"What?! Killing?!" The other disciples all cried out in shock.
"Indeed," Elder Zhang replied, unfazed. "By orders of the patriarch, killing amongst disciples for the purpose of this exam is allowed."
"Danger is the best motivation," the old elder croaked. "Without any risks you youngsters will not try your absolute hardest"
"The purpose of this exam is to see just how far you can go," Elder Han concluded. "Test your limits, disciples, and surpass them."
"Now, everyone, form your own teams four, no more, no less," Elder Zhang said strictly. "There should not be any incomplete teams by the end of this phase."
Imdiately, Hina-nee, Furuwa, Nadeshiko, and I glanced at each other. Obviously, the four of us would be in the sa group. Unfortunately, so perverted disciples didn't understand that.
"Hey, junior sister," a tall male disciple reached out towards Nadeshiko. "Would you like to join my group? I'm a late-stage Nascent Cultivator, stronger than most people here. I can definitely protect you and those other two ladies as well if they wish to join."
"Oh~?" Nadeshiko giggled cutely, then eyed . "Well, you're going to have to ask him first. He asked to join his group first, after all."
What? When did I-
The disciple seed to buy her story, however, and really twisted his head towards .
"Oi. She's mine, back off," he said roughly, completely changing his tone. He probably put up a terrifying deanor in an attempt to scare off, but I've seen far worse. Hell, I've experienced death not once but twice already. What is this to ?
So, rather than cower in fear despite him being a lot bigger and taller than I was, I rely blinked.
"Sure, take her."
" Huh?" Nadeshiko and the male disciple were both equally shocked.
"No, I'm serious. Take her. Good riddance," I replied calmly, voice full of innocence.
"Kaze, Kaze~" Nadeshiko pouted, clutching my arm and dragging it down as she pouted. "That hurts my feelings, you know"
"W-What's going on" the male disciples scratched his head, extrely confused.
"Okay, basically, no, I'm not coming with you~" Nadeshiko smiled evilly, waving him goodbye.
"W-What? But he said I could take you-"
I sighed. "You don't get it, do you? She never had any intention of going with you in the first place."
"Pff~ have fun~"
"!" the disciple gritted his teeth, eyeing Nadeshiko and I with hatred as he finally realized what had happened. Turning around, he stord off.
"Nice one, Nadeshiko," I cheered sarcastically. "You just made us another unnecessary enemy."
"Mhm~ think of it as payback for what you said~"
"But killing is allowed, no?" Hina-nee asked. "If they co for us, we'll have a valid reason to kill them, then reap the benefits."
Naturally, she was talking about all the arts and items we could get from the engrams they dropped after dying. The points for this exam was just a bonus. She avoided saying this out loud though, since there were plenty of other disciples around. There was no telling who could be listening in.
"Sakura-senpai, you're darker than I imagined," Furuwa said, raising an eyebrow.
"Hehe, I can be cold when I want to," Hina-nee replied with a smile.
A few minutes later, Elder Zhang raised his hand to get everyone's attention, then spoke. "Alright! Everyone should have ford their teams by now. Anyone who has not, just raise your hand, and you will automatically be put into a group."
No one raised their hand, signaling that all the teams have been decided.
"Seems everyone has found their group. Under no circumstances can you change teams for the next month, so this is your last chance!"
No one made any movents yet again, and Elder Zhang nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Now that you have made teams, there is one final chanic I will tell you all and that is team leaders."
"Team leaders?" the disciples murmured amongst each other.
"Each team is to designate one mber as the team leader if the team leader is killed or quits, the whole team is disqualified," the elder continued. "However! If a team leader slays another team leader, they will receive double the points from the entire disqualified team! Because of this, it is recomnded to set your strongest mber as the leader, both to attack others and to defend against attacks."
"I see this way, people will target the team leaders" I murmured in thought.
"Once all the teams have finished selecting their team leader, tell us your choices, one by one. We won't disclose the leader's na since that takes too long for every team, but the leader will have to wear a special red ribbon on their arm that shows they are the leader. They are forbidden from taking it off under any circumstances. Those found cheating will be imdiately disqualified."
