Long Kongkong said, "What are you doing? Without the tree, how are we going to hide?"
Long Dangdang nonchalantly replied, "Do we need to hide? Don't forget, I am a knight-to-be. Who else in our grade has a total Spiritual Power above 100 besides me? Besides, we are going to meet up with everyone soon, aren't we? I'm just preparing some weapons for your classmates. We don't need to wait until tomorrow, let's finish the assessment today."
As he was speaking, he conjured up another Wind Blade, then released it into the air. The green light soared up thirty meters before it gradually disappeared in the air.
Shortly after, a golden flash unfolded in the sky in the direction they had come from. Even during the daytime, it was clearly visible. A flare.
This was the communication method that Long Dangdang had arranged previously. He was indicating his location to Mages Class One. Once the students from Mages Class One and Knights Class One had gathered, they would immediately come over and join them.
A quarter of an hour later, they didn't venture too far in the first place, fifty-eight students from the two classes had gathered.
Seeing their arrival, Long Dangdang and Long Kongkong returned to the ground.
"Put those branches into a stick suitable for you, one for each person. This includes Mages Class One as well," Long Dangdang loudly instructed.
The students in the two classes couldn't tell which one was Long Dangdang and which one was Long Kongkong, but whoever spoke, they just assumed it was their class representative. Under Long Dangdang's Wind Blade, several branches of some big trees around quickly turned into weapons in their hands.
In the current situation where the students don't have many skills, there's a world of difference between having a weapon and without one.
Long Kongkong asked Xi Feng, "Did you see any melee class around here just now?"
Xi Feng said, "It seems that Warriors Class Two was also heading this way, in that direction." While speaking, he pointed in a direction.
Long Kongkong looked at Long Dangdang and said, "Let's go, let's deal with those melee classes first and rob them."
Everyone now had a stick in their hands, even the mages were brimming with confidence. Under the leadership of Long Dangdang and Long Kongkong, they quickly set off while they were still energetic.
Soon, they saw a group of people not far ahead marching into the depths of the forest.
Long Kongkong shouted, "Hey, you there, halt. Your lord is here."
Long Dangdang waved his hand behind him, and the students from Mages Class One and Knights Class One immediately crouched down on the spot.
The students from Warriors Class Two, who were trekking forward, heard someone yelling and immediately turned their heads, they saw Long Kongkong holding a stick.
What is Long Kongkong? That's a hundred points! In the woods where visibility is poor, and since Long Dangdang and Long Kongkong had entered the woods separately before, they naturally didn't expect any ambush.
Without a second glance, a student from Warriors Class Two shouted, "Get him, he's worth a hundred points." The next moment, thirty students rushed towards Long Kongkong shouting.
Long Kongkong waved his stick and turned to run. The students from Warriors Class Two came running down from the high ground and were closing in swiftly with fierce momentum.
But just then, tall figures suddenly shot out, and the students from Warriors Class Two no longer had time to stop.
Sticks with ferocious whooshing sounds came smashing down on them.
Screams rose and fell in succession, in less than three minutes, all of the students from Warriors Class Two had been knocked to the ground.
Just like Knights Class One, there were very few female students in the Warriors class, or at least none in Warriors Class Two. Each was beaten until their faces were swollen and their badges were naturally stripped away. Thirty badges were obtained.
According to the rules, each badge is worth one point. With a total of nine hundred students in the first year, that adds up to nine hundred points. Plus the two hundred from Long Dangdang and Long Kongkong, that's only a total of 1098 points. In the end, no more than one in ten will pass the assessment, after all, everyone needs five points.
Having gotten thirty badges all at once instantly boosted the morale of students from Mages Class One and Knights Class One. Leaving behind the resentful Warriors Class Two, they set off again.
At this time, all classes had just entered the test area and were mostly cautious, trying to avoid collisions with other classes.
When the alliance from Mages Class One and Knights Class One encountered a second class, it was not as lucky as the first time and was discovered by others as well. This time they encountered a class from the Assassin Academy, who, seeing their large number, turned and ran. The Assassin class students were incredibly fast and managed to escape, catching only a few straggling students, and only gained five more badges. The continuous pursuit made the students from Mages Class One somewhat exhausted, after all, physical fitness was not their strong suit.
Long Kongkong put his hands on his waist, turned his head to Long Dangdang, and said, "Now what? The assessment area is quite large. To get enough points, we need to encounter people. Searching like this will be physically taxing. The Academy didn't even provide food and water, it seems like it expects us to survive in the wild."
Long Dangdang said, "I expected this. This assessment is actually testing our survival skills in the wild and teamwork. I guess Teacher Na Ye didn't expect many of us to pass the assessment. It's even more likely that she wants everyone to target us."
Long Kongkong nodded and said, "It's that old man's cunning style. Brother, are there any students in your class who can use fire specialty magic? I have an idea."
An idea struck Long Dangdang, "You're not planning to set the forest on fire, are you?"
Long Kongkong chuckled, "You know me so well! There are no villages in the vicinity of this forest, and the overall area is not that large. It's spring now, and the woods are dry. If we start a fire, seeing the blaze will cause a panic amongst the students, who will scatter in all directions. We just need to move along the edge of the fire, and we will surely encounter students who are flushed out by the fire. It will be a lot easier then. With so many teachers from the academy watching, there won't be any casualties. Don't forget, Mr. Gou is a 9th Rank knight. He can stop the fire if it gets too big."
Long Dangdang squinted his eyes, "It's a plan, but you better be prepared in case he punishes you later."
Long Kongkong grinned and said, "I'm prepared, no worries."
An hour later, the first assessment for the new freshmen of the Soaring Dragon Branch of the Temple Academy was terminated early. There was no way, nearly a fifth of the assessment area was on fire, and the freshmen were in chaos. If it continued, the entire forest would probably be gone.
A rain put out the fire. When all the first-year students gathered at the starting point again, Na Ye was looking extremely grim as she stared at the still-together Mages Class One and Knights Class One ally.
"Who! Who started the fire?" Na Ye yelled angrily.
"Report, teacher, it was Long Dangdang who started the fire." Long Kongkong, acting righteously and stern, stepped forward, "He said it was a strategy."
Long Dangdang looked at his brother who had betrayed him, draped his arm over his shoulder and said, "This is your preparation?"
Long Kongkong turned around and grinned at him, he wasn't the least bit embarrassed but rather proud, and nodded, saying, "Yes, the old man said that your teacher is a Reckless Knight, I believe with his safety-first style, he would not dare to treat you badly. Besides, this assessment was originally a calculation on us, it's nothing if we calculated back on him, right? Isn't it, dear brother?"