364 Chapter 364: Docked (1/2)
I glanced around at the other representatives who had gathered in the docks that was specified in the email. All of us had gathered here today for the fourth stage of the second qualifying round, and there was a mix of excitement, anxiety, glee, triumph and fear among the students milling about. Already I saw some people approaching each other to form alliances and scheme with each other to pick out specific targets.
There were a few who glanced in my direction and I knew that they were intending to eliminate me as soon as possible. If this was the typical web novel, their reasoning would be the cliché stupid ”because he is trash”, which made absolutely no sense when you thought about it. If I was truly trash, then they wouldn't waste time trying to get rid of me, and instead focus on the more dangerous opponents who actually posed a sizeable threat to their title challenge.
Nope, they were targeting me because they were highly aware of how dangerous I could be, with my summoning ability. Most of them had witnessed firsthand how I arrived in the Olympus City Hall atop the back of a dragon (Draco). Combine that with my reputation, they knew that they had to eliminate me before I could summon my big guns…or I would essentially dominate the stage. Well, not dominate as one-sidedly as you would imagine – there was still the chance that all the other representatives would gang up on me had overwhelm my strongest Constellation spirits and Celestial Guardians with sheer numbers. No matter how powerful I was, there was no way my individual pool of mana could compare to the combined mana total of almost fifty other students'.
Fortunately, ever since the location was revealed last night, I had – along with Harrison and the rest of my team – come up with what I hoped was a decent plan.
Glancing at the environment, I took note of what I could use to my advantage. The docks, as we called them, was a collection of piers and jetties built upon the Arctic shore. Despite the perpetual cold, the sea wasn't completely frozen because saltwater had a lower freezing point than pure water (about negative four degrees Celsius as opposed to zero degress Celsius). Even if the sea was frozen, it was still traversable. Usually, only the surface of the sea was frozen, so the shipping companies used a special type of ships called Icebreakers to plow through the icy surface. Using hulls that were strengthened both magically and technologically, they could shatter even the thickest of ice and sail through the frozen seas that embraced Aurora City's snowy shores.
The setting for today's stage was the entire dock area, which included the warehouses where the goods shipped by sea were stored before being delivered via transport to their respective destinations. There was a small shipyard where shipwrights and technicians could effect minor repairs and refittings for damaged and battered ships, either through technological or arcane means. That would make for a decent battleground. Then there were the various piers, where ships were anchored, slightly bobbing in the gentle waves, or held extremely still because their keels had been frozen in place by the icy sea.
In other words, plenty of hiding places. This would have benefited Cody more if he wanted to subscribe to his usual stealth and assassin techniques, hiding in the shadows, only to lunge out and catch an unsuspecting prey by surprise.
”The rules are simple,” the tournament staff was informing us. ”Don't leave the stipulated area, no killing allowed, no action with malicious intent allowed either. Those who are knocked unconscious will be automatically eliminated.”
If you were wondering how they would know when someone was knocked unconscious, well…I could explain that with one word. Magic. Almost like a virtual reality simulation, the moment someone lost consciousness, he or she would be automatically teleported out of here.
Consulting the holographic map that had been emailed to me via my smartphone, I took note of the stipulated area and smiled when I remembered that it included a large swathe of the sea. In other words, as long as I was within the boundary, I could take cover under the sea if I had to. That made things a lot easier.
My friends had laughed when I suggested the idea yesterday.
”You're kidding, right?” Craig had asked. I had shaken my head.
”Nope. I'm dead serious. I should be able to make use of the underwater environment to my advantage.”
Dong Fang Yue Chu had guffawed as well, but for different reasons.
”That's a crazy plan, but I like it! I can't wait to see what the expressions of the other representatives will be like when they find out you've been hiding underwater all this time!”
”Yeah.”
”Hmm…” Harrison had pondered on my suggestion, having taken it more seriously than the others. ”That sounds like a good plan. Remember, there are two ways to gain points. One is by eliminating others – you earn a number of points for each person you defeat. The second is the order in which you remain – meaning, the longer you survive, the more points you gained. As you recall, the last 10 remaining gain an extra 10 points each.”
Of course, the only way to end up being the last 10 was to eliminate others, so we couldn't just hide and avoid conflict totally. In fact, the amount of points we received from defeating other participants were significant, to the point that it was possible to score more points than the last ten survivors, provided you took out a lot more opponents than they did, and they didn't actually actively participate in combat. Of course, that was unlikely, considering how greedy everyone was for points, and only the teans with the top twelve tallies would qualify for the knock-out stages. There was too much at stake to play safely and passively.
”It's just for as long as until I can summon my Constellation spirits or Celestial Guardians,” I had assured my friends, who looked unconvinced.