Shen Yi spoke loud and clear. "Here at Shrek, strength reigns supreme. We have already tested your characters, so we don't care who becomes a class representative. A class battle will be held, and the final victor will be the Class President. Those who demonstrate exceptional talent will fill in the other positions. There are seven representatives in total. One class president, two vice-presidents, and a council made up of the four secondary professions."
"Don't look down on the position of a Class Representative. Each representative will be in charge of different parts of the class and receive bonus contribution points. The president and vice-presidents are the leaders and represent the whole class. Each month the class president will receive one thousand contribution points, the vice-president six hundred, and the members of the profession council will each receive five hundred points." Karni nodded. That was a solid amount of contribution points. He thought to himself. He was unlikely to get the President position, but the Vice-President position should be plausible. Designer position was more or less guaranteed for him as well, unless there was someone else who had reached 5-Star rank who he wasn't familiar with. With that he'd be getting 1100 contribution points a month. Siduo should be able to achieve something similar.
"As long as a representative can become a battle armour master by twenty-five years of age, they will automatically be admitted into the inner court upon graduation. Also, they may take the graduation exam at any time they wish. Remember, you must graduate from the inner court by the time you turn thirty-five. Don't even dare to proclaim yourself a member of Shrek otherwise. Anyway, these seven positions will be filled in today. First, I will declare Tang Wulin as the blacksmith representative. Stand up. Let your classmates get acquainted with you."
Tang Wulin stood up, clearly a bit surprised, though Karni wasn't. He heard some girls giving whispering cheers when they saw him. Tang Wulin was very tall for his age at 165 centimetres. A lean build and a radiant smile.
Karni had to admit the guy was a bit too handsome. Those damn genes of his. He himself did not have such a growth spurt. Karni will likely stay the average height.
"Teacher!" A student just behind Karni raised his hand.
"Speak."
"Why doesn't he need to compete for the blacksmith representative position?" Karni felt a sense of déjà vu. It was this exact conversation he remembered from the books. In fact a lot of conversations so far had been like the books almost word for word.
Yang Nianxia, the Dusk Bear, was the one asking questions. Karni's gotten to know him a bit in their few days of school by now, though not greatly. If anything, the one who kept clinging onto them was Luo Guixing. That guy was really using an aggressive strategy to get chummy with Karni and Siduo. Even if they knew Yang Nianxia less, they ironically thought of him better since he was straightforward and honest in the few interactions they had with him.
"Yang Nianxia, you're not exactly wrong. Tang Wulin doesn't need to compete for the blacksmith representative position because no one can compete with him. He's a fourth-rank blacksmith." Shen Yi's words roused the entire class.
Karni could notice the two exchanging looks which ended with a respectful nod.
"Any other questions?" No one raised their arms.
"Good. In that case, I have another representative to announce before we continue, for the very same reason as Tang Wulin. Val Karni shall be the Mecha Designing representative. Please stand up. Let them get acquainted with you as well."
Another murmur was going around the classes now. At least they seemed more accepting of Karni as a part of the Genius Youth Ranking, even if he wasn't actually on it.
"Teacher." Another hand was raised this time. It was Gu Yue. "Is he at a 4-star level as well?"
Shen Yi shook her head. "He's a 5-Star Designer, otherwise he would've had to take the test, since we have more than one 4-Star Designer this year."
"I see. Thank you." Gu Yue sat down with a calm and neutral grace, while Tang Wulin gave Karni a glance of approval.
Of course, Tang Wulin was by this point technically already a 5-star Blacksmith. But it was too risky for him to perform the tasks at that rank. Meanwhile Karni was a true 5-Star Designer. The comparison of talent wasn't that far apart, as Blacksmithing was harder to progress with. Yet Karni broke through barriers as well. In fact, originally, he was at the edge of being a 5-Star Designer as a Soul Elder.
