For the next half hour, Arthur and his team moved throughout the forest hunting magical beasts, racking up their total to 54 points. Though they didn’t know it, Arthur’s secret edge, his ‘Map’ played a massive role in their flawless efficiency until now.

Perched atop a thick branch, Arthur stared down at a grove where a lone D-Rank panther-like beast prowled, sniffing the air. Through his ‘Map’ he was observing not just the beasts’ location, but also the other teams that were nearby, and carefully guided his team to avoid confrontation and waste time.

He directed the group with precision, towards the beast, and once the beast was subdued and the token registered another 5 points, they regrouped near a small creek. The gentle trickle of water and rustling leaves gave the scene an almost peaceful vibe.

Leon stretched his arms, “Another one down.”

“Yeah, but not fast enough,” Arthur said, glancing down at his token. The token also indicated their ranks, and they were in 26th position. “At this rate we would be unable to rank in the top twenty.”

Finn flopped onto a smooth boulder. “Yeah we should forget about the high grade artifacts at this rate. How the heck are the other teams accumulating points so fast?”

Arthur didn’t respond immediately. Then, with a quiet sigh, he turned to the group.

“I’m going to hunt solo for a while.”

Everyone was surprised at Arthur’s words.

“What?” Leon asked, his brow knitting. “Why?”

“Because we need more points fast.” Arthur’s tone was calm but firm. “There’s too much at stake if we fall short. The ancient realm… I guess you guys would not want to miss that opportunity.”

Eva stepped forward, and said with a concerned tone. “That’s reckless. Even if we are not getting tickets for the ancient realm, at least it is safer for you to hunt together with us.”

Arthur gave a faint smile. “Eva, I could probably take on a 4th Circle mage if I had to. And in the worst case scenario, I can always run.”

Finn frowned. “We’re not saying you’re weak. It’s just, what if there’s an ambush?”

“Don’t worry.” Arthur reached into his dimensional pocket and pulled out a compact device no larger than a pinky finger, and handed it to Eva.

“If anything goes sideways,” he said, locking eyes with her, “press the red button. I’ll be there in under a minute. And If I am ambushed, I can inform you and it will guide you to my position.”

Eva studied the device for a second. “What is this?” This is the first time she had seen something like this, so she was curious.

“It’s something I made.” Arthur didn’t elaborate.

Leon nodded slowly. “Alright. We’ll move as a group then. You do your lone wolf thing…but be careful.”

“Alright,” Arthur replied, already stepping away, brushing a branch aside as he disappeared into the trees.

As the forest swallowed him, Finn muttered, “Sometimes I forget just how ridiculous strong that guy is.”

“We should also keep moving, we can’t put all the responsibility on Arthur.” Leon said as he got up from the rock he was sitting on.

The team began preparing for their next coordinated hunt, trusting that Arthur would be safe by himself.

Meanwhile, Arthur disappeared into the depths of the forest, and moved toward the largest cluster of beasts nearby.

…

Within a minute of leaving his group, Arthur arrived at a shallow hill overlooking a quiet clearing. Down below, was a pack of wolves with nearly six in number. They were clearly not normal wolves. Their muscular builds, yellow eyes, and a faint savage aura marked them as D-Rank beasts.

The largest of them, clearly the peak D-Rank alpha, stood at the front. It raised its nose, catching a foreign scent on the wind.

The alpha let out a low growl, its fangs bared. The other wolves perked up, their ears twitching as they circled around their leader.

But they were already too late.

Arthur raised his hand, and a pulse of invisible force rippled through the clearing.

The entire pack froze mid-motion. One wolf’s front paws hovered a few inches above the ground. The alpha’s snarl was frozen, it tried to struggle but it was all in vain. Not only was the alpha unable to move, the whole pack was immobilized.

Arthur stepped into the clearing like he was walking into his home, without any urgency.

He approached the first beast, and pressed the token on the sigil etched along the wolf’s ribcage.

A few seconds later the sigil vanished. 

+5 Points.

With a ping the points were collected and Arthur moved to the next, and the next.

Each time, he followed the same process, with the wolves remaining frozen in place.

Only once he had tagged every beast did Arthur release the spell and left the area.

The moment the spell was lifted, the wolves collapsed in a series of staggered thuds, sprawling in confusion. The alpha stood shakily, its fur bristling. Its eyes darted around the clearing, but the threat was already gone.

…

The same scene repeated itself across the forest for the next hour. Every time, Arthur used [Telekinesis] to freeze the beasts, collected the points and left the area, staying less than two minutes in any one spot before disappearing.

Other teams didn’t even know he was nearby. It was this pattern of accumulation of points too fast by a team that eventually drew the attention of the judges.

…

High above the forest, atop a levitating observation tower cloaked in clouds, sat a semi-circular platform filled with observers of the tournament and the judges.

Projections floated in the air, each showing different areas scattered across the five zones, with some projections focusing on talented youths from different kingdoms. Staffs were seen communicating with each other with communication tablets, recording data and updating point totals.

At the head of the platform, standing in front of a towering projection of the Dominion Forest, was Auron Veylan.

