A loud rumble from the south walls where Tommy, Silvers and Sasha were defending, caught Kairos’ attention. He had a bad feeling about this, but as the defending commander, his hands are already full from dealing with Luciette's all-out attacks.

She had stretched thin his forces till it’s impossible for him to send someone to check, and if they lose this front, there is a good chance to be completely defeated.

It would turn them into laughing stocks for becoming the fastest group to lose the training match in just nine short days. They can’t help but be nervous, since those without good academic records will be doomed to the trade federate, for a life of cleaning pill refineries, forge soot, or beast manure.

"Edward, can you trace the intruders on the south side?"

"Roger!" Edward nodded as he extended his Soul Perception to scout Tommy, Silvers and Sasha’s side.

The defenders had managed to fend off Luciette’s main troops with George’s help, but the situation is rapidly turning uncontrollable.

When Luciette heard the commotion from the south, she secretly called over her men stationed at the west forest with a small smile on her face. After she found out who is the defending leader of the camp, she had to change her plans around.

It is basic White Snow Family’s strategy to reserve their true strength, only to launch attacks when least expected and nearly unblockable. But despite her preparations, George’s ambush still did a number on her forces. Furthermore, she did not dare to underestimate her opponent, Kairos. Against a weaker force, it is smart to divide and conquer, but after he had crushed all her ambushes, she is already utterly convinced that any sneak attempts on him are pointless. If she still split her forces up, it would only end up being disadvantageous for them.

Besides, because of Calculus’ recklessness, some of her men are still injured from the previous battles. Especially, those that went to the Orc village are still recovering from grievous wounds, and those that went on the Orc suppression mission have to deal with the side effects from the Berserker's pill. Even Calculus himself is weakened from using his forbidden seal reversal technique.

The condition of the blue team is far worse than George and Kairos had anticipated, and the longer they waited, the more time they give their opponents to recover. It was lucky that George had launched the attack early.

After all Luciette's men had arrived, less the one at the south, she quickly issued another attack order.

Once again, she leads the charge, and those who have thrown the small tree trunks into the water used it to nimbly jump across. As they rushed across, Calculus scanned for Kairos' face among the defenders. His eyes were glinting wickedly.

Since this moat is diverted over with water from the nearby river, it is designed in such a way that a current enters the moat and cycle around it then re-joins the river. But although their footholds are moving, it did not slow down their progress by much.

"This is looking really bad, have Alan bring his team over,” Kairos says, but somehow his eyes are burning brightly with confidence.

The rule of thumb in a siege requires the attackers to outnumber the defenders by four times, but that is assuming there are proper fortifications and not wooden walls and water moats. With the situation at the south unknown, even with twenty men and the powerful defensive Bagua formation, it is difficult to withstand over eighty enemies.

The battle is so lopsided that it cannot be considered a siege.

Without hesitation, Kairos boldly allowed the west ramparts to be unguarded. In dire disadvantage, risks are needed to be taken.

"Edward, how does it look at the south side, can we divert them over?"

"Hmm, it’s a mess there, and I can't see the details, but with such commotion there I don't think it is wise to bring anyone over."

"Alright, then we will have to handle it ourselves."

As the blue team are crossing the moat, the defenders started firing arrows.

At the same time, hidden within the dark woods is a single hidden shadow. Squatting and barely visible. The person had both his arms raised, in a heroic, victorious gesture, but somehow it looked comedic on him instead.

The instructors that saw him could not understand what is he doing. It’s obvious that his focus is elsewhere, searching for something like a drawn bow ready to fire.

If someone told them that the poise is, in fact, a cultivation stance, they would only erupt into laughter and disbelief, but indeed, there is one person that felt comfortable to assume such a position during training. Jim Hope.

As required by his stance, he has a smile on his face, creating such an image that can become anyone’s nightmare if they saw him. Additionally, he is hidden in the bush like a psycho preying on others.

Thankfully, he is only twelve, and the instructors only turned a blind eye. Sometimes, children are odd.

When the arrows flew from the ramparts, Jim’s smile turned into a grin. This is the signal he had been waiting for, and he flew off into action.

“It is finally time for me to… SHINE!!”

In fact, he had ‘flew off’ into action once before, but with the appearance of the forces George prepared, he listlessly returned to his hiding place.

