“Will all the candidates fit this place?” Ayame spoke up this time.
Jasmine shook her head, “no. For some reason, there are tens of thousands of Phenom candidates this year. Only about a thousand of you will be here. The others were directed to other similar locations the Consortium has all over the Greenvale duchy.”
“Tens of thousands?!”
“Yeah. I know, it’s insane. The entire syndicate has been running around like a headless chicken for the entire past month, trying to organize this giant event. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but likely multiple rounds will make up the Trials this time around. You might not even finish the event here, but have to go elsewhere.”
Multiple rounds, tens of thousands of Phenom candidates… Things are more difficult than I had hoped.
We were led to a house on the outskirts of the outpost. It was about as shabby as Lucille’s inn. Once inside, Jasmine turned around and eyed me from head to toe, then she did the same for my Herald candidates. “Five subordinates, all of whom are ladies I imagine? You’re working fast, Devil. Also, to think Ghost was a dog-kin all along!
I love your lush tail, you must be taking good care of it. Do you have a soap type you recommend?”
Ayame was the one who spoke up in Blossom’s stead. My dog-girl didn’t have a voice-distorting mask, so she was under strict orders not to speak to strangers. I also had a distinct impression that Jasmine was fishing for any information she could get out of us that would let her sniff our real identity out. “You certainly are a successful merchant’s child, aren’t you?
Stop running your mouth endlessly.”
“No comment.” I also replied to Jasmine’s statement that regarded me. I had no reason to reveal anything about us to her. She might be a friendly person, but her loyalties don’t lie with me.
“Ouch. By the way, if you are unhappy about having to face multiple rounds, you are still free to leave. No one will hold it over your heads. I personally think it will be a tough ordeal to become accepted as Phenoms this time around, more so than in the previous events.
There are rumors that all Obsidian Circle Members are deeply invested in the Trials this time around when it usually falls to only one of them to be the sole organizer of the event. I think they will put you through multiple different types of tests.” She moved on from Ayame’s accusation seamlessly, and she seemed genuinely concerned for our safety.
I couldn’t help but be impressed by her compassion- or acting skills- after all, she was talking to 6 masked strangers. Yes, she wanted to unveil who we were, but I didn’t take it as her necessarily having nefarious intentions. I would’ve been incredibly curious in her stead too.
“Thanks for the warning, but we will try ourselves out.” I replied. Even if we were to be the underdogs, I had faith in ourselves. As she said earlier, the Trials shouldn’t only be about raw strength, so then I believe our party which is made up of a wide range of unique characters stands a good chance, even if we were slightly weaker than some of the top dog candidates.
A dog-kin assassin, an elf healer, an alchemist buffer, Ayame with her future clan head upbringing’s vast knowledge and masterful swordsmanship, me with my 4 elements and stats that are much higher than a level 18 has any right to have under their belt due to my Primordial Villain class’s insane attribute percentages and Primordial Breeding Psysique’s added 15 physical stats, and well, Lucille… Yeah, for now, she is mostly just an average frontliner at best, but I have high hopes for her future prospects. Read today on freewebnovel
Most of our opponents will be made up of human parties, so we hold an innate advantage in anything non-combat related over them.
If all else failed, we could make a run for it with my [Warp Gate].
“If you’re this confident then all is good. I hope to see you succeed. I truly do.” Jasmine nodded with a cheery expression plastered across her face. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
“Because you would have a Phenom who clearly doesn’t mind talking with you casually about non-work related stuff, and you could even try to seduce him seriously once he gets the rank? For yourself that time around, not for your father’s schemes.
We might be your best bet at making an important ally of your own who has nothing to do with Aurelion.” Ayame let her thoughts out without a filter restricting her delicate lips.
Jasmine frowned cutely, “I don’t know whatever could you mean, Miss Blade. I’m an innocent girl who would never use her feminine charms to her advantage in order to get ahead in life.”
Before a more serious catfight could ensue, a knocking sound reverberated through our house.
*Knock knock knock*
“I’m here to complete the examination of Devil and his team. Without this, their participation in the Trials won’t be permitted.” A man’s voice stated.
I already knew we had to be examined by the guild because Broderick informed me of it.
The only rules are that the Phenom must be under 30 years of age, his Heralds have to have lower levels than him, and he must not have sworn allegiance to another syndicate.
These organizations tend to brand their members with a specific branding artifact, which makes betrayals much harder. Jasmine, for example, must have been magically branded by the Vesper Consortium, as she is just a run-of-the-mill Twilight Apprentice, the second lowest rank.
As a Phenom and his Heralds, we are free from being branded.
If a criminal has sworn allegiance to another syndicate they can still participate in the Trials, but they have to announce that they are branded, and then the Consortium would remove the brand and put their own on them. It was the price to pay for switching orgs; they wouldn’t have the same privacy other Phenoms are privy to.
As for how they can check all these criteria? With artifacts, of course.
I stood from my seat to welcome the newcomer in.
As I opened the door, the sight of a small, grumpy man’s visage welcomed me. He was incredibly tiny, standing at Ayame’s height at around 5 feet. He was flanked by four insect-helmeted guards.