After regaining their consciousness, some of the more intelligent people immediately realized that dealing with Mira was a huge pain in the ass and decided not to mess with her. So, instead of competing against Mira on the same playing field, a few of them decided to run down the mountain to steal someone's token without Mira's interference.
Most of the people that made it to the top of the mountain hadn't even considered this, and for a good reason. They just spent the last 20 hours climbing up a mountain. Why would they want to go back down?
However, they soon concluded that dealing with Mira was much more annoying than running down the mountain to ambush an unsuspecting participant. Not only that, but as long as they aren't complete idiots, taking a token from someone who is still running up the mountain should be easy.
So, after seeing a few people running down the mountain, more and more people that Mira beat up began doing the same thing. They didn't have time to waste trying to deal with Mira, nor did they feel like getting beat up again.
To them, trying to take any tokens from Mira was a losing battle. Of course, a few wanted to stay behind and fight Mira, but after seeing all their comrades running down the mountain, they also realized how foolish their actions were.
Of course, Mira didn't care either way. If they wanted to fight, then she'd give them a good beat down, but if they wanted to run down the mountain in search of tokens, then they are free to do that as well.
In fact, Mira preferred it this way. She just hoped that the people who just ran down the mountain don't immediately charge back up without coming up with some sort of plan.
As she was looking forward to what kind of ideas those women will come up with, she noticed Maria, Asami, and the auburn-haired girl walking over.
"You're really evil, you know," Asami commented while staring intently at Mira. She could see what Mira was trying to do, but she just didn't know why.
"Hmph! They're just lucky I didn't kill them for daring to challenge and curse me. If we met anywhere else, their heads would've already flown! Also, I'm just setting the stage for what this Entrance Exam is supposed to be."
Asami and the auburn-haired girl felt chills run down their spines when they heard what Mira said as they were sure she wasn't kidding.
However, out of the two, Asami was the most shocked. She's known Mira for about a week now, and from what she could tell, although Mira was a little rough around the edges, she wasn't a bad person.
She sometimes seemed a little crazy, but who in this world isn't?
But now, it seems like the Mira she's come to know was just the tip of the iceberg!
Well, she couldn't really be blamed for thinking like this, though. When they met, Mira and Maria had just started their relationship, and Mira was no longer consumed with thoughts of growing stronger and murder. Instead, her heart was slowly filling up with the unfamiliar emotion called love.
When Asami first met Mira, it could almost be said that she met her during Maria and Mira's honeymoon phase. So, of course, Mira would be a bit different than how she normally acts.
It's only now did Asami begin to understand that Mira wasn't normally like that.
As for Maria, she didn't particularly care about the first half of what Mira said. Instead, she was curious about something else.
"What do you mean by what this Entrance Exam is supposed to be?"
"Before I answer your question, let me ask you something instead. What do you think the purpose of this Entrance Exam is?" Mira asked back.
Maria pondered for a few seconds before answering, "Well, I think the sealing of our strength is to test our control over our bodies, how well we can pace ourselves, our ability to adapt, and our foundations. They probably want to differentiate those who only know how to rely on their cultivation versus those who have worked hard every step of the way to get to where they are today."
"As for why we are climbing up a mountain, there's probably not a better way to test these things in a short amount of time than a mountain. Lastly, we have Elder Sandra's reward for the tokens. I'm guessing it's probably just a quicker way for tens of thousands of people to compete rather than doing a competition." Maria revealed her thoughts on this test.
Mira nodded her head as she also came to a similar conclusion, except for the last part.
"I think you're half right in the fact that putting us against each other in this kind of battle royale scenario is much faster than doing some lame competition, but I think Elder Sandra just wants to see what kind of real-world experience we have. Have we ever gone hunting before? Do we know the basics of hiding and sensing others' presence? How well do we make use of the terrain? Things of that nature. However, this isn't necessarily a battle royale. It's more like a 'King of the Hill' game."
"King of the hill?" They questioned.
Mira nodded her head and explained, "Yes, just think about it for a second. How many people probably had the idea that when they get to the top, they'll block the entrance to the Outer Court and attack anyone who shows up? Probably most of the participants, if not all. I mean, what's more efficient, trying to find and hunt people on a giant mountain or having the people come to you? None of the people here are idiots and can be considered to be in the top 1% of women in our generation. Who doesn't believe they can sit at the top, gather as many tokens as they can, make it into the Top 10, then enter the Sect?"
The others finally understood what Mira was trying to say. This isn't only a way to see who can hold the 'hill' the longest, but it's also a way for Elder Sandra to see how people deal with these kinds of situations.
For example, if Mira wasn't so strong, she probably would have been ganged up on, beaten up, and had her tokens stolen. However, after she was defeated, then a fight would start to see who would possess all those tokens. In the end, the last one left standing would take everything and could either cash in and enter the Outer Court or keep waiting for more people to collect more tokens.
Well, they could also split the tokens and come to some sort of an agreement, but Mira didn't think such a conclusion was very likely.
Asami, the auburn-haired girl, and Maria all understood what Mira was trying to say. Even though they hadn't thought that far, they wanted to reach the top of the mountain first for the very reason Mira just explained. They, too, wanted to gatekeep the Outer Court and take down anyone who approached all in hopes of gathering more tokens.
"Hehe~ However, where's the fun in something like that? I could just sit here and take on everyone at once, but I already know the result will end with me winning. Since I already know I'm going to win, why not make it more interesting? I just hope those kids who just ran down the mountain don't do something stupid, but I believe they're intelligent enough to understand that fighting me head-on won't work." Mira chuckled, but Asami and the auburn-haired girl looked at her like she was crazy.
"Aren't you a little too arrogant? I get that you're strong even with your strength seal, but taking on everyone in this Entrance Exam with your level of strength isn't possible!" Asami said, but Mira just looked at her like she was looking at an idiot.
Before Mira could say anything, Maria decided to butt in and change the subject, "Heh! Do you really think you can beat me so easily? I've gotten really strong over the past two years! I'm sure I could probably give you a run for your money."
Mira examined Maria for a few seconds before shaking her head, "Not with your strength sealed like that. Maybe if you were at your full strength, you could put up a good fight, especially since I haven't properly adjusted to my new power after breaking through, but not right now. Though, you could probably last several times longer than the other people."
Mira tried praising her lover, but it came out… strange.
"What do you mean I can last several times longer?! Those people can't even last a single hit! Are you saying I can't even last more than a few of your hits?!"
"Y-" Mira was about to say 'yes', but her instincts told her she probably shouldn't say that. So instead, she said, "Well, maybe because of my training, you could still go a few rounds with me, but it'd be hard for you to defeat me because of my tails and with how strong my body is."
Maria smiled but didn't say anything else. She was just happy to know that she could still put up a fight against Mira in her current state. She already knew there was no hope of her winning, but she just wanted to tease Mira a bit.
The four of them continued chatting away until around the 22.5-hour mark, when they noticed a large group of people coming up the mountain.
