Otherworld Adventure 176 Beginning Plaza

"It's a map...of the trial grounds?"

Once Cecil took out the map, the chest was immediately pulled back down into the earth and the dirt began closing up the hole that the chest had created.

"..."

Cecil glanced at the map and it showed the Beginning Plaza and some other places that were around it.

"Second Treetops...Third Monster Wave and Fourth Hidden Roots...this map shows all the locations of the next trials...there are also some miscellaneous areas where you can get some other rewards...Neat!"

Cecil activated Hyper-sensitivity and quickly memorized the contents of the map. He then stored it away inside his white spatial ring. It was better if other people didn't see such a thing, it would undoubtedly raise jealousy and envy to him.

On the map were the locations of getting other rewards from the trial grounds. He wasn't sure what the rewards were for, but it was likely that these other locations were the targets of every Nation's Academy group.

[You have acquired the Urrugdrasil Trials Map! Restrictions released, you may proceed to freely roam about the trial grounds!]

"Wha?"

When Cecil had arrived, he noticed that the path towards the next trial locations and the other paths leading to the surrounding areas were blocked off by a light wall, but after the notification sounded in his head, the light began to dim down and some of those lights flowed into Cecil's body.

It was strange, but he felt like he could pa.s.s through those lights that most likely acted as a barrier.

"Does this mean I had to wait for the other partic.i.p.ants to arrive at the plaza before I could continue? Well, that sucks! Not anymore though...good thing I arrived first!"

Cecil chuckled and made his way to the pathway on the west side of the Plaza. He came from the south so it was likely that every other partic.i.p.ant of the trials would come from there. The north pathway was the direction of the second trial, but Cecil opted to walk down the west pathway since he could get some extra rewards if he completed the extra trials.

Cecil whistled merrily and made his way down the path.

About five minutes after he disappeared from the Plaza, a group of students had finally appeared from the southern path of the Beginning Plaza.

"Hey! We're first!" A girl exclaimed.

The group made their way into the middle of the Plaza and waited for the administrator's announcement.

"I heard that we can get a map of the trial grounds since we're the first to arrive! Then the restrictions will be lifted and we'll be free to roam the area. Good thing our King and Headmaster informed us of this!"

The group that had arrived was composed of Elves. It was no wonder why they had quickly arrived at the area despite not being given instructions to kill the monsters right when they arrived.

All the elves had been given a handicap in the form of information that their predecessors had given them.

Even though the trials would always change each time the grounds were opened, one thing in common was that the first person to complete the first trial would always get a map and the restrictions placed on them would be removed.

The group of elves waited and waited, but no new notifications were given to them.

"H-how could this be?! Was our information wrong?" The leading elf girl exclaimed.

"No! It's more likely that someone or some group had arrived long before us...do remember that those kids from the Beastkin Kingdom handed out tracking crests to each other before entering. They probably grouped up as soon as they made it inside and quickly cleared the first trial."

"But it still doesn't make any sense! If this was the case, then they'd be put at a disadvantage instead! The amounts of monsters that you would have to kill if you grouped up would rise each time you have a new member in the party!"

"Y-yeah... our group of 5 had to kill over 800 of those monsters before we were given the notification to proceed..."

"...that means that this trial had a drastic change...or single, powerful individual cleared the first trial by themselves and got here before us..."

"..."

Not long after, Lucia and her group of 8 arrived at the plaza. There weren't any members of Little Kings with her, but she did somehow meet up with Zephyr and Manden. With the 3 powerful members they had quickly destroyed the monsters in their area and were immediately notified of their trial's completion.

"We aren't the first...too bad, I'm pretty sure we'd got some sort of reward if we did," Zephyr clicked his tongue. He didn't know that the monsters that they would have to kill if they grouped up would rise with every member, but it wasn't like he was going to change his plans and leave them behind.

It wasn't only the monsters that had to be wary about. The other students partic.i.p.ating in the trials that weren't a part of their academy were also a threat to them.

"Hmph, those Elves arrived first...I bet they got some info beforehand about the trials." Lucia scoffed.

"Really? But didn't the headmaster say that the trials would be different every single time?" A party member asked.

"The predecessors can still share their experience. No matter how different the trials are, having a good picture of it before they start would be of help no matter if it was relevant or not." Lucia answered.

And this was true. When they first arrived, the first things on their minds were to activate the tracking crest and meet up with anybody around their area before proceeding with the trials. Not the Elves however. They straight forwardly started to kill the monsters around them and if they were lucky enough to meet up with other Elves they would then group up and complete the trial together.

