Meanwhile, on the monitoring floor, Mr. Rodrigas had just switched the screen to Felix after seeing that Sylvia was retreating with her dazed teammates.
He could see that Felix had already returned to the same tree and started brushing the messy fur of his tail like he didn't leave his place for even a second.
Meanwhile, the battle of Noah and the rest was just about to be concluded in their favor.
It was obvious that without Felix's hypotension inducement, the battle wasn't going to be as fast as usual.
"What do you think?" The Vice-president asked while staring at Felix.
Understanding what he implied, Mr. Rodrigas responded, "I guess there is no doubt anymore about the captain's position."
The supervisor of the US team, who was watching the big screen from behind them, asked out loud, "Sir, how many points should I give him again?"
Mr. Rodrigas just waved his hand dismissively, "Give him a hundred or so. It doesn't matter anymore when he is 100 points above the 2nd ranker."
The supervisor did as he was told and soon the points next to Felix's name on the list had changed from ]470[ to ]570[.
Mr. Rodrigas glanced at it for a second before looking at the countdown at top of the screen.
Seeing that only 7 minutes left, he turned around and coughed two times to attract the supervisors' attention.
"Sir!"
All of the supervisors made it clear that their ears were in his hands, as for their eyes? They never left their screens.
"I just want to remind you to keep a close eye on those three types of juniors during those couple of minutes." Mr. Rodrigas extended three fingers, "First, juniors who disobeyed the orders of the captain about the flag's ownership. Second, those who attempt to snatch the flag either now or at the last minute. Third, those who start fights!"
"Any one of them will get automatically a hundred points deducted!" Mr. Rodrigas followed, "As for those who voluntarily gave away their flags to their teammates, reward them with 100 points!"
"Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" The supervisors shouted loudly while having their eyes glued to the screen watching the arguments in each team either start to accelerate or deaccelerate.
This was the entire reason why the points system was implemented in the first place. The Organization knew that at the last minutes of the competition, there were bound to be juniors who would do anything to secure a flag.
Even snatching it from their own teammates!
There was no way in hell, the ESG Organization was going to put such an individual in their earthling's team.
They understood that everyone was desperate to be part of the chosen hundred. But to disobey the captain's orders, backstab their own teammates, and doing more messed up things just to get in?
That wasn't desperation but a complete lack of emotional control and intelligence.
After all, they were told that everything was being monitored 24/7.
Yet, those retards still think that making it in the team was possible even after showing such disgraceful behavior and moronic decision on live TV. Hence, the lack of emotional control.
The ESG Organization wanted none of them in the earthling's team!
They approve of being competitive and driven for success, but such toxic behaviors that were going to affect not just their teammates but the planet as a whole were definitely not welcomed in the earthling's team!
Currently, those supervisors were butchering the points of those bloodliners, who actually performed quite well but ended up without a flag.
Meanwhile, those who kept their emotions in check and just remained silent were given extra points.
All of the supervisors were tapping on their screens rapidly, adding and deducting points...Except for one supervisor.
He had his hands behind the back of his head while watching speechlessly Felix pushing the two extra flags in Olivia's hands!
His public reason? He wanted Olivia to have a secure shot at making it in the main team!
The supervisor didn't know what procedure to take as each flag represents one hundred points.
For Olivia to have three, he didn't know if he should reward her or not. Thankfully, Mr. Rodrigas came to the rescue as he was watching the interaction of the US team as well.
"Give them to her." He ordered.
"But sir..."
"Just do it." Mr. Rodrigas clarified, "Her points are already high enough to be within the top twenty. It wouldn't matter much if she was at the end of it or at the front of it."
Upon hearing so, the supervisor stopped hesitating and keyed it in.
Soon, Olivia's rank had straightaway jumped from 18th place to 3rd place, having only a ten points difference from Sylvia!
'The Chinese won't be pleased.' The Supervisor chuckled slightly at the sight of Zhang Wie getting pushed down to 4th place by non captain junior.
Deep down, he wanted to see Olivia surpass even Sylvia in points.
Too bad, Olivia didn't have any other way to get points when there were only two minutes left in the competition's lifespan.
"Prepare the extraction helicopters!" Mr. Rodrigas smiled faintly as he praised the supervisors, "Good work for the past seven days. Your contributions won't be left unrewarded."
Thank you sir!"
...
Two minutes later...
"The competition has officially been concluded. To all participants, please stop fighting in the next 30 seconds. Otherwise, you will receive a heavy punishment."
This sudden announcement had echoed in the forest from every drone, making it impossible for anytime to not hear it.
Just to be thorough, it repeated three times in the air and the last one was delivered by the Queen personally.
