If there were indeed limited slots on who could enter the artificial dungeon, the most effective immediate action that could be taken was elimination. The removal of the excess number of participants would have been the obvious option.
Hence the crowd would surely start with the ones they deemed to be the weakest.
Yoshino Aruven gritted his teeth upon seeing the crowd look at them as if they were their prey. He was actually expecting some to target them or perhaps several of them would. But not everyone!
However, there was no use complaining about that now. Therefore let us utilize this precious little time left to analyze the possible options instead:
[Enchant] could only target a single element at a time. [Void Fang] could handle a group. But it was proven to be ineffective when it was up against more than twenty opponents.
And those opponents back then were only at Tier 1. The crowd this time was comprised of people that were definitely stronger than the ones before!
That was why Yoshino had activated a different skill.
"[Agility Up]!"
The skill directly increases the Agility parameter of a target. This particular parameter affects both the movement speed and evasion rate of a person. This would enable the boosted individual to have a better dodge rate.
And on this case, a better chance of escaping.
"Run!"
Yoshino exclaimed as he kicked the ground. He ran away from the overbearing crowd. There was no more reason to look after the people that were with him.
Because he had extended the buff effect to his teammates too!
Technically, a single basic spell would be ineffective against a crowd of Tier 2s. But Yoshino had spent the few minutes before to enhance the boosting effect as much as he can.
This was similar to stretching a rubber band to its limit in order to increase the kinetic energy produced upon its release. Of course this kind of effect control was only possible because of his Master Core.
This would also imply that Yoshino did not use a single spell per se. He would have to use (and abuse) his over-leveled Skill Combinations at all times. That was if he wanted to compete on this event full of higher Tiered participants!
Having said that, what about his teammates?
Alshura Soura seemed surprised upon receiving the boost. But her overall attributes were higher than any of the Tier 2s in the crowd.
Her advanced reaction time enabled her to cope up with the sudden change on her parameter. She was able to catch up with Yoshino.
On the other hand, Steven O was a calm and collected person. He seemed to have understood that going up against that many opponents was a fool's errand. He was probably waiting for a signal coming from his teammates for a tactical retreat.
True enough, because he was expecting something, he was able to respond accordingly when he noticed a change in his parameter. He was also able to move together with the team.
They made a retreat as fast as they could. Those who had better reflexes on the crowd quickly followed suit. But the few seconds that the bloodthirsty participants were caught off guard had given the team a good enough head start.
Although good was not equal to sufficient in this case.
"Where to now?"
O was the first to ask. He seemed to have taken a glance behind them. There was no doubt that he saw the distance between them and the pursuers was decreasing steadily.
"Forward!"
Yoshino led the way. He tried to remember where the location of the dungeon entrance that he had taken three years ago.
Designing and producing artificial dungeons were a difficult task. He was hoping that the ones who were in-charge with the construction had decided to build over the designs of previous dungeons.
Of course there was no way he could remember the exact location of the entrance on the spot. But he did not have to. All he needed to do was recognize the approximate area. And then,
Skill Combination: Agility Up + Scanner!
The boost in agility would indicate a boost on reaction speed. Using this in combination with his other skills would yield a significant decrease on their casting times. In short, Yoshino could now activate his detection-type skill at a much faster rate!
He used the fast analysis combination to check on any signs of energy activity within the area.
However, he was unable to find the dungeon entrance.
What?
He could not believe such an outcome. He tried the combination again. The same result happed once more. Cold sweat now drenched his back.
On his defense, he was somehow able to find faint energy signatures. But he was not able to pinpoint the exact location of the energy source.
Soura seemed to have noticed his panicked expression. She asked,
"What's the matter?"
"I can't pinpoint the exact location of the entrance. I need a few seconds to concentrate!"
Yoshino replied quickly. He then suggested that a few seconds could help him solve the problem at hand. He was confident that he could find the solution. No, he must.
Soura on the other hand seemed skeptical. She raised an eyebrow and asked,
"Only a few seconds?"
"Give or take."
