Two weeks later, the day of The Nest had arrived, greeted by the smell of freshly baked bread and sweets, as well the sight of various performances by renowned festival performers surrounding Pardour Square.
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The first part of the competition would take place at the Plains of the Pardour Knight Academy, where seven teams from the Academy would embark on a treasure hunt searching for red heart-shaped rubies, which are only five in number, so only five teams will qualify.
The Forest of Black Miliks, a deep forest surrounded by huge trees and home to terrifying and mysterious creatures would hold the second part of the competition, two days after the first test.
The final and most awaited part of the competition would be held at the Enix Colosseum, a gigantic structure over 300 feet tall and 220 feet across the diameter. This would take place immediately after the second test.
All this would take a maximum of four days for the competition to be successfully held.
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All the contestants representing Pardour assembled at the Knight Academy assembly and waited for Instructor Florence to announce the day's activities.
"Welcome to the 250th annual competition of the Nest!!"
"You all gathered before me today have been told of what lies at stake for you all during this competition, so I'm not going to dwell on it!! "
"All I can say it this: only the fearless and bravest will be the conquerors. So good luck and make our empire proud!!," she concluded.
"Yes ma'am!!!," all the students cried out in excitement followed by applause after Florence's speech.
She continued, "Now, you will all be given details about today's competition and the requirements to complete it based on your three-man squads."
"And before I forget, there is one more information which I left out: any of you who wins this competition will automatically be assigned the Platinum Rank. So good luck!!," she ended and left, which caught the attention of all the teams, especially Jason and his team.
"Did you hear? If we win, we become Platinum-ranked Knights!! We cannot lose this!!," Jason said to his teammates, who also agreed to his enthusiasm.
As he was thinking of this piece of information, a member of the Pardour Council of Mages suddenly appeared with a white puff of smoke.
He had a long purple robe, which had various symbols of the Lightning pendant, and a long white beard.
He brought the attention of the youngsters to himself and started speaking, "All right, ladies and gentlemen!! I welcome you all to this edition of the Nest Games!!"
He continued while stroking his beard, "The first test shall commence in 15 minutes. Please go to the entrance towards my left and you shall be assigned spots to begin the treasure hunt. I wish you all the best and strive to be victorious!!," he concluded and disappeared.
"Alright!! Listen up!! We're about to start. All contestants should report to their assigned spots immediately!!," was the announcement and every participant rushed to their spots.
"Well then, bring it on!! Team Peregrine is winning this, for sure!!," Jason said as he dashed for his spot.
Vincent and Maki responded positively as they joined him as well.