Chapter 92

The Masters rolled their eyes at the disciple's and his masters' audacity, and then shook their heads, realizing it was already too late for the boy. He had been completely tainted by the shamelessness of his masters.

"Hahaha, it seems you've made a great contribution to the order, Erik. Make sure to stop by the meeting room later for a reward,"

The guards and the present Masters turned to look at the Director who exclaimed amid laughter, with an expression that seemed to say, 'Are you really going to play along with this?'. Although this was only the case for the Masters, the guards barely had the courage to look directly at the director, let alone dare to make faces at him.

"Oh, well, it was just something normal for me, as the honest member of the order that I am, but if the director wishes to reward me, I won't refuse". Erik commented without a hint of shame, with a serious expression.

"Hahaha, it's just normal when one makes a great contribution to the order. That boy had been causing trouble lately because his master made a significant breakthrough, so this event is a perfect reason to teach both him and his master, who has been playing dumb about reporting his advancement"

The Director spoke amid laughter, but the sharp look in his eyes did not go unnoticed by the present Masters. Who listened in surprise about the rise of a new Master in the order, As it was the second in less than 100 years, something unprecedented, even in the factions with a long history.

"Oh, so that's why that idiot thought he could kidnap people in broad daylight with impunity..." Erik looked pityingly at the young man in a pitiful state in the center of the hallway, almost as if he were looking at a terminally ill patient on the verge of death.

"And who did the idiot want to kidnap, Erik?" Sigrún asked, smiling satisfied with Erik's perfect appearance, to which he pointed to the siblings, who were trying with all their might to play dead alongside Olivia.

"My assistants, can you believe it?"

"What a fool, but don't worry, we'll settle the score with his master after they send his idiot disciple to jail for a while," Eleonora nodded, thinking of ways to play with the idiot who raised such a disciple.

"That's not necessary, the guilty one is that idiot, just follow the normal process, there's no need to go to such lengths," Erik commented calmly, elegantly sipping from his tea cup.

"By the way, Erik, why did you give the guards the healing pills and mana crystals?" The Director asked curiously, looking at the guards who were sweating coldly, rooted in their place, not even daring to breathe.

"Ah, that's because to catch him I had to hit the youths, whom the idiot was blackmailing to follow his orders. So it's something for them to heal their injuries and a little compensation for the psychological damage caused by the idiot. After all, I felt it was my duty as an honest member of the order to dispense justice and compensate them for their misfortune."

(Sure, of course, it's just for that reason and not because you want to avoid a collective lawsuit…)

The same thought crossed the minds of both the guards and the Masters, although only the latter dared to reveal it in their expressions.

"Hehe, you really are an example of an honest member of the order, you truly deserve a reward". The Director commented amid laughter, while in his mind he almost superimposed the image of Erik with those of Sigrún and Eleonora offering him one of their 'business opportunities'.

"Of course, I wouldn't dare to contradict the director and will humbly accept."

"Hehe, I like your 'humility'," the Director commented with a smile, emphasizing the last word, to which Erik replied without changing his expression.

"It comes naturally to me."

"Hahahaha, well, we'll talk later," the Director turned to look at the guards and continued, "Well, get the surveillance footage and send it to the court, meanwhile, take the injured to the infirmary."

"Yes, sir!!!"

The Director looked back at Erik and commented, "But we'll still need an eyewitness other than the complainant."

Hearing the Director, Olivia raised her hand tremblingly, dead with fear, but filled with courage at the thought that she couldn't cower when her cookie prince needed her help. Or she wouldn't be able to live with the shame.

"Oh, will you serve as a witness?"

"Y-yes, Director, I was present from the beginning of the incident and can testify that what direct disciple Erik says is true."

"That's good, then I hope you can attend the court summons."

"Y-yes, sir."

"Well, it seems this event is over, let's return to the meeting room."

The present Masters nodded to the Director and disappeared from the place in a flash, followed shortly by the Director after saying,

"Then we'll see you later, Erik."

"It will be a pleasure, Director."

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The last few months had not been easy for Liliana, for a pampered lady raised in wealth, living on an uninhabited planet had not been easy, despite having everything necessary to survive in such an environment in her storage rings. From a portable shelter to automatic cooking artifacts, it was still a torment for her to face nature for the first time.

But her already bad situation of living on an uninhabited planet in the middle of nowhere was brutally worsened thanks to her hateful 'younger brother', Erik. The first time she saw him again after being teleported on the first day of the tournament, the idiot was making a scene around the column of light that appeared out of nowhere. Drawing the attention of most participants and monsters on the planet. As if he owned the place, Erik was at an elegant table, drinking tea and eating cookies, with his dragon spirit surrounding him along with his wolves, acting like some kind of boss or something.

But what worsened her already difficult situation was what her 'younger brother' did that day. Just before the column of light dimmed, her idiot younger brother used some kind of artifact and shot off, stealing the staff in the center of the column of light in front of all the other participants. They were outraged by his brazen actions and wanted to take revenge, but the problem was that after that day, no one could find him. So they ended up taking it out on those around him, or in other words, her, Elara, and Zoe.

Although no one dared to cross the line, after all, they were still proud direct disciples under the protection of respected Masters. They still made sure to chase them by land, sea, and air to try to find information about Erik, and maybe eliminate them from the tournament in the process as retaliation.

The pressure exerted by the other participants on them was so great that the three had no choice but to form a team and hide for almost a month. That was the time it took for a new column of light to appear, which greatly relieved the pressure they felt, but it didn't disappear completely, and they had to continue being very careful.

Due to the persecution they faced thanks to Erik, the three decided not to show up during the second appearance of the column of light, as they knew they would be attacked from all sides. They only began to actively participate in the tournament again from the fourth appearance, when the situation had calmed down significantly.

Since the start of the tournament, about 9 months had passed, with a new column of light appearing approximately every month. After Erik, the next to obtain the staff was a disciple quite recognized in the order, who was close to turning 300 years old and was already at the fifth rank of the Revealed level.

The problem was that shortly after, unlike Erik, who hadn't been seen since that day, the boy reappeared 15 days later, with the staff in hand. From there on, the tournament turned into a team battle royale. Thanks to the disciple who returned with the staff, it was discovered that the staff was a key and that inside the palaces there were another nine special treasures that guaranteed a spot for the expedition to the ruin.

Moreover, something of great importance that was learned shortly after was that each person who had a staff had the option to leave with the spot or stay to search for the palace full of treasures that would crown them as the tournament champion.

From that point, groups of 10 members formed everywhere, each led by a strong leader who had to secure the staff, creating massive group battles for the staffs. This meant that the younger and therefore weaker participants were forced to create larger groups to try to survive by compensating strength with numbers. However, if by chance they managed to obtain one, they often lost it quickly due to internal fights over deciding who would keep the staff.