Chapter 173: Chapter 172: Fear Challenge

Chapter 172: Fear Challenge

In the meeting room of the hotel, all the students of the Hero Academy were present.

“Surely you heard about what happened yesterday and must have read the communique from the tournament authorities,” Edward said, and seeing that the students nodded, he revealed. “I have asked for this meeting to better explain the situation.”

The authorities hid the battle very well, and no one had seen how Xu Long was beaten up, however, that he went to a hospital with injuries was known to others.

It was reported that there was a confrontation between two students and that it ended with Xu Long being ‘lightly’ injured.

The authorities criticized this behavior and ordered conflicts to be resolved in the coliseum officially, like this time they ordered the students who clashed to do it again in the arena.

The date was already set and some of the people present looked at Alice curiously, while others were worried.

“Why was it that you two clashed?” asked Jordan with a serious expression.

Unfortunately, yesterday was late, and they didn’t have time to explain what happened and only a message was sent to keep everyone informed, mentioning that everything was resolved.

It is for this reason that they met today.

Edward looked at Alice when he heard that question and she opened a bag of chips and...

“I throw and stomp on my chips,” she mumbled.

A clear and concise answer, which strangely made Jordan nod, as if he thought it made sense.

Jordan, as someone who also threw and stomped on Alice’s chips, could understand the answer better than anyone else.

There were strange looks and some frowns, yet no one could say anything.

There was a reason for that...

“Are you an S-Rank?” asked Alexey curiously.

Xu Long ended up injured in this confrontation and was defeated earlier, which meant that the person who defeated him had to have similar strength... Being an S Rank!

Alice, under the gaze of the audience, nodded, and Edward intervened at that moment.

“This was a hidden card from our academy and I didn’t inform you because I wanted everyone to do their best and not get carried away,” Edward said, and looking at some of those present among the B-Ranks, he added. “We have other hidden cards, so don’t be surprised if one day you see a classmate get a heroic victory.”

People relaxed when they were next to someone stronger.

Thoughts of letting someone else take over, giving up, and avoiding battle were often normal.

An A-Rank group would not show the same performance next to an S-Rank as standing alone.

After all, in one situation, they might depend on someone and relax, while in the other they would be alone and had to depend on themselves.

It was possible that the experts would show the same strength, but that was another matter.

“Since the duel is personal, unfortunately, the winner will have no points,” Jordan interjected, getting some people to let out a few chuckles.

It wasn’t like they all knew what Alice’s strength as an S-Rank was, but that didn’t mean they didn’t trust their partner.

“We will have quite a hectic day today, and more so for the students who will be doing the survival challenge and for Jaxon, who has the criminology tournament. However, I expect the others to prepare for the following days,” Edward said solemnly.

Yesterday Vanessa had her healing tournament and got second place taking 3 points, with Paladin Academy getting the 5 first place points while Merlin Academy got third place.

“Most of the fights yesterday were S-Rank, but the fifth group gave us a chance to show how the survival challenge works. I hope the students in that group give them a look at the recordings,” Edward reminded, giving a glance at some of the students.

Yesterday most of the fights were the S-rank ones, among them some lost and some won.

Even in the endurance challenge, the same challenge Edward performed some defeated both opponents.

Merlin Academy, Elementalist Academy, and Beast Tamers Academy were the only ones who could defeat the two opponents, winning all 15 points.

Adventurer Academy, Aetherium Academy, and Druid Academy managed to escape or hold on, earning 10 points.

Of course, not all were victories.

The Demon Hunter Academy and the Russian Academy lost.

Others, like the Priestly Academy and the Scandinavian Hunter Academy, went for the Challenge in Heaven and won.

On the other hand, the fifth group did several challenges, such as the Cleaning Challenge accepted by the Zerzura Academy, which they ended up winning.

In the Amazon Challenge accepted by the Mechanics Academy, the creature they had to hunt ended up escaping, leading them to lose the challenge.

The Paladin Academy, on the other hand, accepted the Survival Challenge and got the victory, and the recordings of this challenge were fundamental to get an idea of how it worked.

The group of Nicole, Alexey, Érica, Leslie, Jordan, and Vanessa would have to participate in that challenge, and it was very helpful to see how it all played out.

“That’s all I had to say. As for the others, I want you to look at the different challenges, especially the Spartan Challenge that you will be doing tomorrow,” Edward added in a solemn tone.

It wasn’t as if all the academies would take the same challenge and it was normal for some academies to choose challenges that they would think they would win.

Still, there were so many challenges taking place at the same time that it was very difficult to watch them all.

******

Andrés walked along, accompanying Cristian and Marc, who looked excited.

“I want to see the Fear Challenge. This is the first person to do it,” Cristian said in a tone full of excitement.

The idea of the Fear Challenge was to face Emperor Victor and not fall to his knees.

However, very few academies chose this challenge, and it was all because of the difficulty and variables present.

To be called a ‘tyrant’ Emperor Victor on an international level did not seem like a good person.

