NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 164 - Training Exercise 12
“Don’t worry, as long as you follow my commands, we can definitely eliminate this group of beasts. Now, everyone climb to the top of the small hill immediately,” Mai Dongzi said calmly to the group.
Although the Phantom Team members were somewhat skeptical, Mai Dongzi’s composed demeanor reassured them. Plus, their captain’s consistent display of strength gave them confidence.
So, they obediently climbed to the top of the small hill and formed a circle back-to-back, facing down the slope.
Mai Dongzi stepped onto a large stone, about the height of a person, that she had summoned from the surrounding area. She then took out a bone flute from her space device.
Everyone knew that this flute was made from the rib of a beast. During their rest periods over the past few days, when it was Mai Dongzi’s turn to stand watch, they had seen her carefully carve it into a flute.
As Mai Dongzi held up the flute, the first-year members of the Phantom Team recalled her sound-based attacks, and their spirits lifted with anticipation.
“Later, I will focus on restraining the beasts at level five and above, while you all focus on taking out the beasts below level four,” Mai Dongzi instructed.
There were over a hundred beasts below level four, which was a daunting task, but without the higher-level beasts, the Phantom Team felt confident in their ability to succeed.
As the beast horde charged up the hill, the Phantom Team heard a battle-themed melody rising behind them. This powerful and inspiring music ignited their fighting spirit, and they raised their stones to smash down on the incoming beasts…
…
Instructor Shan and Instructor Li piloted an invisible hovercraft, closely following the Phantom Team from above. They had seen the horde of beasts long before Mai Dongzi did.
However, they couldn’t say anything; even a single word would not only be a violation for them but could also lead to the complete elimination of the Phantom Team.
Instructor Li was relatively calm. After all, the Phantom Team was from the command department. While he didn’t wish for them to be eliminated, he wouldn’t feel too upset if they were.
Instructor Shan, on the other hand, felt uneasy. Although the team had an average combat capability, with Mai Dongzi on their side, they still had a good chance of making it to the top sixteen.
But this horde was not only numerous; their leader was at a very high level, making it impossible for the Phantom Team to deal with them.
While it was likely that Mai Dongzi and Yu Guangxi could escape if they wanted to, losing so many teammates would mean that even if they reached the destination first in the subsequent rounds, the overall score for the Phantom Team wouldn’t be high.
Seeing the horde surround the eight students, Instructor Shan quickly prepared for a rescue.
When he saw Mai Dongzi take out the bone flute, hope flickered in his eyes, just as it did for the members of the Phantom Team.
Mai Dongzi did not disappoint them. As the sound of the flute rang out, the horde of beasts charging fiercely at the Phantom Team continued to attack, only to be met with a warm welcome from the team as they raised their stones to defend themselves.
Instructor Shan raised his gun in disappointment, aiming at the level-seven beast, ready to provide assistance to any student attacked by it. However, he quickly realized something was off.
The beasts charging toward the Phantom Team were all level-three and level-four creatures. The leading level-seven beast, along with three level-six beasts guarding it, stood motionless in place, clearly in a “daze” state, which contrasted sharply with the aggressive onslaught of the other beasts.
Instructor Shan initially thought the level-seven beast was directing the other beasts to attack the Phantom Team, but now he realized that not just these four beasts, but also the dozen or so level-five beasts were in the same “dazed” state.
It quickly dawned on Instructor Shan that these beasts were being controlled by Mai Dongzi’s flute music.
Although there were many level-three and level-four beasts, once they got within ten meters of the Phantom Team, they were met with stones being hurled at them. Soon, a circle of beast corpses began to pile up in front of the team.
Even if some of the beasts were merely knocked unconscious, they were trampled by the charging horde from behind, leaving few capable of getting back up.
Because the Phantom Team had filled their spatial containers with rocks of all sizes for the purpose of training their mental strength, they had more than enough stones to deal with the beasts.
Initially anxious to provide aid, Instructors Shan and Li watched numbly as over a hundred level-three and level-four beasts were killed or maimed by the Phantom Team’s stone throws.
What stunned them even more was when Mai Dongzi suddenly made the flute in her hand vanish, then with a swift motion, she sent a massive rock crashing down on the level-seven beast more than twenty meters away.
This enormous rock was larger than the level-seven beast itself, and it slammed down heavily, knocking the beast—just recovering from its “daze”—to the ground before it had a chance to react.
But after the level-seven beast was knocked down, it suddenly stood up again, shaking off the massive rock that had been pressed against it and sending it flying several meters away. In the disappointed and terrified eyes of the team, the level-seven beast fixed a fierce glare on Mai Dongzi and lunged toward her.
To meet it was another rock of similar size.
The level-seven beast, leaping through the air, was struck head-on by the large rock. The impact was like a meteor hitting the Earth, and the beast was sent flying before crashing heavily onto the ground, creating a deep crater.
However, the level-seven beast, propelled by the rock, crashed down the slope. Everyone thought it had been defeated, but after rolling twice on the slope, it stubbornly leaped back to its feet.
Sadly, it barely got halfway up before another rock of equal size came crashing down, slamming it back to the ground.
This time, the level-seven beast didn’t immediately shove the rock off like before. The team watched as another large rock came crashing down on top of the one pinning the level-seven beast. Then, that rock fell to the side of the beast, dislodging from beneath.
The Phantom Team anxiously watched the level-seven beast trapped under the massive rock. When it remained still for a while, they breathed a sigh of relief, only to notice that the three previously “dazed” level-six beasts were starting to recover.
Before they could react with concern, they saw the three level-six beasts get crushed one after another by falling rocks.
Unlike the level-seven beast, the level-six beasts were not as resilient. After only two hits from their captain, they lay completely still.
Meanwhile, the dozen or so level-five beasts remained frozen in place, clearly still under the effects of their captain’s sound attack. The Phantom Team immediately felt a surge of excitement, eagerly lifting the large rocks…