Chapter 82 - Survival Exercise 7.
After explaining it turned out to be the same theory Blake and the system had come with, but the difference was that they had gone more into the topic.
'They are quite impressive to be able to think of it.' Blake couldn't help but give them some credit.
[There is nothing impressive about it, but I am pretty sure that it was the blonde boy that came up with the thought and the rest had little input on the matter.] The system said in a condescending tone.
After seeing how Esmeralda and the team reacted to the fraxen's ambush, Blake had stopped thinking of them as much of dead weight, but the system still saw them as unreliable. Although the system could be said to be pessimistic, it caused Blake to not let down his guard.
The aim of the exercise wasn't to only survive from beasts and other teams, but also his team. Because of his position as rank 1 Blake had a big target on his back, if he let his guard down there was a very high chance that someone like Ansgar would use the opportunity to backstab him.
"I thought of the same thing and have some tests, but there is no way to confirm this theory." Ansgar almost burst a blood vessel when heard Blake say those words casually as if it was nothing.
"All hail the all-knowing leader!" Ansgar said sarcastically but was quickly ignored by the rest of the team.
There was no way he couldn't be mad at Blake because he had caused him so much shame to the point that the team didn't care about his opinions. After the commotion he had caused while he was scheming to be team leader, he was beaten with so much ease that he began wondering if he was the rank 90 and the height of it all was that Blake still saved his life from the fraxen.
Esmeralda rolled her eyes when she saw that once again Ansgar had nothing reasonable to say before she turned to Blake and ask. "You said something about carrying out some tests?"
"Yeah, I met a team trying to extort food supplies from the other team, but made a lot of noise like you guys and eventually got attacked by 2 sklades, so I used the opportunity to kill the sklades and eliminate the students..." Blake answered.
"You did what?!" The whole team asked in shock. Even Layla who seemed to be uninterested in the conversation exclaimed in shock.
"He is surely making it up." Ansgar would normally rebuke all of Blake's words, but this time it wasn't on purpose.
It was just that Blake's story was just unbelievable, he couldn't even imagine how two teams made up of 11 elite class students to be wiped out by a single student. Even if he was rank 1, the power gap shouldn't be that absurd.
"I agree with him this time…" Layla and Luciano nodded to Esmeralda's words.
Seeing that none of them believed him and from their looks, they needed an explanation. Blake decided to recount his little 'adventure' in full detail, from the moment he left the team to how he escaped the other beasts that were moving towards the area the fight occurred.
His explanation helped removed some doubt, but it couldn't clear it completely because he couldn't explain how two beasts that had great perception were unable to discover his location without exposing the existence of the system.
The reason Blake had done so much without meeting many problems was because of the system's ability to detect enemies and its ability to conceal his presence as long the enemy's perception skill wasn't off the charts and he wasn't in their line of sight.
The system's abilities and existence were a top secret that no one was allowed to know of. If he hadn't told Castiel and Brian about the extra abilities he had gotten from the systems upgrade, then why should he tell a bunch of people he was paired up because they didn't believe his story?
[You don't owe them any explanation.] The system reminded Blake.
'I know.' Blake stood up before saying. "If you don't believe me then that is up to you because I owe none of you an explanation..." Blake said as he walked out.
"Where are you going?" The team couldn't help but ask.
"To harvest the cores of 2 sklades..." Blake said as he left.
"…"
…
Blake looked for a nice spot away from the group to drain its blood and harvest its core. The best place would have been the area the fight had occurred, but he had to leave because the system had alerted him of the incoming beasts.
'Now I am regretting why I didn't attack kill the incoming beasts.' Blake shook his head in disappointment when he realized he had lost the opportunity to get more beast cores.
[Don't get cocky, what if when you decided to attack them the battle gets prolonged and an elite beast appears. What will you do?
Infinite realm is a dangerous place, when you feel you are finally strong just bear in mind that there is something out there that is stronger than you.] The system warned Blake.
"I know you have been following me, there is no need to hide." Blake didn't need the help of the system to sense that Luciano followed him from the camp.
"Just like I guessed, your sensory skills are amazing if not how would you have been able to know about the fraxen?" Luciano praised as he came out of his hiding spot.
Blake didn't border to turn to see Luciano, he just brought out his short knife and began the process of harvesting the beast core which the system had taught him.
"You know, turning your back against a potential enemy isn't the best of ideas..." Luciano said calmly.
"If you were one, you would be acting instead of talking..." Blake said with an unworried tone. Normally, he wouldn't even dare, but the system acted as an eye behind him and if something he could not react to was to happen, the system could deploy its barrier in the nick of time.
"Let me guess, you are here to confirm they were real sklades?" Blake asked with a low chuckle.
"Haha… Partly, I came to chat they are boring." Luciano admitted with a wry smile.
Blake had to pause and turn to look at Luciano to be sure he wasn't speaking to another person. "You chat?" Blake asked with a confused expression.
Everyone in the first year knew that Luciano was a chatting type, unless spoken to him he would usually remain quiet and just observe, but it was surprising that he was the one trying to start the conversation.
"Don't look at me that way, I do talk you know." Luciano couldn't help but sheepishly smile when he saw Blake's 'I know you do…' face.
[Remove the log from your eye, before removing the speck in his.] The system snorted.
Ignoring the system's remark, Blake gestured for Luciano to come closer before he asked. "So, what's on your mind?"
"Do you have someone you admire so much you try to be like him, but everything you accomplish seems to go unnoticed?" Luciano asked in a reminiscing tone.
"Hmm… Let me guess this person you admire is Prince Bryon?" Blake looked at him with a smirk.
"How did you… Is it that obvious?" Luciano was both shocked and confused by how Blake knew.
"Well it isn't that obvious, but for someone who has come in contact with you two and heard your story, it is quite obvious." It wasn't as obvious as he said, but with the amount of experience he had gotten from watching drama series, it was quite easy for him.
"About your question, I think it is great to admire someone because they do motivate you to keep pushing forward, but for you to want to be like him, it isn't bad but it's not a great idea.
I would advise you to find and tread your path, you shouldn't give a damn about what they say because you are the one living it." When Blake was done talking, they both stared at the blood in silence as they went through different emotions.
"Thank you..." Luciano said in a sober tone.
"Anytime." Blake couldn't fully understand what was going on in his head, but he could feel a kind of bond had been formed between them.
When Blake was done it was already getting dark and as the two strongest in the team, it wasn't wise to be away for long.
When they returned to the camp, Luciano gave the others a nod before he sat at a corner.
"It's time to set camp and please no fire we don't want to be a beacon for all the beasts in the vicinity..." Blake said to his team.