Chapter 828: The first day of the evaluation trial (part 6)

Unfortunately, while the idea was good, that guy didn’t know who he was dealing with.

"We are ready~", said Kana with her usual enthusiastic voice, which made the dirty-blond haired guy’s expression to stiffen a bit, there was no way the one in charge on the enemy’s side was the youngest of the enemy’s group.

"Can she represent her group, because she seems too young for...", the blond-haired guy who was complaining to the blue flaming board was interrupted by Kana herself.

"What, I’m too young to speak in behalf of my team but I’m not too young to be the target of an assassination attempt?", said the little girl who had a sharp light glowing in her eyes for a second.

Kana might be all adorable and peaceful, but don’t forget that she is still Sarina’s daughter, which means that while by innate she is not fierce and war-like as her mother who descends from the warrior lineage of the non-poisonous storm roc clan, something that could be seen in how she lacked interest in cultivating and training back then, she is not encased in the naivety of her lineage, because Sarina’s family is one of warriors, both old man Syllas and her late wife were veterans of the battlefield.

As a result, the little girl is good-hearted and used to be too innocent for her own good, but at the same time she could develop interest in strength, she just lacked the innate motivation for it, something that changed after the incident with Robert and learning that becoming powerful is not the same as becoming violent, which was taught to her by Aster.

That’s why the little girl said that she found Aster’s swordsmanship "pretty", because as terrifying as it is for enemies, his is a sword that exists to protect, and since that point onwards anyone who underestimated Kana was in for a beating, an incredibly fast learner that is also monstrously talented in what fighting regards, suddenly gained interest in growing stronger had fun doing so and more importantly had a good reason for it, she wanted to protect her mother and sisters, well, some more than others since even Kana has a hard time getting along with Alice.

Anyway, the blue flaming board put an end to that guy’s scheme by saying.

[Each group can manage itself the way they prefer so long as it is within the acceptable, the arrangements from that group state that unless a leader authority objects directly, every member of the group can represent them as a whole]

"What the hell, so he doesn’t have a proper "reign" on his side, dual cultivators are only good at one thing and this guy sucks even at it, what a waste", said the skinny man, he was insulted by Aster before so of course he returned the favor now.

Unfortunately, there was no response to his words, what’s more having clarified things up, the blue flaming board directly transported both parties, that being said, the blond-haired man could swear that he felt dozens of sword-like gazes fixing on him before everything turned blue for a moment as his group was taken to the starting point.

"What the hell, I’m used to desertic weather but this heat is horrible", said the tall tanned man as he looked upwards while half covering his eyes, the sun in the starting point felt way different than the one where they used to be before.

"It must be that twenty times fatigue thing, deserts are already good at eating away at people’s endurance as they are and a single hour in this one is like spending twenty hours in a normal desert", said the brown-haired woman.

"So, what are we going to do now leader, should we focus in crossing the area or do we look up for those guys and try to take them out?", asked the middle-aged man, to which the green haired girl with the whip who could hear but not see everyone but the blond-haired guy who was the leader of the other group, turned to see him as she narrowed her eyes to then say.

"Before that, did we not say that you would keep a tight leash on that crazy bastard, what is up with trying to kill a little girl out of nowhere?".

"I also wanted to ask about that, if the target was that guy who made them all dress the same, I wouldn’t say anything, but what piece of trash aims their dagger at a harmless young girl first!", added the short orange haired girl as she glared at the skinny man.

The blond leader couldn’t hear the orange haired girl but he could hear the green haired leader and he could also see the clear disgust on the orange haired girl’s eyes as she glared at his teammate, so it was not hard to know that the leader’s opinion was shared by others.

Even the tanned tall man who seemed rather ruthless frowned at the previous, after all, maybe it was not actually heartfelt as those two but he is still a member of the rightful faction so of course he has to show this much of a reaction.

"They are enemies at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who among them dies first since we have to kill them anyway, besides I would say Xander controlled himself for a change, she would have died on the spot, no suffering and no pain thanks to the poison applied to the dagger", said the short bulky middle-aged man with the hammer in response to the orange haired girl, while the blond leader answered to the green haired leader.

"While it is true that Xander should have consulted us before acting, it’s not like he could hear me, besides he was punished already so what do you want me to do, I won’t put my group in danger because you feel like trying to take in that little girl out of sympathy, we have to fight with them sooner or later", he said to which the green haired woman snorted.

"Nonsense, the crystal bush himself didn’t say that we had to kill our opponents, he only said we had to "fight" them and that blue flame supervisor seems to be even more lenient, as we can do as we please before reaching the fighting platform, the other party didn’t seem to be keen in battle considering that I couldn’t listen even a tinge of anger in that man’s voice, we could have negotiated to have them step down and won this thing without having to spill any blood, not only on their side but more importantly on ours, but now thanks to that crazy bastard on your side, we might face a fight to the death", she said, don’t forget that unlike the other leader, everyone in the group can listen to her they just can’t see her.

"Yeah, our leader is right, you might not care about your side because you have "spares" to discard, but we are not like that", said the tanned man, adding more fuel to the fire.

