The Hell Desert was a hostile bio designed to drain the stamina and patience of the contestants. The relentless heat distorted the horizon, and the shifting dunes made every step a grueling effort. Despite the extre conditions, the Dragon Academy’s vanguard maintained a tight, disciplined diamond formation, shielding their vulnerable flag-bearer.
"Are we just going to keep running?" Austin asked, running on Carl’s right side. His boots kicked up heavy plus of scorched sand.
"The sand is annoying, but we must!" Rose who stood on Carl’s left answered. She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, clearly unaccustod to such physical exertion without her mobility spells to aid her.
"Rose! We can’t use our weapons, can you still cast spells without your staff?" Kent who was running behind Carl asked, staring at Rose. As a physical fighter, the weapon restriction had severely hampered his skill tree, and he was worried about their primary caster’s damage output.
"Yeah! Without my staff, my magical Damage will drop by 30%, but that isn’t an issue." Rose answered. Her tone was confident; a true caster of the Dragon Academy knew how to channel pure energy through their own spiritual pathways, even without a weapon.
Hitachi was moving ahead of Carl, his colorful celestial eyes were moving from right to left with such speed that defied logic. His unique bloodline trait allowed him to see the hidden energy currents beneath the physical terrain, painting the desert in hues of danger and safety.
"Stop!"
With his words, the four behind him forced their shoes in the sand, stopping two feet behind him. The sudden halt kicked up a wave of dust, their academy training overriding their montum.
"What happened?" Austin asked, moving his gaze all over the place. To his normal human vision, there was nothing but endless, undulating dunes.
"There is a kraken before us, right below the sand... If we move closer, we will disturb it." He moved his gaze around the place:
"Although it’s only Lv200, we need to try and avoid a battle... That’s the Captain’s order." He said, and exhaled:
"Follow in a straight line. Austin, stay behind , Carl; you’ll be behind Austin. Rose will be behind you, and Kent will cover us from behind, understand?"
The group nodded their heads. They understood the logic perfectly. In a survival race, engaging a high-level boss monster would only waste their precious energy and alert other teams to their position.
"Let’s go."
Hitachi turned, and ran towards another direction, the four following behind him, as they moved past the kraken. They treaded lightly, minimizing their acoustic footprint on the shifting sands.
"I have heard about these krakens, but I haven’t seen one in person... How do you think they look like?" Kent whispered in a low voice.
"They are Squids with 20 tentacles." Rose gave a straight answer, stunning Kent.
"Twenty? Isn’t that too many?"
"It is, but what can you do about it? They don’t just have twenty tentacles, they could also move In the sand, and are poisonous..." Rose added, moving her gaze all over the desert. The biology of the Hell Desert creatures was uniquely adapted to bypass standard physical defenses.
"Not to ntion all Krakens are Boss monsters... Just follow young master Hitachi."
With her warning, Kent remained silent, as the group continue their journey, following Hitachi as they kept on avoiding more Krakens and traps on the way. Under his celestial guidance, their path was a masterclass in stealth and efficiency.
____
[On the other side - Sword Academy’s Team.]
While the Dragon Academy navigated with precision, the Sword Academy’s lack of cohesive teamwork imdiately triggered the desert’s automated defenses. A massive displacent of sand erupted in their path.
BOOOOM!!!
Andrew Sword leaped backward, landing on the sand, a frown on his face:
"How co we stumbled into a trap?!! Not only that, we also disturbed two krakens!!" He snapped, turning his head to Nirvana. His impulsive nature had led the vanguard straight into a hazard zone.
"Hey!! My bangles can detect frequencies, but it can’t detect Krakens!! Besides, it’s your fault for running ahead." She said, wiping off the sand on her uniform. Nirvana’s arrogance was a hallmark of her elite status, and she refused to take the bla for the hidden chanics.
"You---"
"--Calm down both of you." A muscular guy stepped forward, and pointed his finger at the two Krakens before them:
"Andrew, you will assist to deal with the one on the left. Nirvana and Ethan will take care of the one on the right... Ophelia, you deal with the traps, and make sure to protect the flag." He instructed, staring at them:
"Do you understand?" Honky’s imposing presence and high-tier Knight class naturally placed him in the leadership role, forcing the bickering mbers to focus.
"Yes."
"Alright."
The four nodded their heads in agreent.
"Good, let’s go, Andrew!" He shot into the air, the sand scattering from his movent.
"Die you beast!!!"
He arrived above the kraken, and channelled all his energy into his fist:
"Knight Judgent!!!"
A huge ethereal knight appeared behind him, and threw a punch towards the kraken. The skill projection was massive, illuminating the desert with the raw, blinding authority of the Sword Empire’s heavy combat arts.
"Die!!"
BOOOOOOM!!!
The ethereal knight smashed the kraken into the sand, sending shockwaves all over the place. The sheer blunt-force trauma shattered the beast’s subterranean armor.
"Yes!!! That’s Honky!! He is suited being the strongest Knight in our academy!!" Andrew yelled, as flas surrounded both his fists:
"It’s my turn!!"
He got in a fighting stance, and moving all his flas towards his right fist:
"Warrior Explosion!!!"
He struck a punch at the air, sending a torrent of flas towards the collapsed Kraken. The fire elental damage layered perfectly over Honky’s physical break, maximizing their damage output.
"Die!!"
BOOOOM!!!!
".....?!"
Everyone blinked, staring at the burnt body of the kraken. The notification chid silently, granting them the experience for the boss kill.
"They killed it." Ophelia said in surprised, she was from Earth, so seeing the two strongest in the academy show their strength was sothing she could only dream of. The power scaling of the local galaxy’s inhabitants was still a terrifying spectacle to her.
"Seems they’re done."
Nirvana walked towards the second kraken, she raised both her hands into the air, as her two bangles flew out from her wrists and divided into ten.
"Thee the light, is the darkness, bind all things under my will."
The bangles grew in size, even bigger than the 15 ters tall krakens. The magical constructs expanded rapidly, hovering like halo rings above the thrashing beast.
"Seal my victims to endless suffering."
BOOOOM!!!
The bangles dropped on the kraken, and reduced in side, tightening it in place. The magical bands locked onto the beast’s appendages, restricting its movents completely.
"....?!"
Everyone watched in surprised, as the bangles sucked out all the energy in the Kraken, instantly, it dropped to the ground, its body shattering into dust. Nirvana didn’t just deal physical damage; she aggressively drained the target’s HP and energy pools simultaneously until nothing remained but ash.
"So weak, and you dare stop this All-bloodlines." Nirvana said with disgust, retrieving back her bangles.
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