Opening of the competition for the royal crown
After she announced that, there were some huge letters in the air that formed the sentence she said, a happy song played quickly and there were some confetti that flew through the air, as if they were celebrating something big.
So Daizou was right about being a dispute...
/Whispers! Whispers!/
People around started talking to each other. It seems to be a surprise to many.
- Calm down guys, it seems that you are excited and curious to know what this means! And I will explain everything to you! :3 (ADM)
She made a gesture that made an image appear above everyone as if it were a board with information and some images and words began to appear as she was talking.
- As most of you already know, the kingdom of Trinity no longer has a king or queen who commands the entire region, so the throne was empty for all that time. The entire royal district, the area we're in now, was blocked off and not allowed access to anyone who wanted to enter. It's really a shame - -)... but now a new proposal has emerged. After some discussions the kingdom decided to accept the following proposal as a level mission: the person who is elected to succeed the royal crown will have the chance to choose to rule the kingdom of Trinity or proceed to the next level of the Tower! Those in a group can take their teammates with them to participate in royal administration or to the next level. (ADM)
So will at least one of us need to win this competition to make it to the next level? This is good as we have more chances than if we were alone, but wouldn't that be unfair as it favors big guilds?
- The challenges were prepared following the profile that the kingdom of Trinity needs, that's why the Tower presents to you the challenge of the level mission: the 5 virtues of the king! (ADM)
Influence.
Knowledge.
Subject.
Power.
Heart.
These five words appear on the panel in that order.
- The competition will follow this path and when all tests have been completed, the person who gets the best score will then be crowned Queen or King of Trinity! (ADM)
The administrator makes a crown appear in her hands, very elegant and attractive, and extends it for all to see.
It looks like it won't be easy...
I looked to my side and I could see the expressions of excitement on my teammates' faces, they look like they're excited about the competition, but on closer inspection, it seems like all the participants look excited looking at it.
I think this competition involves much more than just this royal crown, just being able to get the best status and be the best in the competition is already a great motivation for many.
Getting that crown represents the determination of each one, and everyone will do everything to obtain it.
The administrator then put the crown away and continued her explanation.
- Now that everyone knows the objective, let's go to the details of the competition. As stated in the announcement of your bracelets, we will have the first challenge later today, but it will be different from what you expect hihi! (ADM)
Then, all of a sudden, some very elegant people started to climb the stage and stand behind the administrator... wait a minute, is that Mrs. Vinna?... And that's Mr. Eldon...
What is happening?
- Now, guys, welcome to the Trinity Royal Assembly! (ADM)
Royal Assembly? I had never heard of them before...
- With the absence of anyone on the royal throne, they are the ones who have taken care of the kingdom since then. You must have already met some of them, isn't that right, folks?! For know that they will be the evaluators of the tests that you will pass, that is, they will be the ones who will evaluate who will be the royal successor and will crown the new king or queen of the kingdom. Thank you for your collaboration! ^^)/
She turned to them and gave her a little bow, and everyone in the assembly also nodded in thanks. In total there are seven nobles who make up the royal assembly. And two of them are Vinna and Eldon. But I cannot consider this a relief.
I don't really know Mr. Eldon, but Mrs. Vinna is a very dangerous person and at worst everyone in the assembly can be just as dangerous...
- Now that we've done the presentations, we'll go on to explain today's event and for that I'll count on Mr. Fearow's collaboration, who will give the necessary information to everyone! (ADM)
Then, the first in line to the right of those lined up on stage stepped forward, made a gesture of thanks, and walked to the front of the stage. He is an elf, but unlike the elves found in the woods, like Miss Lia, his facial features look more like an urban elf and his age must be quite advanced, although his long hair remains completely black. His expression is extremely serious and his gaze shows imposing, but it is not possible to feel any hostility or aura that represents danger. It's as if this expression were his expression of happiness...
- Good morning everybody! Thank you for the administrator's words and presentation. I am Grand Duke Fearow Roreth, responsible for the security of Trinity and strategist for the realm, and I could have the honor of working with the last king who ruled this prosperous place… (Fearow)
Is he the kingdom's strategist? He must be the one in charge of all… and he will be the biggest challenge in this competition.
- ...I wish to be as brief and concise with everyone. I had great admiration and respect for the last king who died an honorable death, and I can rightly say on behalf of everyone in the Assembly that he was a great king! (Fearow)
Everyone behind him nodded.
