Aurora’s Scheme

[Pls read AN. Merry Christmas to you guys, although it's late. Also, happy Boxing day.]

At the end of the corridor that Asher led his team through, which was roughly thirty metres long, there was an open hall that functioned as a junction, having six different tunnels that led to six different paths. When he approached it, Asher smiled at the sight and didn't proceed further; instead waited for the other five teams to arrive.

The first to arrive was surprisingly Wendel's team and not the team that survived the last onslaught of traps, despite Asher having given them a headstart with his map of the traps in the first eight metres.

When he saw Wendel's team arrive, Asher raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. To be honest, Asher had expected this to happen as he had already inspected every student when they were outside so he knew most of their strengths and weaknesses. What he was surprised about was the fact that Wendel's team had arrived a bit earlier than he had anticipated; roughly fifteen minutes after his.

Just like Asher and his teammates, Wendel frowned and didn't proceed any further but instead waited by the side.

Just a few seconds later, another team made their appearance, but this time around, it was one that Asher's entire crew was familiar with. It was Aurora's group, but in front was Lyn leading the way. In the team's original line-up, Aurora was the strongest attacking force whereas Lyn was the team's main scout so it was natural for her to lead the path.

Right after the team of eight appeared, the cave suddenly became colder. Both sides were staring at each other with venom in their eyes. This was especially so for Aurora, who stared at Asher as if she was about to attack in the very next second. If it weren't for Wendel and his team's presence, Asher didn't doubt that she would have done so right away.

After a short while of glaring at Asher, Aurora turned her attention forward.

"Oh, I see. Six tunnels. Is that why you cut down the numbers?" Aurora grinned as she glanced at Asher once again.

Asher remained calm at her provocation and acted as if he hadn't heard a word. How could he not know what she was trying to do?

Aurora was aware that her team alone didn't stand a chance against Asher, but at the same time, she knew that Wendel was more antagonistic towards her than Asher and this was a bad thing. If a fight were to break out, not only would she be held down by Asher's team but Wendel's would even be on the offensive against hers. So, Aurora decided to drive a wedge between them.

The statement might have seemed harmless but in actuality, Aurora was trying to imply that Asher had noticed that up ahead, there were only six tunnels and so, had decided to take down one team, making them six in total.

Normally, this assumption would have sounded illogical to the ears of any of the other students who heard it, but after witnessing the fact that Asher had a third-stage Guardian mental power -at least-, it made them feel like they knew nothing about him.

If Asher was able to hide for long this prowess of his, who was to say that it was simply limited to that of a third-stage Guardian? Who was to say that he didn't have any more tricks in hand? These questions became even more worthy of considering for someone like Wendel who had witnessed Asher and Aurora facing off against each other. What more, her teammates, except Lyn, were all knocked out, and without witnessing the battle for himself, Wendel knew nothing of Asher's abilities and true strength.

In summary, Aurora's seemingly offhand remark was actually a reminder of sorts to Wendel that he should keep his eyes on Asher.

'I underestimated her. Who would have thought that the royals train their children to scheme even from such a young age.' Asher sighed inwardly but he wasn't too worried.

If Wendel and Aurora teamed up against him, although Asher wasn't a 100% assured of victory, especially if Lyn and Emma joined the fight, he was capable of suppressing them and even escaping unharmed.

'It can't be helped. I've only unlocked the increased training speed passive of my constitution, which counts for a mere 10% of its full power. Aurora and Lyn however, seemed to have unlocked at least 40% of their constitution, gaining not just an advanced cultivation speed but also special spells and abilities linked to their constitutions. That alone would make them capable of suppressing me together if not for my past life's battle experience and knowledge. A heavenly constitution is definitely no joke.'

This wasn't to say that the reincarnated Yi Feng couldn't hold his own against a group of children, but instead his body and magic power was limited compared to theirs. The resources the quartet had enjoyed since young were well ahead what he had access to. Even their physique was better than his, and the artefacts they wielded was definitely better, both in terms of quantity and quality.

All this was due to the fact that the Arnhaunt family was currently in decline after spending most of their resources in war against the Terreans and constantly being suppressed by the royals. Apart from that, three of his possible opponents were of royal blood while the last was the treasured daughter of the third most powerful man in the kingdom, the All-rounded duke.

Nonetheless, the original note was that Asher wasn't 100% sure of victory because he didn't know the kind of artefacts they wielded, but that didn't mean he wasn't at least 80% sure of victory.

Three million years of existence with over a thousand years worth of combat experience and experiencing deadly scenarios was no joke. If he didn't utilise his past life's experience or spells, Asher's defeat would be spelt in gold. But by utilising them all, even if the quartet possessed heaven-defying physiques and constitutions[1] along with incredible artefacts, as long as the power of the items didn't exceed the strength of a fourth-stage Guardian mage, Asher wasn't worried.

In the case the power of their artefacts exceeded that of a fourth-stage Guardian mage, which Asher believed there was only a 20% chance for such to happen, he still wouldn't lose but would find it hard to achieve victory.

Since he had nothing to fear, Asher wasn't bothered about Aurora's ploy and remained sitting cross-legged as he stared at the six paths.

Aurora frowned seeing as Asher was unresponsive to her words, but she finally ignored him and walked towards a different side with her team.

About 10 minutes later, the next group arrived. It happened to be the team Asher had provided a short map. Just like the rest, they sat off in one side and waited. Although they didn't know why the others were waiting, they were disinclined to make the first move after their prior experience at the entrance and the first 10 metres within the cave.

Five minutes later, another team arrived. It was the last complete squad, the one who had a cautious individual as the team leader. Like the former team, they also took a spot off to the side and waited.

Another five minutes passed by and the final group made it in. It was the team that had only three members present because the rest had no interest in exploring the cave.

Due to their lack of numbers and weak power, the team leader had taken a more cautious approach towards things. This could be seen from the events before. While he had indeed dashed into the cave with the two teams before, he didn't lead his group to attack Asher and had moved right behind the others. This resulted in his 3-man team surviving the catastrophe as they managed to react in time and step back.

Since all six teams were now present, Asher had no reason to keep sitting still. It was already noon of the second day and the test would soon be over. Asher planned to spend the second day exploring this cave, and the third day hunting for monsters and seizing tokens, so the sooner he moved, the better.

[1] Physiques and constitutions are different.