Volume 15 - CH 3

The second the announcer said that, I don’t know if it’s my misconception, but the entire track suddenly expanded, becoming three times bigger at once and more like a jungle when you looked across.

“Yang Yang! Get on quickly!” Almost simultaneously, Miao Miao jumped on the White Cat King, then held her hand out to me. After I followed her onto the Cat’s neck, my entire line of sight became abnormally wide. The track really did open up, with strange wild flowers and plants everywhere. Then I don’t know if it’s my misconception, but I actually saw something like a man-eating flower.

“Do your best to run ahead. Don’t let them catch up.” Holding the relay ball, Aslaine shouted at the two of us, and almost instantaneously, he brandished the perfectly-straight saber in his hand. With a clang, a silver object like a hidden weapon bounced off against it.

The other side attacked us first! “Run!”

Upon receiving the order, Suya abruptly leaped high up and swiftly ran forward.

Flipping himself over and shaking off his opponent’s hidden weapon attack, Aslaine quickly jumped on the White Cat King’s back. The remaining schoolmates in the back immediately fell into the scuffle.

Looks like the other side really does want to fight to the death.

“Yang Yang, watch your head!” Sitting beside me, Miao Miao grabbed me then pushed my head down, before some sharp wind pressure blew past my neck and rolled up with the air currents.

After dodging, I reluctantly raised my head and saw that a huge strange black pterodactyl-like thing had appeared above the White Cat King. There were even two or three people standing on top of that thing, one of whom was also holding a relay ball, a different color from our team’s. Which is to say, you guys completely got the rules of the relay race wrong! “Chu, strike him down!” Holding a saber and unable to attack long range, Aslaine shouted at me, before I realized that I have a gun named Minas.

Holding the short gun, I thought about improving myself as I fired at that pterodactyl. It was only after shooting that I realized dinosaurs seem to be conservation animals or something; who knows if I’d be arrested for just shooting like this! The pterodactyl issued a cry and leaned to the side. The bullet happened to hit the edge of its wing, and its entire body became crooked, flying slightly slower.

But it wasn’t much better over on our side. Suya, who had been running smoothly, suddenly halted and almost fell forward. Miao Miao and I managed to not get thrown out because we were sitting on the saddle. In the back, Aslaine had barely steadied himself by grabbing onto the cat’s fur.

“Suya got caught by something.” Following Miao Miao’s words and looking down, I saw a huge number of vines in the obstacle jungle below. Those vines entangled the White Cat King’s feet, making him temporarily unable to escape.

As if they had a life of their own, the more those vines entangled, the more they increased, to the point where some of them went toward the sky to catch the pterodactyl. I fully understand why this is called a obstacle course now.

“Suya, shrink.” As soon as Miao Miao shouted, the place where I’d been sitting instantly disappeared completely. Without any mental preparation, I fell.

When I was ready to fall and be seriously injured, Aslaine, who had moved closer at some point, grabbed the back of my collar and turned over slightly so that both of us actually landed on a nearby branch successfully.

Hugging the shrunken Cat King and jumping next to us, Miao Miao freed one hand to pull me: “Run, or else the vines will catch up.”

I watched as those vines rushed over like vicious dogs snatching food and completely agreed with what Miao Miao said, picking up my legs and running. Bringing up the rear, Aslaine made a few swift movements and those vines chasing us suddenly twitched, before they all broke apart as one, forcefully shrinking back as if hurt.

After attacking the vines, Aslaine caught up to us: “There seems to be a lot more things here. We have to be careful.” His face looked rather excited. He swung his saber before inserting it in the scabbard next to his thigh. After running along the jungle path for a while, someone from our team soon caught up.

But at the same time, the enemy team also appeared nearby. Since both sides already fought fiercely at the beginning, our numbers have also decreased a lot, not just the other side.

“Juniors*, you must be careful.” Noticing that the opponents were starting to close in on us, Aslaine swung out his saber, then slowed down. In an instant, people from the red team charged over to tag-team him.

[T/N: As in underclassmen, not literally junior students]

It wasn’t much better on our side, because two unfamiliar students from another class began to join forces to outflank us upon realizing that Miao Miao has a mount.

