The City of Murica was the Capital of the Dry Lands, as the announcer stated earlier.
Getting into the capital was fairly easy because the quality of life was low, allowing the population to be curbed at a rapid rate.
This Conqueror trial was just one of the ways for this land of killers to curb the population a lot more.
Murica was also the first line of defence in the human lands. This meant that this city bred strong warriors.
In fact, the 3-star Spatial-Crab felt like fair game to the teens and young adults in the arena. Every person in the arena had some battle experience.
And as the Spatial-Crabs were killing countless people, the remaining competitors attacked. Different colours of mana-infused attacks were shot out when an enemy was spotted, some even hitting other people.
No one really cared because, in the end, only three people would be left standing, with exceptions like forfeits. People who forfeited had to leave the city because of the animosity they faced afterwards from the public.
The crowd cheered as a development occurred.
FOR MURICA!!!
A lone girl with a stoic expression, at the opposite side of the arena from where Tom and Jack stood, was the first person noted to have dodged the stinger of one of the creatures.
She bent backwards as a stinger went past, over her and into a poor soul's skull.
From that position, she pushed herself off the ground with her left foot to be slightly above the stinger and swung a longsword coated in a pale-blue liquid aura down on the stinger.
It cut cleanly, and the crowd watching went wild.
"Looks like we have our first favourite to win, folks. The power from that swing could topple the Sun-Spire!" the announcer commented.
The girl looked in her late teens, light-skinned with grey eyes and Silver hair which flowed freely behind her. She had on a light blue tunic with leathered braces and fingerless gloves that helped solidify her grip on the longsword.
As she got her balance, she said in a low, soothing voice, "I just cut off your stinger. That's where your power source is, right?"
The Spatial-Crab couldn't vanish now. So, it moved away from its attacker but didn't show signs of pain, even as green blood spilt from the severed tail.
Some tried to attack it, but it swung its pincers, toppling three people who were trying to use magic on it in point-blank range.
SNAP!
It closed its sharp pincers around several people as well, severing their heads and their torsos.
The girl from earlier, stabbed the sand with her sword and interlocked eight fingers. Pale-blue aura formed, creating water spherically spinning. Her long silver hair flowed in the wind as the energy condensed.
Then, little water bullets shot out from the ball at the beast, hitting it and bouncing off like bullets on steel.
"Your carapace might be strong enough to withstand my water bullets," she said with a grin, "…but not all of you is shielded."
True to her word, the Spatial crab got hit in one of its black eyes. It fell backwards and died.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Silver Girl has taken the first kill in an absolutely domineering feat!" the announcer shouted, and the crowd cheered.
Hearing this, the girl frowned and muttered to herself, "It's Malai."
During that display, most of the crowd had been distracted.
Plus, with the speed at which the beasts vanished and the dust and mana pollution from the barrage of magic usage, it was hard to notice the strange occurrence happening at the opposite side of the arena.
A human who had a small stature was standing on the sandy arena, gripping the stinger of a Spatial Crab and not letting go. He was bleeding from the hole in his body where the stinger had gone through.
A group of spectators could see this, though.
"He's got balls holding the stinger," Klein said. Selene looked worried.
The people around him were shocked at what they were seeing. A mere kid was in a contest of strength with this three-star beast.
Even Tom was frozen in place.
It was only for a second, though. The beast won out in the end, pulling Jack towards him.
After activating Instinct Override, Jack had blacked out. This skill worked on utilising a set of combined attributes from Jack's simulated life experiences.
Meaning, the blackout was his subconscious taking over his body, and it combined every fighting experience he had in his mind. Luckily for Jack, he had once been an Olympic wrestler, a kickboxer and trained in several martial arts.
The strength he had worked for had been combined and imbued into his body by the system. But his mind couldn't handle all the knowledge at once.
His subconscious, however, could.
Jack moved out of the way, moving under a strike from the stinger, which was pretty impressive considering how crazy low a Spatial crab could go with their strike.
Performing a knee slide underneath, he pushed off his left knee and swung his blade upwards, severing the stinger from the side.