Tang Wulin had similar talent. At the moment, he was a Soul Grandmaster while almost being a 5-star Blacksmith. He had an innate strength that kept growing tremendously, with high talent and determination. Karni shuddered at the thought of it. The guy really was going to be difficult to compete with.
Designing was different. He wasn't exactly comprehending any physical objects, but transforming them, studying how to use them together to make something different. One needed to understand with their head, more so than 'feel'. After that, it was only a limit of one's imagination. Something Karni didn't lack at all.
Seeing no one else object, Shen Yi smiled. "Good, that's settled then. A competition will be held for the other positions. The contest for the president and vice-president seat will start in a moment. We're going to a practice field where you can fight to your heart's content. There's only one requirement to become the Class President: survive until the very end. The two runner-ups will be the Vice-Presidents. Let me remind you, it's not a fight to the death. As long as your four limbs or your torso touch the ground involuntarily, you will be eliminated."
"Of course, if you wish to withdraw from the position, that's fine too. There are many perks to being the Class Representative, but the responsibilities are just as heavy. If there's one benefit that makes it worth it though, it would be the extra credit you receive when you take the inner court entrance exam in the future, and the greater influence on campus. As I'm sure you all know, the highest authority in Shrek City and Shrek Academy is the Sea God's Pavilion. Nearly all the elders of the Sea God's Pavilion were past Class Presidents or Vice-Presidents. The Academy has six grades and only six classes, so there are only six Class Presidents in total. Every one of them has a higher chance of making it into the inner court."
Karni and Tang Wulin, who were still standing up, could feel the competitive spirit of the students rise. Tang Wulin was practically roaring with competitive spirit. And Karni… yes, even Karni, who usually didn't care, felt excitement and wanting of those prizes. To prove himself among all these geniuses. Sure, Karni knew his chances were average at best with all the monsters in this room, but if there was ever a person who could dodge almost everything, it would be him. He would give it a damn good try.
"Alright," Shen Yi clapped to silence the class. "You have fifteen minutes to prepare. Naturally, you can also form groups. It's up to you. The teachers will only observe the battles."
Karni and Siduo looked at each other. Eyes thinking. Then Karni heard Tang Wulin's plan. One which he knew about, but has forgotten. "Xie Xie, Xiaoyan, you two go make another group. Understood?" Karni glanced at Tang Wulin, and saw knowing smiles from his teammates. They quickly scattered. Only Gu Yue and Tang Wulin remained.
Karni was about to talk to Tang Wulin, when Luo Guixing nudged him. "Hey, how about we make a group?"
"Erm." Karni's immediate plans were disrupted. Then he saw a blue haired girl from the front desk approach Luo Guixing.
"Big Brother? Do you want to form a group with me?" Her eyes blinked innocently and in an exaggerated manner. This person. She wasn't Siduo, but in some ways, those actions reminded Karni of her. Just in a more sly way. Siduo wasn't nearly as skilled in deception.
"Brother Luo, since you're busy with your little sister, we won't disturb you." Karni quickly pulled Siduo away with The Shackler. He looked for Li Tai and Yu Tian. They were gone as well. They didn't want help from Siduo and Karni, hence they went and formed their own team.
Luo Guixing turned towards Xu Xiaoyan. "Ah, wait, she's not my…" She was beautiful though. He might as well go ahead and make a team with her. He noticed Karni and Siduo's unwillingness to cooperate with him.
Meanwhile Karni approached Tang Wulin. "I heard your little plan earlier. It's a good one."
Tang Wulin stared at Karni. A bit threateningly even. Karni raised his hands in defeat. "I can't help it. My Martial Soul is attuned to sound. I can even hear some whispers from the back of the classrooms and some of their schemes. It's sort of my thing."
"Here's my deal." Karni didn't let Tang Wulin think. "In case we meet each other, we team up until the end, or simply leave each other alone. At the end, we can have a nice little fight. In return, I won't be spoiling your plan to some of the others in that group. I can see that Xie Xie went to the Immortal and Xu Xiaoyan went with our 'friend' Luo Guixing, the Shackler. Both of them are quite famous among the students. I doubt you want to get on their bad side."
