Chapter CLXVIII - Blue Ranked (part 3)

We arrived at the cliff of a south-western mountain, where a giant waterfall is placed. The giant waterfall is flowing down from the top of the mountain where its source is at. Around the river where the waterfall is falling from, there's ton of pebbles decorating the sides like the beach.

Around us is just a dense short forest. I can hear some wild animals within the forest, like birds and bears.

Before long, the carriage belonging to the testers arrived, and yet the only one who came down is Fran. She walked to a nearby giant boulder and leaped to the top. 

"Now then, all of you please group up in front of me!"

Fran shouted to everyone to get closer to her.

The Green ranked adventurers around me began moving closer to her to see her better. Fran sat down on top of the boulder with her legs flying and moving around while waiting for the adventurers to group.

"Okay, I will begin telling you what the test will be like. The title from this hunt will be 'Run from the Beast'."

Oh… I know this.

"On top of this hill is the finish line. All of you need to start running up that path on the right, and then tried to reach the top from there.-"

Fran pointed at the path on the side of the cliff that leads to the top. That's the only visible way to get to the top.

"-And all of you need to reach the top before you all get beaten down by the beast. And for this test, the beast is simply me."

Fran said as she took out her sword from her scabbard and moved it around.

Everyone else who got the gist of it began shivering. 

This is one cruel test…

"If you all moved too slow, or got held up by the other testers, I will slice you down."

The adventurers shuddered in fear as Fran released a simple amount of pressure just to scare them.

Cruel, indeed… but,

This is really good planning. Well done, guys.

"Now then, if I were you, I'd start running. Try to reach the top of this mountain by the second bell, or else I will start slicing you."

The second bell is merely around an hour away, and the path to the top is guarded by the other testers. Meaning the adventurers need to move really fast, and since it is impossible for them to fight against the high ranking testers, they need to dodge them as fast as they can.

The adventurers quickly began to panic and started running already. 

Tick tock, it is merely an hour away.

I simply stood still and watched as everyone else ran to the path. They crossed the river and got their boots wet, then they ran as fast as they could towards the top.

I turned to Fran and grinned.

"You guys did a really good job in planning."

"Well, we had someone else to suggest this."

"Hod?"

"You know him… The great schemer and the ice king."

"Hahah, schemer. So… what am I going to do?"

"Well you can sit here if you want. We won't fail you anyways."

"Great. Want cupcakes?"

"Y-You have more!?"

I leaped up and sat next to Fran. I gave her the cupcakes inside my space ring I thought I could enjoy while doing the test.

"I baked a few yesterday and ate them myself. I got a stomach-ache from eating too much. Anyways, this is a different taste."

"Hmm, sweet! Strawberries?"

"Yep. You know it."

The two of us just talked about cupcakes for the next hour while eating.

As we eat, we can hear explosions coming from the adventurers at the path. Probably Emily or Brod doing some massive destruction to the adventurers.

"I… told them to hold back against the weaklings, but… I guess even Emily can't hold back sometimes."

Fran said while letting out a sigh, and I laughed at how stupid it was.

"What will happen if I go up there?"

I asked so suddenly, which surprised Fran.

"W-Well… You might reach the top in minutes…"

"Quick question. Do you think anyone can go past Cane?"

"T-That's… I'm sure Cane will let some past…"

"Heheh."

I stood up from the rock, and began stretching. Seeing this, Fran quickly looked startled.

"W-Wait!! Actually, don't go. You might ruin the test!!"

"I'll only annoy Cane a little bit. I won't use my magic, is that okay?"

"T-That… Ugh. Please don't mess up too much."

Fran said while covering her face, and I simply laughed.

"Oh, relax. Who do you think I am? A captain that would ruin her own team's effort? Especially when their team is so nice and kind…?"

Fran peeked her eye from between her fingers, and found me grinning madly at her.

She quickly became more scared.

"Nice job keeping this whole thing a secret from me. I'll be waiting for you at the top!"

And so, I dashed away.

There is about fifteen minutes left on the clock, and it looks like the trip to the top is rather long.

This should be fun.

The first tester I arrived at was Brod. He was stationed at the side of the cliff, where the fall will drop you straight to the forest. From the amount of destruction around this path, it seemed like he was indeed holding back.

