All students that were to partake in the first round all marched up to the starting line, their respective representatives leading them well, all except South. Griffin was the one to take charge of the class in my stead.
I joined up with the teachers as they planned for who to be where, all the while the principal was speaking with the general.
"We'll have to distribute ourselves according to what we can handle. Max, I think you'll have to supervise with a teacher, as you are still a student," Flintheart began.
But before he could continue, the principal and head general were done with what they had to say to each other, and both called us towards them.
"Hello there, boy. Not sure if we've ever formally met before," the head general greeted as he shook my hand.
"I can understand why the principal took you out of the running. That performance back at the Demomight was absolutely outstanding. I'd like you to join out ranks some day, may be take over my job," he laughed, and the teachers joined in. He just had that effect on you.
But over the laughter, I could sense someone staring daggers at me. I tilted my head a bit and found the general's secretary giving me the stink eye. What did I ever do to her now?!
***
[Put a sock in it Bradley! ]
***
"Now, back to matters at hand. All of you should be well informed of the beasts we spoke of. Firstly, what we didn't tell the kids about was that there are at least two Grade A beasts in each designated area, and one Centurion beast around the entire race course."
"WHAT?!"
Every class teacher and me stared at the general like he had just grown a new head. The west teacher was the first to speak up.
"What is the meaning of this, Head General?! Those kids have been through a lot as it is! Now you're gonna dump all this stress on them without them knowing what they are actually up against?!"
"Calm down, William. It's not that serious!"the principal started.
"No offence, general. But this wasn't well thought out." Flintheart commented with a displeased look on his face.
"What are the chances the kids will meet up with the centurion beast?" Mrs lily, the East teacher, asked. Mrs Ivory was the only one silent of the teachers.
"I know. I know. You're all angry about the challenge the kids are about to face. But look at it this way, since when is someone informed of what he or she is about to face during a battle? I want the kids to learn how to adapt quickly in any given situation, no matter the circumstances. That's my reasoning for setting this up. Also, this will show them that even by retreating, is also in itself, a victory when faced with overwhelming power."
"But, be that as it may, I'm very sure not most kids can face those things all by themselves or even in groups, but if they were to join forces..."
"Not possible!"
Everyone including me answered the general before he could continue.
"...I see. So their next best option is to retreat to the finish line. So, that's where you guys come along. Depending on how they handle the beasts, the initial plan was when things got too dicy, we were to save them from danger, but with higher tier beasts, we'll have to switch the play."
"If, by chance, one was to come face to face with the beast and made a tactful retreat, our job is to make sure they are successful. In short, keep the beasts busy long enough, but don't do any damage to them since they are still needed for the next student to face."
"But if by some brain dead decision, another student decides to face the powerful beasts head on, you are obligated to allow his decision, but when it looks like he or she going to die, only then are you allowed to step in. Fighting that thing head on, just to show how powerful you are, is suicide. So no marks will be awarded even if the student dealt some damage to it,"
"Can I trust you all with this task?"
"General, what the hell kind of job are you dumping us with?!" Mrs Ivory finally spoke up.
"Mrs Ivory please,"
"No, No,No, Mrs Kelly. Not this time. We all know just how smart higher grade beasts are. The general must have already figured out that the beasts would be smart enough to realize they were being duped, so what should happen if they were to notice what we were doing and come up with a way to kill their prey without us intervening?"
"Simple. Dispose of them. By any means necessary. Any more questions?"
No one had more to ask, so we were immediately divided because the competition was just about to begin.
I was grouped up with the west teacher (no issues there) and the area we were to cover was the Lava dome.
"ALL CONTESTANTS! PLEASE MOVE TO YOUR POSITIONS!" the announcer screeched loudly through the crowd cheers.
"Oh damn. It's starting already?" I asked from above the lavary place. Even from so high up, I could still feel the heat on my face. With good reason, we were provided with jet packs to glide through the arena, specially made ones that could handle the heat. Hopefully, I didn't have to use my ability to save someone or people would catch on I don't just have a speed ability.
Thankfully, I still had my super vision and hearing, so even levitating from so high up away from the toxic fumes, I could still see the students.
"That it is kid," the West teacher answered besides me. His name was William, right? If I remember correctly, he was the one that went with Flinty to save my classmates. I'm still not sure about his power though, but I do hope he carries me through the entire of our supervision.
"READYYYYY! SET! AND WE'RE OFF!" the announcer launched of the race.
Immediately he did, the entire ground was suddenly lighted with a sharp bright light that even from such a distance made me close my eyes in irritation due to how powerful it was.
