Karla accompanied her lover as she exclaimed in surprise how observant he was to notice these players among the over three hundred thousands present in the exam center.
The stick like guy from earlier turned out to have successfully won both of the individual duels while the two Paladins that followed him from the start, Matthew and Marlow, were also similar. These two were the typical Paladins with a slightly muscular body and dignified face that seemed to have eyes brimming with conviction for a sacred mission.
She then watched him greet a teacher of a different class before announcing his party invite and this time, to her dismay, a beauty with a pretty face and graceful figure appeared. That girl also had a bit of a similar reaction like the stick guy after the party invite but she hid it well from others. Obviously it didn't manage to escape from her eyes.
As his girlfriend she naturally was sensitive to any information pertaining to him thus the matter of his secret fan group was known to her. She also sensed some scorn directed at her from time to time in that girl's sneaky glances.
"Tch! A homewrecker is near now."
She grimaced inwardly while maintaining a calm facade outside. How could that girl's intention towards her lover be hidden from her? In her opinion, she was a bitch in heat. But alas, she couldn't just outright show her denial as the girl didn't do anything detrimental for the party.
She could only stomach it for now.
That homewrecker was apparently a close range combat class of rare grade called Assassin specializing in stealth, camouflage, sneak attacks and one-hit kill while using a dagger as the main weapon. She also performed excellently in the individual duels, winning both of them.
Karla had already decided to show off her adamant stance as his lover so she became more intimate and sticky with him after the homewrecker named Luna joined the party. She took great satisfaction at that girl's intense struggle to not lash at her at any given moment.
Her lover also recruited two more players.
Twins who were built like a bear towering close to seven feet with muscles such that their already baggy clothes were in a pinch to hold on for dear life. Those bodybuilders also turned out to be her boyfriend's secret fan. The sharp contrast of hulking muscle mass cheerfully chatting with him while barely hiding the happy grin, that actually looked menacing, was enough to make her doubt her rationality and common sense.
Even that Luna was similar to her opinion. A rare moment where both met eye to eye.
She listened curiously of the twins' introduction on their way to the Paladin's gathering spot. The party leader's class was designated as the assembly point by the academy teachers. At her party, the party leader was unanimously decided which naturally was her boyfriend.
Anyways, the twins were called Johansson and Johnson, the big brother with a shaved head being the former while the younger brother with curly hair similar to a bird's nest was the latter. Both of them had Warden class, a close-mid range combat class of rare grade which used a large rectangular shield as the main weapon. They also used an iron baton as a sub weapon. The shield was necessary for their class skills that specialized in attracting offense, tanking damage and covering others from being attacked.
"So they are the defenders?"
Karla asked her lover and he nodded in reply. They all have revealed their class skills and how those worked, so all the party members could perform well in the upcoming parts of this exam.
She suspected that some might have hidden some crucial details, certainly that wench Luna, however her boyfriend didn't argue or say anything about being truthful in front of him so she also decided not to break the initial harmony over quarrels.
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The Paladin teacher named Walter decided their party's order from a coin toss and they were chosen to go against a stronger rank party first and then a rank lower than them. A party's strength was determined by the overall ranking position held among the eight and some other criteria known only to the teachers.
Their party was scheduled to battle after another half an hour. At that time the teacher asked them,
"You need to register your party name so the display screen can announce it properly. So, what's the name?"
All the party members looked at her lover who seemed a bit troubled at the sudden decision making right. He seemed to ponder for a moment as his beautiful ruby eyes narrowed for a bit before replying,
"Let's call it Azure Sun. Our determination to do best is as vast as the azure sky and our capacity to do so is as high as the sun. What do you all think?"
They all praised his naming sense and thus the party name was decided to be Azure Sun.
°°°°
Blue arrived at the dome with his party.
The opponent was the seventh rank in student ranking who led a party of two Berserkers, two Archers, one Rogue, and two Shield Warriors. Seventh ranker was a petite girl who had the very rare grade class of Swarmkeeper, a mid-long range combat class specializing in using swarms of insects as the "main weapon".
After all, anything could be dubbed as a weapon that could be used to hurt others.
Archer class, well, did archery while the Shield Warrior was very similar to Warden class but the grade was common with many scaled down skills in it. Rogue was however a good counter to the Assassin class as there were many similarities but the Assassin's one-hit kill centered offensive skill that relied on close range could be thwarted by Rogue's projectile throw centric offensive skill that had long reach.
The Swarmkeeper was obviously much better than the common grade Restrictor where both would play controller roles. The seventh ranker was speculated by him to have two roles of leader and controller which gave him more maneuverability as the girl had increased her burdens instead. Maybe the corny name of Ever Victory was also her handiwork.
The Azure Sun party was much well-rounded.
Including him there were three Paladins, two Wardens, one Restrictor, an Assassin and a Gunslinger. If the class grade was counted then one unique, three very rare, three rare and one common. When role allocation was checked he had the role of leader along with striker, two Paladins and the Gunslinger as well as the Assassin were purely striker roles, two Wardens were similarly focused on defender roles and Restrictor was the sole controller role.
He was in the most optimized state as ordering around these newbies while dealing damage that his class specialized in ultimately increased his efficiency at tackling problems during combat.
So the countdown began and both parties positioned themselves in battle formation.
The opponent had the two Shield Warriors at the front while two Berserkers closely flanked them. The Rogue stood beside the Swarmkeeper in the center, who already circled her party with swarms of bees and wasps in the air while ants and centipedes on the ground. The two Archers were at the very rear with their bow knocked with an aether coated arrow where one was burning with fire while the other had vines growing on it.
He also took the standard approach to show his "inexperience" to the audience.
Twin Wardens were sent to the front with all three Paladins flanking them. The Assassin hid behind their towering figures while Restrictor stood at the center, who spread mist centered around them to hide their figures within it. The Gunslinger placed himself at the rear with an aether coated sniper rifle swirling with lightning aimed at the opponent.
As he watched the countdown timer that floated above the flat battlefield getting close to zero he planned ahead inwardly,
"First thing to take down was the Berserkers. If their close range weren't dealt with earlier then later they would become troublesome when the formation broke. I will personally deal with one of the Berserker and the Shield Warrior closest to me."
"I also can't make a quick work out of them as that would be too eye-catching. So while struggling with those two the little girl's insects need to be dealt with. My space element comprehension will be shown off again which is already known to the academy as earlier individual duels didn't present a situation where it could be properly used."
"The Rogue's sneak attacks and Archer's arrows could be repelled by the Wailing Sanctum so I just need to show intense struggle while dishing out sensible but a bit inexperienced orders to the party while making sure they don't get eliminated thus preventing difficulties on future plans, phew! That's a lot of work, no?"
He couldn't help but lament as he ordered to engage the foe when the timer hit zero.