"Bowling?" Ares couldn't help but repeat what he'd just heard in an inquisitive tone because there was surely no way the greatest sect in the world went about bringing aboard new talent in such a way...
"Are you messing with us?" Apparently there was another who thought as such, the mystery cloaked woman. There was a sense of urgency in the way she spoke so Ares assumed the reason she was here was because she needed the power and reputation that came with being a member of the Brotherhood for something pressing. Being told you were going for a friendly spot of bowling while things back home, or wherever her issue stemmed from, were hanging by a thread must have set her off. Still, Ares and her were the only two who didn't quite understand what was happening here. Gram, Mimi, and Marlar had just quietly nodded to themselves in understanding, presumably because they were more familiar with Finnian's 'bowling' what with being citizens of the higher realms and all where cultivators had taken an interest in it and discussions about legitimising the sport were held.
"Hahaha, easy now." Finnian chuckled and waved his hand to try and clam the cloaked woman down. "It's not what you think. It's cultivator bowling!"
"That!..." The woman didn't seem impressed even with the minor clarification, bowling was bowling no matter who was rocking the alley, but Finnian interrupted her and defined the sport in greater detail.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Chill! It's not like the regular sport. I only called it 'bowling' because it's vaguely similar and where I got the idea from. We aren't going to be chucking bowling balls at pins or anything so let me explain the rules first!"
It took a bit of explaining but the woman was finally settling down and willing to listen... Though if she didn't like what she heard there would be ample more complaints coming Finnian's way. She didn't come here all this way only to be denied entry to the sect because she didn't know how to bowl, of all things... Ares, on the other hand, was a tad sad! He wouldn't mind going bowling, not at all... He'd have to take the family to a bowling alley at some point... Ah, but he was getting distracted! Now was the time to be listening to Finian's explanation, not getting sidetracked!
"Ok, so there's five of you left, yeah? And then there's me, I'll be directly involved in the game too, so that makes six of us total.
Perfect!
So here's how things work.
There will be five rounds and each of you will get to be the 'bowler' once. During each round, the bowler will have three attempts to knock over as many 'pins' as possible. Those pins are the rest of us who aren't the bowler! We'll all stand in a line and the bowler has to use their three strongest attacks to score as many points as possible. The first pin in the line knocked over is worth one point. The second is worth two. The third is worth three. The fourth is worth four. I'll always be the last pin and I'm worth ten points. If the first four pins are knocked down, that's worth ten points in total. If you get me as well with the same attack, that's an extra ten points for twenty max score per attempt. The bowler can't use the same attack more than once during his round, so all three attempts have to show something different. The pins, except for me, can stand in any order you all agree upon and use any defensive measures you have at your disposal. I will only use a simple barrier to keep things fair.
That's about it!
There's some strategy here, mainly in trying to figure out who has the best defensive measures against the current bowler. You'll typically want the bowler's best counter at the front to stifle the bowler and prevent them from getting as many points as possible. Also, even if you get knocked over as a pin, you'll be resurrected and brought back so there's no penalty to dying.
Over the course of three attempts, as a bowler, the maximum possible score for a round is sixty, twenty points in each attempt. I'll tell you now, though, the Brotherhood all-time record is fifty. Nobody has ever gotten all twenty points on all three attempts as the bowler. The pins can move around between the bowler's attempts to figure out who the best counter to the bowler is, and what kind of suitable magic they have to stop them in their tracks, so it's not as easy being the bowler as you might think. Sure you have unlimited time to charge up your attack, and the defenders can only start moving once the attack is in flight, but there's multiple defenders you have to get through and even if they can't individually stop your magic they ought to be able to as a team!
This is a test of not only your offensive capabilities but also your defensive capabilities! There have been a bunch of different strategies over the years. Some people, when they were pins, even used support magic on the person behind them instead of summoning a defensive art to save themselves. If you aren't confident you can stop an attack, maybe entrusting the challenge to the next defender in line, who has a better method up their sleeve, is an idea worth considering! I don't know what the optimal way to win is but it's up to you guys to figure out how you want to go about it!
