Chapter 166: Give the Guild Master a Break

Rhodes asked, "By the way, why did you contact us specifically? Want to come for a fight?"

"Marcus just wanted to say hi to you," Worren replied.

"Oh, perfect, let's chat a bit more then," Rhodes suggested. "Kana and I are getting pretty bored here."

"Hey, this is an exam, not a camping trip!"

"Anyway, until we find the key and exit, we're just idling around."

Rhodes openly shared his "plot." "Besides, chatting lets me drain a bit of your magic power — makes it easier if we end up fighting you."

"..."

Worren disconnected.

Kana laughed, "You really are bad sometimes. Why did you have to say it out loud, though?"

"Just teasing him for fun. Besides, it was annoying having him eavesdropping all the time," Rhodes said. "Isn't there a way to block his scanning?"

"Besides distance, I don't know of any way to block telepathic magic," Kana thought for a moment and added, "But I've heard that if someone has stronger telepathic magic, they can 'invade' or even 'hijack' another person's telepathic connection."

So this could be "hacked" to mess around or take control? It sounded more and more like network communication.

About twenty minutes later...

Rhodes's eyes lit up, and Kana exclaimed in surprise, "Found it!"

"How did you know?" Rhodes had just noticed that one of the Shadow Wolves had unsummoned itself.

That was the signal for finding the key and completing the exchange. Although he didn't know the exact location, a wolf or a Crimson Beak Bird should bring the item soon.

"I meant, I found it." Kana took a few steps for a running start, then used a foothold on the rock wall to leap up, climbing into a man-made cave.

"It's here!" Kana held up the key to show Rhodes — it was identical to the one the guild master had shown earlier.

"Double the good news," Rhodes said. "So should I... take the other key to the exit and sell it to Worren and Marcus?"

Kana was in a great mood after finding the key. "Sure, I'll help negotiate the price for you. Half of the extra earnings can be my drinking money."

Rhodes was tempted for a moment. "Better not, let's give the guild master a break."

Rhodes unsummoned all of the monsters except for the River Crabs, letting the key randomly drop somewhere.

Let's see who gets lucky.

The two casually strolled towards the exit. Whenever they encountered an obstacle that couldn't be bypassed, they simply climbed over it.

When they reached the exit, they discovered that one of the three had already been sealed.

"They were faster than us." Rhodes checked the vision from the remaining River Crab.

"Miki and Joey haven't found a key yet... but it looks like they're about to fight with Worren and Marcus. That means Mest was probably first."

"It was likely Wang Qiangji's work. When his arm transforms into the Iron Hound, he can use its sense of smell too." Kana hugged their big key and looked at the sealed exit. "I wonder who they'll face."

"Forget about them for now, let's get ourselves ready." Rhodes also unsummoned the River Crab that had been following Miki, then sat down on the ground to recover his magic power.

"Right, makes sense." Kana also sat down, recalling the results of their training and the battle plans for each opponent.

The first stage went smoothly; surely, the second stage would be just as smooth?

Once Rhodes's magic power was fully restored, two figures emerged from the maze — Worren and Marcus.

Worren had a key similar to theirs tucked under his arm, and his other arm was resting on Marcus's shoulder.

Both had wounds on their faces and dust on their clothes.

Rhodes grinned. "Hey, looks like you guys got beat up pretty badly."

Despite their injuries, Worren and Marcus weren't disheartened at all. Worren forced a smile, though it seemed to pull at his wounds, causing his mouth to twitch. "Anyway, we won!"

"You two in this state, can you even participate in the second stage?" Kana had recently been influenced a bit by Rhodes.

Sometimes, when she felt she wasn't at full strength or had insufficient magic power, she lacked confidence. But the symptoms weren't too bad — with a little thought, she could still make the same decisions as usual.

Still, given Worren and Marcus's current condition, no matter how she looked at it, things didn't seem promising for the second stage.

Worren said, "We've made it this far; no way are we stopping now."

"That's right. We'll hold on a bit longer, and maybe we'll succeed soon." Marcus looked at Rhodes and Kana. "As I said before, don't underestimate us!"

"I definitely can't underestimate you," Rhodes nodded thoughtfully. "So, the best move would be to take you down right now."

Worren was startled. "Hey, hey! Didn't you already get a key? No need to take advantage of us now, right?"

"Just kidding," Rhodes laughed. "This is the pre-test stress-relief stage. Shall we head out?"

"Yeah." Kana took a deep breath. Just hold on a bit longer? She wasn't sure if she could keep going if she failed again this time...

No, this time they were definitely going to succeed.

She carried the key over to one of the exits, then gave Rhodes a confirming look.

Rhodes nodded — they had looked at both of the remaining exits for quite a while, and there didn't seem to be any difference between them.

At a time like this, they could only trust Kana's intuition — hadn't she said they'd have good fortune today?

Kana lifted the key but hesitated before putting it into the magic circle. She turned and went to the other exit, inserting the key there.

The key melted into the magic circle, disappearing, as ripples spread out at the exit like water.

The two of them exchanged glances, encouraging each other, then walked in side by side.

Worren and Marcus craned their necks to watch, but couldn't see anything. The exit was soon sealed by stones rolling in from both sides.

"I wonder who they'll encounter."

"Should we ask using telepathy?"

Worren shook his head. "Better not. If we interfere with the exam, Kana will kill us."

After a moment, Marcus stood up. "Alright, we've rested enough. Let's continue!"

Worren nodded. "Yeah, we can't fall too far behind them."

The two entered the final exit, and a flash of crimson armor appeared before their eyes.

When they finally made out who was wearing the armor, they both stammered, "E-Erza!"

Among the three S-Class wizards serving as examiners this time, Erza might not be the strongest, but she was definitely the one they feared most.

For no other reason than that they had taken too many beatings from her in the past.

If it had been one of the other two, they might have rolled up their sleeves and charged in, but with Erza, just seeing her made their legs tremble.

Erza smiled at them. "I've been waiting for you two. Next, I'll explain the rules.

Then, prepare yourselves to fight me with all your might. I'll be giving my absolute best, and I won't hold back at all!"

Worren and Marcus clung to each other, "Noooo!!!"