Tang Wulin finally spoke. "You speak as if I am strong enough to face all of them and get to the finals."
Karni nodded. "Yep. Glad we're in agreement. I'll see you at the end then." Karni waved him goodbye, and for the first time in a while, Tang Wulin felt speechless. How did Karni have so much confidence in him? Was it because they both scored 100 points? Or did he know some things about him? Thinking about it, they were both on Sea God's Island as well. Perhaps he should've seen this coming. Just then, yet another person approached their group. Yang Nianxia.
"Hi, are you really a fourth-rank blacksmith?"
Karni saw it all and nodded. Tang Wulin's group seemed to progress somewhat similarly to the original story. Now that he heard Tang Wulin's plan, some memories of this Battle Royale were coming back to him.
Karni and Siduo would need some members though. It wasn't good if they were alone. Even if both Karni and Siduo were strong and were great at escaping, some of these groups were already in fives. Particularly Luo Guixing. That guy was a master at making connections.
There also weren't that many people left. Talking wasted time. Wu Siduo was also being weirdly quiet about this. Though when they approached Tang Wulin originally, he noticed her annoyance. She probably thought he wanted to team up with him originally. Right now though, she was quite happy, seeing that Karni chose to walk his own path.
It was odd though. She was rarely so passive with these decisions. Was it because this was Shrek? Or was it because, from everything he knew, she was very likely once a student of Shrek and wanted him to experience it for the first time as well.
Either way, she let him lead the way this time around, and he had to choose a few more members. He noticed two familiar people. They've met on the bus to Shrek City before and seemed to be alone.
Though three days have passed since then, they barely spent minutes together. He forgot their names. Speaking of, he looked around, what about the rude hormonal teen and the other guy on the bus? He couldn't see them. Was it only the girls that made it through to Shrek? Well they can't expect everyone to make it after all. This could be considered impressive for Star Luo City. 6 out of 8 spots made it in.
Karni approached them. "Hey, we meet again. I'm glad to see you guys made it through. Do you want to form a team?"
One of the girls that looked worried immediately brightened up once she saw Karni and Siduo. "You two! Yes, if you will have us, absolutely."
"Good." Karni looked at the clock. They had only five minutes left. "Let's go over our abilities real quick. The more we know about each other, the easier it will be to work together."
… … …
The teachers took them to a circular room that was just big enough to fit all the students inside.
Shen Yi pointed at the ground. "In just a moment, all of you will enter an illusory world. I believe everyone here has been in the Spirit Ascension Platform before, so you can consider this world as something similar. Now, everyone move outside of the white circle on the floor."
As everyone made space, Shen Yi moved to the wall and operated an advanced mechanism. All sorts of lights and patterns showed up on the floor. Soul Arrays. Thousands of them. Some of them Karni recognised. Just looking at this, he was amazed at how connected they seemed to be with one another, more seemed still way beyond his current knowledge.
Capsules, big enough to fit a large human, pulled out of the floor. They opened to reveal a cockpit.
"You may choose to enter whichever one you want. After entering, you will find yourselves in a forest. The boundaries of this forest are small, so you will quickly encounter each other. If you want to be near any companions, enter cabins that are near each other. You have three minutes to sort things out. Don't forget to buckle your seat belts once you've entered your cabin."
Karni was impressed. These were the kinds of things he dreamed of designing someday. He, Siduo and Wen Bao along with Liu Liu—he'd found out their names by now—entered four cockpits close to one another.
The cockpit itself was pitch black when closed, and soon enough, starlight showed itself all around Karni. The capsules began to spin as waves of energy entered into it. Dizziness struck him. Harder and harder, before it suddenly disappeared.