In this sense, this challenge represented the strength of the powerful and only the Paladin Academy dared to accept it, which caught the attention of many people.

Now they were on the platform where the emperor was usually seen every week when he arrived from hunting creatures from the Amazon jungle.

There were many students and even more tourists waiting for the challenge to begin, and they were surrounding the platform.

The trio made a place for themselves and, as Andrés was entering, he noticed an old man with a white beard and a friendly smile, looking at the challenge.

Seeing his research target, Andrés was not surprised and just averted his gaze as naturally as possible.

He always kept track of his targets, but so far he couldn’t find anything remarkable, even though he was connected to their holographic clocks.

The old man watched the challenges, the businesswoman went about her business, and the crook-looking man wandered from bar to bar.

None of them revealed anything suspicious, nor did they communicate with anyone suspicious or have suspicious destinations.

To investigate, they used the empire’s means and although they were excellent, he still couldn’t find anything.

In that sense, the crook went from bar to bar and, even though they had infiltrated their holographic watch and could read messages and listen to their conversations, they could not investigate any deeper.

“Isn’t that the General of the North?” Marc asked in a daze as he saw the group arriving.

In the group was Emperor Victor with his elven assistant, Elder Harris, Director Vincent, and among them was another person.

A muscular man with the appearance of a fierce fighter, though it was only an appearance.

Felix Quiroga, also known as the ‘General of the North’, used as his principal weapon a huge hammer.

At the time when Emperor Victor began his conquest from the south of Argentina, General Quiroga started in the north and thus earned his title of General of the North.

Both had the same ambition and, in the end, Quiroga surrendered to Emperor Victor when the latter won a battle and were now General of the South American Empire.

It was known that Emperor Victor had three SS-ranks under his command and this individual was one of them.

“Normally, he would be on the northern borders because of the tensions between the two giants. I didn’t expect to see him here,” Cristian commented, a bit excited.

While there were several SS-Ranks around the world, their numbers compared to the billions of Earthlings were far too low.

For a country to have an SS-Rank living on their land was, in some cases, a show of strength and also a way to give confidence to the people that their country was strong.

Although it was not as if everyone could afford to have an SS-Rank.

Some SS-Ranks stayed in their countries even though they could not offer them everything they needed, but such nationalism was for those who sought profit a stupidity and for those who had great goals, a limitation.

So it was remarkable that the South American Empire had pillars other than Emperor Victor.

“There are many people present,” Emperor Victor said after greeting and looking at the students, he pointed to his companions and announced. “The three of them will be the ones to judge whether a student passes or not. The goal is for you guys to be able to overcome the pressure of someone stronger.”

Not only was it a matter of not falling to their knees, but a deeper analysis of the performance.

Andrés could understand what he was referring to.

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A person could fall to his knees under pressure from someone stronger, but if he stood up... That was another matter.

Besides, letting other people determine whether the student won or not was a good way to keep them from thinking that Emperor Victor would decide arbitrarily.

It was a pity for Andrés that it was only one person who accepted this challenge.

The Paladin Academy student took the stage courteously, greeting the most powerful individuals.

The student’s name was Elliott Lynch, and he was an S-Rank Paladin.

Worshipper of Zabathza, the Celestial God of Terra nova, is also known as a God of Order of Terra nova and Lord of Purification.

The most powerful gods had ‘subordinate gods’ under them.

Basically, they were gods that had an ‘authority’ or ‘concepts’ within the authority of a more powerful god.

Zabathza was considered a subordinate god under the Goddess of Order and was therefore called the God of Order of Terra nova.

Although he was from Terra nova, he also had some influence in this world and Elliott could use the powers of that god.

He was also an S-Rank swordsman with a knightly style, which made him a rather strong and recognized opponent among the students.

“I’m ready,” Elliott said, showing seriousness and enthusiasm.

Emperor Victor gave a smile and slowly put on a serious expression, revealing a slight pressure.

Everyone present felt as if Emperor Victor had become a powerful enemy and that pressure began to slowly increase.

Andrés felt a slight shiver, and it was more evident for Elliott, who slowly trembled, turning pale.

It was like being in front of a predator that could crush and destroy mountains with its fists... There was no doubt that it was terrifying.

The shiver became sharper and everyone watching felt an enormous pressure as they watched Emperor Victor.

For Andrés, that chill came from the threat the emperor posed and it was such a high threat, his instincts urged him to flee.

That was the instinctive reaction to the powerful... A terror that could naturally spread, a psychological pressure and fear of the strong.

The most extraordinary thing was that the bystanders were only collateral damage and all the weight was on Elliott.

“Ugh...”

In the end, he couldn’t resist the pressure and Elliott fell to his knees, but no one could scoff as each one felt a huge weight on his body.

It was so impressive that each of the spectators trembled or recoiled and the worst thing was that even recoiling didn’t help... Giving the impression that running away was a dream.

However, at the last moment, Elliott bit his lips and raised his gaze as if fighting fear and dread.

Slowly, he stood up and looked at Emperor Victor, demonstrating tenacity and mental fortitude worthy of a paladin.

