SAINTESS [Chapter 143: Is that Winnie] (Patreon)

Batch after batch of students boarded the unicorn carriages. Winnie and Shikondell’s second-year group was the last to get on.

“Brother Winnie! Little brother Dell!” Just as Winnie and Shikondell were about to step onto the carriage, a familiar shout suddenly came from behind.

Winnie paused, turned around, and saw Fred leading the Card Club members. They’d run over so hard they were panting, faces flushed red as if they’d only just arrived. Andre and Aiden had even hoisted a banner, on it were portraits of him and Shikondell, plus a huge “Go!”

“Fight with all you’ve got! Behind you is the blessing and support of the entire Card Club!” Fred had a red headband tied around his head, and he was swinging a cheering baton high as he yelled.

Winnie was touched, and also couldn’t help finding it funny.

“Got it! Like I needed you guys to tell me that!” Winnie shouted back at them.

“Quit running your mouth, Brother Winnie, we’re watching the livestream in the plaza! Don’t you go embarrassing our Card Club. If you can’t win, the brothers are gonna ‘take care of you’!” Fred yelled.

Winnie grinned at them and climbed into the carriage together with Shikondell.

It seems the Chosen One Contest took place some distance away from the island where the academy was located, since carriages were required to transport them there.

“Dell, do you remember what I told you?” On the unicorn carriage, Winnie sat steady with his arms crossed. Seeing Shikondell sitting opposite him, looking calm on the surface, yet unconsciously twisting her hands together and glancing out the window from time to time, Winnie spoke.

“Huh?” Shikondell looked at Winnie, puzzled.

Winnie encouraged her, saying, “A man should be calm, steady, and brimming with passion!”

“…Mm! I got it.” Shikondell nodded firmly.

“Good. That’s the spirit.” Winnie nodded back. “You’ve been with this young master for so long, today’s the day you show what you’ve got. Don’t worry about your strength. This is the result of your effort and transformation. Believe in yourself.”

“Mm, thank you, Winnie.” Hearing Winnie’s words, Shikondell’s nerves eased a little.

‘Virtue + 60.’

‘Current Virtue: 18299.’

Everyone set out at dawn, and it wasn’t until afternoon that they reached their destination.

As the unicorn-drawn carriages came to a halt along the shore, the students stepped out one by one, each of them looking around and taking in their new surroundings.

It was a completely unfamiliar island. Whether second-year or fourth-year, none of the students had ever set foot here.

“This is… the Trial Grounds??” Winnie had just gotten off the carriage and was looking around when he heard someone beside him speak.

“Trial Grounds?”

“You don’t know? Rumor has it the island where the Trial Grounds are is the farthest from the main island among the Carillian Academy archipelago. Back in the day, Emperor Cantarius II of the ancient Carillian Empire attained enlightenment right here, then fought all the way past the Demon Realm River and drove the demonfolk to the far north of the continent.”

“After that, this place became one of the Carillian Empire’s treasured lands. It wasn’t opened to outsiders, and only during the Chosen One Contest would it be opened as a competition venue. Even after the ancient empire fell and this treasure land came under Carillian Academy, it remained the same.”

“So that’s how it is.”

Winnie listened quietly to the exchange.

“All participants, please maintain order! Keep quiet and proceed to the plaza in an orderly fashion under your instructors’ guidance.”

With the instructors’ words, the students stopped chatting.

The fourth- and third-years went first, and only then did the second-years follow.

All teachers and students climbed onto a high platform that resembled an altar, with multiple tiers of stone steps.

Winnie was near the back of the line. Watching so many people climb up until they disappeared from view, he figured the altar had to be enormous.

Sure enough, once he reached the top and saw the full scene, even he couldn’t help but marvel.

The platform was vast, comparable to several football fields, easily enough to hold over a thousand people. Most striking was the stone-built temple directly ahead, steeped in ancient imperial style. Two statues like stone pillars stood outside the hall, weathered by time, as if carrying the traces of endless ages.

