'So not only does it give a boost to the natural resistances, but it also gives energy to the host.'
'Hmm, she can use magic, so is her mind still intact or is it also being used by the parasite. Because if the parasite is in control, how the fuck does it know magic?'
'Perhaps the parasite isn't fully in control of the host, but can manipulate their feelings. We've seen wolves take greater risks for no reason other than rage. The parasite wants to spread, but the question remains of how that's possible.'
Lucas moved in on Lou with his presence hidden, right when he was about a few steps removed from her did she turn around. Lucas wasted no time in pulling out his sword and striking first. There wasn't any fight, just an execution.
Lou shouldn't have any energy left, yet she was capable of producing some lights and her willpower must've been actively searching for anything that was alive. Otherwise, she wouldn't have noticed his presence.
'Great, now you killed her, I wanted to know what would happen if two infected people got together.'
'We still have plenty of time to check that out later, first....do you smell that?'
'Hmm, smells like the honey Elam puts in his tea.'
Lucas followed the scent until he found the source, the horn Lou removed earlier. Picking it up, the inside of the horn was filled with a yellowy substance protected by a see-through membrane. The smell from the substance was incredible, Lucas was interested in how it tasted, but quickly dispelled that thought.
'So animals drink this and get infected? Where do the roots come from though? And the horns?'
'I don't know, still, let's take that with us. No reason to waste such a great tool.'
Lucas placed the horn on the ring he got from Novi, but nothing happened. He tried to activate the ring by pouring in some willpower, but it took him some time before he figured out how to use it.
'Can a living being enter the ring as well?'
'Hmm, if the space the items are being sent to is breathable, sure, but otherwise I don't think that's a good idea.'
Lucas moved on towards his next objective. He gained some tokens and loot from unlucky students, but those were just extra's. He was a bit worried that finding the pools would be hard, but he had faith in one simple thing, greed.
Lucas didn't bother to take it easy, he started to sprint towards the pool of Light, not wasting any time activating his muscle enhancements. There were plenty of things he could kill and leech energy from, so there was no reason to be stingy.
Rushing through the woods he killed a few wolves and drained their energy, normal wolves were useless, the infected not only gave him some power, but another horn he could use. Now, he just needed to get to his destination on time.
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Simon was quite unlucky, he was teleported to a random location far from his own reliable group of supporters. The moment he arrived he spread his willpower in every direction, discovering a large part of the island in an instant.
"Great, not only am I far away from my army, but I got dropped on the edge of the island?", Simon could sense the beach and accompanying sea, so he knew right away that there was a lot of walking to do.
"Oh well.", Simon activated one of his signature spells. "Wind Walk.", he stepped on the air and moved forward with the wind. His speed was incredible, but what was more impressive was the fact that he looked like he was flying.
Running above the trees proved a large advantage. Normally he would be more cautious, but now, there really wasn't anything to worry about. Here, he was a king among men, there were only two other people with the same strength, but he had already taken care of them.
"Those dumbasses really signed a contract to not mess with each other. Hahaha, that means we can do whatever we want without worrying in the slightest."
There was nobody on the island who had the power to stop Simon or any Rank 2 for that matter, even if some were capable of reaching Rank 2 on the island, would they have more experience than them?
They already had better advanced spells, and knew how their magic worked. Nobody would be better than them here. There was only one being on the entire island capable of challenging their might.
Simon looked at the volcano and grinned. "A Rank 2 monster is on the island, but so what? What does it matter when it's asleep?", Simon was fully prepared and knew exactly what would happen on the island. He made deals with his teachers and headmaster to gain a bunch of intel.
He spread his willpower once more and found a bunch of people and monsters this time. "Ah perfect!", he flew right on one of the infected wolves killing it in an instant. "My first token. Although, this is just the beginning. First thing's first, I need my army."
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Mino arrived at the island not far from where he wanted to go in the first place, The Earth Pool. There wasn't really any reason for him to go there since he already achieved Rank 2, yet he had his own goals.
He took his time walking towards the pool, there was nothing that could possibly hold him back. There were only two other students that stood a chance, but he wasn't worried. Mino got lost in thoughts, not complicated ones, but just random ones, while he moved forward.
Eventually he arrived at the entrance of the Earth Pool. A massive cave stood in front of him. Mino stood at the entrance and used his magic to close the cave completely. Only a single entrance of about a man's height would be capable of entering. But Mino stood right in front of it.
"And now to let the tokens roll in.", he smiled as he waited for his precious bait.
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A new day dawned on the island. The first day really didn't spell anything strange. Most students got in contact with their friends or group and were confronted with the mutated wolves.
There were sadly enough a few students that had to escape or pass away, not that death was uncommon during the national competition. But to the headmasters waiting outside the island it did feel strange to lose so many students on the first day. Especially since things were only going to be harder from here on out.
Dereck was one of the few people on the island who knew how rough things were going to get. Not because he had intel that others had or was capable of seeing the future. He looked like any other student really, there was just one thing that could categorize him as special, his gut. It wasn't as if he had an innate gift, but his gut was always right.
Even now, he knew exactly where to go purely based on his intuition, arriving at the place where the Light Pool should be. He looked around and didn't find anything straight away, his intuition told him the general direction, but it wasn't a perfect guide.