- Therefore, in the name of the deceased king, to fulfill his last wish, we will choose one of you to continue the great deeds he performed. And we'll make the selection with the greatest perfection and precision possible, that's why we don't mind waiting millennia for someone suitable to take the post, that is, if we think that of all of you there isn't the minimum necessary to be chosen someone, we'll fail everyone until someone who qualifies comes along, no matter how long it takes. So, on behalf of everyone in the realm, I wish that your future will be marked with memories of great deeds.
Everyone on the stage and the soldiers around the square made the same posture by hitting their fist on the left chest region.
It means that we are stuck at that level until we are qualified according to their desire.
- WAIT A MINUTE! WE JUST WANT TO REACH THE TOP FLOOR, WE DON'T CARE ABOUT BECOMING A KING OR SOMETHING…
Someone in the crowd yelled out saying something intriguing, in fact many people might even agree with the idea of competition, but what they really want is to continue the Tower challenges until they reach the top floor...
- Thank you for the observation, Mr Jarry (does he know who said that?), but allow me to fix your mistake, which must be the mistake of many. We do not ask that you become the ruler of this nation to rule it. (Fearow)
What?
/Conversations! Conversations!/
A king who doesn't rule?
- /Sigh/ ...Silence! (Fearow)
.
.
.
.
.
.
What? What happened?
Does it seem like some force made everyone quiet just by his speech?
I also felt a sudden urge to be silent even in thoughts… Can he do that kind of suggestive power? Or was it some specific magic? And he managed to do this with so many people?
- As I was saying, whoever is chosen as a royal successor does not need to rule the nation. The Administrator herself said that whoever wins the competition can choose between ruling the kingdom or going to the next level, couldn't you even interpret that? And how do you expect to continue the Tower's challenges? (Fearow)
…
I hadn't thought of that either… it seems that the challenges we will face will demand more and more of us…
But something doesn't seem right, there's a lot of incomplete information in all the explanations so far...
- Now we will start today's challenge. Lady Vinna, please. (Fearow)
- Right. (Vinna)
She removed the cloth that covered the large object at the back of the stage and brought it to the front. Is it a giant crystal ball?
- Thanks. This object is called a sentinel file, you might think it's some huge magic item, but it's much more than that. The sentinel file will collect information about you which we can't get only with the master guild of Trinity tokens, furthermore you will be transported to a specific place through it which will be the definitive place of challenge. (Fearow)
So isn't the competition here? This changes the plans a bit, it seems that checking the place will not be as useful for the challenge.
- Mrs. Vinna will continue the explanation. (Fearow)
He took a step back and Mrs. Vinna took everyone's attention.
- Thank you Mr. Fearow. Good morning everyone, I think you all know me, but to reinforce it, I'm Vinna Loreyn, responsible for the kingdom's resource management and head of the Trinity master guild. This first challenge will be a preliminary phase of the competition, but it won't be knockout, so don't worry, as Mr. Fearow commented, it will just be collecting information, but surely you wouldn't accept it without some compensation, so we'll give some benefits to everyone who have good results in this test. (Vinna)
[Level 2 - Floor 0]
- First, we ask everyone, one at a time, to place their hand in the sentinel file and then we will go over more details of the challenge. Anyone who doesn't want to play will be disqualified from the competition, but whoever doesn't want to participate in the challenge can withdraw as soon as the challenge starts, as I said, it won't be knockout, so it's okay if you don't want to participate. As soon as they touch the sentinel file they will be transported to the challenge location. Now I ask you to form two lines one on each side of the stage in front of the stairs that give access to the stage. (Vinna)
People started to join the lines and I ended up getting a little closer to the end.
- /Sigh!/...ah!...
The four were also faster than me, Lahri, Kaule, Raild and Adrick are further ahead…
Looks like I'll have to wait a little longer.
I also found Neru and Mya in the other row.
Miss Lia too, but I couldn't find that kid who knows about me...
- Are you looking for someone?
- Yes, I'm looking for a kid with a weird outfit…
- Weird clothes?
- Yeah, but...
Wait, who is talking to me?
I looked at whoever was behind me and it's a dwarf… wait… with elf ears?
WHAT?
- By your expression it means that you noticed about me. You're not hallucinating, I really am a half-elf dwarf ^^)/
- Oh… Nice to meet you… "^^)/
- Nice to meet you too, my name is Betunem and you? ^^) (Betunem)
- My name is Lyunil.
- Are you looking for your brother, Lyunil? (Betunem)
- No, no, no, it's not like that, I'm just analyzing the competitors...
- Ah, it makes sense, it seems that there are a lot of skilled players, doesn't it? (Betunem)
- It seems so…
Betunem seems pretty carefree, but what amazes me most is the fact that he's a half-elf dwarf. These two races have always had difficulties in relating. And yet, your face just shows… peace?