"And since it was your side the one who caused this, as we previously discussed your side will be the one to make up for it, if they attack us, you all will be at the vanguard", concluded the green haired female leader.

"Huh, that’s stupid, why should we act as shields for you!", exclaimed the short bulky man, to which the orange haired girl added.

"What, weren’t you eager to fight, so why are you cowering now".

"Tsk, shut up you bi...", the short bulky man was stopped by the blond leader who shook his head, though he couldn’t talk to them directly, he could still answer with signals like shaking or nodding, this was to prevent the leader who could talk and communicate with the group from playing tricks, the blue flaming board really thought things through for this match.

"That was our agreement and we’ll respect it", he said, which was communicated to others by the green haired female leader and confirmed by the blond leader with a nod.

"Let’s get to move, we’ll advance towards the platform and only confront the enemies previous to reaching it, if there is no other choice, we already have a disadvantage on our side since that fool lost his weapon and the usage of his hand, it will be better if he recovers for the group battle", she added, to which the blond-haired leader nodded in agreement, that being said his inner thoughts were completely different.

’Fucking bitch, I could have dragged things down or outright refused to comply before, but now that there is no direct penalty for quitting unlike when we were with the crystal bush, she could order her group to leave the match and we’ll be screwed if that blue flame supervisor gives us a huge disadvantage for losing a third of our group, what’s more she doesn’t care about retribution because unless both parties agree to it, they won’t be put together for the next match even if they don’t fulfill the required number of members and I have no idea where their camp is, so I have no leverage on them, damn it’, he thought.

The blue flaming board left no flaws in its arrangements, groups that didn’t meet up the number requirement might be joined randomly, but it’s not forever unless both parties agree to it, it was precisely to avoid the larger sides to take advantage of the smaller groups like that guy was planning to, and that’s also why there is no penalty for quitting the fight, well, sure they won’t get rewards and that would put them behind others, but that’s not a death sentence either, but we’ll get to that later.

For now, we can leave those guys aside, the moment Aster and the others appeared at their starting point, the first thing Aster noticed was the increased fatigue factor.

’The weather is hot and dry, fighting as less as possible and avoiding falling into traps to not be worn out too fast and trying to cross the area as fast as possible would be the ideal... what a shame that is contradictory, our dear ally really likes to make one put effort’, thought Aster.

In order to avoid fighting and traps they had to be wary of their surroundings, which meant controlling the speed at which they advanced quite a bit, which went against the idea of crossing the area as fast as possible, there was no absolutely correct answer here, it all depended on the group’s efficiency, and speaking of that, Aster returned to the real world as he felt a soft tug on his right sleeve.

"Did I do it right, big brother?", asked the little girl referring to how she provoked those guys by answering to the blond leader’s question in quite the ingenious manner too by the way.

Aster looked downwards and was met with Kana whose face had the words "praise me" written all over it, he didn’t need to hear her to know what she wanted, namely a head pat which she received from Aster earning him a smile from the little girl.

"Every day I further confirm that you are more fit to the tittle of "villain" than Mina", said Valentina who could listen to Kana being all happy of provoking the enemies the way Aster taught her.

"I mean they attacked first, causing inner conflict on their side is justified and it is helpful for us, an incompetent ally is way more harmful than a talented enemy after all", jokingly said Aster as he patted Kana’s head a few more times, to further reward her.

The green haired female leader didn’t know who the target of the skinny man was, as she couldn’t see him but only listen to him, she still told him to stop after listening to the middle-aged man’s words and this signaled her as a responsible and proper leader already, from Aster’s perspective.

Of course, that didn’t mean there would be conflict between both leaders just because of the previous, however when Kana spoke earlier making it obvious, she was that guy’s target, as minimum as it was, Aster could see a fierce light in that green haired girl’s eyes for a second, she clearly didn’t like that the target for assassination was Kana.

Originally Aster only wanted to mess with the enemy by letting Kana be the one to confirm their readiness, but the little girl showed the results of the "lessons" she has received from Aster and caused inner conflict on the enemy’s side too.

The purple lightning princess didn’t hear Sarina say anything about this, and while she couldn’t see it, the blond motherly roc girl in fact looked proud of her daughter and though Valentina would understand why, she still sighed to her insides and instead changed the subject.

"So, what will our strategy be, I say we go with steady but safe advance, the group fight is nothing to worry about for us, what do you think?", asked the purple lightning princess to which Aster nodded while still stroking Kana’s hair which made quite a few girls of the sect to look at the little girl with jealousy, especially a certain girl with red hair.

’I paid special attention to older sister’s trap detection lessons, I’ll make sure to find and crack all of them!’, thought one of the two scouts, the youngest of the three sisters, Nina.

’Heh, sis was right, this little sister of ours seems to have been fed some sort of love potion, not that I don’t get why, it’s hard to get bored when you are around him~’, thought the energetic sister in the middle, Lina.

Aster who could feel those two’s gazes on him, chuckled to his insides, this arrangement smelled to Mina’s tricks, after all they had not really spent any time with Aster besides when they acted as scouts for the exploration group, so it made sense to use that as an excuse to have them tag along, she even taught them scout related abilities at their request.

