Blue entered the teleportation circle along with his party.
The lights flickered and soon their perception changed as they teleported to a snowy tundra. There was a world of ice and snow. Trees of massive scale hiding the little bit of sunlight that slipped away from the overcast clouds.
It was akin to being at the time of dusk even though they knew the time was set on early morning at every simulation. The cold was biting but as a player who could use “aura” it wasn't much to impede them. Just a bit of it circulating throughout the body can keep them warm as if they were under the pleasant spring’s sun.
The ten of them didn't take any step forward but instead made use of their new addition, the Diviner. Darwin got to work as he brought out a turtle shell from his inventory and shook it three times before placing it on top of his palm to draw out the result of his divination. A slip of paper dropped from one of the four holes and he promptly opened it and read out loud.
“Blood on the northeast, desolation on the south and sustenance on the southwest.”
The party took on a pondering expression at the divination result but ultimately they all looked at him. He was the party leader after all. Any direction the party should take would be decided by him. So he didn't keep them on the suspense as the decision was already made on the first part of the divination,
“We will go northeast. There are obviously other parties there. We shouldn't forget the real goal of this exam. To fight the player parties and come out as the final victor. That being said there will be danger so if some of you are not willing to engage this early on then we can take one of the other two routes too.”
Unsurprisingly, his decision was supported by all since he had made sure to only include the young prodigies, who always brimmed with confidence in their capabilities, within his party. On top of that he was the idol of them all while the two ladies were either his lover or about to become one.
With so many favorable conditions stacked, there naturally wouldn't be any objections to his decision in the future.
Azure Sun party headed towards the direction of the northeast cautiously and the Inquisitor Dawson showed off his class skills on navigation. Any slight traces of activity that was overlooked by them was discovered thanks to his skills and they walked on a path much safer where the random traps, aether beast habitats and multiple player parties wouldn't become an issue for them.
Dawson later found more traces of activity and figured out the number of individuals involved with the help of his skill then he pointed to a direction he found worthy to investigate. The party followed behind him and indeed found a spot where blood was spilled and the surrounding was devastated while the aether fluctuations were chaotic to say the least.
“It seems that two parties fought here. Leader Blue, what do you think?”
Dawson asked him and to his inquiry he gave a new set of orders,
“Thanks to you finding this site, Darwin now could better divinate. Try to see if we would gain success in engaging or will face obstacles in following this lead.”
Upon his order Darwin got to work and with the new slip of paper in his hand he read out loud,
“Breeze of spring in continuation and bitterness of winter upon changes.”
“Oh? It seems the winning party is in a much worse condition after the battle. Well, let's pick them out. It should serve as a good warmup for us.”
Thus they chose the target for their first battle after much calculation.
°°°°
Karla got into a battle formation along with her party.
She followed the lead of her lover and soon they saw the footsteps on the snow heading forward. Just after a while the battle broke out between the two parties.
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With the controller role, she was in the center of the formation with one of the Warden by her side for protection purposes. She got to her work as she spread white mist of ice throughout the surrounding area which hid her party's figure within.
The opponent only had five people left in their party. Surprisingly, they had already lost their controller so the fight was utterly dominated by her party. The two supporter roles had positioned themselves at the very rear away from the combat. They still had enough training to be able to keep up with the large movements of her party as they engaged in the combat.
Karla had loaded her crossbow and shot the bolt at one of the long range strikers who was throwing light attribute javelins at one of the Paladins. That fellow retreated and thus gave that Paladin some breathing room to engage the opponent he was facing.
That being said her shot at that striker wasn't futile as the moment they retreated Luna appeared like a ghost on their retreating route before her dagger targeted the neck. Of course, before the attack landed firmly that striker got teleported away thanks to the safety mechanism this special facility had.
Karla didn't bother with her as by now her tolerance for that wench, reluctantly, had increased a bit. She put those stray thoughts aside as she focused on restricting a defender with icy blood chains from the injuries of that target.
Her skill successfully impeded that defender and her lover took the advantage to finish them off.
He thrusted his bident on the chest area before giving a forward kick to the thigh. With the opponent's balance lost while trying to defend the previous weapon attack, he swung his bident diagonally on that defender's head and swiftly eliminated the opponent as they got teleported away.
She was a bit surprised at his strength even though she knew of his high level.
Anyways, with her firm control over the battlefield the fight didn't last long and soon they were party wiped.
The first battle thus ended in victory.
“Everyone, let's not linger around here. Drink your potions on the way as we retreat. Others may also follow the same pattern like us.”
Her boyfriend advised everyone before coming to her and checking up on her wellbeing. She gave him a sweet smile and a big hug but didn't go further as they were still on the battlefield. This wasn't an appropriate place.
She still remained within the battle formation as they all followed her lover's order to be prepared for any encounter or an ambush on their way.
She was feeling a bit dismayed though. On their battle formation she naturally took the center as the controller but that wench Luna's class made her so that she could roam freely within the formation and infuriatingly she would always hover around her lover like an annoying fly.
If not for the “compromise” they both made that day she would have given her a good lashing by now. That being said, she had surprised herself that her possessiveness over her boyfriend had actually subsided a bit.
She wasn't stupid.
Karla had long since realized that her boyfriend bore too good of a personality and on top of that seriously handsome which became fatally attractive for women. With her being his girlfriend she was bound to have a headache because of it.
Now, within the academy it was just her peers who wanted to secretly fight with her for his affection but what about when they graduated? Will she be able to keep this same mindset of butting heads with anyone who wanted to be with him even when senior players ended up being involved?
She had no doubt that if such a future did occur, and judging by the ever radiance he gave which increased by the day, it was a certain reality where those who were no longer her peers would also join in on the fray. She never doubted her boyfriend's charm or rather she always took great pride in it.
The conversation with Luna had pretty much forced her to accept this new mindset way earlier than she had planned. At least, she wanted to spend the academy life in peace but turns out that even that wish was indirectly harming her boyfriend.
With all said and done, she could only compromise and draft up an alliance with that wench where both of them would prevent other girls unworthy of him from ever trying to approach him with those intentions. Of course, it only pertained to their peers. Both of them didn't have the capability to stand up against higher leveled players should they get involved.
If they still behaved the same way to them then the consequences would be no doubt grave and both of them might end up bringing harm to Blue himself. A narrow-minded and spiteful woman of higher level might take it out on him by thinking that he was the one who told them to behave that way in front of her thus disregarding her dignity as a senior player.
The player society followed a strict hierarchy of social status, seniority and above all, strength.
No matter how much Karla felt reluctant she knew of this harsh truth and thus could only adapt to an accommodating mentality. So she started with accepting Luna as a way to temper her uneasy feelings.
No matter how much she understood, at the end of the day, she was still just a young girl of eighteen in love for the first time of her life.
The reality was too harsh on her though.
Much to her dismay, polygamous relationships seemed to be the only way for her boyfriend to be safe. He did not have a strong background in this rigid player society and this cruel void, after all.