Chapter 45 When did you become so close to the princess?
Although 300 people seemed like a lot, it was still much fewer than when they had taken the entrance exam. In addition, the crowd consciously dispersed and spoke in low voices, which made the place even more deserted.
Mu Lin's voice also became lower: "After participating in the promotion competition, I returned to take the quarterly exam. The schedule is too tight."
"One is more theoretical and the other is more practical. The academy is forcing us to choose between the two." Tuttle looked in Edith's direction, "If you are strong enough, you can choose both."
Edith agreed wholeheartedly.
Senior courses have been changed to accommodate the competition, with the intention of reducing the number of courses in the winter semester, but freshmen don't consider this - no one thinks that a freshman will successfully qualify for the competition.
Although everyone was relaxed at the competition venue, they were stressed out when they thought about the piles of papers and homework they would have to do when they got home. Their expressions were a bit serious. Of course, this seriousness meant something else to others.
"Look, the first graders are so nervous, do you really think they are all geniuses?"
Not far away, a team of third graders was quietly observing these “opponents that shouldn’t have appeared.”
They were wary of the fifth graders who shamelessly continued to participate in the competition; they sneered and puzzled at the first and second graders who unexpectedly broke in.
"Others may not know, but I know that girl is the last one to qualify for this promotion competition." The red-haired boy raised his chin towards Mu Lin, "The rest are probably not far behind, and they all barely made it into the top 300."
“It’s good, but I can’t keep it if I have to screen out two-thirds of it.”
"Stop discussing others and focus on yourself." The girl in the team frowned. "Qiao, can you still maintain your magic power?"
"I don't want to be eliminated early because of your foul."
"Don't worry, Xia Zhi. This time we're in a newly discovered cave, and the academy hasn't yet filled it with a real-time monitoring array." The boy called Qiao smiled and said nonchalantly, "If you really can't keep your balance, I won't attack you. As for the others we met... they just had bad luck."
Xia Zhi still had a frown on her face and looked even more worried.
The isolated fifth-grade team next door was also quietly observing Edith's team. Their expression was not primarily wary, but rather dissatisfied.
As fifth graders who had already participated in the league in their third year, they really put their heart and soul into this competition. Since signing up, they have been ridiculed.
But they don't think there is anything wrong with them - yes, I participated twice, but why should it be called bullying? The college owes them this!
Why should we hold a league when they are in their third year? Why should we ask them to compete with those who have studied for one more year? The failure two years ago was completely due to unfairness.
They compete again in the fifth grade, competing against the fourth grade, just as the fourth grade competed against them, which is fair enough.
"It's just that because of the presence of these first-year students, the number of people who understand our behavior has greatly decreased." The person standing on the edge smiled and said, "Did you hear their questions? The fact that first-year students can enter the league means that our poor performance as third-year students is simply because we are not strong enough."
He was dragged into the competition, and rather than winning, he wanted to see his teammates lose.
His teammates clearly didn't find the joke funny.
Compared to the excited students, the assistants on the side seemed a little solemn.
Ursula looked down at her watch from time to time, sighed softly, closed the lid and put it back in her chest pocket. She turned her head and met the worried eyes of other assistants of the same grade. She could only say casually: "Maybe he was delayed on the way. After all, this place is quite remote."
She couldn't show any anxiety to others. In a place without a teacher, she was the only spiritual support.
"But it's already a quarter of an hour late." The assistant pursed his lips, "Besides, the original venue has been arranged, why did you suddenly say you want to change the place?"
"The explanation given by the academy is that a new cave maze has been discovered, and they are worried that the creatures inside will affect the village outside, so they need to deal with it as soon as possible. The court wizard seems to be busy with other things and has no time; plus, no strong magical fluctuations are sensed outside the cave, so it is determined that the danger is not high, so they plan to let students with outstanding abilities go in to explore." Ursula explained the whole story and turned to face the cave entrance.
"The academy has also spent a lot of money to prepare a temporary teleportation array for each student, which can allow everyone to be teleported out as soon as they encounter danger. There will be no danger."
Although she said so, Ursula was no less worried than anyone else. She had made many similar decisions for her mother and knew that these seemingly simple relics were often more difficult to deal with.
The most correct approach now would be to proceed with the competition as originally planned, send a small number of mages to guard the cave entrance, and wait until the court mage has time to explore and make a decision...but this is a decision made by the academy's upper echelons, and it seems that my mother's intentions are behind it.
Just follow orders.
Ursula once again comforted the team of assistants who knew part of the inside story, and looked up at the contestants who were completely unaware of the impending danger. She felt a lump in her heart and couldn't describe the feeling.
The teacher's notice finally arrived at the scene at this time.
