Chapter 342: Head Start

When others were laughing, Head Instructor Ryan clenched his fists. Auric being able to win was bad enough, but the fact that he was playing a game while waiting was humiliating.

Auric’s intention was to provoke him so that he would make another mistake and blame Gloria again.

It looked like he succeeded in provoking him, but he also provoked the entire country. In other words, his life would be in danger.

Nevertheless, this was the best outcome. With so much hatred coming to him, the organization would also use this opportunity to strike him down. He would end up dragging them in again, but he still couldn’t understand what would happen next.

However, he was ready to completely cut his connections to Dermania.

There were a few reasons. The first one was Gloria. As soon as he got Gloria, Dermania would be furious.

The second one was his Moon Store. He had been asking Katarina to investigate the family that bought his book, and they had been preparing for something he didn’t like.

In fact, one of their family members, Irine Ashavatalia, came to Kallarnos University. She had been keeping an eye on her for the time being.

This time, her brother, Theodore Ashavatalia, also participated in this training program. Although his talent had been overshadowed by Antonio’s, he wasn’t that far behind.

The moment he closed the Moon Store, they would know what it meant to lose such a big opportunity.

Rather than Dermania, he might be leaning towards opening the store in Lech-Aistia or Granda.

The last reason was definitely the entire situation. He would really remember this incident and ask Chief Arnie to pay it when the time came.

After all, his plan had really put him in a very difficult situation.

Nevertheless, he didn’t plan to back down. He might be weak right now, but he had enough bullets to hurt the other party as well.

Hence, Auric decided to provoke Head Instructor Ryan.

Head Instructor Ryan didn’t know what to do next. He could continue to demand an explanation, but Auric would continue to fight back. He had already lost his ground, so continuing this fight wouldn’t be wise.

The atmosphere became tense as Supervisor Jacob positioned himself between Auric and Head Instructor Ryan, preventing the latter from doing anything to Auric.

Head Instructor Ryan harrumphed and turned around. "Don’t forget that the next game will start after lunch."

He had turned his back, so people couldn’t see his expression. If they could, they would think he wanted to kill Auric.

Supervisor Jacob made sure Head Instructor Ryan left first before turning back. "Good work. That was quite satisfying. This will be enough to show that we’re above them right now. However, the next two games... they’re going to specifically target you, even if that means ignoring everything else."

"Don’t worry. I’m prepared. As long as they’re not going to use a dirty trick like tracking the GPS location here." Auric pointed at the device.

"I will take care of that. What I’m afraid of is them using their own people to surround you. There won’t be any fight here, but they might use excessive force or pretend as if they are attacking a beast."

Auric nodded with a serious expression. They might really want to kill him this time.

"Don’t worry. I have some plans ready."

"Got it. I will trust you on that. If it’s not enough, you’re free to drop out at any time. Also, don’t forget to secretly record everything. This way, we have proof to fight back."

"Well, I know this is bound to happen. Justification and all... So, Ellia has prepared small cameras." Auric nodded, reassuring him that they were prepared for anything.

"Very well." Supervisor Jacob nodded. "Follow me. I will take you back and watch over you until the situation calms down."

"No." Auric shook his head with a solemn expression.

"!!!" Supervisor Jacob looked surprised. He paused for a moment and understood why Auric had made such an expression. He first turned off his camera. "Okay. I need to know the reason. It’s very dangerous to stay outside."

"I am merely getting a head start. This is... also part of the preparation, right?" Auric smirked.

"Ah!" Supervisor Jacob gasped. He didn’t expect that Auric would use this opportunity to actually hide himself first. This way, he would be able to pass the second game without any problems.

There was not enough time for Head Instructor Ryan to give the students an order.

"How about food?"

"We can handle it."

"You still need to return here for the official announcement, though."

"Yeah. At least we have prepared our safe spot. We will just have to shake them off. That should be possible."

"Got it. I will trust your confidence." Supervisor Jacob patted Auric on the shoulder. "I wish you luck. Just watch out for the third game. At that time, we won’t have this kind of break anymore."

"I know."

"Good. Now, let’s pretend to have a chat until most of these people are gone. Then, you can proceed."

"Thanks." Auric smiled.

"No problem. By the way, your action today might cause a certain company to have its stock rise, you know?"

"It can’t be helped. I’m not sponsored or anything, so I don’t really care." Auric shook his head.

"Well, just saying."

In the end, they just stood there for a few more minutes before Supervisor Jacob turned around, after confirming that no one was spying on them.

Of course, Lindwurm had gone around as well.

Once everything was safe, Auric nodded to the girls so that they could proceed with their plan.