Karni could feel the soft grass under his feet, and quickly crouched down. He opened his eyes. That transition was… different from what he was used to.
None of his teammates were in his immediate vicinity. He activated his third Soul Ring and focused on listening to the sound of the surroundings instead of manipulating it.
It wasn't hard to identify Siduo. He silently, but quickly, rushed towards her, who soon saw him. Her Purple Demon Eyes were activated as she was searching for him too. The Purple Demon Eyes combined with her cat-like eyes made for quite a charming appearance. She was barely a few seconds of running away from him
He waved her to follow him. He's heard the voices that should belong to Wen Bao and Liu Liu too. The closest one was Wen Bao. It didn't take long to find her.
Wen Bao was relieved. "Oh, it's you guys, have you seen Liu Liu yet?"
Karni was about to shake his head, and tell her to follow him, but he heard Liu Liu's grunts from afar. "Shit. We have to hurry, she's in trouble."
He rushed with the other two following. Wen Bao didn't question him. He explained what he was going to do at the start.
They saw Liu Liu with a smooth metal sword and a small metal shield in her hands, fighting a guy with a scythe. Great. It just had to be the Immortal, Xu Yucheng.
Karni looked at Wen Bao. "Be ready to run."
He activated his fourth Soul Ring and spun his staff. Liu Liu disappeared in front of Xu Yucheng. She reappeared in front of Karni, about to slash down, but Siduo intercepted her. Liu Liu was confused for a second, then she smiled. She understood what happened a second later.
"Run." Karni whispered.
Just as they started running, Xu Yucheng noticed them. If it weren't for the fact that Xu Yucheng had a bigger group, Karni and Siduo would happily take him on as a challenge.
"Kiki, I'll slow him down."
"No. I'll do it, I have an idea. Sisi, do the clanging with your claws as you run, so I'll know to find you."
She didn't fight him on it. Instead, she picked up Wen Bao and dashed. Wen Bao was the slowest, Liu Liu soon transformed her Martial Soul from a metal sword and a shield to bouncy boots to speed herself up.
Meanwhile Karni turned around and dashed towards Xu Yucheng with the Drunken Ghost Dance. Bo and Scythe met, Karni was easily pushed back. Well, pushed to the side, because Karni's technique allowed him to redistribute the energy with Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon now.
He hit Xu Yucheng with a quick Drumstick transformation. Xu Yucheng paused, stunned, before he started falling. With Xu Yucheng already having a weak body, and Karni's Sound capable of stunning even the likes of Tang Wulin, the Immortal didn't stand a chance at balancing his body. A single, simple mistake. He didn't expect Karni to have the ability to move like that. And so he went on all fours. Losing.
Karni turned towards the rest of the group with a confident smile, but was silently panicking. This wasn't his plan! He didn't think he'd be able to hit the guy this easily. His ability to stun people through Sound in such a way turned out to be a great tool in this Battle Royale. This was… a bit too easy. At least this particular exchange of bouts. He had to mask his surprise.
It wasn't that Xu Yucheng was weak. It was just that… no one would expect this to happen, Xu Yucheng least of all. And that was exactly why it happened.
Looking at the cautious group before him, Karni noticed Xie Xie. The two eyed each other, and Karni could see Xie Xie's silent sigh followed by a nod. Good. They're in agreement. Five of them are remaining. Four, without Xie Xie.
Karni vanished with a single spin of the Bo Staff, and Xie Xie went to work. Two of his three Soul Rings shining. Second and third. Yellow and Purple. Two storms appeared: one more ghostly and one more shiny. Something invisible eliminated the first of Xie Xie's former teammates, while Xie Xie himself eliminated another one.
Karni appeared above two people that weren't attacked, but they seemed prepared. He activated Vision Bestowal, confusing them for a second. Then he hit them with Sonic Rhythm. Both fell and lost. It was like the rules were rigged against them.
