The Mysterious Black Magician

All the participants were busy earning points.

Using her hand, Cinder swept the tall grasses that were blocking her.

*Fidget!*

*Fidget!*

"Aaaaaa, I'm finally able to pee! Those devices kept tailing me since yesterday! At least give me some privacy you idiot!" she wanted to cry. "I'm a girl you know!" Cinder screamed with teary eyes.

She knew that being a member of one of the great noble families attracts more attention to the masses. Also, she wondered what that Lyka girl did at times like this. It was hard for her since she wasn't an outside person and had zero camping experience.

Yet she was forced to join this competition by the family elder.

Fighting nonstop in order to gain points made her uncomfortable as it made her reek of sweat. On top of that, her throat was dry and she couldn't find any swamp, falls, or….. "A river!" She exclaimed upon seeing a river in the distance. 

Patapatapata! Her teary eyes gleamed as she hastily dashed forward.

Not far from the river, a lone tree stood in the clearing surrounded by canary grasses.

But her awareness wasn't for it as she was more concerned about the river.

It was still early in the morning, and most participants were busy hunting everywhere. Especially the guys who were eager to complete the quest as soon as possible.

In the real world, the current point ranking was being displayed.

"Woah, Roman got the highest points!"

"Isn't he from the Hammerhelm family?!"

"Of course, Roman Hammerhelm, from the top two families of great noble families. You guys didn't know about him?"

"Curse you! Who said I didn't know him? He's once the champion of last year's tournament! And in fact, his family originated from the FatBeardy Tribe!"

"Right, their family has once created a legendary Artefact! And that is also the reason why they were in the rank two great noble families in the empire."

"Right, and I heard that when he was 10 years old, Roman was sent to the southern part of the empire to tame a rampaging rank 7 spirit beast!"

"What?! Is that true?!"

"That's what I heard when I happened to visit the southern part on a vacation."

"Damn! 10 years old?! And now he is 17! Just think how OP he has become!"

"That's bad that we could not peek a little of his strength in the first border struggle as most participants he encountered are mostly weakling!"

"THE HECK DUDE!! Think about our feelings! Who said we are weaklings?! They are just stronger!" The legendary league of fallen soldiers who welcomed their fallen brethren in the respawn area reacted with devilish eyes.

*Whisper!*

*Whisper!*

The audience noisily discussed the first person who crossed the first border and currently had the highest points.

The 2nd who had the highest points was Hilion of Gustav family and his White Leo Knights. Followed by Lyka of the Lowe family, then Ember and Harou. Next was Gilion of the Gustav family, and then other members of great noble families and some adventurers like Vince and the others.

Yman wasn't even in the top 100 but his points weren't low as he was already able to gather 502 points.

At the moment, only Roman Hammerhelm was able to cross the first border as most of the participants beside him were not able to gather many points yet.

Hilion and his White Leo Knights were still searching for the border.

In the meantime, Yman was grilling meat under the tree in a clearing surrounded by tall canary gasses.

He was fanning it using leaves that he sewed together. He gulped when the fresh smell of smoke invaded his nose towards his throat. It smells fresh and delicious.

Nonetheless, his rebel stomach didn't stop grumbling. Fortunately, the grilled meat was finally cooked.

He summoned a bit of mana from his fingers and took a big piece of it. It was one of the most basic magic spells that a magician could learn even without the help of the academy. It also was the weaker version of Mana Membrane, commonly known as Mana Coating or Mana Skin.

Actually, every magician who used elemental magic had to learn it before casting the spell, especially the fire element. This Mana Coating ability would enable them to manipulate fire on their fingers or on every part of their bodies without burning their skin.

Yman after coating his finger with mana took a big piece of grilled meat. He blew it before taking a bite.

"Aaa, smell so great," he mumbled. GOWARRRR!! His stomach grumbled again, seemingly could not wait for him to bite the meat.

However,

Patapatapata!

<Enemies?!> Before his mouth could bite it, together with Sistela's warning, his perception and ears picked a presence from the distance.

