Framis tapped his staff on the floor once more. Suddenly, a thousand pieces of watch-like devices appeared out of thin air and dropped into the palms of the trial participants. He instructed them, "Put the devices on your wrists, and they will activate automatically."
On the stage, he watched as the members followed his instructions. He said again, "Now, we will give you fifteen minutes to regroup with your teams before the trial begins,"
Upon hearing this, all the first-floor members promptly moved to find their respective teams.
Watching the others, busy looking for their teams, Collin couldn't help but glance at Gilgamel and ask, "Last time, you mentioned recruiting two powerful members for our team. Who are they?"
Gilgamel answered mysteriously, "You will soon know them,"
"Tch," Collin clicked his tongue and stopped asking.
However, not long after, two unexpected individuals approached them. This scene piqued the curiosity of the other members, especially Collin and Medelien.
"Wow, look at that! Magnus and Farad are walking together. Are they going to form a team together?"
"Impossible! They're like water and oil, always opposing each other. The idea of them being on the same team is unbelievable."
"Why not? That looks interesting, though."
"That's not fair. Instead of teaming up with someone equally strong, they should have partnered with someone weak..."
"Dude, you should depend on yourself instead of others!"
"Shut up!"
"You shut up!"
"You shut up!"
"Son of a bit**!"
For a moment, a fight erupted between two people, leaving others who witnessed the scene speechless.
"Are they foolish?" Gilgamel was also rendered speechless.
"Never mind them; why do I feel like Magnus and Farad are walking towards us?" Medelien whispered to Gilgamel.
"Nonsense!" Gilgamel rebuked her and said matter-of-the-factly, "They are part of our team. It is only natural for them to come to us."
"I see," Medelien nodded for a few seconds before she froze and turned toward Gilgamel in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Gilgamel disregarded Medelien's reaction and warmly greeted the two arriving team members.
"Thank you. I'm glad you didn't go back on your word."
In fact, even if Farad and Magnus didn't keep their word, Gilgamel Gilgamel wouldn't be upset. After all, he didn't promise any benefits during the negotiation three days ago.
It was just that he knew that proud people were generally more dependable in honouring their words.
Farad snorted and said, "Who do you think I am?"
Medelien looked at Farad suspiciously and inquired, "Let me guess, did Gilgamel promise you a fight to lure you into this team?"
"Girl, you got it wrong. He joined in voluntarily." Magnus said, wagging his finger playfully. Then, he realized and corrected himself, "Actually, he joined because of me."
Farad immediately cast a disgusted look toward Magnus, thinking about how narcissistic this guy is.
"Regardless of their reasons, their presence will greatly help us pass this test. Welcome to the team, both of you," Collin warmly greeted.
Although he was taken by surprise by the arrival of two of the Top Five in his group, he remained calm and welcomed them warmly.
As someone with abstract talent, he took pride in his abilities. He believed that despite living a low-key life on the first floor, he was in no way inferior to those ranked in the top five.
Despite this, he wasn't arrogant or showy. So, the only thing he could do in a situation like this was to act normally.
"Well, with a genius like you on the team, I don't think our presence will be of much help," Magnus remarked to Collin meaningfully.
"Quit joking," Collin shook his head and said, "Talent and prowess are two different things."
"Well, that's true. Hahaha," Magnus laughed proudly.
"..." Gilgamel rolled his eyes as he observed their conversation. Some of their sentences, for some reason, irritated him.
Magnus was a lively and chatty individual. The unfamiliar atmosphere within the team dissipated in no time.
In fact, their relationship was not that unfamiliar. Because Gilgamesh often confided in Collin and Medelein about his problems with Magnus and Farad, they had more or less gotten to know Magnus and Farad's personalities.
While Gilgamel's team was busy familiarizing themselves, the onlookers opened their mouths in disbelief.
"Am I seeing things here? Two of the Top Five have formed a team with the Trio Bottom!"
"I think Gilgamel must have paid a heavy price in order to recruit Magnus and Farad successfully."
"I don't think it was that heavy. After all, these three lack anything but wealth."
The Trio Bottom was just as famous as the Top Five on the first floor but for their talents and wealth rather than strength.
Gilgamel was the sole owner of Divine Protection on the first floor, which was even rarer than abstract talents. He was also a Tier-1 Potioneer and an Appraiser from Gil's Appraisal Room, both of which were his sources of income.
