This time, even Arthur had his excitement reeled in, knowing just how challenging it was going to be for them... after all, they weren’t fighting nobodies, but talented individuals from prestigious Lineages in their regions. The amount of resources invested in them was too much to calculate.
"Don’t worry, you don’t have to win against all of them." Feng Ling added, "Your win condition is ten wins, while their win condition is to defeat you all."
"Ten wins... It’s still tough, but it’s manageable than defeating all of them." Nurah nodded.
The others clamored in agreement... although they didn’t expect the trial to be this brutal, they were in no place to complain. They understood that those three teams had done the work to earn their slot, competing nonstop against other powerful teams. Compared to them, they still had it easy, leaving them with no right to complain about the fairness of the situation.
"Their team captains are going to be the most difficult hurdles for you to pass... so, Levi, think carefully about how you will position your team’s fighting order... It’s fixed before the Gauntlet starts, and can’t be altered." Feng Ling advised, "In Gauntlet format, energy and injuries will be your biggest downfall."
"I understand." Levi nodded.
He knew that fighting one after another posed great risks to one’s energy reserves, since if they went all out to defeat the first challenger, they would be sitting ducks to the next one. A great team order would help them minimize those limitations, especially when they were only six while they had eighteen Daywalkers.
"The battles will be held in an hour from now... use it wisely."
Feng Ling uncrossed his arms and walked to the tent’s door. Just as he was about to open it, Mao popped up on his shoulder and gave them a cruel look.
"If you lose and make us serve under that hippy, I will haunt you in your sleep for the rest of your lives."
With that ominous threat, they closed the door behind them.
’Well, you heard her... the stakes are high, Sir Feng Ling’s freedom is on the line, and I, for one, don’t want to make that cat an enemy of mine,’ Levi said, switching to dimensional conversation to involve Jasmine without using signs.
’I still don’t understand why Feng Ling did that.’ Shia shook her head.
She knew that although Seraphis’ life was at stake, Feng Ling wouldn’t go as far as bet his own freedom on his survival... after all, it was known knowledge that his motto was: Daywalkers should take responsibility for their decisions.
’Maybe he didn’t do it for Seraphis... maybe, he did it for us?’ Jasmine said softly.
’Us? Why?’
’I don’t know for sure...’ Jasmine shrugged slightly, ’It’s just a feeling.’
Everyone looked at each other in silence, wondering if she was right... Had Feng Ling truly taken such a risk just so they could gather priceless treasures worth half a million SA coins or more, all for the sake of their growth?
They knew that their progress would be halted the moment they hit the first Great Daywalkers Wall... Solarbound Evolution.
Since it needed exclusive, remarkable, or perfect evolutionary formulas to break through, the resources required might range from needing enough to buy the materials to going broke on investing in research for the right formula.
So, they would always require resources to accelerate the process.
’Maybe, or maybe he is doing it for a reason we don’t know about.’ Levi said calmly, ’Whatever it is, we didn’t come here to get sent back packing... we are here to stay, and we will show everyone just how serious we are.’
’You god damn right we will.’
***
Meanwhile, inside the Imperial Raiders’ tent, Zhang Yanhuan, Tyrese, and Evangeline’s teams had decided to gather up and discuss the upcoming challenge.
"We have been loyal rivals ever since we stepped inside the Conference... our teams have dominated the other teams and established our presence in the World Tree. Only then were we given the right to embark on this mission."
Zhang Yanhuan uttered calmly while sitting above the edge of a couch, while the rest of the Daywalkers were spread out across the living room. It looked like a gathering of villains who disliked each other but decided to unite for a single purpose.
"Yet, out of nowhere, we were told that some unheard of Daywalkers from a hillbilly region near a desert had decided to challenge us for our precious slots?" Yanhuan narrowed his eyes coldly, "You all know me... I keep my thoughts reserved, but not on this... they showed some promise in their first raid, and they started getting cocky, believing themselves to have what it takes to be amongst the top... It’s a joke if you ask me."
Most nodded; their expressions were grim.
"Listen, I don’t give a shit how they got here... Sir Dominic offered us twenty thousand Solar Aegis coins for each member of their team we defeat... saying no to free money is a sin."
Tyrese said while sitting with his arms spread across the couch, taking it all for himself, while the rest were sitting on the floor or leaning against the walls. Yet, no one dared to say anything.
"Money? This is a matter of principle..." Evangeline said sternly, "I hate nothing more than weasels, who think they can get along in life by abusing favors... Our companions have lost so much in the past weeks for this opportunity, and I owe it to them to erect justice on their behalf."
Her teammates were all wearing similar knightly armors like hers, but with different colors and styles, fitting their battle arts... when she finished, they tapped their feet on the ground once and uttered solemnly together.
"Life without justice is chaos dressed in silence... we are Justice sword, and we will implement order again."
