when dueling one on one with him, Xue Zhan died a flea on the spot.
The five members of the group stood in line. The organizing committee named their group as the Tiger Group.
After the group is formed, the woman who explained the flow of the fight they will face, rules, conditions and others.
"For the test this time you will be placed in a giant forest where you are free to attack in any way. The law of the jungle prevails; the victor reigns above the loser."
The woman went back to explaining the details. "For a fixed determination like the previous fight, you will be placed in one base and collect points in this teamwork battle. One dead friend lost 50 points and the opposing team that killed him gained 50 points. Headquarters destroyed minus 100 points, enemies get the opposite. Lose one egg minus 150 points."
"You have to keep the three eggs and make sure they stay intact. Can snatch the eggs of other groups as well to add points. If one team has fewer than three eggs it is automatically declared dead. And the final requirement of at least 450 points to be declared qualified in this round."
He took a breath, "Good luck," he said. Participants are taken to the place where the exam will take place. Sure enough, they were placed in the largest forest in the center of Diqiu Empire devoted to large-scale training or examinations. There were so many demons and beasts inside. The committee also did not hesitate to say that they could have died in the exam this time if not careful.
All consequences are borne by participants, because that is why the Intermediate Swordsman Exam is conducted - so that participants see the real situation on the battlefield. There are many dangers lurking, death, death, as well as unexpected attacks and in some reasons also they are divided into teams to see how far participants can work with each other with people they do not know well.
But Xue Zhan acknowledged that his teammates were quite strong participants, judging by the points they accumulated as well as their individual abilities. He began to question how the committee could get him into this team.
In the afternoon before they reached their respective headquarters, the committee gave half an hour for them to negotiate with each other. Each team had a leader randomly chosen by the executor, Xue Zhan was leading his current team.
They were gathered in the middle of a medium-sized headquarters. The faces of the four people looked not so familiar to each other, Xue Zhan spoke up.
"Like the rules that the committee has explained, we have to keep these three eggs," Xue Zhan said showing three eggs that provide a variety of colors. Red, yellow, white. "Is there any advice on who will take care of him? Or are the three of us guarding each of these one egg?"
Lun Ning replied like he was screaming, "Let me!!"
The youngest Xiao Rong among them snorted. "Don't give it to this rhino-powered woman, not her egg-breaking enemy, she's the one who broke it herself."
Lao Bao Li and Xian Shen laughed at Xiao Rong's ridicule. As usual, aside from being quiet once Xiao Rong spoke his words were extremely painful. Lun Ning cheered furiously.
"Know what are you? Cih, if you're still vengeful after I defeated yesterday just say so!" His finger pointed at Xiao Rong annoyed.
"Lose you? Aren't you the one who's too afraid to lose to me and use all your strength rashly and end up damaging the arena building?" The young man folded both hands on his chest while blurting cynically. It provoked Lun Ning's emotions.
"You-you?!"
Both of them seemed to want to fight, Xue Zhan was not interested in reconciling and instead carried sticks, wood and iron.
"Who wants war? Need what? The rocks? The wood? Iron stick?"
The emotions of both disappeared suddenly. Xue Zhan snorted.
"If this keeps up time will run out."
Lao Bao Li voiced his opinion despite being reluctant.
"What if we put the egg somewhere hidden in the base. The three people staying here defending the other two headquarters are collecting points and attacking the opponent's headquarters?"
"Who wants to live here?"
The four of them raised their hands to make Xue Zhan astonished, but it was not without reason that they were playing it safe because the other groups were definitely using the same strategy. The difference was that they sent the strongest people to roam around, if Xue Zhan met them it would have been killed for him to earn 50 points for free.
"In addition to me no one else has joined forces to collect points outside?"
Xiao Rong closed his eyes, he raised his hand but also put forward a condition.
"I'm coming, but we're both not splitting up. Three of our friends standing guard here making sure the eggs and base are safe."
Xue Zhan nodded in agreement.
"All agreed?"
"Agreed."
Such a large bell ringing from outside the forest was a sign that the second preliminary round had begun.
"Everyone, do your best, we can!"
Although Lao Bao Li, Xian Shen, Xiao Rong looked reluctant but still they gathered, putting their hands together in the middle while cheering. Then split up to do each other's job.