Chapter 70: Landing

Words : 1285 Updated : Sep 12th, 2025

Chapter 70: Landing Instructor Falco downplayed the test so hard that Luca felt like he was scammed. How was it just a test when the school was suddenly turned upside down like a major sports event was about to take place? Although Luca seemed to be the only one late to the party, this must have been common knowledge to everyone else. They all gathered by the arena while the viewers stayed by the bleachers. Luca was also surprised to see that the audience included parents and even other military officers. Wow. Luca could never attend a large school like this since he wasn’t allowed near the Awakened, so he’d never seen such a display of school spirit. Several classmates looked serious, which clearly meant that the test wouldn’t be easy. But Luca wasn’t as nervous as the assessment exam. He was thrilled at how this gathered so many people, including his friend and several people from the Duchy. Luca blushed at the thought and, at first, hoped his suspicions were wrong. However, when at least ten strongmen who looked ready for battle displayed a giant streamer of his face, there was no denying it anymore. And for a moment, he wanted the ground to swallow him. But he felt giddy at the thought that people were supporting him. And, of course, there was Ollie, who kept waving from the bleachers. He even had a signboard with him and tied a streamer around his head as he used his clappers to attract Luca’s attention. Now, Luca may not be nervous, but Ollie was practically shitting bricks in fear. He did ask a few of their servants to send over some offerings to the temples on their planet. The more, the merrier. He didn’t really concern himself with which religion, but he figured that sending offerings to more gods would be better, right? Most knew the nature of these exams. They were always different, but they were never easier than the first. And Ollie was not alone in knowing that. If one sworn brother was keen on his pray-over strategy, the Duchy of Kyros was more into overwhelming the opponents before the match even started. Hence the display of military might. Back at the duchy, the Duke had set up a giant viewing deck and prepared their terminals to make great waves for when their Young Lord showed up in the live stream. At first, it wasn’t beneath them to try and buy a slot to have their own cameras following around their Lord, but one sensible attendant said that each student would have a live room anyway and having their own cameras might damage the Lord’s reputation, or worse, his concentration! "!!!" Of course, the people didn’t want that and decided to pretend to be sane people. When the live stream resumed after a short intermission, viewers saw the students inside various airships. Luca listened intently to the announcements. He felt like he was really correct in overloading himself with spiritual fruits before the exam. "Each person would get the same set of initial equipment. Three packs of nutrient solution, a phantom gun, an unopened melee weapon, and your mission badge." The instructor held the badge up so everyone could see it gleaming in the light. Then, he demonstrated how fragile it was by effectively shattering it after squeezing it. "The goal is to keep your badge intact until you get to the final mission location. Clues are hidden throughout the examination area, and you have 72 hours to find the final mission location." "For the elimination, the sensors on your combat suits would switch to red to denote a kill; as for the rest, you’ll see it when you get there—good luck to all of you." The test area was outside the dome, which suddenly teemed with rolling mountainous areas covered in thick rain mist. This was a swamp. The dense trees were sure to make the examination more difficult. A total of 500 students, 250 pairs, were randomly placed in locations around the mountainous area. This view was broadcast all over Starnet. Major Military schools throughout the Empire were definitely tuned into it, and those from the Junior Military academies were even more invested. Their schoolwork was even related to this exam. Ten pages of battle and strategy analysis have got them preparing to stay up in cycles just to cover the 72 hours. Yes, the stream could be recorded, but who wants to rewatch everything to find the best parts? You might as well watch it with gusto once while the action is taking place. One of the students who had prepared a cushioned seat just for this asked, "The Azren twins are participating, right?" "Yeah, but Lord Dominic’s there too. I think he’s ranked one right now." The student yawned as he explained, "Only because Xavier didn’t get to take the exam." "I heard he doesn’t really care about the exams and would barely show up. So, I’m betting Dominic would get the newcomer award." While the viewers talked about their winning bets, the examinees were thrown into the wild. By sheer coincidence, Luca and Xavier, numbered 004 and 028, landed near Jax and his partner, numbered 030 and 024. Greg was glad to see that they landed close to Xavier, just because he knew that Jax was Xavier’s subordinate. That meant they wouldn’t start attacking each other and could even work together! The only thing he didn’t like about this was how Xavier was partnered up with that weak-looking nepo. Even now, while they were all trying to figure out what to do, that guy just kept glancing around like he’s never seen the world. Sheltered. Clearly. Then Greg decided to be the responsible one and called him out: "We’re in the middle of brainstorming; what are you doing loitering around? Are you just here to have fun?!" Greg felt that the others would surely have the same thought, but then Jax suddenly commented. "Are you curious about those?" Jax asked as he pointed at the orbs circling all of them, which had Luca curious. "Those are streaming devices. Everyone has one, so they can see us!" Jax grinned, and Luca returned the gesture. He even waved his hand at the camera before apologizing to the angry student. "Sorry. I didn’t think we’d need to do some brainstorming when the enemies were close. I thought we were just waiting for them to come." Luca shrugged, innocent and apologetic because he was really waiting for that grouped-up pair who noticed them earlier. Luca actually thought that Greg was just calling their attention. After all, the more people they eliminate, the more points they get. However, the not-so-well-meaning Greg found Luca’s words stupid and even wanted to call him out for his lie when a short dagger flew toward him. *Whoosh!* "Oh, they’re here!" Luca said as he sidestepped the dagger smoothly. Greg would’ve been eliminated if not for Jax’s block. And he fell onto his ass in surprise. He wanted to blame Luca for dodging, causing the dagger to almost get to him, but he suddenly saw him squatting down. Now what? Does he not see we’re about to be attacked?! "What the hell are you doing?!" asked the guy whose ass was still planted on the ground. "Ah, this? They say that we should do warm-up exercises before strenuous activity." Luca replied as he stretched his muscles. Greg wondered how this guy even passed, and with a much higher rank than him, who was at 024! But there was really no time for that when more projectiles flew their way, and the people around Greg moved as if on cue.

Chapter 70: Landing

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