As I approach the first item, a small smile forms on my face—it’s a Medal of Honor. This is the third one. I’m ready to head toward the designated location whenever I want.

  I feel something different in my body, as if some kind of mental magic is affecting me, indicating the direction I should follow if I want to reach the gathering point. I don’t feel manipulated or anything like that. It’s simply as if my brain received an invisible compass telling me where to go once this stage ends.

  “Another Medal of Honor?” When I pick it up, nothing changes. Everything feels exactly the same.

  Ninety percent of items can’t drop after a participant’s “death.” They’re bound to them as rewards for their participation. Only some special ones can be lost if you die before completing this stage.

  I don’t know if it was good or bad luck not to find any of those items… for now, this extra Medal of Honor is useless to me. Maybe I can give it to one of my companions if they need it. I store it since it doesn’t take up any space.

  The message from the omnipresent voice telling us to head to the designated location hasn’t arrived yet. Not many participants must have gotten all three. I sit on the ground for a while. My body feels a bit tired. I’ve been walking back and forth all day, and the fight with the harpy was exhausting. It’s better to take a short rest before continuing.

  The new camping tent worked better than expected. I found good terrain to camouflage it and slept a little over four hours like a newborn baby. Now I’m ready for anything. Let’s see what else this second stage of the tournament has to offer.

  I’m not too worried about time. I assume that group of three idiots had average-to-bad luck, which is why they only got two Medals of Honor. They were strong enough to at least have three or four.

  The biggest problem is fatigue, injuries, and excessive mana or Imra use. Most people probably need to take a break midway through their search. There are only a few extreme cases like me. I’m not worried.

  I rise into the sky like before. If it worked once, maybe it’ll work again. This time I don’t see anything impressive or eye-catching at first glance. Everything looks a bit boring. Some explosions here and there, but nothing that makes me think this is what I’m looking for.

  I fly slowly around the area, trying to find something good, moving as slowly as possible so I don’t miss anything interesting. The only annoying thing is those damn birds that attack me occasionally. I keep several small but powerful ice spikes around me at all times.

  These constructs are easy to control and very fast. They look easy to break, but they’re quite sturdy. They can pierce through several grade 3 monsters before becoming unusable, and they’re also easy to rebuild or repair midair.

  I get bored of killing so many birds and decide to lower my altitude. I lose some vision of my surroundings, but now the ground is within range of my Personal World.

  I’ve lost one big advantage and gained another. You can’t gain anything without sacrificing something.

  After wandering for hours, I’ve only found boring and monotonous things. Just as I’m about to give up and head straight toward where my mental compass points—I’m sure a lot of people will be waiting there—something different happens.

  Two people are being chased by a group of three. The difference is that I’d recognize one of them with my eyes closed anywhere, and the other was harder to identify at first, but after a few seconds I realize who it is.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “What do those bastards think they’re doing?” A small flare of anger grows in my chest. My body and mind react faster than expected.

  Brendu’s point of view:

  “Ogine, don’t stop!” I shout to my companion.

  We were lucky to run into each other a few hours after the second stage began. If we had walked in different directions or delayed a few minutes, it wouldn’t have happened.

  We almost attacked each other when we sensed the other’s presence. It’s kind of funny to remember now. Her sound magic is fast and powerful, but surrounded by so much nature, my wood magic is enhanced.

  “Let’s go that way. There are enough trees and open ground.” I follow Ogine’s directions. I fully trust her ability.

  Our pursuers launch all kinds of ranged attacks. We don’t pay them much attention since they’re not particularly dangerous and rather sloppy. They’re close-combat fighters. Their weapons give it away.

  We’re clearly at a disadvantage right now. Ogine and I are support mages. We can fight, but we’re not specialized in that. Fighting monsters isn’t the same as fighting humans, especially ones who have a clear advantage in our weakest area.

  Maybe we could handle it if it were two versus two, but three makes it much harder. None of them are weak. They’re all elites from the best schools in the biggest territories. We can’t be careless.

  Ogine sends several sonic constructs. They’re hard to see and very fast. I’m not falling behind, sending multiple wooden swords coated in poison. My constructs have changed in a certain way because of someone—seeing swords all the time has changed how I shape my mana.

  Our attacks push them back enough. We need to gain some kind of advantage. They’re faster in a straight run and would catch us eventually. I can teleport, and Ogine has a similar ability based on sound, but they consume too much mana. We’ll only use them if absolutely necessary.

  We finally reach the spot Ogine pointed out. This place is perfect for us to fight. She picked one of the best possible locations.

  Under these conditions, we can defend ourselves. I don’t know if we can defeat them, but at least we can force them to retreat. No one wants to get eliminated. If we corner them, they’ll back off, and the same goes for us.

  When we stop to face them, they stop too. They look slightly confused, suspicious of everything.

  They start checking every point around them carefully, taking it slow. That gives us time to prepare some constructs in case they attack unexpectedly.

  Ogine throws more than a dozen sonic bombs at the lancer. He tries to step forward, and she reacts instantly. Her sensory abilities are top tier. Her attacks force them to spread out a bit, and they look more cautious.

  My poisoned wooden swords are also dodged or countered, but we manage to gain a bit more distance. The problem is they’ve started surrounding us, apparently planning to attack from three different sides.

  When they charge at us simultaneously, we can only efficiently stop two of them. The third will have a clear path.

  Before we can attack or they take a third step, something happens. The mana around us feels different.

  We aren’t affected, but our attackers are. All of them slowly fall to their knees.

  “What’s happening? Why aren’t they moving?” Ogine whispers beside me.

  “I don’t know, but we should be careful,” I answer immediately. I’m worried because Ogine’s senses didn’t detect anything around us, and I can’t see anything different either.

  I focus more on the ambient mana. A few seconds pass before I realize what’s happening. I recognize this mana and Imra signature. A small smile forms on my face.

  “What is it?” Ogine looks surprised when she sees me smiling and dismissing my constructs.

  I start searching more intensely around us, then mentally slap my forehead. I didn’t look up. I raise my gaze and find the cause. It’s a bit hard to recognize him because of the dark sky. Ogine looks up too.

  I feel spatial mana stirring near us. I don’t try to stop it and let it flow. In less than a second, a figure appears in front of me. I’m very happy to see him again in the middle of this chaos.

  “I’ve come to save my princess. My senses told me she was in danger. As a proper knight, I must protect her from all evil.” Maki strikes a typical guard pose and gives a speech.

  For a moment, I feel like punching him for the stupidity he just said, but I hold back since he saved us at the perfect moment.

  “You just saved yourself from a good hit because you showed up at the right time.” I wrap my arms around his shoulders and hug him tightly. I really missed that idiot.

  “Ah, hi Ogine.” Maki greets our friend. Ogine just rolls her eyes at such a plain greeting.