While Jay was training his new element, the news about an Earth's Alpha Chosen single-handedly thrashing the Lycanthropes was spread to almost everyone on the Tournament Island.
That didn't come as a shock to most since the Earth's trial zone team's score was indisputably high, thrice that of the second trial zone team.
But when everyone learned that the one who did all that was not even among the top Earth's Alpha Chosen, the reputation of Earth's trial zone team soared ever high.
Other than the Tilephe trial zone team that was ranked third in Round-1, the rest of the Top-10 trial zone teams didn't even entertain the thought of ranking first in the Tournament.
If not for the fact that the third trial zone's team leader, who was ranked 16th in the <Trial World Leaderboard> had improved his Minor Innate Talent Mastery to a Major one during the First Intermission, they wouldn't have placed hopes on winning the Tournament.
Still, they were well aware defeating the Earth trial zone team that had an Omega Chosen in it was no easy feat to accomplish.
But they didn't know that the strongest one among the Earth trial zone team wasn't the Omega Chosen, but someone who was still in Tier-2.
And that certain someone had grown even stronger during the First Intermission.
Before long, the 3 hours long break came to an end, and each Alpha Chosen was notified to return to the Colosseum for Round-2.
The trial zone teams that couldn't make it into the Top-100 were allowed to spectate if they wished, or they could stay back in their respective Rest Houses.
However, no one chose to miss witnessing the Top 100 teams compete against each other in Round-2, and the crowd gushing in through the Colosseum gates was proof of that.
Two trial zone teams were waiting beside the crowd at the Colosseum's east entrance gate.
One of them was Halbor's team, and the other was the Atlans' team. Min-soo was also there along with them since he stayed at Rest House 100 to work on improving the teleportation devices with Halbor.
So, when the first intermission was over, he tagged along with Halbor's team.
As for the Atlans, they recognised Min-soo and approached before greeting him.
Min-soo introduced the Atlans to the Rock Magmoids and vice versa.
All the Rock Magmoids, including Halbor, were stunned to meet the Atlanis trial zone team that was ranked fifth in Round-1.
After all, the difference in their team rankings and the Team Evaluation Score was quite wide.
As for the Atlans, like everyone else, they came to know of the commotion that had taken place a few hours back.
But through Min-soo, they had an in-depth idea of what had happened and why Jay saved and recruited Halbor.
Hearing all the details visibly angered Akor, "Those dogs dared to bark at my Liege?! They better not come across me or else.....Hmph!"
Halbor and the Rock Magmoids were even more shocked by those words since they came from someone who was considered one of the Top-5 strongest individuals in the Tournament.
Soon, the Rock Magmoids caught sight of the Earth trial zone team heading in their direction.
As soon as they approached, Akor was the first to act as he kneeled in front of Jay before asking, "My Liege, should I take care of those Lycanthropes and make them an example for others?"
With a light wave of his hand, Jay controlled the Wind and lifted Akor to his feet, "No need, I will personally deal with their team leader after Round-2. I have plans for him."
Akor nodded and gave way to Jay as he headed towards Halbor.
The Rock Magmoids including Halbor were under the impression that Jay was moderately strong among the Earth trial zone team since a few other Earth's Alpha Chosen were ranked among the Top-200 of the <Trial World Leaderboard> but witnessing Akor's respectfulness, Jay's position in the eyes of Halbor and the rest of the Rock Magmoids grew to a new height.
"How did it go? Were there any new developments?"
Halbor stood still at Jay's query for a second before answering in a hurry, "Ye…Yes, Sir, there are some significant improvements. Thanks to the Great Venerable's outstanding efficiency, the raw material refining process and component creation were cut down from an overall 18 hours to as low as 3 hours.
The space element configuration would have taken me 6 hours, but the overall process was halved with Mr Min-soo sharing his knowledge and expertise. On top of that, there were considerable improvements to the <Space Platfom>'s functions.