He was shaking quite obviously, but at this point, so were the spectators and Andrés himself was trying to shake off the shiver and the weight on his back.

If when he met the Zhar-Ptitsa he felt fear before that creature, now Emperor Victor was redoubling that instinctive fear.

The time passed, and when it reached five minutes, Emperor Victor smiled and retracted the pressure.

Now that everyone was looking at him, that man looked very normal and no one could notice the terrifying strength of an SSS-Rank that was hidden in his body.

He was like a crouching tiger that no onlooker could see.

“What do you think?” Emperor Victor asked the ‘judges’.

“His mental endurance was remarkable, but his strength and tenacity in getting up were most impressive,” Director Vincent replied, nodding in satisfaction.

He was clearly giving his approval.

“The aura generates an invisible pressure that people feel on an instinctive level and that instinct creates psychological pressure. To overcome it, you have to fight your fear and your instincts. Elliott managed to overcome his instinct by standing up. Just as expected of a paladin,” Elder Harris commented, giving a solemn look.

The weak-minded would be afraid when facing an individual stronger than them, and such fear was normal.

Facing fears was not something people could do easily and sometimes the fear was too strong.

Perhaps using pressure in this way might not be considered a physical attack, however, it was an excellent psychological attack on an instinctive level.

“You did not reveal your true nature and so the young man was able to cope. That said, the performance was decent.” General Quiroga stated.

When Quiroga referred to ‘true nature’ it caused some to look at each other and gossip under their breath.

Although to the skill users, such words made sense.

Andrés had the feeling of having encountered a powerful beast and did not feel the terror that this beast could provoke.

Basically, it was as if he was encountering a beast that was just passing through and did not seem to want to harm him, such an attitude lessened the pressure they felt.

Of course, that didn’t mean much.

Encountering a powerful beast in passing was less terrifying than a beast that wished to eliminate them, but while it was less terrifying, not everyone could endure it.

“So, it’s settled then. Congratulations, Elliott,” Emperor Victor said and looking around at those present, he explained. “The fear of encountering a stronger individual will restrict you. Your actions will become sluggish and your thoughts will become disorganized, then slowly fear will control you.”

Andrés agreed with those words.

He had faced a life or death situation on the assault mission and fear truly controlled his actions, preventing him from reacting.

“In the line of life and death, fear can define everything. It doesn’t matter if your enemies are stronger. As long as you have control over your fear, you can increase your chances of survival or escape.”

His words carried the wisdom of a man who achieved SSS-Rank and was one of the most powerful people on Earth.

Andrés understood those words deeply.

If at that moment during the assault mission he had controlled his fear, surely the chances of defending himself would have increased.

An A-Rank was powerful, but not invincible, and with his number of drones, things could have changed.

“Right now I have some free time and if you want, you can come and test yourself,” Emperor Victor said and, looking at the spectators, he added. “You may not be able to overcome your fear, but if you face something terrifying, the second time will be simpler.”

Although his words made sense, the spectators hesitated.

If they went, they might be embarrassed, and they might become a laughingstock.

And since this event was being broadcast worldwide, embarrassment meant becoming the laughingstock of the world.

“Sure, if you want, you can also come as a group. Having a partner by your side can always reduce the pressure,” Emperor Victor added, and looking at how many were starting to murmur among themselves, he added. “I’ll wait for you to organize yourselves.”

With that, he turned to the higher-ups.

“I want to go,” Marc declared with a look full of ferocity, looking at other students who were beginning to gather.

“How about we go together, Andrés? If we go as a group, at least I won’t feel so embarrassed if I screwed up,” Cristian said, giving an invitation, getting Marc to nod, wanting to join.

Andrés hesitated for a moment and, in that instant, his heart let out a beat when he saw that the old man with the white beard was about ten meters away from him.

That old man was using a crystal and when Andrés looked at him squinting his eyes, the old man sensing his gaze looked at his group.

Andrés’ heart pounded in panic.

“Oh, using a magical communication artifact?” Marc hesitated as he looked at the old man and, shaking his head, added. “I don’t understand why the old people still choose those methods. They need to be upgraded and use the holographic clocks.”

Marc’s voice was loud and the old man’s expression changed at the disrespectful tone, but that opportunity was seized by Andrés, who averted his gaze as if nothing was happening.

Looking like he was a little embarrassed that Marc was so honest.

“Well, some people prefer the more traditional or magical methods of communicating,” Andrés said in excuse and, feeling the old man’s gaze on his back, he revealed. “I will participate with you.”

“Great!” Cristian exclaimed in amusement and Andrés sighed as he felt he was no longer being watched.

Inside, however, his mind was working on what he had just seen.

The old man was employing a magical artifact of communication that did not appear in the records.

Perhaps he liked such means, but in this day and age where technology was advancing rapidly, communicating with such artifacts was rare.

And that rarity made Andrés want to report it immediately.

After all, maybe they didn’t find anything because the old man used other methods to communicate.

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