A Surprise Attack

Velint explained her guess to Fran.

After listening, Fran said bluntly:

"Why do you think we'd be companions?"

Velint smiled and said:

"Because the first clue said the jade was on one of our companions."

"And that was actually reflected in how we obtained the second piece of jade."

"Although Gloom Lizards are very well suited to dark environments, they aren't particularly skilled at attacking. When they ambush someone, they rely on their massive weight and their bodies to pin their target down, then bite them to death."

"But it's different when the target has a companion. The companion can attack the Gloom Lizard after it ambushes someone. Gloom Lizards aren't smart enough to know when two targets have retreated."

Velint continued:

"You must have run into plenty of people on the way here who attacked without saying a word, because this trial deliberately created these illusions."

"They're illusions of people who've taken part in this trial. They're meant to create an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and make us Spirit Realm Travelers distrust one another."

"Anyone who's taken part in a lot of trials would know that this illusion mechanism isn't unusual."

Fran considered it for a moment but didn't respond right away.

She thought the other woman made a lot of sense. Everything she'd experienced so far fit with what Velint had said. The only possible issue was that last piece of jade.

She hadn't seen everything yet, so she couldn't tell whether Velint was right. What if sacrificing someone just weakened the boss?

Still, she didn't seem worried about being deceived. From the way the other woman moved, she seemed even weaker than Bela.

Fran wasn't sure what to make of this Spirit Realm Guide. She felt that Richter had come here to pick on weaker opponents too. Was the reward for passing the final trial especially great?

Or did the Guide she was using actually point to several trials, and had she ended up in a relatively easy one?

Fran took out two pieces of jade to show that she'd already obtained two.

Velint knew this was their chance to earn each other's trust, so she took out two identical pieces of jade as well, showing that she wasn't going to ambush Fran and steal hers.

"My name's Velint. What's yours?"

"My name is... Lai."

Fran thought about it and decided not to use her real name. She suspected the other woman hadn't used hers either.

Velint had no such reservations. She didn't think many people hid their names in the Spirit Realm; there was no point.

If you wanted to hide your identity, you had to cover your face first. Giving a false name was useless. Everyone knew that when you met someone in the Spirit Realm, you recognized them by their face, not their name.

"Then, shall we go?"

"Let's go."

The Spirit Realm Travelers still waiting where they were stared in surprise as the two women walked over. Had someone really believed her and agreed to work together?

Everyone thought Velint had deliberately dropped a few hints to lure them into accompanying her, then planned to seize their jade at the first opportunity.

All Spirit Realm Travelers were taught not to trust others too much.

Not only did many trials directly require you to kill the people beside you, but Spirit Realm creatures would sometimes lure people into killing their companions, too.

In theory, you could enter the Spirit Realm with your friends. But given the circumstances above,

Spirit Realm Travelers usually went solo, because they couldn't trust even their friends.

They simply couldn't imagine anyone wanting to cooperate in a trial that so obviously demanded they kill someone else.

"Are they really going to take on that statue together?"

"Looks that way."

Fran and Velint ignored the Spirit Realm Travelers and walked right past them, heading straight for the platform.

At that moment, one of the Spirit Realm Travelers realized his chance had come.

He was confident he could kill one person, but not confident he could make it through that stretch of darkness, so he'd come straight here.

He'd been doing this sort of thing in Spirit Realm trials for a long time. He'd failed a few times, but the risk-to-reward ratio was still excellent.

He only had to make his move near the finish line to save a great deal of time and avoid the risks of gathering things himself, while still claiming the reward.

People despised his behavior, and if he got caught, he'd be humiliated. But the payoff was huge!

After someone robbed him once, he'd joined in.

He knew the third piece of jade would be very hard to get. He could only collect two, find a safe place, and leave the Spirit Realm.

He knew that knowing when to quit was the key to making a profit in this line of work.

Besides, a spellcaster would surely struggle to deal with his ambush!

Since spellcasters at the apprentice rank were practically finished once someone got close, spellcasters rarely got too close to melee fighters like them.

Most spellcasters stayed on open ground. If a melee fighter tried to approach, they'd fling a few spells at them first and see if they could take it.

In the blink of an eye, he'd covered half the distance. Only then did he realize the other woman seemed to have noticed his ambush.

Too late! A spellcaster shouldn't have let me get this close!

He was already imagining killing her, taking her jade, and seeing her furious face in the Material Realm.

But with a clang, something struck his wrist. The pain made him drop his dagger.

A short sword immediately thrust toward his face. Instinctively, he grabbed the blade and used [Power Burst]—which he'd acquired in a previous Spirit Realm trial—to hold back the deadly attack with all his might.

Blood streamed from both his hands. He'd reacted entirely on instinct, grabbing the blade and using Power Burst without thinking.

"Ah!"

Only then did he realize: Why was the person he'd taken for a spellcaster thrusting a sword at him?

Why did someone dressed like a spellcaster have so much strength?

Before he could figure it out, Fran was surprised that he had so much strength. She had to use the Breathing Technique and Mental Power to bolster her own.

The sudden increase in her strength was more than he could withstand. The short sword drove into his face with tremendous force, and he heard the sound of bone breaking.

Then the short sword plunged into the dirt. There was only a little blood on it, and a small pouch had fallen to the ground beside it.

Velint was astonished. She hadn't expected someone who looked like a spellcaster to have such formidable melee skills.

She'd already turned around when she heard the commotion and seen the man charge forward, but in the blink of an eye, Fran had pinned him to the ground.

"She's even stronger than I am." Velint could hardly believe her own judgment, but it was the truth. Even she couldn't unleash the power of Skull Cracker so easily, yet Lai had done just that.

At the same time as this Spirit Realm Traveler launched his attack, someone else among the group of Spirit Realm Travelers attacked as well.