After hearing it, no one dared to fire a single ability or throw a punch.
If the punishment was just disqualification, some of the juniors wouldn't care and carry on fighting since in their eyes they were already disqualified without a flag.
However, a heavy punishment by the Organization was a completely different story.
"Please remain put in your positions and wait patiently for the extraction helicopters. Don't be alarmed if it got delayed by ten minutes or more." The announcer suddenly added, "In the meantime, your AP bracelets' features had been restored so as the Queen's assistance."
The moment Felix heard so, he straightaway called for the Queen with an emotional voice, 'Welcome back, I missed you.'
'Thank you, Sir Felix.' The Queen responded with her usual monotonous voice.
'You don't miss me?'
'No.'
'I guess my love for you is one-sided.' Felix teased with a smile.
'I appreciate the feelings, Sir Felix.'
'Can you stop being so creepy?' Asna interjected in their conversation.
'What do you know?' Felix scoffed, 'The Queen's place in my heart is bigger than your losing streak against the elder.'
'Are you sure about that child?' The Jörmungandr chuckled and took a shot at Asna as well, 'She is already on 50 lose streak.'
'For real?' Felix was shocked, 'Asna how can you be so bad?'
'Fssss!! F*ck you both!!' Not able to retort smartly, Asna relied on her instinctive mechanism of curses and insults.
Then, she cut off the connection to not hear anything else from Felix.
Felix chuckled to himself and requested the Queen to show him his messages inbox and emails.
The moment the two holograms popped off, Felix noticed that both of his inboxes were on the verge of exploding.
Since those inboxes weren't related to his Landlord persona, they were mostly congratulation messages sent to him by his grandfather, the elders, George, Sarah, and he even spotted a message from the President of the US.
After reading it, he smiled faintly before closing it. The president simply thanked him for his superb performance and securing ten representative slots for the country.
Now, the US was going to have the most votes in the World Council. Although they were just ten, Felix knew that it would be making a large difference in the decision-making of the planet.
Not that he cared about those political matters.
In his eyes, as long as the World Council didn't shit the bed by doing something stupid like detaching the planet from the Alliance or declaring a war on other planets, they would not be his problem.
'Queen, please contact Fatty for me.' Felix requested after closing down his two inboxes.
After a couple of rings, the call was connected. Felix immediately informed Bodidi to bring him those five sand bottles to the same hotel room.
Felix knew that the teams would be sent back to their hotels for three days break before meeting again in the Olympiastadion.
After receiving confirmation, Felix hung up and lifted his head, looking at the approaching helicopter. The noise produced by its rotor blades gave it away.
He didn't expect that it would arrive in the first minutes of the announcement.
'I guess this is one of the perks for the future captain of the team?' Felix grinned slightly and jumped down the tree.
Whoosh Whoosh!
Soon, the Helicopter threw stair-like rope for them to climb up since there wasn't an open area for it to land.
Felix glanced one last time at the black forest, which was turned into a real black forest due to the hundreds of battles and skirmishes happening during the past seven days.
He sighed and thought, 'I hope the Council uses the UVR resources to grow new trees quickly and restore the forest's vitality.'
Felix didn't remember if the Council did so in his previous life or not, and he wished dearly that they spend some of their fat capital on the forest's restoration.
Otherwise, he would take it upon himself and donate a million or two to take care of it.
He might be an asshole to humans, but Felix adored animals and nature. He wasn't cheap to not help those wild animals get their forest back in shape again.
Inside the same public airport within the city Freiburg, Felix was sitting in the terminal, waiting for 40 teams to reach the airport so they would be taken all in a commercial plane back to Berlin.
That's what they were told after landing here by the helicopter.
So far, only 20 teams or so were crowding the terminal. Yet, there were just a few whispers and murmurs resounding here and there even though 200 juniors were gathered in one place.
Felix could see that the majority of teams had a member or two detached from their group.
They kept either glancing at the ceiling absent-mindedly or glaring at each other, rearing to start a bloody fight.
Soon, his eyes landed on Sylvia having her head hung low as she sat away from her teammates. Felix knew that she might be still bothered by not securing a flag for each member.
Not that he gave a shit about her problem. She was still not that close to him to bother himself with her matters.
if it wasn't for so, Felix would have gifted her those two extra flags instead of giving them to Olivia.
He didn't give them to her just for fun but he had a plan in his mind that might help Olivia change for the better.
Shortly after...
Felix and the rest were asked to head to gate number 21. After making a line, they entered the plane one by one.
Felix walked to the First Class cabin and sat comfortably in a single chair by the window. The First class was limited to only captains and vice-captains of each team.