There were five adventurers who were still being held back by him. Looks like he was being slightly too strict.

When he saw the red hair flailing around like crazy approaching his spot, he immediately panicked.

"C-Captain!?!?"

I disappeared from my original spot, and arrived exactly right behind him.

"Sup?"

He turned around, and immediately received a smack to the face.

BAARR!!!!!

He was deepened inside the walls of the cliff, and tons of rocks can be seen falling from above into him.

It was not that strong of a punch, as I did not use magic energy. Plus, he defended rather nicely using his magic energy protection. He'll be fine.

I turned towards the adventurers who were having a hard time getting past him, and tilted my head towards the path.

"Come on, now!"

I began speeding up again towards the path, and the adventurers began following as quickly as they could. But then an explosion came from Brod's position as he stood back up.

"You guys are not passing!!!"

Brod quickly rushed to beat down the adventurers that tried to go past him, but some still managed to slip through.

Nice. Next up is Rath.

Rath is rather cheeky with his tactic. His path was a rather dense forest area, and obviously he would hide in the trees.

The adventurers definitely had a hard time going past him, but if Rath was serious, there'd be so many dead bodies lying on the forest ground. His abilities are deadly, after all.

There weren't any adventurers being held back in his position, so Rath was simply waiting for any more people to come.

"Damn, is Brod being too strict? There's like five more that haven't passed…"

Rath mumbled as he waited on the big branch on one of the trees. His bow string is ready to fire an arrow when an adventurer does come.

But then all of his senses screamed, and he did not dare to look behind him. Specifically, on the branch of the tree behind him.

"Well, that's a rather nice hiding spot, Rath."

I said to him, but the moment he turned around, I was already gone.

Laughters can be heard from around the forest as I left him there by himself, and Rath stood up from his position while shivering.

"What the hell was that…?"

Next is Emily. As I thought, she was pretty bad at holding back.

All the adventurers who were facing her are slightly wounded. There's fire everywhere on the trees, and marks of explosion can be seen all over the place.

There are seven adventurers here who got stuck with her, and nearly five of them are wounded quite badly.

"S-Sorry!! I did not expect you to get caught that easily…"

Emily said, but the wounded adventurers in front of her looked quite pissed.

"Then, let us pass!!"

"I-I can't do that!!"

Emily is stuck between wanting to apologize, while also not letting them pass. Being the good person she is, she wouldn't want anyone to get hurt. And yet, five of them have burn wounds.

"Geez, Emily. You really did not know how to hold back?"

A voice came from behind the adventurers, and a single red haired female was walking towards them.

And she has a scythe on her hand.

"C-C-C-C-CAPTAIN!?!?!?"

Emily is pretty surprised to see me, I'd say.

I dashed forward, and gradually got closer with Emily. But then she lifted a powerful wind barrier to stop me from reaching her.

But, my goal was never her.

"You really need to learn back, though…"

I said while casually walking behind her.

Emily turned around with shock, not knowing that I had arrived on the path behind her. After all, my goal was never to attack her. It was to get past her.

Scaring her was a good idea, after all…

Oh, and I healed those guys.

"Emily, watch out behind you."

Emily turned around, and found the adventurers all healed up and held their weapons, ready to fight back.

Seeing this, she obviously panicked.

I chuckled as I began reaching the final destination with explosions occurring behind me.

The final destination is a wide open area above the mountain. There's a single large red circle mark placed on the floor, and there's a few adventurers sitting inside that circle, all tired and glad.

That is the passing circle. Everyone who enters that red circle will pass the test, and it looks like five people have passed already.

It was a big circle, and one can just enter it from any position.

But, this might've been the hardest test of all.

Because the one guarding it is the fastest man alive.

"Come on, now!! Even if you guys tried all five at once, I'll still smack you away!! Haha!!"

Cane boasted loudly, proceeded with a maniacal laugh.

There's five adventurers surrounding the big circle, but it doesn't seem like any of them can pass it. With Cane guarding it, not even all five of them can get inside it even if all five worked together.

This test is definitely a team work based test. But, the level of possibility is rather low.

"Then, how about a one on one?"

A shout came from afar, towards the direction of Emily's position. Everyone turned their gazes, and found me walking to their position.

"Rize, huh…?"

Immediately, Cane wore his most frightening grin.