Spreading his willpower he found a few people gathered nearby. His gut told him it was fine to approach. He expected a group of students that stuck together, but when he arrived the scene was something quite different. Each person kept their distance from each other, yet making sure nobody escaped their line of sight.
The largest of the three-piece group warned them of the approaching Dereck. He pointed a sausagey finger in Dereck's direction, as if indicating a next opponent. The man's rough skin was almost completely covered in black, military-style cloth. His eyes looked down over a high collar at everyone. The fabric seemed to require more than old war wounds
"Excuse me, I'm Dereck, is the Light Pool here?"
He looked around to see his company. There was a man dressed in black clothes that hid his mouth and nose with sharp eyes. His short black hair didn't have any style.
Besides him there was a girl with long blond hair that went to her waist. She looked very cute in Dereck's eyes and his gut told him she was trustworthy. She was the only one that didn't look like she was scheming something, which definitely couldn't be said about the last one.
A young man with yellow hair and irises, something that was pretty rare. He didn't look dangerous, nor strong. The sword at his side felt like it contained magic, but weapon artifacts were pretty common. There wasn't anything special about his appearance.
And still, Dereck knew right away that if there was one person he had to avoid it was that man. He looked innocent and weak, yet Dereck knew otherwise. He had to be a wolf in sheep's clothing.
The corners of the young man's mouth seemed to want to move upward, toward a smile or a gray. A macabre inside pretense that only he would understand.
"Looks like we have another person to join us.", the young man said, his smile and look gave a soothing presence. The girl joined his smile and looked towards Dereck.
Her long blond hair swished back and forth as she energetically followed the speaker. They emitted a sharp, berry-like scent that, like her presence, blended with the surroundings. Even her eyes were young; they were still full of fireworks.
"Hi, I'm Joy! This is Conrad and Joseph, are you here for the Light Pool as well?"
Dereck fell in love with her personality, the way she seemed so cute and innocent made all his distrust towards the mage disappear. He quickly recovered from his happy state and wanted to create a rift between him and the others. He had trouble trusting others since his gut would start to work less.
"Ah, I am, but I assume you're all nobles? I'm just a lowly commoner, so I don't think I'll be capable of handling the power from the pool.", setting himself up as a weak person who was from a lowly background should turn most nobles off.
"Hahaha! Don't worry about that, Joy and I are also commoners, although I don't know if Joseph is one. Since he didn't react negatively I assume he's one of us.", the young man smiled with grace.
"Yeah, don't worry about all that stupid class thingy here, we're all equals in my book!"
Joseph didn't answer, but nodded in agreement. Dereck couldn't help but like Joy. 'There's no way that he's not a noble. To carry three artifacts and claim he's a commoner, how stupid. Or is he sponsored by one?', Dereck got lost trying to figure out whether Conrad was a noble.
His clothing definitely didn't seem noble-like, but the items he carried would cost a fortune.
"I have to say, I didn't expect to meet with other people who have a yellow or partially yellow core. I thought I was special, seems like I was wrong.", Conrad looked like he was surprised to have any competition.
Joseph nodded once more and Joy simply smiled. Dereck didn't like being here, but he also needed to get to the Light Pool.
"What have you guys figured out so far? All I know is that the pool should be close by.", Joy listened attentively and quickly followed him up.
"We know where the pool is!", Joy pointed down at the ground and watched to see Dereck's response.
"Down? Is it underground?", Dereck looked at the ground but couldn't see anything special.
"Well, it's not that we found the pool itself, but the one that's guarding it is underneath our feet.", Conrad explained the current situation and why they were still just standing there.
"I see, so even though we haven't found the entrance, we can find it through its protector.", Dereck now knew why they were just standing at a random spot.
"Yes, we can dig down and find the pool."
"But also find the guardian that protects it. So have you all made a plan or something?"
Conrad gave Dereck a side eye. Joseph didn't bother answering and Joy's smile faded into a fake one. "We...uh.. haven't really found a way to continue. We don't know how strong the guardian is or even how he looks. So we've just been standing here for some time.", Joy didn't want to be seen as a coward, but they were exactly that.
"Being prepared is what's important after all, fighting against a monster we have no information on is a bad idea."
"Waiting. Forever. Is. Not. An. Option.", Joseph spoke for once, his voice heave and slow yet filled with power. Joy nodded and Dereck agreed that he also didn't want to spend any time just waiting fruitlessly. Since Dereck was new to the group he wasn't really planning on taking the lead, and his gut told him that someone was already planning ahead.
"Now that we're with four people, I think that should be plenty to deal with the guardian. The headmaster told us that there's only one Rank 2 monster on this island. Meaning that this guardian is at most a peak Rank 1. The four of us can handle it."
"Yeah! I'm a middle Rank 1, and Joseph also seems to be around that level. Conrad is still on the lower end, but his artifacts will help us out. Dereck, how far are you?"
"I'm a middle Rank 1 like you two. Conrad, are you really a low Rank 1? You don't seem it.", Dereck could use his Magic Vision to perceive his strength. All he could see was an aura that was around the same level as Joy and Joseph. Meaning he had around the same power even though he wasn't that far along the path of Rank 1.
"Yes, I'm sadly on the lower end, but I promise to support you guys during the fight. You won't regret taking me with you.", Conrad smiled once more and Joy replicated it. Dereck on the other hand couldn't let go of the uneasy feeling he had.