At the end of the lecture, Hank spoke on spiritual power. He said it was a kind of power that came from one’s faith and spirit. Each class had a different level and way of obtaining it.
In general, one must gradually experience their intangible power by oneself. The lesson on spiritual power ended just like that, and Hank dismissed his class.
However, it also meant the students’ training against the Magical Beasts would begin the next day. From that segment onward, the students’ lives would be in danger.
…
The night passed silently. Then at five o’clock the following morning, the 450 students who had passed the training camp’s first phase gathered and stood alongside each other on the training grounds.
Considering everyone’s high spirits and auras, they looked much stronger than when they first entered the training camp. The thirteen instructors on the rostrum were also in high spirits.
When the sounds of thirty war drums faded, Old Mur, wearing black sunglasses, said solemnly, “Congratulations on making it to the second phase, rookies! But from today onward, you must be more careful and train harder because you will face pain and death. I am not exaggerating.”
When Old Mur finished speaking, Red Spider explained the second phase’s contents, “We have divided the training and assessments into two major categories. The first category is resistance—the stronger the level, the higher the score. The second will be about taming—we will score you to the taming effect.
“The resistance assessment mainly depends on the defeated beast’s level, and the time the students took to defeat it. There are two levels to the taming assessments. The first is taming, and the second is domestication. The supervisors will then grade the students according to the difficulty level of the beast they tamed.”
The students became even more excited when Red Spider finished her explanation, especially after their theory class the previous day. Everyone wanted to tame a Magical Beast.
“Let’s go, rookies! Destination: Underground training grounds!” Flying Wolf gave the order as the two deputy instructors and ten other instructors led thirty teams into the Magical Beast den.
Rumble!
A loud sound echoed, and a vast underground entrance appeared on the south side of the training grounds. A cold wind blew, causing the students closer to the entrance to shiver.
Some students with more acute hearing could already hear the beasts’ roars.
“Wow, so we’ve been training above the Magical Beasts this entire time?! That’s so exciting!”
“It’s so scary in here!”
“I can’t wait to tame a beast from the Magical Beast bestiary!”
“Don’t get too excited. Be careful, or you’ll make news headlines soon.”
However, the students’ reactions changed after they entered the underground training grounds.
After the students excitedly entered the Magical Beast den, Flying Wolf stood still as the students lied up again and looked back at the entrance. The initially large entrance that was the size of a basketball court turned into the size of a fingernail.
Click!
The Magical Beast den instantly lit up with the sound of fingers snapping. Then the students finally saw densely packed cages in the space around them. Beasts with fierce eyes and bared teeth filled the cages.
Seeing the students’ puzzled expressions, Red Spider said, “This is the ninth floor of the underground training grounds. The remaining eight are below you! There are 100 beast colosseums of various sizes in front of us, with 30 to 50 variations of Magical Beasts on each floor. Each beast has three levels—upper, middle, and lower.
“The same is true for the other floors. However, it will get increasingly difficult as you progress to the higher floors. This is where you will train and where the next ten days of testing will occur.”
When Red Spider finished speaking, a student raised his hand and shouted, “Permission to ask a question, Flying Wolf, sir! Where will we learn to tame the beasts?”
Moss heard this and looked around before looking upward. He noticed several cages floating above and could not help but feel puzzled.
Then Flying Wolf answered, “It’s still too early to start training you guys on taming the Magical Beasts, so let’s first train your spiritual power. But seeing as you guys are so eager, look above you.”
The students raised their heads in unison.
“The eighth floor above is where you will learn to tame beasts! All right, there you have it. Let me emphasize one more rule! You cannot kill the Magical Beasts in battle. You are only allowed to subdue or knock them down.”
The students were shocked when they heard this.
“We’re fighting against protected beasts?”
“It feels like our hands and feet are bound!”
“That’s a strange rule. Why can’t we kill the training camp’s Magical Beasts?!”
Flying Wolf’s face darkened when he heard the students talking so much. His body exuded a strong pressure as he thundered indifferently, “Why are you all asking so many questions?! Just do as I say! Instructors, lead your teams to begin their training now!”
Flying Wolf’s voice was compelling, and everyone instantly shut up to obediently follow their instructors.
…
After leading the teams to the ninth floor’s east side, Kevin, silent the entire time, began to speak, “From now on, you are no longer rookies in my eyes because you have proven yourselves with your strength!
“I hope you can continue to work hard and gain more experience against the fierce Magical Beasts in the second phase of the training camp! This training will be precious to your entire career!
“However, the most important thing to remember is to protect yourselves well and to act with instinct! Deadly dangers await you during this test!”
Kevin earnestly reminded the students of the dangers of this test. The students could not help but perk up and focus their minds.
“Finally, I suggest you start from the ninth floor, use the knowledge you gathered from your lectures, and familiarize yourselves with the various beasts’ habits and characteristics. It will come in handy with your future training and assessments.”
“Sharpening an ax does not necessarily mean it’ll chop wood quicker. I hope you can all understand that statement. Your respective instructors will patrol every corner of every floor, so you can communicate with them anytime if you have any questions. All right, dismissed!”
When the students heard the order to begin, they scattered and looked for suitable Magical Beasts to train with.
Alan noticed Moss only stood still, so he said in puzzlement, “Moss, the students will hog the training grounds if we don’t hurry up!”
Then Baylon reminded his teammates, his face still anxious, “Yeah, there are 450 students, but this floor only has 100 colosseums!”
“I think Instructor Kevin gave us excellent suggestions, so I will use the knowledge I gathered from our lectures to familiarize myself with the Magical Beasts before I train,” Moss said calmly.
Bass became even more anxious when he heard this because he almost got eliminated in the first phase. He had set a personal goal for this phase, so he would never allow himself to fall behind, even from the starting line.
Thus, he said, “Captain Moss, I want to learn as I fight. That way, I won’t waste time.” Then he bid farewell to his teammates and turned to leave.
Seeing this, Baylon also looked for a place to train himself.
Alan felt conflicted when the two left, but he still chose to follow Moss’s lead.
Meanwhile, Mill also chose to stay because she felt safer with Moss and would not have to worry about him. She suggested, “Captain Moss, can we form a three-person study group?”
Seeing how Mill looked at Moss, Alann suddenly felt his presence become redundant.