Half an hour had passed since Colin separated from the girls, and that counter in the sky wouldn't stop ticking down. Colin and Kurth were hidden in a dilapidated building, observing the clash between two groups. The stronger group had obliterated three members of the rival squad using fire magic, leaving only one survivor.
The last survivor had a broken arm, his head was bleeding, and his entire body throbbed with pain.
Approaching, the group leader pointed his index finger at the forehead of the man on the ground, and a magic circle took shape at his fingertip.
Boom!
He fired, driving the man's head into the dirt. The body glowed intensely and vanished.
[100].
"Finally, we hit one hundred!" said the leader, shoving his hands into his pockets. "There are only low-level people this year. We haven't found any strong group here, and we've already eliminated eight of them."
Eight? thought Colin.
"Yeah..." Another member kicked a rock. "What do you think about that Dark Elf's group? I heard they killed a Bakurak."
"What a joke. The Dark Elf gave off extremely low mana. The only interesting member of that group was that green-haired hottie; she, at least, seemed interesting."
One of the members looked up, spotting the counter.
[99].
"Hey, Benuyuir, can you track her mana?"
"Of course I can, boss. Mana like that is easy to find; just give me a minute."
Benuyuir concentrated, forming a hand seal, and pointed to the Southeast. "She's in that direction. I sensed another, weaker mana signature with her; judging by the shape, it seems to be another girl."
A tracker?
"That idiot group split up?" mocked the leader. "What a bunch of imbeciles. Let's get moving."
Colin, hidden in a dilapidated house, looked at Kurth beside him.
"Let's get them!" he whispered.
Kurth nodded and pushed off the wall, extending his arm as a magic circle formed in his palm.
Vacuum users held one of the greatest destructive powers of all 12 trees. Even for a level 2 mage, Kurth was someone who couldn't be underestimated. A vacuum sphere formed in his hand. The sphere had no defined shape, but one could deduce its nature by the distortion it caused in the air.
[Chaos Sphere].
Boom!
The vacuum blast resonated through the residence with a deafening boom. Wherever the sphere struck, the destruction was ruthless. The ground trembled as the sphere touched the earth, swallowing soil and anything in its path, carving a trail of devastation toward the target group.
Upon reaching the group, a deafening explosion erupted, launching debris and fragments in all directions. The sound was chaotic, echoing like thunder that drowned out all other noise. The scene was one of absolute chaos, with debris flying through the air and the power of the vacuum sphere consuming everything in its path until it faded.
A rain of stones and dust began to fall around them.
"Guys! Where are you?" bellowed the desperate leader, shoving rocks off his body. He looked around and saw everything in shambles. His arm was broken, and his foot looked twisted multiple times over.
He felt a searing pain throughout his body. Amidst the dust, he saw two silhouettes approaching slowly.
He tried to stand, but couldn't. He was too weak for that. Colin stopped before him and crouched down, grabbing the collar of his opponent, who was dazed by the surprise attack.
"You eliminated eight groups?" said Colin, flashing a smile. "What a joke!"
He let go, and the leader vanished, causing the counter to drop by one.
"We did it!" cheered Kurth. His arms were swollen.
Colin glanced at him sideways. It was hard to believe a boy like him could cause such destruction. Suddenly, the leaves rustled in the nearby forest, and three groups showed themselves.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Incredible as it seemed, they were working together. It was better that way, since the more groups they eliminated, the closer they would be to passing.
One of the group leaders stepped forward, revealing his dead-fish eyes and bloodied clothes. "You should have stayed hidden, Elf. We were about to deal with this group of show-off incompetents anyway, but he's right about one thing: you shouldn't have split up. That was a stupid decision."
Colin smiled gently. "I wasn't hiding," he said, pointing his index finger at the leader. "I was after you."
The leader fell silent, and Colin continued. "You aren't as good at hiding your presence as you think you are."
A gigantic celestial circle appeared on the ground, with Colin at the center. Electric chains shot from the circle at impressive speed; all three groups were chained in the blink of an eye.
The chains glowed intensely, and a discharge struck everyone bound by them. Hundreds of volts surged through their bodies, but it wasn't enough to make them disappear.
Kurth made a finger-gun gesture.
[Void Shot].
Vacuum spheres flew from Kurth's index finger, heading toward the skulls of all the chained targets like a machine gun.
That was enough to make them vanish. However, the moment it was about to hit the boy with dead-fish eyes, he disappeared.
It was as if he had teleported. Kurth and Colin immediately stood back-to-back, covering their blind spots. They were scanning their surroundings, watching for any movement.
Colin glanced quickly to both sides and, with fantastic reflexes, dodged a blade aimed straight at his neck.
Swish!
The dead-eyed boy reappeared out of thin air, grinning widely. Pivoting on his heel, the boy managed to kick Colin away.
Snap!
Kurth turned, pointing his finger at his opponent, but sensed something coming from the forest at high speed; his instincts told him to duck.
Swish!
Something grazed the back of his neck, severing just a few strands of hair. Kurth recovered immediately and leaped back, moving closer to Colin.
Watching the large screen focused on Colin's fight, Stedd raised an eyebrow. "What the hell is that?" asked one of the spectators near Stedd. "That guy is from the Silence Tree, right? So why does he have a Pandorian?"
"Simple!" The man looked at Stedd, listening intently to the explanation. "It is possible to have a Pandorian without belonging to the Summer Triad, but it's a dangerous process. This guy with the dead-fish eyes seems interesting."
"Could you beat him, Stedd?" asked the Orc, holding a bag of popcorn that almost disappeared in his massive hand.
"Don't be ridiculous, big guy. I could beat those two with my hands tied."
Colin was visibly impressed. There was some kind of creature with that guy. It looked like a child with greenish hair, but there were two scythes protruded from his forearms, and the boy's teeth were serrated. His legs were slightly bowed, and he held a stance similar to a praying mantis.
Approaching his Pandorian, the boy with the dead-fish eyes slicked his hair back and flashed a smile that was ghastly and, at the same time, funny.
"I have to thank you; the guys with me were a bunch of useless idiots. Normally, I'd ask you to join me, but something tells me you'd refuse. May I know your names?"
"Colin."
"Kurth."
Reaching into his suit jacket, that guy pulled out a dagger that was pitch black. Seconds later, the dagger turned invisible. "My name is Barone, and this is my Pandorian, Tetrius. We are assassins from the Kingdom of Ryor, a principality southeast of Brambéria."
Learning to manipulate mana was what made Colin more capable, and he thanked Brighid for that. Barone was the type of opponent Colin was looking for—an opponent who would make his excitement for combat reach its peak.
"Don't disappoint me, Barone!"
"Hehe! You got it, Elf!"