Chapter 431 - Myriad Elemental Protection Formation
As mentioned before, the Earth fields were left for last, so the next one was Water. Obviously, that was the field where Havek made his Water Protection Formation. In the end, it was as he mentioned. His Water Formation also destroyed the Spiritual Energy Blast Formation. It's just that it used corrosion instead of destruction, which used three blasts' worth of energy.
Nonetheless, Havek passed as well since he did what Rean did first. Saya felt even more delighted to see these kinds of talents appearing in her guild. Of course, Rean left more of an imprint than the others since he wasn't part of the Imperial Family, so his resources were lacking compared to them.
The tests continued after that.
Milo was able to hold four strikes, which still put him in the top 300. Artin was the next one, and surprisingly, his protection formations defended six strikes, which put him high above others.
"Hahaha! Milo, you were so full of yourself before because you arrived here first, but look at the results. You couldn't even perform as well as me."
Milo's expression became dark as he replied.
"Hmph! You know very well that my specialty isn't defensive formations. Just wait until the next phase. I'll leave you eating dust."
Rean and Havek weren't considered since their tests finished differently. The blasts their formations received had no meaning.
Eventually, there was Qia's Defensive Earth Formation.
*Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom..*
"Qia Sasamil, eight blasts. Well done. Next!"
Artin and Milo looked at Qia with their eyes wide open. They didn't expect she would smash both their results that easily.
"What are you looking at? This lady can obviously do this much. I've been practicing formations for way longer than you two, and Master had always been very strict in her training. It's only natural that I can do better than you two."
Havek then got close and looked at her with some interest.
"Wh-What? Do you still think my result was bad?"
Havek then shrugged his shoulders as he replied.
"It wasn't as amazing as this god here, but I have to admit you surpassed my expectations a little bit. Perhaps you might have some use for my rival in the future. Well, rejoice. Your status has been upgraded from a burden to a quasi-burden! Believe me. This is an honor coming from me, your ancestor."
Qia was fuming! The more she heard this guy talking, the more she wanted to kill him. If Havek wasn't a part of the Sasamil Imperial family, she would definitely get rid of him.
Rean, on the other hand, began to find this guy's narcissism quite funny.
"Don't let it bother you, Qia. Although this... rival... of mine is like that, it's not like he's some demon or anything. Don't worry, I truly think you did quite well."
Qia became a little red as she ecstatically asked.
"Really?"
Rean nodded in response.
The tests naturally continued after that. Because the Earth Element was the most used field, it also had the highest number of participants who went to the next phase. Unexpectedly, there was another surprise in the end. A Formation Master named Ginsey Fole, from one of the subordinate clans, had resisted the Spiritual Energy Blast Formation nine times! Ginsey didn't do well in the first phase, but he showed his true ability in this one.
That number even caught Havek's attention.
"Oh! It's Ginsey. As I thought, he's pretty good when it comes to defensive formations."
Rean couldn't help but ask.
"Do you know him?"
Havek nodded.
"His teacher is a Formation Master known for managing the defensive formations of the Fole Clan. He also takes part in the junction managing of the Capital's protection formation. It's only normal that his disciple would also have a knack for defensive formations."
Rean didn't know the guy, so it was the first time hearing about that.
It didn't take long before the tests were over. Obviously, the majority were disappointed with their failure, while the few who had passed focused their attention on the next phase.
Turin saw that everything was done and immediately stepped forward to do some more talking.
"Congratulations to the three hundred who have advanced to the next phase. Those who failed can stay behind to watch the rest of the exam. Now, let's not waste time and go into further detail of your next tasks. Well, most of you have probably noticed it already. We just had a defensive formation test, so now we are going to test your skill in offensive formations."
Turin then looked at the other Formation Masters before asking.
"Is the guild's measurement formation ready?"
"Yes, Senior Turin. We can start any time you wish."
Turin nodded, satisfied.
"Activate!"
As soon as Turin said that, a massive formation took form in the Earth testing field. Within seconds, a giant dome spanning 10 kilometers in diameter had appeared. That dome had several layers. The spectators could see that the closer the layer was to the center, the more energy it had. It was also possible to see the protection formation using the Earth Element of the field to strengthen itself with one's Spiritual Sense.
Of course, that wasn't all. Four more domes appeared, one inside each of the Elemental Testing Fields. Just like the Earth Element dome, the other domes also used the elements of their own fields to increase the layers' defensive strength.
"This is the Guild's Myriad Elemental Protection Formation. It uses twenty layers of defense to create a powerful barrier. The good thing about this formation is that it can be used with basically any primary element. Your objective is pretty simple. Select any field you like and build an offensive formation to attack them. You will have one hour to do it this time."
"We have specially designed these ones to be weaker than a real formation. That way, we'll be able to measure your formations more accurately through the number of layers they can destroy. Each of these protection formations have a total of twenty layers, with the innermost one being the most powerful."
"That's all regarding the mechanics. You have another thirty minutes to ask the assistants for the materials you want. After that, the test will start straight away."