Rean and Roan had no idea as to what the elders were thinking. First of all, it was a wonder whether they would accept to take part in this kind of event or not.
Continuing on Rean's side, the Guild's Formation Masters brought out the Spiritual Blast Formation that Elder Turin asked for. This wasn't anything hard to make since it simply compressed Spiritual Energy before releasing it. In fact, it was quite lacking when one compared it to other formations that rely on elements.
However, this was perfect for this situation. The Spiritual Blast Formation didn't select any element in particular. It only absorbed the Spiritual Energy available and released the attack. The Formations Guild also planned to use Spirit Stones to power it up so that they could do their tests.
"Alright. First, the fire field."
Lanca and a few other Formation Masters of the previous exam were there. They quickly left the field so that their Formations could be tested. The assistants then approached the Spiritual Blast Formation to one of the fire-based defensive formations before activating it.
The Spiritual Blast Formation then absorbed one Rank Three Spirit Stone until it turned to dust before releasing its energy.
Just as the fire-based defensive formation was about to be hit, Fire Element began to gather around it, creating a magma-like force field. The Spiritual Blast hit it head-on, deforming a bit of the magma field. However, that was about it. The formation held the attack back without much difficulty.
The formation's owner, who was watching from outside, nodded in satisfaction.
"My Magma Force Field Formation is malleable. This is not going to be broken that easily. Hahaha!"
However, the next Spiritual Blast Attack came right after he finished. This time, the Spiritual Blast Formation used three Rank Three Spirit Stones to charge up.
*Boom!*
With three times the power, the Magma Field was left with an enormous hole on its surface. Although it didn't collapse, it was really close to it. The other participants then looked at the guy who just talked as if he was an idiot.
"How dumb are you? Even if that was only a Spiritual Blast Formation, it was made by the Formation Master Guild's elders. Did you think it would be just like any simple one you can build yourself?"
"Hmph! From the looks of it, you won't be able to hold even three strikes."
"He's not the only one. You all need to be prepared when your time comes."
During the next Spiritual Blast, five Rank Three Spirit Stones were used to charge the formation.
*Boom! Shatter!*
Sure enough, the guy's defensive formation wasn't able to hold it back and collapsed almost instantly. Seeing that, he couldn't help but show an ugly face.
Well, Turin and the rest couldn't care less about it.
"Surinan Fill, two strikes. The Spiritual Blast Formations seem to be working fine. Head to the next one."
The assistants followed the order and quickly moved the Spiritual Blast Formation to the next one in the queue. Once again, it absorbed a single Rank Three Spirit Stone before attacking the formation. The defense did hold it back, but things were not so good for the second time.
*Boom! Shatter!*
This one wasn't able to even hold two strikes. Surinan then sighed in relief after seeing that. At least, that proved that his Magma Field Formation wasn't the worst one.
"Talei Uifron, one strike. Next!"
The next five defensive formations were only able to hold one or two strikes in the end. Only the 6th one finally crossed that threshold.
*Boom, Boom, Boom!*
"He passed three strikes!"
"Finally, someone with some skills."
"Hehe! Do you think so? Look at how his formation is holding. It can barely stand."
"It was still better than the previous ones, though."
"Wait! Look at the Spiritual Blast Formation!"
Everyone heard that warning and looked at the formation. All of a sudden, most of their faces turned grim. The first blast used one Rank Three Spirit Stones, the second used three, the third used five... However, the fourth jumped straight to ten Spirit Stones!
*Boom! Shatter!*
The formation that withstood three strikes broke as if it was made of glass. Not even a single rune remained after that.
"Laol Volkiq, three strikes. Next!"
The confidence in quite a few faces disappeared after seeing that. They thought they would be able to hold four strikes at least, but the power of that Spiritual Blast was far above what they expected. Sure enough, the guild showed no mercy.
Of course, there were many even better formations present. A girl called Suia Rove finally broke the four strike threshold. The others who failed and those who weren't confident couldn't help but look at her, jealous.
Suia dropped her head in embarrassment with so many eyes on her. Nonetheless, she was very happy with that result, especially because her formation still seemed to be in good shape.
The next strike used the force of fifteen Rank Three Spirit Stones, but Suia's formation held the strike once again. Finally, her formation broke down at the sixth Spiritual Blast Strike, which used twenty Spirit Stones.
Turin then looked at the girl and nodded.
"Not too bad. Suia Rove, five strikes. Next!"
Immediately, everyone understood. If they wanted to guarantee their presence between the first three hundred participants, their formations needed to hold at least four strikes. Three might be possible, but they would most likely end in a draw with other participants. Once that happened, the results of their previous exam would be what really counts.
The tests continued without caring for their feelings, though. Soon, the first one hundred were tested. Between them, there were 18 who were able to hold three strikes, 5 got to four, while only 2 were able to defend against five strikes.
Suia wasn't part of those who performed well in the first exam, so she was a surprise to the others. However, the second one was part of the best ranked there. Orval Fole was third place in the 5th Test Field in the First Exam. He was also part of one of the nine subordinate clans.
Of course, the same way that unknown names appeared, some of the best-ranked ones in the first exam also fell short. Two of the guys in the top 5 in the first exam couldn't even hold three strikes and were definitely eliminated. No one found it unjust, though. After all, the ability to create a good formation was taken more seriously than analyzing them.
*Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom...*
Suddenly, one of the formations was able to hold seven strikes!
"Oh! It's Felo Susume. He was the first to come out of the restriction formations in the first exam in my kids' batch."
"Another Subordinate Clan, that's not too surprising."
"Still, seven strikes is already a good result. Depending on how Felo performs in the next phase, he might get one of the 10 slots."