BXBX NOVEL Chapter 325: Tournament, Field Missions
"Alright, let's move out. The tournament is starting in 5 minutes, and it won't be good if we are late to the time we set for it," Erix said.
"Alright, we'll go with the Terrapins here to do our first task then," Kenshin said. "Cosmic faction's field missions need a minimum of 10 people per team, and with the Terrapins, we have enough for the minimum-ranked missions."
After all, the cosmic factions' missions required one to be at least at Royal-order. This was also why only Royal-order could join the faction and was the reason why Erix and Rin were told to join Unbound Star by Tenebria only upon reaching Royal-order. It was a strict requirement.
"So you are going for those missions?" Rin raised her eyebrows and grinned. "Tell us how it goes later. I heard they are pretty hard and dangerous."
"The rewards are good, and we also have to catch up to our daughter," Sameira smiled. "Alright, enjoy your tournament. We'll get going."
…
The people were waiting outside, and when a couple of minutes were left till 10 o'clock, Erix, Rin, Aria, and Isabella arrived at the Sanctuary Area's center.
Erix looked at the blanket of people spanning two thousand, but a particular group of four hundred people stood at the front.
"So you are the participants?" Erix smiled and crossed his arms. "Alright, make one full party of your number."
"It's done!"
A middle-aged man with sleek blond hair wearing a light armor set for a Mage shouted.
"We are ready!"
"Yeah!"
Everyone cheered, while the people who simply came to watch also joined in the uproar.
"Alright, then accept the challenge. We'll begin the first round," Erix said as he challenged the big party.
The Arena function activated, team vs team battle.
Aria, Erix, Rin, and Isabella vs the 439 participants.
"Get on the platform!" Erix waved his hand and created a large metal square platform 300 meters long on all sides.
Everyone flew on the platform before Erix raised it high.
The audience also flew up with their various flying skills or their flying monster mounts to watch the tournament.
"You all know what to do! Just defend and survive against our attacks! Only one hundred of you will go the next round."
After saying that, Erix turned to Rin, Aria, and Isabella to his side. "Adjust your attacks accordingly. Don't go all out. We also want to observe if there are some talented people but weak."
"If you spot some promising individuals like that, even if they are at Noble order, keep them alive."
"Good idea," Rin grinned.
Isabella and Aria nodded.
Four of them started attacking, while those 439 people also used their various defensive skills.
"Humph, show off…" Yagun Mubei said with a snort as he watched the tournament.
"Then get strong instead of watching this," a bald man with a fit figure and sharp face said. He was Yagun's father. His rank was right after Kenshin and Sameira, Ranked 11th on the World leaderboard.
"Come, we have a meet-up with the Sky Knight guild and Rose Throne guild at the Atlantis Hub. The other guilds from nearby cities have come."
…
After finishing the first round and eliminating 339 people, Erix parted the remaining 100 people into two parties of 50-50.
"Begin," Erix commenced the 2nd round as a huge battle above the big platform began.
50 vs 50. The big fight would go on until a total of 50 remained.
Erix, Rin, Isabella, and Aria sat on a comfy metal sofa made from a semi-liquid exotic metal that Erix created and watched the fight happen.
"That girl and those two guys are pretty sharp and a good combatant with her skills," Rin remarked while highlighting the individuals using her spirit force and sharing the focus in spiritual chat.
"Yeah, I noticed them. Among the Noble orders, these three have higher potential," Erix nodded.
"Better than me in terms of their fighting style," Isabella self-deprecatingly smiled.
"You have your own style, and we'll teach you some cool basics we've learned in Limitless Plane. It will only take a day," Rin said with a grin. "After that, you just need to discover your art of combat."
"Me too," Aria excitedly said. "For now, I am not doing much except for creating my Animated Spirits, but I am trying something different with them, hehe. Wait for the surprise."
While they were watching, the four of them suddenly felt a presence behind them.
A familiar presence.
However, they only felt it for a brief moment, but the four of them heard a voice in their heads.
'Visit the Unbound Star faction when you can, but it should be today.'
"Tenebria?" Isabella was surprised. "She must want to tell us something."
Erix nodded.
"Yep. We'll go visit after finishing up with the tournament and talking a bit with the ten new members," he said before focusing on the platform. "It seems that the 2nd round is over."
