Rhode asked, "By the way, why did you contact us on purpose? Want to have a fight?"
"It's just that Marcus wants to say hello to you guys."
"Oh, that's perfect, let's chat for a while," Rhode suggested. "Kana and I are quite bored by ourselves."
"Hey, this is an exam, do you think it's a camping trip?"
"Anyway, until we find the key and the exit, we've got nothing to do."
Rhode carelessly revealed his 'scheme', "Just chatting can waste some of your Magic Power, making it easier if we have to fight you."
"..." Wolian disconnected the connection.
Kana laughed, "You're really bad, but why admit it out loud?"
"Just teasing him, it's uncomfortable to be eavesdropped on constantly," Rhode said. "Isn't there a way to block his probing?"
"Besides distance, I don't know of any way to restrict Telepathy Magic." Kana thought for a moment, then added,
"But I've heard that if someone's Telepathy Magic is stronger, they can 'invade' or even 'hijack' his telepathy."
So this thing can be 'hacked' into to cause trouble or even take control? The more we talk, the more it sounds like network communication.
About twenty minutes later.
Rhode's eyes lit up, and Kana exclaimed in surprise, "Found it!"
"How do you know?" Rhode had just sensed a Shadow Wolf dispelling its Summoning.
That was the signal for finding the key and successfully handing it over. Although he didn't know the exact location, next either a wolf or Beaked Bird would bring the item over.
"I mean, I found it." Kana took a few steps to run up, kicked off the rock wall, and used the momentum to jump up, climbing into a stone hole dug out by someone.
"Here it is!" Kana held up the key for Rhode to see, identical to the one shown by the President earlier.
"Double the joy," Rhode said. "So should I... carry it to the finish line and sell it to Wolian and the others?"
Kana, in high spirits after finding the key, said, "Sure, I'll help you negotiate the price, and half of the extra can be my drinking money."
Rhode was momentarily tempted by greed, "Forget it, let's save the President some trouble."
Rhode sent back all the wild creatures outside, except the River Crab, allowing the key to drop randomly.
Let's see who gets lucky.
The two leisurely made their way toward the finish line, simply climbing over any obstacles they couldn't bypass.
When they arrived at the endpoint, they found one of the three exits was already sealed.
"They actually got here before us." Rhode looked through the vision of the remaining River Crab,
"Mickey and Joy haven't found the key yet...but it looks like they're about to fight Wolian and the others. So, the first ones here should be Mest."
"Probably thanks to Wang Qiangji; after his arm transforms into a Steel Dog, he can also smell." Kana hugged the large key and looked at the sealed exit, "I wonder who they will encounter."
"Don't worry about them for now, let's adjust our states." Rhode sent back the River Crab following Mickey and then sat down, trying to recover Magic Power quickly.
"Yeah, you're right." Kana sat down as well, recalling the results of their training over the past few days and preparing strategies for each opponent.
The first round went so smoothly, the second one should too, right?
Once Rhode's Magic Power was fully restored, two figures emerged from the maze: Wolian and Marcus.
Wolian had a key like theirs tucked under his arm and his other arm draped over Marcus's shoulder.
Both had scars on their faces, with dust on their bodies.
Rhode laughed, "Yo, got beaten up pretty badly, huh?"
The two injured didn't seem down at all; Wolian pulled out a smile but seemed to pull on a wound, causing his mouth to twitch, "Anyway, we won!"
"Can you guys even participate in the second round like this?" Kana had been influenced by Rhode a bit recently.
Sometimes, she would feel that with injuries or incomplete Magic Power, she wouldn't have much confidence, though the problem wasn't severe; a little thinking still allowed her to judge as usual.
But in Wolian and Marcus's current states, no matter how you looked at it, entering the second round didn't seem ideal, right?
Wolian said, "We've come this far; no way we're stopping now."
"Exactly, push on a bit more; we might just succeed." Marcus looked at Rhode and Kana and said, "Again, don't underestimate us!"
"Can't underestimate you, indeed." Rhode nodded and thought for a moment, "So, best to take you out now while we can."
Wolian was startled, "Hey hey! Didn't you guys get the key? No need to take advantage of us now."
"Just kidding, just kidding." Rhode laughed, "It's a pre-exam stress relief moment, shall we go?"
"Mm." Kana took a deep breath; should they push on too? She wasn't sure if she could keep going if they failed again...
No, they'd definitely pass this time.
She walked to an exit with the key, throwing a confirming glance at Rhode.
Rhode nodded; they had been looking at these two exits for ages, and there was nothing to distinguish between them.
In such moments, better to trust Kana's intuition; didn't she say she had good luck today?
Kana raised the key, hesitated a moment before placing it in the Magic Array, then turned to another exit to insert the key.
The key blended into the Magic Array and vanished, creating ripples like water at the exit.
The two exchanged glances, encouraged each other, and walked in side by side.
Wolian and Marcus craned their necks to look forward but saw nothing, and soon stones rolled down from the sides to seal the exit.
"I wonder who they will encounter."
"Should we use telepathy to ask?"
Wolian shook his head, "Forget it, it might interfere with the exam, and Kana would kill us."
A moment later, Marcus stood up, "Alright, rested enough, let's continue too!"
Wolian nodded, "Yes, can't fall too far behind them."
The two walked into the last exit, greeted by a blush of red.
When they realized who was in that armor, their tongues were tied, "Er... Erza!"
Among the three S-Class Mages serving as examiners this time, Erza might not be the strongest, but she was certainly the one they feared the most.
Not for any other reason but simply because they had been beaten by her too many times.
If it was the other two, they might roll up their sleeves to fight, but with Erza, just seeing her made their legs tremble.
Erza smiled at them, "I've been waiting for you for a long time. I will now explain the rules.
Please fight with the resolve to kill me; I'll be at my best, not holding back at all!"
Wolian and Marcus clung to each other, "Noooo!!!"