Chapter 99: Powerhouse

Eren, Celeste, and the rest of the group ventured out of their camp and into the Pitted Cavern.

Most of them were still salty about what happened. After all, that Territory could have been their ticket that would fast-track them to advancing to the next stage of the License Exam.

Eren wasn’t that optimistic. First of all, a Territory that big would be a nightmare to conquer. It was not in their capacity at this moment. And secondly, it would be hard to keep that Territory if they did somehow complete it.

There would be multiple groups attacking Dantes in the hopes of stealing the flag from his hands.

Right now, Eren focused on empowering himself.

As soon as they arrived in the Pitted Caverns, they happened upon another situation in the bright spot. Once again, a Loot Box was being lowered down in order to reward a Leader for contributing greatly to the Second Test.

Curious, Eren and the group went on a little detour and took a look to see who was the lucky leader.

And as it turned out, it was someone from their Division.

Magnus Lindberg along with a couple of his lackeys stood in formation in the bright spot, waiting for the lootbox to land in front of their feet.

The box was another briefcase-sized container. But this time, the symbol that was embossed on its side was the mighty 2D image of a griffin standing up on its hind legs and roaring.

Magnus seemed to be sponsored by one of the Elite Awakener Organizations, Griffin Prime. It was interesting to see. Eren thought Magnus would be sponsored by his family. But now that he thought about it some more, it was only natural.

After all, in their Division, Eren was the one who obtained the lootbox from the Lindberg family.

He doesn’t seem that disappointed by it.

Magnus opened the lootbox and revealed another stack of Martial Manuals inside. It overjoyed the rest of his group members, which had grown to the hundreds at this point.

"That Magnus guy is pretty strong too."

"I heard he’s captured a lot of Territories already. Just trailing behind Dantes and his group."

"What’s amazing is that he’s doing that all by himself. He hasn’t allied with any of the Medical or Academic Sector leaders."

Eren listened closely to the rumors and the conversations happening around Magnus’ group and was eventually able to figure out what kind of Martial Manual they obtained.

[Soaring Wyvern of the Storm.]

It was another movement art, much like the [Lightning Step]. It had a minimum 5-star talent requirement in the Lower Body, with the potential of it growing to become an 8-star talent in the Lower Body.

A pattern was starting to emerge from the Martial Manuals given as sponsorships.

It seems that the Prominent Families and the Elite Awakener Organizations want examinees to learn more movement arts.

It made sense. After all, here in the Second Test, movement arts were essential. With it, they could traverse great distances in a very short amount of time, or they could even scale the walls as if it was the ground.

"Magnus! I want to join your group!"

"Please let me become a member!"

"I’ll contribute greatly!"

Many of the opportunistic examinees took this chance to ask Magnus to stamp them into their group. They found him worthy to take them to the top.

Magnus smiled. "Only those with a 7-star talent or higher can join me."

Immediately, many of the examinees turned quiet. After all, most of these examinees who had yet to choose a group were not that talented. That was why they were desperate to be adopted into a powerful group.

So, most of them weren’t fit to the standards that Magnus was looking for.

And if there were a few people who did have a 7-star talent or higher, then they weren’t that desperate to join Magnus. They should be the one convinced, not the other way around. So, not many people walked up to Magnus to join his group.

Magnus seemed keenly aware of this fact, so he took out a Martial Manual from the lootbox.

"Griffin Prime has given me this as my sponsorship. It is the [Tyrannical Dragon Strider]. I’m sure you all know about it," he said, announcing to the entire Pitted Cavern.

And immediately, the examinees were riled up. Even those who weren’t paying attention at first were now interested in what he had to say.

"[Tyrannical Dragon Strider]! That’s the signature Martial Manual of Griffin Prime!"

"They gave that to Magnus?!"

"That has the potential to be a 9-star Martial Manual!"

Beside Eren, even Sierra and the others were shocked. "That Martial Manual is very famous. It’s what the top heroes from Griffin Prime are using as their Movement Art!"

Even I’ll admit. That Martial Manual is good. But, it’s not the pinnacle. Just something that is good enough for an inner disciple. But definitely not good enough to be used by an Elder of a sect.

Eren seemed to the be the only one who wasn’t impressed with the Martial Manual.

"If I join your group, will you give that to me?" Someone approached Magnus. A very famous examinee, it seemed. Immediately, there were a few discussions popping up as the two of them stood face to face.

"No way! Elvig is joining Magnus’ group?!"

"Who’s Elvig?"

"You don’t know him? He’s a prodigy from the Twin Moon guild! He was recruited by them despite not even having a License yet!"

"If he’s so good, then why isn’t he a leader?"

"The Burrows and lootboxes are basically luck based. Elvig just got unlucky and he couldn’t find a good lootbox."

The conversations and whisperings happening around the Pitted Cavern became like the whistling breeze of grass.

Magnus and Elvig teaming up was basically like two leaders allying with each other! They were both powerful awakeners all on their own. But now that they had allied with each other, they became a total powerhouse.