Thus, Felix had the pest Adam sit in front of him, ruining his comfort. However, after seeing that Sylvia was passing by, Felix gestured for her to sit in Adam's chair.
Although this was beyond disrespectful to Adam, he still accepted gladly as he stood up and gave a way for Sylvia. "Please."
Sylvia considered it for a second before nodding her head and sitting in front of Felix.
Seeing that they were not talking, Adam assumed that it was due to him standing in front of them.
"Excuse me." He nodded his head politely and went to an empty seat at the back of the cabin.
After Felix saw that he was gone, he gave a quick smile to Sylvia before closing his eyes. "Please wake me up when we land."
"Okay." Sylvia agreed at once without fanfare.
Then, she gazed at his face deeply for a couple of seconds before she turned her head to the window, peering at the reflection of herself in the glass. 'Is his skin smoother and paler than mine or am I imagining stuff?'
Sylvia touched her cheek twice before glancing back and forth between Felix and the window. Soon, she couldn't handle but take a sneaky picture of Felix with her bracelet.
The moment she did so, the Queen informed Felix about it since it was concerning his privacy. Felix, who was in his Androxa house just waved his hand dismissively, "Leave her be."
Meanwhile, Sylvia could be seen having two invisible holograms linked together. One had Felix's face and the other her own face.
She then clicked on the ]detect[ button, wanting to see if Felix's skin had any blemish in it or not. A few moments later, the result came out, making Sylvia's cold composure break apart.
'Zero percent? What the hell is he using for his skincare??!! I want it!!' Slyvia's eyes abruptly switched to Felix and stared at him in awe and desire!
If Felix's memory wasn't garbage, he would have remembered that Slyvia was known for two things, her coldness and secondly her obsession with her skincare!
Her current milky white skin wasn't that natural as she used a ton of products from Earth as well as the UVR. Yet, she still never managed to reach the same result as Felix.
Only now did she find a way to seeth her obsession once and for all. Her heated eyes as she looked at Felix's skin would make anyone misunderstand her intentions.
Felix, who was dialing his Investment manager only felt a sudden shiver course in his spine like he was marked by a predator.
"Why do I feel danger?" He glanced around him in bewilderment.
Soon, the feeling went as suddenly as it appeared. Felix stopped thinking about it and carried on dealing with his business matters.
....
Three days later, At 07:00 AM...
Felix could be seen pushing Fatty Bodidi back inside the spatial tear with merely one hand. A moment later, Bodidi's body was fully inside.
"Jeez, cut some curbs already." Felix complained as he dusted his hands.
Alas, the spatial tear was already closed as Bodidi had anticipated Felix's firing shots at his newly gained weight.
"What do you know? A fatty worm is a cute worm." Asna disagreed with a snort.
"You better prepare your fat ass as well." Felix placed the five bottles on the carpet and smiled, "It's time to unlock my first sand passives!"
Immediately after saying so, Felix removed his shirt and sat next to them. He already had everything prepared and now it was up to Asna to check for the Sphinx essence.
"Let's began." Felix took a deep breath and started the process.
Ten minutes later...
Felix was staring at a small bottle that was 7% full with a deadpan expression.
He still was having difficulty believing that he ended up finding only 7% essence in a f*cking five epic tier 5 bottles!
Last time, he found 10% in four bottles, which was shit compared to what he was used to. But now he actually ended up with less than that while f*cking having an extra bottle!
It might seem like he wasn't losing much since he could always sell the bottles back, but one shouldn't forget that Felix was losing 10% after each sell!
Since the total price of those bottles had reached one billion SC, it meant that Felix had spent 100 million SC for merely 7%!
"Sigh, I guess I need to try with higher-tiered bloodlines." Felix blinked his eyes twice before rubbing them with his fingers.
He always knew that he would reach this stage one day when he would need to step up his game by buying a tier 6 bloodlines or even tier 7.
After all, it was quite obvious that those tiers were going to have a larger amount of essence compared to what he was using before.
However, Felix knew that those tiers were going to give him a bit of trouble to get his hands on them.
Unlike tier 5 and below bloodlines, they weren't found in shops like Goati's or Looby's shop. Instead, they were sold exclusively in auctions.
If one didn't want to rely on auctions, he could always commission a hunter squad to get the job done for him.
Alas, the hunter squads, who were able to actually hunt such monstrous beasts, were already hunting exclusively for private clients.
Those clients might be auction houses or just research institutions wanting those beasts for research purposes.
This meant auctions were Felix's only path to getting them. Besides of course relying on a wish from SG.
Felix understood that if he kept getting below 10% while purchasing five bottles by five, Goati would run out of stock pretty quickly.
