Conquering The Novel

Ares was buried in his phone as Ayla and the team sauntered into the meeting room, with disappointed looks.

The third-place finish was a bitter pill to swallow, especially since they had missed out on a first place by a mere 0.4 seconds.

"I'm sorry we couldn't come in first," Ayla mumbled, her dejected face drooping even lower.

"Don't worry about it, Ayla. You all gave it your best shot," Erina reassured her with a warm smile.

Lucas chimed in, "You did amazing, sis! No one else could have done better than your team from our academy."

The other students nodded in agreement, but Ares remained silent.

"...."

Ares was deep in thought about the team's performance in the final round. 'Of course, they lost in the final round because that round was basically Lia's, or should I say Alia's, territory,' he pondered.

He realized that although the result was different from what he had read in the novel, it was still because of him. In the original story, Lia didn't participate in this match, as she was still not confident in her abilities.

However, meeting with Ares seemed to have boosted her confidence to the level that she took upon herself to lead the team.

"It's not bad, I guess," Ares muttered, acknowledging that her boost in confidence will improve her abilities and be useful to him.

However, Diana misunderstood Ares' words and boasted, "Y-Yeah, it was not bad! Though you guys did a good job. But, If it were me, I would have definitely gotten first place!"

Ares remained silent, choosing not to respond to Diana's boastful comment.

"...."

Ayla rolled her eyes, not impressed by Diana's lack of tact, but Erina's next words snapped everyone back to reality.

"Cheer up everyone! We're still ranked first in the total ranking with a 10-point lead. Let's give it our all in the next match!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

Suddenly, the announcement of the next match's content echoed through the room, and the students perked up in anticipation.

Click—Click—Click.

Ting—

[Ooooh, it's time for Match: 3, folks! And the chosen match is...The Siege Castle!] the announcer declared, causing a buzz of excitement among the Crowd.

"Hmm, I've played that game before, but who knows if the rules will be the same here," Diana mused, tapping her chin.

"What's the game about?" Ayla asked, curious.

"In the game, there are ten players on each team, and it's all about capturing each other's castles," Diana explained.

"Wait, does that mean ten students will get to participate in this match?" Kevin's eyes widened with excitement.

The rest of the team exchanged hopeful glances. With the tough competition among their own team, they thought they wouldn't have a chance to prove themselves in the tournament. But with ten spots available, things were looking up.

"Erina will be leading us in this match, right?" Lucas asked, and they all nodded in agreement. They trusted Erina's leadership skills and knew they could achieve great things under her guidance.

Just then, there was a loud knock at the door, interrupting their discussion.

Knock—Knock—

The sound reverberated through the room, Ayla went to open the door, hoping to receive instructions for the third match. To her relief, she was met with the same bald man from before, holding another envelope. She snatched it from him and closed the door in his face, returning to the group with the envelope in hand.

Ayla handed the envelope to Ares, who opened it and quickly scanned through the contents before passing it on to Erina, who had taken up the responsibility of reading the instructions for the team.

She took a deep breath before beginning, her voice ringing out confidently in the room.

[Greetings fellow students!

Are you ready to unleash your inner warrior and conquer the battlefield? Because we have an epic new match for you called Siege Castle!

In Siege Castle, each of the 8 teams will have their own castle which they must defend while trying to capture other teams' castles. Each team will have 10 members with different roles like fighters, archers, builders, and strategists.

The objective of the match is simple - capture the crowns of other teams' castles and bring them back to your own castle. The more crowns your team has, the higher your score.

To capture a crown, the students must take it from the crown room of another team's castle and bring it back to their own castle.

But beware, because the defenders will be doing everything they can to stop you! And you'll need to protect your own castle from enemy attacks, too.

If you're carrying a crown and you get killed, the crown will drop and someone else can pick it up. So, it's important to work together and protect each other.

The team with the highest score at the end of the game wins! And there will be other ways to earn points, too - like defeating enemy students. But remember, there's a time limit, so you've got to act fast and make every move count. Good luck, and have fun!

Points System:

•Each crown captured by an academy team is worth 10 points.

•Defending your own crown till the end of the game is worth 15 points.

•The team with the most crowns at the end of the game will earn a bonus of 5 points.

•Other points can be earned by completing objectives such as defeating enemy academy's students.

Rules:

•Each team will have its own castle, which they must defend and try to capture other teams' castles.

•The teams will start on opposite sides of the map, with their castles in strategic positions.

•Each team will have 10 members, who will be divided into different roles such as fighters, archers, builders, and strategists.

•The students can choose which role they want to play and work together to come up with a game plan.

•The match will have a time limit, and the team with the highest score at the end of the match will win.]

As Erina finished reading the instructions, the room fell silent. Everyone seemed deep in thought, trying to wrap their heads around the rules of the match. That is, until Ziona spoke up with a grin on her face.

"So, we can just rush in and steal other teams' crowns, right?" she exclaimed.

Erina let out a sigh and replied, "Well, yes, but don't forget that we also need to defend our own castle. We can't just go charging into every enemy castle like a bunch of crazy people."

Ayla chimed in, her voice filled with worry, "This is going to be a tough match, guys. I have a feeling the other academies might team up against us."

The tension in the air was observable as everyone took in Ayla's words. But then Diana spoke up, trying to lift everyone's spirits.

"Hey, let's not forget about the points system! Each crown we capture is worth a whopping 10 points, and every defeated opponent earns us an extra point. If we can manage to destroy just one enemy castle and take out their defenders, that's 20 points right there!" she explained.

Diana's explanation made everyone's heads spin, as they realized the stakes were higher than they thought. Even a bottom-ranking academy could climb to the top with just one successful attack.