The remaining fifty people stood bloodied on the platform. One team had 28 people remaining, while the other team had 22 people remaining.
"Erix, this is going to be so long if we go with the original 3rd round," Rin clicked her tongue. "Moreover, some of them are scrubs. It will be a waste of time."
"Yes, I also feel the same," Isabella nodded with a wry smile.
Erix nodded as he shared the same sentiment after observing the battles.
"True. Then let's reduce the number to 24 quickly."
Erix nodded before he looked at the 50 people on the platform.
"This round is going to be too long if I go with my initial 3rd rule, so I am going to reduce the number further."
Erix divided 50 people into two groups of 25-25 and made them challenge the team battle again with the Arena function.
Once a total of 24 people were left, one had 14 and another 10, Erix stopped the battle.
"Good. Now, I am going to assign you a number from 1 to 24," Erix said with a narrowed smile. "This is still going to be long because each one of you will fight 24 battles non-stop."
"Thanks to the Arena function, you can recover to prime after finishing a battle in the arena mode, so you will not stop. Not even a single break will be allowed."
"We'll count your wins as you fight, and the top 10 with the most wins will join the guild."
Erix waved his hand and created 24 metal badges, tiny but shining. The metal badges flew towards the people.
"Attach them anywhere, and they'll stick."
The participants did as told.
"Good. Now, you will challenge a number next to yours, which means 1v2, 3v4, 5v6, and so on. After that, you will skip the ones you fought and choose next. This will go on until everyone has fought with everyone."
In short, there would be a total of 576 battles!
"Damn, this is still going to be too long."
"Yeah, let's go and find some dungeon."
The audience was reduced further because most of them were not interested in watching these people. After all, they were here to see Erix and Rin's power, the top rankers of the leaderboard.
"Isabella-sis, let's go and make some food. I heard you awakened the Mystic Chef sub-class without a grimoire. Haha, I can't wait to taste your food."
Erix laughed and said, "Yeah, let's eat something while watching the battles, haha."
"Alright," Isabella gently smiled and nodded.
Rin and Isabella left while Aria and Erix remained.
"Where's Amu?" Erix asked. He could sense everyone's presence, but not Amu's or Arias's because they passively hid it with their superior Spirit force's nature.
"Amu is with the kids on the island," Aria said with a soft giggle. "Amu took a liking to the kids and is teaching them like he used to teach me."
Suddenly, Erix's U-card rang as he got Sameira's call.
"Yes, mom?" Erix cheekily answered.
"Haha," Sameira chuckled at the other side and said, "It's nothing serious. One of the kids named Rony is in the gang on your island. His mother wants to meet him, so open that barrier for a bit."
"Alright. I'll add her presence to the list, so she can pass through the barrier."
"Thanks. By the way, we took our first mission after some selection and talking with people here in the hub. There's an emergency mission that requires people with 100,000 Power level or above, and a team is looking to fill 3 remaining spots, so if you and Rin are interested, you can check out the details here."
"Oh?" Erix was surprised and curious. "What's the deadline?"
"Eh, it's an emergency mission, so only 38 hours left."
"Alright. Thanks for the heads up. We'll check it out."
Erix put away the U-card and rubbed his chin.
"What's the matter?" Aria curiously asked as she closed in towards Erix and squeezed his arm.
"We'll be going on our first field mission soon," Erix gently booped Aria on the nose and chuckled. "They need people with over 100,000 power levels."
"Waa…then I can't join," Aria pouted.
"Yep. There's not much here to do for us anyway. We are ahead by the world's progress, haha."
"Do you know how long will it take?" Aria asked.
"No idea," Erix shook his head. "This will be our first field mission."
"Then I'll stay here with Isabella-sis, and we will get stronger!" Aria showed her fist grinning.
"Haha, that's good," Erix wrapped his arm around her as Aria put her head on his shoulder.
"Umm…can we have passionate battles again tonight?" Aria shyly asked. "I want you to do it like you did with Rin…"
Erix roared in laughter and said, "so you want the crazy style, eh? Alright, level 3 today for you today."
"Is that max level?" Aria curiously asked.
"Nope. Level 4 is max, hahaha."