“Hey, Miao Miao isn’t afraid of you!” Flinging out her Evening Flying Claw, Miao Miao, with the White Cat King on her head, turned and stirred the turf on the ground with her claws: “Let the game begin!”

Following Miao Miao’s words, even more grass abruptly sprang from the ground touching her claw. Suddenly growing taller than a human, those grasses hindered the enemies’ footsteps as if they were alive.

But because they were grass, the opposing side quickly cut off most of them.

Taking of advantage of them cutting the grass, Miao Miao pulled out her claw and directly attacked the person closest to her. That person couldn’t dodge in time and a large piece of flesh was clawed off from his hand. Red blood dripped on the grass, simultaneously holding the opponent’s howl of pain.

I saw that Miao Miao had already made her move and hurriedly followed by raising Minas and firing at another person’s foot.

…I’m going to die, I’ve never taken the initiative to shoot a human in my whole life (except for Andellar). As soon as this shot was fired, I immediately felt guilty, and sincerely felt that I’ve become a gun-toting criminal.

That unlucky fellow I shot screamed and fell to his knees.

Minas had fired a liquid bullet. Some of the liquid had probably flowed into his body, so that red team member suddenly couldn’t get up, holding his foot as it cramped.

Aslaine, who had already moved some distance away from us, whistled and then gave Miao Miao and I a thumbs up. He instantly turned back to deal with that person in front of him, who was similarly holding a relay ball.

I bet that opponent must be a robe level as well, because he and Aslaine were practically fighting to a draw. The two had to avoid the objects in their hands and attack their opponent’s weakness, and suddenly you couldn’t tell who was winning or losing.

Just as the surroundings fell into a stalemate, a strangely familiar arrow broke through the air resistance to fly in and almost pin Aslaine’s shoulder. He was a step faster, flipping over and directly slicing the arrow in half. After turning, he stretched out his foot and kicked the arrowhead back to the opponent facing him.

The red team’s relay ball envoy suddenly couldn’t react in time. The arrowhead pierced straight through his shoulder and forced him to throw the relay ball to the side, passing it to the teammate nearest him.

I looked in the direction the arrow flew from, and as soon as I saw the newcomer, my entire heart sank.

Holding his Boundary-Breaking Bow, Chifuyu stood on a tree branch not far away as he greeted me.

“Hello, what a coincidence.”

Raising a single hand, Chifuyu said with a smile.

It’s not a coincidence at all! I was just praying that we won’t meet anyone I know, but I didn’t expect one to appear so soon. The only thing that I should be glad about, I guess, is that the five-colored rooster head didn’t come to poke his nose in.

“Enemy, come down!” Resolutely and straightforwardly attacking her usual friend, Miao Miao swung at the tree without any mercy, and the wind knife thrown from her claw directly went slashing in the direction of Chifuyu.

Easily dodging the attack with a slight jump, Chifuyu simultaneously sent a large arrow toward Miao Miao and I.

You guys are actually able to attack your classmates! “Hey!” Nimbly knocking down the flying arrow, Miao Miao became invigorated too.

Not knowing whether that was deliberate or only to intimidate me, I originally wanted to say that I’m doomed, but the unavoidable arrow was slightly off and nailed itself next to my feet, perfectly straight. Not even a strand of my hair was hurt.

But I still broke out in a cold sweat.

“For the sake of our team’s victory, you guys can just obediently stay here first.” Nocking three arrows at a time, Chifuyu abruptly released, and the arrows sprang and flew toward Aslaine, who was being attacked by the others, as if they had a life of their own. Holding the relay ball as he swung his saber at the distance between him and his opponents, Aslaine swiftly knocked down the arrow ambushing him. After assessing the situation and the opponents around him, he immediately threw the relay ball at the teammate closest to him. That teammate wasn’t keen on fighting after catching it and directly ran ahead.

As soon as the object in his hand vanished, Aslaine curved into a cold smile, then instantly began using fiercer movements than before to fight back against the opponent who had given up on attacking him to chase.

“Yang Yang, let’s run too.” Upon seeing the ball change possession, Miao Miao pulled my hand and moved forward to catch up to that teammate. Seeing Chifuyu jump down to close in on us, I had no choice but to apologize in my heart first, then pick up Minas and fire several shots at him.

