'Here comes the person that I want to see least in this trial. If he follows me, there would be a chance that he could backstab me. But since this trial forbids us from injuring or even touching each other, I could let him follow me.'
Garven thought for a moment and looked at Azur while nodding his head.
"Sure, why not? With your help, I would be more reassured to pass this trial."
'Hoho! So, you want to use me as well. I guess we could both do the same. I want to use you, and you want to use me. Let's see who uses each other better.' Azur thought to himself.
He kept his smile and said.
"That would be perfect."
They continued moving like that for a while, as they kept dodging most of the traps. But, as they succeed more, the people behind them started getting more pressure.
After all, if they can't secure their position in the top fifty, they would starve. In the previous battles, they have spent a lot of energy and if they continue to starve, even more, they would definitely die.
As a few people started overcoming them, Azur turned his head at Garven and said.
"Shouldn't we increase our speed as well? If we don't reach the end in the top fifty, we won't get our food."
"I think we can easily get into the top fifty if we move at this speed. Besides if you go too fast, you would fall into those deadly traps." Garven shrugged his shoulders and said.
'How does he know that we would be in the top fifty? Don't tell me he has been counting the number of people that passed us. But even then, he shouldn't be able to deduce the distance, right?'
'Whatever! I can still move at this speed for a while. If things go wrong, I will just use that.' Azur stared at Garven with gloomy eyes and thought to himself.
Garven also noticed the problem but he had a plan as well. He wasn't going to take risk of dying. Although there was a high chance that he won't make it into the top fifty with this speed, he at least wouldn't get impaled by the traps.
........
"Captain, do you think the numbers would go down by a lot?" A man wearing a red mask asked the man who had taken off his mask.
The captain revealed his cold eyes and said.
"It doesn't matter if only one person survives. Our goal is to force them into passing each trial. If they die while doing so, then it's their fault for being so weak."
"But, headquarter!" Another man with a red mask interjected.
"Headquarters wants the best of the best. If we can't produce one, we won't send them any. Now, go and watch over them. Also, prepare a list of all remaining packages."
"I want to know everything about that, from their background to their power. The main test finally begins from the fourth trial."
The captain spoke with a powerful and threatening tone as he turned around and his body disappeared like a shadow.
He appeared inside a small room where there were a few candles lighting up the entire room. He walked in front of the white crystal that was constantly turning purple.
He put his hand on the white crystal and suddenly, a voice rang from it.
"Captain John! This is a new order from the headquarters."
As soon as he heard that, John instantly kneeled down. And, a figure emerged from the crystal. It was a person wearing a dark robe with his face covered in darkness.
"Captain John! Those forces are starting to suspect us of those missing children. You mustn't kidnap anymore unless the air of suspicion dies down. We need at least fifty of the current children to pass the entire trial."
Hearing his words, John clenched his fist and said.
"But commander, it would decrease the quality."
"It doesn't matter. You must follow my command and produce fifty children from this trial no matter what."
Saying so, the voice disappeared and the crystal stopped glowing.
'Damn it!'
John clenched his fist and his eyes turned red for a moment. But a few seconds later, he calmed down and stood up.
..............
As they were getting closer to the end, the traps were becoming sharper. While most of the martial artists were already cautious, they didn't manage to dodge all the traps.
As the number of them started to decrease, Garven realized that his decision was correct. As they went further, the traps would get stronger. That's what he realized by analyzing those traps.
So, that's why he didn't plan on increasing his speed but rather focused on maintaining his speed. Because the road was really long. They had already run for two kilometers and they still need to run more.
"It seems like I didn't choose the wrong person to follow. Your intuition was indeed correct. If we move on like this, we would eventually reach the end." Azur chuckled as he praised Garven.
"I am surprised you are still with me. I thought you would've gone with your group. Wouldn't that be much easier for you?" Garven asked.
'If this guy is planning to use me here, I also need to use him later. Let's just finish this trial right now. I would thoroughly learn more about this martial arts through him.'
Azur looked at him with a smile and said.
"Everyone has their own path. We only decided to stick together when there is a group battle. Since this is not a group battle, we can move separately. Besides, there are only four people excluding me in my group. If you had joined us, it would be five."
"I think it would be better for me to stay separated for now. I am still not sure about others." Garven shook his head and answered.
"Haha! Then, I just have to stick with you until you join us." Azur laughed as he replied.
"Why do you want me to join your group so badly? There are lots of stronger people out there." Garven asked.
"Indeed! But, among them, you are the most peculiar one." Azur leaned closer to him and whispered.
"After all, you are not a martial artist."
Garven's eyes trembled when he heard that. After all, they didn't know that. Even Jin wasn't able to find out until Garven told him that. Garven was only able to find their internal energy because of the pressure that he could sense.
"There is no need to be on your guard all of a sudden. I believe we will make a pretty good team." Azur saw his gloomy eyes and said while raising his hand.
His words made the people behind him confused. They weren't sure why Azur was so interested in him. But, some of them already had their guesses.
Unlike Azur, they believed that Garven was hiding his internal energy so their speculation was that Garven was much stronger. But, some of them didn't think so especially the boy with the sword.
He had seen Garven bleeding when he received the punch from another boy. That's why he knew Garven was much more dangerous not because of his strength but because of what he accomplished without using strength.
'The next time I get the chance, I need to finish him. I have no hatred for him but it seems like only those who are the strongest here will survive so I must clear out the weaker ones.'
It was turning into a bloody game. The weak die and the strong survive. This kind of mentality was slowly entering their brains.
Garven was unaware of that. He was only focused on reaching the end. And, as they got closer, he started to see the end. It was a giant room just like before but filled with tables.
As soon as he saw that, Garven increased his speed. Azur also noticed it and followed his speed immediately. The other people also increased their speed, especially those who were behind him.
This sudden increase in speed pushed over twenty people in front of them. But, exactly before they could reach the room, Garven stopped himself. It was so fast that a few people behind him almost collided with him.
Even Azur who was next to him didn't see that coming. After all, everyone was already reaching close to the room. A few steps and they would enter that room.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
At this moment, the metal bar suddenly came out of the walls and started striking everyone. When those metal bars came out, everyone started using their internal energy to defend especially those who were in front of the bar.
Instead of blocking those metal bars, Garven duck them and jumped forward while keeping his head low. He crossed a massive distance and at this moment, he picked up a metal bar that a young boy had defended against while moving toward the room.
"Damn it! Move."
A young man roared as he caught the metal bar and slammed the young man in front of him. The young man couldn't block it and ended up falling on the ground while the young man with a metal bar rushed toward the room.
But a second later, his head fell outside the room while his body reached inside. The blood spluttered out from his neck and a few droplets fell on Garven's body.
Garven shivered in fear when the blood covered his body
'No! I can't fight against them. I can't break the rules. I have to do anything to survive first.'
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