Chapter 194: Enigmatic
Chapter 194: Enigmatic
"Girl, this is not how you win a war," the raven-haired woman said. "You're only making it harder for yourself."
"This is the only way I know," Jenni said, her defiant attitude turning into a look of helplessness—something Cassandra was very familiar with, be it in herself or the woman in her retinue.
"Let's not talk about that now. Hey, do you want some ice cream?" Before Jenni could answer, she brought out a runic box from her storage device. "I stowed this away at the very beginning."
Jenni's expression split into childish glee as she embraced the woman. "I love you so much, Captain Agnes."
The captain smiled and looked at the tall man in the corner of his eyes, who shrugged warily.
"Well, now that's out of the way," another man said, bringing out his spear. "Let's continue this game..."
"Do we really have to play too?" a roguish figure among the group said, sounding reluctant.
"You're saying that because you have no chance of making it."
"True," the rogue agreed and pointed at the tall figure. "But we also can get him to repair our tools for free. Why bother with this play?"
"Where's your spirit and competitiveness, Kevin? Captain, how about you command us all to participate, and whoever performs the worst has to clean the toilet for a week?"
"I approve this," the tall figure said, nodding sagely.
Kevin scowled. "Fine, let's do it, old man." Saying that, he moved to the barrier even though soldiers were participating on another side. He didn't bother with them, brought out his dagger, and attacked. After getting a feel of the barrier, he plunged his dagger into it.
The formation of the barrier stirred, but that was all. Kevin scowled. He tried again and managed a little better, but in the end, he failed. He returned with an ugly expression.
"Eight of us managed to force our way through the barrier," Adept Aki answered. "And twenty-three managed to make damage it enough to make the alarm blare."
"Hmm, not bad, but I expected more. What are their ranks?"
"Well, among the first eight, four were captains. After Jenni and I succeeded, two other adepts from the department got the news and joined. They were older adepts, so it didn't take them long to succeed."
"What about Dawg and Darren?"
"They managed the lower prize, along with most of the adepts that came after getting the next," Aki answered. "Among the 23, I think eight of them are runesmiths."
"Many of the captains not available in the camp," Agnes added.
"Well, that's unfortunate, I'd have liked to get the taste of the power," he said, scratching his head. Only then did he give some form of exhaustion that required a rejuvenation spell.
Perhaps he was good at concealment, Cassandra mused. Like my power revolves around divination, perhaps his was exactly the opposite?
"So among all the winners, only one of them is an Iron ranker?"
"Well, Jenni was the only Iron ranked in the first group," Aki said, while everyone else's eyes moved to the woman who was eating dessert nonchalantly. "However, there were two other Iron rankers who managed to damage the barrier."
"I guess the common soldiers are somewhat lacking in this respect," the tall man said and turned to Agnes. "So captain, is it fair to assume you'll give us a surprise?"
Captain Agnes smiled. "Why are you asking me, only? After all, we have a batch of elite Iron rankers here; let's see how they fare. Not to mention, you haven't tried it yourself."
"Nah, it'll be an easy win for me," the tall adept said. "Besides, I have no incentive to participate."
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