Restocking for such high tier bloodlines usually takes a couple of months. Even if he didn't empty his stock, there was no way for Looby to keep getting five bottles after five bottles in each week and get them sold in time.
Even with the new traffic that he had, it was impossible to sell so many high tier bottles that fast.
This meant Felix needed to aim for tier 6+ bloodlines after he reached a wall with Goati and Looby.
He hoped that it wouldn't happen until at least he reached lesser purity by relying on only epic tier 5 bottles.
'No need to think about such matters now.' Felix shook his head and shoulders to relax his body. He was about to integrate 5% all at once and his mind needed to be focused.
After a few minutes of relaxation, Felix snapped his eyes wide open and looked at the empty large-sized needle.
After filing it up with 5%, he placed it in his chest and pushed it.
Alas, he pushed and pushed, and his skin refused to give access to the needle. Not wanting to break it lest the essence sprung out, Felix stopped his attempts.
"I guess needles for the 2nd stage aren't strong enough for my skin anymore." Felix chuckled in self-mockery and placed the needle down.
Since the moment Felix awakened, he never used earthling's needles but purchased ones from the UVR specifically made for integration.
Before, he never had problems with it as he always purchased a needle good enough to penetrate the skin of a 2nd stage bloodliner.
But now? It seemed like his enhanced strength was giving some trouble for his needle.
However, Felix wasn't distressed by it as he always had a needle for each stage in his spatial card just for those kinds of emergencies.
Thus, he swiftly took a new one and emptied the content of the first needle in it.
"2nd round with a 4th stage needle." Felix took a deep breath and penetrated his heart. Luckily it went smoothly this time.
Felix drunk the integration potions and closed his eyes shut. 'I wonder which passive abilities I will be getting from the Sphinx?'
30 minutes later...
Felix had finished the integration smoothly without fainting. The process was painful alright, but 5% was manageable for his pain tolerance. As always, he immediately went for a shower after he was done.
Shortly after...
Felix exited the bathroom and went to get dressed. After putting proper clothes on him, he sat in the bedroom and closed his eyes shut with an eager expression. 'Please be something good.'
The moment Felix dove into his memories and noticed the unlocked information, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise after reading an unfamiliar name for a passive. The other one he already had clue about it.
"Absolute Sand Defence?" Thoughtful, Felix opened his eyes while resting his chin on his hand. He never heard of such a passive before and especially one that had 'absolute' in it.
Felix knew that those abilities were named personally by the Sphinx, and for her to add Absolute in an ability only meant that it was the real deal.
"Let's see if it lives up to its name." Felix closed his eyes again and dove back, wanting to read the rest of the ability's details.
A few moments later, he opened his eyes with clear agitation on them. "Automatic sand defense? This is f*cking nuts!"
Felix might have only seen how the ability worked, but it was enough to blow his mind!
Without a second delay, Felix laid on the bed and requested the Queen to log him in. He was too eager to test out the ability's bold claim!
...
In the Measurement Center, in a VIP room...
Felix had just closed the door behind him before getting greeted by the room's AI. Felix walked to the center of the small white room and requested an Elemental assessment.
Soon the room was split into the same four areas. Felix went to the defensive area where he would be subjected to all kinds of attacks. Whether elemental, physical, or mental.
After standing before a silver machine, that resembled a canon with a screen on top of it, Felix requested, "Please switch to different abilities from different elements periodically."
"Understood." The AI asked, "Do you want to upgrade the strength of the abilities gradually or just fixated on a single level?"
Felix thought about it for a second before choosing the first option. After so, he relaxed his muscles and held his hands behind his back. He looked at the mouth of the canon and smirked, "Fire!"
Whoosh!
Felix narrowed his eyes in focus on the approaching ice spear and simply kept thinking, 'Any moment now, any moment no...F*ck me!'
Alas, by the time Felix realized that something was wrong, the spear was already in front of his face.
Boom!
The icy spear penetrated Felix's forehead and disappeared right after, leaving behind it a bloody hole that showed Felix's mushed-out brain matter!
He died instantly...
Plop!
His body fell to the ground as it couldn't keep on stranding like this without support. However, a second later, Felix broke into light particles and rearranged again in a healthy state.
"Should we carry on?" The AI asked.
The moment Felix was hit directly, she stopped the following attacks.
"Give me a second." Felix murmured while massaging his forehead.
Although there was no pain, Felix's mind kept repeating the same experience over and over again, making him feel like his forehead was aching.
"I can't believe I just went from being immune to peak 1st stage bloodliners' abilities to get one-shotted by them." Felix sighed in dejection, "I am missing my superstrength passive already."
