"Is that mask guy also a Desperator?" The Machine Heart shook his head and sighed, pondering why a student like Grimm had such inconceivable powers.
The Machine Heart's skin had been shredded, and his machine tail and arm had been sabotaged and did not function momentarily. He was exasperated and shouted from the distance:
"Grimm, I'm expecting to see you where the third mirrors are dropped!" As the Machine Heart's voice halted, the disk lying on the ground was sucked up through the forest and came to him.
At the battleground, the pillars supporting the altar had disappeared, and people excluding Grimm's team had taken flight and ran off into the night.
Lefay put the Hurricane arrow back into her sheath. She had used this second arrow to call the bluff. That was one of the reasons why the Machine Heart took to his heels.
"We are completely safe now! We do not have to be afraid of the Desperators from other academies now." Lefay thrilled as she took the bead from Robin.
The rest of Grimm's team converged around Lefay, with their wide open eyes, staring at the bead.
"My goodness! I bet it contains more than 100 points energy!" Chris cried out.
"Yeah, there is that much power in the bead, and the Desperators are not gonna mess with us unless they have to," Grimm replied.
Now the group had been relieved. They searched for a more secluded place and set up a tent for rest.
The next morning's sun rose. The team went outside the tent to enjoy the fresh air that belonged exclusively to forests.
Lefay rested her head on Grimm's shoulder and said lightly:
"I was thinking about your suggestion last night. I still think it's too dangerous."
"What's dangerous?" Chris turned about and looked serious. "We have the bead now. What would be a danger to us?"
"It's...it's about the third mirror release. I wanna get it." Grimm stuttered, yet his voice was resolved.
"But why? We've got the bead and that alone will keep us off from any sh*t." Chris doubted Grimm's presence of mind.
The other team members aimed surprised looks at Grimm. The ambience became depressing. Seeing this, Lefay cut in before Chris could respond.
"Grimm. You will put us in great peril! I know you helped a lot in getting this bead. But you're not supposed to do that, to risk the team's life. The third mirrors were meant for the Desperators."
These blunt remarks caused a sharp twinge in Grimm's heart.
"Okay." Grimm returned a short reply and went back into the tent.
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the 20th day of the test. Right in the middle of the test ground, seven, huge, weird pillars broke the ground and rose high into the air gradually.
Almost at the same time, a blast of energy waves traversed through the forest. Tall trees curved and grass plunged as the waves passed along.
It was the seven Desperators who were heading for the pillars. The third "batch" of mirror had been delivered by those sorcerers who had been overseeing the test outside of the forest.
Unlike the prior two batches, there was only one mirror as an award. The first arrival—the stick as the award—had 100, and the second arrival—the bead as the prize—had ten. So the only mirror trophy attracted the seven Desperators to it.
The three Desperators from the Black Isotta—the Golden Sighted (Brianna), the Distorted(Kyrie) and the Immortal (Solumn)—were stationed together in front of the pillars. There was also the Sun Child, who was once being chased by Kyrie, Brianna and Solumn together, the Machine Heart and the Phantom Thief, the one who had stolen the Moon Chirper by hiding in the tree. The last one was the Charmer.
The Sun Child turned out to be a girl, and as her name implied, she carried with her fiery energy. Maybe because of that, she was wearing an outfit that covered as little of her body as possible. The Sun Child was said to be the best among the seven Desperators. And she indeed looked overbearing. When she moved, her energy waves given out from her forehead chain could be felt from beyond 300 meters.
The seven of them exchanged glances. Each was on high alert for attacks from the others while taking care to not to be the initiator of a great war.
Brianna looked terrible. She diverted her attention from that arrogant Sun Child and inquired Kyrie.
"Kyrie, about the masked guy you mentioned, do you really think he was as good as us?"
By "us", Brianna meant the Desperators. Being fawned upon as one of the Desperators for long, she had been used to and even developed a taste for that title.
Brianna's doubt was met with a firm nod, although it was Kyrie's mouse that did it. The next moment, Kyrie said.
"If you were saying defense power, he's as good as us. That Sun Child couldn't do anything about him."
Brianna was relieved for a second because she was thinking of teaming up with Grimm. But moments later, she hesitated.
"So we would have another adversary in the Seven Rings tryout?"
"Nah, I don't think so. He's good because he has that Magical Tool—that mask of his. He won't get a Tool better than that."
Solumn was also negative about Grimm taking part in the tryout.
"His mentor shouldn't have given him such a fancier tool allowing for his student status. He's only a third year student! And he used it all the time! Even if he could make it out of this test, he would be punished, and that punishment, I'm sure, would disqualify him for the tryout."
Hearing two of her partners saying this, Brianna's worries lessened. Yet her heart was still disturbed by that masked man. It was just a feeling, though.
"So, we might team up with him—that masked man? That Sun Child was a difficult person!" Brianna asked the two men.
"She just has the biggest offense points. There are other things to consider when in a fight. That Phantom Thief could contend with her for sure!" Kyrie was defiant of the allegedly best fighter in this forest.
The Sun Child was watching as the Black Isotta Desperators were discussing. She sneered to herself.
"Humph, you've got the mask man, huh?" The Sun Child made a fire in her hand and started playing with it.
