In theory, this Trial Arena should have offered numerous lucrative side quests in addition to the basic "Survive Seven Days" main quest. These side quests were supposed to be the primary source of rewards, but Elysia hadn't triggered a single one.
She had spent the entire time floating above the ground, never touching down. She hadn't even encountered a single NPC, let alone accepted a quest. Yet, she had already accumulated ten thousand points solely from grinding monsters—an utterly absurd feat.
But how to actually trigger these quests? Elysia had no idea.
"Perhaps I should return to the starting area?" Elysia pondered, flicking her pink tongue to lick her ice cream.
Without the Scholar's aircraft, their range of movement would have been limited to the vicinity of their spawn point. If there were any side quests, they would logically be located nearby.
But there was another problem: Elysia didn't know where their spawn point was. She pulled out the locator device the Scholar had given her, intending to use the aircraft as a beacon and fly in its direction to search the surrounding area.
At that moment, another device on her person, the Area Scanner, suddenly beeped. With one hand holding her ice cream and the other holding the locator, Elysia had to stow the locator before she could free a hand to retrieve the scanner.
This delay cost her several precious seconds. When she finally pulled out the Area Scanner, she saw a red dot racing toward her position at high speed, already dangerously close.
The next instant, a sharp crack split the air beside her ear. Thanks to her exceptional dynamic vision, Elysia faintly perceived the space in front of her warping, revealing the outline of an invisible creature hovering before her.
Her reaction was instantaneous. Gripping her staff tightly between her calves, she swiftly lowered herself, narrowly evading the ambush.
Though she managed to keep her ice cream cone steady, the sudden movement caused the ice cream inside to lag behind due to inertia. In mid-air, the treat was sliced cleanly in half.
"Huh?! I only had two bites!"
With its failed attack, the assailant's invisibility faded, slowly revealing its form.
It wasn't a ghost or monster at all, but a human dressed in a black bodysuit and hood, with only his eyes visible, clutching a dagger.
A faint magical aura surrounded him, allowing him to float in the air.
"Tch... Failed, huh..."
Elysia, forgetting all about her shattered ice cream, stared in astonishment. There's someone else here? And they attacked me right away? What's going on? Is this a team battle?
Team battles were a feature of the Main God Space. Squads of Trialists were usually sent to different worlds to complete missions, but sometimes two squads would end up in the same world and be forced to fight each other. Each kill of an opposing team member would grant a massive reward. It was like raising gu worms—eliminating the weak to strengthen the strong.
Instead of attacking again, the man in black began casually twirling his dagger, scrutinizing Elysia with a curious gaze. "Honestly, I'm quite intrigued. How did you trigger the Trial Arena's Hunting Mechanism on only your fourth Trial Mission? What exactly did you do?"
Huh? Does this mean it's not a team battle?
Elysia raised an eyebrow. "Hunting Mechanism? What's that?"
"Hahaha, you're kidding me, right?" The man in the black bodysuit burst into laughter. "After three Trial Missions, you still don't know about the Hunting Mechanism? You must be a complete newbie!"
Elysia replied innocently, "But I really am a total newbie..."
As she spoke, she pulled out the communication device the Scholar had given her and sent a message: [ Dear Scholar, could you ask about the Hunting Mechanism for me?~ ]
"Forget it. Whether you're playing dumb or genuinely clueless doesn't matter. What matters is that your journey ends here." The man in the black bodysuit narrowed his eyes slightly. "It's a shame... such a pretty girl. I almost don't have the heart to do this..."
But before he could finish speaking, he vanished from his spot, truly teleporting above Elysia. He raised his dagger and thrust it downward.
Clang!
A pink crystal materialized above Elysia's head. However, the black-clad man's attack missed the crystal entirely. Instead, a blue Protective Field suddenly appeared around it—the Scholar's Automatic Protective Field, which she had given to Elysia.
What is this, a multi-layered defense? Elysia wondered to herself. She gently raised her small hand. Having already been attacked, she had no reason to stand still and take it.
Elysia typically treated most people with great kindness, but that naturally didn't extend to villains.
Instantly, the pink crystal transformed into a cluster of sharp, piercing spikes. The black-clad man, clearly unprepared for his teleportation attack to be blocked, let alone countered, had no time to react. Spikes pierced his chest, abdomen, and thigh.
But in the next moment, the black-clad man vanished from above Elysia and reappeared ten meters away. His face twisted in frustration as he shouted, "Damn it, Second Bro! Is your magic ready yet? One of my Substitute Charms just got shattered!"
"..."
The man in the black bodysuit received no response. He frowned and looked in a particular direction, and Elysia followed his gaze.
A man in a black mage's robe was floating diagonally below Elysia, his face contorted in terror as he trembled violently.
"No... we can't win! How could we possibly win this?!"
Just then, Elysia received a reply from the Scholar. The Scholar had questioned Shi Jun about the so-called Hunting Mechanism. It turned out that in addition to the Trialists, there was another group called Hunters. These Hunters didn't receive Trial Missions; instead, they were given Hunting Missions.
Their targets were Trialists who had violated the "Rule."
However, this "Rule" was undisclosed and opaque. Even Shi Jun didn't know what it entailed; all he knew was that almost no Trialist who violated it survived.