Obviously, the moment Felix unlocked those two sand passive abilities, he lost his superstrength and poison immunity.
When Felix still had his super strength, his body defenses were able to withstand elemental abilities fired by even a peak 1st stage bloodliner. But after it was replaced with one of those two sand passives, he lost almost 40% of his strength.
Now? He was barely immune to abilities fired from Sylvia!
For his body to be this shitty, Felix knew that he wasn't going to survive the upcoming gold game as a single ability would turn him to dust.
Thus, he felt extremely happy when he read the description of Absolute Sand ability. But, it somehow failed him against this attack, and Felix was currently thinking deeply about the reason.
After a couple of seconds, Felix slapped his forehead, "I am a f*cking idiot."
He realized that his eagerness to test the ability made him ignore a huge requirement for the ability to work.
Felix didn't waste more time berating himself as he swiftly requested, "AI, please create a field of sand around me."
The AI did as she was told obediently, manifesting a wide area of sand around Felix. After feeling that he was rising slowly, Felix requested for it to stop.
Felix bent down and lifted a handful of sand. He opened his palm and looked at the golden shimmer of the grains with a hint of fascination.
He might have reached 100% sand affinity two days prior, but this was actually the first time Felix was near sand created by elemental energy!
"Let's try again." Felix dusted his palm and stood with his hands guarded in front of his face. His cockiness had been taken away with that spear attack.
"Are you ready?" The AI asked while pointing the cannon's mouth at Felix.
Felix took a deep breath and nodded his head firmly!
Whoosh!
Immediately after, a thick arrow made of flames was sent flying in his direction. Felix merely tightened his fists but didn't move from the way.
Heck, he didn't even blink as he didn't want to miss seeing his new passive in effect.
Thank god for that decision as the moment the arrow flame was only two meters in front of Felix's face, the sand underneath him propped itself automatically and blocked the arrow from advancing any further!!
That wasn't all, as the sand engulfed the arrow like a beast devouring a snack!
A split second later, that portion of sand withdrew back to the field, lying peacefully with the rest like it never moved in the first place.
Felix throughout the entire interaction just stood frozen stiffly in his place, looking like an idiot with his guard up and eyes widened in shock.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The AI didn't care about his reaction, as it sent two elemental abilities this time! One was a massive water drop and the other was a silver sharp sword.
Just like earlier, the sand moved on its own. However this time, it created a curvy sand wall that resembled a half-sphere in front of Felix!
Against it, those two elemental abilities could only get blocked and engulfed inside the belly of the thick wall.
The sword disappeared from existence while the water gave the sand a bit of trouble as it made the sand wet and hardened it slightly.
Still, not a single drop of water managed to touch Felix's clothes, succeeding again in its defense. The wall of sand then broke apart and fell into the field.
Just as the AI wanted to attack again, Felix waved his hand slightly giving her a signal to hold for now.
He then crouched down with a faint grin creeping upon his face. He kept looking at the peaceful field of sand and couldn't help but start laughing by himself.
"I struck the f*cking Jackpot!" Felix shouted as he kept throwing a handful of sand above his head with a feverish expression.
He read the description of the ability but he was still skeptical about the truthfulness of it.
Because it clearly implied that as long as Felix was near sand, it would always be on standby to protect him from attacks!
What did that mean? Felix had literally just received an automatic shield that could block every ability even the ones fired at him from his blind spots!
Felix never heard or saw such defensive passive before. But considering that he was using the Sphinx bloodline, it was only natural that he could unlock possibly its best defensive ability!
After venting some of his excitement, Felix reared in the rest as he still had tons of tests waiting for him.
Such as testing if the sand was able to block mental abilities, or testing the limits of its defenses.
After all, those abilities fired at him were equivalent to attacks from only peak 1st stage bloodliner. The sand couldn't possibly withstand abilities fired at him from high-leveled bloodliners.
After Felix stood up, he crossed his arms above his chest and decided on the first test, "AI, please manifest tens of silver machines around me and fire at the same time and continuously."
"Understood."
Promptly, silver machines started to manifest one by one around Felix until there wasn't enough space for the machines to aim at Felix without hitting the one in front of it.
Felix kept turning his head, glancing at the gleaming silver cannon mouths of those machines. However, he didn't seem nervous by being put right in the middle of such a suicidal formation.
Instead, he had a look of anticipation on his face.
"Ready?" AI asked.
"Fire!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Phew!...
Tens upon tens of colorful abilities were projected at the same time and in a single direction.
Felix heard the sound of the wind as they approached him, aiming to wipe him out of existence.
