Chapter 379: 274 Participants, Mana Gathering Event
[Participants: 274]
That was extremely low compared to the tens of thousands that had been here only 30 minutes ago, a drastic reduction in numbers that surprised even Leon.
But still, all those present knew that they needed to be wary of each other, as they had passed the [Imperial Queen]’s trial and were clearly the cream of the crop among the kingdom’s players.
"Alright, then," Zarek and Iris dropped slowly to the ground, the latter a wide smile on her lizard face, "Lets start!"
She tapped once more, and this time panels appeared in front of every person, displaying the event details and rules.
[Excursion #187: Mana Gathering.]
’Here we go,’ Leon thought, preparing himself for what was to come.
"As you all know," Iris began, "The [Training Grounds] allow each of you to fight monsters in our database, as we use mana to simulate these monsters."
Iris tapped the ground, and a massive monster made out of mana appeared, it was the [Crescent Blade Wolf] that Violet had fought a few days ago in the arena.
None of the players facing it even shuddered though, their expressions calm and unimpressed by the display.
They seemed to have all at least fought an opponent of that level in the [Training Grounds] before, so it was nothing new to them.
In fact, among all of them, Celeste, Emilia and Leon seemed to be the outliers with less experience in such high-level combat.
"Using that fact... I have decided to host an incredible event!"
Ding!
Panels appeared in front of Leon with the specific rules and objectives for the event.
[Objective: Acquire the most amount of mana possible from the different monsters scattered across the queen’s domain.]
[Only the top 10 will be able to acquire a reward, all others will be given nothing.]
"Told you it would be a competition," Leon grinned, "It always is no matter the event or the stakes."
"Damn it," Celeste sighed, and she looked around at the other players, "I don’t think I stand a chance against these people..."
"Yeah," Leon admitted, "Even I and Violet might struggle a little against some of them."
Leon looked at the different players, his eyes narrowing as he assessed each of them individually.
He could feel all of their gazes on him, their expressions neutral or smiling at him with clear intent to challenge him.
’Hah...’ Leon thought, a smirk forming on his face at the challenge.
"I don’t want to give too much information," Iris smiled, "But the top 10 will indeed receive many generous rewards, one of them being..."
Fwoosh!
She summoned a book out of thin air, and everyone used [Appraisal] on it to see what it was.
[Max-Level Skill Book (Ascendant): Allows you to evolve a skill of ascendant-rank or below to level 10 instantly.]
Leon’s eyes widened, even he was shocked by the sheer power of this reward and what it could mean for his abilities.
"And that’s only one of them, so make sure to get into the top 10 at any cost~"
The atmosphere grew much more fierce and competitive, and even the angel who seemed pretty calm before suddenly smirking, his eyes flashing with dangerous aura.
"More rules will be explained once you arrive there so... good luck," Iris smiled.
Fwoosh!
She swung her staff, and a circle of magic appeared beneath everybody, glowing with power.
After all, those that paid the most attention noticed that it said in the "queen’s domain", meaning they would be transported elsewhere.
This meant they would be transported somewhere else for this event, away from the kingdom entirely.
And indeed, as the magic circle reached its peak, every player around was transported somewhere else based on the order of their passage of the aura wall.
This meant that Leon was essentially the last one to go, having passed last.
And as everyone was teleported away, Iris simply looked at him with a knowing smile.
"See you, Celestial, I expect you to put on a good performance~"
"Whatever," Leon said flatly.
Fwoosh!
Leon was transported away to another space, the world dissolving around him.
A few seconds passed, and then Leon hit the ground, sensing grass beneath his feet and feeling the warmth of the sun above.
And as he looked around at his new surroundings...
"Wow," he said, genuinely impressed.
He was standing in a massive plain, and strangely enough, he could see many things from his locations stretching out before him.
He saw massive mountains in the distance, a dense forest to his left, even some sort of city far away, and many more landmarks scattered across the landscape.
Ding!
[You have arrived at "Iris’ Domain"]
[From now on, "Excursion #187", AKA the "Mana Gathering" event, has officially started.]
[Your goal is simple: the person that manages to store the most amount of mana in their jar by defeating monsters will win.]
[Everyone has been teleported randomly across the domain.]
[If you defeat another player, you cannot grab their "stored mana" but they will be eliminated no matter how much they have.]
[Monsters from the "Hell" and "Impossible" difficulty are scattered across this domain.]
[You have 24 hours until the end of this excursion, good luck.]
"Hm," Leon said, reading through the rules carefully.
Leon tried to open his [Friends List] to contact the others, but as he expected it was completely disabled for the duration of the event.
And beside him on the ground was an item: it was a transparent jar with a closed lid that seemed to hum with energy.
He picked it up and inspected it carefully.
[Mana Storer: Use this item to store mana, it will calculate the amount you have.]
"Alright, I get it now," Leon grinned, "This event is quite... interesting and well-designed."
And in the sky above all players, two massive panels were visible for everyone to see.
The first one simply showed the time left: [23:59:48]
And the second... was there to remind them that everyone here was an enemy, including their allies if they really wanted the rewards.
[274 participants remain.]