Even though Medelien's magical talent was average, she had an exceptional talent for cooking. The food stall she operated always had long lines and generated a lot of money. She was now known as the wealthiest witch on the first floor.
Although not as famous as Gilgamel and Medelien, Collin was, after all, one of the two abstract talent owners on the first floor. Consequently, even without any notable achievements, he has garnered significant attention from other members.
None of them should be underestimated simply because they were consistently ranked at the bottom.
The time passed, and the fifteen minutes Framis had given had finally elapsed.
Framis stood majestically on the platform and spoke again, "In the path of magic, challenges are ever-present. However, I have faith that all of you are brave souls undeterred by obstacles. Even if the embers burn and the ocean waves push you, your courage will propel you forward."
After uttering those words, he glanced at the other four companions and nodded with significance.
The four companions reciprocated with nods, signifying their understanding of the assignment. The next moment, they vanished and reappeared in the four cardinal directions surrounding the Training Field.
As they firmly grasped and gently tapped their magic staffs on the ground, intricate and enigmatic magic runes emerged on the floor. These runes slowly extended and interlinked with each other, eventually giving rise to a grand and luminous magic circle.
Before activating the magic circle, Framis offered his final words of encouragement: "My juniors, I wish you the best of luck in this trial. Teleport!"
As soon as those words fell, the individuals on the first floor standing in the field were immediately blinded by the light emanating from the floor.
However, once their vision returned to normal, they found themselves in a different place they had never seen or visited before.
So did Gilgamel and his teammates.
When they opened their eyes, they found themselves in a giant, magnificent colosseum with many scattered building blocks.
However, before they could adequately assess the situation in the Colosseum, they already felt the gaze of many red and dangerous eyes upon them.
"We're surrounded!" Collin said bitterly.
Gilgamel surveyed the area and advised, "It might be unwise to engage in battle right away. Let's secure a safe location before planning our hunt."
"How? We're basically surrounded on all sides. We can't run away from here," Medelien said. The hair on the nape of her neck prickled as she caught sight of the abyssal creatures lurking behind the audience seats.
"If we can't run, then we fly!" Gilgamel answered calmly.
With a flick of his storage item, a beautiful, wide blue carpet materialized and gracefully floated in front of them.
As soon as he got on it, he said to his teammates, "Get on!"
Although Collin and the others were curious, they didn't hesitate to jump onto the flying carpet.
After ensuring all his companions were on the flying carpet, Gilgamel recited an incantation: "Levitate!"
Before the abyssal creatures could react, they witnessed their five prey soaring upward at high speed.
Watching their prey attempt to escape from the colosseum, they became immediately enraged and frantically pursued them.
"Cool, I didn't know there was a magic item like this! Gilgamel, where did you buy it?" Magnus exclaimed.
Gilgamel was at a loss for words. He hurriedly said, "Never mind that; prepare to shake off our pursuers! I couldn't assist as I needed to concentrate on maintaining my spell."
"Roger!"
Magnus and the rest of the group assumed the command.
Sure enough, as Gilgamel steered his flying carpet out of the Coliseum, a giant winged beast appeared not far behind them.
Gilgamel did not hesitate to check it immediately with his appraisal skill.
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Name: Wyvern
Race: Fantasy Beast (Abyssal Creature)
Level: 9
Bloodline: 5
Attribute: Dark Element
Magical Ability: 1. Magic Armor [The passive ability that allows it to be immune to all kinds of magic attacks but is deactivated when it launches another magical ability.] 2. Dark Energy [The ability to concentrate dark energy in the mouth and shoot it at the target.] 3. Dark Claw [The ability to gather dark energy in its claws to perform attacks. The dark energy will leave a mark on the affected enemy and slow healing.] 4. Empower [The ability to boost physical strength.]
Tips: Light-attribute attacks deal great damage to abyssal creatures.
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"A Wyvern?"
The information his appraisal skill provided made Gilgamel frown.
Wyverns are fantasy beasts known for their strong immunity to magic, which makes them difficult to handle.
They typically reside in the mountains, so it was puzzling to see them in the Colosseum.
Is it possible that their behaviour changed after they transformed into abyssal creatures?
Gilgamel quickly warned his teammates, "Be careful; it's a Wyvern!"