Elder Han cleared his throat. "Now, go ahead and choose your team leaders. You have 5 minutes."
"Who are we choosing to beco our team leader?" Furuwa asked, imdiately getting to work.
"," I said without any hesitation.
"Eh~? You?" Nadeshiko giggled. "You may have beaten once, but that was before now that I broke through to the next realm, are you still stronger than , I wonder~?"
"Even if you are stronger than , I wouldn't give the role to you. You're the type to sabotage us, purposely getting yourself killed just to disqualify the rest of us."
"Hehe~ but why would I do that? The sect's pretty interesting, y'know? I want to stay as well."
"Either way, I'll be the team leader. That way, people will target , not you."
Nadeshiko blushed and licked her lips. "Oh my~ have you fallen for , Kaze?"
"No. It just makes it easier for to take care of them if they go for ," I scoffed coldly. "Any other objections?"
Furuwa raised her hand. "It's too dangerous. Let be leader."
"And since when did I need a girl's protection?" I imdiately shot back using a challenging tone.
"Hm, let's see all those years in middle sch-"
"H-Hina-nee, no," I quickly stopped her before she could go any further, reminding of my dark past.
"Fufu," she laughed cutely, covering her mouth.
"Anyway" I glanced at Elder Zhang, who returned my gaze coldly. Without an ounce of fear in my eyes, I walked up to him.
"Write down your team leader's na here, along with your group mbers," he said coldly, pointing at a pen and a sheet of paper placed on top of a table. I did as told, writing down my own na followed by Hina-nee's, Furuwa's, and Nadeshiko's.
As soon as I was done, Elder Zhang snatched the paper and pen from , and I returned to where the others were, not wanting to spend any more ti here either.
Very soon, all the teams had finished choosing their respective leaders and submitted them to the elders.
"Alright, now that we know all the teams we can properly distribute you all across the map."
"Wait, what?" A disciple asked.
"What, you thought you would be starting together with your teammates?" Elder Han laughed boldly. "No, no, that's far too easy. The first test of this exam is to find your teammates. If others find their teammates before you do, they'll team up on you. That is the cold hard truth of this world, and a lesson you need to learn. Good luck, everyone."
Before anyone could even react, we were all shrouded in a brilliant white light.
"Kaze-kun!" Hina-nee called out, but it was too late.
Before I knew it, I was teleported into the rainforest, all alone.
Well not exactly alone. There were two others who had been summoned to the exact sa spot as , right beside . Coincidentally, they just happened to be Koroth and Ming Yi, both people from the Qilian Annual Regional Competition.
"Well so luck, huh?" I chuckled, but neither of them responded upon seeing . "Yeah this is going to be a quiet journey. But that aside, who's team did you two choose to go in? Who's the leader?"
"" At this, both of them looked at in suspicion, refusing to say a word.
"Ah, it's fine. I'll find out soon enough anyway," I sighed. "But before we go any further I would like to from an alliance."
"?" the two tilted their heads, as if prompting to continue.
"The three of us will not harm one another, until we find our teammates. Once we do find our teammates, we will part ways peacefully. Whether we want to extend the alliance for our respective teams as well we can discuss that when the ti cos. How about it?"
Koroth and Ming Yi glanced at each other as they considered my proposal.
"Co on, this makes things easier for all three of us, no? We're all here from the competition in Qilian anyway."
"Can can I trust you?" Ming Yi asked quietly, face covered by his ninja getup.
"Trust not to expose your real identity? Yeah," I chuckled, an evil grin on my face. "Sa goes for you Koroth."
"!" the two of them stiffened up at my words, realizing they had no choice but to obey if they wanted to keep their identities a secret.
"Oh, but don't worry, I won't backstab you or anything. You heard the elders, didn't you? The ability to negotiate and form alliances is part of this exam. I am genuinely seeking out other teams to help out, and since I already know you two beforehand, that makes things a lot easier."
"But we're from the sa team," Koroth said, pointing at Ming Yi.
I froze.
" What?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)