The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Training Field No.12- Special Arena)

The training field had been transformed into a barely recognisable dense jungle with tall trees that stretched out towards the heavens.

A translucent barrier covered the entire area of the field and blue runes could be seen floating above the barrier.

The Servie mages constantly monitored the situation and would regularly inject their mana into the formation to ensure that it was safely maintained.

Archmage Hollystorm stood on the raised platform with the principal and the other teachers and stared down at the arena.

Large crowd stands had been constructed along the edges of the arena and they were packed with first year students eagerly waiting for the battle ranking exam to begin.

There were even some curious upperclassmen who came over to take a look at the new freshmen.

Sophie was sitting quietly next to Celestia who was gossiping non-stop in her ear about the latest boy band on the virtual net.

The Servie girl seemed not to worry about the upcoming exam and her nonchalant attitude really helped Sophie to relax a bit.

It was unfortunate that the students were separated into their different majors before the exam begun but at least she could see Cleo and her other friends in the distance.

Principal Malik approached the small microphone in the center of the raised platform and cleared his throat twice.

"Greetings my dear students! Welcome to the battle ranking exam!" Principal Malik declared proudly as he stretched out his furry claws.

"Zrudread University believes in practical exams and personal strength above all else. Those in the elite class while be provided top quality cultivation resources but they must earn them!"

"This battle ranking exam is an opportunity for you ordinary students to turn over your life and become a member of the elite class!"

Principal Malik's words echoed through the arena and set off an excited atmosphere as ordinary students looked at one another with expressions of determination.

Sophie quietly observed the dismissive looks on the faces of her fellow elite class members but she did not understand the source of their arrogance.

Everyone who was able to attend Zrudread University was a genius.

Even the ordinary students would have cultivation talents no lower than A level.

It was true that with the increased resources of the elite class, they would have an advantage, but that gap was not apparent until second or third year.

Sophie smirked as she imagined the shocked looks on their faces when some of these proud sons and daughters of heaven dropped out of the elite class.

The principal continued his speech for around ten more minutes before finally stepping back and allowing Instructor Selvon to walk up to the mic.

The grump Mendolesa professor sneered as he roughly grabbed the mic and stared at the students with an unpleasant gaze.

"Alright listen up maggots because I'm only going to say this once," Instructor Selvon spoke casually as he yawned.

"There will be three rounds and the top two hundred students at the end of the exam will be members of the elite class for second year."

"Fortunately for you… the mages of Mer University were kind enough to deploy a temporal reversal formation so you can fight to your heart's contents."

"Any injuries or deaths will be reversed so… you lucky maggots don't even have to take a free trip to the hospital!"

Instructor Selvon stepped away and grinned savagely at the ordinary students who now seemed a bit terrified.

Sophie had to struggle to contain her laughter when she heard the words of the bad-tempered professor.

The boot camp before the start of university had been several months ago but Instructor Selvon had truly made himself an unforgettable figure.

Principal Malik sensed that the mood wasn't quite right and quickly took over the microphone to talk to the students,

"Okay… we will begin the exam now… please check your communicators for more details."

Ding!

Sophie powered on her wrist communicator and checked out the incoming message on the screen.

Apparently the first round was a group battle that was points based.

There would be one hundred students in each group and only the top ten would proceed to the next round.

One could earn points in two ways.

The first was by surviving till the end of the thirty-minute timer while the second was to eliminate the other students.

Sophie narrowed her golden eyes and worked out a strategy in her mind.

She didn't want to reveal her cards so early in the competition so she wouldn't use Moon… at least not yet.

Should she use poison? Hmm… a massive area of effect attack was an option, but Sophie decided against it.

The blood in her body was surging and she wanted to have a good old-fashioned spar.

Sophie saw that she had been assigned to group one so hopefully that meant that she would be fighting first.

"Could the members of group one please proceed to the arena?" Principal Malik spoke loudly.

Sophie hurriedly checked her communicator and saw that a few messages had arrived in her inbox.

Qiana: [What groups are you girls in?]

Sophie: [Group one… I'm up now… :D]

Cleo: [Good luck babe! I'll be cheering you on!]

Qiana: [Can you two stop flirting in the group chat?]

Astrid: [I'm group seven… urghhh… I wanted to fight now!]

Sophie laughed softly and powered off her communicator. She said a quick goodbye to Celestia and then walked down the stairs to the arena.

She was not the only one and a few other students from the elite poison cultivation class followed her footsteps.

However, the expressions on their faces were not good.

The ordinary students may not be familiar with Sophie's skills since she had vanished for most of the year, but her fellow classmates knew exactly how dangerous the hybrid girl was.

There was a reason why Sophie's position as the number one student in the poison cultivation major had largely gone unchallenged.

Sophie reached the arena and stepped inside the translucent barrier. It was hard to describe how it felt to enter the formation.

It was like briefly walking underwater but everything around you was slowed down to a crawl.

Fortunately, this peculiar feeling passed once she entered the dense forest.

A holographic screen was projected in the air above the forest with words written on its green surface.

[The Battle Ranking Exam Will Begin Shortly… Five minutes…]

[Four minutes… three minutes… two minutes…]

More students entered the forest and began to head towards favourable positions with plenty of cover to duck behind.

Sophie remained in place and simply took the carbon fibre whip out of her storage ring in preparation for the fight ahead.

She could theoretically pass to the next round by just surviving but where was the fun in that?

No… she wanted to hunt.

[Thirty seconds… twenty seconds… ten… nine…]

[Start!]

Swish!

Sophie tilted her head to the side and narrowly avoided the arrow that passed mere inches away from her skin.

There was a Mendolesa girl standing on the opposite side of the field holding a heavy crossbow that was pointed in her direction.

She was not the only one to begin immediately attacking as Sophie could hear the sounds of other students fighting desperately.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Sophie swayed from side to side with minimal movements and avoided every single shot that was fired at her position.

A sinister grin spread across the hybrid girl's face and her golden eyes darkened before slowly turning to a crimson red colour.

The battle ranking exam had begun.