Preliminary Round 2
The first round of preliminaries began like this.
Just like during the opening ceremony, seats were reserved on the east side of the stands for students from the four major and eight minor schools. They could choose to watch the live broadcasts of the games played by students from other colleges in real time, or they could choose not to watch other people's games first and rent the training ground of the Fantasy Beast Hall for pre-match training according to the arrangements of their own college.
"Your academy is also sending you to stay behind, while everyone else is going to train?" The girl who spoke was wearing a Cappadocian uniform, and her face was as friendly as if she were from the same hometown. "Hello, my name is Weika, and my mythical beast is the Sand Bully Crocodile."
The yellow-gray crocodile lying at her feet raised its upper body, opened its long snout, and tried to smile, but it looked even more terrifying.
The purple-haired girl nodded nonchalantly.
In fact, there was no need to leave someone here specifically to watch the game. It was more convenient to watch the replay of the game directly through the terminal, but she still took the initiative to ask to come.
It's because she hasn't learned the Wuji True Qi yet. Maybe she won't release the Dark Night Orchid in the entire game this time. It's okay to give her position to the substitute.
In that case, there is nothing to train for.
You say she is irresponsible?
Tsk, anyway, the positions of the four big and eight small should be maintained by Rinyin alone, she is not a big deal.
There's a girl named Shuijing among the substitutes, and she has a very good relationship with Rin, so why not just let them cooperate with each other?
"What's your name? It seems that besides you, there is another person in your academy who didn't bring a phantom beast? That's amazing." Wei Ka asked curiously.
Ah, another outsider who thought that neither she nor Rin had any mythical beasts.
"I can't answer that, sorry." Belle held her chin high, a little irritated.
That bastard Linyin actually let her leave the team and not go to training, without a single word of persuasion, or even a scolding! She was forced to watch these boring games and even have to chat with them in the audience.
"Oh." Wei Ka realized that his question might be misunderstood, and blushed. "Sorry, that's not what I meant..."
"Oh, that's okay." Belle tugged at her lace gloves and suddenly thought of something she could find out. "Did your captain participate in the last ladder tournament?"
"You know our Captain Lei Qin?" Wei Ka suddenly became excited. "Yes, yes, she even stayed back a grade to compete."
This honest child really tells everything... Belle was even a little softened by her naiveté.
The ladder tournament is held every four years, and the Fantasy Beast Academy also has four grades. Basically, the unwritten rule is that students are not allowed to participate in the competition repeatedly.
Those who participated in the competition repeatedly usually made up a more official reason for repeating the grade. "Repeated grade to participate in the competition" is too straightforward...
"Ah." Wei Ka covered his mouth, "I don't think I can say this." The next second he acted as if nothing had happened, "It's okay, it's okay. The captain said that we have a good relationship with Thorn Flower, and you are a trustworthy ally!"
"Friendly forces?" Belle finally laughed. As far as she knew, the contestants sent by Thorn Flower had been getting weaker with each passing year, and Cappadocia was the only academy still supporting Thorn Flower on the field for the sake of their "long-standing friendship."
"Don't worry, we won't lag behind this year."
"We are friendly forces, how can this be considered a hindrance?" Wei Ka blinked innocently.
Belle finally understood why Cappadocia was so powerful, but could only rank eleventh or twelfth in the ladder competition - what a naive bunch of guys they were!
The only real test of skill in the ring match is the ladder competition; in the other positional matches, everyone is scheming and scheming. How can the rankings be good if these innocent kids are only trying to help the hopeless thorn flower?
Belle smiled stiffly, pretending not to know that Thornflower had ranked 32nd in the last official competition.
Yes, there were a total of thirty-two teams shortlisted, and Thorn Flower was gloriously ranked last, unable to beat anyone.
Fortunately, the team from the Fantasy Beast Hall will not join the competition until the last round, otherwise Thorn Flower will be eliminated with a ridiculous ranking of 33rd.
"...Let's watch the game." Belle decided to skip this awkward topic.
"Okay, okay. Do you have any favorite teams? I think the team from Black Marsh Academy is pretty strong..."
………………
After placing the swamp firefly into the glass cover next to the seat, the scanner immediately started working, showing that the phantom beast data was being uploaded.
After dealing with her own mythical beast, Alena leaned back and roughly pulled off the holographic helmet. She looked around and imitated the other students' actions, putting the helmet on her head.
