Team Formation

The bell echoed, signaling the start of the fourth race. Sariana, with a flick of her will, conjured a radiant carriage of light, elegant and shimmering. She climbed aboard, and the carriage lifted effortlessly into the air. At first, I thought it would be like Natalia's blood boat, but it wasn't. The boat, a streak of light itself, sliced through the air with a speed so great I couldn't even see. Sariana's creation, though fast, had a different essence to it. While she still flew with remarkable speed, it took her less than five seconds to finish—those few moments stretching only because of the ritual of climbing into the seat and preparing for the journey.

When she finished the race, she again waved at me while cheerfully smiling followed by me ignoring her. She sure has become more skill full than before we met, that knight captain must be training her on how to make a good use of her skill.

Now, I was interested to see what Rito will do, he was acting all high and mighty in front of me at the inn but his skill is a bummer when it comes to speed.

A guy with silver hair and a serene smile stood beside Rito, his presence calm yet striking. He wore a long, flowing garment of grey-silver fabric, adorned with bold red stripes running down the center. The dress, reaching from his neck to his feet, cascaded in a wide, frock-like silhouette that gave off an air of quiet elegance.

With a swift motion, he hoisted Rito onto his left shoulder. From his back, two white wings unfurled, gleaming with the same radiant light that emanated from him. Large and majestic, they stretched wide, allowing him to soar effortlessly into the air, as free and graceful as a bird gliding through the sky.

"Look, that person is so handsome"

"He looks like an angel, I wanna be friends with him"

The girls around me couldn't stop gushing about him. It was clear that he was on track to become the Mr. Shining of our class in no time. But then, a question nagged at me. Why was he helping Rito now? Had Rito somehow managed to strike up a friendship with him during their time in Alastar?.

 As a result, rito also passed eventually. And after a while, fourth race ended too.

"The winner for the fourth race is Sariana von Alford with her skill "Light matter"" was announced

"Wait, Sariana von Alford, isn't she the princess" krudo surprised

"So that girl is the princess, that explains her beauty and power"

" We are so lucky we are gonna study in the same class as princess. This year's batch has so many beautiful girls. If I could score with even one of them, it would be a lifetime achievement" Boys got really excited.

Krudo got suspicious of something

[That girl is the same one who came earlier and called this guy as Peiji-sama but he tried to hide that fact. Natalia-san always stick to him wherever he goes and now he knows the princess too. Is he a big shot or something, but he doesn't look like one. What's going on.]

Sariana came back to the audience section and approached Peiji

"Peiji-sama, did you see how I won"

[Dammit, everyone knows now that she is princess, I am in huge trouble]

Krudo got up from his seat and knelt in front of her

"This lower one greets your majesty. My name is Kurabe Krudo, I am the son of the royal knight Kurabe Kotaro" 

"I see" sariana replied shortly to his greeting and then immediately called out to Peiji again

"Peiji-sama, let's make a team"

Krudo got totally taken aback and angry while still being in the position.

[It's no use trying to avoid her after all this. Let's just have a normal conversation. But I forgot what was her name, it was a long name like sar von alfara something. Sar sar, was it sara maybe. Let's just call her princess for now.] Peiji concluded

"Team? What are you talking about princess-sama?"

"Ah, so you don't know."

[I can impress Peiji-sama with this and then he will be all "wow sariana you are so convenient, please be friends with me" oh my] sariana imagined while blushing

"Huhu, only me the great princess of alastar knows that the second round would be a team round for which we would have to make a team of five people" she put one hand on her chest and said while proudly smiling in a noble tone.

"Is that so, what are we gonna do as a team then" Peiji asked

"Tha-that is" she went blank as she didn't knew 

[Uh damn, my plan got backfired on impressing him. Why the hell big brother did not give me the complete intel, stupid big bro] 

[Hmm, I can trust the princess on info as she must have had some connections in the academy. There are still six races left, let's start making the team beforehand so that I would have more time later.]

"Thank you for your help princess-sama"

"Ah yes, also you can call me just by my name" she said in a cute and innocent tone

[Huh, no way, king would kill me]

It was pretty clear that having Natalia on my team was a given. And honestly, I didn't think there was any way I could avoid having the princess join as well—she seemed determined to be a part of this, no matter what. So she joined as well, that makes up three, for the other 2 let's wait for the races to end.

After a while, a tall guy with striking red hair approached us, a warm smile on his face. He wore a simple black shirt and pants with golden stripes down the center, yet the fabric looked like it was made from the highest quality. His every step was graceful, and he carried himself like a true gentleman.