Xie Xie and Karni looked at each other, Xie Xie clearly wary of Karni. "I helped you, so I want to get out freely."
Karni nodded. "No worries. I have a truce with Tang Wulin right now, since I overheard your plan. We decided not to attack each other until we're the only ones left."
"Oh." Xie Xie lowered his daggers.
Karni continued quickly, so Xie Xie wouldn't start doubting him. "How about you join us instead. At the end, we'll still fight, but until then, you'll have greater chances with us."
Xie Xie thought about it for a moment. If this were any other group he'd smell a trap. But this guy seemed to get along with Tang Wulin. Though that may not necessarily be a good thing. Tang Wulin was shrewd. This guy appeared to be too. Well, not like he had much of a choice right now. He could see that Karni was much stronger than him. That teleportation ability felt like cheating.
"Fine. I'll come along, but I don't trust you."
Karni shrugged. "I don't expect you to. Also, here. Until we get there, just in case we're ambushed. My second Soul Ring is called Vision Bestowal. It can improve your perception."
Before Xie Xie could complain, his vision had already changed. "Didn't you use that before to confuse the other two?"
"Yes. I can control the intensity of this ability, so if I crank it up a bit, it can be hurtful to people instead. It was hard to get it to the point it is now. But enough about that. Follow me."
… … ...
"Xie Xie. They're fighting a big group. I'll teleport you ahead in five seconds. Get ready." They've been following silently when Karni made Xie Xie flinch by talking all of a sudden.
"Eh? Ah. Fine, fine."
"Ready? Now." Karni swung the staff and Shifted Xie Xie. In the distance, he could hear the surprise of people who just noticed a new challenger appear.
Karni shook his head to regain clarity, then Shifted himself as well. He saw two familiar faces. Li Tai and Yu Tian. Turns out, it was their group, and they were also the leaders. As soon as they saw Karni, they cursed and ran towards each other. It was a shame Karni couldn't lock onto them fast enough, but at least he managed to take out a single member. This was an incredibly large group of 7. Now 6. Karni simply bonked someone on the head and won, since they fell on all fours after his strike.
It seemed Xie Xie already took out another, so 6 members were actually 5 now. Siduo could also finally go on the offensive since she didn't need to protect the other two anymore. Liu Liu also quickly changed gears and transformed her metallic shifting Martial Soul to catch the opponents by surprise.
Four people were defeated immediately. Xie Xie went after Yu Tian who was at the front before. "Xie Xie! Back out, they're about to fuse!"
Xie Xie made an immediate 180 so smoothly that even Siduo showed signs of wanting to praise. He had great control over his speed, then stopping and not losing it.
Yu Tian and Li Tai were more than aware of how strong Karni and Siduo were. When they saw Siduo alone with two others, they immediately took the chance. In a similar vein, as soon as they saw Karni joining, they immediately went for the fusion.
The surroundings became white before a ton of misty clouds surrounded the area. A giant serpentine dragon, with a long thin azure sword swung at them. Siduo went to block, her two colours shining, she was also about to fuse.
"Sisi! Save that!" Karni quickly used his Soul Bone ability—Nerve Authority, as Hopper called it—to disrupt the dragon's movements a bit. It couldn't be helped. He had to reveal it. Siduo's trump card was stronger than his; they had to save that.
As Karni shouted, Siduo also made a quick change, her Martial Souls did a quick shift and stacked up the abilities instead. All of the White Tiger Transformations along with the joint attack of Hell Cat's Blade and Hundred Claws. Mysterious Jade Hands were used as well. And finally, just to add an additional layer of protection, she used her Torso Martial soul and surrounded her body in glowing stripes.
Yet with all of that, as she struck the incoming sword, she was still slashed directly into the ground. At least she stopped the sword. Usually, she would face this with a fusion of her own, maybe even the Skull Bone—now Karni told her not to. And she chose to trust his judgement.
