The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Planet Eleron)

(Training Field No.12- Special Arena)

"Welcome back students! The arena has finally been prepared so please make your way to the entrance of the training field!" Principal Malik spoke loudly.

The Mendolesa warrior stretched out his furry paw and gestured at one of the professors standing nearby.

The professor nodded and pressed a button on the side of the raised platform. Gradually the black metallic dome covering the training field slid downwards until it was fully underground.

What was revealed was an area of land that was identical to the vast Sahara Desert on ancient Earth.

Massive sand dunes rose into the sky, and one could see dust storms swirling menacingly in the distance.

There were a couple of green plants with thorny spikes along their trunks scattered across the desert, but they were few and far between.

The air was hot and dry which made it difficult to breathe properly. The shadows of serpent-like creatures slithered just beneath the surface of the sand.

Sophie furrowed her brows as she stared at the stage carefully. The first step of any successful operation was information gathering.

The hybrid girl's golden eyes darkened for a moment as she enhanced her vision to see what lurked beneath the sands.

"Oh… that might be a problem…" Sophie whispered to herself.

There were hundreds if not thousands of deadly foes and creatures moving through the desert.

In fact, it appeared as though the training field had been completely transformed into a fully functional ecosystem.

A holographic projection suddenly appeared above the arena and lines of text filled up the screen.

[Now Selecting Stage: Desert]

[Players: 19]

[Difficulty: Hard to Insane]

Was the desert option such an unpopular choice?

The number of students who picked that option were less than half of those who picked the frozen tundra.

As for the difficulty… risk and reward went hand in hand.

Principal Malik explained that the points given to students were partially based on the difficulty of their chosen environment.

While it was riskier to go for the harder biomes… it was much easier to earn points.

Buzz! Buzz!

Sophie's wrist communicator vibrated twice, and she saw a few messages in the group chat from her friends.

Qiana: [Good luck! Watch out for the dust storms.]

Cleo: [I'm cheering you on babe! If you reach the top three… I'll reward you tonight… :D]

Qiana: [Please…please… keep that kind of stuff in your private chat…]

Astrid: [I came first! Qiana, should I get something?]

[Qiana has gone offline…]

Sophie laughed and shook her head at her friends' antics. The hybrid girl got up from her chair and began to make her way to the arena.

The crowd naturally parted and the relative silence around her gave Sophie a little time to think about her plan.

She wanted to save Moon for the final round so she had the choice to keep using basic cultivation techniques or show off her specialisation.

Sophie took a few vials out of her storage rings and fiddled with them absentmindedly.

The one in her left hand contained a repulsive greenish liquid that bubbled as if it were carbonated.

The hybrid girl brought the vial to her nose and sniffed twice. Sophie slipped the vials in the pocket of her battlesuit and came to a decision.

It made no sense to conceal some of her strength when she was aiming for the first place. Fighting with all of her ability would prove that she deserved the top spot.

Besides… there may be a foe in the desert arena that required her to go all out. Sophie was not arrogant enough to believe that she was invincible in the qi tide stage.

There was always someone better than you out there…

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

[Four minutes…]

Sophie arrived at the entrance to the training field and stepped on the sand that had blown over from the desert.

She spotted the other students who had selected the stage entering the arena one by one with mixed expressions on their faces.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ground trembled slightly as an enormous beast made its way from the shadows of the southwestern stand.

The creature was over a whooping twelve feet in height with dark black fur and three heads that spewed out flames when it exhaled.

The massive beast was identical to the rottweiler breed of dogs found in Sui Meng's memories.

It resembled the old Greek legend from ancient Earth about the three headed dog Cerberus that guarded the underworld to prevent souls from escaping.

A blonde-haired girl wearing an elegant blue battlesuit with red ribbons in her curly hair walked beside the beast.

She fanned herself casually with a small paper fan. There was an aura of nobility and refinement surrounding her body.

The other students quickly made some space for the obviously intimidating girl, but Sophie walked right up to her.

"Luna! I didn't know that you picked the desert stage," Sophie spoke casually as she waved at Blackie whose three heads were staring at her.

The hell hound crouched down so that Sophie could easily rub the area behind their ears. The hybrid girl smiled gently as she played with Blackie's middle head.

"Sophie… it is indeed an unexpected surprise," Luna spoke coldly but she could not hide the excitement in her eyes.

"Where is Moon? Blackie hasn't seen him in awhile…"

"I'm saving Moon for the final round… I think I want to use poison cultivation techniques for the second stage," Sophie explained softly.

"Ahh… I see…" Luna nodded in understanding. The pair chatted for a few minutes as Sophie continued to play with the hell hound.

Blackie was a grade S combat beast created from the crossbreeding between a canis lupus and the DNA of a flame demon.

"Shall we team up or do you want to go solo?" Luna asked curiously.

"Hmm… I don't mind forming an alliance with you… we haven't spent much time together since my return to university," Sophie replied with a small smile.

Time flew by quicker than either girl expected and soon the lines of text on the holographic screen changed.

[Ten seconds… nine seconds… eight… seven…]

[Start!]

Some students rushed off towards the deeper parts of the desert immediately, but Sophie stopped Luna from moving forward.

She stared cautiously and watched as one of the students ran towards a northern direction and began to climb up a sand dune.

He reached around the halfway point when something beneath the sand gripped his ankles. The student did not even have the time to scream before he disappeared beneath the sands.

The sounds of bones crunching could be heard coming from the area where the student vanished.

Sophie stared solemnly as her golden eyes could see hundreds of creatures swarming towards the student and stripping his corpse to the bone in a matter of seconds.

This place was incredibly dangerous.