The blue team are, of course, crossing the moat by using the currents. They placed the floating logs upstream so that it would create a temporary bridge for them to leap across. Because those timbers would eventually be carried off and mostly deposited at the opposite banks, they will require a large number of logs for their whole group to cross over.

Jim mentally calculated the time needed for the trunks to float down to the blue team and started laughing maniacally.

As the bulk of the blue team is on the waters, a few logs that they were stepping on exploded and sent everyone flying. The blast had used up almost all of their reserved fuel, but the impact caused the blue team tremendous damage right within their firing range.

*BWAHAHAHAHAHAA!!*

With a voice that sounds like a bat shrieking, Jim declared his victory by infusing Ki into his voice.

And despite the chaos, Luciette thought with her face pale, “What sort of demon is in that forest?!”

…..

After a tremendous battle, the E ranked blue team elites had retreated deeper into the East hill base and George, knowing that there could be countless traps waiting for them within, dared not give chase.

Both hill bases are made of hard and glossy black rocks that stood fifty meters into the air, their durable and dense surface ensured that there is only one viable entrance or exit. Digging through or scaling up the hill is nearly impossible.

This battle is a plan hatched by Luciette since the start of the mock battle nine days ago. When she sent her guys to secure the East Hill, she knew that the raid is bound to happen. She expected George to cut off the supply route and wait for her teammates to weaken from the lack of food.

During that time, George’s strategy is to isolate the hill and weaken Luciette’s blue team. Should he fail to do either, Luciette will simply cut a path through his defences and raise the flag of victory on East Hill, ending this exercise.

Although the red team lost their base right at the beginning, which team will emerge victoriously is still in the air.

To counter George’s plan of cutting down their numbers, Luciette made a surprising decision. Her strategy is actually to invite George to attack her blue team, and she hence allowed Kairos to expel as much as thirty-five of her teammates.

It would have been too obvious if the red team easily captured her men, so she had sent her teams out with very strategic movements and defensive-fighting styles, causing a whole lot of trouble for Kairos to be able to expel someone. Her objective is to let George weaken her team indeed but in a controlled amount.

Fortunately for her, those under Kairos’ command was highly competent and smoothly brought her plans towards fruition without arousing suspicion.

She waited the moment George tried to retake his base, and when he directed his men away, she will crush his little camp. But few knew that her true objective lies elsewhere.

All of her preparations were made to send him into the enemy camp.

However, George had predicted her ploys. Instead, he had beaten the E rankers till they are without the strength to retaliate. Now, he only needs to wait for the one who will approach.

…..

0810H.

At the south of the camp, the defenders had been scattered. The siege had only started not even ten minutes long, but their defence perimeter has been broken.

The reason is a lone student who strolled into the camp like an unstoppable force. All that blocked his way were defeated, unable to slow his pace down by a single step.

He went directly towards George at the East Hill. The confident look on his face did not change even when he saw sixty high-ranking practitioners waiting for him.

Hovering over his head are hundreds of silvery blade shards, each piece defying gravity spiralling and twirling in the air.

The boy smiled at them and took a moment to ensure his robes still looked pristine.

…...

In the instructor’s room, a commotion brewed.

After receiving instructions from their superiors, the three head instructors turned red with anger.

Their submitted proposal to have the training exercise cancelled was met with rejection. The reason is ridiculous, stating that the death tolls this year was not unlike that of previous years.

Besides this, the Disciplinarian head instructor had submitted a request to put Calculus on trial, but since the deaths so far were caused by magical beasts, the members of the council indicated that they would not pursue any individuals.

The third, and final proposal, was submitted by a student. George, the commander of the red team, had requested to pull Kairos out of the training ground, but likewise, it was also denied. The council said that there was no evidence that the boy has been targeted and therefore his survival in the training ground will be considered as part and parcel of the exam; the same as everyone else.

In addition to the three rejections, they issued instructions for the instructors to remain in the staff room.

The instructors that have a genuine concern for the students were livid, but they conceded that at this moment, the students are still safe, and in fact, an interesting battle is displayed on the crystal ball.

Even in the midst of his temper, the Disciplinarian head instructor still beamed with pride at his disciple and foster son. The one who attacked a base on his own.

…..