His arms were crossed behind his back, his eyes narrowed at a flickering point on the display.

“…He just took down another seven beasts,” one of the judges muttered, voice tinged with disbelief.

Another elder leaned forward, adjusting the magnification on one of the floating projections. “That can’t be right. That kind of efficiency isn’t even possible for the students at the 4th Circle unless…”

“He’s not even using direct attacks,” someone else interrupted. “He’s immobilizing the beasts, every single one.”

There was a pause.

Auron’s eyes flicked toward the center projection, which now zoomed in on Arthur’s back as he melted into the trees.

“Who is that boy?” he asked evenly.

A junior official scrambled for her tablet, flicking through records until she found the corresponding team. “Sir he is from team A-117…He came with Velcrest Academy, from Aurestria Kingdom.”

One of the older mages presiding as a judge snorted softly. “Velcrest? That’s a mid-tier academy, isn’t it? How can they produce such talent?”

“Apparently,” the assistant confirmed. “But there’s not much information regarding this student. He seems to appear out of nowhere and joined Velcrest Academy a few months back.”

“Hmm…His strength seems to be a lot higher than a first year student, is the information legitimate, there’s no foul play right?” murmured another judge, frowning.

The assistant replied, “Yes sir, all the information regarding the students are legitimate.”

“Wait,” Auron said. “Zoom in again.”

The orb magnified to a moment where Arthur pressed his hand forward, a beast suspended mid-air by an unseen force.

“That spell,” Auron said slowly, “that’s not paralysis. Nor is it standard mana entrapment.”

Another elder leaned in. “It’s ‘Telekinesis’. But controlled on a level we don’t typically see outside elite mage battalions.”

“But he isn’t just a mage sir,” the assistant chimed in. “This student is also listed as a martial artist.”

Auron raised an eyebrow. “A dual practitioner?”

She nodded. “Our intelligence on Velcrest’s students is limited, but he’s been noted for close-quarters combat capabilities in addition to his mana control. But there is no information regarding his exceptional control in ‘Telekinesis’ or how he acquired such a high level spell.”

The judges went quiet for a moment, watching as Arthur casually pressed his token against another frozen beast.

Auron tilted his head. “Keep a dedicated tracking orb on him. I want his performance logged in detail.”

He then continued, “Now let’s see how the students perform when there are some distractions placed along the way.”

And with that, the room returned to quiet observation.

…

Some time ago…

The forest was quiet except for the occasional rustle of leaves under careful footsteps and the distant cry of birds. In the clearing near a winding stream, Natalya held up her token, blinking at the glowing number now displayed on its surface.

133 Points.

“…What the actual hell,” Finn said, squinting at her token to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. “We were at 59 points a few minutes ago. How did we just…?”

“It’s Arthur,” Leon said flatly, arms crossed.

Sophia, still dusting mud off her dress from their latest hunt, frowned. “Wait… you mean to say if we don’t take into consideration the ten points we just secured, he just got us 64 points in ten minutes? By himself?”

Eva looked up from where she was healing a minor scrape on one of the other team members. “I… don’t even think we’ve heard any sound of fighting.”

“Yeah,” Finn said, voice rising with every word, “that’s because he’s probably just walking up to the beasts and saying ‘boo’ and they faint on the spot.” But seeing nobody was amused at his joke, he chuckled awkwardly.

Eva studied the token again, then slowly pocketed it. “Whatever he’s doing… he’s making it work.”

“But does that mean he was holding back when he was with us?” one of the other teammates asked.

Nobody said anything, but they knew it was most probably them who was holding Arthur back.

Finn punched the air. “Well, if he’s going full beast mode, then we can’t just sit here counting flowers!”

Leon’s lips curled in a rare smile. “Agreed. Let’s go, it’s time to show what we are made of.”

With renewed determination, the team moved deeper into the forest, tightening their formation and picking up the pace. The atmosphere shifted, now less casual, and more focused. If Arthur was going to raise the bar, they weren’t going to be dead weight.

…

Back to the present…

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Arthur stood over a peak D-Rank boar, its legs bound by invisible force, eyes trembling with fear, as he pressed his token with the sigil on its neck.

+10 Points.

He didn’t even watch the number update. 

He was already checking his ‘Map’, when he saw it.

A huge cluster of life signatures gathered in a small pocket of the forest to the northeast, far too many to be just a single team.

“Interesting…” Arthur murmured.

He zoomed in using the Map’s focus function. The signatures weren’t from beasts, clearly showing they were humans. But there was also a life signature much more powerful than D-Rank beasts.

‘There are multiple teams present there,’ Arthur realized. ‘What’s going on?’

The position was barely two kilometers (1.24 miles) away from where he was. He glanced at his token’s current score, and seeing a satisfactory number he decided to check what’s going on.

He glanced once more at the ‘Map’, locking in the cluster’s location.

Then, without hesitation, Arthur vanished into the trees. He didn’t know what was happening up ahead, but if there were that many students in one place… it couldn’t be just conflict between teams.

***

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