Rebirth: The Universe's Hidden Heiress-Chapter 59: Mid-term Test (2)

Gale peeked over the edge of the pit and then turned to Fred with disappointment, "Your Highness, it’s the Vase."

Fred’s face appeared at the edge of the pit. He glanced down at Yuka and said, "Fine, let her be bait."

"If you want to come up, obey us," Fred commanded. "Do what we say, or you’ll be eliminated right now."

Gale waved a stone in his hand, threatening to throw it at Yuka to deplete her remaining health if she didn’t comply.

Yuka, slightly curling her lips, agreed, "Okay."

Gale, satisfied with her compliance especially after she had embarrassed him last time, threw a vine down for Yuka to climb up.

"This vine has thorns," Yuka pointed out. "It will reduce my health."

Annoyed, Gale pulled up the vine, removed the thorns, and then let it down again to pull Yuka up.

After dusting off her clothes and fixing her hair under the incredulous gazes of Gale and Fred, Yuka asked, "What do you need me to do?"

Fred instructed, "When we were coming here, we saw a tree over there with at least four or five Oniyons, guarded by many people. You go ahead and scout for us."

Yuka simply responded, "Oh."

Fred, seeing her obediently following, didn’t pay her much more attention.

They approached the tree. Underneath it stood a dozen people, all eyeing the Oniyons but hesitant to make the first move. As Fred’s group approached, the others cast wary glances at them, overlooking the slender Yuka.

Yuka spotted Alex and Ayoi among the crowd and playfully waved at them. Recognizing Yuka’s act, Ayoi and Alex turned away, barely acknowledging her with a slight wave.

"Go," Fred grunted at Yuka. "Try to grab an Oniyon and stir up a fight."

"You want me to go on a suicide mission?" Yuka exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Otherwise, you die now," Gale threatened, pressing a stone against Yuka’s back. "Hurry up!"

"Fine," Yuka muttered, rolling her eyes and moving into the crowd.

As she entered the fray, the other competitors eyed her intently.

When she reached for an Oniyon, someone finally lost patience. A tall boy lunged to grab Yuka’s arm, but she withdrew her hand just in time, leading his hand straight to the Oniyon. freeweɓnovel.cøm

Seeing this, a skinny boy leapt onto the tall boy’s back, throwing punches at his face. In response, the tall boy bent over, attempting to throw the skinny boy off.

Yuka quietly slipped away from the ensuing chaos, leaving the others to fight over the Oniyon. The scene quickly devolved into a free-for-all brawl.

Ayoi and Alex, disheveled, soon retreated from the battle, barely preserving their dwindling health bars.

Noticing this, Fred squinted his eyes and instructed Gale, "Go, take those two out."

Gale nodded and charged at Ayoi and Alex.

Yuka, however, subtly extended her legs on Gale’s way.

"Thud!"

Gale was sent flying, losing a significant portion of his health bar. Furious, he glared at Yuka. "I’ll take you down first!"

Yuka shrugged, surprised someone fell for the same trick twice, and walked towards Ayoi and Alex. "We have three people here, and you only have two..." she began, but before she could finish, Fred grabbed her arm, pulled her close, and clasped his hand around her throat.

Ayoi and Alex took a step forward, alarmed.

"Don’t move!" Fred barked. "If you don’t want her dead, trade an Oniyon for her."

Yuka blinked and said, "No need to worry about me."

Ayoi and Alex then realized they didn’t need to intervene. First, Yuka could easily handle Fred, and second, Yuka seemed intent on scoring zero points again.

They didn’t want to disrupt her plan, so they turned and walked away.

Fred was baffled. "That’s your friendship?" he taunted. "So fragile."

He smugly thought to himself that such friends were nothing compared to his loyal sidekick, Gale.

Gale, scrambling up from the ground, prepared to throw a punch at Yuka. However, before he could act, the first victor emerged from the Oniyon scuffle.

The tall boy, battered and bruised, broke free from the crowd, triumphantly holding an Oniyon and heading towards Fred’s group. The remaining Oniyons were quickly claimed, and those who missed out, unwilling to give up, also charged towards Fred and his team, aiming to snatch the Oniyon from the tall boy.

Fred, caught off guard, loosened his grip, allowing Yuka to slip away. She mocked him with a smirk, then agilely climbed a nearby large tree, settling comfortably on a branch.

The tall boy was overtaken by the crowd, and Fred and Gale were drawn into the fray.

In chaos, Fred, hit by a powerful blow from the tall boy, saw his health bar decrease. Before he could recover, his face was struck by a piece of wood.

Yuka, continuing her assault from the tree, pelted Fred with dry branches and vines. Though the attacks were minor, they continuously chipped away at Fred’s health bar.

Fred, both shocked and furious, found himself helpless against Yuka perched in the tree. He yelled, "There’s someone in the tree! Why aren’t you attacking her?!"

The fighters paused and glanced at Yuka. She tilted her head and gave them a pitiable look, softly saying, "I won’t bother you; I’m just sitting here watching."

Deeming Yuka, a seemingly weak and non-threatening girl, less dangerous than their immediate competitors, the crowd resumed their intense battle.

Fred, hit by an unknown assailant, watched his health bar near depletion. He managed to roll and crawl away from the chaos, ignoring Gale’s cries for help and watching him get eliminated. Fred turned to flee.

Thunk.

A wooden chip struck the back of Fred’s head.

Grinding his teeth, Fred watched his last sliver of health disappear and turned to Yuka, shouting, "You..."

He was eliminated.

Yuka, sitting in the tree and noticing her score of sixty points, blinked in confusion. She had only thrown a few wooden pieces, and she didn’t even know how Fred got eliminated?

[Time’s up for the exam.]

In the control room, Yonda spoke fiercely: [I am very disappointed!]

[So many of you were just focused on grabbing Oniyons, fighting each other, without using any strategy or cunning. There was no teamwork, no mutual assistance, or deceitful manipulation I expected. It was all so uninteresting and lacking in standard!]

[How are you supposed to compete in the year-end Academy Tournament with such performance? That event is broadcasted across the entire Alliance. You’ll be representing UUA . With your current strength, tell me, how are you gonna compete with students from other academies?]

Yonda, infuriated, threw down the communicator and quietly checked Kenji’s reaction.

Kenji, expressionless, stood there and said to Yonda, "It’s time to intensify the training."