100\% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? Chapter 721 - Second Trial

The next morning, the individual competition continued.

The first qualification had already removed a large portion of the original field, although eliminated participants had not been pushed out of the event itself.

Many of them were already inside the training districts, working on the exact weaknesses the qualification had exposed.

For those who had qualified, however, two individual stages remained.

The first qualification had tested whether they could function when the obvious solution stopped working.

The second would test whether they could keep functioning when the situation itself refused to remain stable.

The third would determine the final individual rankings.

After that, the competition would move on.

Lucien had no intention of spending months determining who could stand on the most impressive podium.

There were far more important lessons waiting.

•••

The public rankings had expanded overnight.

Anyone with a communication device could access them.

A participant’s name could be searched directly, bringing up their current classification, completed stages, placement, notable achievements, and publicly available performance records.

That simple feature became far more popular than Lootwell expected.

Families searched for relatives.

Sect disciples searched for senior brothers and sisters.

Young experts searched for rivals.

Some people searched their own names far more often than they would ever admit.

The rankings themselves were not one enormous list.

That would have been meaningless.

A newly advanced Transcendent was not being compared directly with a sect ancestor who had lived as an Eternal for thousands of years.

Each participant had already been placed into a competition classification appropriate to their actual level, Law development, racial structure, and combat foundation.

Their realms were not suppressed to make everyone artificially equal.

Higher classifications received stronger constructs, heavier battlefield pressure, more demanding restrictions, more dangerous terrain, and Authority Resistance calibrated to beings of their level.

The same principle applied to unusual races and enormous beasts.

Different bodies faced different practical requirements without changing what the trial was trying to measure.

Someone could therefore dominate their own classification through excellent performance without needing to somehow compete against an Eternal several major realms above them.

Within each classification were placement rankings.

Across all classifications were separate achievement boards recognizing exceptional control, efficiency, adaptability, survival, and other accomplishments.

There would be many winners.

There had to be.

The Big World was too large and too varied for one person’s victory to represent everyone.

The rewards would follow the same structure.

Top placements in each recognized classification would receive corresponding prizes, while outstanding achievements could earn separate rewards regardless of overall placement.

The greatest prizes, naturally, were reserved for the most exceptional performances across the entire competition.

That was enough to keep everyone ambitious.

It was also fair enough that weaker participants did not feel as though they had arrived merely to decorate the audience.

•••

The second individual stage began before the morning had grown old.

Lootwell called it the Shifting Trial.

The name was simple.

The trial was not.

Those who had qualified were distributed across another enormous network of sectors, although there were considerably fewer people now.

The difference was immediately noticeable.

Teleportation hubs remained busy, but the movement was smoother.

Staging areas no longer overflowed.

The first qualification had done exactly what it was supposed to do.

Lucien did not consider those who failed inferior.

Many simply were not ready for what came next.

They could train and try again in future competitions if Lootwell ever held another one.

For now, the remaining participants entered the formation sectors.

The Shifting Trial contained no fixed route.

That was the point.

Participants received an objective.

Reach a marked location. Protect an object. Recover something. Survive for a limited period. Escape a closing region.

The objective itself was usually straightforward.

Everything around it changed.

A mountain path could collapse and force a detour. A previously safe bridge might become restricted. A hostile construct could suddenly become neutral if a participant stopped attacking it. A movement technique could be limited halfway through a chase. Terrain could favor one Law for several minutes before becoming completely unsuitable for it.

The preserved battlefield impressions were used carefully as well.

They never reached a level intended to break the participants.

They simply added pressure, uncertainty, and the uncomfortable sensation that something larger than themselves was nearby.

Lucien watched the first few sectors activate.

Then he increased the Authority Resistance network by another controlled degree.

Not only inside the competition grounds.

Across the observation districts as well.

•••

This time, many more capable spectators noticed.

A wave of discomfort spread through the preserved region.

It was still mild enough to remain safe, but people who had grown accustomed to yesterday’s pressure suddenly found their Laws slightly less responsive again.

A merchant lifting a crate paused.

A young spectator testing a tiny flame above his palm frowned when it formed more slowly.

Several sect elders looked toward the central plateau.

The four ancient dragons noticed immediately.

None said anything.

Neither did the other old beings scattered throughout the region.

They understood.

Nearly everyone who had entered the preserved region was being exposed to the same gradual resistance.

Even those who had come simply to watch were learning what it felt like when their connection to power encountered external pressure.

The intensity differed according to location and capability, but the principle remained the same.

Lucien wanted the sensation normalized across as much of the population as possible.

Most of these people might never fight an Extinction Grade enemy.

That did not mean they would never stand near one.

Knowing how to remain calm could matter even then.

•••

The Shifting Trial moved quickly.

There were too many participants to focus on individual performances for long.

Lootwell’s projections instead rotated between meaningful highlights.

A young expert from a major sect reached a collapsing bridge, immediately calculated that repairing it would take longer than crossing the canyon another way, and changed direction without hesitation.

An independent mage lost access to her primary movement Law and used an ordinary reinforcement technique she had learned years earlier instead.

A beast participant realized the objective required protecting a fragile artifact and stopped transforming into its largest form because its own body had become the greatest danger to the object.

That one generated considerable laughter.

The beast eventually passed.

Its expression afterward suggested that it did not appreciate how often the replay appeared on communication devices.

Midas continued performing efficiently.

Augustus remained remarkably composed whenever restrictions changed.

Leo still occasionally solved problems with enough force to make the administrators reconsider the structural tolerances of certain sectors.

He had improved.

Nobody claimed he had become subtle.

Raven advanced as well.

His control over the Law of Fire continued attracting attention because suppression pushed him toward precision instead of greater output.

Other familiar names rose.

So did unfamiliar ones.

An unaffiliated swordswoman from the South adapted to four successive terrain changes without losing meaningful time.

A young formation expert from a minor western organization became unexpectedly popular after using broken trial structures as temporary formation anchors.

A quiet beastman whose name had barely appeared during the first qualification jumped sharply in the rankings when the Shifting Trial revealed exceptional situational awareness.

Lucien remembered all of them.

Not because they were guaranteed heroes. But because each had shown something worth testing further.

Lootwell’s internal records continued growing.

•••

The second stage ended faster than many spectators expected.

There were no grand duels announcing its conclusion.

Participants either completed their assigned objectives or failed to do so within the conditions provided.

Those who failed were extracted safely.

Those who succeeded moved into the final individual stage.

By then, only a small fraction of the original participants remained.

The preserved region still held an enormous number of competitors by any reasonable standard, but compared with the opening day, the difference was dramatic.

The final stage could therefore afford to become more demanding.

Vivian announced its beginning through the projection network.

"The final individual stage will determine placement within each competition classification."

The public boards changed.

Every remaining participant’s current classification appeared beside their name.

So did the number of finalists remaining within it.

Vivian continued.

"This stage will combine the qualities tested throughout the previous rounds. Participants will receive different conditions according to their classification, but all final performances will be evaluated according to the standards already established."

There was no complicated explanation.

People understood by now.

The strongest attack did not automatically create the best score.

Vivian added one final clarification.

"Individual rewards will be recorded today, but distribution will take place after the conclusion of the Grand Intercontinental Competition."

That immediately generated renewed excitement.

No one had forgotten the prize pool.

Especially not the treasures Lootwell still refused to reveal.