"That's not a bad offer, but I'm sorry, I don't think I'll be working as a Vice Captain," Lucifer calmly answered.
"So you are refusing my offer?" Ron asked. "I thought you'll be brave. But I'm not surprised. The chances of you getting more points do look low."
"Who said I'm refusing the bet? I'm taking the bet right now."
"But you said..."
"I said I won't become your Vice Captain because I'll be taking the knowledge of your skill," Lucifer calmly stated. "I hope you won't hesitate when it's time for you to teach me the skill."
****
On one end, the participants talked amongst themselves. On the other end, the Instructors discussed something with the old man.
"Do you understand?"
"We do. We will make sure nothing goes wrong.x
"Good."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe group dispersed, and all the Instructors went back to their places.
"Everyone, listen to me." The old man's authoritative voice filled the surroundings.
Lucifer was sitting in meditation in his room, but even he could hear the voice of the old man. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up. "Someone is on the mountain."
Despite sending someone, Lucifer didn't go to check. He simply closed his eyes and continued meditating.
"I'm sure you've all been waiting for the start of your trials. You must be really curious what it will be about? So stop talking and listen to me! I'm going to explain the trial to you."
"There are fifty-one of you here. The First Trial will be a team competition. There will be seventeen teams, consisting of three people each. Before I tell you what the Trial is about, you can decide on your teams. You have five minutes. If, after five minutes, there are people who don't have a team, I'll make their teams myself."
After issuing his initial instructions, the man folded his arms as he waited for the youngsters to select their teams. He was really curious to see if there were going to be some strange combinations like three seeds coming in a single team, but he had a feeling it was highly unlikely. These three had too much self-confidence and wouldn't join the team with the other seeds.
Even if the three seeds decided to come in a single team, it was still going to be troublesome for them to decide who was going to be the captain of the team.
Lucifer glanced at the three seeds who were surrounded by all the participants who literally begged them to select them. There was only one person who hadn't surrounded them.
Despite Lucifer's performance, there was no one who came to him for teams. They all wanted a seed in their team. Even though Lucifer was strong, they didn't believe he was stronger than the three seeds.
Lucifer glanced at the only person who was left. It was a young girl who was standing in the back, all alone.
Lucifer walked to the girl that he met on the mountain.
"Are you not going to ask them to take you on their team?" he asked the young girl who appeared to be playing with her fingers.
"What's the benefit of asking them when I know I have no chance. I'm going to be rejected. I'm the weakest here according to rank."
"Don't I tell you before that ranks are useless? Did you not see what happened before?"
"I did. You're different. You're an exception. Maybe because you came right at the end of the ranks being selected, you were given the last rank which didn't justify your strength, but it was different for us. We are thoroughly examined, from our abilities to our battle skills. It was after that that we were given ranks, so they do justify our strength and skills," the young girl explained.
"I mean, just watch. No matter how many people surround them, only the top of the top will be selected by them."
Just as she spoke, the crowd around the three seeds seemed to have dispersed.
Rank 1 Mander was joined by rank 4 and rank 6 participants. Rank 2 Raayi was selected by Rank 5 and Rank 7 participants, making Malin's words come true for the most part. Unfortunately, she was wrong about them all.
Rank 3 Ron hadn't selected the top-ranked participants. On the contrary, he had only selected one person... Rank 49.
Ron appeared to be walking toward Lucifer amidst the jealous gazes of the other participants. His Target didn't appear to be him though. He stopped before Malin. "Young lady, will you join my team?"
"Huh, what?!" Malin couldn't believe what she was seeing. One of the top three was selecting her? But why? She was last ranked. She was the weakest here.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmEven though she didn't understand what was happening here, there was someone who did. Lucifer couldn't help but smile. He could see that Ron was intentionally selecting the weakest people here since he wanted to make things more challenging for him.
"Go ahead. Your team is waiting for you," Lucifer commented before he walked away. Malin had found her place.
Since the Three Seeds weren't available, the other participants decided to go for the next best thing... The person who had shown his mettle recently.
"Ah, would you like to join my team?" A young lady asked Lucifer. The number eight was clearly visible on her chest.
"We will be one of the strongest teams here if you join us." The Rank 9 man chimed in. He had formed a team with rank 8, and only one spot was left, which he wanted to be given to Lucifer.
"No, please join our team instead. We might be lower ranked than them, but our skills make up for it."
"No, join us! Forget them!"
Just like there was a fight with The top three seeds, something similar was happening with Lucifer as everyone started fighting to convince him.
Lucifer thought carefully. Even though he wanted to go solo, according to the rules, he needed to be in a team, so it was better to select someone.
He observed all of them as he thought about who to select. He didn't have good feelings about any of them though. All of them had mocked them at least once before, and now they were here, acting like that never happened.
"How about you join my team instead?" A sweet voice came from the back, which attracted Lucifer's attention. He turned around.
"Malin? Have you not joined Ron's team? Why?"
"Because I want to be on your team. I've thought a lot about this before refusing him. But now that I have, there is no other way. You're my only option. So, the weakest participant, do you want to make a team with the second weakest?" Malin reached out her hand to Lucifer. "If you think I'm not worthy, you can refuse. I promise I'll understand."