He bowed in front of sariana showing his respect

"Greetings to my lady. My name is Kurt Lattifre, may I have the opportunity to aid you in the next round" he asked

"Uh, so you want to-" Sariana spoke nervously while glancing at me for the answer

[We are short on members and he does look strong and smart. I won't hurt to let him aboard, also this will make sariana look like the leader which kinda assures my safety.] I concluded and nodded as to signal her

"Yes, I will allow you to join our team" she regained her proud posture

"Thank you my lady, I will do my best to help you"

"Let me introduce you to the others. This sublime looking one here is the great Peiji-sama" she said while pointing at me

[Why do you want to ruin my life so much princess, stop giving me so much attention and praise in front of everyone]

After that extraordinary introduction, Kurt looked at me with curious eyes.

"And this vampire here is the bitch who is always being a pest" she badmouthed natalia

"Wha- what did you say" Natalia got really angry

"Why did you chased me away that time, for the last time, you are not my sister, you stupid vampire" 

I am not gonna stop them, this will show I don't have any authority here, I am just like some air nobody cares about. But someone had to, so kurt interrupted

"Well, that makes the four of us my lady. Do you have anyone in mind for the fifth one"

"No, let's wait for the races to end" up until now 8 races were done

To win, I need to get as much information I can on this new guy so I asked

"What's your band number"

"Oh, it is six, I am already passed for the first round"

"Then, to have a good teamwork, would you please tell us about your skill"

"Sure, my skill is "telepathy" I can communicate with you in your mind without talking or making any sound." then he stopped talking and we waited for him to continue 

*awkward silence*

"That's it" I asked

"Yes, is there any problem"

[What the hell, that's an obvious useless skill and I let him join our team]

"Wait, how did you pass the race with that"

"Well, I just got lucky I guess" he laughed

[Got lucky? Dammit I am so doomed for the next round]

An announcement was made

"And with that, the first round "race" ends here"

I looked around, crowd was cheering and all but there were way less people than before as more than 7000 were failed up till now.

"Now we will release the ranks on the basis of current evaluation. Please have a look at your wrist bands"

I glanced at the band, and the number 3 had vanished. In its place, a new figure stood: 4998. This was meant to represent my rank, but instead of feeling proud, I felt a wave of disappointment wash over me as only two others were ranked lower.

These bands must have been crafted by a skilled dwarf since they have these latent magical features.

I was also curious about other's ranks. Natalia's was 873, it was a good rank considering she reduced it by a whole digit unlike mine which is a four digit one.

"Peiji-sama, look" 

Wow, Sariana was ranked 2. It had to be because of her lightspeed ability—no one else could move like she did.

"Haha, mine is 2331" kurt told his rank

[How in the hell does this guy with telepathy has better rank than me, just what did he do.]

"Hahaha, look you trash, my rank is 4789 which is higher than yours. Now that means Natalia-san is mine" krudo spoke

I thought he gave up on Natalia already since he didn't interrupted us in all that team formation talk. Also, he wasn't that ahead of me in our race, then why there is an over 200 difference in our ranks, is it because how he used his skill to stop other players.

"We bet on the final ranks of the exams, don't be so happy so soon" I spoke in teasing tone

"Huh, it's already clear I will rank higher than you. Now it's just the matter of time before I make her my woman, enjoy your time with her while you can loser"

Commentator continued his announcement

"The student who has ranked 1 so far is Tenka Shido who completed the race in just 3 seconds. Please give a big round of applause to him"

There wasn't that much of a response from the crowd. He is that teleportation guy from my race, as expected he was the fastest.

"Now then, let me explain the rules for your second exam. First of all, you will be competing in a team of five you can make on your own. To register yourself as a team, you have to touch your band to your leader's band. When a student's band is sensed by other 4 bands, we will declare them as a team"

So, we have to make a leader too. I will give this role to Sariana of course.

"Let's all touch princess-sama's band then" I said

"What, me" 

"Of course, you would be the leader my lady. You are the one with the highest rank after all." kurt supported my suggestion

Me, Natalia and Kurt touched our bands to hers,

{Team established: 1 remaining} was written on her band. We just need one more person now.

"Hello there, would you let me be on your team please" someone called out

It was Tenka Shido, that teleportation guy.

[This is good, we will have a higher chance of winning if joins us] Peiji immediately signaled Sariana and she let him touch her band with his

Meanwhile, Shido's intentions were not that nice

[Aah, I would be in company with these 2 beauties, one of them has an erotic body and other one is a princess. I was lucky that first round was speed based so I could impress them] he was making a perverted face while thinking that. 

A masochist slave, a troublesome princess, a useless guy and a pervert. Will Peiji be able to pass the next exam with this team.