Freezing for a moment, Chifuyu, who was about to avoid them, quickly discovered that it was not bullets flying toward him, but a large group of bubbles. Back when we faced off against Jing Lothian’s underlings, he had known about this thing*. Hastily dodging when he saw a large group of them flying over, he shouted to nearby teammates to be careful.

[T/N: Remember the acid bubbles from V9C5?]

After gaining more time, Miao Miao and I immediately escaped like a wisp of smoke.

It was only after we descended on the ground and went further in that we realized the depths were actually more dangerous than what we had seen just now. Even the man-eating flowers sleeping near the ground numbered more than a dozen. Within eight hundred meters, there would be one appearing on average before you even pass a hundred meters, plus a bunch of bizarre-looking plants! Miao Miao and I didn’t dare to make too much noise, walking quickly without remaining in the same spot for long.

“Later when it becomes more spacious, we can let Suya out.” Carrying the white cat on her head, Miao Miao told me. After walking into the jungle, the inside was so quiet that there was almost no noise at all. We occasionally heard sounds of fighting from far away, then the dense smell of grass. Even though they are strange plants, they still grew to nearly cover the entire sky with leaves. There was a faint light everywhere from the gaps between the leaves. It looked very beautiful, causing one to suddenly forget that this was a track in the sports competition.

“This seems to be a part of Aucker Forest.” After walking for a while, Miao Miao abruptly figured out the clue: “Miao Miao went on a mission with Geng last year. It really looks like it.” She peered around, nodding. “What the hell is that Aucker Forest?” I’ve never even heard of it, but from Miao Miao’s expression, it seems to be a pretty famous place.

Miao Miao turned her head and revealed a wide cute smile: “Aucker Forest is one of the best virgin forests in the sealed world. It’s most abundant in carnivorous plants, so many botanists would come to study it!”

“So it’s a virgin jungle…” This is rather normal. It should be something similar to the Amazon from our side—Wait a minute! What did she just say this jungle was most abundant in?

As soon as I turned my head, I saw a huge flower bud about to open behind Miao Miao’s head. The refracted beam of light shone on that flower bud’s gleaming teeth, the whole of which was very dazzling.

“Run!” Grabbing Miao Miao’s wrist, I picked up my legs and ran.

The second we started running, a tremendous crash sounded behind us. It was clearly something’s large teeth missing its target and directly hitting the ground.

We’re going to die; this is completely different from the little black snake MeiMei; it can’t even communicate!

Who considered something like this as a relay obstacle course!? And flowers should be obediently planted in the ground, right? Why is it able to uproot itself, step on the ground and chase us; normal carnivorous flowers shouldn’t be able to chase people, right!?

Booming footsteps chased behind us. This made me once again certain that my unique ability is running away. I can actually outrun a man-eating flower. It really makes one feel grateful.

“Yang, Yang Yang, we can destroy it.” Being dragged along by me, Miao Miao held onto the White Cat King on her head with one hand while telling me this.

“Too dangerous!” That’s a man-eating flower! “It’s okay, Miao Miao can defeat it.” Saying that, Miao Miao actually slowed down.

Seeing her so confident, I guess that should be the case. After all, Miao Miao’s cute but she’s also not a normal person. Maybe even the uprooted man-eating flower chasing over isn’t her match.

And so, the two of us simultaneously stopped.

The Evening Flying Claw in Miao Miao’s hand moved and instantly returned to her.

…0.5 seconds have passed. Miao Miao, who just said that she would defeat the man-eating flower, had already turned around before I could turn my head. This time it switched to her pulling my hand, frantically running forward.

“Didn’t you just say you would defeat it?” I was pulled along inexplicably. Miao Miao’s speed was so fast that I almost tripped several times.

“I can’t defeat it like this!”

Puzzled by Miao Miao’s words, I turned my head while running.

Three seconds later, I completely agreed with her.

Chasing behind us this time was a large group of man-eating flowers.

“You guys keep running ahead.”

Just when I was thinking that I might be buried in the mouth of a man-eating flower this time, someone further behind shouted at us. Following the other person’s words and running for a while again, a blazing fire abruptly broke out in the back and instantly burned those man-eating flowers. In just a dozen seconds, not even a plant was left.