"Why is it Xin?" The helpers were agitated again, "Why hasn't the teacher come yet?"
Ursula quickly scanned the letter and said, "The teacher said that there was an explosion in a laboratory in the academy, and all the staff have been temporarily transferred to deal with it."
"He also said that this exam does not need to be monitored and graded throughout the whole process, and the results will be the final decision, so we can lead the contestants into the caves on our own... without waiting for them."
......Why is it so strange.
She gritted her teeth and wanted to privately order all the students to go back, but the sense of abiding by the rules she had cultivated since childhood tied her feet. In the end, Ursula stopped questioning and said firmly under the trusting eyes of other assistants, "Do as the teacher says."
"yes."
......
"Okay, everyone, be quiet."
The noisy crowd suddenly quieted down and everyone's attention was focused on the girl in the center.
Ursula was wearing the simplest academic gown, and looked quite different from the princess in gorgeous clothes that everyone remembered. This difference made many people snap out of their relaxed state and realize their situation.
Yes, today was not an outing. They were about to face a promotion match that would determine whether they could advance to the finals, so they had to be serious.
"This competition will adopt a new scoring method, which will be determined by the results instead of the process. The scores of the groups will be unified, which means that the members who advance to the finals will be concentrated in some teams - the top 100 in the preliminary round will have additional consideration for the preliminary round, so please don't worry about being dragged down."
Everyone had different expressions, but most of them were surprised. Only looking at the results, not the process... If nothing else, Dean Astrology would be the first to disagree!
Doesn't this mean that they can use any dirty tricks in the game - and they also have to bear the possibility that others will use the same method against them?
"So, what is this 'result'?" The braver ones took the initiative.
Ursula lowered her eyes: "Don't worry, let's read out the rules."
"The main venue for this promotion competition is the cave behind me." She turned sideways and said, "You must be frantically searching for relevant information in your heads now. I'm sorry, but the cave was just discovered three days ago, and so far, the fastest adventure team has only explored forward 100 meters. No one knows the specific information inside."
"The only thing we know now is that this cave is an ancient relic, probably the remains left behind by a kingdom that mined ore. The passages are intricate and like a maze, and there are a large number of different vegetation, magical herbs and magical beasts, as well as a small amount of residual ore. Your task is to find these. For each new species or material you find, you will get ten points. For the same species and material, the vegetation and magical beasts are counted by quantity, and the ore is counted by weight. For each additional unit, you will get one point."
"You mean, this is our first time exploring this maze?" Edith frowned and asked, attracting everyone's attention. "How do you ensure safety?"
"The academy has its own arrangements." Ursula responded stiffly, then raised her hand and asked the assistant to pull a cart of scrolls. "This scroll is engraved with a temporary teleportation formation. When you feel dangerous, you can tear open the scroll and teleport outside."
She listened to everyone's exclamations and continued, "Please don't force yourself. Compared to victory, life is what everyone should fight for most right now - please feel free to use it."
The contestants did not listen to her subsequent instructions, but instead started discussing the issue with great interest.
"Oh my god, a temporary teleportation array? One for each person? That would be 300 - how many gold coins would that cost!"
"I have never seen a temporary teleportation formation before. I can finally open my eyes."
"If it's a scroll, wouldn't it be possible to see the specific patterns? Is there a possibility of secretly learning it?"
"The textbook gives you the principles and patterns, but you can't replicate them. And you still want to infer the production method based on the texture? How is this different from trying to learn the chef's skills by eating the food he cooks?"
After knowing that they could get such a treasure, the contestants were obviously more excited. Ursula looked at the confused people and closed her eyes.
Such a powerful escape tool, doesn't it prove that this competition is not easy...
"Being able to give us such an expensive item means there must be something in the cave that we cannot deal with."
Edith's thoughts were exactly the same as Ursula's. "I wonder if the academy has tattooed a visual transmission array in the cave..."
"Only when there is difficulty can we see the strength clearly." Tuttle stood there quietly, "That's right. If it's too easy, it won't make a big difference."
Amy nodded frantically: "Don't look at the process, just look at the result - this is a rule tailor-made for me!"
It’s so funny, he made the right decision to sign up!
Edith didn't want to destroy their morale at this time, so she hid her doubts in her heart and quietly followed the crowd into the cave.
I don’t know if it was intentional or coincidence, but it was Ursula who was responsible for sending them to the fork in the road.
"Here you go." Before leaving, Ursula suddenly stuffed a ball of paper into Edith's hand, which was obviously made by tearing paper in a hurry.
Edith subconsciously clenched her fists and watched the woman disappear at the end of the maze. She turned around and met the inquiring and curious gazes of her teammates.
Amy whistled, a gleam in her eyes.
"When did you become so close to Her Royal Highness the Princess?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
