Chapter 200: Chains of Fortune (2/2)
”Once the horn is blown, the test will start.” The woman told them as they eyed each other warily. ”In five minutes, you better move those legs as fast you can.”
The tension rose as the clock ticked by. Drones flew over their heads as they recorded everything that was about to take place. The flying boards zoomed past each other as they prepared to help any student in danger.
”Bro, good luck!” Oliver, who stood beside him, gave Arthur a thumbs up. Arthur couldn't help but smile and returned one.
”Ten!” The countdown began. ”Nine!” Arthur decided the amount of strength he would show. If he shows too much and brings attention to himself, that would be counteractive. ”Eight! Seven! Six!”
The countdown continued and the moment it reached three, mana surged from everyone's body. Arthur could see the ground cave in under their feet. These were evidence of the dreams everyone had to rise.
”Two!”
Most people crouched but Arthur wasn't even using his mana yet.
”One!”
A horn resounded and it shook everything around them. It was like a low beastly growl that came from within the flying city of Jerano. Like cannons being fired, the students sprinted forward toward the Chains of Fortune.
Arthur was the same but he didn't use any mana. With his stats alone, he was already in the lead. With another sprint forward, Arthur was among the top.
At that moment, he felt something approach him from behind. He jumped high and twisted his body mid-air before resuming his sprint. The water splashed on the ground that Arthur was on earlier and froze.
'We can attack each other.' Arthur realized. 'However, do I even need to?' He simply increased his speed and became first place.
Before long, his foot touched the rough metal of the chain as he began running on top of it. He glanced back and saw that five others were close behind him. Unexpectedly, one of them was Oliver who used the wind to propel him forward.
'He looks like a hot air balloon.' Arthur snickered to himself. Just then, another contestant came from behind him.
There were a few people who relied on their bodies rather than their mana. These trained their bodies to make up for their lacking mana. Since Arthur didn't use mana, most of the other students thought he was one of these people.
The structure of the chains made it hard to dodge, but not impossible. Arthur increased his speed and jumped to the other side of the chin to dodge the attack. After the firebolt passed, he returned to his lane.
He didn't wish to compete with one of the strong ones for their lane, as that would be disadvantageous. As they ran across the sky, the air began to be thinner as the strong wind began trying to topple them.
Arthur simply threw a barrier that protected him against the wind for five seconds. The others had to slow down to secure their footing lest they fall. To Arthur's amusement, one character didn't care about the wind.
Huffing with sweat rolling down his face, Oliver's wind pushed him forward as he ran across the chain. As for the wind coming from the east, Oliver simply used his wind to redirect them.
With the wind and how much he was huffing, he looked like a steam train running on its railway. Arthur laughed and dodged another attack from behind.
The marathon of the middle was more tiring than Arthur thought since he had to use his mana to protect him from the wind. It proved to be more mana-efficient than using the barrier.
Arthur's perception made him pick up an attack from the front, but he didn't see what it was. Hastily, he constructed a barrier and it deflected the attack.
'It's…' Arthur looked on with a frown as he realized it wasn't a deliberate attack, but a natural phenomenon. 'A mana disturbance.'
When there was a natural mana-rich area, it would create a contrast with the surroundings. Jerano seemed to be one of these areas and the residue mana tried to diffuse to the surrounding. It was akin to the phenomena of air traveling from high-pressure areas to lower pressure areas.
However, mana was a lot more destructive.