n

n

nFor the entire day, Eldrian kept making slow progress deeper into the forest. For the most part, he tried to be as stealthy as possible. This became harder and harder the deeper into the forest he went. Often he would also need to hide as a horde that would move past, likely going to try and assault some part of the wall.

nHe failed to find anything all that special, even when he meditated and entered the magic abyss. He also got so used to circulating his mana to prevent the corruption from entering his body that he needn't think of it anymore.

nThough this was mostly because the amount of focus it took was so small. It was nothing compared to using Augment.

n'Crap, nothing. And I have to log out.' Stopping in the middle of nowhere, Eldrian turned to the dwarf who was a few meters behind him. If he hadn't known that Bringïrr was there he would have likely missed him. Not only did his pitch-black armor completely camouflage him with the gray and black of the withering plants, he also had seemingly no presence.

n

"Right, that is it for the day,

" Eldrian said, keeping his voice low to stop them from being overheard but not quite a whisper.

n

"What? Why? Shouldn't we have started going back then?

"

n

"No, you should be aware that I can disappear when returning to my world. Right?

" Eldrian naturally assumed that they knew of this since most players did just that when logging out while exploring. He had also done it many times and it would be really worrying if they missed that.

n

"What about me?

" The dwarf asked in indignation, receiving a shrug in reply that pissed him off.

n

"You should be fine, I mean no one ever detected you. I will be back by sunrise.

" With that Eldrian logged out before the dwarf could try and argue. Seeing Eldrian turn into a burst of light and then there being no one, the dwarf was stumped and pissed.

n

"He has no respect!

" Bringïrr started to really regret trying to do more for Eldrian. Making a promise to leave the kid to his own devices as soon as their mission ended, the dwarf activated the stealth ability of his armor and seemingly melted into the shadows of the trees.

nThe ability allowed them to hide nearly anywhere as long as there was some sort of shade. Finding a comfy spot, the dwarf decided it was time for a nap so he could forget about how irritating the day was. Wishing for some ale to wash down the bad taste it had left in his mouth.

n...

nEldrian entered Elizabeth's virtual home ten minutes before the match, quickly regretting being early.

n

"Eldrian! Why didn't you inform us of your plans?

"

n

"Come on man, why don't you help us with our quests?

"

n

"Right, we need you.

"

n

"Please, once you finish what you are doing come do a quest with us.

"

nShurigging of their pleading, Eldrian escaped the encirclement and ran for it. He returned 5 minutes later and stared the others down before they could bring it up again. Erik laughing his ass off at the drama and partly wishing he was part of it.

n

"Who are we against?

" Eldrian asked after a few seconds, shocking everyone and making them even more displeased with him.

n

"Didn't you bother to at least check that?

"

n

"I've been busy.

" Eldrian quickly hid behind his quest as he had honestly not taken a moment to think of the match outside of if he could make it in time.

nHe felt slightly bad as he saw everyone's disappointment, however, the rewards' importance to him had greatly dropped ever since he had learned that Erik, or rather that Akarui was safe. While the rewards would still be nice, Eldrian did not crave them.

nSighs ensued as everyone realized how little their matches seemed to matter to Eldrian. This along with how little he seemed to care for the guild was truly starting to piss them off.

n

"Do you even know what type of round we are in?

" Elizabeth asked and seeing the confusion in Eldrian's eyes she sighed again.

n

"Right, let me quickly explain it. This round is called the slimming. We are 128 teams now, after the cancelation round, we will face only 1 other team today. If we win we pass to the next round, if we lose we go into the loser bracket.

"

n

"Right, loser bracket top 4 can challenge those who won, I know that.

"

n

"Good, but our luck was crap.

" Elizabeth sighed again as she said,

"We are fighting Ringless.

"

nSeeing that Eldrian couldn't recall who that was everyone sighed again,

"We lost against them last time. They are similar to us in that their team is a mix of different people and different styles. Only, all of them are Tier 3 and most of them were better equipped than us.

"

n

"Oh right, the group who had a guy who also wanted to be a barbarian. But that should be fine now considering our gear upgrade.