The Transmission Range of Space Platforms was more than doubled from the original 100 Kms (62 Miles) to 250 Kms (155 Miles), and the energy expenditure was reduced from 5 Spirit Crystals to 3 Spirit Crystals."
Not to mention the increased Transmission Range, just the expenditure reduction alone would save some a lot of trouble in the long term.
Besides those, another noticeable improvement was that the time taken to create a single <Space Platform> was shortened from 24 hours to 6 hours.
That means if Halbor worked all day without rest, he could create four Space Platforms in a single go.
Learning of the improved results satisfied Jay, "Good Work. Once this Tournament ends, keep working on creating as many as possible. For every <Space Platform> you create, I will reward you with 25 RP. MJ will fill you in on the details pertaining to the Reward Point Exchange."
After saying that, Jay added Halbor to his 'Party' and walked to the Eastern entrance gate at a nonchalant pace as the Altlans, Rock Magmoids and rest of the Earth's Alpha Chosen followed behind.
Within the Colosseum, only the Alpha Chosen from the Top-100 trial zone teams were gathered on the podium ground, and the rest of the Alpha Chosen were the spectators in the seating area.
As they entered the Colosseum and walked towards the respective seating area, the chitter-chatter all-around toned down as everyone's attention landed on the group of Earth's Alpha Chosen.
Followed by a brief period of silence in the Colosseum, noise abruptly rose as topics related to the Earth's trial zone team circulated among the audience.
Some of those exaggerated the strength of Earth's Alpha Chosen and even depicted them as some sort of demigods.
It wasn't just them, but the Rock Magmoids were also dragged into the spotlight for staying by the side of Earth's trial zone team, who became the center of attention.
The Rock Magmoids were overwhelmed by all the attention but watching the Atlans stay cool about it; they calmed down.
Thanks to Akor's display of aggressiveness towards someone that commented on Earth's trial zone team in Round-1, it became common knowledge for everyone there that the Atlans were already under the protection of Earth's trial zone team.
Meanwhile, another trial zone team began to interact with Earth's trial zone team within the podium ground.
It was none other than the Horned Beetles.
The Leader of the Horned Beetle muttered frustratedly at his team members, "Alright….Alright!! Don't push me! I will ask them."
Facing the Earth's Alpha Chosen, the four foot tall Midget cleared his throat awkwardly and spoke in embarrassment, "Ahem…..You see, from the very dawn of civilisation on my home planet, the one with a larger body was undeniably deemed as the strongest, and that turned into a custom everyone on my planet followed blindly.
Now that these little fellas learned of Miss Olivia's strength, they believe she must be your team's Leader despite not being the largest one among you. They keep on annoying me to ask about it.
If she is your team leader, that will shatter their core beliefs, and they would rebel against me."
He then faced Olivia and asked her earnestly with a hint of anxiety, "No offence to you, Miss Olivia, but please tell me you aren't the team leader."
Looking at the group of three-foot-tall midgets intently waiting for Olivia's reply from behind their Leader made Olivia and the others smile at how silly the situation was.
Olivia replied to the Horned Beetle with a slight smile on her face, "Don't worry, I am not the leader, but he...…."
Before Olivia could say it was Jay, the Horned Beetle Leader joyously hopped around towards his subordinates, "See? What did I tell you? Only the largest ones could be the Leader. To think you all almost gave up faith in our planet's ancient tradition. Shame on you!!"
He blabbered around for a while at his team members until they felt guilty for questioning their Leader.
Only then did the Horned Beetle Leader quieten up and gave a nod of satisfaction to himself before thanking the Earth's Alpha Chosen.
Noticing Jay didn't say anything, Olivia and the other Earth's Alpha Chosen didn't correct the Horned Beetle Leader and let the Beetle Midget enjoy his moment.
Right then, everyone on the podium ground lifted their head to look at Felarial, who was floating several meters above the ground level at the center of the Colosseum, and his arrival alone was an unofficial announcement for the start of Round-2.
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