[Max's POV]
After the smart trio left, I floated a little higher and again expanded my senses because last time I still didn't get the full picture. I felt a thin wall separating the number of players so that the whole 50 million doesn't mix into a single bunch. I kept spreading, but I didn't sense the end. I floated a little higher to have a better sight of the surroundings.
After a whole 5 minutes I finally felt I mapped something incomprehensible because even after actually visualizing, it was still mind-boggling; we were on a whole freaking tree.
It was a tree of unbelievable proportion; if I have to estimate its size and compare it to my memories, it was larger than earth itself. It was truly amazing, Arcanum Primafolia.
In this span of 10 minutes, I also observed something peculiar: players who were trying to collect leaves were not able to do so easily. Firstly, the leaf itself was large and around half of my height, and they felt stronger than any tree I had seen until now or even monster hides.
No one among all 50 million players has broken a single leaf. Some were on the verge of breaking it, but if it took 10 minutes to take up 1 single leaf, then within 60 minutes, everyone will be disqualified.
I also saw Fiona trying different methods to break the leaf instead of a single repetitive motion. It was good to see her adapt and not follow her peers around. I also marked one leaf and went towards it.
I took out Lamina; the sword hummed, happy to get out. I spoke, "How are you doing, Lamina? I know these few days have been less action, but we will get back on track; don't worry."
She vibrated, showing enthusiasm like a happy child. I added, "So, let's see why these leaves are so sturdy."
I coated the edges of Lamina with my mana; the edges shone with a whitish hue. I swung the sword in an upside-down arc, not too fast nor too slow. Lamina got stuck after reaching halfway; I was slightly surprised even after I observed everyone. Now I knew how sturdy that leaf stalk joint with the branch was.
I swung the sword in the same manner and same arc; the cutting distance halved this time. I just noted it and proceeded with the same swing with the same power; this time the cutting distance became a quarter of the first time.
"Hmm...so if I use the same method on leaves, the effectiveness reduces by half no matter the strength. Nice little challenge, System," I commented.
The stalk was still hanging along with the branch. This time I swung my sword diagonally with different strength, and the leaf came off nicely. I stored it in my inventory.
Vault-kun was slightly surprised to see a new leaf; he asked, "Sovereign, is there some quest to gather leaves? Otherwise, why would you store such leaves, even though they have high vitality but are still useless to you?"
"Yep, something like that. I am in a tournament, and this is the first phase," I answered his curiosity.
"Well, I'm waiting to see a trophy of some kind in inventory soon, Sovereign," Vault-kun commented.
I laughed slightly and replied, "You know me so well, Vault-kun."
I moved to the second leaf and this time used a sword made from the fire element with a rotating edge, which made it more like a saw. I struck the leaves again and changed the applying force every second, so the tree didn't get a chance to adapt itself to it.
The second leaf came off easily; watching me use fire, somebody got a bold idea and used a fire skill on the leaf. There was a blast, but not even a scratch on the leaf or even the branch around it, and after that new roots came out and entangled the player's leg, and he was stuck upside down.
I almost laughed out loud; I had observed such scenarios when mapping the tree, but it was still funny to watch it happen around me. Pure brute force also wouldn't work on this, otherwise I would have used my arsenal to uproot the whole branch.
I spread my senses again, and a few players had gotten the idea on how to work, so they were relentlessly working on collecting leaves. The PvP fights almost stopped, but some ignorant players were still on it.
When I reached the third leaf, I focused all my ice mana on my single finger and touched the base of the stalk. The whole stalk almost froze, then I used the fire saw again and collected the leaf; it was the easiest one yet.
I went on to use different elements in varying manners to collect a total of 9 leaves in about half an hour. After half the time passed, a few players were fighting again to collect leaves cut by others.
I asked the system, 'Will this work, system?'
[No, only players who cut their leaves themselves will be qualified]
'You know, you could have mentioned that in the information about phase 1.' I commented.
[Players would have to use their own presence of mind; this is a tournament, not a generic quest]
I nodded subconsciously and thought, 'Well, you are right about that.'
After collecting 9 leaves, I stopped and observed other players. I also contacted Fiona, and she also made good progress by collecting 6 leaves in half an hour. I didn't give her any clues or ideas that may disrupt her rhythm.
After watching for a few minutes, I collected the final leaf. As the leaf went into my inventory, I felt the pull of the system, but something else was also there. I vanished from my spot and appeared at the same place where I was when entering this bio-realm.
The system panel appeared before me.
[You have passed Phase One; wait for Phase One to finish for further information]
"I can't get any tips from the system?" I jokingly asked, already knowing the answer.
[No, the system must maintain fairness in such tournaments]
"Yup, knew it," I added.
I just sat down and closed my eyes and tried to relax. I focused on the happy memories of my life, which were only when I spent my time with Revanya.
I wanted to contact her and know how she is doing; it was the first time in almost 2 years that I was this far away from her. It was probably the same for her.
As always, I wasn't tired, so after a few minutes of reminiscing, I focused on my ongoing plan to merge all available elements to see if I could create something new, but it felt like I was still missing something.
Time passed quickly, as I felt players appearing beside me. I stood up from my position, waiting for further announcement about phase 2.
I saw the trio amidst all the players; they also saw me, and I can guess from the look in their eyes that they were trying hard to not tell everyone around them that they knew me. I just smiled and moved on.
As the one-hour time limit finished, the system panel appeared again.
[PHASE 1 | LEAF HUNT PROVING COMPLETE]
[10 million players qualified]
[All qualified players will be transported to arena for Phase 2]