" Eldrian didn't think they would run into the same problem where he was the last one standing and ended up overwhelmed in the end.

n

"Well... That will depend on how much they managed to improve.

"

nBefore being able to discuss more the group found themselves out of time and teleported onto the battlefield. A rocky land with two large outcrops, plenty of hiding spots, and the ground treacherous. In fact, quite a number of teams have lost members not from opponents but from the terrain itself in this arena.

nThe group spawned on a large rock outcrop in the shape of a triangle coming out of the earth. It stood proudly like a rock one would imagine a lion standing on and roaring its dominance to all those around. Their opponents spawned on a similar rock 200 meters (219yd) away.

nBetween them was a distance of 200 meters (219yd) of loose ground fitted with rocks, stones, and rock shards of all types. Just walking barefoot was dangerous and Eldrian seeing this wished that he had bought himself decent boots. Alas, he was actually barefoot. Something he had never cared for till now.

n'Huh...' Eldrian looked at the ground and was shocked that this was something he had never found a problem.

"Um, guys.

"

nStopping their actions of descending their outcrop, they all turned to Eldrian and almost immediately realized the problem.

"You have to be kidding,

" They said in unison. Their top player being taken out by the terrain was not something they had expected.

n

"Why don't we just take up a defensive position?

" Eldrian asked, receiving looks of shock and causing their viewers to laugh.

nUnlike last time, their opponent this time around was actually well known as they often streamed their matches. As such, they actually had a good number of viewers.

n

"Fine, fine. I'll deal with it.

" Eldrian helpless looked into his inventory in hopes of something he could throw on, after realizing that there was none he turned his attention to the ground and thought of something insane but brilliant.

n'Might as well try,' Sitting down on the outcrop, Eldrian picked up some of the loose stones around him and started using Vrachos and Gi.

nHe would first take the larger pieces of stone and turn them into elongated sharpened rocks through Vrachos. Stopping them from flying out of his hands and instead placing them next to each other. He then used Gi, and while it was slow, the rocks merged and formed a sole.

nNaturally, his actions confused not just his teammates but also their opponents and viewers.

n

"Hey, this might work!

" Eldrian shouted out, realizing that their opponents had stopped at around a 100 meters (109yd) from them and were watching him carefully. 'Oh, they think this is some kind of trap. Good, let me finish making my shoes.'

nThe stream chat was abuzz with questions about what he was doing and how he was doing it.

n{How the hell is he using spells like that. Did any of you know it was possible?}

n{Hell no, besides, he isn't saying any words. How is he casting without words?}

n{That isn't all that impressive, but. Look!}

n{...}

nPeople were crazily discussing his antics especially when Eldrian placed the soles on his feet and started focusing on two of the Vrachos formed pieces. Using them to make a strap over his feet but quickly discarding the idea when he felt how uncomfortable it was.

n

"Wait, is he seriously just trying to make shoes?

" One of the two rangers in the team Ringless asked in disbelief, the other confirming her question.

n

"It seems so. Does he seriously not have any proper shoes?

"

n

"Then what are we waiting for? Charge!

" Their leader shouted as soon as they confirmed that it was not some type of trap.

n

"They're charging!

" Therdul shouted as the group started rushing down from the outcrop.

nSure, having the high ground might be advantageous most of the time. But having the high ground and no cover was a very dumb decision. Not only would their enemy be able to easily reach the other side and attack them, their archers and mages would also have easy shots at them while they are fighting.

n

"Screw it!

" Throwing the soles off from the ledge, Eldrian could feel that he could still connect to the stones. So just as they were about to land, he suddenly pushed (mentally) the soles forward as fast as he could.

nLike ricocheting bullets, the soles flew through two of the closest enemy players. Glancing on one's side and ripping through another's heart. The former's armor managing to deflect the blow, but the latter having her heart stolen from her. Literally.

nSeeing this both teams stopped in their tracks and looked at Eldrian in shock. Who was smiling atop the outcrop and dual casting Frost Needle.

n