Tyrese and his teammates rolled their eyes at their cringy attempts to be righteous pricks, who thought of themselves as always standing on the side of Justice.
Tyrese pulled up a container from his dimensional wallet... it was filled with rolled up blunts, joints, pinners, swishers, and any other type... each one had a different kind of weed or marijuana already inside.
He pulled two joints and offered one to Evangeline, speaking freely with a lazy smile.
"Eva, sometimes I wish your nightcrawler corrupted you if even by a little... then, your beauty might not be wasted on such a boring personality... take it, smoke a little, and stop being such a hardass."
Slice!
Before anyone could react, the joint was cut in half from Tyrese’s hand, without leaving a single trace... it was like a ghost cut it in half. Yet, everyone glanced in Evangeline’s right hand, which was resting on her sheathed sword... Her expression was as cold as always.
"I told you, don’t call me Eva... I am not your friend." She uttered
"Fine... sheesh, you didn’t have to cut it, you know." Tyrese picked up the sliced halves of the joint with a saddened expression, "What a waste... You know how hard it is to find premium weed after the great fall of civilization?"
"I don’t, and I don’t care... if you offer me that poison again, your hand will be severed instead... am I understood?"
"How b*tchy... no wonder you can’t find a boyfriend," Tyrese murmured under his breath while emptying the sliced-up joint on the table, wanting to roll up a new one.
Evangeline heard him and acted deaf, not wanting to interact with him anymore.
"So, what will be our split of challengers? You have seen their clips in their first raid... as much as I hate to admit it, they aren’t a bunch of weaklings despite their region’s rank being close to triple digits." Mira said.
She had long, wavy blonde hair that flowed past her waist. She was dressed in a crimson leather crop top with black studs and navy jean shorts held by a white belt with a phoenix buckle.
Her midnight-gray boots with silver spurs clicked against the ground with each slight movement, matching the scarlet-and-ivory holsters at her waist.
She wore a jet-black cowgirl hat that shaded her eyes, while a burgundy duster coat was tightened around her neck. When added to ash-gray gloves and a golden pendant, it finished her gunslinger look.
She looked like a girl from the American Old West, ready to take down anyone with a single bullet to the head.
She was the second strongest Daywalker in Tyrese’s team and the wildest one, having no respect for hierarchy.
"How about you go first, Mira?"
Tyrese suggested casually while giving the joint one final lick to seal it. Just as Tyrese wanted to bring out a lighter, both Evangeline and Yanhuan gave him a cold stare.
"Sheesh... talk about being a buzzkill." Tyrese stashed the joint with an irked expression.
"Sir Dominic told us that anyone defeated under their hands will be put in the elimination bracket if they won the Gauntlet... so, we should send our strongest from the start." Li Mei expressed softly.
She was the cute bee-outfit wearer with large circular glasses and a backpack as her signature weapon... she also wore a cute Hello Kitty-like hat, but with a yellow and black bee design.
"Win the Gauntlet?" Mira smirked, "Li Mei, you are such a cutie... hell will descend before they succeed in defeating three of us. Everyone has powers capable of countering what they showed in their raid... spiritual, physical, elemental, it didn’t matter."
"That’s why our split needs to be solid, so we make sure to absolutely crush them and send them packing home." Guo Shi Shan said expressionlessly.
He was standing near the fireplace, with one leg resting on the wall and arms crossed... he was a muscular Chinese man with long flowing brown hair. He wore a sliced-up kung fu orange shirt from the shoulders and shorts matching the fit... He was barefoot with two ankle rocky bracelets.
"I am going for a smoke... Mira, don’t let them cheat us out of the money." Tyrese said while standing up, incapable of remaining here for another second without a blunt in his lips.
"Good riddance," Evangeline said.
Tyrese only chuckled on the way out, not taking it to heart... after he left, the rest continued with their discussion about the split. Since almost everyone wanted to earn as much money as possible from defeating Levi’s team, many volunteered to go first.
While this ruckus was ongoing... they had no clue that Levi was currently eavesdropping on their conversation from tens of meters away.
The tents were perfectly soundproof, but unfortunately for them... his Harmonic Spine had been upgraded a little after his latest evolutions.
This had increased his Harmonic Spine’s range from about thirty meters to a hundred meters while simultaneously allowing him to recreate any change of frequency in his mind into a spoken language, a song, or any combination that was released in its presence.
Even if the walls were soundproof and allowed no sound to reach him!
It was like he was putting his ear in their room, and they could do nothing about it. He had been listening to them shittalking his team over and over again like they were some third-rate citizens.
Although most of them tried their best to hide it, he could sense it... the disdain channeled at their region and origin.
’I was planning to play nice since we are on the same side, regardless of our differences... but, crush us? Hell will descend before we defeat them? Hillbillies? Alright.’ Levi showed his usual unprovocative smile, ’You asked for it.’