The man in the skintight suit and the Dark-Robed Mage were clearly working together. If the man in the skintight suit had so many life-saving items, the mage couldn't possibly have none, right?
Thanks to her exceptional archer's vision, Elysia easily spotted the Dark-Robed Mage plummeting through the air. He was still covered in arrows, looking like a walking porcupine.
Cautiously, Elysia gripped her staff firmly and swiftly closed the distance.
Sure enough, just before hitting the ground, the mage's body vanished into thin air and reappeared ten meters away—the effect of his Substitute Charm.
As Elysia raised her hand to strike, the mage suddenly dropped to his knees with a loud thud. "Miss Elysia!" he cried out. "I was wrong! Please, I'll give you everything I own! Just don't kill me!"
Elysia was still some distance away. Either the mage possessed some powerful observation magic, or... this was pure, desperate guesswork.
The moment the Dark-Robed Mage saw Elysia's stats, he knew the battle was lost. He immediately cast a delayed magic spell, postponing the activation of his Substitute Charm.
After resurrecting, he didn't bother checking his surroundings or whether Elysia had seen through his feigned death and was pursuing him. He simply begged for mercy.
His decision proved surprisingly wise. Elysia looked astonished and quickly flew to his side, asking suspiciously, "Do you know me?"
Hunters and Trialists must come from the same real world, she thought. If he's played Honkai 3rd and recognizes the character Elysia, his initial flight might make sense.
However, the Dark-Robed Mage's answer disappointed her. Too terrified to lie in his predicament, he hastily explained his Appraisal ability, officially known as the Hunter's Eye. Any Hunter could purchase this skill, and aside from its steep price, it had no drawbacks, making it exceptionally effective against Trialists.
Although the answer wasn't what Elysia had expected, seeing the mage's cooperative demeanor, she decided against further violence. Instead, she asked, "What exactly is a Hunter?"
The Dark-Robed Mage immediately divulged everything he knew.
In addition to the information he had already shared, he confessed that he had originally been a Trialist who had completed ten missions. After his tenth mission, he had suddenly received an invitation from the Trial Arena, asking if he wished to become a Hunter.
If he accepted, he would no longer need to undertake Trial Missions but would instead transition to Hunting Missions. If he refused, everything would remain unchanged.
The fact that the mage was here now naturally proved that he had accepted the invitation. This was currently his fifth Hunting Mission.
"So, because of some 'Rule' you don't even understand, you've already killed four innocent Trialists?" Elysia's pink eyes fixed intently on the mage.
"I... I have no choice!" the Dark-Robed Mage stammered, his voice trembling. "The mission requirements are clear, and if I don't complete it, another Hunter will just take my place!"
Elysia finally understood. Hunters faced no penalty for failing their Hunting Missions, and Trialists received no reward for killing Hunters, as she had learned from killing the man in the tight suit.
In essence, all Hunters were mercenaries driven by self-interest, and the Trial Arena itself was the lure that brought these executioners into being. It sounded as if the arena was using these Hunters to eliminate certain "unstable elements."
Suppressing her anger, Elysia asked, "Have you ever received a Hunting Mission that was your tenth or higher Trial Mission? Or have you ever encountered a Trialist who has completed ten or more Trial Missions?"
"Uh..." The Dark-Robed Mage hesitated, then shook his head. "I... I don't think I've ever heard of such a thing."
So, what happened to those who completed ten missions and refused to become Hunters? Where did they go?
Elysia didn't know the answer to the mage's question, but she knew that if she let him go now, he might eventually recover from his fear and accept another Hunting Mission to hunt down other Trialists.
So, after questioning him thoroughly, Elysia raised her hand without hesitation. Pink energy coalesced in her palm and then erupted.
"Sigh..." She had slain countless monsters, but very few humans had died directly by her hand. At least, she couldn't yet kill someone without feeling a flicker of emotion, and she didn't want to become the kind of person who could.
Having extracted all the information she needed from the Hunter, Elysia lost interest in finding her starting point or pursuing any side quests. Instead, she returned straight to the Scholar's aircraft.
As the hatch opened, Elysia appeared before Shi Jun and the others, her appearance completely transformed from when she had left. Her long pink hair cascaded down to her calves, almost brushing the ground.
However, since Elysia floated everywhere, she didn't need to worry about her hair. She swiftly glided toward the Scholar's laboratory, where the Scholar remained deeply engrossed in her research, her head bent low over her work, just as Elysia had left her.
Elysia, wanting to avoid startling the Scholar who was deeply engrossed in her work, spoke softly, "Hai Hai?~ Scholar, Scholar, is now a good time to talk?"
The Scholar paused, setting aside her work and slowly turning around. When she saw Elysia in her current form, she visibly froze in surprise.
Seeing even the rarely expressive Scholar look so astonished, Elysia couldn't resist floating in a circle. "How do I look?~ Aren't I absolutely adorable?~ Am I enchanting you?~"
The Scholar quickly regained her composure. "Is that what you wanted to discuss?"
"Of course not~" Elysia then recounted her entire encounter with the Hunter, including all the information she had extracted from the Dark-Robed Mage. "This so-called Trial Arena doesn't seem as straightforward as we initially thought."