Chapter 235 A talent test?
After arriving in front of the boulder. Kyle perked up his ears and tried to listen to what was happening outside.
He stayed silent to catch any type of sound but after hearing nothing he looked back at the participants.
"Let's leave I can't hear anything."
Sinon was the first who walked forward and stood beside him.
"Alright, remove the boulder."
Kyle nodded and placed his hand on the boulder in the next second the boulder disappeared.
He walked out of the cave with a cautious expression. The air outside smelled like blood and rotting flesh.
Kyle's nose wrinkled at the repulsing odor but he didn't stop walking and arrived in an open area, all the other participants followed behind him quietly.
A few shocked gasps sounded behind him but Kyle didn't turn around instead he narrowed his eyes sharply.
Everything was an utter mess. The mountain was littered with hundreds of monsters corpses and rocks. A few low-rank monsters were munching on those dead bodies with blissful expressions.
The shimmering lush forest below the mountain seemed to have lost its luster because the only thing Kyle could see was broken twigs and branches.
Kyle pinched his brows. So, this is what a monster horde could do because even if the people survived the land wouldn't. Moreover, he was sure, the monster horde they faced was nothing in front of the real thing.
He sighed when he heard Regius's voice. Kyle eyed the participants, excluding a few almost all of them were taking in the situation with composed expressions.
However, he could see the worry under their calm faces. Kyle couldn't help but wonder why the Elf Kingdom was taking such drastic measures. Was it because of the secret realm or something else?
Izil moved and stood beside Regius with a complicated expression.
"So, what next? We had five days before the event would be over. Should we fight the monsters?"
Regius thought for a while. They were in an event so fighting with the monsters was indeed the best choice but after experiencing the monster horde he wasn't sure anymore. He looked at Kyle to hear his answer.
However, he instantly regretted his decision because Kyle just shrugged his shoulders with a nonchalant expression.
He sighed and looked back at the small crowd.
"The monster horde is gone and I don't think something like this would appear again because to produce such a big horde they need many resources so let's move separately to kill as many monsters as possible before the end of the event."
The participants hesitated for a few seconds but in the end, all of them left.
Sinon went toward the east and Regius and his group members decided to climb the mountain.
In the end, Kyle was left alone. He sighed and gazed at the fading backs for a few seconds and just started to jog around the mountain with no clear destination.
He stumbled upon some low-rank monsters in his way and killed them easily. Kyle waited patiently for the time to pass.
At the same time, the atmosphere in the dome was very hectic.
Aira made the necessary preparations to teleport the winners to a different location.
The audience waiting to see the winners was disappointed when Aira told them the winners would directly teleport to a separate location.
The next five days passed smoothly because after the monster horde left, not many participants got severely injured.
On the last day, the nobles, Dynn, Anlee, and the Royal envoy disappeared from the dome. Only Aira and a few individuals in charge of the event were left behind to take care of everything.
Aira's cold eyes flickered between the ranking screen and the huge projection as she waited for the last few minutes of the event to pass.
"It's time..."
She whispered and started floating mid-air.
After placing some resources on the huge spacious platform below, she poured all her mana into the symbols drawn on the platform. A familiar shimmering green light enveloped every corner of the dome and under her gaze, the tiny figures running around in the projection started to fade one by one.
Aira breathed out with relief when all the winning participant were teleported to their next destination successfully.
After checking the symbols, projection, and the area in the projection one last time she went to the healers who were doing their jobs in a closed large hall. She staggered between the rows of injured participants who were recuperating to heal their injuries.
A lot of participants seemed to have lost their body parts but as the King promised their injuries were treated with as many resources as possible.
...
A few minutes before when Aira teleported all the participants out, Kyle was roaming around aimlessly as usual when he felt a suction force around his body.
He hissed at the dizziness that crawled up to his mind but after a second, the dizziness vanished instead he felt his vision go dark.
A familiar sensation enveloped his body and in the next second, he found himself standing among a crowd of young individuals.
He blinked and looked around, the individuals standing around him looked haggard and tired. They were wearing dirty clothes as well. Also, he could spot a lot of familiar faces among the crowd. Regius, Yue, Sinon...
'So the event is over?'
Kyle mused in his mind but his eyes narrowed when he took in his surroundings.
He was standing on a smooth brown carpet, and a huge glass chandelier was hanging above the ceiling but the walls of the room were empty devoid of any precious things. He could see a row of old men and women elves in formal attires standing quietly in a corner further away from the participants.
Kyle's eyes paused at a familiar green-haired figure. It was Dynn, Regius's grandfather. He was standing among the many old individuals with a frown.
Kyle snapped his head and looked in front of himself when a gentle slightly alluring voice sounded in his ears.
There was a small stage in front of him, a round crystal was floating in the middle of the stage.
A middle-aged elf wearing a white shirt with golden patterns on his shoulders and sleeves was standing behind the crystal with a frosty expression. On his left, was a timed old elf woman wearing thick glasses. She was continuously fiddling with some papers.
Kyle's eyes widened a fraction when he saw the crystal. It was very familiar.
'A talent test?'
He sucked in a deep breath. There were a total of three hundred or something participants around him and after seeing the crystal he was sure the elves standing on the stage were going to do a talent test!
Kyle immediately recalled the rules set up by the Central Continent for the individuals who were eligible to enter the Secret Realm. There were not many rules but the most important one was everyone's talent. Only the individuals with talent (S+)-Rank or above were allowed to enter the secret realm.