[Ariel POV]
We were deep inside the forest of the island.
Ahead of me, Brian was chasing three students who had managed to get ahead of us and claim several crystal stones.
"Get back here, you cowards!" Brian shouted as he leaped onto one of the tree branches.
He jumped from tree to tree, trying to catch up with the three students who were desperately fleeing.
Suddenly, I felt a powerful gust of wind from behind me.
I turned around and saw Valeria extending her hand toward the three students.
A Shockwave burst from her palm and shot forward, knocking down a massive tree in their path.
"Damn it! Our escape route is blocked!"
The students were trapped.
"Take them down now, Brian!" Valeria ordered.
"Of course!"
Brian immediately leaped toward the three trapped students.
"Take this—Sunlight Fury!"
A brilliant yellow light gathered around Brian's hand.
He thrust his palm forward, sending the concentrated light shooting toward one of the students. The attack struck him directly.
"Damn it! Take him down!"
The two remaining students immediately attacked Brian after he landed.
However, Brian easily evaded their attacks.
"Attacks this slow won't even come close to hitting me!"
He spun around and kicked one of the students directly in the face with a Flying Kick.
The student was sent flying before crashing hard against a tree, instantly losing consciousness.
A magic circle appeared around his body before swallowing him whole.
I suppose his Limiter had activated and automatically teleported him back to the main ship.
"No way…"
Seeing that all of his teammates had been defeated, the remaining student dropped to his knees in despair.
"How is this fair?! Why did the best Healer, Wizard, and Knight all end up on the same team?!"
He looked at us with desperation.
"What team could possibly defeat you at this stage?!"
His body was suddenly thrown backward as Valeria used wind magic to knock him unconscious.
Once the three students had been eliminated, Brian collected the six yellow crystals and one blue crystal they had obtained.
"With these added to our previous haul, our team now has thirty points!" Brian exclaimed excitedly.
There were four types of crystals that could be collected during the examination.
The first was the yellow crystal, the most common type scattered throughout the island. Each one was worth one point.
The second was the blue crystal, which was slightly more difficult to find. Each one was worth four points.
The third was the green crystal, which was considerably rarer. Each one was worth ten points.
And finally, there was the red crystal, of which only ten existed across the entire island. Each one was worth an astonishing fifty points.
Yesterday, on the first day of the examination, Brian, Valeria, and I had focused on establishing a basecamp and locating a source of water on the island.
We didn't immediately begin searching for crystals.
Our team prioritized securing a strategic position that could serve as the center of our operations throughout the seven-day examination.
"The sun is about to set. We'd better head back to our basecamp," Brian suggested as he looked toward the darkening sky.
"Yeah. Let's go back."
[Raul POV]
I was walking through the forest in the middle of the night.
Earlier, I had ordered the two members of my team to rest during the day and take shifts at night, keeping watch and warning us whenever another group of students approached.
"Captain, why are we operating in the middle of the night like this?" asked a short man with brown hair.
His name was Piers Morgan, one of the members of the Disciplinary Committee who had joined my team for the first stage of the survival examination.
"Just follow me, Piers. I'll show you something that will become a valuable experience for you."
I then glanced at the woman accompanying us.
She had fiery red hair and crimson eyes that resembled precious rubies.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
She was Scarlett de Jimena, the twin sister of Geralt de Jimena.
Scarlett is one of the NPCs in the game who will play an important role in Chapter Four. Players can also marry her in the game, in addition to the five main heroines.
Yes, *Path of Destiny* has a Harem feature.
It was one of the conditions proposed by our investors before they agreed to finance the game's development. According to them, a game with a Harem feature would attract more male players.
Honestly, I didn't want to add such a feature.
But if I remained too idealistic about it, our game would never be completed quickly enough.
"We've arrived."
I stopped walking when I spotted another team's basecamp.
Five students were sleeping soundly, while the remaining two were standing guard.
It seemed that several teams had already begun cooperating or forming alliances.
That made them an ideal target.
"All right. Listen carefully, you two."
I motioned for Scarlett and Piers to come closer.
"Piers, you're going to make a disturbance around their basecamp. Understood?"
"I understand, Captain. But why go through all the trouble of waking them up instead of simply attacking while they're vulnerable?"
Piers had a good point.
There was a reason I had ordered Piers and Scarlett to rest during the day and operate exclusively at night.
During the day, the students still had plenty of strength and energy.
But by nighttime, their stamina would already be depleted from searching for crystals and fighting other teams.
"First, take a good look around their basecamp."
I pointed toward several trees not far from their camp.
"Huh? Isn't that a Rune?"
Piers looked surprised.
"They've set up magical traps around the area."
"Exactly. Attacking them directly would be troublesome with that many traps surrounding their basecamp."
I explained why his idea wouldn't be effective.
"Your job is to make enough noise to disrupt their sleep. If they chase after you, lead them into our ambush. But if they refuse to pursue you, keep disturbing them with whatever noise you can make."
Yes.
This was psychological warfare.
The goal was to destroy their mental state by preventing them from getting a proper night's rest after spending the entire day fighting and exhausting themselves.
"I understand, Captain."
I then looked toward Scarlett.
"You and I will attack the members left behind. If they maintain a tight formation, use your fire magic to break them apart. Once their formation collapses, I'll take care of the rest."
Scarlett simply nodded.
