"All those who failed to defeat the combat puppet, please return to the waiting room. Someone will escort you out of the academy while all of you who passed, please follow me to the training room for the second part of the test."
The instructor said this and started walking deeper into the training hall. Although many were confused with the fact that the instructor was leading them deeper into the training hall and not to another one, nobody questioned the instructor.
Therefore, all 35 of the remaining youth followed the instructor. While everyone was following the instructor, Ray kept a close eye on his surroundings, as he could feel certain gazes on his back. This greatly worried and disturbed him. Therefore, he asked Aurora, "Aurora, could you analyze the surroundings and tell me who's keeping a watch on me?" "It's very uncomfortable to have someone watching me all the time."
Aurora then replied, "Already done it, and I have also found out who is keeping a watch on you, but don't worry." "They do not have any ill intentions and are just watching your test performance, and I feel that it will help you if you let them watch you."
Ray listened to Aurora's answer and asked her, "Could you tell me who it is?" "Is it the dean who is watching me?"
Aurora then answered, "Bingo!" Yep, it's the dean and his system that are watching you.
Ray felt more at ease as he heard Aurora's answer. However, he wondered why the dean would watch him so specifically—did he somehow identify him? Or is it something else? Yet neither did Ray delve deeper into the topic nor did he have much time left to think more about it as they had reached their new destination.
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The instructor then led them to another door at the end of the training hall. No one would have thought that any room existed towards the end of the hall. But still, it was there. The instructor opened the door and led them in, and what they saw inside left them in shock. Inside the room, there was a huge beast standing. After seeing the beast, even Ray was shocked and immediately prepared for battle.
He hurriedly asked Aurora, "Aurora, what the hell is that?" Aren't beasts supposed to be found only in "System Online"? "Why are there beasts over here in the academy, and most importantly, is that an intermediate-tier beast standing in front of us?"
To which Aurora replied grumpily, "Really?" Ray, can't you see that the beast is standing there and not attacking anyone, along with the fact that there's no killing intent around it? And what do you mean, "How is the beast here?" "Can't there be someone with a summoning system who summons a beast?"
Listening to all of this, the gears within Ray's mind began turning, and he understood everything that was happening and felt like an asshole for losing his mind so abruptly. Hence, he reminded himself to stay calm in all situations and use his brain along with his strength. However, he wondered about the reason for a pseudo-intermediate-tier beast to be in the training room, and his question was answered by the instructor's next words.
"Okay everyone, now all of you have to defeat this beast while working in teams of six, and all those who have fainted are disqualified."
Only when Ray heard the instructor's voice did he realize that there were other people with him as well, and as he turned to look at everyone, he saw that five of the people who had come with him had passed out on the floor, while some had their legs trembling and seemed to be holding their genitals from leaking out. Moreover, just like Ray, the other four students who had received top results in the first test had also prepared themselves and were ready to battle the beast with their weapons out.
Seeing this, a glint passed through the instructor's eyes, but he remained silent, his expression indifferent. After everyone regained their bearings, the instructor spoke,
"You will be battling in teams of six, and there will be five teams present, fighting one beast each." These beasts are at the beginning stages of the pseudo-intermediate tier and won't seriously injure any of you. Moreover, all five students who had the best time on the first test should please step forward.
As Ray, Nia, and the other three stepped forward, the instructor said, "These five would be the team leaders and will be leading a team each; now for the selection of players." depending on everyone's performance in the previous test. I will be appointing you all in a balanced manner. Now for the names of every team member, along with their leader.
"Team 1: Nia Johnson (leader), Ria Thompson, John Summers, Henry Bart, Will Mason, and John Grey
Team: Adrian Blake (leader),...
Team 3: Hailey Kent (leader),...
Team 4: Josh Wilfred (leader),...
Team 5: Ray Xanders (leader),...
Ray's name was called last along with his team members. Knowing that being the leader, it was his duty to gather all of his team members and make strategies to fight against the pseudo-intermediate-tier beast. Although he was not sure if he could win against a pseudo-intermediate-tier beast alone, it was a different matter fighting against it with a team.
Ray looked over his information and found out his team members were Aliya Rose, Tim Barnes, Elina Barns, Sirius Brown, and Noah Blue.
After looking at the information and names of his teammates, Ray quickly gathered them all and asked them about their strengths so they could tackle the pseudo-intermediate-tier beast. The pseudo-intermediate-tier beast that they had to fight was a mutated night spider. It had many similarities to the night spider that Ray had slaughtered in the game. Therefore, he had a good idea of how to defeat this beast.
As Ray listened to his teammates, he realized that the instructor had put together a balanced team. Aliya from their team had a system that allowed her to heal people, while Tim and Elina were twins who had systems that favored each other and allowed them to have a unique fighting style for themselves. The male twin, Tim, had the advanced strength ability to coat himself in a metallic sheen while also increasing his strength tremendously, and the metallic sheen provided him with immense defense, making him a perfect tank. Whereas the female twin, Elina, had a system related to curses. She could make full use of her system, which allowed her to place different types of curses on different creatures that had various effects and buffs, making her the best support.
Sirius, however, had a transformation system. It allowed him to transform into a werewolf that had increased strength and defense, along with vicious effects.
Lastly, Noah had a spirit system that allowed him to use spirit force to attack his enemy, causing the enemy to lose a great deal of his strength.
Hence, after hearing everything, he made a formation that would be able to utilize everyone's potential to its fullest while giving them an easy victory with minimal effort and causing the fewest injuries.
After all, Ray knew that this test was less about showcasing one's strength as it was more about teaming up and eliminating the threat in the best way possible. Whereas Ray, being the team leader, had a gut feeling that his ranking would depend upon how well he defeated his opponent and how well he utilized his resources to their fullest.