If we were following clichés, the S-ranked teams would be called first, followed by the ranked teams. However, the tournament organizers cared little for our arbitrary ranking system I caught sight of the black-uniformed guy from Edgar Pole Academy, along with his comrades, being among the first few teams who were disembarking. He gave us a glance, was startled when he caught sight of me watching him, and then quickly jumped off without looking back again.

As I said, amateur.

It didn't take long for our team to be called. The military-uniformed staff poked his head in, his short-cropped hair hidden under a purple beret, and called out to us.

"Jing Tian Academy team, please alight."

My friends and I exchanged glances, and then we complied without any hesitation, rising from our seats and heading for the exit. Stepping out into the cold, I suppressed an involuntary s.h.i.+ver and looked around.

As I expected, our surroundings were not that of a safe and warm train station, but instead an icy valley that was being overlooked by towering, snow-capped mountains. As my team gathered in in a spot right outside the train, I noticed that none of the other teams were present.

They had already moved on and started the qualifiers on their own.

The military staff with the purple beret stood with his arms folded behind his back, watching us coldly.

"I will now share the mission details with you. The objective for your Jing Tian team is very simple."

Like h.e.l.l it was going to be simple! I couldn't believe the guy thought he could get away with telling such a bald-faced lie.

"You are to reach Olympus City in two weeks."

"Huh? Olympus City? Shouldn't it be Aurora City?" I asked, wondering if I had misheard the guy. He shook his head.

"No, Olympus City is right. Ask Skeleton Wizard if you don't believe me."

"Who the h.e.l.l is Skeleton Wizard!?" Dong Fang Yue Chu practically screamed. The soldier glared at him, but noticed that everyone was staring at him intensely. He coughed and cleared his throat.

"A Chinese author on Qidian. Anyway, if you are unable to reach Olympus City within two weeks, or if fewer than half of your team only managed to reach Olympus City, then you will be disqualified from the tournament."

"Fewer than half…" Lily Liam did a quick count. "In other words, at least five of us must make it to Olympus City."

"That is correct," the military guy affirmed. He then reached out with his hand and gestured toward our backpacks. "Turn in all of your equipment except your personal weapons and Divine Devices. Other than your weapons, you are only allowed to carry the fieldpacks that have been specially prepared by the TOs."

"Really?" Theodore Hammond raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue further. Like us, he slipped the backpack off his shoulders, removed his thunder hammer, and accepted the fieldpack that the military man designated us toward.

"Additionally, you are to safeguard this item." The military guy then stretched out his hand to pa.s.s Harrison Reed a blue, hi-tech badge. "This badge serves as your proof of identification, and it also doubles as a distress beacon. If you ever find yourselves in life-threatening danger, use the badge to contact HQ for help. We'll dispatch a rescue team immediately. Of course, that would also mean that you are forfeiting."

"Our lives are not worth as much as trying to qualify for the knock-out stages," Harrison said, more for us than the military guy. "We will use it without hesitation when necessary."

"Good." The military guy smiled approvingly. "That is the right att.i.tude. As long as you're alive, you'll always have another chance in future. It's not worth throwing away your lives for a single tournament. Now that that's clear, are there any other questions?"

"…um…"

"I don't think so…"

"Sounds clear to me."

"Yeah." To our surprise, it was Bu Fan who raised his hand. "Are there any other ways of advancing past the qualifiers? Such as…" he smirked. "Stealing the badges from other teams?"

"No. this isn't a battle royale. You'll be disqualified if you attack the other teams and steal their badges. And make no mistake, we will know. Don't think that just because you're in the wilderness and away from civilization, there's no one to watch over you and you can do anything you want. The only time you are allowed to fight is against monsters, or in self-defense if the other party attacks you first."

There was a hidden meaning behind that last sentence. Evidently the military guy was aware of the presence of the Dark Church and a.s.sa.s.sins Guild. To minimize casualties and ensure the students' safety, they wanted us to focus on surviving and looking out for each other instead of recklessly competing and backstabbing each other.

"In fact, it's more advantageous if you link up with the other teams and band together to survive the wilderness and ally against herds of monsters. But that's entirely up to you. The other teams might not necessarily agree, especially since it would be more advantageous for them to weed out as many potential rivals during the qualifier stages as possible. But again, that's entirely up to you."

He shrugged, and then turned around to return to the train. With a wave of his hand, he left one last remark for us.

"Good luck, all of you. Stay alive. That's the number one advice I can give you."

"Yes, sir!"

Before we walked straight into the forest, we found a good area to stop and discuss our strategy going forward. First, Harrison checked the contents of the fieldpack that we had just been issued. While he did so, Sheila shook her head.

"Wow…that's quite the unique qualifier this year. It's totally different from the format last year, where they just had a simpler one-on-one duel in group stages."

