Deep in the Murky Forest, Team 8 was scouring their surroundings, seemingly in search for trails left behind by other teams.
"Hey Declan, where are we going?" Gabriel asked curiously, trudging through the forest. He carelessly stepped on branches and bushes.
Beside him, Cassandra and Nicole stared at Declan curiously. Different from Gabriel, they weren't close to Declan.
They barely knew Declan, but even then, the man had a certain aura around him that instilled confidence in them to trust him.
Leading them from the front, Declan examined the ground before shifting his gaze deeper in the dark misty forest.
It was hard to see in this place, making the trails of other teams much harder to find. He turned around, answering honestly.
"We're going after Team 1."
Gabriel was confused. "Why? And how?"
"Remember the artifact selection?" Declan walked around and continued looking. "Team 1 chose [Eye of Freeze] if we could get that item, the first place of this test is as good as ours."
"Huh? Then why didn't we pick it in the first place?" Nicole asked, utterly confused. Declan turned around and stared at her silently, making her nervous.
"You wouldn't understand..." Declan shook his head. He looked at Cassandra. "Did the drones find anything, Cassandra?"
"Nothing so far," Cassandra replied dryly. "Forgive me for asking, but is it really possible to find them like this?"
"The chances are quite low." Declan admitted honestly. "I'm hinging on the chances that one of the members in that team will use their ability, causing the drones to react to them."
"But if we can't find them, we'll wait for the fifteen minute mark. I'm just a little worried that..." He paused.
Nicole tilted her head. "What?"
"We'll collide with another team." Declan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If Team 1 crosses paths with another team Hiders team, it'll be almost impossible to get the Eye of Freeze."
"Ah, so they might team up..." Nicole pondered for a moment. Then, her eyes brightened. "Then, why don't we team up with a team from the Seekers group?"
"Don't be stupid, it's not that simple." Declan frowned, glaring at Nicole. Seeing her flinch back from fright, his voice softened. "Sorry. Different from the Hiders group, the Seekers group have no incentive to work with each other. There's only one Blue Card per Hiders team, so once the other team obtains one, they'll run away and try to hide."
Without some sort of guarantee that can make two teams absolutely trust each other, it was impossible for the Seekers group to team up.
Even the Hiders group needed to be wary of teaming up with other teams on their side. Since there was a ranking system, some Hider teams could try to betray each other for Blue Cards.
In short, no team could trust anyone with certainty.
'This place is untouched...'
Declan nodded, putting his hand over a tree. The tree was over decades, perhaps centuries old, with barely any scratches.
It seemed that no one passed here.
"That's why it's best to find Team 1 before any other team crosses paths with them. If we could do that, then this test... It's ours for the taking. Trust me and I will never fail you."
At this moment, Cassandra felt a vibration in her pocket. "Declan, the drones found something!"
Declan immediately snapped his attention to the sky, connecting to the drones vision and spotting a commotion from the north.
Disconnecting from the drone vision, he smiled as he looked in a certain direction.
"Let's go. We found them."
***
After Team 7's first battle, the team was forced to reflect on their performance earlier and couldn't help but discuss their mistakes.
Although it wasn't obvious since they outnumbered their opponents this time, their coordination was truly awful.
Crackle!
The four of them sat around a campfire, looking at each other in silence.
"My father taught me that the best way to know each other is by introducing oneself," Natasha broke the silence with a kind smile. "Maybe you already know me and my family, but I grew up being homeschooled so I'm a little clueless about certain things..."
"Please, forgive me and tell me my mistake if that happens." She smiled embarrassingly, rubbing strands of her purple hair. "When I was fourteen, I awakened my ability—[Valkyrie of the Wind] that increases my speed greatly. When I first awakened it, I moved around all day long like a cat, playing pranks on everyone in our household."
That brought a few laughs from the group.
"My sister laughed at it, but my mother was very troubled. I can never get enough of their expressions when I did it... Hahahaha!"
Natasha laughed, remembering those times. She covered her mouth with her hands, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"How about you guys? I understand that all of us may be a bit untrusting with each other, considering we're just temporary teammates. I won't pry on what you're hiding or secrets, I can promise that. But why don't we get to know each other more?"
Then, her gaze turned to the person she was most curious about, Bruce Ryker.
Unfortunately, Bruce was as silent as a rock, seemingly asleep. His eyes were shut, making it hard for her to tell whether he was truly asleep or not.
Natasha was miffed.
"My past is nothing worth mentioning," Noah spoke up, shaking his head. But he continued. "...But there were some people in it that gave me a deep impression, they deserve the world's recognition. I lost my parents when I was a child, and then I was adopted by a priest. The priest went on to teach me a lot of things I know now. He was like a parent to me."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Natasha felt sad. "That priest... he's a great person. Where is he now?"
Noah paused, looking at the crackling fire silently. He raised his head and looked at Natasha, quietly opening his mouth.
"He's dead."
The atmosphere immediately turned somber. No one spoke a word—Natasha and Penguin were left speechless.
Bruce raised an eye internally. No wonder the man was a bit... wrong in the head, that amount of grief in a person...
It could turn a man insane.
"Ehem," Natasha coughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry to hear that. Forgive me from bringing up sad memories to you."
Noah dismissed. "It's fine. I'm a useless person anyway. Even my ability, [Painful Healing] is nothing short of useless. What's the point of being able to cure people but in exchange for pain?"
Natasha was helpless about that. She wanted to rebuke him, but there was no point. His self-hating complex was too deep.
After Noah's turn, Penguin followed and told his own story. Bruce finally opened his eyes when he heard Penguin mention his ability.