In front of the temple were rows upon rows of stone chairs, so many they were densely arranged.

This time, aside from the first-years, almost the entire academy must have come.

Winnie looked at the moving crowd and thought so.

Back at the academy, aside from the first-years, there weren’t many left.

Winnie looked toward the front. Several instructors were checking the students’ qualification certificates. Once verified, they handed each student a belt to fasten, as well as a black bundle. Then the students took their seats in order on the stone chairs before the temple.

It gave Winnie a strange sense of immediacy, kind of like, in his previous life, going to an amusement park ride, buying a ticket, sitting down, and waiting nervously for the thing to start.

That sort of feeling. At least, the expressions on those already seated upperclassmen looked similar.

One by one, those in line were checked and seated.

Finally, it was Winnie and Shikondell’s turn.

“Student, please present your qualification certificate,” said an instructor wearing a high-ranking instructor’s robe.

Winnie took out his certificate and handed it over. The instructor passed it to several colleagues behind him for inspection. After confirming there were no signs of forgery, they returned it to Winnie.

Even though it was the first round and forgery was almost unheard of, the academy still enforced strict checks.

“Good luck, student.” The instructor handed Winnie the belt and bundle as well, warning him, “Be sure to fasten the load-bearing belt properly to prevent accidents. Once you enter the Trial Grounds, make sure it doesn’t break. Otherwise, you’ll be teleported back to the academy plaza and disqualified.”

“Of course, if you don’t want to stay any longer, you can also destroy the belt yourself and teleport back to the academy.”

“That black bundle contains food and water, only one day’s worth. Besides that, it also has your puzzle piece,” the instructor explained.

Winnie nodded to show he understood.

So they were meant to rob each other’s food and water.

As for the puzzle piece, without even reading the pre-match rulebook, having gone through so many trials since enrollment, Winnie could roughly guess what it was.

Everyone’s piece would be different. They’d have to find a way to complete their own puzzle and survive three days to be counted as a winner.

In the first round, there were five puzzle pieces total.

After fastening his belt, Winnie followed the row and sat down on a stone chair. Shikondell sat beside him, looking a little uneasy.

After that, the people behind them also took their seats.

“Alright. All participants are seated.” The vice principal stepped to the front of the temple, his aged yet powerful voice sweeping across the assembled students. “Everyone here is a pillar of Carillian Academy. Since enrollment, you’ve experienced many trials large and small, as well as advancement examinations. I needn’t repeat the competition rules, yes? You’ve all read them in the handbook beforehand.”

“But there are still a few things I need to make clear. The Trial Grounds are no ordinary place. None of us know what they will look like through your eyes. No one can say what awaits you there. Everything about them remains a mystery.”

Winnie’s brows tightened.

What did he mean, what will they look like through their eyes??

“Silence!” the vice principal said, hearing the murmurs below.

“Though there were mishaps, by fortune within misfortune, the Chosen One Contest accompanied by heavenly anomalies is now officially underway at this moment. This Trial Grounds has witnessed countless geniuses vying in splendid contests. Move forward bathed in the glory of the sages, students of Carillian Academy. May you ride forth to success and seize the crown.”

With that, the vice principal gestured to the grand instructor beside him.

The grand instructor understood at once and began chanting an incantation at the front of the stage.

As the obscure, hard-to-understand chant rose to its peak, the students suddenly sensed a change beneath their feet.

Countless runes lit up on the stone chairs they sat on. At the same time, they felt an immense energy stripping away their five senses, dulling their perception. Even the space around them began to tremble.

Everyone clutched their heads and bowed down.

“Winnie…?!” As Winnie swayed with dizziness in his seat, he faintly heard Shikondell calling him, but soon he couldn’t hear anything at all.

Though many people should have been sitting around him, it felt as if he’d been placed in a land of no one.

