"Errr... who were you again?"
The girl's face immediately turned dark. They had participated in the same mercenary selection. But they can't even remember her name. Just how little of an impression did she leave on them?
"Lofa Harcken! We fought for the same slots before. Just how bad is your memory?"
Krune's group finally remembered who she was. Lofa had gotten the last slot available during the selection. Still, she really left a very small impression on the three of them.
"Oh! I remember now."
Surprisingly, Ao, Krune, and Arlan said that at the same time, which infuriated Lofa to no end. Can they be even more detestable?
"You don't remember me? Fine! I won't bother with that. As I said, let me join your team too, we are all from the same mercenary alliance after all."
Krune and the others showed a complicated face. They really didn't want someone that weak to be with them. They would need to protect her, not to mention that they don't really think she can be of much help at all. They had seen her abilities in the mercenary selection and knew her strength.
"Aren't you from the Ice Continent? It should be better to join them."
But Loja Harcken shook her head.
"I don't want to. I think it's much better if I join your group since I've already known your abilities. Besides, I also believe that my support abilities would work better in a team full of attackers like yours."
Ao immediately cut her off there.
"There is no need. Krune is also a support cultivator. And I doubt you can do it better than him."
Not only Lofa but Arlan, too, was taken aback. They didn't know that Krune could play the support role as well. Of course, Arlan was now even happier to join this group. If there were something he thought they might lack, it was exactly a support cultivator for both him and Ao. Not to mention that with Krune's strength, he is more than capable of protecting himself while providing that.
Lofa's expression changed. Obviously, they don't think much of her abilities, but she wasn't willing to give up just yet.
"Hmph! Don't compare my abilities with what you saw back then. At that time, I couldn't play the support role. But if I can focus on it, I can guarantee you won't regret this decision."
Krune and the other two were feeling helpless. After all, they've already had confidence the way they are and haven't thought about adding another member to start with.
Krune sighed and then said.
"Listen, we are aiming for the Dragon Essence Liquid, so we won't be contented with just three tokens. We will be engaging in battle as much as possible, and there is no doubt that the other teams who are confident in themselves will do the same. Besides, if you really join our team, we will have to protect you, our speed would be affected, and we would also need to share the drops in the end."
Krune was being very direct.
"It's not that we are looking down on you. But from what we have seen, if we can't offer you protection against an enemy at the same level as us, we definitely won't crush our blue token just for your sake. The Dragon Essence Liquid is too important for us. Believe me when I say you will be a lot safer if you join a team that only intends to pass the first phase."
Lofa finally understood why they didn't want any extra members. She thought that with only three members, they were only trying to pass the First Test. They were right, she only wanted to pass the first test as well.
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"I see, but do you think you really have a chance? The majority of the teams have five members while you only have three, and I don't think it is a good idea. There will be teams who will join forces to hunt other teams."
Krune nodded.
"We know, but we obviously have the confidence to deal with them. Besides, we are all extremely fast, I refuse to believe that we wouldn't have the ability to at least flee."
There was also another reason that Krune hasn't said. There is probably no one in this gathering with a Divine Sense as big and powerful as his. The last thing he is afraid of is ambushes.
Lofa sighed and finally gave up. She turned around and went to look for the other contestants of the Ice Continent.
Krune felt a little bad for her since they are members of the mercenary guild, after all. But his group really can't afford distractions on this journey.
"Alright, let's go back to business."
Arlan, Krune, and Ao signed the blood contract and left the hall with Shinja and Yusa. After that, Ao asked for Krune and Arlan to come to a secluded place where they could practice. They nodded and left together. Ao and Arlan knew each other quite well, but Arlan and Krune knew almost nothing about each other.
After they found a place, the training immediately started. But it was then that Krune brought out all his thirty-eight Hexagonal Flying Shields. Arlan was puzzled with that sight, not to mention that those plates are quite strangely shaped. There is also a reason why Arlan hasn't thought about them as spiritual equipment. There are too many of them!
Krune finished charging them with his own spiritual energy and released the shields. Arlan then looked at that, and his jaw immediately dropped. As soon as they took to flight, they started hovering around Krune like stars.
'How great is his Soul Power and Divine Sense? That is ridiculous! Can he even control all of them properly?'
He found the answer to his question straight away. Krune immediately started to do several unbelievable maneuvers, and the precision was terrifying. But that wasn't all! He soon found that Krune was using five different elements simultaneously, making each shield shine in a different color. He finally understood just how big the difference in Divine Sense between him and Krune is. Even if he decided to attack Krune, he wouldn't even know where to start breaking that elemental fortress. First of all, can he even break it? Just how many years had Krune practiced to achieve such control?
Ao looked at that too and nodded.
"It has been only a little more than two weeks since you got your hexagonal flying shields, but you can already control them to this extent. I thought it would still take another week at least."
Arlan's confidence crumbled just like that. Two weeks to achieve this level of control? Fuc* that shit!
But the final blow was still incoming.
"It was indeed very hard, but lately, I had been focusing on stabilizing my foundation. Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken this long to master them."
Arlan finally passed out.
Krune heard a sound of something hitting the ground and looked at it, but that body on the ground puzzled him.
"What happened to him?"
Ao immediately understood and just sighed.
"Someone like you would never understand his pain."
Krune thought that it was another one of those weird human habits and just ignored it.
---
After Arlan woke up, their team resumed their activities. Both Ao and Arlan had never trained with Krune while he used his Hexagonal Flying Shields, so it was a new experience for them. But they came to understand how frightening it is. Krune's defense was simply ridiculous now, and that is considering that he wasn't using his Tribulation Lightning Movement.
They also practiced while Krune used his shields to defend Arlan and Ao. Of course, the ones attacking in those cases were Shinja and Yusa, who were more than happy to help beat them. Sometimes, one or another attack passed through Krune's defenses, but the attacks gradually decreased during those two days. By the end, even Shinja, using her full power, had a hard time reaching anyone under Krune's watch.
The key to Krune's defense was the elements of each shield, and not only their sturdiness. Krune always used the right elemental shields to defend against the attacks. If there weren't enough shields of the stronger element, he then complemented with more shields of the same element, which also proved to be very effective.
They kept like that until a few hours before the first phase started. The extra hours were simply for Krune and the others to recover their strength after all that training.
---
It was almost 10 o'clock when External Elders Kirian and Loni came out to check the contestants for this test. When they arrived at the exit of the city where they were staying, Elder Loni came forward and started to talk with the contestants of the Makui Planet.
"There are a few minutes before the start of the test, so there isn't much more I can tell you all now. Just remember that no one is allowed to attack any other team in the first two hours of the competition after it starts. It will prevent several teams from joining forces to attack smaller teams. There will be several members of the Divine Path Sect observing the process. So forget about playing tricks before the time is up. Just use your own communicators to check the time. I wish good luck to you all."
Elder Kirian did more or less the same thing with the Ragne Planet contestants. Loni and Kirian looked at each other and then nodded, it was time to start!