"puff."
A student next to him couldn't help but exclaim, "You're wearing it backwards."
Alena spun her helmet around and glared back viciously.
"Are you sick? Why are you so fierce?" The student who reminded her ignored her and put on his helmet, ready to land on the simulated battlefield.
The login screen unfolded before her, and Alena had to squint—it was too bright for her to adjust to. She simply skipped over all the tutorials and went straight to "Game Prep."
The next second, she entered a waiting hall where the other four teammates and their phantom beasts were already there.
"Let's just kill the monsters and ignore those fancy rules." Captain Kuang Gu waved the bone knife transformed from the data stream, feeling satisfied. "Alena, can the Swamp Firefly be used normally?"
Alena opened her palm, and the orange-red bug trembled and emitted a tiny fluorescent light.
……………………
A tide of strange beasts surrounded the five members of Black Swamp Academy.
"Captain, isn't this too much..."
There was a hint of retreat on Alilang's dark and thin face.
Kuang Gu said nothing, just nodded at Alena.
The insect in her palm instantly split into countless copies, enveloping her completely, leaving not even her features exposed. New larvae continuously emerged from the gaps in the armor, and the entire armor moved slightly as if alive.
She rushed out dozens of meters in one step, like a sharp knife piercing straight into the heart of the herd of strange beasts.
"Swampfire Purgatory."
With her as the center, swarms of insects continuously flew out, forming lines of fire. The fireflies ignited themselves, drawing flaming arcs in the air, and even continued to crawl and burn when they landed, instantly creating a raging sea of fire among the swarm of strange beasts.
"Energy." Alena muttered from inside the insect armor.
Aside from Kuang Gu, the other three immediately sprang into action. Their phantom beasts, originally resembling dry, muddy-colored plastic sheets, now swelled as if absorbing water, their surfaces covered in dense, pus-like protrusions.
The three swamp mushrooms moved in rhythm with their owner's breathing, and with a series of "pop" sounds, spores invisible to the human eye floated into the circle of strange beasts.
The moment the line of fire meets the spores——
"boom!"
The originally orange-red flames suddenly turned blue, and the burning firefly corpses burst into flames again under the nourishment of the spores, and each cluster of flames turned into the shape of a snarling ghost hand.
Kuang Gu chose to rush into the fire at this moment.
The Skeleton Mantis fully unfurled, merging into her body. Her entire height skyrocketed, and two bone knives extended directly from her wrist bones.
……………………
"Teacher, is this considered an armored weapon?"
Rinyin paused pointing at the holographic projection, pointed at the two bone knives, and asked Fianna.
"No. Probably not."
Fianna frowned and magnified the projection. "This should just be a special kind of mythical beast armor."
Han Jiangxue breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. I thought our opponents had become stronger."
Armored weapons are a type of weapon that only appears in very rare circumstances. While being extremely strong, they also have a degree of coordination with the owner of the phantom beast armor that is unmatched by any other weapon.
But its birth seems to be extremely random. It is said that the Fantasy Beast Palace has conducted a lot of experiments but has not figured out the rules - this information comes from Song Baiyue, so it is very reliable and not hearsay.
"But we still can't let our guard down." Fianna sighed softly. "This is the first time that Black Marsh Academy is participating in the competition this year, but look at their team configuration—"
She pointed at Alena, who was in the middle of the encirclement of the monsters. "Everyone is cooperating with her. Three people's phantom beasts provide nutrients, and the remaining person goes in to harvest."
"A very mature configuration." Linyin couldn't help but wonder what she would do if she led the team and encountered them.
Fiana glanced around, seeing the students' slightly tense expressions, and tapped the light screen beside her. "Leave the opponent analysis to me and Teacher Jerry. Your task tonight is to get a good night's sleep."
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a steady snore beside her. Jerry leaned against the wall with his head tilted, the pen in his hand leaving a long ink mark on the notebook.
Fiana patted his face. "Outstanding Young Teacher Jerry? Wake up."
Jerry Li was slapped twice on the face but didn't wake up. He even sniffed in his dream - ah, the scent of a woman.
He suddenly opened his eyes and saw Fiona with her eyebrows raised. Jerry smiled foolishly and said, "Well... okay, okay."
The sounds of people trying to suppress their laughter rose one after another, and the originally tense atmosphere suddenly relaxed.
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