Chapter 132: Rite of Passage [3]

I was genuinely just chilling nonchalantly with my eyes closed at the top of the tree, enjoying the shade since it was quite sunny.

Of course, I wasn’t actually sleeping. No matter how much I trusted myself, there was always an unknown factor.

Besides, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway.

From time to time, I would hear screams or explosions shaking the ground from somewhere far away.

The kids were getting active and eliminating each other just like I had planned.

The bad thing was that I couldn’t check how many people were left. There was no screen or announcement whenever someone was eliminated.

Apparently, the Laurents did this to prepare their youth to always expect the unexpected and never let their guard down on a battlefield, even if it looked like there were no enemies left.

To distract myself, I thought about food.

I know, I know. You’d think this wasn’t the best situation to be thinking about food, but so what?

Food had to be one of the top ten best creations of all time.

I kind of wanted to eat a chocolate cake at the moment. Maybe some vanilla ice cream on the side with a few sweets.

It would be delicious.

But then I frowned.

The bathroom visit afterward definitely wouldn’t be pleasant.

I kept doing my shenanigans until something entered the range of my senses.

Someone was here.

I automatically detected that the mana signature belonged to a human and not a monster.

I opened my eyes, sat up, and looked down.

A boy with snow-white hair and green eyes was walking through the trees below.

The moment I recognized him, I smiled inwardly.

I genuinely wanted to beat the shit out of a lot of people today, and God had decided to deliver me the very same brat who had pissed me off yesterday.

I was currently hiding my presence thanks to something I had discovered the other day when the maid bumped into me.

I wasn’t sure if it was a technique because I hadn’t received any messages about creating one.

Basically, I could make my presence faint simply by willing it, whether I was standing out in the open or hiding behind something.

The maid couldn’t see me because my presence was hidden automatically, and since she wasn’t awakened, she couldn’t perceive me at all.

Only when I deliberately revealed myself could someone see me.

I had no idea what kind of ability this was, but I knew it was related to my Authority.

I’d get back to that later.

For now, I had a brat to deal with.

I revealed my presence.

Pedro immediately snapped his head upward. The moment his eyes found me, an angry expression took over his face.

"After looking for you for hours, I’ve finally found you! So this is where you were hiding!" he shouted. "You will pay for embarrassing me yesterday!"

I raised an eyebrow.

"Me? When did I do that? I don’t even know you," I said in confusion.

"Huh? What do you mean you don’t know me?! You literally punched me in the stomach yesterday!"

I scratched the back of my head.

"Uhm... no, I don’t remember."

"You don’t remember your tall, majestic cousin?"

"Ah, please." I waved my hand. "You’re not who you think you are."

"Shut up! And you... why are you hiding up there like a coward? Come down!"

"Nah, I’m lazy. You come up here."

I rested my face against my palm.

"You caught me off guard again, but that won’t happen again!"

Mana wrapped around Pedro’s body, and he suddenly dashed forward, leaving a green streak behind him.

But just as he reached the middle of the clearing, the ground beneath him moved.

A Cannibal Plant snapped its jaws around him.

I almost thought it had gotten him, but at the last second, a powerful breeze came out of nowhere and struck his body, sending him flying away from danger.

The Cannibal Plant’s jaws snapped shut.

Pedro flipped through the air and landed on the ground.

"What the—"

Before he could even finish, the ground beneath him moved again.

He instinctively jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding another Cannibal Plant.

He drew his katana and sliced the monster in half, killing it.

"Why did I not notice them before?" Pedro asked as he scanned the area.

"That’s because you were too focused on your anger to notice them."

This place was basically a landmine filled with Cannibal Plants.

Almost every three meters, a camouflaged plant was waiting beneath the grass for something to step into its jaws.

That was also one of the reasons I had chosen to stay here.

If a group of opponents tried to jump me, they’d have to deal with the plants first unless they decided to climb the trees.

"Is this your plan? Hiding behind monsters and ambushing people?" Pedro asked furiously.

"I could say so. You can’t really judge me for using the terrain of the battlefield to my advantage."

I shrugged.

"You’re just a coward!"

"Yeah, whatever. Just come up here first."

I waved my hand.

Pedro clenched his jaw and remained quiet for a moment.

Then he lowered his katana and gathered a light-green energy around the blade.

The leaves around him began lifting from the ground as the air started to howl softly, spiraling around the sword.

Wind.

Pedro drove his foot into the ground.

BOOM!

A violent burst of compressed air erupted from beneath him, tearing through the forest floor.

Leaves and loose soil exploded upward as the pressure swept across the ground.

The Cannibal Plants were ripped from their hiding places, their roots tearing free from the earth as they were thrown aside.

Every single one of them was killed.

I couldn’t help but feel impressed by what he had just done.

Cannibal Plants could be killed by uprooting their roots from the ground, and Pedro had figured that out. He used his Gift to manipulate the wind, compressing it and unleashing it across the entire area in a single attack.

Impressive.

"Wow." I clapped for him. "You’ve done really well."

