Chapter 143 - Death Bridge Run! I

[Ah, yes. Pardon me. Now then, all participants of the first event, please head to your starting positions!]

Urging the astonished Tom, he moved on with the program. The once-bustling audience was now completely silent.

Seeing this Arthur chuckled to himself while thinking that if this little display was enough to shock them to the point of silence, then they probably would not last beyond this.

[The event stage is now ready, so I will now proceed to the explanation of the first event, the Death Bridge Run! As you can see, this is the Death Bridge, running roughly 1500 meters long from one end of the arena to another! The participants will be running through this construct!]

Half of the floating monitors in the air were displaying Tom and Arthur while the remaining others showed a sweeping shot of the bridge from end to end. Here and there are suspicious holes and boxes at irregular intervals.

These were the ideas of the 5th year students who created the bridge as they wished to make it more...challenging.

[Obviously, this bridge would not be dubbed the 'Death Bridge' if it were merely an ordinary bridge!

As you all can see, this bridge has a variety of traps laid out and each participant will have to overcome them using their own wit and strength!]

The floating monitors and screens displayed the bridge with clones of the participants in front of them. The clones attempted to run past the bridge but a variety of traps blocked their way.

This showed that even if one tried to cheat by not using the bridge itself, there were even more dangerous traps waiting for them.

Each student was equipped with a sacrificial artifact that had three charges to ensure their safety.

[Having said that, I am sure it's still difficult for some of our guests here today to understand the rules with this simple explanation. Which is why I would like to show a demonstration!

A round of applause to these three brave volunteers challenging this Death Bridge that is yet to be challenged by the event's participants!!]

「「「Whoaaah!!!」」」

Engulfed in cheers, three first year students lined up at the start of the Death Bridge.

They were all wearing a tracksuit and had similar looking brown bracelets on each hand. These were the sacrificial artifacts they were given.

[Well then, as it seems like our three volunteer challengers are well prepared, let us start immediately!

Death Bridge demonstration match! Ready? Go!]

「「「Uwoooo!!!」」」

Oh Tom's signal, the three simultaneously broke into a run.

Naturally, since they went out of their way to volunteer to demo, they had prizes prepared for them.

For every obstacle they overcome, they get one magical tool/artifact, and in the unlikely chance that they reach the goal, they will receive the chance to win more fantastic prizes.

All these expenses were all covered with the fat budget that the student council received from the directors.

The midair monitors displayed the camera shots that were tracking them from behind. Due to that, it was also possible to be able to see the obstacles impeding their path and now in front of them was a large towering wall.

[Behold the first obstacle! The Wall Climb is now in sight! As you can see, the goal cannot be reached without overcoming this towering wall! Now, everyone! Please climb over it!]

As Arthur exclaimed, this tall wall was the first obstacle. Though it was never officially given a name by the 5thy year students who planned it, it was hyping up the audience so they allowed it.

This vertical tall wall had some bouldering-like protrusions, so as long as one had the stamina, it was actually possible to overcome this even without using a single ounce of energy.

Even so, the three volunteer challengers had energy to spare so they decided to make things easier for themselves.

One of them used wind magic to levitate herself while another one used earth magic to raise his own scaffolding. The last one used ice to increase his footholds but unfortunately, that was a bad move.

While it could be climbed over normally since there were protrusions, it was never actually stated that they did not have traps in them.

Elevating the ground itself below you with earth magic and levitating with wind magic is good since they do not touch anything, but increasing the surface area of the protrusions for a better foothold would still end up activating the trap that makes the protrusion itself fall off.

Losing his foothold near the summit of the wall, a challenger fell down raising a pitiful shriek.

[Ah, looks like we got one down already, a moment of silence for our fallen brother. RIP.]

Arthur placed his hands together and bowed his head slightly for a moment after speaking causing a roar of laughs to erupt from the spectators.

The student was not actually dead as the sacrificial artifact he was wearing saved him from shattering his elbow.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!"

As Arthur was looking at the student that retired at the first obstacle, he heard an ear-splitting shriek from the audience seats.

He looked over to see the student who use wind magic earlier, get caught in the second obstacles trap.

[Annnd! Our challenger was swallowed by the second obstacle, the Needle Fang!

Now that looks painful! However, worry not! The student is completely fine.

Just saying but even if you have an accident that would normally cause you to lose an arm or three, you'll still be safe due to the verified sacrificial artifacts all participants have been equipped with.

Oh, but don't ever let your guard down!! After all, the artifacts only have three charges!

Some traps, might just use all three at once. Look, see!]

Tom' commentary was filled with his rising energy.

A few listeners did want to point out that there are not any people with three arms, but kept quite after remembering that this was the Royal academy and various students of various races were admitted here.

Well, that aside, the trap that is the reason this bridge is called the Death Bridge has now been activated. This time it was activated three minutes after this start which was quite longer than planned but on the event proper, it was set to activate after one minute.

At the starting area, a large jaw appeared out of the floor. This time it is only half the width of the bridge but this too is set to be a lot bigger on the event proper. This jaw chomps in place three or so times before suddenly gnawing on the bridge with insane speed. A speed that is difficult for the challengers to shake off.

[The ruler of the Death Bridge makes its appearance! Our dear Bigmouth! You'll definitely get eaten if it ever catches up to you, so I advise running away quickly as you can!

'If' you can, that is.]

In contrast to Tom's cheerful commentary, the remaining challenger began running away in desperation. Which is completely understandable, there's no way he wouldn't be scared after seeing a giant jaw gnaw a hole and eat through the tall wall and the maw-like needle obstacle that he just passed through.

"hGhGhGhG"

"Hi-hiiiiiiiiii!!!!!"

The giant jaw chomped on the floor while slowly catching up. The challenger frantically dashed onward but naturally, there were still more obstacles right before him and upon failing to create a magic scaffolding on the collapsing floor zone on time, he fell from the bridge.

While most assumed he would fall prey to the traps on the floor, a magic net suddenly appeared and caught him, preventing him from crashing down to the ground.

[With this, the demonstration is now finished! Whooh boy, it is quite loaded with difficult traps, isn't it!]

[Our challengers couldn't pass through the third obstacle, but how far will our actual participants be able to go!? Do not miss it now!]

Hearing Tom and Arthur's commentary, the deathly silent audience once again burst into excitement. This course was originally meant to be for the second years, so it is only natural that the less powerful first year students would have difficulty reaching the goal.

Still, it seems that the audiences were rendered speechless by the deviousness of the course.

At that rate, it would have dampened the mood of the audience and made this event feel desolate and miserable, so there's no question that it was really a good idea to make Tom and Arthur the commentators.

The actual participants lined up while the audience was still cheering, after some quick introductions on the members of each team, it was time for the actual Death Bridge run to begin.

[Now then, it is time for the real deal! Event No. 1, the Death Bridge!! Ready? Go!!]

On Tom's signal, the participants all ran at once.

[Whoah! How quick! Team A's Joe! And team D's Blair! Both started with the ideal starting dash!]

On Tom's signal, the participants of the first event ran all at once.. However, the ones that got a head start were these two; Blair of team D and Joe of team A.