WHOSH!
Alas, the sand underneath Felix rose as one akin to a beast waking up from its slumber.
Then?....Boom! Boom!..
It kept moving on its own as it slapped abilities back, engulfed some as a whole, and arranged defensive barriers all over Felix, protecting him from everything thrown at him!!!
Felix neither moved nor spoke, he just kept standing with his hands crossed above his chest and eyes peering in every direction at the abilities failing to touch his clothes.
The sand field truly resembled his loyal guardian, who would do anything to keep him safe.
Only after seeing this sight and being inside its protection did Felix feel like he was a real Sand Elementalist!
Truly worthy of being named as Absolute defense." Felix grinned one last time before snapping his finger.
The abilities abruptly paused mid-air and broke off into particles. The sand instantly dropped into the ground like it had lost the force controlling it.
Upon seeing so, Felix scratched his chin with a thoughtful expression, 'Will it protect me from harming myself?'
Having nothing to lose, Felix tested it out by punching himself in the nose...bam!
His nose broke immediately and blood started streaming down his nostrils. Yet, the sand didn't budge from its place.
"I guess I am getting a free pass."
Pained, Felix winced slightly before healing his broken nose.
He then carried on with limit testing as he requested the AI to increase the strength of abilities gradually this time from 2nd stage, 3rd stage, and even a 4th stage!
After half an hour, Felix had thoroughly understood the limits of his passive.
First, the passive's defense was correspondent to the amount of sand used to defend against the abilities.
For example, when Felix tested against the 2nd stage bloodliner's abilities he recognized that his sand wasn't engulfing abilities effortlessly. Instead, it was getting obliterated in the process!
Still, it successfully protected Felix.
Regardless, Felix noticed that after this kept repeating over and over again, the field of sand was actually reducing in size!
So in a sense, Felix was trading the sand to protect himself against stronger abilities.
This theory only solidified when Felix was exposed to 3rd stage and 4th stage abilities. In the case of the former, the sand had manifested a huge thick wall to defend against a meteor-like ability.
Even though it successfully stopped it, Felix saw that the sand field had lost 30% of its body!
As for 4th stage abilities? The entire field had encased Felix in a humongous dome just to protect him successfully.
Nevertheless, the entire field was gone after it, leaving Felix to feel like he was naked.
In fact, without sand around him, it wasn't farfetched to say that this passive was thoroughly useless.
It might not rely on elemental energy since it was passive, but its potential was correspondent to Felix's energy.
Since the more energy he had the more he could afford to generate abilities around him to be used defensively.
Not like he could do it now as he still didn't have a single ability that could generate sand. Felix hoped that he would unlock a sand ability like his poisonous aura.
The synergy between abilities like that and his Absolute Sand Defense would be nuts!
After Felix finished with limit testing, he checked if the sand was able to defend against physical abilities and mental ones. The physical test turned out to be successful as the AI dummies didn't manage to land a single punch on him.
Too bad, the same couldn't be said about mental abilities as he was affected by all of them.
This meant that Felix was still vulnerable to mental abilities from 2nd stage bloodliners or higher.
Well, it seemed like 'absolute' had nothing to do with mental abilities.
"Alright, let's see the 2nd passive."
Felix requested the AI to create another sand field since this ability needed it as well.
After the field had manifested, Felix manipulated it to his own will since this was the UVR and in the measurement rooms, everything was possible.
He ordered a portion of sand to gather and form a medium-sized ball in his hand.
In few a moments, the ball was hovering on top of his hand while letting some grains trickle on his palm.
Felix narrowed his eyes at the ball and ordered, "Harden!"
Simultaneously, the golden color of sand turned brown and the grains falling down stopped at once!
Felix touched the brown ball and noticed that it was as hard as a boulder!
"Still the same." Felix nodded his head in satisfaction.
Felix wasn't surprised by the effect of this passive since he already fought a Sand Elementalist in his previous life who had it in his arsenal!
Just like he saw, this ability allowed him to harden the soft particles of sand.
Passive like this was clearly part of the limited manipulation type like his poison absorption or Slyvia's *Expanding* passive.
Felix was quite glad about getting it so soon as he knew that most sand element abilities weren't for dealing the most damage but just to seize, control, survivability, and most importantly defense!
However, with this passive, he could totally create a sh*t load of synergies that could kill a bloodliner instantly!
It just depends on which active abilities that he was going to unlock.
"Sigh, I need to reach lesser purity as fast as possible. Otherwise, I will end up against 2nd stage bloodliners without a single defensive ability."
Those passives were really good alright, but right now? They were utterly useless since Felix had no way of generating sand in the games.