From the beginning, Scarlett had never been the talkative type.
She usually expressed what she was thinking through her actions instead.
"All right. Move, Piers."
Following my command, Piers approached the enemy basecamp.
He began shouting and repeatedly smashing two rocks together to create as much noise as possible.
The two guards immediately began searching for the source of the disturbance.
They appeared to be discussing something with each other.
But Piers only shouted louder.
Then, to my surprise, he began singing a song in an absolutely terrible voice.
Several students inside the camp woke up.
They asked the two guards what was happening.
One of them looked furious and was about to charge toward Piers, but his companions stopped him.
They seemed to realize that Piers was deliberately trying to lure them out.
Eventually, the entire team ignored him and attempted to return to sleep.
Seeing that his efforts had failed, Piers glanced toward me as if asking:
What should I do now?
I gave him a meaningful hand signal.
Piers nodded.
He understood what I meant.
"Look at this pathetic team! Every single one of you is nothing but a bunch of cowardly chickens!"
The members of the enemy team began paying attention to Piers again.
However, they still refused to leave their camp.
"You useless idiots! Look at that disgusting hairstyle of yours! You look as stupid as a chicken's ass!"
After saying that, Piers pulled down his pants and deliberately exposed his backside to the enemy team.
"You stupid, weird-haired idiot! If I had hair like yours, I'd rather kill myself and die!"
Piers began shaking his hips, continuing to provoke one particular student.
"You bastard! How dare you insult the hairstyle my mother likes! I'll kill you!"
The man finally snapped.
He jumped to his feet and charged toward Piers, unable to tolerate the insults any longer.
"Wait, Jaden! Don't fall for it!"
His companions attempted to stop him.
"I don't care! No one lives after insulting my hair!"
Piers immediately ran.
Four members of the enemy team chased after him.
I glanced toward Scarlett.
She nodded, understanding exactly what I wanted her to do.
Scarlett and I moved into position.
Two of the remaining students eventually caught up with the others.
The man with the ridiculous hairstyle was leading the pursuit, while his companions maintained a formation to protect one another.
"Hah! Someone with a stupid hair like yours will never catch me!"
Piers continued taunting the unfortunate man.
"I'll kill you, bastard!"
The man activated Acceleration, dramatically increasing his speed.
Meanwhile, I saw Scarlett muttering an incantation as she extended her hand toward the formation pursuing Piers.
"Fire Ball!"
A blazing sphere of fire appeared before her palm before shooting toward the enemy group.
I immediately began running, preparing to ambush them.
BOOM!
The fireball struck directly in the middle of their formation, forcing every member to scatter in order to avoid the blast.
Seeing my opportunity, I activated Acceleration and dashed toward one of their Healers.
I launched a Flying Knee directly into her head.
Her body was thrown backward, leaving her unconscious.
"No, Windy!" one of the students shouted angrily after seeing their Healer eliminated.
Without wasting any time, I targeted the next opponent.
I stomped against the ground and launched myself toward another student who was still stunned by what had just happened.
My fist slammed into his chin.
"So it's you, you filthy noble!"
The man immediately charged toward me, throwing a right hook.
I dodged his attack, grabbed his right arm, and slammed him into the ground using a Judo technique I had once seen on social media.
"Argh!"
As I was about to eliminate him, a flash of light suddenly appeared from the corner of my vision.
I immediately moved aside.
Swoosh!
A Magic Arrow flew past my face.
"Damn it! I missed!"
The Wizard cursed in frustration.
I immediately rushed toward him.
His expression quickly changed from frustration to panic.
"Radical Blow!"
Light gathered around my right fist.
I slammed it into the Wizard's stomach with tremendous force.
Blood spilled from his mouth as his body was thrown backward.
A magic circle appeared beneath him before swallowing his body whole.
He had been eliminated and teleported back to the main ship.
I then looked toward Piers.
He was cornered by two members of the enemy team.
"I'll make you regret insulting my hair!"
The man raised his fist, preparing to strike Piers, who was already struggling to evade.
"Got you—"
BAM!
Before he could complete his attack, Scarlett appeared beside him and slammed a flaming fist into his face.
She didn't stop there.
Scarlett spun around and delivered a Spinning Kic* to the chest of the last standing enemy, sending him flying backward.
"Thanks, Scarlett. You saved me."
Piers struggled to get back on his feet.
Scarlett simply nodded in response.
"Damn it… We fell right into the trap you set," the man I had slammed into the ground muttered as he struggled to stand.
He was the only one left.
"Piers, do you want to be the one to eliminate him? You haven't taken down a single student this time."
I offered him the chance to claim the final elimination.
"Well… If you're allowing me to, Captain, I'd be happy to."
Piers slowly approached the remaining student.
"Don't underestimate me!"
The man charged toward Piers.
His right fist began glowing.
He was using Temper to strengthen his punch.
Piers remained calm.
His own right hand began glowing as he activated Temper as well.
The two rushed toward each other and threw their punches simultaneously.
"ARGHH!"
The enemy student screamed in pain.
The light surrounding his fist disappeared.
Piers then drove his fist directly into the man's face, sending him crashing into a tree.
A magic circle appeared around his body before swallowing him whole.
"Good job, Piers!"
I gave him a thumbs-up.
After defeating the group, we headed toward their basecamp to collect the crystals they had gathered.