Death... and me

Meanwhile, Rean was undergoing a similar situation. The testing field was even larger than the Alchemist Hall, where Roan was having his exam. At the moment, it was already closed, so no more participants can enter. On the other side of the field, Rean found someone he recognized. It was the same elder who invited Droman the first time they arrived in the Formations Guild, Zako Vale.

"Alright, everyone's already here. As you know, it would be impossible to test all of you in drawing formations at once. Depending on the techniques employed, a formation might take up a huge space, which would only be for a single participant. In that case, we have to reduce your numbers during the first phase."

"In this testing field, we have prepared three types of formations. All of them have one thing in common, they will try to hinder your movements. We have one movement restriction type formation, one illusion type, and one barrier type. Your objective is to reach this side of the field where I'm waiting."

The elder wasn't that far away, at most 500 meters or so. Still, none of the participants thought that it would be easy to reach his location.

"The formations aren't perfect. All of them have a few flaws that can be exploited. That is also a way to test how much you all understand formations. After all, there's no lack of formations in the outside world. You never know when you will need to crack a formation down. The ability to analyze them quickly and accurately is highly appreciated in the guild. It can even save your life in the future as well."

"One more thing. You don't need to be afraid of someone using the same methods as you all. Beneath the three formations, there's another major formation capable of hiding everyone's presence while separating them. You can work to your heart's content without being afraid of giving clues to others."

Rean and everyone else nodded. That was a straightforward but effective method to test everyone.

"The clear condition is simple as well. The first 200 to come out to this side will be qualified to enter the next phase. Once the number is achieved, the formations will turn off by themselves, and the rest can leave."

Sister Orb's voice then appeared in Rean's mind.

[As I said, our time spent in the Formations Guild was enough for me to analyze this exam's formations. I can tell you in real-time how many people already passed the exam. If I see that the number is getting too close to 200, I'll let you know where the flows are located.]

Rean sighed but nodded his head nonetheless.

'Alright.'

On the other side, Zako continued with his speech.

"Last but not least, the test has a time limit to be completed. If time's up but the number of those who have come out still hasn't reached 200, then we will move forward with the ones who concluded the exam. The rest will be disqualified straight away."

"Alright, that's all you need to know at the moment. The exam starts now!"

Qia, who had been holding Rean's hand all this time, stole another kiss from him before giving him a wink.

"Then, I'm going ahead. See you on the other side."

Rean scratched the back of his head as he looked at the other men around him. The air around him was quite 'red' with killing intent. Obviously, the newcomers who didn't know anything were quite jealous of his open relationship.

'I wonder if I'll survive in the end.'

Rean then shook his head and rushed inside the formations as well. Immediately, the world around him warped as the illusion formation began to work on him. What was just an open field a while ago, now became a jail with bars everywhere.

'The first one is an illusion formation, huh? Now that I think about it, they didn't tell us what sequence it would be.'

Rean then went to the corner of the jail and touched the bars. However, he immediately narrowed his eyes after that.

'They didn't hold back at all. Even though I know that there's no such thing as a cage in front of me, I can still feel it when I touch the bars.'

Rean was right. For the spectators, Rean was doing nothing more than holding his hand in the air. Well, that was the same for most of the participants as well. The spectators had to use another monitoring formation to be able to see what the participants were seeing.

'To find the flaws of the Illusion Formation, I will need to see the runes first. Obviously, the formation won't allow me to do that, so I will have to force them to appear.'

There were different methods to do it. The most common was to use a burst of Spiritual Energy in the illusion itself. The illusion was made through the runes, allowing one to visualize it for a few moments. Of course, the higher the illusion's level, the harder it would be to make that work. Everyone in this exam was an Earth Middle or High-Level Formations Master, so the formation was obviously made to match these levels... or so the majority thought.

'No, they are looking for the best ones, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is an Earth Peak Level Illusion Formation.'

Rean was right. It was the same thing for everyone in the other testing fields as well.

Rean kept walking around the illusion formation for a while before he stopped in the middle. He looked down at the ground that seemed to be the same as everywhere else. Suddenly, a smile appeared on his face as Light Element began to converge around his body. Soon after, he sent all of it into the ground.

No one understood what Rean was doing. As far as they could see, nothing happened with the illusion at all. Even the runes didn't appear for even a second, so why did he do that?

However, Rean suddenly looked at a certain point in the jail. It was the ceiling close to the top right corner.

'Found you!'

Soon after, he used his Spiritual Energy to attack that point of the formation.

*Crack... Shatter!*

Immediately, he heard the sound of something breaking apart as the jail around him disappeared into thin air!

"What?! He destroyed the formation core!"

"How did he do that?!"

"He didn't even try to use the formation's flaws to turn it off."

"The formation core should be even harder to find than the flaws in the formation. Could something have been wrong with it?"

"Are you dumb? Do you think the guild would commit such a mistake with that level of formation?"

Droman wasn't the least bit surprised, though. He knew very well why Rean was able to find it so fast.

"Hahaha! So, how is it? Do you like this old man's disciple?"

The others looked at him with mixed emotions.

"How did he find the Formation Core?"

Droman smiled in response.

"That's a secret. You will need to ask him directly. Whether he wants to answer or not, that's up to him."