He knew that he couldn't achieve much in the 4th game without having Absolute Sand Defense.
His body strength was already down to 3100 BF and against peak 2nd stage bloodliners, he would get absolutely trampled on.
Thus, he was pressed for the Sphinx's essence more than ever.
'Hopefully, Goat's stock won't run out on so soon.' Felix thought one last time before exiting the measurement room.
Although there were still many many tests to be done, Felix didn't have much time now as in one hour, he would be heading to the stadium with his team for the last gathering.
He couldn't miss it since that's when the bloodliners would be chosen in the earthling's team and would be given their positions based on their points.
He didn't wake up so early in the morning for no reason.
...
After logging out, Felix immediately opened Goati's shop website and bought 2 bottles from the lion species, 2 bottles from the snake species, two more from the cat species.
He wanted to buy some from the eagle species but he found that they were already out of stock!
His expression couldn't help but harden at the news.
In his eyes, the eagle species were a must-buy since he found essence in all of the three eagle bottles that he bought previously.
Meanwhile, the rest either didn't give a single percentage or it was too low to be considered as a worthy purchase.
Now that the eagle species was out of stock, he was left to fend for himself with those bottles.
"Sigh, so troublesome." Felix smiled bitterly and pressed diel on Goati's phone number.
After the call was connected, he paid for the purchased bottles and asked about the eagle species.
"As you know, beasts with wings are hot in sales in comparison to other sand elemental beasts." Goati informed him, "So, you should expect at least a four months delay before I get my hands on some bottles again."
"Four months? Isn't that a bit too long?" Felix massaged his eyelids in frustration.
"Hah! Do you think that my shop is the only one wanting to get those bottles?" Goati complained, "There are tens of esteem bloodline shops in the capital only, don't even mention the rest of the cities. Every shop wants to get a piece of the pie when it comes to bloodlines with flying abilities."
Upon hearing so, Felix could only smile bitterly and said, "I hope you do your best on getting some. And I will be buying every bottle you got."
"You don't have to tell me." Goati snorted, "I am bound by contract to do my best when it concerns your purchases."
"Hehe, I am glad that you have me in your mi..."
Peep peep...Well, at least he sent me the serial codes." Unbothered by getting hung up on his face, Felix merely chuckled and sent those 6 serial codes to Bodidi for delivery.
Though, he didn't give him the address of the hotel as he knew that after the gathering, the teams would be required to go back to their own countries.
For the disqualified, their journey to enter the team would begin next year again.
As for the chosen in the earthling's team? They would be given a week or two as a break before gathering again.
Felix didn't remember much and didn't want to squeeze his memory for details when he knew that Mr. Rodrigas was going to explain everything in the upcoming gathering.
Shortly after...
Felix went to the restaurant to grab a bite with his team before departure. This time, the restaurant wasn't as packed and noisy as the time before the competition.
It was probably due to the teams getting broken apart after the fiesta that happened for the flags.
Felix didn't know how the instructors had dealt with members who snatched the flag, but he knew that they wouldn't be stupid enough to kick them off the team or something like that.
After all, the flags were still worth a representative slot in their eyes.
As much as it was irksome and unfair for the original holders to lose theirs at the last second due to the betrayal of their teammate, they could only stomach it and head to the gathering.
Everyone was required to go there even the disqualified teams, and the ESG Organization had made it clear that everything would be explained and fixed during the gathering!
After the team had eaten plenty, they went to the parking lot where the same minibus awaited them.
This time, there weren't any parades as the citizens were ordered to stay home and watch the stream of the gathering.
Mr. Rodrigas wasn't a fool to leave the infuriated and disheartened citizens to roam the streets freely after the unsavory scenes their national teams had shown at the end of the competition.
The Organization knew that if they carried on with another parade, those minibusses would be showered with projectiles aimed at those bloodliners, who went full rogue for a flag.
Thus, everyone was requested 'gently' to stay off the streets, which had police cars and army vehicles roaming without stop.
Right now, only the drones were streaming live the minibusses heading for the last gathering.
...
After a while...
Felix's team had disembarked from the minibus and followed the staff member who was waiting for them.
Immediately after stepping inside the field, they were met with the same sight of hundred teams lining up in their same spots.
Besides the gloomy and downcast expressions of the majority of the bloodliners, nothing much changed.
The field was still coated with that blue material and the long wooden stage was left untouched as well.
"Damn, it feels like we are in a funeral." Nathan commentated softly while walking through the rows and rows of silent teams.
Just like he was checking them out, their team didn't escape receiving unfriendly and envious gazes.
Well, it was an expected reaction when those teams had heard that the American team managed to secure 12 flags.
