Chapter 384: First


    ?


    Vayu cursed in his heart as hemanded his team to move faster. This time, Ss had really screwed him over, and the worst part was that Ss shouldn''t have even known. How Ss managed to deduce it was beyond Vayu.


    Ss'' token read ''III'' while Vayu''s read ''IV''. This might seem meaningless, but in theing sh of team, ''I'' would pair with ''II'' and ''III'' would pair with ''IV''. This essentially meant that the first opponent that Vayu woulde across other than these wolf spirits would be Ss himself.


    This seemed not to be a big deal. After all, this should be a good thing. Ss was just one person. He should be ecstatic that he basically got a free ride to the final round.


    Unfortunately, Ss had seen through him.


    This wasn''t a simple tournament where there would be two elimination rounds to crown a winner. Instead, depending on how things went, there could end up being multiple rounds where each team would do their best to umte points.


    Once this staircase event was through, there would be a sh, and then there would be four doors. These four doors would likewise be numbered from ''I'' to ''IV''.


    The first to win would receive priority in choosing your next round''s opponent. Meaning, if Vayu was matched up against Ss in the first round and cleared an easy victory, then he would be able to pick Ss again in the next round and secure an advantage all the way up.


    If he killed Ss, it would be even easier, because that would mean that he would have free reign all the way up to the final rounds where thergest and truest rewards would be.


    However, because Ss exposed him, things would be different.


    Because a loss didn''t necessarily mean elimination, Aerwyna and Brisa might choose to collude, allowing one or the other to gain victory so that they could be the ones to challenge Ss first.


    This wouldn''t be ideal for them, but it would even out the ying field. That was because whoever "lost" would then proceed to collude with Vayu, and then they''d switch over. So on and so forth.


    But if Vayu got there first, then it would be meaningless.


    Eventually, by the end of the rounds, they''d have an even distribution of points and they''d be right back to square one.


    At the start, they had all seen Ss'' number, so this could have been guessed... but it wasn''t until Ss pointed it out that they put two and two together.


    Before, Aerwyna and Brisa might have been slow on the uptake and chosen to fight it out. By then, Vayu would have already had an insurmountable advantage.


    But now, he had to go all out in hopes that he still managed to reach the doors first. Only then could he firmly suppress Aerwyna and Brisa.


    Due to a few words from Ss, the first round, which should have been more a leisurely feeling out process, actually ended up being a full sprint to the end. Victory might very well be decided right here and now.


    A solemn expression couldn''t help but mar Vayu''s handsome brows. He didn''t know how Ss had managed to deduce this, but it had put him in a terrible position.


    What he didn''t know was that it was impossible for Ss to deduce the intricacies of all these rules without someone exining it to him. Vayu could only me himself for having such stupid reasoning.


    Trying to enve Ss under the pretext that he would one day be their n''s subordinate made no sense.


    It was possible that Vayu might have seen Ss'' potential and wanted to enve him, but using such a rare Temte on a ve you wouldn''t even be able to control for at least another few years made no sense whatsoever.


    The moment Ss saw the Temte, he realized that his being enved should somehow help Vayu out in the here and now.


    Vayu had tried to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted to close up all potential loopholes, so he wanted for there to be no chance for Ss to reverse the situation.


    In the end, all Ss needed to know was this to expose him. He didn''t have to understand the details, he just had to vaguely understand what Vayu wanted and expose him on its merit. Then, Brisa and Aerwyna, who did know the intricacies of the rules, would be able to figure out the rest for themselves.


    As he had said... they werepetitors as well. He might be public enemy number one, but he wasn''t the only enemy.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    Now, Ss''petitors were burning through the stamina and reserves in ways they usually wouldn''t... while he was leisurely keeping up pace without expending nearly the same amount of energy.


    ...


    The second step and the third step were practically the same. The Level of the wolves didn''t change. Instead, the number of them, and the speed with which they spawned and recovered was greater. In addition, the second step spawned two wolves from the very beginning, while the third step spawned three, making it a bit trickier to handle.


    However, now that Ss knew what he was aiming for, he didn''t hesitate or pause. In fact, he only got better at dispersing and disrupting the Runes.


    He fused his Rune Soul control with his telekinesis, applying the same concepts he had learned during his battle with the snail in order to make his disruption sharper and more violent.


    His telekinesis seemed to give his Rune Soul control more substance, and it was then that Ss realized that Rune Soul was actually an application of his Charisma and probably scaled with the stat as well.


    When he realized this, hisprehension seemed to deepen and the fourth step was somehow even easier than the first despite the fact it now had Level 6 wolves.


    Ss charged


    all the way up until he cleared the ninth step.


    The world swirled around him and he found himself locked in a transparent barrier he wasn''t


    allowed to leave.


    But there was no one else around him.


    He had gotten here first.