Chapter 134: Life and Death

Chapter 134

Life and Death

"But even if it’s just a low-level beast that can’t evolve, doesn’t it still have many uses? Selling it to people from another kingdom like that, won’t it cause any problems?"

"How could there be any problems, my lady? Rare light elemental beasts require a lot of upkeep from now on, whether it’s food or other expenses. Keeping it in the shop will only cost us more. If those people don’t take good enough care of it and the beast becomes dissatisfied, it could betray them." The attendant shook his head. He didn’t agree with Ellie. After all, it was just a level 0 beast, capable of increasing speed for only 15 seconds, which wasn’t a big deal.

However, Ellie thought differently. When such a precious beast ended up in the hands of Nara, the beloved heroine, she didn’t believe the beast would betray her. Perhaps...with this beast, Nara might restore her status and become the heroine of the story once again.

Additionally, she was very curious as to why Professor Lily invested so heavily in Nara. Even if she had high expectations for the future, wasn’t this investment a bit too excessive? It seemed there was truly a secret behind this professor.

Ellie decided to investigate further by sending her own spores to keep an eye on the situation, hoping that one day she would uncover the truth about why Professor Lily was so dedicated to a girl she wasn’t familiar or close with.

"So, which products do you prefer, my lady? Are the ones I’ve selected to your liking?" The stout man rubbed his hands together. The items he had prepared were high-end goods, and if sold, they would bring in a hefty profit in gold coins. However, if this customer wasn’t satisfied, he could still find other items to offer.

"Mmm, I’ll take what you suggested. I’ll buy them first and then consult my brother." Ellie referred to someone else and tossed the gold coins to the man. Since she didn’t know much about beasts, showing her ignorance might reveal her true status. Since she was already perceived to have a brother, mentioning a fictitious one to the merchant wasn’t a big deal.

All the products were priced for customers within the Gaia Kingdom. 300 gold coins for numerous potions and equipment for beasts wasn’t too high a price. If it were someone from another kingdom, they might have to pay over a thousand gold coins.

As for the details of the various potions and equipment, she would either need to study them further or let the little Nocturnal Rabbit decide. For her, the rabbit seemed to have its own thoughts, and she didn’t raise it for practical use. So, however it developed, she would let it be.

After getting the items for the little Nocturnal Rabbit, she spent some more time looking around. She spent less than 10 gold coins since there wasn’t anything that interested a botanical magic user like her. When it was time for the first round of the competition, Ellie returned to watch it. At the very least, she wanted to know who would win this contest.

This competition was nothing like in the novel. There was no protagonist like Nara advancing to the next round, no gathering of the heroes. Only Koross and Aman remained as representatives of the Ares Institute. The other groups, including the heroine’s, had been eliminated from the first day on the field. It seemed all the institutes had collaborated to eliminate the top contenders first. It wasn’t surprising that both groups from the Ares Kingdom had been dealt with from the start.

Only Aman and Koross’s group remained as the current hopes. However, their situation was far from good. As mentioned earlier, the other institutes no longer wanted to give them any standing. Ares Institute already won other competitions, if they still won this event, the number 1 institute would have secured more than 50% of the total competitions, breaking previous records and further solidifying how much weaker the other institutes were compared to Ares Institute.

This year’s high scores were partly due to the potion-concocting competitions, where Ellie alone almost won every event. There was only one competition she didn’t place in, yet she still won 2 more awards. In the other competitions, the number 1 institute participated and won as usual.

Because of this, all the other institutes had to band together, preventing Ares from winning any more top spots.

When the contestants from the 3 kingdoms met, they agreed not to fight each other initially but to join forces to hunt down Aman and Koross. Although it seemed somewhat like cheating, it wasn’t against the rules!

"Those other institutes are cheating! Doing this is cowardly."

"Exactly. We from Ares Institute never use such tactics, and now we’re surrounded. What do they think this competition is?"

"Are they so afraid of the top institute that they have to resort to dirty tricks? It’s obvious that the 6th, 8th, and 3d-ranked institutes met but refused to fight each other. Why are they teaming up like this? Is this even allowed?!!"

"Disqualify all three groups! This is completely unfair!"

"Sigh, are they so afraid of losing that they have to take such measures? But I have to admit, it is a smart tactic. It’s clear that the representatives from the number 1 institute are genuinely skilled. Both of them are from the Setter family, after all."

"Weaklings!! Get lost!! If you’re so scared of others, why even enter the competition? Boo, boo, boo!"

The voices supporting the Ares Kingdom grew louder, expressing their strong displeasure at the tactics of the other kingdoms. It wasn’t just these 3 groups that had teamed up; other groups also avoided fighting each other to gather points. Instead, they pretended to go separate ways to hunt beasts. However, everyone knew it was suspicious.

Eliminating other group members would earn them more points, so why were they ignoring that? This was a competition for the 1st place, not a cooperative event!

Supporters were just supporters, though. People from other institutes outnumbered them. So what if they saw dirty play!? It’s just another strategy. If the top institute could cheat by pairing two people from the Setter family, why couldn’t they team up with other kingdoms?

Who didn’t know how powerful the Setter family was? The Setter family’s resources alone surpassed those of an entire kingdom. And the two representatives from the Setter family were without weaknesses.

