Vol. 8 - Ch. 411 - First Action - That which telltale the outcome

At last, the D-rank promotion exam for ‹Eden› had begun.Like usual, we swiftly split into two teams and dashed out of our base as soon as the buzzer resonated from the screen in the air.

There were two castles we had to contend for this time. One of the reasons for splitting into two teams was precisely this, each one aiming for ‹Central East Big Castle› and ‹Central West Big Castle› respectively.

Other big castles could still be claimed another time, but it would be detrimental to lose head start here. After all, there were just 10 members. Considering the strategic importance of central Big Castles, an all-out effort was must here.

The Opposing team’s action was hidden from my sight due to the audience seat in the center, but I reckon our thoughts shouldn't be that far.

Charging at ‹Central West Big Castle› was Team A—comprising Rika, Karua, Celia, Lulu and I. While Team B, composed of Lana, Shizu, Ester, Sierra and Pamela, was charging at ‹Central East Big Castle›.

Hmm, does this party setup sound familiar? Well ofc, it wasn't a mere coincidence we had split into the same team as during the Int-mid dungeon. A better way to put it would be the team distribution for Int-mid in hindsight was a warm up exercise to strengthen team members coordination.

With Sierra and the girls taking command for ‹Central East Big Castle›, we made our way to the ‹Central West Big Castle›. Taking the lead was the tag team of mine and Karua.

Finally, the opposing team was also in our sight. Let's see, a group of 5 members moving in sync? Uh-huh, they're losing the chase.

This was NG. The first window of opportunity was all relient on the team's agility. And matching your pace with slowest members was the last thing you would want to do—no, should never be chosen.

Considering the plus side of this strategy, it wasn't a bad move. Like the squares without the protection period was the perfect place to instigate PvP battles. Strength lies in numbers and they could avoid possible wipeout by the hands of the opponent that way. Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Albeit, what they were doing was truly putting all their eggs in one basket. A constant pace you say? It was like having an umbrella to defend against the rain, but forgetting the puddle right beneath your feet.

Thwart ya opponent with the speed that leave them light-years behind—was the famous strategy of ‹Dungeon Activity› players. Because, if you don't do that much,

"Karua, let’s destroy their route to the Big Castle."

"Hn. Gotch!"

" "Oh, no!" "

Yes, stay slowpoke and your opponent would snatch away the chance by taking down squares adjutant to Big Castle.

A scream rose from the ‹Flash of Flower› guild members as they saw Karua and I—we decided to postpone the raid on Big Castle for later—dying the adjacent squares in ‹Eden› color.

Honestly, the tag-team of Karua and mine was unbeatable in speed within the ‹Eden›. And taking down the squares before the tardy ones could reach was a piece of cake.

With the rule that you couldn't attack Big Castle unless the adjacent squares were down, the ‹Central West Big Castle› was pretty much in our bag.

"Rika, Lulu, Celia. Let's get it down in one minute!" (Zephyr)

"Alright, on it!" (Rika)

"Roger!" (Lulu)

"Very well. Then, here I go. ‹Ancient Spirit Art›! ‹Advent of the Great Spirit›! ‹Glacieus›!" (Celia)

With just over a minute left in the protection period of the adjacent square, Rika and other finally caught up with us and immediately followed with all-out attack,

"Kuh, this place has already fallen into the enemy's hands! To the ‹Southwest Big Castle›!"

" "Understood." "

A frustrating gasp escaped out of our opponent as they watched us taking down the Big Castle and seemingly given up here, turned on their heels to target another Big Castle.

Alright, 10/10 for this. I have to give in to them considering how ‹Best of the Best, the Great Star› all kept watching us raking the point while slamming their attack on the protection barrier. Well, I guess I shouldn't compare our current opponent with amateurs.

"And that's a cinch." (Zephyr)

"Yay!" (Lulu)

Rika's attack snatched away the last silver health of Big Castle, and with this, ‹Eden› was ahead with c1 in our bag. Lulu hopped up and down at the result.

"Brace it, guys. Our next target is ‹Northwest Big Castle›."

"Hn, what about the southern castle?"

Hearing our next target, Karua pointed at the ‹Flash of Flower› guild members gunning for ‹Southwest Big Castle› and asked. We can catch up with them if we leave now was what she was implying.

Right, that was feasible. We could catch up to them, but that was all. On the other hand, Rika and team would obviously lag behind which means in the case we couldn't overtake them, it would turn into a contest over the Big Castle. 2vs5 was barely any help, if not totally disadvantageous at all. And ‹Precise Time Attack› required numbers.

With all odds against us, embarking on the opponent's turf was a foolish move. Taking a risk here and showing an uncool side to my students wasn't in my schedule today—except winning.

"No, northwest it is. Forget about the southwest for now."

"Hn, okay."

I like that 'no follow-up question' attitude of her. It would have been a pain to explain all this when we're doing a race against time.

Afterward, we scored ‹Northwest Big Castle›, just as planned.

I glanced up at the screen and saw 4000 points adding to our score, it seems like Team B also managed to snag ‹Central East Big Castle› and ‹Northeast Big Castle› as well.

Scoreboard:

‹White - 8550P› vs ‹Red 4,520P›

‹White taking the lead by 4030P›

‹Secured Big Castle - White (4) & Red (2)›

‹ETA - 33 minutes 38 seconds›

‹Members Left - White (10) & Red (10)›

Alright, ‹Eden› first move—a huge success.