Chapter 2308: Elimination Match

As soon as Sam placed his inscription pen on the sword, he sensed something sliding towards him.

A piece of leather which is usually used for creating inscription scrolls slid on the floor

towards him. It stopped right behind him.

*BOOM*

It exploded and luckily, Sam already moved to dodge it. He appeared on the other side of the table while still inscribing on the sword. As he guessed, that is not the end of it. Everyone took out inscribed scrolls and tokens as they threw at each other.

However, at least half of them were focusing on Sam.

Even if there are no grudges, they would have targeted him anyway. After all, a guy who just broke through to second grade is making them eat dirt. So, it didn't sit well with them. With all the bad rep and grudges against him, all the more reason for them to deal with him.

Sam only managed to dodge a few.

The sword cannot leave the table at all.

If it could, he would have carried it and roamed around the room. With how big it is, he would have lot more room to dodge the attacks.

So, after a few attacks, he wasn't able to dodge all of them and even took a few hits. He sighed and decided to make a move as well.

A glass vial dropped from his storage to the ground. It created a large splash of dark red liquid. Water elemental energy surged from his feet and the liquid started morphing itself into runes.

Everyone looked at it with their eyes wide open.

In front of those widened eyes, Sam created a runic shield, made solely out of runic inscriptions around him.

*BAM* *BOOM* *BAM*

The attacks kept on coming and the runic shield got damaged. Some of the runes even deactivated and collapsed, but that didn't have much impact on Sam's defense, because a new vial dropped and it is used to repair the broken runes.

This feat made them even more surprised and frustrated.

It is not like they are unable to do something like this. There are indeed some water element users in there that could manipulate the inscriptions since most of inscription inks are made of liquids that are taken from plans and blood of the beasts.

They all have water contents and several have shown feats like these before. In fact, even without the ink, they could mould their energy to manifest into runes and create it.

But neither of these methods are efficient and neither of them can be done in the same leisurely way as Sam is doing.

Even if they are able to do it, they wouldn't. Not when they are focusing on the sword inscription right now. They wouldn't risk it.

But not only is Sam leisurely doing it, he is splitting the focus between this and the sword, since they would see him repair the runic barrier real time.

However, they soon understood how he managed to achieve. At least partly.

They realized that he is not using any of his energy even for activation of the inscription.

Unlike formation, in which most of the time they only need to energize the nodes before it could use the atmospheric energy, the inscriptions are a bit different. Creating it and activating it require a lot of energy.

They need to infuse their own energy into the inscription runes, if they want it to work without any external aid.

However, the runes Sam is creating are activating themselves. That means, the ink itself is high in energy content.

The candidates shook these thoughts off their head, when they reached here. They knew this will become a bottomless pit of thoughts if they go down that path. They focused on the sword and soon.

"DONE"

One of them submitted the sword inscription. He is the person from Hel academy. Even though he is glad that he is first, he also became a bit nervous seeing that others are still working on theirs.

One of the swordsmen stepped forward and picked up the sword.

He went to the training dummy and performed the same exact movement with the same exact posture and energy level. There is not even a minute deviation.

*THRUST*

The sword was thrust forward and the wooden dummy gave out the number.

"1230"

The candidate felt pleased. That is indeed a great number. An increase of over three hundred points, which is more than thirty percent of the original strength is considered a good deal for the amount of time and resources he invested.

Once someone submitted the rest hurried as well.

"1120"

"1190"

"1059"

One after another they submitted, even though the scores varied, Sam believed the score wouldn't have much impact. Because the rules did not stipulate the exact amount by which the attack has to be improved.

So, the real test is something else altogether. Sam decided to test his hypothesis.

One by one they submitted their weapons and the highest record has been beaten by the person in the fourteenth place.

A candidate from the Viswa Karma academy.

"1290"

That is way more than the decent score.

Only Sam and another person remained. The person is from Xia region. He kept on eyeing Sam who is still working leisurely with the runic barrier still active around him.

He even stopped attacking Sam and only focused on inscription. After a few minutes, he is

done.

Sam is the sixteenth person.

*DING*

"1120"

The fifteenth guy didn't have a bad score. It is not some record-breaking score, but it kept him in the middle.

After his evaluation is done, Sam also finished his inscription. He handed the sword over to

the swordsman.

*DING*

"909"

Everyone was dumbfounded. The time Sam took and the number of runic inscriptions he ingrained on it... it did not match with the actual score. Some even thought he might have given up. After all, that small amount will not be enough to make him qualified for the next

floor.

"All sixteen have completed the test. Now, sixteenth person shall challenge the fifteen." The

lead swordsman took a step forward and explained.

The fifteenth ranked student hurriedly objected.

"Wait, wait. That guy did not even increase the score by that much. He only increased the

strength by one percent.

Shouldn't he be automatically eliminated?"

"The rules do not stipulate any of such condition. You will compete. As the holder of fifteenth position, you can select the challenge."

"I... I.."

"If you do not select the challenge, that chance will also be given to the challenger. So, please

select it now."

He twiddled with his fingers and didn't know what to do. Then his eyes landed on the wooden

dummy. The number 909 is still floating on it.

He gritted his teeth and decided on a challenge.

"We will do the same thing we did now. A weapon enhancement challenge. Whoever makes

the bigger enhancement wins."

The lead swordsman looked at Sam who nodded and replied.

"Time limit. 15 minutes"

The lead swordsman then looked at the opponent, who hesitated for a moment and agreed.

He glanced at the 909 once again and believed that he might come out on top.

The Lead swordsman took out two more swords that didn't have any signs of inscriptions.

Both of them worked on it for fifteen minutes.

First the fifteenth ranked guy's sword was tested.

DING

"1120"

The same score as before. Basically, he did the same inscription as before, which might be the

only reason that he managed to finish it in fifteen minutes.

Sam also submitted his sword.

*DING*

"1121"

The number stunned everyone. Even the swordsmen that had a cold and indifferent look

almost like puppets showed an expression of shock and awe at the moment.

Then suddenly, they remembered his first score.

Exactly one percent increase to the existing power.

Now 1121, exactly one point higher than what his opponent scored.

"I guess, I won. Good bye."

Sam walked past the fifteenth ranked candidate with a smug smile on his face. While his

opponent collapsed in despair, he strutted to the next floor along with the rest of the

candidates.

As soon as they stepped inside, all of them felt a light flash by. Before they realize what happened, they found themselves standing inside a runic barrier. It is a barrier made of inscriptions, similar to the one Sam made in previous round.

But a lot bigger, a lot more complicated and a lot more powerful.

Even if they try to break it with all their brute strength, it might survive. The only way out is

breaking it through the inscriptions.

Everyone hurriedly started. They knew whoever wins first has an edge over in this competition. They can sabotage others easily in this one if they manage to get out first.

The inscription pens danced on the barrier, clearing it one layer at a time.

The first one to come out is the guy from Viswa Karma academy. He held is pen and glanced at

his opponents before deciding not to intervene.

Of course, not everyone is like that.

The second guy, from the Hel academy came out and immediately went after Sam.

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