The training was intense. The time passed quickly. I was attacked endlessly, broken continually. It was a hellish cycle, only broken by the brief fights in the Heri rankings, which were becoming shorter and shorter, forcing me into harder and harder training sessions for far longer. I was stressed, it was hard, but I lost myself so much in the training that by the time I was sat in the arena watching the next stage of the Heri rankings wondering where all the time had gone.

The qualifications for this round were very different, instead of the battle against one team against the other. This was a much bigger stage. All the teams were dropped into a large area on the outskirts of the camp. They had 4 hours to find as many Tokens as they could. If they couldn’t find any or their tokens were taken from them by force, then they would be disqualified.

There would be more chances for those teams, entering into a loser competition with the winners of that getting an opportunity to join for the semi-finals, but that wouldn’t be for a few days.

Now all the teams left in the Heri rankings were placed in random locations and given the timer. They had various things keeping track of the contestants that we would be able to watch everything that happens in the arena.

Bens team had been put in quite a good position, they were very close to quite a few flags, they were also very close to a great defensible location, so I had high hopes for their team.

The rest of the arena was far more focused on the favorite teams; their locations ranged from very favorable to instant death if they weren’t careful. The organizers had done an impressive job of making it far more entertaining than the other matches we had seen.

The fighters were all ready, they hadn’t progressed much since the elimination matches, but I suppose not everyone has access to a herb that boosts your growth immensely as well as giving you a solid foundation.

That was the privilege I had to recognize now, without a lot of luck I would have never had the chance to reach that level. Watching Ben taking the battles seriously reminded me of just how lucky I had gotten. I had more power now than any person currently in the Heri rankings. The strongest down there had only recently advanced to tier 4, but they hadn’t properly consolidated it yet. Granting them strength equal to the rank but not the longevity of use, going up against people in Tier 2 or 3, that would not be an issue for him. Making the team he was in an instant favorite.

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That had made me a little worried about Ben and his team. I had felt the nearly insurmountable gap between the mortal layer of tiers and the elite layer. They would have to use all the tactics they had available to them if they were to meet the Tier 4 in combat.

I had a lot of faith in their team, as long as they found the base near them, they would be able to use Ben’s abilities to keep the rest of the teams away, as long as they secured the flags and held themselves up in the base they had a real chance of getting through.

Knowing Ben, I figured his plan of attack was a bit more offensive and proactive. Mages had very different planning and tactics from their power base. It was very dependent on their talents; they always fit your personality in many senses.

So if they followed the general theme of their squad, they were going to go on full offense. There would be no sign of any defense measures. Using Bens abilities to blanket the enemies and take them out easily from that. They would be able to build up quite the flag collection from that, as long as they didn’t meet a team that was far more powerful than them.

I was alone once again watching the matches, my other teammates were somewhere in the arena as well, but I hadn’t managed to make them into friends as of yet, so I was stuck watching the battle alone.

The match began with a great whistle, which even though it was placed in the forest quite a bit away from the arena, we could hear loud and clear without any aids.

The response from the crowd was wild. Everybody from the camp seemed to roar in unison, heralding the start of the great match.

The main screens were focused on the favorites, transitioning from each of their feeds, every team had their little broadcast station in the center, which needed some visual aids to see any of them. With my summons, however, that wasn’t an issue.

I could keep an eye on everything that was going on in the arena, as expected Ben’s squad quickly took to the offensive, they had minimal scouting capabilities in their squad. Their only choice was to choose a direction and pray. Their first choice sent them on a path far away from any of the nearby flags. Hurtling themselves onto a path with lots of other teams and little to none flags.

I was impressed with how wrong their decision was. With Ben’s advantages, though, I was sure they were going to be okay.

It took a few minutes for them to come into contact with an enemy team, but when they did. They struck with impunity ripping through the squad in a matter of moments, that seemed to resonate with the rest of the squads as tens of engagements broke out very soon after the first.

They were vicious, but still, they were heading on a path that led straight to the tier 4.