The dueling arena in the "Holy Land" is unusually large. If your "Mantra" isn't strong enough, or if it doesn't significantly enhance your direct vision, you probably won't be able to see the details of the people on the field even from the Spectator.
But don't worry, there's a ring of "Recording Shell" around the perimeter, displaying detailed images of various locations on the surrounding cloud screens.
Sig frowned slightly, recalling for a moment, and realized that he hadn't seen the Moon person use "shells" in his dream.
Was it because it wasn't needed at the time? Or did the "shell" appear after the Sky Island appeared?
Other "customs" also began to distort at this point...
For example, the Warrior on the field all have "Big Wings" on their backs, but at this moment they are all wearing animal head leather hats. Only the clan members, including Sig as his "spouse", are wearing metal helmets with intricate patterns.
However, this headdress is now only worn on formal occasions like this, and it's not seen on ordinary people.
The surrounding Spectator were not wearing any uniform headdresses, but some of the staff members around them were wearing antenna-shaped headdresses, while the retainers accompanying the trial participants were wearing animal-head leather hats.
In his dream, Sig remembered that all the "Big Wings" wore metal helmets, but now in Bilca, everyone wears Big Wings, but their headdresses are different.
The symbolic meanings seem to have remained unchanged: the metal helmet represents nobility, the animal-headed leather hat represents Warrior, and the tentacle headdress represents laborers.
The venue was enormous, and there were a considerable number of participants in the trial—a total of 166 teams!
Large clans have more than a dozen teams, while impoverished small clans only have one or two teams.
Sig keenly sensed that quite a few squads were hostile or somewhat resistant to Mutel, while most others paid little attention and showed little goodwill—in other words, Mutel had almost no allies!
This is undoubtedly a significant disadvantage in the trial.
Especially since Axedevo and its allies might target Mutel, even those who admire Angel's strength don't want to be targeted by this behemoth.
When the "Cloud Hourglass," which looked like an hourglass, ran out, the Ten Great Elders appeared—they were also wearing metal helmets, and like all leaders before a meeting, they began to spout meaningless nonsense.
Sig was one of the people listening most attentively—because he wanted to extract the culture and history of the Sky Island from this speech!
Unfortunately, very little information was revealed. All that was known was that the Trial of God of Bilca was "ancient," but they didn't specify how long it had been.
Enel muttered to himself, "These guys... they've even stopped mentioning their long-cherished dream of going to the Vast Land!"
Sig's heart stirred slightly as he realized that the Oldest One meaning of this trial was to select a "god" and have that "god" lead his people to the Vast Land.
However, as time went by, most of the Bilca people, especially the elders who held power, stopped having such illusory dreams—which may be one of the reasons why the "uncooperative" Mutel was suppressed.
Previously, it was mentioned symbolically during the Trial of God, but now it has been completely omitted.
With over a hundred teams and more than six hundred people standing on the field, there was plenty of space. However, on Sky Island, where the "Mantra" technique was highly effective, many people around clearly heard Enel's mutterings, and a sense of scorn arose everywhere...
"Enel," Angel reminded his younger brother not to talk too much, his emotions were very stable, and he was obviously fully focused on preparing for the trial.
Soon the elders finished their rambling and completed the retirement ceremony for two of the oldest elders—after which two candidates who passed the trials would succeed them as "elders".
The elders aren't all very old; some are middle-aged, and some even look quite young. They may have only taken office three or six years ago...
One of the two retired elders then took the lead in proclaiming the rules for the first trial.
"Next, the warriors of each clan will undergo the first Trial of God, the 'Sea Trial,' heading south to the Sea of Giant Beasts to retrieve the scoreboards we previously fed to the cloud beasts there. Although there is an element of luck involved, generally the more powerful the cloud beast, the higher the scoreboard value!"
During this period, the 'Recording Shell' you carry will Record your heroic deeds. Remember, in the Sea Trial, you are only competing in hunting and cannot directly attack each other.
The top sixty-four finalists will be able to proceed to the next trials: the 'Sky Trial', the 'Strength Trial', and... the final 'Trial of God'!
The first trial clearly demonstrated the advantage of having "many people." Although the scores were calculated separately, teams of over a dozen trial participants like those in Axedevo could team up to hunt, then distribute the scores uniformly to ensure as many people as possible could break through.
Of the four trials, only the first one is an "elimination battle." The sum of the scores from the second and third trials will determine which clan member will become an elder.
As for the final "Trial of God," everyone has already assumed that there will be no result—no matter which clan has the advantage, it will definitely be targeted by the other clans.
Nobody wants to see a new "god" born.
"Now, warriors of each clan, please proceed..."
Just as the retiring elder was about to announce the trial team's departure for the Sea of Giant Beasts, another middle-aged elder with an exceptionally long physique stopped him, saying, "Elder Kashi, please wait a moment."
"Hmm? Is there something you need?" Kasi, who was about to make an announcement, turned to look at him.
Sig could sense that the tallest of the men harbored ill will towards him... or rather, towards Mutel. Moreover, he was one of the elders of the Axedevo clan that Angel had previously told him about, and indeed, he looked over at that moment.
"I heard before that the Mutel Clan will have a Fish-Man from the Blue Sea participating in the trial this time, which is unprecedented... Well, so I would like to confirm again, Your Angel of the Mutel Clan, are you really husband and wife?" The elder among the tall people looked down at Angel in the front row.
Many of the trial participants already knew about this, but many others had just heard about it and couldn't help but start discussing it amongst themselves.
Clearly, this long-faced man was trying to use this to attack Angel...
However, Angel remained unmoved and looked at the other person firmly, saying, "That's right, that's exactly it. Seven will be my husband and will complete the trial with me."
At this moment, Shura and the others were not ashamed of this—because in the past half month, they had learned that "Seven's" strength was no less than Angel's, and on the contrary, they were looking forward to it...
The only one affected was Enel; his younger brother was completely devastated!
After receiving confirmation from Angel himself, Longface only gave a barely perceptible smirk, seemingly somewhat disappointed that he had failed to influence Angel's mindset, but he did not question "Seven's" qualifications.
Because it's the rule that a spouse must occupy a spot, and... Sig has also discovered that the Sky Island person place great importance on class, which can be seen in their "headwear," as well as in the Sky Island person ancestors in his dreams.
However, this division, like that of clan descendants, is not solely based on blood ties.
Whether it 'Angel or Enel, if they have descendants, they might be Mutel or not. Similarly, among ordinary people, there might be descendants who are "qualified" for a clan...
This reminded Sig of the letter "D", but the specific principle behind it is unclear.
Therefore, Angel's sudden decision to marry the Fish-Man from the Blue Sea, although it drew some criticism, did not lead to any objection based on bloodline.
The Sky Island person's history and culture dictate that they don't think in terms of bloodline, but that doesn't stop them from believing it's like a toad eating swan meat...