It didn't take very long until more partic.i.p.ants arrived at the Beginning Plaza. The Little Kings were quickly reunited and from the students of Arks Academy, around 80 had arrived at the plaza.

"Where's Cel?" Lucia asked while looking around.

"Yeah...where is he? The brat's not here!" Ainz exclaimed.

The Little Kings began to look around, but couldn't find the boy. Finally, after another small group of beastmen arrived at the plaza, the administrator's voice sounded in their heads.

[Congratulations! You have all safely pa.s.sed the first trial!]

"Eh?"

Everyone present...had safely pa.s.sed the first trial, but the Little Kings and everyone in Arks Academy couldn't help but notice...their strongest member wasn't present!

"W-where's Cel?!"
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"He couldn't have failed...right?"

"No way! Those monsters were easy! There's no way he could have lost!" Lucia immediately denied.

But no matter what she said...the fact that Cecil wasn't here didn't change.

"Hahaha! That just means he didn't pa.s.s the test! Or better yet, he was unfortunate enough to land in the corrupted area by himself! He probably died already! Hahaha!" A smug voice sounded out.

"What was that?!"

Lucia immediately glared at the person who said that. It was the Empire's 13th Prince. The person who got his a.s.s kicked by Cecil.

"Oh my~ aren't you a beautiful little thing! Won't you be my concubine? It's much better than pinning your hopes onto some dead body! Hahaha!"

Lucia's anger immediately flared. She was just about flash forward to disembowel the disgusting fool, but then Zephyr immediately pulled her back.

"Stop, Lucia. This is the Beginning Plaza. I heard from the Headmaster that this is a safe zone! The administrator doesn't tolerate violence here and they might disqualify you from proceeding in the trials if you take action!"

"Tsk...You better wash your neck you disgusting, scrawny, weak, lizard dung! When we get out of here, I'll separate that scaly disgusting twig you call a throat from that bean sprout of a body!"

Her menacing words and the dangerous pressure she exuded immediately shut the Prince up. He even began to back up in fear and this caused everyone in Arks Academy to laugh at him.

The Beastmen students didn't quite like this. Even though they didn't care about the person who had been insulted, but being laughed at by the Beastkins didn't suit them. Just as they were about to speak up, their Student Body President spoke up.

"Relax...they'll get what's coming for them later."

"..."

The beastmen students cooled down after listening to their student president, but it still didn't appease the discomfort and humiliation they felt.

[The first trial rewards will be given to you now! Please wait patiently in one spot and do not move around!]

The administrator's voice sounded out once again. The students in the plaza immediately stopped moving around and waited in place.

The ground immediately began to shake and rumble. Then small roots rose up from the earth and in their grasp was a miniature sized chest.

Each student opened up theirs and inside was a pile of spatial rings.

[Please select one ring to take away.]

The students started choosing at random. All the rings looked the same. They couldn't find out any differences.

Lucia took one look at her friends and whispered.

"Activate Aura Manifestation and concentrate it on your eyes like we practiced. Maybe we'll be able to tell the difference if we enhance our eyes to see a little bit of mana."

Over the past days when Cecil was training them inside the Accelerated Time Formation, Cecil and friends were able to create a technique that somewhat copied what his Mana Eyes could do.

The trick was for his friends to activate Aura Manifestation and focus it into their eyes. It was harmful if they had channeled mana into their eyes, but by using Aura Manifestation, a combat skill that Eli created to enhance their physical capabilities. The enhanced body was somehow able to endure mana being channeled into the delicate parts of their bodies.

Such as the eyes, brain, and some other organs, if they channeled the aura into their brains then they'll be able to speed up their senses and enter a pseudo hyper-sensitivity state. If they channeled it into their eyes, then they'll be able to gain temporary Mana Vision!

It wasn't something that Cecil thought up on the spot. He noticed this peculiarity whenever he had a spar with Eli. Whenever the girl used her Intent and fused it with her Aura, Eli said that she would enter a state similar to Cecil's Hypersensitivity.

This piqued his interest. Since Intent was the manifestation of someone's Will being projected into the physical plane. Since Will originated from the brain, if Eli fused her Intent with her Aura... that meant she had basically channeled her Aura into her brain.

Since that was possible, why not try it with their eyes? Cecil only said it as a pa.s.sing thought, but Eli had dangerously decided to do so right then and there. The results... were pretty good! They had created a combat skill that imitated Cecil's unique skill and sight.

The Little Kings activated Aura Manifestation and used the pseudo-Mana Vision. The group immediately noticed a change occur when they casted their sights on the rings inside of the little box.