A series of booming roars sounded. Winnie felt as if he were suspended in midair, until the sensation of slamming into the ground felt so real that his consciousness slowly returned.

He got to his feet. The solid feeling under his shoes was almost luxurious.

“Waah!” Winnie rubbed his head, and the wavering in his vision finally ended.

Once he steadied himself, a scorching wind swept over, scraping his cheeks painfully.

“Where the hell did they dump this young master now?” Winnie muttered instinctively, looking left and right. The more he looked, the more familiar it felt, until he realized where he’d seen this scene before, and his eyes went wide.

These shattered temples and statues, this scorching desert, wasn’t this the Kingdom of Mars in the dungeon??

“Holy Crap?” Winnie held his head, his first thought being that he must be hallucinating, or still half asleep.

The temple, and that underground palace in the distance, everything was so damn familiar.

But how could he possibly be back here again??

Winnie slapped his forehead, recalling what the vice principal had said before they entered the Trial Grounds.

‘What the Trial Grounds look like in your eyes, we don’t know. No one knows. Everything is unknown.’

Could it be…?

Winnie hesitated.

The Trial Grounds weren’t fixed in scenery, but constructed from the examinees’ memories??

But why did it show the scene from his memory? Would other participants’ “spawn points” also be scenes from their memories?

To be honest, Winnie didn’t want to see these familiar ruins at all, because the moment he saw them, he’d think of that miserable experience.

Speaking of which, since this was PvP and not PvE, it wasn’t like it could simulate a “King of Mars,” right??

Probably not.

Winnie looked at the small bundle on the ground beside him, and the belt around his waist.

Yeah. This wasn’t a dream. It was real.

The Carillian Chosen One Contest had officially begun.

Winnie removed his ice-crystal earring, transforming it into [Frost Fang]. Holding the ice spear, he walked across the desolate land.

After going a ways, he found the place both familiar and unfamiliar, familiar because he’d seen the architectural style, unfamiliar because everything was randomly arranged.

That fit Mars perfectly, since the Mars land he’d entered back then really had been broken apart and reassembled at random.

It could be confirmed, this place was constructed based on someone’s memory, either his, or Isatia’s.

Then what about everyone else? If the scenery here was built from his memory, would other participants appear here too? Or was it that only he could see this, and other people’s Trial Grounds looked different?

As Winnie was thinking, he looked up and saw a figure in the distance.

That silhouette felt familiar. He stared twice, then recognized him.

If Winnie wasn’t mistaken, that guy seemed to be a student from the class next door.

“Winnie?! Damn, of all people, why did I have to run into him?!” Before Winnie could take a closer look, the other person noticed him as well. The instant he recognized Winnie, he cursed in frustration and immediately turned around and fled without hesitation. He even unleashed his strongest wind and lightning magic, desperately trying to escape before Winnie could catch up.

Winnie couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.

That had to be a real person. No mysterious force could generate a “person beside him” with that kind of vivid, living reaction.

Looks like even if the scenery was constructed from his memory, other people could still see it too. It was probably just coincidence, this arena had happened to take his memory as its template.

Seeing the other guy run, Winnie didn’t plan to chase. He had plenty of time, and besides, that guy had thrown all his skills into fleeing, and wind and lightning were the fastest. Winnie might not even be able to outrun him.

No point. He’d deal with anyone who saw him and didn’t run.

“Ahhh!” Then, before Winnie had taken a few steps, he saw the same guy who’d fled at the sight of him come flying back.

Winnie didn’t even have time to react. The poor bastard crashed down, rolled several times, and slammed hard into the ground.

Winnie was a bit amused. He’d just run faster than a ghost, so why was he back now?

“Brother, what’s going on with you?” Winnie asked with a laugh.

“Damn it, don’t pick on a newbie, alright?! I just got here!” The guy struggled to his feet and glared resentfully at Winnie, who was now standing right in front of him.

The next instant, a crisp click sounded.

The guy lowered his head, and saw his belt had shattered.