The First Shift (2), Dangerous Man

The atmosphere was tense.

Hidden behind the back row, Bruce swept his gaze across the entire field. He glanced at the tall trees, seeing multiple silhouettes perched on top.

Three standing on the top of the trees and five from the ground. Excluding their group, he immediately deduced.

They were facing two teams.

The question was: were the two teams allied together?

The answer came as quickly as the wind blew.

The white-haired, obnoxious man who shouted "Natasha Raven!" earlier—suddenly struck the person closest to him.

The person was instantly blown away by the force of his attack, crashing against the trees.

Bam!

'I guess they're not together then.'

Bruce thought, shaking his head. Then again, even if they were together, nothing would've changed.

Compared to Team 12, these people... they weren't strong at all.

The white-haired man, Maximilian Frost, slowly made his way to Natasha with a large grin on his face.

"Natasha! Oh, my dear Natasha!"

Natasha flinched, feeling weirded out. She glared at Maximilian—pointing her Black Scythe towards him.

"... Who are you?"

Maximilian froze on his steps. He lowered his head, murky shadows covering his trembling facial expression.

While their exchange was taking place, Mikhail and the rest hurried to their teammate that was blown away.

Bruce glanced at them and saw the strange, ghostly lamp on Mikhail's hands. He recognized that lamp from the artifact selection stage.

'So they're Team 4... the one who got [Lantern of Souls].'

'That's strange. If that's the [Lantern of Souls], then why are they here? Did the artifact malfunction and bring them to a dangerous place?

The [Lantern of Souls] had the effect of being able to lead the user to wherever they desire. It could be a game-changing artifact if used well.

'I thought the Hider Team that will be closest to our position would be Team 1 or Team 2...'

Before the fifteen-minute mark, the Hider group's goal was to run away as far as they can and find a good spot to hide safely.

That was how the game should be played.

With the exception of few teams, most of the other teams were already very far. It'll be very hard to reach those other teams.

He didn't expect Team 4 to be part of the "few teams" as far as he knew, they were just a ragtag group of average students..m

But at the same time, he had some doubts. Why was Team 4 so close? Surely, they didn't think they can face the other Seeker teams?

Bruce shook his head. Team 4 stood no chance if they encountered a strong team, and the Seeker group was full of them.

For that reason, they should've focused on running away and hiding in a safe location until the end of the test.

But they were here...

It only meant one conclusion: Mikhail and the rest were brought here by the artifact, [Lantern of the Souls], and encountered another team coincidentally.

'... Strange. Am I missing something here?'

Bruce could feel there's something amiss. It was unlikely for the artifact to malfunction, Prof. Aisea was far from incompetent.

Surely, there was a reason for them to be here.

"Hey, you."

Bruce broke the silence and called out to Mikhail, gathering everyone's attention. The feeling that there was something wrong grew stronger.

Mikhail looked back and saw it was no one impressive, sighing in relief. But he couldn't help but feel particularly irked.

Although he was not part of the ten strongest students in the class, he was very close to that level if he tried hard!

But he was just being disrespected left and right!

But now was not the time for complaints.

Mikhail raised his brows and stared at Bruce warily, feeling a sense of apprehension, regardless of the man's strength.

"What is it?"

"What are you hiding?" Bruce asked with a smile.

At that moment, Mikhail's expression changed slightly. It was not noticeable if one was not paying attention.

But he reacted, nonetheless.

"What do you mean by that?"

Chucking nervously, Mikhail rubbed his hair as he took a step back. He secretly gestured with his hand to his teammates.

His teammates saw his gestures, taking a step back as well. They prepared their weapons as if they were about to fight back.

But in reality, Mikhail had told them to run in a few seconds.

'Oh brother...'

Bruce sighed, shaking his head. He was asking nicely, and what did he get in return? Ah, what a society we live in...

In any case, he never expected them to open their mouths. He just wanted to confirm if they had a secret or not.

Most obviously, they do.

'Now, is it worth pursuing such a secret?'

Bruce was in deep thought. Before Mikhail and others could run away, he came to a decision and signaled Noah.

