Chapter 66: Get out! (1/2)

”Tournament!” shouted the Guild Master of Water, and the others groaned.

”Really? A tournament? That's going to take forever with over 200 people,” groaned the Guild Master of Wind.

”Do you have a better idea?” Asked the Guild Master of Water back.

No one answered.

”Tournament, it is,” sighed the Guild Master of Lightning. ”This is going to be a pain in the ass.” He looked around at the 50 participants who had gathered. The other 200 were not here right now. It was understandable since many people would prefer fleeing to getting closer to such an apocalyptic scene.

”Let's first call them back,” said the Guild Master of Light as he created another ball of light. The other Guild Masters followed suit and also created a ball of their elements. Then, they all shot them into the sky, and the balls exploded one after another.

Everyone in the Basin of Nature should be able to see this and realize that they should gather. If someone was so stupid as not to realize that this was a gathering sign, they might as well not join the guilds.

The Guild Masters waited for several hours, as one participant after another gathered here. After around six hours, no more participants arrived. The Guild Masters did a quick count and saw that 217 People had gathered. The others were either already dead or too stupid to realize that they should gather.

”Alright, everyone!” shouted the Guild Master of Earth. ”Follow us back to the arena!”

The participants groaned again, realizing that another hard marathon awaited them. Everyone ran after the Guild Masters with their full power. This time, it was even harder to keep up since not everyone was in their peak condition.

Gravis seemed to be only walking a little faster, yet every step shot him forward for multiple meters. With his new muscle strength, keeping up with the Guild Masters was even easier, even though he was still injured.

When they finally arrived back at the arena, all the participants fell on their knees in exhaustion. The same scene from back when they had arrived at the Basin of Nature repeated itself.

The Guild Masters gathered in the middle of the arena and discussed the details. They had to make this tournament as fair as possible. What if the second strongest fought against the third strongest in the first round? Would they throw away such a talent?

Even though the previous entrance exam also tested luck, it was held in the wilderness, with only a little bit of human element mixing into the results. The Guild Masters didn't want to risk it here. Who knew how luck would work in a tournament?

In the end, they decided to make five drawings of opponents and five rounds for everyone. Anyone who won three or more rounds would pass. Yet, they groaned again as they realized how long this would take.

”What about rewards?” asked the Guild Master of Darkness, and everyone shot him a look of anger. Everyone had that thought in the back of their minds, but they didn't want to voice it. Like that, it would take even longer. Yet, the Guild Master of Darkness had shamelessly exposed this fact. So, they couldn't ignore it anymore.

So it was decided that every participant that won five rounds would then fight in a traditional tournament. The top ten would receive rewards, while the others got nothing. The Guild Masters felt bitter about all the lost treasures in the Basin of Nature.

They could ignore the cheap rewards that ferocious beasts carried. The lost treasures that the low-grade demonic beasts carried had hurt them.

Yet, the biggest problem was the loss of the seven treasures that the middle-grade demonic beasts carried. Those treasures didn't originally belong to their guilds, but their parent guilds. Their parent guilds had granted them those treasures so they could be awarded to extraordinary new recruits.

Explaining the loss of all those treasures would be a pain in the ass. They couldn't even ask Gravis for any of his collected treasures, since most of them got lost in the battle in the ravine. How was he supposed to protect the treasures, when he wasn't even able to safely preserve his life?

The Guild Masters scratched together any remaining treasure they could find and would award them in the tournament. After everything had been planned out, they called the participants to gather, yet they grew angry when they saw something.

”What are you doing there? Do you want even more treasures? Get out!” shouted the Guild Master of Water as she spotted Gravis standing among the participants.

Gravis lifted an eyebrow in confusion. ”Does that mean that I don't have to participate in the tournament?” he asked.

”No!” shouted the Guild Master of Water back. Testing that madman in a tournament? There was no logic in that. Gravis would just win and get another valuable treasure. He had already gotten his saber, so he should shut up and go to the side.

Gravis shrugged and walked to the corner of the arena and sat down. The reactions of the other participants were mixed. Those 50 who had seen what Gravis had done, sighed in relief while the others looked at him in anger. Why did they have to fight while he could just sit this one out? This wasn't fair!