Anyway, regarding scoring... There is no set number I want you to score in order to join the Brotherhood. It's not going to work like that. If I think you show promise them, after the test, I'll let you join. If not, I wont. The points don't really matter... Or so I say, but there is an exception to this. If you score thirtypoints, I'll welcome you into the Brotherhood right there and then, no questions asked. Every one of you here is strong so if it's possible to somehow score thirty, AKA knocking down all other competitors except for me with every one of your three attempts, then I think that sort of performance speaks for itself. I usually don't do this but you're all immensely powerful cultivators, and this year is looking like a good harvest, so a score of thirty is honestly incredible in this given situation and I'll be seriously impressed if you can manage it. Of course if you knock me down then that's twenty points in the bag and you have a bit more leeway for how to get thirty combined with the other two attempts, so still aim for that. In fact, as an incentive...
If anyone scores forty points...
Which means knocking down every pin other than me on every attempt, and me too on one of those attempts, then I'll give you that reward I mentioned in passing earlier. I'm not expecting any of you to reach that daunting score, not against the competition we have here today, but it's something to aim for regardless! If you believe hard enough in yourselves you might find a way to make that impossibility come true!
Anyway, I'll give you about... Ten minutes to relax. Most of you didn't really do much during the last trial... Are you ok with that Ares? You basically did everything so if you need a bit of extra rest I don't think anyone will mind waiting?"
Ares was surprised he was being shown any consideration whatsoever but it's not like he didn't understand where Finnian was coming from. This was fair treatment given the circumstances but, more importantly, now that he knew who Ares was, Finnian probably wanted Ares to be in peak condition for the next trial so he could get a high score and join the sect without any hiccups. "Good to go, don't mind me." Ares had the Extinction Converter chugging away in the background and restoring his mana so he could easily manage another three attacks and some defensive arts here and there with what he had left. The only real mana guzzlers he used previously were Auriferous Subjugation and Esoteric compression, the latter of which was only costly because of the range he had to cover with it. Regardless, Ares didn't need any extra time to sit around and recover so he gratefully dismissed Finnian's concerns. Ten minutes of strategizing and contemplating the intricacies of the rules of the next trial would be more than sufficient.
Meanwhile, however, the other top five, and those spectating, where starting to catch on to who this golden freak was. The magic earlier was a dead giveaway for most but if anyone still hadn't figured it out by now then Finnian outright saying his decently well known name had clued in a lot of people who still weren't convinced or certain. There was lot of hubbub now and the journalists originally here for Gram, in particular, had become ravenous as they did everything humanly possible to inch even a single centimetre closer to the victor's hill and get a shot of Ares. There were already cameras set up everywhere to record this event for the Brotherhood but that was their footage and the journalists wanted their own to get an exclusive scoop. They didn't know why Ares was outside the barrier, or how such a thing came to be given its collapse was estimated to be a long way away still, but this was the kind of career boosting opportunity a media worker would die for. Big networks and moguls would pay hefty sums for Ares' first public appearance outside the pagoda and Ares' golden rapturing they were capturing was going to be talk of the town. Having their name on the footage would cement their future and earn them plenty of business opportunities going forward so some were even getting desperate and climbing over fences to escape the spectator area. Unfortunately for them, however, preventative measures were in place to teleport non-participants back to the spectator stands every single time they attempted to depart from them without permission. Of course if anyone wanted to leave the courtyard there was a teleport function to get them out, at which point they wouldn't be allowed back in, but running around in the courtyard while the tryouts were still underway? Not happening! Or, rather, it had happened before and that was why security was so strict nowadays. Challengers who failed and wanted to cause trouble, media outlets getting in awkward places and convoluting, if not straight up interfering with, the remaining trials, cultists and rival sects looking to infiltrate and slaughter Brotherhood hopefuls... The tryouts had been running for many years by this point and all of the above, and more, had been seen plenty of times so it was only natural they had come up with countermeasures.