"The Federation is really placing a lot of emphasis on teamwork," Craig agreed. "Looks like they have been taking the feedback from all the mercenaries and soliders very seriously."

"I recall Instructor Feng Hai being one of the most vocal supporters for reforming the tournament format and ranking system," Cody Crosby added seriously. "He was citing how impractical it was to allow one-on-one duels and ranking systems determine the capability and potential of students, and how we needed a more holistic approach."

"The mercenaries and military form the core combat forces of the Federation, of course the government will listen to them," Pearl Pang agreed.

"All right, everyone." Harrison rose to his feet after laying out the contents in his fieldpack. "It seems like they have issued us winter gear and clothing, which would be extremely useful for this mission. In addition to clothing, they also gave us a holographic map, a compa.s.s, and basic wilderness equipment."

"Seems like they also packed three days' worth of water and rations," Theodore added as he rummaged through his own fieldpack. Leave it to the big guy to pay attention to our food. "But if they expect us to make it through the mountains and forest in two weeks, then they probably mean for us to obtain the rest of our food, water and other necessities on our own."

"This will be tough," Pearl muttered, grimacing.

"We'll figure it out," Lily a.s.sured her.

"Yeah!" Dong Fang Yue Chu was excited. "This sounds like one heck of a camping trip! I'm so looking forward to it!"

"A camping trip in the snow and cold," Bu Fan grumbled darkly. "How fun."

"Looking at the map, it seems like the easiest route is this main road here." Harrison traced his finger along the holographic map that he projected from the device included in our fieldpacks. "Theoretically, this should allow us to get there within the stipulated timeframe with plenty of buffer. If we count it by distance, anyway. However, given the adverse weather conditions and volume of ice and snow, I suspect that our journey will be hampered greatly. Most likely we'll end up moving at three or four times our usual speed."

"Should we try to link up with one of the other groups and ally together?" Yue Chu asked, recalling the military guy's words from earlier.

"Don't be naïve. How do we know they aren't the enemy? They could backstab us when our guard was down."

As usual, Bu Fan was behaving in his usual callous manner. However, this time he had a good point. Even though he didn't say it out loud, he was clearly referring to the presence of a.s.sa.s.sins and ambushers. The guy from Edgar Pole Academy in particular stood out as very suspicious.

I had a feeling that Bu Fan would have said the same regardless of whether there were a.s.sa.s.sins or not. Being the lone wolf protagonist type of guy, he was more p.r.o.ne to running off and doing stuff on his own without being tied to any group or whatever.

"We also don't know if they will be willing to agree to work with us," Sheila whispered anxiously. "They might reject our offer of cooperation."

"They can if they want to. But they're not allowed to attack us, remember?" Craig grinned. "They will get disqualified if they do."

"That doesn't mean we should recklessly take risks and approach anyone," Bu Fan pointed out. "We might end up wasting too much time fighting when we don't have to."

"They might attack us whether we try to avoid them or not," I muttered, but made sure not to give away anything regarding the a.s.sa.s.sins. "And we have other things to worry about. Don't forget that humans aren't the worst enemies in this terrain. Not only do we have to survive the cold and snow, we also have monsters to deal with."

"Yeah. We'll have to keep an eye out on the elements and monsters." Cody was nodding in agreement. "There will be danger from every angle."

"No route will be the safest, huh?" Pearl murmured wearily.

"Regardless, we should plan the best route," Harrison said, bringing us back to the main point. "Or what is the most optimal route under the current circ.u.mstances, anyway. I'm not sure if the main road is the best route to take, but…unless anyone has any alternatives, I suggest we follow it for now."

"No objections," Pearl spoke up.

"None from me too," Theodore agreed.

"It will make us more vulnerable to an ambush," Cody warned as he studied the map. And then he shrugged. "But given our magical abilities and combat techniques, an open terrain would be more advantageous for us…I'd hate to be dragged into a fight inside the forest or snow, where our enemies will have the advantage in terms of favorable terrain for them."

"Good point." Craig grinned and rubbed his hands eagerly. "I would rather meet the enemies and fight in the open than be forced to fight them on their own turf."'

"If we do run into another team along the way, we might want to at least try reaching out to them." Dong Fang Yue Chu hadn't given up on his proposal. "We might not be able to trust them, but there's no denying that there will be safety in numbers. Besides…keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer."

"That makes sense," Harrison admitted with a nod. "We'll go with that plan for now, and adjust accordingly whenever something unexpected happens. Hopefully we'll find an alternative route, or we won't get ambushed at all."

Bu Fan snorted at that, evidently believing that such thoughts were naïve. Harrison pointedly ignored him.

"Do you guys have any other questions?"

"Nope!"

"All right. Let's move out!"

Without wasting any time, all of us headed straight into the dark forest that had settled at the foot of the snowy mountains for centuries.