62~Bait
“Everyone, get ready! Time waits for no one. We’re going after them!” As soon as they landed and before anyone could stabilize, Aileen usurped the role of the team’s nominal captain, the Male, and began barking orders to the entire team.
“Aileen, we’ve barely been in this secret realm for a couple of seconds, and the dizziness hasn’t even worn off. Let’s give everyone a moment to rest. Also, consider this: it’s not only us tracking Tillysha’s team. The teams chasing Tillysha are bound to run into other teams. A chaotic battle would be bad for us…” the Male within Aileen’s team voiced his thoughts, only to be met with Aileen’s derisive snort.
“My dear Male, aren’t you being a little too timid? Standing here giving a speech as if you’ll be charging ahead like a hero in a moment.”
“I…”
“The Male only needs to stay back. Whether it’s a surprise attack or a frontal assault, we’ll handle it. You don’t have to worry about these things. Just stay behind and share intelligence with us.” Aileen’s words were simple. They meant that they’d recruited him out of respect, but he shouldn’t genuinely consider himself the captain. Since he wasn’t even going to take action, he shouldn’t be pointing fingers at them.
“…I understand.” In response to Aileen’s ‘power grab,’ the young Male sighed and helplessly nodded.
This brief exchange established that during this secret realm competition, Aileen held the most say in what was done. She would give the orders, not the nominal “captain” Male.
“Alright, people, we don’t have time to waste. We can’t let perfectly good spoils go unclaimed.” Aileen licked her lips and took out the token. The entire team input a single number: 30.
Two inconspicuous red dots immediately appeared on the token.
“Come with me. Let’s go full speed ahead. We can’t let anyone else get ahead of us!” Aileen effectively became the team’s commander, completely sidelining the Male.
This was normal, though. In their team, one was Aileen’s little lackey, and another her classmate. Naturally, no one would listen to the Male.
“Hey, wait…” Watching as the three surged forward, getting farther and farther away from him, the Male was utterly dejected.
These three had clearly ignored him. What could the Male, whose physical constitution was merely average, possibly do to catch up with the godly fighters?
It was forbidden for a disconnect like this to happen within a team.
A Male without protection was dangerous; without the Male’s support, a godly fighter was equally dangerous.
This was complete and utter recklessness.
The Male had no words to express his frustration, unable to understand what kind of teammates he ended up with.
Yet, no matter how dejected, the competition had to go on. Thus, he trudged forward to catch up with his teammates who had already vanished.
Meanwhile, on a small hillock…
The light breeze lifted the silk-like tresses of the blonde girl. One hand on her waist, the other resting by her dress, her emerald-like pupils surveyed the landscape below her. With the superior vision of an Elf, she could easily see all the details over the vast open meadow.
The butterfly hairpin by her temple released a streak of blue light as her gaze sparkled.
The Divine Analysis Technique, activated.
In but a breath, the rustling shrubs and leaves in the forest, the insects crawling around tree roots, every tiny detail escaped her not.
This was not solely from the Divine Analysis Technique but from her own perception.
Tillysha had a high affinity with nature. When in the forest, every blade of grass, every flower and tree was her eyes and ears. Using these, she deliberately released a full-spectrum Divine Analysis Technique across the forest.
Soon, several unexpected guests entered the forest.
One of these teams chasing her was identified as number 13, the other as 22.
After crudely capturing the information of these two teams with the Divine Analysis Technique, Tillysha deactivated it.
Her spirit power wouldn’t support her using it for too long. A quick glance was sufficient.
Tillysha raised her hands, closed her eyes, and lightly balanced on her tiptoes, sensing the feedback from nature with her heart. The gentle breeze played with the ends of her hair, like wheat, golden and trailing down to her knees like a swaying tail.
Closer now, less than a hundred meters away.
Tillysha opened her eyes, her olive gemstone-like eyes locked onto the “bait” she had set below.
You should never underestimate others’ intelligence. To attract a fish, bait is necessary. At the very least, it gave these fledgling students a signal that their surprise attack had succeeded.
As for what the bait was…
Tillysha crouched down silently and turned her eyes on ‘Dillin’ running towards her direction.
Setting the puppet into follow mode, Tillysha ran away with all her might, maintaining a pace where the puppet could never catch up.
The purpose of this, naturally, was to create an illusion for the teams arriving here. The illusion being: this misfortunate blind Male had been abandoned by his godly companion.
Which, factually speaking, was accurate. This puppet was not the real Dillin. Being a hindrance, it was only logical to use it as disposable strategic material.
Tillysha, hiding on the hilltop, wasn’t worried about being discovered. The forest was her natural ‘partner’ and shield; the most they could do was locate her general position via the red dot.
Just as Tillysha had predicted, after seeing the escaping ‘Dillin,’ both teams rejoiced. They checked their tokens and noticed another red dot at a considerable distance from Dillin.
It was crystal clear. This Male had been abandoned by his own godly companion.
Whichever team could capture this point first would have an advantage that would make their team’s elimination unlikely at the very least.
But the question arose: their Males weren’t amateurs. Upon sensing Dillin’s presence, they also sensed the presence of the other team.
Both Males hesitated, pondering whether it was wise to engage in a fight over the spoils. If more teams arrived, and they were occupied with internal quarrels, wouldn’t that give those other teams an upper hand?
Although the fleeing godly companion, who left her Male behind, posed no real threat alone, they couldn’t ignore this possibility.
Compared to other professions, Males could consider more perspectives and foresee further into the future — which is why team leaders and commanders were typically Males.
Regrettably, they ignored a single point: the team wasn’t only composed of one Male, and the entire team wasn’t strictly led by one person either.
Sometimes instinct and reason diverge in a person. Reason tells the body not to act, yet the body follows instinct anyway.
Adding the lack of coordination in novice teams, the chaotic scene unfolded.
A godly companion from each team rushed forward without waiting for their Male’s command, excitement lighting up their faces as they chased after the fleeing Dillin.
(Realized too late that dinner with a friend went way too long, and I forgot to update. So, gomenasai… 0.0)
