Ocean Master

418  The Strength Test!

{Welcome to the 2nd test of the Mana Lord Induction Ceremony.}

{The Strength test will start in 5 minutes.}

{The 500 beasts that qualified from the speed test are the contestants to make it for the strength test.}

{You are a guest competitor in this test.}

{Your goal in the strength test is to make it into the top 3, if you fail, you are disqualified from the Induction Ceremony.}

{Goodluck, contestant.}

Unlike in the previous time when the introduction instructions were written in his metal cage, this time, the words appeared before Sebastian in mid-air in the form of a virtual projection.

Once the preparations for the start of the strength test began, the 500 beasts who qualified from the first test were gathered together before being carried into a massive warship that was built in the shape of a giant Mana Lord.

In all Sebastian's time spent during both planetary dimensions, this was the biggest object that he had ever seen in his life.

This was something that he believed to be only possible in a planetary dimension like Oceania, the warship was that outrageous.

This warship was an abomination, Sebastian couldn't examine its overall sides since his combined super sensing could not comb through all of it but he guessed that even the tallest skyscraper on earth was not as big as this.

This warship ferried all of them out of the Floating Gravity Domain which was the region where the speed test just took place.

The journey through the warship took 2 minutes, and at this time, Sebastian could only see his competitors since the warship didn't have a see-through glass that would enable them to see outside.

In these 2 minutes, he managed to get closer to the Great White Sharks and the 2 Megalodons that Strong and Tungsten got close to in this tournament.

This way, they were able to shrug off the pressure of the upcoming test.

As predators of the same species, in a setting like this where they were all competitors, they felt closer to each other. By taking comfort in each other's presence, they became better prepared for the challenge that was up ahead.

A few seconds later, the loud buzzing sound as the massive Mana Lord warship moved finally stopped. With a whoosh sound, an opening was revealed under the warship through which the contestants could leave.

The familiar voice of the commentator reverberated across the warship the next moment, relaying instructions to them.

"All contestants are expected to enter the venue in a minute".

On hearing that, Sebastian and his companions no longer dared to dally around as they all dove down, swimming out of the warship.

Unlike the first speed test where the penalty of failure was death, the penalty of the strength test was looser since the only penalty was being disqualified.

The threshold for qualification was also grimmer, with only 3 contestants having the room to qualify from this round but this was acceptable to most of the visiting beasts here so long as they didn't die.

Immediately after Sebastian and his companions moved, passing through the warship, they experienced a feeling like they just teleported as they all saw themselves in an entirely different region the next moment.

To Sebastian's shock, he was now all alone, all his companions and the other contestants were nowhere to be seen while he was in a familiar region.

As Sebastian floated in the water while keeping up his guard, he observed his surroundings. The giant trees, the giant leaves that were bigger than him, the giant weed everywhere, and the forest environment already gave him clues.

"I'm back where it all began!"

Sebastian was pretty surprised, this was the same forest that he, Strong, and Tungsten appeared in when they first arrived in Manapedia.

The only difference was that unlike the part of the forest where they appeared that seemed kind of safe and cultured, this part was extremely uncultured and Sebastian could already feel his danger sense tingling.

The next moment, a light source appeared in the sky as Sebastian instinctively looked up. On looking, he saw a familiar signpost at the top of a tree that towered all the way, seeming to poke out of this world.

Like the previous signpost, on it was information about the strength test.

{Test Range: The space walls of the Forest of the Soaring Devourers!}

{Test Location: Forest of the Soaring Devourers!}

{Test Objective: You are tasked to first survive the perils of the dreaded Forest of the Soaring Devourers. Apart from survival, the main goal of the strength test depends on the number of Soaring Devourers killed.}

{Test Ranking Parameters: Each Soaring Devourer killed gives 10 Induction points. Each additional Soaring Devourer killed gives 10 additional points. The more Soaring Devourers killed, the higher the contestant ranks.}

{1st Place Prize: The exclusive Mana Lord subordinating skill and 10 mana comprehension crystals.}

{2nd Place Prize: 20 mana comprehension crystals.}

{3rd Place Prize: 8 mana comprehension crystals.}

{Failure penalty for mana lords: Dropping out of the ceremony.}

{Failure penalty for visitors: Dropping out of the ceremony.}

The first thing that Sebastian noticed immediately was that unlike the instruction signpost of the speed test, this was a lot more elaborate.

Though he was already ready for it, the name of this location still sent him the chills, the Forest of Soaring Devourers, what was that?

Also, he was tasked with killing Soaring Devourers since it was the ticket needed for him to fulfill his goal, the question was what was Soaring Devourers?

Immediately after Sebastian asked this question, he received his answer.

Shriek!!!

A loud shriek suddenly reverberated through the water as even for a sound domain magician like him, he was affected by the sound.

Following this extremely loud shriek was a head poking out from one of these extremely tall giant trees. This was when Sebastian first saw it, the beast that he was supposed to hunt, a Soaring Devourer.

This massive predator like the native Mana Lords was exaggeratedly gigantic. The Soaring Devourer currently before Sebastian was at least 2 times bigger than him, and this did not account for when it spread its wings.

This predator was a bird-like predator.

The Soaring Devourer had 2 beaks, one at the top of its face for holding firm unto prey and the one at the bottom for tearing prey apart.

It had a powerful pair of wings that with each flap, Sebastian was horrified at the possible acceleration that it could achieve in the water.

Its wings were segmented like a bat's, with deadly spikes jutting out of different corners around it. Apparently, this was not just a tool to swim first but was also another deadly offensive alternative for this mighty predator.

Below its massive body built for destruction were finally its powerful legs that housed extremely sharp claws that were capable of easily ripping any flesh apart.

It had 2 legs like most birds, but its claws were the real deal.

This body makeup succeeded in finetuning a package that was perfect for pure destruction. The blood-red eyes of the Soaring Devourer didn't help matters either, this was because they were the eyes of a predator that had seen blood.

Through the eyes of the Soaring Devourer, Sebastian could see the blood that this predator had spilled. This predator was a murderer, a proficient one at that.

The Soaring Devourer radiated pure bloodlust on seeing the Megalodon.

Sebastian's heart finally skipped a beat the more he looked at this beast as he instinctively blasted out with his combined super sensing to scout his surroundings. His heart fell the next moment, there were more Soaring Devourers.

At this moment, 3 of these beasts already had him in their sights from 3 different directions. At his current level, Sebastian would have never been worried about facing a bunch of purple-tier predators but this was different.

This was different because after being confused for a few seconds, he finally understood, associating the Soaring Devourers with what they were known in other more developed parts of Oceania.

According to the anatomy books that he got from Eliana and read; the Soaring Devourers were actually known as Chaos Mongers in the outside world.

Their name already revealed a lot, but Chaos Mongers were a race of Space Beasts that were built entirely for chaos and destruction!

Sebastian was up against a Space Beast again, but multiple ones this time!

And here's the 3rd chapter, thanks for reading.