"What you said makes a lot of sense. However, it's still conjecturing. I need to ask my parents about this to get the truth from them personally," said Brenda. Although what Vale said was reasonable and believable, she still needed to hear her parents' side of the story. Were they really using the meditation technique to suppress her talent?
Vale nodded, knowing that Brenda couldn't fully trust his words. Even though what he said made perfect sense, he understood that Brenda couldn't accept what her parents had done. Taking away a child's talent and subjecting her to bullying and humiliation for years was cruel, even if it was for a good reason.
"Brenda, have you accumulated enough points?" asked Frida, changing the subject.
Brenda shook her head. "I don't think so. I had a hard time defeating the monsters on this island, and the points I collected were also taken by the students earlier."
Frida snapped her fingers. "Coincidentally, we haven't collected enough points either. If you like, you can come with us to collect points."
"Can I come with you?" asked Brenda.
Frida nodded, then she turned her head and looked at Vale.
"What?" Vale didn't understand the meaning behind her gaze.
Frida continued to look at Vale until he finally caught on. He then sat under a tree and began to connect his vision with the eclotus eyes plant.
The first thing he saw was a picture of an empty forest. He immediately changed his vision to the next eclotus eyes plant whenever he saw a view of an ordinary forest with no signs of fighting or people. After changing his vision 33 times, Vale finally found two teenage boys fighting over a map. Judging from their battle, the map must have been valuable enough for them to fight over.
"That's a map," Vale said as he stared intently at an object carried by one of the teenage boys. Although Vale didn't know what map it was, he believed that it was valuable enough for two students to fight over.
Vale opened his eyes and said to Frida, who was waiting for him, "I found two male students fighting over a map. Should we investigate?"
Frida thought about it for a moment. "A map? Does the academy hide something in this dimensional fraction? Come on, let's go there. Even if the map is worthless, we can still take points from them."
Vale nodded, and Brenda didn't object. The three of them immediately rushed to the venue, although Brenda struggled to keep up with Vale and Frida's pace.
On the other hand, despite Vale's offer to carry the girl, she insisted on walking. Eventually, they arrived at the location where the two teenage boys were, after patiently making their way there.
Currently, Brenda was still stuck at apprentice magus stage one. She had only learned attack-type magic techniques and had no movement-type magic techniques, making her an unbalanced magus. While she could attack with ease, she struggled to defend or escape.
After some patience, they finally arrived at their intended destination.
"I see that they're still fighting," said Vale, who noticed the glowing of a fire in the distance.
"Let's be prepared to attack them both at once," Frida replied as she grabbed her sword.
Brenda hesitated before speaking up. "C-can we don't kill them both?"
Vale turned to her, confused. "Why not? Do you know them?"
"I don't believe they have a grudge against us, so there's no need to kill them," Brenda replied, pressing her lips tightly.
Brenda could tell that Vale and Frida didn't mind killing others, unlike herself, who had never killed anyone.
"I don't mind leaving them alive. What do you think, Frida?" Vale asked.
"In that case, we'll tie them up, take their points and the map, and then leave them," Frida agreed with Brenda's suggestion not to kill the two students.
As they approached, Vale began to cast a spell. He closed his eyes and put his palms together.
"Spirit of the earth, powerful force of nature, a unity that never separates, Gravity Bomb!" Vale opened his palms, revealing a small black ball floating in the center of his hand. He threw the ball between the two fighting students.
The black ball startled the two students, and it soon exuded a powerful suction force, pulling them towards it. They attempted to break free with magic techniques, but Frida and Brenda didn't give them a chance.
While Frida and Brenda attacked them, the two students had no time to complete their magic techniques.
Finally, the two students collided with each other and were drawn towards the black ball. Vale approached them with a rope made of small, long tree roots and tied them up.
"Please don't kill us. Take the points he has; he has many points," said one of the students with short black hair, pointing to the student he had been fighting.
"He lied. He has more points. I saw him just now. You can take his points," the student with a cut on his right cheek retorted.
"Quiet!" Frida's loud tone silenced the two students.
Vale searched for the two students' point balls while also looking for a map.
After a while, Vale found two point balls and continued searching for the map. He eventually found it in the trouser pocket of the black-haired student.
"Wait! That map—" the black-haired student began.
"You don't want to die, do you? So now, this map is ours, and in exchange, I will spare your lives," Vale interrupted, cutting off the black-haired student's remarks.
The black-haired student and his opponent looked frustrated upon hearing Vale's words.
"Then, could you please let me go? You have the points and the map," the student with the scar on his cheek asked.
Vale grinned and replied, "You should tell us first where you guys got this map."
"I don't know about that. Ask this man," said the student with the scar on his cheek.
"I got it from the temple in the west of the island. People were going around the lakes and mountains, so I tried to stay away from the crowd and went there. I accidentally found the temple. I have already told you guys, so quickly let me go!" the scarred student explained.
Vale didn't respond. He turned to Frida and looked into her eyes.
Frida smiled and said, "Good job. Let's go."
Vale nodded slightly.
"Shouldn't we release them first?" Brenda asked, puzzled by Vale and Frida's plan to leave.
"Shut up and follow us, Brenda."
"Uh, alright, Miss Inger," Brenda replied.
Meanwhile, the two students watched as Frida, Vale, and Brenda left. They immediately shouted, "Wait! Let me go first!" "Let go of me! I would rather not be tied up with him!"
Vale and the others ignored the shouts and continued running away.