Obviously, it wouldn't feel good to know that their team was fighting for merely two flags or three flags while Felix and the rest had some to spare.
Too bad, the only one affected by those looks was Olivia, who lowered her head in guilt and dejection.
Upon turning his head and noticing Olivia's behavior, Felix knitted his eyebrows in displeasure and knocked her right in the head with the back of his finger.
Ouch!
Pained, Olivia instantly clutched her head with both of her hands while looking at Felix with a wronged expression.
"Never feel remorseful for losers. It's okay to sympathize with them but never feel guilty about winning over them." Felix threatened her with the back of his finger and said, "If I see you behaving like this again, don't blame me for knocking you."
Olivia lowered her head and murmured, "I just feel bad that I have three flags while most of them don't even have one." She sulked, "I feel like I robbed two juniors of their chance at getting inside the team."
"Don't worry about it." Felix smiled faintly and messaged her privately, 'You will see soon.'
Upon hearing so, Olivia tilted her head in confusion.
She didn't know what he was implying and seeing that he turned his head forward, she knew that he wasn't planning on explaining.
Soon, she stopped moping about the matter and just hoped dearly that her two extra flags wouldn't affect anyone negatively.
...
Ten minutes later...
Every team had made it to the stadium and were waiting for Mr. Rodrigas's arrival. Even with all of the teams gathered, the atmosphere was dark and gloomy.
Thankfully, Mr. Rodrigas didn't like to dilly dally either as the moment he was notified that all the teams had made it in time, he left the lounge he was in with Jacob.
Soon, they arrived at the field and went upstage shoulder to shoulder under the scattered applause of the bloodliners in the field.
'Hope this goes well.' Jacob waved his hand in greeting at the juniors and stood behind Mr. Rodrigas.
This wasn't the time for another speech when the majority looked dead inside.
"Good morning." Mr. Rodrigas looked at their crestfallen expression and said, "You might not have slept well in the previous days due to the disappointment, depression, and rewardless exhaustion. So, this morning is truly not that good to most of you."
Mr. Rodrigas smiled faintly and dropped the long-awaited bombshell on them, "Raise your heads high since the earthling's team members have not been truly chosen yet!"
Everyone stiffened at his proclamation, not knowing how to react. The bloodliners, the instructors, the broadcasters, and even the viewers at home were left flabbergasted by such a twist.
The team members hadn't been chosen yet? Then what's about the flags? What's about each flag represent a team slot? Was all of that just bullshit?...
Multiple questions flooded their minds in those seconds of silence.
Mr. Rodrigas didn't want to wait until everyone regained their wits back and bombard him with those questions.
Thus, he leaned closer to the mic and started informing them about the hidden points system which allowed them to judge everything about the bloodliners.
The hard work they put in, their teamwork, the responsibility they had towards their teammates, The decisions they made; whether smart ones or idiotic ones, the mental fortitude, and lastly, their strength!
Everything that happened was taken into careful consideration and judged properly. This led the ESG Organization to truly get the top hundred worthy bloodliners to represent them instead of just flag holders.
Of course, Mr. Rodrigas didn't forget to mention that each flag was worth 100 points.
The more those bloodliners heard the brighter their expression got.
They didn't expect that the ESG Organization would bamboozle them like this. But after seeing the chaos that rose for flags between teammates, they recognized the importance of keeping the points system hidden.
If it wasn't for it, no one would have known that many bloodliners had such a weak mental fortitude that made them snap at their teammates, start fights, and even snatch the flag!
No one wanted bloodliners like those to represent them in the Planetary Supremacy Games!
They knew that in the deadly games, those bloodliners wouldn't hesitate to betray the team to save their lives when shit hit the fan.
If they did so for a mere flag, why would they hesitate to do the same for their lives?
Hence, the majority of the bloodliners were beyond delighted with Mr. Rodrigas's revelation. As for the rest? Some had ugly expressions while some were clearly upset.
It could be because they knew that their results weren't as noteworthy as their teammates and felt threatened that their points would be lesser than theirs.
Fortunately, the moment Mr. Rodrigas finished his explanation; he manifested four large holograms displaying the long ranking list.
The holograms were big enough; even those at the far back could clearly see the names and points written next to them. Surprisingly, even the disqualified in the competition still had their names on the list!
Alas, from Mr. Rodrigas's explanation, they knew that was a farfetched reality since he clearly told them that everything they did in the competition was judged.
So what's the point of another competition?
The ESG Organization already got what they wanted and the final list was sitting right in front of those juniors.
If you see your name in the top 100? It meant you are in the Earthling team! If not, pack up and retry again next year!