Unfortunately for Theo, no one came afterward. Laust aside, who had yet to return despite his suspension had finished, neither Alea nor Sihan took a look at their number or they probably already knew their number beforehand.
The principal's voice soon resounded inside the school, asking all students to head to the gym for the briefing.
Theo followed the crowd and entered the gym, only to find ten groups. Each group had one flag with a character on it.
The principal stood a few feet in front of the flags and said, "Line up according to your group since I am going to start in five minutes."
Finding the flag with the "D" character on it, he quickly walked toward the line and found someone who was his worst fear in this training.
Alea Eilric.
Theo wanted to escape or change the group right now, albeit it was impossible. With Alea in his group, he needed to hide his power continuously and acted like a weak. This would lower his progress by a large amount if they had intensive training, considering he couldn't properly use his strength.
'Unfortunately, I can't escape if I want to change my fate. I need to get all the resources the government can offer to become the strongest, giving me the opportunity to reach my goal. And I won't break my promise to the God of Mischief as well.'
This was Theo's plan. Even the God of Mischief, who had been silent this whole time, finally replied to him.
[God of Mischief only wants to see the world chaotic and doesn't care about the aftermath.]
Although surprising, Theo felt happy because God of Mischief replied to him with something that perfectly aligned with his goal. This meant he could kill many people in the future.
He slowly entered the line and made sure he didn't get too close to Alea.
After waiting for five minutes, all people had gathered inside the gym as the principal climbed the stage, standing above them.
In front of their gazes, the principal waved his hand a few times as he glanced over the students and looked at the few noteworthy ones, such as Alea or Sihan.
"Good morning, my students. On this great day, I would like to announce a few things to you concerning your future training." The principal smiled and raised three fingers. "There are three types of training you will receive during the six months period as we will select those who we deem worthy.
"Without further ado, I shall explain the first training. This one is the most simple because you have been doing this in our regular curriculum… It's Physical Training.
"The military will send people to supervise all your training. And I will say this just once... You are free to give up if the training is too hard for you. However, it will also be the end of your hope to attain one of the positions in the Grand Gaia Competition.
"The training will last for three months and the details will be explained by your own instructors at a later date, so I won't talk about it to avoid wasting everyone's time.
"The second training will be fighting. In this stage, you will form the ideal group in your mind based on luck and discretion. The only advice I can give right now without spoiling the detail is to win. As long as you win, you can keep encountering strong people that allow you to get them into your team.
"In fact, if you can beat Alea Eilric's team, you can even force her to join your team, so good luck." The principal smiled.
This was a kind of warning coming from the principal to all the talented students. Normally, Alea Eilric, Sihan Raskaka, Phyrill Hilbert would be leading a team, but if they lost to someone else, not only would it affect their standing, but they also needed to bear the shame in their school life. Imagine Alea Eilric losing to someone, her ability would be questioned without a doubt.
Seeing the tension in their faces, the principal continued with a poker face. "There is one thing that gives you an opportunity to beat someone stronger. Each team will face each other inside the Simulation World and all of you will be set at Level 50 to ensure the fairness between grades."
"Last but not least, it's hunting training. What do you use your power for other than hunting monsters in the Haven? Suppressing other people?" The principal shrugged. "After getting your own group, you shall be thrown into the dangerous Haven.
"You have to survive for one to two months, depending on the result of the second stage. That's the three stages. If you have any questions, you may ask them to your instructors during the training… That is if you can…" The principal ended his speech with a provocation, inciting the students' fighting spirit.
'I will survive no matter what.'
'I want to get into Alea Eilric's team because it's a winning candidate.'
'I want…'
Everyone was pretty eager to show what they could, hoping that they would be selected as one of the candidates. After all, each student had a fair probability of achieving this.
However, there was a hidden catch that only a few students noticed.
The principal left a topic they needed to decipher, starting from the first stage. Since the training was to select a few elites, the training must be so brutal to chip down the number. After all, the second stage couldn't go with their original number because it would last too long, preventing the third round from happening.
As for the second stage, the principal wanted them to test their adaptability and luck. They needed to adjust themselves to the team and made a correct choice as the instructors would observe their judgment whether they could see someone's potential or not, and their luck… Yeah, luck ultimately was a part of skills.
Theo reached the same conclusion as the talented people in this gym. However, his focus leaned on the third stage as he felt something was wrong.
Earlier, he believed that the third stage of training wanted them to create perfect synergy in the entire team, but it changed after considering the fact that they were going to fight people from other countries.
To that end, what mattered the most was none other than level. They must plan to increase the level of the first and second year students with the help of their third-year.
Theo couldn't help but mutter in a low voice. 'Interesting.'