Amber Ross stood on the podium to increase her height again and her voice reached everybody's ears, "Alright questions, anyone?"
Connor was actually the first to raise his hand, "Yes miss, professor, madame Amber... Ross.?"
"Just address me as professor Amber. Was that your question?"
"No, no I wanted to ask earlier you said we have to "gather" the beasts does that mean we don't have to kill them?"
"Yes, you don't have to but it would probably be better if you did for your own experience and to ease your troubles since you'd have to watch out for them leaving and you'd have to contain them. Anybody else?"
Connor raised his hand again which threw Amber off which caught some people's attention but Connor ignored their stares, "How will points be counted? Will they be counted as a group?"
"They'll be counted from the amount you've gathered or slain, no they will be counted based on who kills them not group based you should be there only to watch each other's backs?"
This generated a few whispers in the crowd and another person raised their hand this time,
"Yes?"
"Can we know the size and population of the beast? If possible the types we will be seeing as well?"
"Yes, I can tell you, the size of the land is around 2km in a square shape, there around 600 animals and there will be 4 types of beasts monkeys, piranhas, moles, and snake types will all be there. Their exact species don't matter they all have similar physical parameters and use only their basic physical abilities. Though the few snakes can be occasionally venomous it can be solved easily by redirecting mana to that part of your body since it is pretty weak."
No one is perturbed by the number of beasts, some are only in awe of the size of the land and that there are piranha types means they made ponds and rivers as well. They'd be going in around 10 minutes anyway so it's not like they could plan for all environments in a short time.
The 3 boys of the group saw what weapons she was using a side handle baton on her right with a pistol inside a holster on her right. She was even wearing a sort of helmet on her head, black of course being the same as the rest of her attire. She actually really fitted the look, she sort of felt like an off-duty police officer, even her tired personality felt like she just wanted to stop working.
"Hello, officer Nia!" Connor saluted though everyone ignored him which left him empty for a bit he just shook it off. Nia in particular was looking a bit coldly at Connor while he just smiled back. Sohan took a step forward,
"Say Nia a little bit ago we introduced our basic abilities would you mind telling us as much as your willing to?"
"Yeah *yawn* I can do that..."
"Okay? You can start."
"Right, right sorry I just thought about what I can say. As you can see these are the weapons I'm using. I have a 3-star superpower, and I can work from close to mid-range. Actually, I already have my element chosen because of my family's status and I only have one. It is lightning I'm telling you since you'd be able to find out about it when I'm fighting anyway. I don't have any specialties physically I can do just about anything except for some complicated parkour."
Connor is and the rest of the group members surprised by the overall rarity and the chance for their superpowers to all be in the same place is super improbable they expected at least one person to have a one-star ability but instead, there is one 2-star, 2 3-stars, and one 4-star superpower users which means them all coming together had a 1 in 2.5 million chance which is insane but in a world where the entire human population is nearly 8 billion it's not entirely impossible.
"Alright, kiddos, it's time we sent you in you better have gotten your equipment. It is currently 11:37 am all of you will be brought back at midnight. I wish you all the best of luck. Those who get into the top 5 get an E-rank artifact and the next 5 get an F-Rank. You'll be observed by staff and some 3rd years will follow you from a distance to keep you safe and track your points. Also stealing from another team is not allowed. Now begin"
Suddenly from the dark wall, they felt a sort of suction force that pulled them towards it which launched them through into different parts of the forest with their groups. Suddenly they were in the shade of the canopies above them with the sound of some prickly vibrant green grass, and the sound of flowing rivers nearby. There were even some visible hills on the landscape, though everything seemed somewhat congested everything came in groups and it didn't feel completely natural. You could really get a feel of the man behind the made from professors and staff.
Unexpectedly it was Nia to the helm of the group of the first and stated, "I believe we should visit, the top of those hills to get a bird's-eye view, do any of you have a scouting ability or experience."
Rando answered, "Yeah I do I can, though I use a bow so I don't think I'll be safe on my own."
"Connor, you're using daggers right can you take care of him from nearby by keeping an eye out?"
"Y, yes ma'am!" He stutters while wearing a big smile.
"Good You two will take the lead Sohan and I will handle your backs."
The group was amazed to see Nia become the authoritative figure since she was usually extremely tired though it still came through in her voice right now she proved leadership worthy by being the one to take the first steps, and so they trudged on forward.
The group made their way in a straight line nit yet encountering though Rando has informed that he sensed a few in different directions and Connor did go ahead and find them they even found a few of the examinees but chose to ignore them by order of Nia.
Eventually they reached the foot of the hills and now they were feeling the pressure. Connor was in his stance, he waited in a tree while the others hid behind bushes and trees surrounding the beats. There seemed to be a bit of a scuffle there were 4 blood-red-colored monkeys that stood next to each other and around 6 moles who had black and white stripes shaped liked lightning bolts.
There was no decision on a signal, they all just chose to attack at their own pace. There was a cold look in Connor's eyes, but for a 14-year old that was nothing but a mask for himself, his eyes showed immense hesitation. On the branch, he felt the grip of his pistol, his finger was frozen on the trigger; he couldn't feel the trembling stop.
He was about to get his first kill, the others felt the same the first shot, the first thrust, the first swing anybody could take the first move, take the first step to win a headstart with an artifact.
The guilt and shame of being prepared to take a life were crawling up his skin and there were no safety measures for something like that. He was even beginning to think of ways to wrangle together the beasts instead of killing them, but he shake the thoughts off.
There were other options but this was the path he wanted to choose, a single drop began to drip off his face, and then...BANG!!