After all the students were transported back to the Pardour Knight Academy, a bulky man with a big moustache appeared before them and announced, "Alright students!! Place your rubies here and wait for validation!!"
Only five teams are able to qualify for the second round since those teams were able to acquire the Auburn red rubies at their designated locations.
...…••••••••••••••••••••••....
A well-hidden secret was that those rubies were placed randomly and those who found them was based on luck; meaning this could have had numerous outcomes of the particular teams qualifying.
...…••••••••••••••••••••••....
The bulky man returned and announced, "Teams Peregrine, Phoenix, Tetris, Kumo, and Retra, congratulations on qualifying for the next round!! You will be notified of your next test in two days' time. Good day!!," before closing the meeting.
"Alright!! We qualified!! This should go well for us!," Jason exclaimed in excitement to his teammates after the meeting.
Vincent then replied, "We may have qualified, but we're not done yet. We still have a long way to go, so don't get cocky!"
Maki then joined, saying, "Now all that's left is planning on how make it through the next round."
She then looked at the sunset and said, "But it's late for that. I'll discuss it with you guys tomorrow during training."
The boys nodded their heads in agreement in approval and the team dispersed for the next test.
————————-/——//————————————
Two days passed, and the second test was about to begin.
The teams that qualified; namely Peregrine, Phoenix, Tetris, Kumo, and Retra, assembled at the Knight Academy to receive the task to be completed.
The bulky man from before arrived and said, "Good morning, candidates! Congratulations on making it this far in the contest. Now, this is where things become more intense for you!"
"You are to enter the Forest of Black Miliks and fetch numerous red-colored star-fruits and return in the span of five hours."
"Each team will take a basket before me to fill and return here before the five hours expire to complete."
"The three teams that have the largest number of star-fruits in their baskets qualify to the final stage."
"And here's a catch: you are also required to claim another team banner alongside your baskets full of fruits to automatically qualify! Understood?"
"Yes, sir!!," the kids responded in unison.
"Good! I wish you all good luck and the game begins—Now!!," he shouted and the kids dashed for their baskets and banners before heading for the forest.