Pedro didn’t reply.

Instead, he jumped.

He didn’t get very far, but just before gravity pulled him back down, wind gathered beneath his boots and launched him upward.

It was almost like he was walking through the air.

He repeated the same movement several times, using bursts of wind to propel himself higher and higher until he was finally close enough to reach me.

I remained seated nonchalantly, not even reaching for my weapon.

Pedro made one final jump, launching himself above me.

His katana came swinging down.

But the attack never landed.

Pedro suddenly froze in midair.

"What? W-Why can’t I move?!"

He struggled desperately, but his body refused to move.

It was as if he had been tied up by invisible threads.

I looked up at him.

"How does it feel?"

"Bastard! What kind of nonsense is this?! Let me go!"

Pedro twisted his body violently, trying to break free.

The threads trembled.

For a moment, I thought he might actually manage to break one.

"Hah!"

Pedro gritted his teeth as wind began gathering around his body.

"If you think some stupid threads are going to stop me, you’re fucking mistaken!"

The air around him became violent.

A powerful current of wind exploded outward, tearing leaves from the surrounding trees.

The branches shook as Pedro tried to force his way out.

The threads stretched.

But they didn’t break.

My eyes narrowed slightly.

So he’s stronger than I thought.

Pedro’s expression became increasingly desperate as he poured more mana into his Gift.

"Come on!"

Another burst of wind erupted.

The threads pulled tighter around his limbs.

Pedro’s eyes widened.

"What the hell are these things?!"

"It doesn’t work like that."

I lifted my hand.

Thin black threads made of darkness were wrapped around my fingers, stretching outward and connecting to the invisible threads wrapped around Pedro’s limbs.

Pedro stared at them in disbelief.

"You... you can use threads?"

"Yes."

I smiled.

"And I can do much more."

After the Spider incident, I had decided to create threads of my own and use them for making traps.

It wasn’t easy, though.

I wanted to make them as thin as possible so they wouldn’t be visible to the naked eye.

"It’s not complete yet. I still have a lot to improve."

I lightly tugged one of the threads.

"I was hoping you wouldn’t throw a wind attack toward me, or else you would’ve detected my threads. Fortunately, you didn’t, because you’re dumb and were too busy rushing toward an opponent who was sitting there casually relaxing despite you getting closer."

I clicked my tongue.

If he had thrown a wind current toward my position earlier, he could’ve felt the disturbances in the air. He might’ve even noticed some of the branches moving because of the threads attached to them.

But he had been too angry to think about that.

Pedro’s face twisted with frustration.

"You think you’ve won just because you’ve tied me up?"

His eyes flashed.

"You’re forgetting something."

The wind around his body suddenly changed direction.

Instead of trying to break the threads, the current began spinning around his body, growing faster and faster.

The branches around me started shaking.

I narrowed my eyes.

He’s trying to use the wind to force himself out of the threads.

Pedro grinned.

"Let’s see how long those little strings can hold me!"

The wind exploded outward.

The threads strained.

Pedro’s body was pulled violently to the side, and for a brief moment, one of the threads loosened.

His eyes lit up.

"There!"

He twisted his body and attempted to force his arm free.

But I simply moved one finger.

The thread tightened again.

Pedro’s expression froze.

"W-What...?"

I pulled.

Schsslick.

Something heavy fell to the ground with a wet thud.

Pedro’s eyes remained wide as he stared at me.

Then they slowly moved downward.

Horror immediately took over his face.

His leg was gone.

It had been cleanly sliced off and was now lying on the ground beneath him.

"UAAAHHH! MY LEG!"

His scream echoed throughout the forest.

The wind around his body immediately disappeared.

Pedro’s face twisted in agony as his breathing became ragged.

His body trembled uncontrollably.

For a moment, he looked like he couldn’t even understand what had happened.

Then the pain finally registered.

"MY LEG! MY FUCKING LEG!"

Tears immediately began pouring down his face.

He looked back at me with genuine fear.

"Please... wait!"

I simply stared at him.

Pedro clenched his remaining leg and tried to stop himself from shaking.

"I’m sorry! I’m fucking sorry about yesterday! I won’t do it again!"

His voice cracked.

"Just put it back! Please!"

I tilted my head.

"You know I can’t do that."

Pedro’s face became even paler.

"You can heal it, right?! You people have healing potions! Just—just stop!"

"I’m just a messenger."

I raised another finger.

"That’s why I’ll have to cut off all your limbs. I’m sending a message to everyone here."

Pedro’s pupils shrank.

"No..."

He desperately struggled against the threads again.

The wind around his body returned, weaker than before but still violent.

"No! No, wait!"

He twisted his body, trying to find any angle that would let him escape.

The threads tightened around him.

"LET ME GO!"

I stared at him calmly.

"So buckle up, buddy."

I moved another finger.

Schsslick.

Another limb was sliced off.

Pedro’s scream echoed through the forest.

And this time, there was no arrogance left in it.

Only pain and fear.