Without hesitation, Noah took out the [Broken Grimoire] from his waist and let it float on top of his hands.

He closed his eyes and muttered incomprehensible syllables.

Woosh!

At this moment, a hail of sharp ice blasted to Mikhail and the others. It was too fast for them to dodge completely.

Some of the sharp ice pierced into their bodies, making them bleed and rooting their bodies on the spot.

"Ughk!"

Mikhail groaned in pain. His expression turned ugly, looking at Bruce from a distance. Behind him, the three figures on the trees appeared.

"Caught you."

"Hehe."

"Haha."

His teammates felt multiple presences standing behind them, feeling hopeless. They were, without a doubt, surrounded.

"Don't kill them just yet, Jarcus. What this lowly servant of my dear Natasha just said sparked my interest. Tell me, troglodyte, what are you hiding?"

Maximilian was a little interested, telling the tall blonde haired man from his team to stop. He glanced at Bruce and Mikhail with disdain.

If he wasn't curious about Mikhail's secret, Bruce would've bashed Maximilian's head to the ground. But he let the man live for now, in any case, his death was certain.

He slowly walked over to Team 4.

"Hehe... I can't believe we're losing this early..."

Looking at the two teams surrounding them, Mikhail sighed in irritation. He glanced at Bruce before offering a fair warning. "Don't step too close to me. I have explosives attached all over my body, I'm warning you right now. Even if I fall, I won't hesitate to take one of you down with me."

He swept his gaze to the field, letting a small laugh. Bruce raised his brows, stopping his steps and looking at Mikhail with approval.

"You have guts."

"Guts are easy," Mikhail exhaled. "Strength is hard. What could a tiny amount of bravery do to this situation?"

"Spare you some time for example," Bruce smiled. He looked at the ghostly lamp. "Do you think your artifact malfunctioned?"

"Oh.... so you realized," Mikhail sighed. "I think so. Damn it. I was using it to find a safe, good place to hide! It led me to this bullsh*t place!"

"No, I don't think that's the case." Bruce shook his head. "You're hiding something, aren't you? Think deeply, why you are in this position, close to other Seeker teams. Some of the Hider teams are so far away, but you guys, why are you so close?"

Mikhail raised his brows, feeling confused. He thought for a moment and then gradually came to a realization.

'Huh? Isn't it because... wait, how did he?'

His body was trembling, feeling a large amount of surprise. The Lantern of Souls wasn't wrong, more accurately, it was their fault.

Mikhail clenched his jaw. Did they really have to resort to that? But...

"Whatever you're thinking right now," Bruce revealed a wild grin. "That's your answer."

Hearing that, Mikhail couldn't help but laugh. He looked at Bruce and no longer saw the man as a harmless threat.

No, that was wrong—that man—Bruce Ryker was the most dangerous person in the field.

"Alright, fine!"

Snapping his fingers, Mikhail summoned two Blue Cards from thin air. His teammates, and everyone else let out surprised gasps.

"I get it. What do you say I give you the other one, in exchange, help us survive?"

Bruce smiled and looked back at Natasha. The girl was very surprised, and when she sensed him looking at her, she nodded.

"There's your answer."

"Hahahahahaha! Take it!"

Mikhail laughed, giving the other Blue Card away. The truth was... instead of finding a hiding spot, they used the Lantern of Souls to find the Blue Cards hidden in the forest.

Whether it was brilliant design or they were blinded from greed, Mikhail and rest went for the nearest hidden Blue Card.

But that mistake soon haunted them.

It made their position very close to the Seekers, and thus being surrounded from all sides. The Lantern of Souls had no "safe" direction to lead them...

... Except by giving them this exact opportunity. The Lantern of Souls led them to face two teams, choose one of them to trust, give the Blue Card and survive.

Mikhail knew almost immediately this was the only way they were going to survive.

Seeing them come to an agreement, Maximilian's expression turned ugly. He looked at Natasha and he softened a little.

"Jarcus, Allain, and Allis—kill those three bugs from Team 4."