The Tale of the Void Emperor

" This test is known as Territorial conquests. Once the test starts, we will teleport you beyond the border in this place. The land beyond the border has several regions of inferno, hailstorm, dunes, and other such climates. But these things aside, The way to become one of the fifty winners is to get points, and the backside of your black card will display your points. The fifty people with the highest points at the end of the test will pass and join the Chaos Monolith Hills. "

" Now, there are several methods in this test to get the points. "

" The first method. There are many powerful strongholds in this land, and these strongholds are occupied by monsters. You may take down monsters and destroy the strongholds thoroughly to get the points. The points will be distributed based on contributions made by individuals. "

" The second method. After a month of the test, Twenty empty castles will appear randomly. To conquer a castle, One will have to find a Ruler scepter in the castle and hold it for twenty minutes. After twenty minutes of holding the scepter, It will light up, and you will become the owner of that castle. You will get points if you conquer a castle, and your points will increase daily by one thousand points as long as you are the castle's owner and stays within the border of the castle.  "

" The Third method. There will be outbreaks of disasters and monsters near the castles you've conquered; surviving it and overcoming it will grant you points. "

" The fourth method. There will be powerful chaos beasts roaming everywhere, and killing them will provide you points. "

" You need not doubt the distribution of points based on contribution because the whole land is covered by the range of Heaven's eye Runic Ward that perfectly distributes the points. You might not know about Runic Wards, but they are made by Rune Artists. Their effects apply as long as you stay within a Runic Ward's range. The Heaven's eye Runic ward is set with profound order that perfectly observes your all movements, actions, etc, and contribution before giving you points. Naturally, We will also be observing you and distributing points based on your performance. "

" Lastly, There are a few hidden ways where one can get points besides the four methods mentioned. "

After speaking till here, The cold beauty paused as she prepared to state the next part about the rules of the test.

But at this time, someone among the participants asked, " Senior. What are those hidden ways? "

Hearing the question, Everyone looked at the person who asked with disdain and speechlessness.

Sen and Tealery laughed while Athan and Shiromi shook their heads. Arcued just snorted and muttered, " Idiot. "

The person who asked the question had a light yellow rocky body structure with a humanoid form. His height was eight feet tall. He became confused because of the small commotion he caused by asking the question.

The cold beauty with crimson hair shook her head with disappointment as she spoke, " You want to know what those Hidden ways are? "

The rock man's face changed as he realized something, and his face turned brown in embarrassment before he hurriedly replied, " N-no. I don't want to know. "

" Hahahaha..."

" Pff...I am shocketh that someone like him is taking the same test as me. "

The rock man wanted nothing more than to bury his head into a pile of rocks. He later realized how foolish his question was when the cold beauty emphasized the word " hidden " when asking him if he wants to know those hidden methods. 

" Alright, everyone! Calm down. Now we'll be moving onto some important information regarding the test. "

" First, there are chances of dying during the test. But fret not, Everyone has two lives thanks to Immortal Aegis Runic Ward. "

*Waaaaa...*

Instantly, A huge commotion occurred both inside and outside. Most people didn't know about the Runic wards since they are not sold or used in lower Chaosverse generally. Only Rune Artists can create them, and they are an exclusive bunch from Boundless Pavilion in the Lower Chaosverse. They have strict regulations, and there are more restrictions in this ancient power compared to other ancient organizations. 

" Damn...How powerful must this thing be since it can give us two lives? "

" Indeed. Now I feel like becoming a Rune Artists. "

" Dumbass! As far as I know, Boundless Pavilion has never once held any kind of recruitment. Nobody knows how to join that power. In the first place, We are aware of the boundless pavilion because of their shop branches, which sell one of the most important things to us: contact cards. Other than that, at least I don't know much information about them. "

...

Inside the pocket dimension, The lady clapped her hands as a thundering rumble swept across the land before silence descended as everyone looked at the crimson-haired cold beauty.

There was a slight helpless expression in her eyes, but she still cleared the misunderstanding, " The two lives means it will not let you come back to life after you die. Instead, as long as you form this symbol with your order force inside your chaos region, A powerful protection barrier will appear around you and block all attacks for two seconds. "

She showed them a symbol that appeared pretty simple to form since it was just a round circle with a star drawn inside it and an easy pattern inside the star. It basically takes one second to create this symbol inside their chaos region. 

After that, the lady continued as her voice turned serious, " You can create this symbol twice and get absolute protection two times for two seconds. Know that It will not work the third time, so don't rely on it even by mistake, or you will lose your life. "

" Now, onto the second important thing: This test will last for three months. And as mentioned previously, The castles will appear once the second month starts. "

" The third important thing: Teams. You can work together with other individuals and form a team, but You will have to create this team officially before the test starts. We will begin the registration of teams shortly. "

" You will have to make your team's name during registration, and it will appear on the front side of your black cards. Forming teams means the distribution of points, but there are also benefits since you can do much more things as a team to get more points overall. However, the team limit is six people per team. "

" Another thing: Despite forming official teams, You all will be separated and appear at random locations after we teleport you once the test starts. But there is a limit to this land. It's not that big. Now most importantly, Once you attack your teammate, you will be instantly disqualified. "

" Oh, and you are not allowed to summon your chaos beasts or chaotic spirits. If you do that, then you will be instantly disqualified. Only your personal abilities will be assessed so work hard but also work smart to pass the test. "

After saying this, The crimson hair cold beauty, and other envoys descended on the ground.

Though after hearing about this team set-up, Some were slightly dissatisfied. But, Many more participants appeared satisfied and happy.

Tealery, Sen, and Shiromi were pleasantly surprised at this and looked at Athan.

Arcued also looked hopefully at Athan. He wanted to see Athan's glory with his eyes.

Athan nodded with a grin as he naturally didn't mind this because he was confident of passing the test either way.

Anyway, he took in Arcued and Tealery in his team after letting them take the oath for a particular reason he will be working in the future. However, that reason has slightly changed. Previously, He wanted to form an organization that can help him progress faster, but now, this goal has turned grander as he had decided to make the strongest power or more like an Empire with him as the leader.

For now, There were only two members: Arcued and Tealery. But Sen and Shiromi might become part of this team too.

" Alright. We will start the registration now. Once you have decided on the teammates of your team, Come to us for the registration. "