"Mmm, their weapons are decent but are no match for ours in the long run, judging by their set up, stances and physical states they do have proper manuals and some should have a trick or two up their sleeves, but we are the same", said Aster as he gazed at Sarina who smiled at him.

"Let’s go with a safe steady advance strategy, let’s ask our trustable scouts to lead the way, but leave dealing with any enemies that show up to me, Aria and Mira, we have the highest endurance and are not supposed to participate in the group fight normally anyway".

"The disciples will be behind of us, the squad leaders will protect the sides while Sarina and Mylene will protect the rear", ultimately said Aster which was communicated to others by Valentina.

"Seems like we’ll be working together for the next hour, ladies", jokingly said Aster as he beckoned at the ice princess and the grumpy ligress girl, for them to approach him.

"Humph", Mira softly snorted but her gaze softened as she saw Kana having fun and because she knew Aster despite the teasing part which was done just to mess with her, prepared this arrangement for her sake.

Besides, there was someone in way more "trouble" than the ligress girl this time, namely Valentina, why you wonder, well, she can’t see anything but Aster, she felt the change in the environment but for her, she was still floating in a black void where she couldn’t tell east from west, which in other words means that she can’t advance on her own like the others.

"So, how do we do it, a piggyback ride or do you prefer a princess carry instead?", asked Aster to Valentina whose right eyebrow twitched in response.

’Neither, I’ll just hold onto your right shoulder and walk an arm of distance away’, is what the purple lightning princess wanted to say, but there were inconveniences that way, Aster would be forced to guard her back at all times since she would not be able to look out for any danger on her own.

Of course, Aster could tell others where Valentina was and they could look for her, but the problem remained the same, she would be causing unnecessary trouble to the group.

"Sigh, I’ll have you carry me on your back, so that your hands will be free, but if you tell anyone I’ll shoot a lightning your way as soon as we are out of this place", mumbled Valentina as close to Aster as possible so that others couldn’t listen to that.

Certainly, others wouldn’t know it since they couldn’t see her nor pinpoint her location based on her voice and this was only a one-hour trip, therefore she could keep her dignity intact this way.

Also, it is true that this was the best solution, Aster would have no problem carrying her on his back, as he isn’t lacking in terms of physical strength even as a mortal and the purple lightning princess is not heavy at all even with all her equipment on, this way they would move as one and Aster only had to watch over "one" back at the time.

’Perhaps, I should have Mikaela come instead of me for the next match’, thought Valentina as she firmly held onto Aster, she couldn’t help but blame the blue flaming board for this embarrassing situation, well, her cousin in other words Aster’s Fey godmother was equally to blame, because Valentina wouldn’t have really thought much about it, if she was her usual self, but right now she was back to her younger and less mature self.

"What about me and sister Dahlia, big brother?", asked Kana to which Aster felt tempted for a second to tell Kana to jump on his back like she and Espi usually do, but decided against it when he felt Valentina’s arms slightly tighten their hold around his neck and felt the "Say it and I’ll kill you" gaze of the purple lightning princess, so he instead said.

"You two can stay within the defensive formation but focus on gathering anything that might be useful, perhaps we can obtain some interesting stuff in this "special" area", said Aster.

"Mm!", Kana and Dahlia loved to gather things in the wild, so this was a perfect task for them.

While the purple lightning princess felt "defeated" at the fact that she let out a sigh of relief over not having the little girl discover her, Nina on other hand was all smiles.

She and her sister walked ahead of the group, not at that much of a distance of course, so that Aster, Aria and Mira could assist them in case it was needed, while using the weapons they have brought with them to touch the ground ahead of them before standing on it.

’They actually forfeited bringing swords to better fulfill their roles as scouts, how cute’, thought Aster as he watched those two.

That’s right, Lina and Nina didn’t chose swords as their weapons for this match, and it wasn’t because all the swords available where single handed modeled as they were mass produced in parallel by Aster since there was a need for a lot of them, though they used a short heavy sword and a large but light sword for their fighting styles, respectively, it’s not like they couldn’t fight with other types of swords, especially the most "common" type, since it was the one that Iris who has been training with them for years, specialized in.

No, they went with spears as their weapons because the shafts could be used to test the ground ahead of them and here you might wonder "Why not just grab a random stick and use it, then they could have brought their swords?", well, that idea did appear in their minds and it earned them a good scold from their "wicked" older sister.

After all, what would they do if the place where they appeared had nothing they could use as a staff, and Mina ended up being right, there were some thorny dried bushes here and there in this arid area, but their dried branches were to thin and brittle so they broke too easily to be used in the way those two needed them to.

"Click", also there was another advantage to use spears this way, and that is the fact that, if a part of the shaft broke, it really didn’t matter as the spear could still be used as a weapon only its reach might be affected.

The sister in the middle raised her hand to indicate everyone to stop, she felt her staff touch something different than sand or rocks and heard a though soft still noticeable metallic clicking sound.

"Crack!", the next second a small metal foothold trap activated and its jaws emerged from the ground "biting" onto the shaft of the spear.

’Ugh, if I tell sis about this, she is going to triple our training time...’, thought the sister in the middle.