Death... and me

Chapter 3421: Wondering

Rean wanted to go after the woman, but he couldn’t leave yet. Everyone who lost had to take part in the next round. Otherwise, they would die for breaking the rules they chose for themselves.

*Kabrum!*

Suddenly, another bolt of lightning came from the skies, and someone was killed as well. That served as a reminder that breaking the rules was truly out of the question.

"Start!" The elder ignored that event and quickly gave the signal, though.

Well, there wasn’t much to be said this time. Since Rean had the rest of the Rolidolis from the previous round, he obviously had a much purer Light Element than the rest, and the others understood that as well. Not long after, Rean managed to gather all the Rolidolis, giving him the win for the second round.

"Winner, Rick Sanchez. Your reward is 3600 points," the elder said, and the points were deposited into Rean’s Token. Since the woman left after the last round, there were only thirty-six participants remaining, thus 100 points less than before.

Fortunately for the others, Rean and Saria were the only ones who truly seemed to have that monster Light Element Purity. As for the rest, it was hard to tell who would be the best. During the next three rounds, it wouldn’t be easy to tell who would be the winner.

Rean collected the points, although he didn’t care about it too much. He simply left in a hurry, trying to find that woman. He knew that because of the system, he was supposed to have the purest Light Element possible, so how could he have lost it? He had to get to the bottom of it.

’Did you see that?’ Rean spoke to Roan through their connection as he went after the girl.

Roan, who had just got a few more points in his token, narrowed his eyes. Rean shared his memories with him, so he knew what happened. ’Normally, I would say you just suck.’

Rean felt like crying. ’Take this seriously!’

Roan was serious, though. ’However, I saw what you did, and I didn’t see anything wrong with your Light Element manipulation. I also find it hard to believe she was able to beat you in that regard. But then again, the system only makes us have the purest Light and Dark Element possible. It doesn’t make us the only ones in that category.’

Rean nodded. ’I thought about that as well. Maybe she happens to have the purest Light Element possible, just like I do.’

Roan noticed something else. ’There is also the fact that you didn’t take that challenge seriously from the start, and that’s where she got the advantage. When the Rolidolis got closer to her, calling them back to your side while both of you had the same purity of Light Element was a lost cause.’

’Perhaps you are right,’ Rean didn’t deny that. ’Once I noticed I was losing for real, I immediately went all out and gathered as much Light Element as possible. It was meaningless, though. The elder was right. Those Rolidolis don’t care about how much Light Element is around since they can only take a tiny bit of it. In the end, I lost. My only doubt is this: Would I have won if I had gone all out from the start?’

Roan checked Rean’s memories again, pondering about it for a moment. ’Hard to say. After the start, she took a lot of them at once. The Rolidolis that stayed behind seemed a little confused as to where to go, showing that they couldn’t decide if they should go after you or the woman. Had you gone all out from the start, I reckon the Rolidolis would be more or less equally distributed. The final result would have been based on pure luck. What was her name again?’

’Saria Qin... something,’ Rean tried to remember. ’Qin...hana. Yes, Saria Qinhana. Do you know something?’

’No,’ Roan shook his head.

Finally, Rean caught up to the woman, who was looking at one of the stalls. She had enough to select some of the cheapest Sect Passes, although she would have to fulfill the requirement other than just paying the necessary points.

"Hum..." She thought for a moment. In the end, she selected an option that also required a test of Elemental Control. If she succeeded, she would be able to pay for the pass. If she failed, she wouldn’t be able to select that option anymore. Yet, just as she was about to press it...

*Grab!*

Rean grabbed her wrist. "I wouldn’t do that if I were you."

Saria pulled her arm away, showing an expression of disgust. "Who said you could touch me? Hum? Wait, it’s the loser from that gathering of idiots. What do you want?"

Rean’s mouth twitched. Was there a reason to start a conversation in such a bad tone? "Ahem... there is no need for such hostility, right? Let’s be honest here. With how good you are with Light Element, you definitely noticed that I don’t really lose to you when it comes to purity. Had I taken it seriously from the start, it would be hard to tell which one would have come on top. It’s just that I never expected to find anyone with as much Light Element purity as myself."

Saria narrowed her eyes, but the disgust on her face didn’t disappear. "Hmph! Fine, I admit your Light Element impressed me and that we are probably at a very similar level. So what? This is the Divine Snow Mountain Sect, so Light Element users are pretty common. Did you come here just to tell me you lost unjustly or some shit like that?"

"Calm down, little girl. It was completely my mistake for not taking the challenge seriously from the start. I lost fair and square, and I have no right to complain. I’m not a sore loser," Rean quickly appeased her. That interaction also answered another curiosity about the sect. Rean had indeed noticed that there were quite a few Light Element users around, which was not something that happened all the time.

"Still, you should know that someone like you and me is very hard to find. Just what race are you from? Are you all like that?" She had pointy ears, which obviously made Rean think about the elves from Earth’s stories. Of course, he didn’t think they would carry the same name here.

Yet... "I’m an elf. Have you never seen us before? I just hope this isn’t your idea of hitting on women."

Rean was taken aback as he thought to himself. ’I’ve seen other humanoid races with pointy ears back in Lisan, but this is the first one that truly goes by the name of elves... Is it a coincidence?’ He couldn’t help but wonder.