Ares paid those jackals thirsting for his image, and words if they could somehow finagle an interview, no mind and sat on the lush grass as he contemplated the inner workings of the upcoming trial. It was pretty simple. If you were the bowler, you just threw your top three strongest attacks in a row and there was nothing much to think about. You had no control over what the defenders were doing so your only goal was to put on a stellar performance and go all out, unleashing all the pent up magic within your bones and overpowering the pins. Of course you could analyse the defensive measures they deployed in the first few attempts to then devise a plan that exploited openings. If the types of magic they could summon was limited then navigating that with a wide arsenal, and choosing magic or means that couldn't be stopped, even if it was somewhat weaker than other options, would allow the bowler to take the opposition by surprise. Catching the defenders off guard was definitely an option, stabbing a knight in the back was easier than running them through the front with a sword thanks to their shields and armour was essentially the theory, but it required flubbing the early rounds to get a feel for their respective talents. Ares was never that kind of person. He just barrelled through pesky obstacles and walls with unbelievable, raw and unfiltered, superior firepower. Sacrificing early rounds to get an advantage later? Pft, nope, not happening!
On the flip side, if you were a defender, however, this was where strategizing got tricky. For starters, if you put the stronger defenders at the front, you might be able to shut out the bowler and give them zero points. You'd also be more likely to have a good showing, as a front guard, which would reflect well in Finnian's overall evaluation. However,being at the back meant you were more likely to stop the more powerful arts by the time it got to you as the people in front would wear it down and grind away at it if they weren't capable of overcoming it themselves. You run the risk of no arts making it to you whatsoever, and then you can't show off... But coasting through this trial easily is entirely possible if you sit at the back, in the right spot, and get lucky over and over. Powerful arts that peter out right as they reach you would allow the rear guard to earn considerable brownie points with Finnian. It would require a good understanding of the attacker's power, and the defensive capabilities of those in front of you compared to the bowler, but everyone here today knew basically nothing about one another. It was impossible to tell who the strongest defenders were and the optimal position to be in.
Also also, having the stronger defenders be placed towards the back was also a safer option in terms of making the attacker's life hard as they were less likely to pierce through the strongest part of the wall of 'pins' as easily. If you wanted to win, standing at the front was best as you could prevent the opposition from getting any points whatsoever while boasting your own prowess loud and proud. If you wanted the attacker to lose, standing at the back was preferable because nothing would ever get past you and arts would die down by the time they got there. The attackers points would never be able to rise steadily as the incremental gains were harsh if you couldn't bust through multiple pins consistently. There was a huge difference between scoring 1, 3, 6, or 10 points per attempt, after all, so locking out the six and ten point marks permanently would be devastating. Risk vs reward. If you stood at the front, couldn't react and adapt in time, and did poorly then the weaker defenders behind you would also get blown away and the bowler would rack up points at lightning speed... There was a lot to consider for such a simple game. Readiness also mattered as the defenders weren't allowed to start casting until the person in front of them was dead. There was no time to sit in the back and charge up an art because that was considered cheating. There were some people who would have little to no defensive options, or ones that took far too long to activate, that just weren't helpful here. Specialising in or offense or purely defense wasn't the end of the world for this test but it certainly would complicate matters somewhat. Defensive cultivators could prevent others from earning plenty of points but could earn none themselves while attackers could score high but not stop others from doing so!
This was why Finnian described this as a team game in which you competed against one another. At some point, everyone would be a pin alongside each other but cocky and incorrect deployment in different spots could screw everyone for self gain that was never even achieved. This was a game in which it wasn't easy to shine without occasionally unintentionally enabling others to shine as well. Even for Ares he was undeniably more talented when it came to blowing other people up. He had way less tools to prevent others from blowing him up. Not Even Light, pressure deflects, offensive magic to blast away incoming projectiles, and the Primordial Blade to parry and block with if he got desperate. Maybe also the Deep Blue if Ares felt devilish really wanted to piss somebody off as the Pelagic Prison was effectively invulnerable to all forms of attack. Ares could flat out deny a single attack of any kind if he wanted to but he also gained nothing from doing, depending on his position as such so he'd have to make a decision on the fly. Using Pelagic Prison at the front of the line of pins to stop someone from getting one point was a waste if he could use it near the back instead to stop someone from getting four, for example.