"That…"
She grew more skeptical upon hearing the reply. She seemed to have remembered the last time she heard such answer. This estimation was definitely not reliable!
Nonetheless, she decided to put her trust on him once more.
"Rargh, fine! Do it!"
"Allow me to assist thee."
Soura went to face the pursuers. O followed suit. The two moved out swiftly.
"[Fire Dance]!"
Yellow-colored flame tongues surrounded Soura and then started to spin in a clockwise direction. She leaped towards a group of participants and intercepted there advance.
The flames surrounding the female liuetenant seemed to have enabled her to dodge the attacks better. This was similar to what Mink was able to do before.
The more she was able to dodge attacks, the brighter the flames become. The tongues then reached a certain brightness. Soura grinned,
"Take this! Yoko!"
The bright yellow-colored flame tongues now spun in a counter-clockwise direction. Their rotation then expanded outwards. They began to bombard the group that was attacking before.
An evasion skill that has an additional counter effect!
No wonder Soura was willing to resynthesize two of her skills back to Tier 1. At higher realms, this skill plus the other one would enable the female lieutenant to easily transition from attack to defense.
In addition, her Master Core was already at Tier 2. This would mean that any fire-related spells that she casted would already yield outstanding results.
She was definitely on the path of becoming a versatile fire mage!
Meanwhile, O intercepted another group. He clapped his hands once and positioned them in front of his abdomen. His posture was similar to that of a praying monk.
The intercepted group did bot remain idle though. Most of them seemed to be physical-type attackers. Four of them had summoned their weapons while the three attacked with their fists.
A barrage of weapons and fists was heading towards the male healer. But he remained calm. He declared,
"[Soul-Wave Stance]"
His right hand then left the praying posture. It reached out towards and incoming weapon strike.
Paa!
The right palm had deflected the incoming attack. It then quickly returned to the praying posture. The left palm moved next.
Paa!
His left palm was able to deflect an incoming punch. It then returned to the praying stance. His right moved again.
Paa! Paa! Paa!
Right palm. Left palm. Right.
Deflect. Deflect. Deflect!
This so-called 'stance' seemed to have enabled O to parry incoming attacks. It appeared to be a series of movement that incorporates palm strikes as a mode blocking.
O was not able to retaliate against the group. But he was able to deflect their incoming attacks. This was already an impressive feat. He was up against fellow Tier 2s after all.
In summation, both Soura and O were able keep the pursuing students at bay.
However this would probably last for only a few seconds. The pursuers would soon figure out a way to deal with the two. Plus, more pursuers were also approaching.
The key to surviving this predicament was on the hands of their third member!
Yoshino did not remain idle while watching the two. Although he did not have to close his eyes this time. What he needed was to channel enough MP to complete a series of activation.
Skill Combination: Agility Up + Danger Perception + Scanner + Buff Mastery!
He added the master core skill on his thoughts this time. Not because it was not active before, but because he wished that doing so would bring him luck.
Then the effect resolved.
"There! Follow me!"
The two retreated to his side upon hearing his instruction. The effect of the first Agility Up was still active. They were able to move quickly.
Yoshino grabbed the arms of Soura and O with each hand. He ran towards the direction he detected. He then jumped forward.
He had also felt a different hand had grabbed his right shoulder.
The dungeon entrance had registered the energy signature of Yoshino when he conducted a four-fold skill combination. Perhaps this was the key on entering the dungeon.
Some dungeons both natural and artificial had entrance requirements before an individual could access them. This was what people commonly referred to as 'key'.
There were many forms on which could serve as a key. For this instance, it was the ability to cast skills with a certain degree of expertise.
Conversely, being 'registered' in a dungeon meant gaining the permission to enter it.
Yoshino had no time to explain all of these to his teammates though. So he grabbed them immediately and hoped that they were 'allowed' to enter too since they were with him.
There was another way to solve the dilemma of limited entrance slots aside from elimination.
That was to disregard on trying to outlast the other participants in a brawl. One just had to find the entrance first and jump into it.
And then pray that whatever was waiting on the other side was not a lot worse.