Next, they struck towards Karni and he actually had trouble reacting. He Shifted away at the last second. "They're faster. What's going on, he- Shit." He had to Shift again.
He appeared behind the Dragon in the Clouds and saw the last member of the opponent's team. Her Martial Soul was activated, charging energy into the fused dragon.
"Of-fucking-course." But he had to Shift away again. The dragon was persistent.
"Xie Xie! Sisi! Support system behi-" He had to Shift again. This was bad. It didn't do him good to constantly use the fourth Soul Ring ability. It was exhaustive on his Spiritual Power in this chaotic environment.
Would they really have to use Siduo's self-fusion? But they need that for the end! He saw Siduo bombarded with a sword attack, but he didn't see Xie Xie.
Just as he expected Siduo to be thrown into the ground again, she wasn't. She received help. Metallic crutches were now intercepting the sword alongside Siduo. He could see Liu Liu transformed her Martial Soul. She wasn't lying when she initially told them she can transform her Martial Soul, the Sculpting Cube, into almost anything. Then he noticed Siduo and Liu Liu chewing on something as well. Wen Bao was helping as well! She was a food type.
While the Dragon in the Clouds was chasing Karni, Wen Bao used the opening to boost the girls. It turned into a stalemate.
In the next instant, the sword was pushed back. Karni noticed Xie Xie reappear, with a thumbs up. He got rid of the support system.
Time to counterattack. Xie Xie and Karni were thrown food as well—each of them a different kind. Karni received a squid, while Xie Xie got some rabbit meat.
Karni felt his Spiritual Control increase. Consequently, his control over Sound and predictions increased as well. Meanwhile, Xie Xie shot ahead at a far greater speed than before.
The Dragon in the Clouds was immediately overwhelmed. The instability of the body through Sound. The sword was now being stopped by two or three people, and it was constantly attacked by speedy and sharp daggers.
Seeing as they were about to lose, Li Tai and Yu Tian decided that they'll take at least one of these guys with them. They ignored everything and went after Xie Xie. Everything went downhill after this unknown guy appeared from thin air and defeated their support. Karni could easily dodge their attacks; Siduo, together with the other girls, managed to hold firm against their attacks. Xie Xie was simply the correct choice.
Xie Xie, seeing that they suddenly charged at him, laughed mockingly. But then the Vision Bestowal Karni gave him suddenly changed. Were those… clouds? Clouds were going to approach him? Surround him?
He didn't fully realise the extent of what that meant and panicked instead. The real clouds enveloped him. The sword came through the clouds, almost invisible. Thankfully, in the fusion, they couldn't turn the sword completely invisible. At least not yet. It was more transparent than invisible. Like glass.
Karni and Siduo watched somewhat helplessly as they tried to attack. Their attacks landed, but they didn't do enough damage to save Xie Xie. The dragon just ignored them.
Whenever they faced Li Tai and Yu Tian, they almost never used this ability. Karni could simply 'see' through it, while Siduo rushed towards their real body without fear with her self-fusion. It made this cloud ability almost useless against them.
The clouds stuck to a person. The speed didn't matter. Only if someone was suddenly transported out, could see the surroundings clearly or if they could somehow get bigger than the cloud, could they break apart the ability. In cases like Xie Xie… he would simply suffer. The clouds cut the connection to Karni's ability. There was no way for the outsiders to help him.
As the sword crashed into the small cloud that enveloped Xie Xie, a golden figure burst out from the woods and into the cloud. The sword shattered, and the fusion destabilised.
The cloud proceeded to fall apart, and out came Tang Wulin and Xie Xie. Xie Xie dashed to Karni's group while Tang Wulin jumped back towards the forest, out of which came his group.
"Brother Wulin, I didn't expect you to rush out like that!" The two people coming out of the forest were Yang Nianxia and Gu Yue.
Karni raised an eyebrow. Well this was about to turn tricky. Tang Wulin was still pretending to be Yang Nianxia's follower!