With the dispersing of the colored fog, I found myself in the same place I was before the snow swallowed everyone, did the matrix lock up? It didn't take long to realize that the fort was different, the walls of the fort are complete now, not a breach in the fort's defense and two more watchtowers positioned in the fort, now one tower in each cardinal direction of the fort.
I look around for the next paper with the challenge information, only to find a paper on the floor, and on it is just written a short sentence, 'Wait for the rest of the participants to arrive. And congratulations on finishing the first test quickly.'
"It looks like the next test will only be done when another team shows up, but it's good to take a look around the fort and into it to see if we can find any clues as to what the second test will be like."
During the next thirty minutes I searched the entire fort and the aria surrounding the test, the fort still had the marks made during the first test, but now it's complete, the flaws that had previously been used in the fort to facilitate the first test disappeared. Which is good news for us as the second test will probably be defending this fort from an attack made by golems, but the question I'm concerned about is whether the golems will be animal and magical vera's type or will it be more female golems of various races, most were from the wild beast's tribe as there is a lot of diversity in this species.
I would particularly prefer to be attacked by golems in the form of animals and magical beasts, the fort's defenses are much more effective when facing this type of enemy. After checking that the forest surrounding the fort was empty, I go back to the center of the fort and meet with my team that was resting, the last test was quite exhausting for Isabela who had to fight several strong enemies at the same time.
"Are you okay, Isabela? During the last test you helped a lot by keeping the strongest warriors in the fort occupied."
"I'm fine, I just need some time to regain my aura and elemental energy, I had to spend a lot to keep those bitches busy, and because the golems were all female and were wearing clothes a little too revealing. What's the matter with the person who decided to make a bunch of golems like that?"
I see a bit of confusion on the faces of those outside the fort, as they didn't have the opportunity to see most of the golems still in one piece, when they entered most of the golems had already been broken into pieces and if you were no good a lot of attention on the bodies which is a normal thing, you wouldn't notice that a pattern didn't show up and golems' armor. Vali was disconcerted by Isabela's question and turned his face avoiding answering her question, I wonder if he knows the person who made these golems or he is very conservative and is ashamed to have this kind of conversation.
"Well, I can only say that I didn't expect it is that as far as I know, preparations for the matrix were done very quickly, so I think even the teachers and the principal must have been surprised when they found the customization that right. golems suffered, but I doubt they had time to work around that problem."
"But that doesn't mean I have to fight erotic dolls during the entire illusory matrix, it's very weird and a bit disconcerting to have to fight these golems, the pervert they once had the job of replicating the entire body, even the minimum details. During one of the fights, I could see under the clothes of one of the golems I was shocked and almost got hit by the halberd of the other golem, golems shouldn't be made with so much detail!"
"Calm down Isabela, this is not something you should be angry about right now, we can't do more than complain to the professors after we left the illusory matrix, now inside we must focus on passing the test. I think we still have some time before our teammates arrive, until then you should rest Isabela, while I and the others will strengthen the fort's defenses, I believe the next test will be to defend this fort."
"Does anyone have any ideas and how to strengthen the fort? I intend to put some traps around the fort, but it's always good to have different forms of defense." To my surprise Jon got up.
"I can make common traps in the forest they will only be useful against magical animals, but will be useless against smart golems. And they will only slow down some magical animals, but with help I can dig some ditches to mount a moat with stakes."
"Well, if anyone has more ideas Jon will need help setting the basic traps so Leo and Mark will help him dig the trenches but as Vali and a mage, he won't be much use digging he must find another task to strengthen our defenses. But I must warn you that I'll be setting explosive traps into the forest, so stay close to the fort and don't go into the forest, when another team shows up Vali just has to use some overhead magic as a signal, so I'll be back."
I didn't respond to Vali's feeble protests. By my somewhat coarse observation, I started setting traps in the forest surrounding the fort, made both rope-powered explosive traps and my favorite mines. They work for both magical animals and people because they can be covered in a thin layer of earth and still be triggered when someone steps on them.
As far as I know this type of trap is not used much because it is complicated to deactivate and time-consuming to set up, they are more used to create large aria defenses and away from structures. If an organization has an isolated base, it's normal to use mines to defend the territory surrounding the base, but if it's a secret base it's a stupid decision to make a noisy trap that will end up drawing the attention of several people to the base.
I was able to set my traps for almost an hour, I managed to set up a very deadly and wide perimeter around the fort. What woke me up wasn't Vali's magic but it snowed her that she appeared at the fort, which I believe is a sign that a second team has appeared at the fort.
Upon arriving at the fort, I can already distinguish five more colored points in front of me, the distribution of core colors is the same as my team, three grays and three blacks, it seems that the teachers really managed to create several teams with almost the same level of power. The only thing they cannot control is the creative ability of the participants, which is something very difficult to put in a numerical average, whereas combat power is much easier to put in numbers and keep the average power levels of the teams similar.
The new colleagues for this second test, are a little worn out, it seems that the test they faced was harder than ours or they are very idiots and tried to face it without any preparation or strategy. The new team has two mages with different colors of core and different elements, the weaker has the fire element and the stronger the Earth element, which is something very useful if we have to defend the strong.
The warriors of this team are a mix like ours, but I don't even see a shield warrior, they seem more focused on offensive power as most are equipped with broadswords and spears, only one of them with a simple shield. average size. It seems that because of the defensive mage the rest of the group was chosen to emphasize direct combat power.
I don't even see an equipment that stands out in them, they have good equipment, but they are still inferior to Isabela's swords, Vali's staff and my weapons which are at the peak of quality here. Upon making my presence noticeable, I notice that one of the new companions, a late-stage gray core warrior just like Vali, is somewhat irritated and was yelling at Isabela, as Vali was behind her and I could see that he it has already stopped its magic in case it is necessary to use it, to calm the new colleagues.
"A bitch like you dares to order me around, even if it was that shit hiding behind you that's on my level I don't have to listen, because a weak bitch like you believes she can boss me around!" Looks like someone is very excited today.
"I believe you had better calm down or I will have to calm you down by force, my dear rude and uneducated warrior." The idiot looked at me and started yelling at me.
"Another weak warrior, wanting to order me around! I want to know how you will calm me down, don't forget that if you attack me, you will be executed when you leave the matrix." Nice, an idiot who thinks he's being protected by the test rules, but it's a shame he doesn't understand the professor's words.
The idiot draws his sword and points at me, as a teasing gesture, and I respond by simply drawing my weapons.
"I think you got something wrong, idiot. Professor Balder really threatened the students to harm their groups, with the promise of an execution, but it seems you have not understood one thing, in our current situation, you are not a member of my team, but a possible ally who is showing hostility and hindering my group from passing the test and maybe even sabotaging your own."
"I believe if I kill you here is now, I'll be protecting my team from your threat and I won't get killed leaving the matrix, but I could be wrong, but I doubt you have the guts to test my hypothesis of functioning of the rules. Or do you have?"
While I wait for the idiot's response, my companions have already prepared to attack the idiot and his unlucky group.