Chapter 417: 12 Developers

"Good that you're all here now." Madam Mary's voice resounded as her figure flashed before everyone.

Jyorta looked around, feeling nostalgic as he gazed at the military academy from high above. It was a symbolic gesture from the military academy. They had been protected in it all this time. And now, it was time for them to break out of their cocoons and face the whole wide world.

Jyorta gazed at the scene of the military academy blanketed by a layer of clouds. Underneath it was the Graduation Ceremony the military academy had prepared for them this time. He was getting nervous already.

Even though he had been through a lot of fights, it was only in the Labyrinth of Frenzy. He had been alone then and was permitted to use all his abilities. But now, he had a team to take care of. Moreover, he couldn't use the entirety of his Esper powers. He could only keep up with what he ought to have officially been capable of.

He had entered Tier 2 in December 333. But officially, he had entered Tier 2 by the end of August 334. And, that difference in the Nurturing effect is what he had to hide to result in his official value. Just when he was thinking as such, Madam Mary's voice resounded in his ear, "Don't worry about that. Just use your full power."

It was as if she had read his mind. But upon thinking how a Sky Controller was able to achieve it easily by sensing the changes in the body's hormonal levels, posture, gland secretion, heat signatures, etc. Jyorta nodded, showing that he understood. 'At least, I wouldn't have to worry about it. That's one less cause to be concerned about.'

Madam Mary looked at all the students hovering in the air before her, speaking with a slightly happy tone, "There are two things you should make note of in the Graduation Ceremony Battlefield. First are the yellow circles; weapons, armours, and the likes are placed on them. They are protected by a barrier that prevents the Frenzy Beasts from touching them."

"And second," She smiled, "There are green circles that upon reaching would heal all your injuries and recover your aura and energy in your Heart/Brain Crystals to the maximum. Though, you could only access a circle, whether green or yellow once."

"And finally," She chuckled, "There is a certain item placed on black circles. There is only one per circle. And, that is your quest objective. Every team needs to carry the quest item and reach your target, a white circle. There are numbers on the black and white circles. So, if you pick up a quest objective from a black circle, your destination is the white circle with the same number. The quest item would point you in the direction you have to travel, so fret not."

'Yellow for equipment, green for refill and recovery, black for the quest item, and white for the destination. The variables are already higher than the Graduation Ceremony with Rakh Veera.' Jyorta frowned.

"That's all you need to take a note of," Madam Mary nodded as she turned around, causing her voice to resound throughout the military academy. "The October Batch has 35 Amplifiers, 8 Area Controllers, 712 Observers, 122 Line Controllers, and one absentee."

Her voice turned a tad sharp, "In the Graduation Ceremony Battlefield exists 12 Frenzy Beast races. There are 218 Line Controllers, 3000 Observers, 43 Area Controllers, and 290 Amplifiers, and…12 Developers."

"Developers?" Jyorta shouted in shock. The others too were in shock. The legs of a lot even turned week, for it wasn't one or two but 12 Developers. Just the number of Frenzy Beasts alone was a cause for concern, but adding in the Developers was just too much.

Madam Mary didn't seem concerned about it as she continued, "The Graduation Ceremony will start at 6:00 AM now and would end after 24 hours."

She then iterated the quest objective to the audience—consisting of students from all the other 11 Batches. Once it was done, Jyorta and the others noticed a yellow platform appear beneath them.

But unlike the other Graduation Ceremonies, their platform slowly expanded in size until resembling two massive palms. Having seen the same during Rakh Veera's Batch, Jyorta immediately understood the significance. 

Beyond the military academy, people heading to their workplaces stopped, simultaneously gazing at the military academy. The heads of powerful organisations directed their gazes at the pair of yellow palms floating in the sky of Marble City, atop the military academy.

"Another Pillar is born," One of them muttered, smiling.

"Within a year, our 7th Ring managed to produce another pillar!"

"My son is actually among that Batch. I wonder how he's faring now."

'A Pillar!' Madam Mila smiled, gazing at the face of Jyorta as she controlled the pair of palms to descend. 'It's a shame Laila wasn't here. It would have been wonderful to see these two pillars in action at the same time.'

