Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 646 Dream Hunt
When it came to the final round of testing, Sek and Bale suddenly realized that... they, a group of new recruits from Wangshan County, were being personally assessed by two of the most important figures in the kingdom.

"Minister Chris, Minister Egno..." The staff officer put away his cold expression and greeted the two men who entered the courtyard with a smile. "The new recruits who arrived in the capital today have now completed the first two rounds of basic assessments."

Chris hummed in agreement, glanced around, and casually asked, "What's the pass rate? How did they perform?"

"Two hundred and forty people applied, fifty qualified, and the elimination rate is close to 80%." The staff officer pointed to the soldier who was still slumped in the sunshade with weak limbs and reported somewhat awkwardly, "Please don't worry, more soldiers from all over the kingdom will arrive later, and we will select enough people as soon as possible."

Egno shook his head helplessly, seemingly not having high hopes for the final test. "Well, it's already pretty good that we made it to the second round. We'll take charge of the final test ourselves."

The new recruits were then quickly led to the largest room in the yard. As soon as they entered, Baler immediately sensed something was wrong—the huge room also had no windows, but the air was filled with a strange smell of excrement mixed with the stench of wild animals.

More than a dozen huge iron fences were in front of them, covered with thick waterproof tarpaulins, but the faint, low breathing sounds indicated that... these cages contained real, ferocious wild beasts!
Chris and Egno stood in the room, took the roster from the adjutant, and said expressionlessly, "The rules for the final test are that each of you must choose an untamed magical beast, successfully suppress the target in a mental battle, and last for half an hour to pass the test!"

Untamed...untamed magical beast?

What does "psychological confrontation" mean?
The soldiers in the room were stunned. Their already pale faces broke out in a cold sweat again. They had no idea what the two important figures meant by the test rules.

Before they could mentally prepare themselves, the staff in charge of the testing had already lifted the covers off the iron cages one by one... In an instant, one after another, the mutated beasts that had been curled up and sleeping in the cages were revealed to everyone, and heavy breathing filled the room.

Wilderness Wolves, Bloodclaw Bears, One-Horned Mammoths, Black-Winged Giant Bats, Serpent-Scaled Griffins, Demonfire Source Beasts...

Standing before them were real, mutated, ferocious beasts, among the most terrifying beings in the remote mountains and forests of the Southern Territory, as well as in the vast wilderness!
Gumbling—

Suddenly someone swallowed hard, followed by a trembling sound of teeth chattering in fear from among the soldiers.

"Get ready and let's begin!" Chris said casually, then walked to the chairs by the wall with Egno and sat down. His burning gaze remained fixed on the recruits standing in front of the cages, as if he was observing their performance from this moment on.

"The first one, Gregor!"

The Silverpine City recruits, all hunters by trade, stepped forward and gritted their teeth, replying, "Here!"

"Your choice?"

"Demon... Demon Wolf!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he was led to the cage where the Sleeping Wolf was imprisoned, and made to sit on a chair that was also welded to the ground. His hands and feet were strapped with leather straps, and a strangely shaped metal helmet was placed over his face. A flexible metal tube hanging from the ceiling was pulled down and connected to a slot at the back of the helmet.

"Sek!"

"Baller!"

"Beto!"

"To!"

Everyone carefully selected a cage, while Sek, based on his past hunting experience, chose the Bloodclaw Bear, which he had personally seen and fought alongside his father and tribesmen... This enormous magical beast often crossed the Divine Ridge Mountains to harass herds in the desert oases of northern Eisengard. Often, a hunting party of fifty people would have to pay the price of several tribesmen's lives in order to successfully set multiple traps and ambush them.

After being firmly strapped to the seat with leather straps, his face was covered by a cold metal helmet. Although it did not hinder his breathing, the sudden obstruction of his vision made him more sensitive to the warm, fishy smell emanating from the giant bear in front of him, and he even had a terrifying illusion that he had stumbled into a hibernating bear's den.

The agonizing wait lasted only half a minute before a cold voice rang in my ears: "Test begins, mental connection activated!"

A dizzying sensation, like falling from a great height, struck, causing Seke's entire body to tense up and his back to be drenched in cold sweat.

When he opened his eyes again... he found himself in a dark cave, having actually moved from the room he had just been in. Staring intently into the depths of the cave, he saw a massive Bloodclaw Bear lying on the ground, snoring softly as it slept soundly. At that moment, Seker could almost hear his heart pounding in his chest.

What should we do now? Should we face this ferocious beast head-on like before, and fearlessly endure half an hour to successfully pass the test?

The thought had barely crossed his mind when a stranger's voice suddenly rang in his ears, "Kill it! Complete your assessment task!"

What? You want me to hunt down this mutated Bloodclaw Bear all by myself?

In the chaos, Seke suddenly noticed that the giant bear, which had been sleeping, was trembling, as if it might wake up at any moment.

Oh no! Weapons... I need weapons! My gun...

Looking around anxiously, he discovered a magic gun gleaming with silver light suddenly appearing on the ground beside him, complete with several fully loaded magazines!

Sek rushed forward and picked up the weapon. Subconsciously, he used the muscle memory he had developed through long-term training to complete a series of standard actions, including assembling the magazine and cocking the gun, within seconds.

The crisp click of the mechanism echoed through the cave, instantly attracting the attention of the giant beast that was on the verge of awakening.

The crimson beast eyes slowly opened, instantly locking onto the frail prey standing before it. The giant bear stood up and let out a deafening roar, then pounced straight at Sek.

boom--

The moment the gun fired, Sek quickly ducked and performed a nimble ground roll... almost touching the giant bear's body as he dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the swift attack.

But the seemingly heavy bear immediately turned around and swung its paw, its sharp claws barely grazing Saik's shoulder, sending him flying and crashing heavily into the cave wall. Two bloody wounds instantly gushed blood, soaking his arms and hands.

Perhaps because he was currently engaged in an extremely dangerous life-or-death struggle, Cyk did not feel the pain caused by his serious injuries at all. He quickly got up, half-squatted, and pulled the trigger again with a standard shooting posture.

The shot hit the bear's exposed chest as it stood up, but instead of piercing its heart and killing it, it ignited even more ferocious rage.

Ouch——

Another fierce pounce came, and with nowhere to dodge, Seik could only barely raise his weapon to block. His magic gun was instantly knocked away by a palm strike, and the giant bear took the opportunity to stomp him directly under its palm.

Sek felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood... He frantically scrambled with both hands, and in a flash, he found the bayonet that was supposed to be attached to the front of the magic gun at his waist.

Just as the giant bear opened its blood-red maw to bite down on his head, he gripped the bayonet tightly with both hands and stabbed upwards...

With a sharp slash, the sharp bayonet pierced through the beast's jaw and plunged deep into its massive head.

The giant bear stiffened, then pounced down, pinning him firmly beneath its massive body.

Another wave of nauseating dizziness washed over him... Sek opened his eyes, trembling, and found two important figures standing in front of him with smiles on their faces. Minister Egno, with his pointed ears, even led the applause.

clap clap-

"Excellent! A truly outstanding candidate!" Chris praised, a smile playing on his lips. "The rest were either directly killed by monsters in the mental dream world, or they barely survived the test but failed to complete the kill mission..."

"Only you... recruit Cyk, you are the only one who killed the Bloodclaw Bear that you had a connection with in the dream!"

(End of this chapter)