Cooperation

Following the river downstream, they came to a huge stone platform at its end. It seemed to be the only place in the Jade Corridor where any plants grew.

A circular dome stood on the platform. Green vines wrapped around its edge and stretched down to the pillars supporting it.

Several Spirit Realm Travelers had already arrived.

Everyone stared gravely at the monster on the stone platform: a stone giant nearly five meters tall, with vines growing all over its body.

The Vine Giant punched a challenger who tried to dodge, slamming him into the ground with tremendous force.

Cracks spread across the ground. When the Vine Giant raised its fist, only a sunken hole remained beneath it. The challenger was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing that the challenger had been eliminated, the Vine Giant crouched down and became still. The barrier surrounding the stone platform fell, and the crater was gradually repaired until it looked as it had before.

Whenever a challenger attacked the Vine Giant, the barrier around the platform fell as soon as the giant stood up. It prevented the challenger from escaping and anyone else from entering.

"Another failure. Who's going next?"

Turner spoke as he eyed the other Spirit Realm Travelers warily.

He couldn't be sure that everyone here had obtained the first jade stone. They were all on guard, afraid someone might suddenly attack.

They could have asked everyone to show their jade stones, but no one suggested it.

What if someone had nothing, while he showed that he had two jade stones, and that person set their sights on him?

There was no rule that said everyone should attack together once they saw someone had nothing, eliminating them first.

Even if someone suggested showing their stones, perhaps one person would show theirs while the others tacitly agreed to keep theirs hidden.

"That stone statue is too strong. I have no way to defeat it. You go first."

One Spirit Realm Traveler suggested this. He could tell they had no chance of defeating the statue.

"You go ahead. I'll look for another way..."

"I'll watch a little longer..."

Everyone understood that they couldn't defeat the stone giant. The river flowed here, and this seemed to be the only place to obtain the third jade stone.

"Why don't we all attack together?"

A woman's voice offered the suggestion, and everyone turned to look.

She wore a red leather cuirass suited for movement, and had purple hair. There was a brisk, capable air about her. She wore no ornaments and gripped a greatsword in both hands.

"Don't be ridiculous. How could we work together?"

"I doubt you even got the first jade stone."

"Even if we work together to defeat the statue, how would we divide the jade stone?"

Every Spirit Realm Traveler present had spent a long time in this trial—three days at the least, and over a week at the most.

They had all gone to considerable effort to collect one or two jade stones.

This Spirit Realm expedition had already taken too much out of them. During the trial, other Spirit Realm Travelers had attacked them from time to time.

Only when they reached the end of the river, just before the final jade stone, could they enjoy a brief period of peace.

No one was willing to trust anyone else. Many trials didn't explicitly say that you could steal what others had collected.

And now that they were at the final hurdle, no one could let their guard down. Nobody wanted all the effort they'd put in over the past few days to go to waste.

After all, getting into this trial in the first place had taken a great deal of luck. They were unlikely to get another chance.

Velint sighed. She knew she couldn't persuade them. After they had attacked their "companions" earlier, they had lost all trust in one another.

Yet Velint had a vague sense that working together was the key to obtaining the third jade stone.

Although the ones who had gone up to fight so far were all melee Professionals, Velint had observed that it would take two people working together to defeat the Vine Giant.

She had noticed that when swords and axes struck the vines, they snapped almost instantly.

But against the hard rock, melee weapons were ineffective. They could only chip away at it little by little.

When a challenger with Ignition went up, Velint noticed that the flames barely seemed to scorch the vines. Yet when they touched the stone, she could clearly see tiny bits of the rock being worn away.

A spellcaster and a melee Professional would have to work together to defeat the Vine Giant, Velint realized.

She had initially thought they could all attack at once. Although everyone present was a melee Professional, many people on a Spirit Realm expedition knew a few spells granted by the Spirit Realm.

They simply lacked firepower. Each person could perhaps cast a spell five or six times before running out.

She thought that if everyone used their spells, the Vine Giant wouldn't stand a chance against their attacks.

But the others had been so frightened by the attacks from people trying to get the first jade stone that no one dared to work with anyone else.

She shook her head. Even though she had suggested something that went completely against what they believed, nobody proposed that they all join forces and eliminate her first.

Everyone should have had a jade stone. They didn't want a chaotic fight, afraid that starting a battle without warning would give someone the chance to steal the stone they held.

After Fran obtained the blue jade stone, she was attacked by quite a few people as she followed the river.

"Why are these people acting like they're crazy? They attack without saying a word."

Fran's overwhelming stats let her crush all of them. One attacker was cut in half by a single Wind Blade as he charged at her.

When they died, none of them dropped anything, probably because she already had a red jade stone. They didn't even drop a knife.

What Fran found strange was that aside from the person she had killed to obtain the red jade stone, the other attackers didn't seem to be able to talk. No matter what she said, they ignored her.

They also seemed a little dim-witted. She had already made a show of preparing to cast Wind Blade, but they only started dodging when she sent the blade flying. It hit them squarely and killed them.

She had no idea how they fought. Who waited until an attack was already coming before trying to dodge? They seemed hardly human.

After dealing with those minions, she spotted the stone platform in the distance.

Velint was already waiting nearby.

She knew she couldn't look for people at the platform. She had to stop them before they reached it and explain things to them. Once they got there and encountered that tense, hostile atmosphere, nothing she said would help.

Velint's eyes lit up as she saw the woman before her wearing a robe. She must be a spellcaster.