Chapter 298: Event: Mayhem of the Ancients
Rin created four active skills and six passive skills. Her Blade Ki was not an element, but a conceptual energy, so her skills were attribute-less fundamentally, though they could gain attributes from her affinity elements when she executed them.
Only ten minutes passed outside, but since they spent 100 hours total in those ten minutes, and that too with full focus, they had no choice but to take a good rest.
After sleeping for five hours, the duo joined in training with Aria and others for a while before they also took a rest when only five hours were left till the Event began.
The whole central region was more lively because of this single event and the number of participants was more than a whooping ten thousand plus.
Participants gathered towards Moon Flame meadow, where the event\'s giant entry portal was located.
"Damn, so many people," Erix clicked his tongue seeing the huge crowd in the meadow.
"It\'s a Blessed Island at the stack, and the participants are fixed at Royal-order rank, so everyone wants to have a chance," Lilith wryly smiled.
"Doesn\'t matter how many are there," Rin grinned. "The winners will be us."
"Hahaha, that\'s for sure," Erix laughed, a ferocious glint passing through his eyes. "I am internally shaking because I can\'t wait to throw everything I\'ve learned and created against them."
"Me too," Aria excitedly said, her tiny white fists clenched. "It\'s my first time participating in an event, hehe. Let\'s win."
The group floated in the sky like many others after Lilith put away the Airship, waiting for the countdown to hit 0 in five minutes.
"It seems that we already attracted some attention," Lily said as she glanced around.
"It\'s those guys," Rin nodded as she noticed and felt gazes on them.
The people who came to recruit Rin and Erix were also in this huge crowd on the ground and the sky.
"This Event does not have the permanent death penalty, so people are not afraid to participate," Lilith said. "But most of them will be eliminated early en mass. Big events like this have brutal 1st rounds to reduce numbers."
Amu floated and looked around with an amusing expression, "I\'ve scanned people who felt special to me. This won\'t end without a solid competition."
"Of course," Erix grinned. "The more challenging it is, the better."
Five minutes passed in blink of an eye, and the giant fifty-meter portal removed its veil around for people to enter.
Another countdown of five minutes appeared, but it was the time limit for people to enter.
People gushed forth into the portal as soon as it opened, vanishing quickly into the avenue of the Event.
"All the best," Lilith said with a big grin. "Get that Blessed Island and show this Abyss that you are the real stars here."
"You got this," Lily grinned.
Rin, Erix, and Aria flew towards the portal and vanished.
…
All participants arrived on a huge floating island with nothing but darkness around it.
The notification and panel of the Event appeared in their minds, informing them of the 1st round of the event.
[Event: Mayhem of the Ancients]
[Round 1: Dance of the Ancients]
_Rules:
—> Survive the onslaught of wills on the island for ten minutes, without using any kind of energy and without moving a single step.
Instantly, everyone\'s feet were locked on the ground, but if they decided to move, they felt they could move.
But moving meant disqualification.
"I wonder what will happen?" Aria asked in anticipation, her eyes eagerly shining.
"Probably some willpower-related stuff," Erix commented as he saw the countdown of ten seconds. "It\'s going to begin soon."
Ten seconds passed quickly, and the wholly black sky suddenly changed, manifesting colorful waves that soon took shapes of exotic beasts and humanoids.
They started dancing and spread mysterious musical waves. Soon, everyone felt a powerful pressure on them, as if someone was blocking their breathing and vitality, giving them suffocating pressure.
Instantly, a few lights shot up, indicating the disqualification of a few people who either moved or mistakenly used some sort of energy.
Meanwhile, everyone started hallucinating, and their visions blurred without control.
This caused a few more to be disqualified as they used their spirit energy.
"Don\'t defend," Erix said, his eyes showing various visions. "Just surrender yourself to whatever that\'s coming and then fight it with your mind, your will."
Aria nodded, already seeing within an illusion as she felt the pressure on her will.
As time passed, the pressure on each individual started increasing. It affected their mind and physical body.
Two minutes later, a few hundred people directly got disqualified because, on top of the pressure, the pain started attacking them in their minds and bodies.
\'Seven minutes more?\' Erix was speechless. \'I guess this is a torture session to see who can endure.\'
\'Heh, bring it on.\'
Indeed. The pain and pressure in their mind and body increased every second gradually, while nobody could sense or see anything real.
All of them were drowned in some fantasy world where those mysterious beasts and humanoids danced while raining torture on them.
Jump scares became common, but these jump scares from those dancing mystics brought pain as well.
When two minutes were left, several thousand had already been kicked out.
Afterward, more and more people were getting kicked out every few seconds.
Some had struggling expressions and body shaking as they continued to endure while some were trying to remain indifferent and endure the torture.
But a small portion of people were truly indifferent and leisurely taking on everything.
Erix, Rin, and…even Aria was one of them.
Aria\'s mental fortitude was unsurprisingly solid. The pain wasn\'t unfamiliar to her, not when she had been hurt into her soul and spirit at a very young age and still lived.
Rin and Erix were even raring to fight against these so-called ancient dances, but using energies wasn\'t allowed, so they just endured the torture without batting an eye.
Only a roughly thousand people remained at the last minute, and when the round finally ended, that number reduced to four hundred thirty-six.
The last minute proved brutal, eliminating those who were hanging by till the end.
[Congratulations. You all have passed the first round.]
[The second round will begin in ten minutes. Read the information and rules.]