"What did you say?" Fred furrowed his sharp brows. "A nobody?"
Delia nodded. "I heard my dorm mates talk about it. They heard the guard's conversation. They said that the top one this time didn't come from any prestigious training school and just an orphan that got lucky."
"Lucky? I don't think you can come here just because you are lucky." Mara snorted.
"No… No… I meant on the test."
"Really?"
"Yes. They said that she used tricks to pass the third test. She actually used the gun and shoot that martial artist. Luckily, she wasn't a great shot. So… she missed."
The three of them had a weird look on their faces. The noise inside the canteen seemed to be blurred by the thoughts inside their head. Right now, everyone was having lunch in the canteen. The training will officially start in four days and on the second day of the training, the name of the top one will be posted. That is the sign for the challenges to start. They can challenge the top and whoever gets the highest point by the end of the week will occupy that room.
"Are you sure you heard it right?" Fred asked.
"Yes! They said that it was the only reason why she became the top examine in our batch."
"Wait… she? A woman?" Mara asked. She looked around her and notice that most of the people inside the large canteen were males. In fact, about eighty percent of the trainees were male. "Are you sure it's a woman?"
"Yes."
A long stretch of silence soon followed. The three of them decided to just finish their food before they continued their conversation. "If she really used tricks to win then it means that we missed something in that exam. On the third exam, we were clearly instructed to survive. However, we were not instructed to take them down. Right?" Fred said.
"But we weren't instructed to take them down. I fought against the martial artist and his strength was really good. I was only able to land a hit once." Delia said.
"You are lucky. While he didn't land a hit on me. I also didn't land a hit on him. It was too troublesome the martial art that he used against me wasn't well known." Mara said, dejected. Among, the three, she actually got the lowest score! As a proud woman, she thought this was unacceptable.
"Hmmm… they are indeed troublesome." While Fred landed a few direct hits to the enemy, he wasn't able to take him down. Still, he was able to survive for a few minutes. "So she used tricks to take him down." Fred narrowed his phoenix eyes. "That's smart and stupid at the same time."
"Why?" Delia asked.
"She didn't show her strength and now, everyone in the camp is thinking she is weak. She already attracted the attention of everyone. At the start of the camp, many people will challenge her in one day. The rules say that the top one can only accept one challenge every twelve hours. Meaning, she would receive nonstop challenges from everyone. Do you think she would survive this camp?"
"You mean… someone will kill her?"
"Of course!" Fred nodded at Mara's question. "Think about it. Fighting every day nonstop would surely exhaust her. The smarter people wouldn't fight her on the first and second day, they would fight her on the fifth and sixth day. By that time, she would be so weak. They could just kill her in seconds. Of course, this scenario is only applicable if she wouldn't lose to anyone." If she lost, then she would lose points. While this is happening, other people could also challenge other examinees to earn points. Defeating one opponent could give them two points while defeating the top one could give them ten points.
The thing is… they could actually challenge the first placer until she lost all of her points! By now, the first placer has forty points while everyone else has thirty. Defeating the top placer once means that she would lose ten points. Meaning, once she loses four times then, her points would be zero. Now, recovering from that is almost close to impossible.
"Hmmm… that is true. Even if she uses tricks, there is no way that she would be able to cheat her body. She will soon grow weak and die from injuries. Speaking of which… are you planning to fight her on the last day?" Mara asked.
"No. I need to establish dominance." Fred said with confidence. He was already planning to cripple her on the first day! For the rest of the week, he was planning to challenge everyone who will win against the first player and take back all the points! Since the points wouldn't reset, this would definitely give him a head start. He looked at the two women in front of him. While they aren't as strong as him, both of them were smart and cunning.
It didn't take too long for them to figure out his plan.
"I want to help you become the first place but you have to invite us to your dorm." Delia immediately said. "In this place, both men and women stay in the same room. I don't like that. As much as possible, I want privacy. Since you are the strongest, you have the chance to become the next week's first placer."
"You are giving up?" Mara asked.
Delia immediately snorted. "We are women. How could we survive a weak of fighting? Even if we are really good fighters, fighting without rest, and fighting even if you are injured is inhumane." She leaned closer. "This place is called Tartarus for a reason. Only the strong of the strong survive here. In every class, at least five percent would end up dead and at least thirty percent would be crippled. Do you really want to be a cripple and become useless? My goal this time is to graduate. I don't care if I am top or not."