The strike was clean, swift, and deadly.
In the stands, the people watching were shocked by the display of strength. SO far, there had only been two people who had showcased such power.
In the VIP platform, the King smirked and said, "Those two are impressive, but that boy... Something about him reminds me of…"
He was interrupted by another spectacle unfolding. Another Spatial Crab had appeared close to where Jack was fighting. About 12 metres away.
"That will be bad for us," Tom said.
He tried supporting Jack with energy shots, but the Spatial Crab's carapace was too strong to penetrate.
Tom could increase the power, but his mana will deteriorate at a rapid speed, and he could get targeted by a contestant with a crazy idea to take out the stronger hitters when they are weak, evening the score.
These events had mostly, slightly above ordinary people every year, but he knew he was way above with his weapon. Stronger people were targeted by the others to even the playing field, and a lot of the time, these stronger people get a job as a knight or as Sun-Hunters.
Then they lose the right to become a conqueror in the future.
This was a way to separate the Strong from the Strong and Unique. Strength is rarely the deciding factor in the Conqueror's Trial.
But they weren't the only ones in this trial, and a male voice reminded him of that.
"Hey, that's your friend, right? He's really strong. If you're just as strong, we should go handle the other one. If it gets any closer, we're doomed."
Tom thought about this.
Sure, it could be a ploy to separate them, but Jack had a hole in him and was still fighting. Who knows when he'll fall?
If another one joins, he can't get Jack out of here in time. He had to at least lead the other beast away.
And so, he joined the few who had engaged the other in battle.
Sure, three people were still around, sending long-range attacks to the one Jack was fighting.
The Spatial Crab was using one large pincer to shield its openings from them, while the other was used to attack the biggest threat. Jack.
Although this time, Jack was on the defensive, using the severed stinger to block its attacks and swinging his blade at the pincers. They were harder than the other parts of the Crab's body, but he still tried.
Eventually, he'll find an opening to get closer to dealing a fatal blow.
Finally, one of the range attacks hit.
A boy with the power to shoot out electricity at about 240 volts, luckily, hit an opening in one of the legs. It only slowed down the beast, which allowed Jack to jump back far enough to take a breath.
Then Jack did something out of the ordinary. He stuck his arm into the fleshy, severed part of the stinger, felt the source of power, which was already deteriorating and absorbed it.
If Jack were conscious, he would see that a window popped up and was showing:
[HIDDEN TRAIT UNLOCKED: {ACTIVE} Devourer's Engine (Grade: 1-Star)
Description: The Host is capable of metabolising "Abyssal Energy," "Runic Mana," and "Biological Essence."
Skill: [Consume]. By inserting a body part into a weakened or recently deceased target, the user extracts their essence before it dissipates.
Reward: Satiates Hunger. Restores Health/Stamina.
Core/Rune: Increases Stats or unlocks Skills.
Void Essence: Increases Abyssal Saturation (Warning: High saturation leads to corruption).]
This was the first time he had gotten a message about a hidden trait. He couldn't see it. No, he could fathom it.
His subconscious could feel it. It had the most control over his mind and body. Utilising the system to its full benefits.
Meaning, his subconscious had done what he naturally could do and unlocked this trait.
There was no one around him. Visible rot formed on the stinger until it became greyish-brown.
[Additional Quest 1/5 beasts consumed. Please complete the main quest to receive the rewards.]
[Your hunger has been satiated. All Stats are back to normal.
[Mana Channels opened. Mana Level: 10/10]
Ignoring the messages, he decided to join the fight once more.
At this moment, the arena had turned foggy due to a high concentration of different mana pollution.
The three people fighting the Spatial crab with the severed stinger had turned to four.
A boy with glowing eyes and long arms with fur covering him could be seen stretching around the crab's joints like rubber.
Even in a subconscious state, Jack paused, seeing this. Everyone else felt indifferent to it.
It only took a second before he moved as well to join the fight, but then another system message popped up.
[Active Skill: Instinct Override {Cancelled}]