Chapter 223: Second Floor
Sam came back to the second floor. From what he saw this floor is the most occupied of all, because no matter what batch the participants are from, they have entry to this floor and not many of them are interested in formations.
The first batch candidates including Sam only went to the formations because they knew the importance of the formations.
Many may look down on them, but if there is a proper formation in place, it would increase the controller's winning rate by many levels and learning about formations will at least make them immune to getting struck in a formation and let them escape even if they are not able to lay one themselves.
Of course, Sam being a formation master himself is one of the reasons for him to clear the first floor.
As for second floor, it is mostly focused on the aspects of a person in battle like speed, strength, defense, battle awareness and tracking the enemy in long range.
All of these are very important in an open battle whether if it is in wilderness or in a city. After all, one can only do so much on training just for normal duels, real fights have no rules and restrictions, they would mostly end up with only one of them surviving.
Sam entered the room which tests speed and the familiar holographic screen appeared.
"Welcome.
In this room, the speed of person will be tested.
The test will be conducted for every participant individually and each test will last a whole day.
In this test, you will be targeted by an arrow which travels nonstop behind your back. It's speed will be increasing continuously and gradually in irregular intervals of time and once you become stationary for even a second you will be caught.
The objective of the test is, you should avoid getting caught and minimise the number of times you get caught.
Even if you get caught, the test will go on until the fixed time period is over. The test will last for half a day and you are not even allowed to quit in the middle while the test is still going on and time period is over.
The person who got caught less will be the winner.
The test begins in 3, 2 1…"
Sam tried to digest all the information which was dumped on him and as soon as he the explanation from the screen was over, an arrow flew towards him.
The room is completely empty and there are no places to hide, he is completely open and the arrow came towards him extremely faster.
Sam moved to the side with Phantom step and dodged.
The arrow missed him, but its momentum was controlled well and it took a sharp turn after flying past Sam in an extremely precise manner giving him no time to think.
The arrow is glowing brighter and brighter as the speed increased. Sam was able to cope with the speed with Phantom step for five minutes, but wasn't able to do so after that and he has to resort to the elemental fusion.
He underwent wind elemental fusion and moved with the wind. Even though, his body didn't become as intangible as wind, he was still able to achieve the fusion to the extent that he can almost move like wind.
The glow around the arrow started getting brighter and Sam noticed that every time before its speed increased, the arrow the glow becomes brighter.
And his conjecture was proven right when the arrow become less bright when it became slower. Sam also reduced his speed for a second, but he kept on looking at the arrow. The room is big and doesn't even have any obstacles, so he doesn't need to care about the room much.
When he saw that the arrow was getting slower and slower, he tried to conserve his stamina, but suddenly as if sensed Sam's thoughts, it sped up rapidly with a bright glow.
It almost hit Sam and he only managed to evade it in hair's breadth.
Now, Sam understood the difficulty. The arrow should be treated like a person, it can witty and cunning and attack him when he is careless.
In this test the speed is not concerned only with how fast a person is rather it is how a person can control and make own body move at will according to the circ.u.mstances.
After all speed doesn't relate to fastness. Sam needs to control his actions in such a way that he wouldn't exhaust himself. It is a test for person's control of speed and timing so that he can survive longer.
Sam kept on dodging and moving without giving the arrow a chance…
After half a day, Sam was almost down for the count, if not for the energy cells which helped him 'cheat' so that he can replenish his energy instantly, he would have been got caught at least once. But now, he survived.
The holographic screen appeared indicating the completion of his test.
He heaved a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor.
"your results will be calculated and your reward will be given at the end of the month."
Sam came out of the room and entered the next room.
This time he entered the strength room. This room is all about attacking.
There are brick walls which kept on protruding out of no where one by one and the candidates have to break through the brick walls, with any kind of attack. For half a day, the brick walls will be coming one by one and every time the new brick wall arrives it will be stronger and can take more damage.
The next one is defence room, there would be lightning type attacks that will be attacking the candidate. In between every attack the candidate will be healed. In this room the tests are more about the maximum damage a person can take than the acc.u.mulated damage.
The battle awareness room. The participant will be attacked blindly and randomly from all the directions.
He should survive as long as he can based on his instincts.
The last room is tracking a long-distance opponent.
In this case, the opponents aren't strong, rather they will be attacking the candidate from a very long distance so much that a person cannot even guess the exact location even with the heightened senses.
They have to track the location by the continuous attacks and that too when the opponent will be moving from time to time.
In this room, once an opponent was taken down, then the number of opponents will increase for the next round.
Sam spent two and half days in the second floor and there are no confrontations.
When he was about to go to the third floor, he saw Arthur coming out of one of the second floor's rooms and they both exchanged a glance.
Arthur noticed that he was going to the next floor and his face turned gloomy.
Because in the first floor, he noticed that Sam completed the formations with an incredible speed and he even completed in his very presence.
He felt frustrated loosing to a person who he considered beneath him.
At this moment, Arman also came and the three first batch candidates are in a stare down. Arman looked at Sam with an intriguing expression rather than a gloomy one.
He also noticed Sam's abnormal speed in completing the formations and he was very much interested in his capabilities.
Sam glanced at them for one last time and walked around Arthur as he took the stairs.
"Do you know that guy? Why is he ranked along with us?" Arthur asked Arman in a cold tone.
"Why do you assume that I would know him?"
"Because, you are that battle hungry, I wouldn't believe with you battle hunger, you wouldn't inquire about him."
"Well, your assumption is not completely right. I am interested in battling him, but the person who got me more interested is a guy named Nicholas, a scion of a Duke from Orion. Apparently, his battle hunger is bigger than mine and I thought we could be friends.
As for this guy, I heard he is most dangerous of all, at least that is what Moriya said."
"Just as I said, you wouldn't just stay put until you know a lot of details, tell me what else it is that you know about that guy."
"Well, he is an expert in multiple professions and formations happened to be one of his fortes, but he is rank 6 Scholar Artisan and also a weapon and Tailor artisan, has control over three elements at least.
Can battle against multiple opponents, good at military tactics and training, great business man, had turnover more than fifteen billion in eight months, Once massacred a total of three hundred Novices single handedly."
Arman went on and on about Sam's information and Arthur widened his eyes and at last he couldn't bear it and cut him off.
"I didn't ask you to bullshit, you could just say that you don't know if you don't know, you don't have to bullshit like that. Do you think that a person like that exists? You have balls to joke with me like that? Don't you dare act like this with me again. Get lost."
Arthur pushed him aside and went into another room. Arman shook his head and left to another room as well.