When I'm looking at him with that kind of expression, it's like there's no danger.
- You seem very calm, Betunem. Do you think the challenge now will be simpler than we thought?
- Hmmm, I don't think it will be that simple, but it's just a competition, isn't it? (Betunem)
- You talking like that makes it sound like we're just kidding haha.
- When we give too much importance to things like that, we forget what is really important. (Betunem)
- What's really important?
- Yes! (Betunem)
- Interesting observation...
***
During the time I was in line, waiting for my turn, I was talking to Betunem and I realized how simple and optimistic he is. He ended up revealing even his abilities to me so carelessly. He's from the Arkis division and has skills related to sound, many call him a magic bard or something like that. Even saying all this and after a conversation like this, I wouldn't dare even think about taking advantage of Betunem, I feel he's in the wrong place having such a gentle heart in such a dark place like this Tower, but he must have the his reasons for being here.
My turn came, I went up to the stage, looked a little at the representatives of the Assembly and put my hand on the large object.
It started to glow like it did with the other participants, but…suddenly the light started to turn orange… I saw that there were some cases where people had the color changed too, but in other colors like purple or dark blue, but I hadn't seen anyone with the light in that color. Then a magic circle appeared under my feet and transported me to the challenge. A few moments before I was transported I could hear someone saying in a low voice:
- ~Let's keep an eye out….~
But I couldn't hear the rest of the sentence. I think now I'm going to start being watched even more… Ah… it must be something like "irregular person", "error", "unknown class". Could I not have the chance to be treated normally, my dear fate?
By the way, where am I? It appears to be a jungle… tropical? This type of vegetation is only found in the westernmost regions of the continent, isn't it?
But it has a lot more vegetation than I expected it to be. I can't see anything too far away because of the plants.
Wait… where is everyone?
I went to take a step but ended up bumping my face against an invisible barrier. I'm stuck?
I checked the four directions and it really is a magical invisible cell.
I need to find my teammates, I don't think it's a good idea to continue the challenge with everyone separated, but I'll have to wait until something happens with this barrier...
["Attention, players!"]
Suddenly, Mrs. Vinna's voice began to speak from all directions. The same way the Vice Master of the Tower did me.
["This is the challenge site, although it looks like a biome known to many, don't be fooled by appearances. All players are already present and so I'll start with the explanation: you were placed in completely random places within this region, when the challenge starts each one will receive a collar around their neck and the challenge is simple, the more collars you collect from other players , more rewards or benefits will receive, whoever does not want to participate in the challenge just remove their own collar and will be transported back to Trinity immediately. What we want to evaluate in this challenge, in addition to field skills, is the decision-making of each participant"]
Decision making? Do you mean they want to assess what each one intends to do?
["There are three types of collar that will be randomly distributed among you, most will be red that is worth one point, some will receive a golden collar that is worth five points and only one player will receive the white collar that is worth fifty points, at the end of the challenge we will say o number of points according to the prizes and benefits that can be distributed. It is noteworthy that we are not responsible for the deaths that occur among the participants, as said, the challenge is not eliminatory from the competition. Now that all the information has been said, you have a minute to prepare and the barriers will be removed, any questions and explanations have been added to each one's Skylets, good luck to everyone"]
Skylets?
Suddenly my bracelet glowed. When I went to check, it was the information that Mrs. Vinna had commented on. So the name of the bracelets is skylet…
But more important than that is this bunch of information that was given now!
She said that they will evaluate our decisions, but they also said about who wants to give up, it seems obvious that whoever gives up will already have a bad evaluation when it comes to decisions, but she also said that they are not responsible for the deaths that happen... that means that the best way to avoid getting killed would be to give up?
Even if I hid during the entire challenge at some point I would have to risk taking someone's collar otherwise it would be better if I gave up from the start, but the fact that the collar is around the neck makes it even more difficult to act stealthily...
I hope Betunem is okay, but I'm even more worried about my teammates, if I'm lucky I might end up finding one of them near me, but how am I going to be able to find them without knowing where to go… this kind of situation must be part of evaluation too.
[The challenge will start in three, two, one… Start!]
I feel something come up around my neck. I check if the barrier has been removed… I can walk freely.
Right!
And what I felt on my neck must be the collar, which collar I got...
Wait…
How am I supposed to see which collar I got?!
If I take her out, I'll give up the challenge and be transported back to Trinity!
Damn it! I hope it was a red one, I can't draw any more attention... if it's white or gold... Ah...
I need to find some water reflection… But with all this crop around I can't know where to go or which side might have water, plus I might end up finding another player before I figure out which collar I got…
It seems that challenges are getting more and more complicated!