Death... and me

Back in the Formation Master Guild, Rean and the others kept waiting for participants to come out of the formations. As time passed, the frequency got higher. After some time, all of the formations in the testing field turned off together. A girl then looked behind and saw how everyone appeared behind her.

As mentioned by Zako before, once the number of qualified people passed through the formations, they would turn off altogether. That girl just happened to be the last one.

At first, everyone inside was surprised by that, but soon, they understood that they had failed. They could only look at the crowd behind Zako with jealousy as they waited there. Rean couldn't help but sigh. Close to the end, a lot of them were practically together. If the last girl who came out was just a few seconds slower, she would have lost her position to someone else. He could only imagine how those who were so close felt.

Seeing that it was over, Zako came forward and announced.

"Everyone who's still inside the formations has failed. The exit will be opened for you behind. Those who are accompanying you should leave as well. As for the two hundred that passed the exam and their companions, follow me. I'll guide you to the next part."

Rean, Havek, Qia, and the other participants followed Zako. Droman and their elders, obviously, followed right behind. The situation here wasn't much different from what Roan got. Rean's group could see many other participants who passed through the tests on other test fields.

"Hey, it's Milo!"

Milo heard someone calling his name and immediately turned around.

"Oh! It's you two, huh? Seems like we're together again. You better be careful, though. I have no intention of holding back. Hahaha!"

Rean and Qia laughed as well as they nodded.

"Obviously, neither of us would do that."

"By the way, what about the others?"

Rean made a few friends during this time in the Formations Guild, so he wanted to know about them.

Milo shook his head after hearing that question, though.

"Laio and Beami were in the same group as me, but they failed to come out inside the top 200. I just looked around, but I couldn't find Huvel and Artin either, so I guess they failed as well."

Suddenly, a voice came from behind them.

"Hey, since when did I fail?"

Rean's group looked in the direction of the voice and soon found who it was.

"Oh! I can't believe Artin passed."

"What the hell you mean you can't believe it? I, your grandfather, am a genius, alright?"

Rean and Milo laughed as they welcomed the guy. Artin was from the Capital and also had a Master who was part of the Formations Guild. However, neither of them were part of the nine subordinate clans or the Sasamil Imperial Family.

"It seems like my group was the last one to arrive. Is there any other testing field ongoing?"

Milo shook his head.

"I already checked the numbers. Yours was seriously the last one. You guys were just that slow."

"Hmph! I passed the exam a long time ago. It's just that I had to wait for the 200 to be selected before coming here. Anyway, they should announce the second test anytime now."

Rean, Milo, and Qia nodded as they went together to the front. A few minutes later, another elder of the Formations Guild called Turin came forward to talk.

"Well, it seems that you guys have some ability compared to the others who failed. Anyway, congratulations on passing the first exam. I'll now explain the rules of the second phase, so listen carefully."

"We will give you the materials you need, so you will have one hour to make a protection formation of your choice. Protection Formations come in various types and elements. There are also protection formations that don't use any elements. In any case, this is a fair way of testing your skills." 

"After that, we will use a neutral attack formation to strike it as many times as it is necessary until it breaks. The power of the attack will increase every time as well. Your score will be based on how many attacks it can support before breaking down."

"Although you can make any formation you desire, you are prohibited from using Cores or Spirit Stones. The formation can only rely on Spiritual Energy from the surroundings to power itself."

"You don't need to be afraid that others will take away your own formation's Spiritual Energy since each formation will be tested separately. Alright, I believe I made it very clear. Is there any question?"

Milo then raised his hand.

"What if there are two identical scores?"

Turin nodded.

"There are three hundred slots open for the next phase. Still, if someone shares the same score in the 300th position, the one who passed the first exam faster will advance."

Someone else then made another question.

"Can we use our own materials to create the formation?"

However, Turin shook his head as he said.

"No. The guild will provide you with the necessary materials. That's to prevent others from using their better background resources to gain the advantage."

Everyone nodded and didn't ask anything else. Seeing that the participants went silent, Elder Turin finally announced.

"Alright, Formations take a lot of space, so we will need to use a much bigger field if we want everyone to fit their formations in the same area. There is a Teleport Formation underneath this room, so prepare to be teleported. Your companions will come together, so there's no need to worry. The guild will also take full responsibility for your safety."

No one was surprised to hear that. The Formations Guild had conducted countless tests in the past, so such an approach had been used many times already. 

Suddenly, the ground where everyone was standing shone with Spiritual Energy from the Spirit Stones powering the formation. Soon after, a flash of silver light enveloped everyone before they disappeared.

A moment later, another formation outside the city flashed before the entire group appeared there. Quite a few Formation Masters were waiting for them on the other side. After seeing the participants' arrival, the guy in charge of the preparations came forward.

"Turin, everything is ready. The Spiritual Energy distribution in the entire field is identical, so it won't matter where they build their formations."

The field was quite impressive. There were several types of environments available for them to use. Forest, River, Desert, Rainy, etc... The Formations Guild made sure that everyone could work on the best formations they knew. This way, no one would be able to complain of unfairness.

Turin then looked at everyone.

"Now then, talk to the Formations Guild assistants on your side. They will provide you with all the materials you need to build your formation. However, we won't offer you any rare material. After all, it would be too expensive since only ten Formations Masters will join the guild. Still, considering that you only have one hour to build your Protection Formation, the materials available should be more than enough. After all, rare materials are usually used in more complex formations that take much longer to be built."

"Alright. You have thirty minutes to make your requests. I'll tell you when you can start creating your formations."

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Note: Remember we are having two chapters/day. Leave a few more power stones if you like it.