Without wasting any time, Auric moved around with the girls as they created three safe zones, two for the next two games and the last one as a backup.

...

In the city, Head Instructor Ryan gathered everyone and shouted, "I want all of you to catch him! I don’t care what you’re doing, you must catch him! Level the ground, cut down the forest, or even crush the buildings."

The instructors looked at each other. They really had no way of finding Auric earlier, and if they did this, they would receive scrutiny.

Head Instructor Ryan then turned to Gloria. "You and the other students are going to restrict his movement. Even if you have to cling to his foot, you aren’t allowed to lose sight of him!"

"But, sir..." Gloria was startled. This request was basically suicide for her. If she did this, her reputation would hit rock bottom.

At that time, there was no way for her to get what she wanted anymore.

"You don’t have an option!" Head Instructor Ryan glared at her. "Try to refuse that order, and you will regret it."

Gloria’s body shook. She wanted to reject it. After all, even if she was demoted, there was still a chance for her to come back.

But with Head Instructor Ryan cutting off her lifeline, it was over.

Gloria straightened her body and saluted. "Yes, sir."

Inside, she was fuming. She never thought that her position would be this weak. In the first place, she really had no chance to stand out in Dermania.

At this point, Katarina’s offer had just become even sweeter in her heart.

She couldn’t exactly say anything at this point. Head Instructor Ryan was extremely influential, and his backing was scary. If she dared to say no, the first thing that would happen was getting kicked out of the military, and the hyenas that had been waiting for her to slip up would come to chew her alive.

Gloria thought she could make her parents proud by rebuilding her family and putting the glory to their name in their home country, but it wasn’t an option anymore.

However, she wasn’t like Head Instructor Ryan. At the very least, she came to this place to represent Dermania. Even though the country had betrayed her, she wouldn’t betray them until the training program ended.

"Then you’d better do it!" Head Instructor Ryan snorted and walked away.

Gloria took a deep breath before turning around. Some of them sympathized with Gloria, considering that Head Instructor Ryan wanted to do this without receiving any repercussions himself.

At the same time, some of them really believed that Gloria was actually in cahoots with Auric.

Gloria said, "Okay, I need some people to do this with me. Maybe half of our students are enough. We’re expecting heavy resistance from Esfrata as well."

...

"By the way, how are we going to escape from them? I mean, it’s good that we have safe zones prepared beforehand. You even prepared a few holes for temporary hiding spots, but we still need to get away from them. They’re going to surround us," Vera asked, worried about their prospects.

"Don’t worry. I can handle it." Auric nodded. "For now, their target is me, not this group. Hence, Ellia, do you mind teleporting Vera with you at the beginning? I will go with Katarina and bait them all. Try to move around for a bit.

"Then, Katarina and I will lose them in the woods and head to the first safe zone. I will enter the safe zone first. I’m afraid they’re still going to chase after you, so try to move around a bit while approaching the safe zone.

"When it’s safe, you can teleport to the first safe zone. I will inform you through this." Auric pointed at the radio.

"That should be fine." Ellia accepted the order. "Surely, you don’t mind traveling with me for a bit, right?"

Vera shrugged. "I am no longer that person, so I don’t care. It’s good that I have the chance to get a good evaluation."

"Good."

"Let’s get something to eat and then we will go back to the starting point when the game is about to start."

They agreed with the plan and continued their preparations. After having their lunch outside, they finally received the notification about the next game. They returned to the starting point, finding a lot of students already gathering.

"!!!" Gloria widened her eyes in shock. ’They came from the outside? No, this is... Oh no, we’ve been had!’

Gloria realized that while they were focused on preparing their plans, Auric was already executing his plan and had prepared everything necessary beforehand.

In other words, Auric was one step ahead of them.

"This... Isn’t this... not looking good?"

A few students became uneasy. They thought Gloria’s plan wouldn’t succeed.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Head Instructor Ryan came a few minutes later with Supervisor Jacob. Supervisor Jacob had no choice but to keep him in check to stop him from harming any of their students, especially Auric.

Head Instructor Ryan looked at Gloria coldly, as if he didn’t care whether Dermania’s best genius would be destroyed or not.

Even though she was a great genius, there were plenty of geniuses who weren’t that far behind her. Besides, they were also quite influential, unlike the orphan Gloria.

Supervisor Jacob looked at his watch and raised his hand. "The time has arrived. It’s time to begin the second round! I hope all of you are ready. Now, without further ado, let the second game begin!"

The moment they heard the announcement, Ellia and Vera disappeared while many people immediately moved toward Auric.