"Looks like this event will start of with a light show. A good question is who... why would you look at that! All South contests seemed to be leading at the front, each with their different abilities, while the light from before seems to be keeping all the other classes back! Almost like South had planned this from the start!" the announcers informed us.
If I'm right, that has to be Blade's doing. No doubt they came up with this plan a while back. But wait... I wasn't informed of this! If I were part of this competition, no doubt I would have suffered the same fate as everyone else. So this was a plan to also take me out of the race, wasn't it? The damned back stabbers!
The crowd cheered with earnest at the well thought out plan by South. In the lead was non other that Clive, racing through the course with nothing more than brute strength. I have to wonder, was he always this fast?
Well anyways, the rest of the class was trailing behind him, ahead of other classes, but knowing the students, this was just a minor inconvenience to them.
"Looks like North are the first to recover from the brilliant plan made by South. In the lead taking off right past the owner of the light ability would be the class representative of North, followed closely by the West and finally East!"
With my vision, I could see Flavo was easily catching up with with the ones ahead while the rest were picking their way through the light.
"SCREECH!"
Loud voices pierced the chanting of the crowds. Immediately, I zoomed in on the source of the sounds and was shocked to see a flock of large, black crows making their way to the start of the race. From the direction they came from, I could tell that it was from the forest area.
Judging by their razor sharp claws and impossibly large beaks, these were definitely beasts .
"But why all of a sudden head over to the... Oh I see. You really didn't think this through, did you Blade?" I shook my head in disappointment.
"And we can see the crows making their way to the start line, monsters. Seems like the owner of the light ability is sprinting towards the rest of the students who just passed him and tapping them, leaving a residue of his power in his wake. A rare case of 'if I go down, I'm taking you with me '. Respect."
Blade could only grab a handful of them until one crow finally managed to carry him off towards the forest together with other unlucky students who just happened to have shiny objects on them. Quite frankly, if he escaped from the crows clutches, he would have probably gained a huge lead over everyone else. Too bad he's Blade.
"AAAAH!" was all he could scream as the one carrying him cawed in victory at its find.
"HEY, THAT'S MY SON CAUGHT THERE!" someone from the crowd yelled in shock. I turned to the the owner of the voice and was shocked to find and exact look a-like of Blade.
Besides him was a worried redhead that looked to be holding what could be said was a young child. No doubt those were Blade's parents and sibling.
"He's gone for a good while," Mr William commented with a smile.
"Looks like apart from the ones taken by the crows, the students are finally coming up to their first challenge, the rain forest!"
I turned my attention back to the race and saw that Flavo had caught up with Clive with his fire ability, followed closely by a few others from his class. Guess the advantage South had was short-lived. But this is where the real challenge began.
Since no one was even close to the area we were to invigilate, we found ourselves with a lot of time at our disposal.
The rain forest looked completely natural to the area, but that's was probably what it was to be expected to look like. Clive being the first to the Rain forest(those taken by the crows don't count), he immediately encountered tree monsters that looked simple enough for him to handle with his level.
***
[...Bradley, As helpful as always]
[Shush! The completion is still on.]
***
"There is some impressive martial arts from the South representative. Boy, what the guilds would give to have such a power house in their midst!"
Just like what the announcer said, since no weapons were allowed, Clive had only his fists to rely on. But that's where he entered into a disadvantage.
"What powerful flame magic! Definitely the representative of North is no slacker! He's breezing through the tree monsters like they are not even there! He seems to be a crowd favorite judging by the screams from the crowd!"
"He's living the South student in the dust, all the while making points on the way. Now you can understand just how useful abilities are allowed in battle." the announcer continued
Flavo was making good progress, excellent even, but that all stopped when things became a bit more challenging. There is a reason why they call it the rain forest.
Without warning, rain suddenly began falling on the entire forest, just when most of the students had made their way into it. The tree monsters looked like they had just gained more power judging by how much larger they grew. And looking at Flavo's shocked face, I'd say that his ability has just been rendered useless in the rain.
"Something's wrong with that rain. Look at the students," Mr William pointed out.
Sure enough, he was right. Many students were dropping out of the competition when they realized that that rain wasn't just there to strengthen the plants.
"Knowing the general, he prepared all this before hand so that the kids would learn to be ready for poisons in the field. Good thing this was just a test cause if it were real..."
No need for Mr William to continue. I already knew the answer.
"WHAT'S THIS?! South all of a sudden look to be ahead of North! What a turn over! Seems like some of the South students can withstand the onslaught of the rain forest! All in the lead being a white haired girl!"