"Tsk, wrong timing!" Yman clicked his tongue in annoyance.

He hastily threw the grilled meat to his Cyber Storage, then hid his mana. Yman took the skin of the boar he dried in the sun and covered the fire he used to grill to hide the smoke. Although it wasn't able to prevent the smoke from escaping, it was able to cover most of it. Then he focused his perception. "?!" He was puzzled.

'It's not coming to my direction? Based on the cross I drew on the ground, it was coming from the northern forest at the mountain-foot to my left side, and it is running towards this direction but not entirely towards me. Perhaps its main goal is the river to the south which is located 100 meters away from my position,' Yman mulled.

He leaped on the tree branch and took again the grill meat then slowly bit on it as he waited for the person to pass by. 

Just few seconds had passed when he finally saw who it was.

"A guy? Looks like my initial thought was right. He was going after the river. I must ambush him then. As it is already the second day, probably most of the participants that are left hold higher points now. Killing one or two of them must be enough to cross the boundary," he muttered then glanced in the sky.

"No more ha," he whispered.

<Partner, why do you keep looking at the sky every now and then? And what do you mean by 'no more?'>

"Uh-erm, it's nothing?"

<Ehhh, secret again! Although when we are in resonance I can feel what you feel, I cannot tell what you are thinking, either in resonance or not!!!>

"Haha, there's no point in telling you right now as you will find out later."

<Tsk!>

<Anyway, when will we leave this place? Aren't we supposed to gather points and find the boundary? This world although limited, is still fairly wide you know!>

"Hehe, I know, don't worry."

<Why not?! Finding the boundary is not easy, you know! And I'm telling you I cannot help you in finding it as this world is not the actual world!>

"Right, right—— Ehhhh what the—?!" While conversing with Sistela, his eyes also staring at the person who rushed towards the river. But in the odd twist of fate, the person he originally thought as a man, turned to be a woman. After she took off the chest plate and red dress, Yman saw two small versions of the mountain to his left and a curvaceous body with furry tails and wolf ears.

Good thing she was wearing undergarments!

However, his foot slid from the tree branch where he was steeping, but because of his high reflexes, he was able to grab another branch over his head. Yet the problem was, the slight incident made the tree shake terribly and startled the nesting birds on it. They hurriedly flew away.

The next time he noticed, "The heck!" a flash of fire was shot towards him. His perception rang a warning of danger.

Without wasting time, he dove away from the tree, Bang!

Yman's body landed on the ground and rolled a few times before he regained his ground.

"Damn that almost roasted me!" He muttered upon seeing what his favorite tree had become. It was charred on the spot.

'An expert!' He thought.

But Yman could not linger any longer as another flash of fire hastily shot on him. He kicked the ground and ran forward.

Bang, bang, bang!

His movement was like that of a snake when he ran to his left and right in order to evade the flashes of fire. While he was evading, at the same time he also was rushing forward to the enemy. He didn't care if it was a girl. He needed to take her life for the points. Yman snapped a handful of grass-leaves on his way. Then coated it with the bright crimson mana.

The leaves had become solid and unbendable and their edges gleamed in sharpness.

Cinder on the other hand had a surprise face. 'Tsk! How careless of me to rush here without being attentive to my surroundings!'

More shapeless flames coagulated around her.

"Lupine Fire - Shapeless Flame!" She chanted. Then fired them all at once.

Woosh, woosh, woosh!

Seeing the approaching [Shapeless Flames], he added more strength on his feet and ran more agile.

Bang, one of the [Shapeless Flames] hit the ground, about a step away to his left.

It immediately exploded and caused the ground to carved-in. It was followed by the spread of fire on the grasses around.

Yman did not stop as more [Shapeless Flames] were shot to him.

He leaped higher into the air to hastily shorten their distance.

Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh! While in the air, he threw three strengthened leaves in his hand like throwing knives.

Cinder narrowed her eyes at the incoming objects that gleamed in crimson.

To be continued...