44. NET {3}:- Day One.

44. NET {3}:- Day One.

Everyone instantly raised their heads up and turned around to see what caused the explosion.

The explosion didn’t destroy anything within the hall but when everyone turned around, their eyes noticed a large magic circle glowing on the raised platform and within seconds, twenty elder elves emerged from the magic circle.

One of the elders, a male elf, took three steps forward while all the remaining elders stood behind him.

The male elder elf had the appearance of an adult human in his late fifties, but he was more agile and better looking than an average fifty year old human.

The male elder elf stood before the gathering with grace and elegance before addressing everyone in the hall.

“Greetings, esteemed nobles, I am Elder Jang and I welcome you all with great pride and joy to the Junior Noble Elf Tournament. I know many of you have heard about the previous tournaments and how gory it used to be. In the past, the tournament was used to single out talented elven warriors who would be rewarded a high rank in the elven army. They would also be rewarded with lands, golds, artifacts and the right to become a noble. All these were used to inspire more elves to participate in the tournament. During the time of war, our primary goal was to build strong warriors, capable of protecting the kingdom and the royal family, but now, the war is over and a new age has begun. A time of peace and prosperity now reigns between kingdoms across the world,”

Elder Jang continued. “Our goal still remains the same and we intend to make sure the kingdom’s future rests in safe hands. And now, this brings me to the activities you will be asked to do. The tasks you will be asked to do today will be divided into three phases,”

“The first phase will be centered within a forest, your goal is to track and hunt horned rabbits in the forest to earn a maximum of hundred points. Each horned rabbit will earn you ten pointed . Please, take a look at your magical card,”

With Elder Jang’s instructions, everyone took a look at their cards. At the bottom right of everyone’s card, everyone could see [0 point,] written on the card.

“You will have an hour to track and hunt ten horned rabbits, however, there will be Blaze rats lurking around the shadows of the forest,”ViiSiit novelbi/n(.)c/(o)m for latest novels

Right after Jang said this, everyone’s eyes widened in surprise and fear, and a murmur erupted within the hall.

Everyone in the hall were within the rank of Rank One to Rank Three Mage or Knight, so they knew what a Blaze rat was. It was a Rank Two forest beast, capable of harming a Rank Two knight or mage.

The blaze rats were one of the strongest Rank Two forest beasts in the kingdom. They were strong enough to decapitate an experienced Rank Two or Rank Three knight or mage, but this wasn’t the only reason why they were extremely formidable.

The reason why many elves in the hall feared these rats were because Blaze rats hunt and attack in groups.

This means that it will be extremely difficult for a Rank Two knight to fight against a group of Blaze rats on his or her own.

“You will be permitted to fight in pairs if you wish but know that, regardless of the choice you make, we can’t guarantee your safety,” Elder Jang revealed and the murmuring continued once again.

Within seconds, the entire hall was as loud as a marketplace. There were a lot of young elves within the ages of thirteen to fifteen who were beginning to have doubts about their desire to continue the tournament.

“Yes, that’s what I was trying to ----,”

“Oh, so, that’s what he was talking about,” Another young male smacked his palm on his forehead as though he too had just realized what Elder Jang was saying. “Why didn’t I think of this sooner, Elder Jang, just wanted to make sure we won’t be hungry when fighting against a group of Blaze rats,”

“Huh? That’s not what I was----,” Elder Jang tried to explain what he was trying to say but no one wanted to listen.

“Oh, yeah. That makes sense,”

“Indeed, Elder Jang will never want any harm to come to us,”

“That’s why he wants us to eat and gain even more strength before facing against the Blaze rats,”

“After all, we can’t fight on an empty stomach,”

“He cares a lot about us,”

“Why wouldn’t he, we are the future of the kingdom, he has to care about us,”

“Elder Jang is so nice,”

“Actually, I was not---,” Elder Jang paused mid-sentence when he noticed the reduced number of elves remaining in the hall.

Everyone had used him as an excuse to forfeit the tournament.

‘Children, they never cease to amaze me,’ A smile appeared on his face when he noticed those who remained in the hall were still around two hundred elves.

He turned around to signal the other elders to begin chanting the teleportation spell and they began to chant the spell.

While they were chanting the spells, a female elf raised her hands up to ask a question.

Elder Jang permitted her to speak and she asked. “What will the remaining two phases of the tournament be about?”

Since the first phase will be testing the contestants on their abilities to track and hunt, many wondered what the second phase will be about.