Death... and me

Chapter 1481 – Hide And Seek

One hour quickly passed by, prompting Latros to give the next order. “Time is up. All of you, go after the kids.”

As soon as he gave the order, someone who seemed to be the captain there began to issue orders. Many different groups were made as they separated into different zones. Unfortunately for the kids, it seemed like these people had done this kind of test more than just once. In the first few seconds, a kid was quickly found.

“Candidate number 10456 is disqualified.”

At the same time, the captain that commanded the searching teams snorted, saying, “Hmph! There are always a few idiots who think the best place to hide is right in front of the starting point.”

He was right. After a minute had gone by, more than 30 kids had been found and disqualified from the test. They were then sent back to the starting point, where their guardians took them back.

Tree barks, holes, top of trees, bushes, any place a person could hide in, they’d search it. The searching party knew exactly what and where to look. There was a reason why Latros didn’t give a time limit for the test. That’s because he was sure the searching party would find enough kids to leave only one hundred. 

“Candidate number 5278 is disqualified.”.

“Candidate number 7103 is disqualified.”

“Candidate number 12896 is disqualified.”

“Candidate number 1203 is disqualified.”

“Candidate number 100 is disqualified.”

“Candidate number 782 is disqualified…”

More and more voices came out as the elders noted down the kids who had been found. After just twenty minutes into the search, more than half of the kids had been caught and sent back to the starting point. 

The speed at which the kids were being found then began to fall after that. That made sense since more than half were gone already. The fewer the kids were, the harder it was to find more. Nevertheless, the rhythm was consistent among the searching groups.

One hour later, 12569 of the 14367 kids had already been disqualified. The captain of the search group seemed quite satisfied with the result once he found that out. “Hehe. It seems like we’ll beat our record.” He then filled his throat with Divine Energy before shouting, “To all the searching members, it seems we can reach the last 100 candidates in less than two hours. Keep up the pace, and I’ll give you a bonus when this search is over.”

*Wow!*

Immediately, all the Core and Soul Fusion Realm cultivators became excited. After all, they weren’t doing this for free. It was because the Mercenary Guild paid well that they were here and kept participating. Since there would be a bonus, they obviously became a lot more motivated.

“Candidate number 4589 is disqualified.”.

“Candidate number 9251 is disqualified.”

“Candidate number 13892 is disqualified.”

“Candidate number 7 is disqualified.”

At the starting point, all the guardians who still had their kids hiding were feeling nervous. Little by little, the encirclement was closing. Naturally, it wouldn’t take long for only one hundred kids to be left. Well, there were a few exceptions, with Roan being one of them. Roan had a few Rank One Divine Stones in his hand, which he used to leisurely cultivate.

Seeing that, Falangia couldn’t help but ask, “Are you not nervous at all? What if they’re the next ones found?”

Roan glanced at her for a moment and shook his head, telling her, “So what? If they get caught, then it’s their fault. I helped them as much as I could, so they should be ready for the punishment if they fail. Well, neither of their numbers came up until now, so keep waiting.”

Falangia didn’t hear what Roan told Luan and Rafatia with his Divine Sense before the start of the test. That’s why she was concerned. “They got so far. There isn’t really a need for punishment, right? There are less than 1000 kids remaining.”

Roan didn’t even bother answering as he closed his eyes to cultivate once again.

One hour and fifty-three minutes after the start of the test, the time everyone was waiting for had finally arrived. 

“Candidate number 3602 is disqualified.”

As soon as the cultivator who found that kid said those words, Latros spread his Divine Sense throughout the entire area before saying, ‘Congratulations to the 100 kids who are still hidden, as well as to the kids’ guardians. Of the 14367 kids that started the test, 14267 have now been found.’

Naturally, the guardians of those kids were delighted to hear that. Falangia herself couldn’t hold her excitement either.

However, Latros didn’t finish there. ‘All the 100 kids who haven’t been found have now passed the test and can join the Mercenary Guild. However, the test isn’t over yet, so don’t come out of your hiding places just yet. From now on, there will be rewards in Divine Stones. The next kid who is found will get one Rank Two Divine Stone. The following kid will get two. Then the next will get three and so on. Naturally, the last kid to be found will get a hundred Rank Two Divine Stones!’

Be it the guardians or the kids, they all became excited. Pol Continent had more Divine Stones than other continents. However, Rank Two Divine Stones were still very rare. There wasn’t a single kid or parent who didn’t want their kid to be the very last one to be found.

Latros then looked at the captain of the searching team, telling him, “Kubli, you can continue. Tell the searching party that on top of the bonus they got from leaving only a hundred kids in less than two hours, they will get another bonus for each found kid. However, remember that Divine Sense is prohibited. I will know if any of them used it, even if for a single moment.”

Kubli smiled in response. “Yes, Guild Master.” Sure enough, Kubli spread the news through the searching groups. If they were motivated before, they could now be pretty much called search dogs. 

Ten minutes into the search of the last one hundred kids, fifteen were caught. At twenty minutes, forty-one were gone. Well, none of these kids were really sad. After all, they at least passed the exam.

After another hour of searching, 93 kids were found, leaving only 7 remaining. Roan faintly smiled when he saw that.. That was because Rafatia and Luan were also between these last 7 kids.