Appearing behind the man-eating flowers was Aslaine swinging his red saber: “We’ve already run three laps. The person with the ball should be going through a new point. We have to hurry and support her.”

Three laps?

I hardly felt how much I ran. Because Suya had been carrying us at the start, and then we desperately fought and ran for our lives, it turns out that we had unknowingly run quite a long way.

“Nn, okay…” Just when I was about to take a step, an arrow was shot near my feet.

To be honest, this was the first time in my life that I felt my own classmate was such an annoying enemy. What’s with you pursuing us endlessly and coming and going like a shadow!? Raising my head, sure enough, Chifuyu didn’t get eliminated and stood not far away, with even an arrow on his Boundary-Breaking Bow aiming at us.

Seeing the situation, the only thing I could think of was to take out a charm and chant an incantation Andy taught me before: [Wind, lift your hair to build a shelter, use your smile to cover the eyes of the enemy.] Reacting almost instantaneously, the wind charm spread out in the air and a second later, a breeze began to blow. In less than a blink of an eye, it gradually became a violent wind. All the plants on the ground were blown till they rocked around. The ashes of the burnt man-eating flowers just now also flew up and the mud beneath sloshed everywhere. My entire vision immediately became so chaotic that I couldn’t see the path and surroundings clearly.

Success! “Let’s get away while we can.” Seeing Chifuyu momentarily unable to keep up, Aslaine increased the wind charm’s efficacy and the entire back was violently blasted around like a tempest. Then he had his saber made of an explosive charm scatter in the air and, with one hand each, he pulled Miao Miao and I away from the team of one.

Up to this point, I suddenly felt weird. I remember that Chifuyu demonstrated a strong tracking ability at the Ghost King’s Tomb, but why hasn’t he used it here? If he used his tracking technique, we probably would’ve died already.

After telling Aslaine my doubt, he smiled: “In the obstacle course, since robe levels and non-robe levels have a difference in ability, most abilities are sealed upon entering the site. You can only use Illusionary Weapons, physical techniques and basic spells.”

“So that’s how it is…” I don’t even know the basics that well, so of course I didn’t notice that there was a seal. But this also explains why everyone is using hand-to-hand combat.

“I think we’re about to catch up.” Looking ahead, Aslaine suddenly said: “The person who caught the ball is right in front of us. Just now, apart from her and I, there are two others who have touched the ball as well. Subtracting those who were knocked down, plus you two, there should be three people remaining. That should be enough if we continue at this speed.”

No, I think I’ll be insta-killed the second I get the ball, so to be exact, there are two people. “Suya.” After determining that it was less dangerous here, Miao Miao put the white cat down, and within seconds, the Cat King completely expanded like he was inflated, kicking his forepaw to urge us to get on quickly.

“Oh right, so if we can only use basic spells here…can we use defensive ones?” I thought of when the vines caught us before and turned to look at Aslaine standing on the cat’s back without any fear of being thrown down.

He nodded, then opened his mouth: “As long as it’s a basic incantation, it should work.”

After getting a reply, I rummaged through my pocket. Because I was afraid I would die at the sports competition today, I brought a bit more charms, carrying them with me as a precaution.

In addition to the four main elemental spells, everything else Andy’s taught me has always leaned toward the water element, because he said Minas is a water weapon; frequently practicing water spells can increase the blessings of the water Elves, which can enhance the power of the weapon.

Speaking of which, I have no idea whether that works either. At any rate, if someone as strong as Andy says so, it must be right. After taking out a talisman and making a simple water defense wall, the White Cat King immediately ran forward at a rapid pace. “Yang Yang, did you learn this from the library?” Miao Miao turned to me and revealed a wide smile: “Our teachers never taught this.”

“Ahaha…Mr. Andy taught me.” Of course I knew that our teachers didn’t teach us it. Basically, I don’t really understand at the rate the class goes. I always have to reask Andy and have him explain several times before I understand and remember it.

“Yah, that’s great.” Miao Miao suddenly reached out to pat my head, startling me: “You have to learn well.”

“Nn, okay.”