When it came to attacking, though?... Well, put it this way, Ares first of three attempts as a bowler was gong to be his Perish Armillary. Generally speaking it was for the best to use progressively stronger and stronger attacks each attempt to make sure the defenders couldn't get comfortable or come up with a reliable strategy. Ares's thoughts on the matter were no different and this was the plan he was going to follow because it seemed entirely correct. Armillary was his strongest reasonable-to-use art but there were... Other methods he could take, under certain conditions, at which point his lethality would skyrocket. Ares' second attempt, after Armillary, would be something entirely new, a combination of other methods that led to an unpredictable result, but was something that should theoretically pierce the very heavens if done right. His third attempt was technically going to be something he'd already done before but would show an explosive difference this time around due to various thoughts that had been running through his head for the last couple of days. Ares had been prioritising an art that he, ironically, couldn't even personally use yet but it would maybe see the light of day here if things aligned perfectly and worked as intended. After all, it wouldn't even really be him using the art nor was it one he came up with the base of, he just used his talent as an art creator, and adapter, to finish what someone else started. His proficiency with technicals, and creating his own destruction arts, was a gateway to working on this new magic that was highly specialised but not for a field he'd ever dabbled in before.
Anyway, point being, Ares had plans but right now his main concern was being a pin and getting bowled over like a scrub. Teh opposition was strong, and would have their own highly powerful arts up their sleeves, so Ares was inevitably going to bite the dust a few times. This was a harsh reminder that Ares needed to stock up on defensive measures in the future because this was going to be pretty shameful. Granted defensive operations and tools weren't his speciality, and he usually either relied on dodging or parrying, both of which he was extremely solid at, but in situations like this where he didn't have a choice... He was letting himself down a bit here and, by extension, the members of the team too. Alas, there was nothing to be done about it right now. Unless he invented an art on the fly, like he occasionally did, there was nothing else for it other than to give his best. It's not like the measures he did have were terrible or anything so he wouldn't fall completely flat on his face here. He was just going to have to survive as best he could and wait to bowl to really shed a spotlight on his talents properly, is all. Maybe even that elusive reward, at forty score, was within reach if nothing went awry with his plan of action! Ares organised his thoughts and soon the ten minute relaxation period was up. Finnian returned and took everyone back down to the fenced area which had become a veritable ruins of the courtyard that once existed here. Ares had really overdone it in the last few tests but, to be fair, that was nothing compared to what he had in store still. The other top five would also be deploying high end destructive arts here so it was probably expected that this place would end up like this from the get go and so Finnian was wholly unperturbed by this sight. It was also only a Training Field simulation, after all. Finnian took up his spot on a white line in the floor he'd painted earlier while everyone was resting and nodded his head towards the other four lines in front of him.
"The first bowler will be... How about you, Gram? You seem rather eager to get things kicked off, yeah?" Finnian spotted Gram's impatience and knew he wanted to blow Ares to smithereens so took the opportunity to get the anger out of his system nice and early. He'd probably try and disrupt the pins' gameplan if he was on the same defensive team as Ares from the get go, bottling up his frustrations. "As for the rest of you, you have a minute to decide who goes where on the rest of the defensive lines." Finnian made no other comment as it was none of his business what the pins did. Ares was ready to discuss the matter but he turned around and realised everyone else had already taken up their spots, leaving only the frontmost position available for him to take! Sneaky bastards! These wretches had come up with their own plan by themselves and left him out of it! Their goal was probably to have Ares take the brunt of the first unknown attack, fall flat on his face, and give the others room to show their talents. By that same logic, if Gram was in on the plan, he might even use his strongest attack right off rip to put Ares in his place... What a mess! Ares was already being targeted and the trial had just begun... But still, if they thought he'd obediently just keel over and die for the sake of their own performance, they had another thing coming!