That last detail didn't escape Vael's ears. Even though he was in the middle of killing a first stage beast that looked like a mix between a bear and a butterfly, he heard the name clearly.
"Natela?"
Between the endless training, and the endless training, Vael hadn't had time to visit the church as he would've liked.
As Davy had mentioned, Natela was a Goddess, but was she the only one worshipped, or did her attributes have something to do with luck?
Vael dismissed the thought with a mental shrug. Not relevant now. The information could wait.
The beast collapsed, its insectoid legs folding unnaturally as it slumped into the underbrush. Spatial magic made quick work of most creatures—one precise blink behind it, a single dagger thrust through the chitin at the base of its skull. Clean. Efficient.
As if sensing his curiosity, a translucent blue screen flickered to life before him:
**TIME REMAINING:** 47.59.47
**POINT SYSTEM:**
Stage 0: 10 pts
Stage 1: 50 pts
Stage 2: 100 pts
Stage 3: 350 pts
Stage 4: 600 pts
**CURRENT POINTS:** 50
**RANKINGS:**
Vael's name, or, rather, Serpes, sat at the twentieth place, though the listings shifted constantly as others scored kills. 'Elana' was conspicuously absent—not even in the top hundred.
"Odd..." he muttered.
1,189 participants remained. For now.
A mental command dissolved the display. Two objectives crystallized in his mind:
1. Find Kiera.
2. Paint the forest red with anything that moved.
Without waiting any further, he moved. Towards his next victim. Beast or otherwise.
The forest offered no shortage of prey.
Ten seconds into his hunt, Vael blinked behind a second-stage raven the size of a wolf. His dagger found its spine before wings could fully spread. The kill barely registered.
A minute later, his boots scuffed against gravel as he faced his first human mark—some noble whelp trembling in embroidered silks. The boy babbled about wasted effort, about having no points to steal.
Vael's blade cut the plea short. The noble's head hit the dirt before his knees did. When the corpse vanished instead of reforming, the truth clicked—this fool had already burned both lives on the fall.
A grin split Vael's face. The real contenders wouldn't hide. They'd paint the forest red, stacking points fast enough to make the rankings bleed.
High risk. High reward.
A flick of his wrist summoned the screen. 160 points. The noble kill only brought in 10 points, even if the victim had none to offer.
Not much, but there was more to life than points. It was the little things that counted.
No regrets. Only the next target.
The pain had dulled to a manageable throb after an hour or two of forced stillness. Kiera remained motionless in the oak's hollow, listening.
Beasts passed within arm's reach—snuffling, twitching, but never discovering her. Their senses had to be dulled; no predator would miss this much blood otherwise.
Human footsteps came next. Several candidates paused at the crimson trail leading to her tree, then moved on. They probably assumed she had disintegrated already, and didn't bother searching too carefully.
Her fingers twitched toward the mana screen floating in her vision. 'Serpes' flickered between the rankings like a blade—twentieth to fifth in minutes, his points climbing to 1,350 while the leader boasted 2,100.
Her own tally? Zero.
*Not for long.*
Testing her limbs, she found the worst injuries knitted enough for combat. Only her mana reserves posed a problem—that desperate landing had drained her.
No matter.
Kiera dropped from the branches soundlessly, her shadow already stretching toward the nearest pulse of movement. The hunt began.