Saying that, Miao Miao abruptly set her gaze behind us: “Ali’s spells are also very strong.”

I was just thinking about why Miao Miao suddenly dragged in Aslaine, when I turned my head and saw that he had walked over at some point, crouching behind us and listening to the conversation.

“I guess you can say that Mr. Andy is also my spells teacher.” He smiled and good-naturedly said: “In the student club, Mr. Andy is responsible for being the advisor. To us, that’s a great honor.”

…So that means, I should consider joining that club too. At least I’d feel more at ease with Andy there. I don’t know much about those other mysterious clubs, and I’m honestly afraid that I won’t be able to come out alive after joining.

Since I didn’t choose a club in the first semester, it’s always been a zero in terms of club scores. Good thing the club scores don’t influence my grades too much, or else I wouldn’t even know how I’d be treated.

Later I realized, Senior didn’t join any clubs either. It seems like he has some degree of immunity.

“Shh.” Aslaine cut off our conversation, then narrowed his eyes and glanced around as if to determine whether there was any danger. After a while, he relaxed: “Looks like the people dispatched by the other team are weaker than I thought, which means that the main force should be in the next game…We’ve caught up.”

As soon as the White Cat King leaped, I saw our white team partner right in front of us, holding the relay ball and stepping onto the last lap.

Seeing Suya appear, that person, who should be a female senior, immediately stopped and jumped up, landing beside Aslaine: “Rossi just got injured by that red robe fellow and is unable to receive the ball. Are these two juniors the only ones left?”

I knew who the red robe fellow is without it being said. With his Boundary-Breaking Bow, Chifuyu is unexpectedly a difficult enemy.

“If Rossi is also defeated, then only Mikayla and Chu are left.” Aslaine nodded and told her.

“Then there’s no other way, my leg just got shot with an arrow. I probably won’t be able to run far. Now who wants to switch with me first?” Freeing a hand to pat her still bleeding lower leg, the female senior looked back and forth between Miao Miao and I.

“Miao Miao can go first.” Holding our her hand, Miao Miao took that round orb.

…I’m thinking that Chifuyu probably wouldn’t actually attack Miao Miao, right. After all, the arrow he shot before didn’t hit. It looks like he might be holding back against us.

As if to mock me for thinking too naively, a second later, the path ahead of us was suddenly blasted apart as if a bomb was placed there. The vines that had been climbing around were also scattered everywhere.

Because the explosion was rather powerful, Suya was momentarily unable to respond, and since my defensive incantation probably wasn’t strong enough to completely withstand the might of the explosion, we, along with the human-carrying cat, were blown to the side by the violent wind.

Miao Miao clutched the ball as she flipped onto the nearby tree. Suya shrank at the same time and jumped away.

I directly fell under a tree. Aslaine and that female senior coolly landed on the ground side by side.

In the midst of the chaos, I heard Aslaine’s voice urging the wind spell.

In less than a few seconds, the dust from the explosion quickly dispersed, and after that, we saw a human figure, a familiar figure that made me want to wail.

Standing right after the explosive disturbance, Chifuyu provocatively stood there with the relay ball.

“You guys had more people than I thought.” Turning his gaze, he saw Miao Miao above and curved into a smile: “Forget it, it doesn’t matter. I just set up a fire array here. If you make a wrong step, it’ll explode just like before.”

I looked at Chifuyu who had a terrifying smile and deeply felt that he must have the potential to also become an assassin.

Staring at us, Chifuyu pointed behind him: “The finish line is right behind this. Let’s see who will win the first game.”

Saying that, he immediately moved back and swiftly charged toward the finish line with the relay ball.

“Chu! Come over and step on my hands.” After judging the immediate situation, Aslaine instantly placed his hands over each other and the female senior beside him did the same.

There was no time to hesitate. I saw that Chifuyu was about to reach the finish line and promptly stepped on Aslaine’s hands hard upon hearing his words.

In almost an instant, I was immediately thrown out by an enormous force, flying foward over the minefield like a rocket jet.

Then, I saw Rocket No. 2 Miao Miao rushing forward even faster than me.

In the next second, I crashed into Chifuyu, before Miao Miao fell on top of me.

We fell into a heap at the same time.