"Are you saying cooperation is wrong? What’s against the rules about it!?"

"You’re just whining because you’re afraid of losing."

"Exactly. If you call yourself the number 1 institute, why don’t you find other groups to team up with? You can’t because no one wants to ally with you."

"Haha. So what if you’re the number 1 institute? Why don’t you see our strength!?"

"The number 1 institute didn’t cheat at all by sending 2 members of the Setter family as representatives. Even a blind person can see that’s blatant cheating!"

"Afraid? Maybe you’re the one who’s scared of losing! If you’re so skilled, there’s nothing to fear!"

Both sides continued to argue, each supporting their own institute, turning the spectator area into a chaotic shouting match. Luckily, the noise didn’t reach the arena, or the participants would be shocked by what was happening.

Meanwhile, in the arena, Koross and Aman’s situation was still good. Despite the other institutes teaming up, they hadn’t been found yet. Koross and Aman excelled at hiding and their detection skills were outstanding, likely honed through real combat experience. On the 6th floor, they even managed to hide from level 3 monsters, so hiding from a few students was no big deal.

Above all, it seemed both Koross and Aman realized they were the targets of the other institutes. While hiding, they happened to overhear members from 2 institutes talking without any intention of fighting. Despite the points being right in front of them, they didn’t snatch it. If this wasn’t an unusual situation, what else could it be?

Aman signaled Koross with a hand gesture. As the spectators argued fiercely, the two top institute contestants quietly began following the members of the two institutes.

Ellie understood their hand signals after her first battle alongside the Setter family. She recalled that in the first round, Aman and Koross only focused on dealing with beasts and ignored other contestants for points. However, the current situation forced them to play dirty.

Now that they were the targets, focusing solely on hunting beasts would expose their backs to enemy attacks. Aman and Koross needed to deal with the surrounding people first to focus on the hunt.

Aman combined his fire elemental abilities with wind element, creating a raging firestorm that drew everyone’s attention. While the 2 groups were still searching for the Ares Kingdom’s contestants, a blaze erupted behind them.

"Hey! Behind us!" one contestant shouted in surprise. Before they could move, the intense flames were already upon them. Fortunately, they weren’t weak; they were the elite of their institutes. They managed to narrowly evade the firestorm, but the intense heat scorched parts of their skin, causing pain.

"They’re there! Take them down first!" one of them shouted. But before he could react, powerful wind bullet emerged from the dissipating firestorm, aiming at his head.

Bang!!

The protective shield shattered. All 4 members were instantly pulled from the arena, some not even realizing what had happened. This was the result of a fatal attack. If not for the magical equipment provided by their institute, one of them might have died.

When one member of the group was defeated, it meant the entire group had to be disqualified.

"Damn it! Didn’t those guys go too far?" One man grumbled in frustration. Who would have thought that while they were searching for their enemies, those guys had already surrounded them and taken advantage of a moment of carelessness to attack their group?

"Are you okay, David?" However, amidst their frustration, one member noticed the strange expression on the face of the man who had been attacked, causing his magical equipment to shatter.

His voice drew everyone’s attention, and they saw that the face of the attacked man was deathly pale. He was trembling uncontrollably, displaying the symptoms of someone who had just narrowly escaped death.

In his eyes, the image of the wind bullet spinning fiercely through the air was still vivid. Its target was his eye, and therefore, its power being able to pierce his skull left him shaking with fear.

"Hey! What’s wrong, David?" As time passed, the large man couldn’t contain his fear any longer, and soon...he fainted.

"Students, step aside!" A professor quickly came to check on him. He was the medic responsible for treating students who were sent out. Many had minor injuries, but some were severely hurt. However, the condition of the young man in front of him was particularly alarming.

He wasn’t physically injured severely, but it seemed his mind had been cruelly assaulted!

No one knew if the two members of the Setter family intended this or if it was just a coincidence. Allowing a student to narrowly escape a fierce attack brought relief, but following it with a lethal strike, which this rapid emotional shift could cause an immense psychological burden on him. Initially believing he had survived, only to realize it was a deception, for instance. After this, who knew what mental state he would be in? He might even develop a fear of fighting.

If it was severe enough, it could be considered an attack that destroyed someone’s future!

While the professor was still dealing with the student suffering from psychological trauma and hadn’t yet administered a calming potion, another student was suddenly transported out. However, unlike David, this group wasn’t merely fainting from fear.

"N-No! I’m scared! Don’t! Don’t kill us!"

"Aaaah!! Don’t come near me. Aaaah."

"Hot. Hot. It’s so hot, I’m burning up!!"

The cries of the 3 students from that group echoed throughout the room. The professor was shocked and rushed to check on them, but the 3 seemed to have lost their minds and wouldn’t even let the professor get close.

"What happened!? Who did you face in battle?!!" The medic professor was immediately frustrated. It seemed some students were acting cruelly and playing with the minds of others!!

Although it wasn’t against the rules, students with such cruel hearts needed to be properly taught. Otherwise, they would grow up to be a menace to society.

Of course, that was the thought of the professor who was confined to the medical room and hadn’t seen the situation outside. If she had known why the two young men had to deal with the other students so harshly, she might have blamed those students themselves for playing dirty first. If they hadn’t turned the competition into something unfair, would the Demon of the Setter family have had to teach them such a lesson?