That afternoon.
Jungle, ditches, mounds, boulders...
In a training ground resembling real terrain, the 53 members of the special training camp split into groups of three to five and began practicing teamwork.
Tactical hand signals, formation changes, the pace of their advance...
Drawing on experience from his previous life, Lancelot quickly settled into Cole's squad. He worked seamlessly with the other three and performed excellently, completing every exercise within the allotted time.
"That kid's improving fast!" Instructor Tarn was quite pleased, but he only watched from the sidelines and didn't go out of his way to praise Lancelot.
Time passed slowly.
In the blink of an eye, three days had gone by.
Over those three days, Lancelot displayed extraordinary learning ability, making rapid progress in firearms, combat, teamwork, ability development, and general studies.
The instructors weren't the only ones surprised. The other trainees had noticed Lancelot too.
They had thought he was just an ordinary ability user with C-rank potential, not worth paying attention to. Who would have thought a powerhouse had joined them?
"Today's the rankings tournament, the one held every ten days. The top two teams and the top ten in the individual competition all get Vitality Elixirs, so we have to give it everything we've got!"
At the dining table, Burke knocked his fists together, his eyes wide as saucers and his whole body itching for action.
A gleam flashed in Lancelot's eyes.
A Vitality Elixir was an extraordinary potion, classified as a one-star superior item under the Astral Realm's universal system for extraordinary items.
Taking it replenished energy, lifted the spirits, improved training efficiency, and helped raise one's ability development level.
Although it wasn't as good as the Jade Potion Logo had taken, it was still quite valuable. A bottle of Vitality Elixir had a market price of around 29,000 Crimson Notes, equivalent to 30 Ta Pounds.
The rankings tournament was a competitive internal event held once every ten days, arranged specifically to encourage the members to train and study hard.
According to the special training camp's rules:
Team competition:
First place: two bottles of Vitality Elixir for each team member.
Second place: one bottle of Vitality Elixir per person.
Individual competition:
First place: three bottles of Vitality Elixir.
Second and third place: two bottles of Vitality Elixir.
Fourth through tenth place: one bottle of Vitality Elixir.
If Lancelot could take first place in both the team and individual competitions, he would receive a full five bottles of Vitality Elixir, worth nearly 150,000 Crimson Notes. That was no small sum.
Some people with mines in their families might not care, but Lancelot was broke and practically drooling over the Vitality Elixirs.
If he'd had ten bottles of Vitality Elixir back then, the time it took him to become an ability user could have been shortened by at least 30%.
Besides Vitality Elixirs, those who ranked near the top would receive support in other ways.
Time using high-precision training equipment, private instruction from the instructors, Crimson Note subsidies, and so on.
All in all, the higher one ranked, the more benefits one received, the faster one grew, and the better one's chances of getting a good result in the Joint Entrance Examination.
The training ground was 250 meters long and 180 meters wide.
The special training camp's 53 members were divided into twelve squads.
One three-person squad, led by Windsor, who had A-rank potential.
Five four-person squads. Three were led by people with B-rank potential, while the other two were led by relatively strong people with C-rank potential.
The remaining six squads each had five members, all with C-rank potential.
It was clear that the instructors had deliberately kept the twelve teams relatively balanced in strength to leave more opportunities for those with C-rank potential.
Those with A-rank and B-rank potential received attention from the higher-ups and already enjoyed excellent treatment of all kinds, as well as special instruction from the instructors.
For those with C-rank potential to stand out, they needed a chance to prove themselves.
So the instructors deliberately kept those with high potential and strength from grouping together and limited the number of members on teams led by people with A-rank or B-rank potential.
That gave those with C-rank potential more chances to show what they could do.
Tarn stood at the front of the formation, back straight and feet planted apart. After sweeping his gaze over everyone, he took out twelve plastic lots.
"Same rules as always. Draw lots to decide your opponents."
"Cole, if your luck stinks again this time, the three of us are going to beat your dog head in." Burke raised a thick arm, his expression hostile.
At the last rankings tournament, Cole had drawn Windsor's team in the first round. They'd still been a three-person squad then, and in a three-on-three match, they'd been thoroughly beaten and stopped in the round of twelve.
Burke had given Cole no end of grief over it.
"Heh heh, I can't say for sure. All I can do is try my best!"
Cole scratched his head sheepishly. Before setting off, he rubbed his hand against Lancelot, calling it borrowing some luck.
After that, Cole hitched up his belly and marched proudly onto the stage to draw a lot!
"Mother of Earth, bless me. Sun God, bless me. Please don't let me draw that woman Windsor again..."
Muttering under his breath, Cole carefully held the plastic lot between his palms.
As if he were squeezing a card, he revealed the number bit by bit.
Number 11.
"Windsor, what number did you get?" Cole looked at the beautiful girl beside him.
Windsor rolled her eyes at him. "Number 4. Why?"
"Haha, we're number 11! Thank goodness, we won't get beaten up!"
Cole immediately became full of himself. He swaggered over to Burke, looking just like a rooster that had won a fight.
"Well?" Cole shot him a sidelong glance, one eyebrow raised.
Burke instantly put on a fawning look. "Oh, Master Cole, your luck is incredible! Care to draw another?"
Lancelot and Rui exchanged a look, then both put a hand to their foreheads, speechless.
The two often felt they weren't ridiculous enough and didn't fit in with these two idiots.
"We're number 11, so we'll be facing number 2," Rui said.
"Hey, who's number two? Get out here!"
Burke had a booming voice, and his roar drew everyone's attention.
Lancelot and the other two quietly stepped back, putting some distance between themselves and him.
We don't know this guy!
"We're number 2!"
A petite little girl with snow-white skin and delicate features jumped out, grinning. She wore a pink hoodie and waved the number 2 plastic lot in her fair, tender little hand.
Lancelot thought for a moment and recalled what he'd learned about the little girl over the past few days.
Elisa, thirteen years old, B-rank potential, with a composite ability. She had joined the special training camp three months ago and was very strong.
Rui frowned as well and said softly, "It's Elisa's team. They won't be easy to deal with!"
Although Cole also had B-rank potential, he had only been in the special training camp for a month and a half, half as long as Elisa. He lagged behind her in ability development and in courses such as combat and firearms.
As for the teammates, Rui and Burke weren't holding the team back, but Lancelot...
Rui didn't feel very optimistic about this team battle.
"Your luck still stinks!"
Burke's expression changed again, and he glared at Cole in annoyance.
"Does your face change like a dog's? Just like that?" Cole rolled his eyes, unwilling to pay him any more attention.
"Let's work out a strategy," Rui suggested.
The group gathered together and began discussing it.
Cole first went over the basic information about Elisa's team.
The captain, Elisa, had a composite ability combining Physical Enhancement and mental will. Specifically, she could use her will to strengthen her physique, particularly her strength and speed. She might usually look cute, but she was extremely violent in combat.
Her three teammates were Todd, a ranged attacker; Og, who handled control; and Hannah, who provided support and healing.