Extra's Path To Demon King-Chapter 20: Crow & Viper

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After the Elimination rounds results were out, and all those disqualified to endure the pressure, and the remaining numbers were less than 2000. Axel obviously qualified, but he didn't know how well he had done it. Just ten more seconds and his legs would have been crushed thoroughly.

He noticed a few participants who did not react to the pressure of a 3rd phase Seeker from start to finish. Axel could think that they were nobles who had been trained from a young age. There was no chance for that Bastard Ken to be here as well since the Duskers are high nobles.

To be honest, he was perplexed by the fact that the Examiner only kept fewer than 2000 contestants when he himself said that he would select 2500. While the report he got from Justin said that about 3000 would be remaining after the first elimination.

Well, the less the number of participants there are, the less hassle it is for them. After all, there would only be 250 selected, and many in the audience complained again about how they had selected so few people. But the security in charge kicked out anyone who was causing too much trouble. There was no regard for the general public, only power ruled supreme.

Even the fragile rules set to maintain the basic infrastructure of various organizations are but a facade that is being constantly broken by the powerful ones. Axel sighed in exasperation.

The Examiner clapped his hands in the air, and the sound reached everyone's ears as they focused their attention back on him.

"Since you have endured 2% of my natural pressure, you lot are worthy to hear my name. My name is Gareth. But you lot shall call me the Examiner, obviously for the duration of the competition," said the man in a powerful tone.

"The exact number of participants now remaining is 1950. Now, usually we go straight into the individual combat to select the qualified individuals, but we have decided to do some extra tests for a greater relevance," continued the Examiner.

The ground of the giant colosseum started to shake the moment his words were finished,

The ground at the center started to transform as a large wall was created right in the middle, as if dividing the colosseum into 2 parts.

The Examiner marked multiple stops on the 10-meter-tall wall and divided the contestants into multiple lines while they were facing the wall. There were guards standing next to those red lines on the wall. The Examiner announced, "One by one, you shall punch the marked spot in the wall with all your might, and each of your scores shall be automatically noted."

He added, "Like this there will be multiple tests, and all of that score combined will the ranking be made. Including the first Elimination round where you had to endure my pressure."

There was a slight movement in everyone's bodies, including Axel himself, as his expression became tense. He cursed, 'Why is everything so fucked up whenever I'm trying to do something.'

Even though all the contestants were dissatisfied with the way things were, no one dared to complain for fear of being kicked out. There was no shortage of contestants after all.

On both sides of the wall, there were about 10 lines together, making a total of 20 lines. With the signal of the Examiner. It started, one after another, went forward and punched the wall with all their might. But there was not even the slightest reaction from the wall, which made sense considering how large it was. For the lack of any indication of whether someone was doing good or bad, the situation got even more tense.

Axel himself wasn't an exception to this, as he began to sweat, he couldn't help but worry if his physical strength was up to the task. He was standing on the sidelines leaning on to the colosseums natural walls as the contestants were divided into multiple groups. Because everyone was wearing a mask of different types. Most of the contestants were inclined not to talk to anyone else.

Everyone in that situation was their opponent, you could try and make friends with someone to be stabbed in the back right in the next moments without even realizing it. It was better to make friends after entering the academy, as everyone's identity would be in the open at that time.

The masks everyone was wearing also forbade anyone from mentioning anything related to their true identity, and if they still did so, they would be disqualified. They were only allowed to say their codenames if they really needed to converse. But everyone's voice was also altered through the mask, so that was another issue.

There were probably many future influential characters here that he did not know, since this particular part of the story in the novel was entirely skipped, otherwise, it would have been good to come in contact with some of them in advance.

Only a few participants remained in front of Axel as he was standing in the line; after that, it would be his turn to do the punching. Axel kept his eyes on the action of the participants to see anything useful, or the guards next to the marked section of the wall, or any slight tremor in the wall, but there was nothing. Only the participants kept punching with their full might.

Axel's turn came, and without twist or turn of events, he simply did the same as all the other participants. He stood in a powerful stance, pulled his right fist backward and punched so hard that his knuckles almost cracked. He then went on his way, seeing no changes in the wall.

But something happened which caught the eye of the guard assigned to that line, The guard was a 1st phase Seeker, so he noticed the thing that a normal eye would not be able to discern.

There was a slight tremor in the immovable wall when that contestant punched it, this detail did not escape the eyes of the examiner Gareth high in the sky.

The guard looked at the Examiner for a conformation and Gareth nodded towards the guard, he had a notebook in his hand as he wrote something to it. But the line did not stop after Axel punched the wall, the contestants continued to punch it, one after another.

Some of the Sharp ones in the line also noticed these small details of behavior from a guard of their line as they looked towards where that contestant went.

But their eyes were unable to discern who exactly it was. Axel did not know any of those things as he stood in one corner until this test was finished. Almost half of them had finished punching, as half of them remained.

Suddenly, Axel overheard two people speaking in a low voice with each other right beside him.

"Hey, crow, how do you think they are gonna evaluate from this? I don't get it?"

"I don't know Viper, but I do have some ideas on it."

"And how is that?"

"I think the wall was not put up by the examiner in the sky. Another seeker who is good at the earth element may have put it up. That person can feel the vibration and force in the wall and can accurately evaluate the force behind each of the punches."

Even Axel was surprised by the analysis of that person, and could not help but glance towards that person. The explanation almost sounded scientific to an extent.

The one explaining this time asked the question in return,

"What do you think could be the next test, Viper?"

Viper thought for a minute and said, "First was the mass elimination, which should be an endurance test, while punching the wall was a strength test. So, logically, I think there should be 3 more tests of Mind, Agility, and Vitality."

Axel was surprised for the second time and could not help but think, 'These two aren't simple.'

There weren't any people besides the two of them as they were speaking. Only Axel was there at some distance; he normally should not be able to hear their conversation clearly, but the butler trained him in all the senses, which helped his 5 senses become much sharper than a normal human.

Axel with some hesitation decided to join in the conversation, "Your analogies are indeed interesting but I think you're wrong in some parts."

The duo turned their heads towards and gave him a somewhat suspicious glance. Viper said, "You were overhearing our conversation?"

Axel shrugged, "I have a good hearing."

Crow asked, "What do you mean by some parts of our theories are wrong?"

Axel nodded and explained, "What you said about how the punches' strengths are evaluated are most likely correct, but the thing Viper said about enduring the pressure of the Examiner is I think somewhat incorrect if you identify it as an 'Endurance' test."

Viper seemed displeased and asked, "Explain clearly?"

Axel continued, "As far as I know, the pressure emitted by a Seeker is not exactly physical. Think about it, when the pressure is emitted, we feel heavy, extremely heavy, but look around? Shouldn't there be a lot of deep footprints then?"

The duo was extremely surprised by that revelation and could not help but inspect all over the grounds, and what Axel said was indeed the truth.