"What did you say?" Fred furrowed his sharp brows. "A nobody?"
Delia nodded. "I heard my dorm mates talk about it. They heard the guard's conversation. They said that the top one this time didn't come from any prestigious training school and just an orphan that got lucky."
"Lucky? I don't think you can come here just because you are lucky." Mara snorted.
"No… No… I meant on the test."
"Really?"
"Yes. They said that she used tricks to pass the third test. She actually used the gun and shoot that martial artist. Luckily, she wasn't a great shot. So… she missed."
The three of them had a weird look on their faces. The noise inside the canteen seemed to be blurred by the thoughts inside their head. Right now, everyone was having lunch in the canteen. The training will officially start in four days and on the second day of the training, the name of the top one will be posted. That is the sign for the challenges to start. They can challenge the top and whoever gets the highest point by the end of the week will occupy that room.
"Are you sure you heard it right?" Fred asked.
"Yes! They said that it was the only reason why she became the top examine in our batch."
"Wait… she? A woman?" Mara asked. She looked around her and notice that most of the people inside the large canteen were males. In fact, about eighty percent of the trainees were male. "Are you sure it's a woman?"
"Yes."
A long stretch of silence soon followed. The three of them decided to just finish their food before they continued their conversation. "If she really used tricks to win then it means that we missed something in that exam. On the third exam, we were clearly instructed to survive. However, we were not instructed to take them down. Right?" Fred said.
"But we weren't instructed to take them down. I fought against the martial artist and his strength was really good. I was only able to land a hit once." Delia said.
"You are lucky. While he didn't land a hit on me. I also didn't land a hit on him. It was too troublesome the martial art that he used against me wasn't well known." Mara said, dejected. Among, the three, she actually got the lowest score! As a proud woman, she thought this was unacceptable.
"Hmmm… they are indeed troublesome." While Fred landed a few direct hits to the enemy, he wasn't able to take him down. Still, he was able to survive for a few minutes. "So she used tricks to take him down." Fred narrowed his phoenix eyes. "That's smart and stupid at the same time."
"Why?" Delia asked.
"She didn't show her strength and now, everyone in the camp is thinking she is weak. She already attracted the attention of everyone. At the start of the camp, many people will challenge her in one day. The rules say that the top one can only accept one challenge every twelve hours. Meaning, she would receive nonstop challenges from everyone. Do you think she would survive this camp?"
"You mean… someone will kill her?"
"Of course!" Fred nodded at Mara's question. "Think about it. Fighting every day nonstop would surely exhaust her. The smarter people wouldn't fight her on the first and second day, they would fight her on the fifth and sixth day. By that time, she would be so weak. They could just kill her in seconds. Of course, this scenario is only applicable if she wouldn't lose to anyone." If she lost, then she would lose points. While this is happening, other people could also challenge other examinees to earn points. Defeating one opponent could give them two points while defeating the top one could give them ten points.
The thing is… they could actually challenge the first placer until she lost all of her points! By now, the first placer has forty points while everyone else has thirty. Defeating the top placer once means that she would lose ten points. Meaning, once she loses four times then, her points would be zero. Now, recovering from that is almost close to impossible.
"Hmmm… that is true. Even if she uses tricks, there is no way that she would be able to cheat her body. She will soon grow weak and die from injuries. Speaking of which… are you planning to fight her on the last day?" Mara asked.
"No. I need to establish dominance." Fred said with confidence. He was already planning to cripple her on the first day! For the rest of the week, he was planning to challenge everyone who will win against the first player and take back all the points! Since the points wouldn't reset, this would definitely give him a head start. He looked at the two women in front of him. While they aren't as strong as him, both of them were smart and cunning.
It didn't take too long for them to figure out his plan.
"I want to help you become the first place but you have to invite us to your dorm." Delia immediately said. "In this place, both men and women stay in the same room. I don't like that. As much as possible, I want privacy. Since you are the strongest, you have the chance to become the next week's first placer."
"You are giving up?" Mara asked.
Delia immediately snorted. "We are women. How could we survive a weak of fighting? Even if we are really good fighters, fighting without rest, and fighting even if you are injured is inhumane." She leaned closer. "This place is called Tartarus for a reason. Only the strong of the strong survive here. In every class, at least five percent would end up dead and at least thirty percent would be crippled. Do you really want to be a cripple and become useless? My goal this time is to graduate. I don't care if I am top or not."