She then recalled how Jyorta fared at the start of the military academy and his exploits by the end of the year. Just thinking about his explosive growth brought a smile to her face. 'In the most dangerous times comes the most valiant hero of them all.'

The pair of palms slowly passed through the sea of clouds that dispersed immediately, allowing the students of the October Batch to finally see the battlefield made for them. A second later, shocked screams resounded before everyone controlled themselves, behaving based on the military discipline ingrained in them.

Still, their foreheads were drenched with sweat as their eyes darted to and fro, trying to find solace in their teammates, only to see their expressions were no different to them. Jyorta muttered, speaking to his teammates, "Don't worry. We'll proceed as we had planned. We'll work it out somehow."

His teammates nodded, having ample confidence in his words. Just the way he had trained them, the abilities he had shown, and the judgement he displayed, Jyorta was already a leader figure in their eyes.

There was a tower structure in the centre, divided into numerous segments. Each segment contained a certain environment in excess to be spilt out. It spanned a radius of 100 metres. Each segment was 20 metres high, numbering 7 in number. The final one, positioned on the ground was only 10 metres high. But, it too had a total height of 20 metres, for half of it was buried into the ground. Therefore, there were eight segments in total.

Bridges spiralled out from each segment, numbering ten per each. They connected with a long path at every level that spiralled around the edges of the ground. The long path consisted of 15 spirals, with each ring separated from the other by 10 metres.

It started from the ground, having more than 30 entrances. It outlined the ground's four walls, going around and around. The width of the path was 30 metres.

There were a lot of hovering nests, placed everywhere on the battlefield, at various altitudes. Living within each nest was a type of Frenzy Beast—forming a cluster.

Finally, there existed twelve platforms at the top, hovering individually. Covering its surface were 15 white circles each. At present, they were unable to see the numbers on them.

Bridges branched out from the final ring of the long path, with each connecting to a platform—that was circular in shape. The platform was covered by a globed cage, and housed within was a Developer from one of the 12 Frenzy Beast races respectively.

The moment they saw the descending students, the Developers growled, expressing their desire to shred them apart. The students felt fear at the fact they had to eventually face them. After all, based on what Madam Mary said, they had to reach the white circle to complete their quest objective.

There were 12 platforms; 15 white circles existed per platform. And, each platform was guarded by a Frenzy Beast Developer. So, irrespective of what they obtained, they had to face a Developer, a genuine Tier 3 being.

"J-Jyorta, can we face against something like that?" Rishana stammered as she looked at Jyorta.

"Of course, we can," Jyorta nodded in all seriousness, "It's not as if we have to face it alone. There would be 14 other teams with us. If we pool our strength and work out a strategy, we can defeat it."

He didn't say something along the lines of 'Leave everything to me.' For, that would just make them rely on him without trying to fight themselves. And besides, this was a team mission, so they had to complete it as a team.

The two yellow palms slowly descended, moving beside the central tower. Jyorta noticed how each segment in it conformed to the conditions necessary for a Frenzy Beast race. And, it contained the exact element required by the Frenzy Beast to show the greatest terrain advantage.

There was a segment filled to the brim with water for the River Whales, there was a segment full of hot sand for the Steel Porcupines, etc. The respective conditions were no different from what he had witnessed in the Labyrinth of Frenzy.

Jyorta gazed below, noticing that he was barefoot. His white clothes were just soft cotton, giving him zero defensive strength. He looked at his team, "Keep a lookout for the green circles. They are our first priority."

"There's one there," Sreshta pointed at the top of a boulder 100 metres away from their position. Normally, 100 metres wasn't much of a distance. Any Warrior would be able to cover this distance easily under 10 seconds.

But in a terrain filled with Frenzy Beasts, 100 metres was a long distance to cover. Boulders of all shapes and sizes littered the ground, preventing them from glancing at the surroundings. For some reason, Madam Mary decided to make their surroundings blurry, preventing them from using the height advantage to scout the terrain.

It only allowed them to get a general gist of things. The two yellow palms turned into a circular platform as they landed on the ground, disappearing immediately. The growls and roars of Frenzy Beasts resounded. But this time, the students lacked the energy to retaliate.

"It's starting," Jyorta took in a deep breath, entering a battle-ready state.