"I'm still kinda curious… Strength aside, which one of us is actually… the fastest?"

He asked with that ugly grin. But, I am also wearing the same grin.

"... Let's find out."

I dashed forward as fast as possible, and Cane quickly became serious. His pressure increased multiple fold as his magic energy condensed, turning into his King tier light magic body enchantment.

He is at his strongest--no, fastest form.

Heh!!!!

ZRRIIIINNNGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!

I turned my approach towards the left, and Cane was able to arrive right in front of me by the red circle.

VWUUNNGGG!!!!!!!!!!!

I dashed back to the right, but he followed me perfectly. As I expected, his speed is much faster than mine. At least in this form.

My eyes then turned towards the left, and his senses noticed the presence of another individual running towards the circle.

One of the adventurers used this chance to book it, and began rushing towards the red circle. His foot was about to enter the red circle, but then his entire body glowed.

ZRIIINNNGGGG!!!!!!

Using his wonderful speed, Cane arrived at the other side of the circle and smacked the face of that poor adventurer away.

The poor guy got thrown back, but Cane is already rushing back to me who is already trying to enter.

Geez, he can move that fast!!!??

I quickly jumped back before he smacked me in the face, and began going around the circle again with him following me.

My speed might be super fast, but it's not impossible for the adventurers to follow. Everyone watched as the two of us tried to match one another, with me trying to jiggle through him while he tried to stop me and smack me away.

Every time another adventurer tried to walk in, Cane would always rush towards them and smack them away immediately, and then had enough time to rush back to stop me.

Even though it was from the other side of the circle, he still managed to return.

But, one adventurer managed to hop in.

"I'm safe!!! I'm safe, don't smack me--"

Noticing that he lost one point already, Cane ignored that guy and quickly returned to me, who was already trying to rush in.

"Damn it!!!"

I ducked just in time when he was about to smack me in the face, and leaped back immediately.

Since that was too close, I took time for a breather.

"You are so annoying with that speed…"

I said to him, but he disappeared to smack away another adventurer. He then returned half a second later with a mad grin.

"Well… you are the number one for being annoying."

He said to me, and I chuckled.

I turned my gaze to the left, and he immediately noticed I was looking at something. His senses were moved to the left, but he found nothing.

When his eyes returned to me, I was already gone.

"W-What…"

Cane turned around, and found me already walking inside the circle.

"That strat was too easy…"

I chuckled and sat down inside the circle, while Cane looked extremely surprised.

It wasn't that I was being faster than him. It's because I managed to move his attention away from me for a split half second, and used that amount of time to move as fast as I can behind him.

Cane's brain was so scrambled, that he didn't realize another adventurer had already jumped in.

"Wah!! I'm in!!"

I gave the girl who just jumped in a thumbs up, and she laughed from how happy she was. I turned back to Cane, who was wearing a really annoyed expression.

I win. I always do.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the cliff, by the waterfall.

Fran checked the bell timer on her pocket, similar to my pocket watch from Xyphon, and stepped down from the boulder. She stretches a little bit before dashing away to go slice up some stuck adventurers.

The test ended, and only eight adventurers managed to make it till the end. The other adventurers either failed to enter the circle or they lost the fight against the testers.

This test is truly one sided, since they had to work together to go past the testers. And in the end, Fran didn't end up slicing anybody because the adventurers were already knocked down by the other testers.

After the test was done, I healed the wounds of the adventurers and some of them asked why I joined in late on the test. I simply told them I'm the captain of the testers, and I wouldn't want to ruin the test.

Even though I did ruin it slightly. But, come on. I was bored.

Some of them didn't believe that I was the captain, some of them did. In any case, it doesn't affect them nor me at all.

We all returned to the kingdom with different faces. Some are disappointed, some are happy. But, everyone is glad that the testers are the great high ranking adventurers that managed to defeat the elder dragon invasion.

And after that day, the rumours going around about a newly promoted Blue ranked adventurer being the leader of the White ranked team has been confirmed. Everyone who cared became insane thanks to it.

Thanks to that, I also became more known to the adventurers, as well as the people from the kingdom. At least with this, if some of them actually require help from someone like me, they know who to ask.

And I can help anyone who asks, if I wanted to, that is.

But… I just didn't realize.

That the kind of request for help that I got… will be this disastrous.

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