The next morning, the remaining tournament participants were ferried off to their next destination the same way as last time: by carriage.

“Another carriage ride?” Oliver made sure to whine, “My butt’s still sore from yesterday!”

Cadmus didn’t know what Oliver was complaining about. The cushions in these carriages were fantastically comfortable, fit for nobility—which, considering how a significant portion of the student body was made up of nobles, made perfect sense.

In any case, Oliver need not have worried, because Ipsum forest was only a twenty-minute ride away from Anguis. Cadmus was thankful for the short ride. Though he had not joined in with Oliver’s complaining, he couldn’t deny that he simply didn’t have the patience to tolerate the amount of time it took for them to usually get to their destinations.

As everyone exited their carriages, Cadmus examined the competition grounds for the second round. Ipsum forest looked a little different from Lorem forest. Yes, it had the same tall trees and dense shrubbery, but it also had a far wilder feel to it. For example, there wasn’t a path inviting them in like in Lorem forest, and the forest as a whole looked far less tended to than Lorem forest.

Most noticeably though, there was a tall metal chain link fence which barred people from entering the forest, and it was covered in signs of red and yellow stating things like, “KEEP OUT” or “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.”

“Great. That doesn’t look worrying at all,” Oliver said sarcastically.

As if to mock him, a distant roar echoed from within.

Oliver hung his head, “Oh, and there are wild animals here too. Yay…”

Once everyone was outside, and the staff had finished counting up the people to make sure that everyone was here, Professor Mackenzie stepped in front of them all and drew her usual voice-enhancing magic circle,

“Good morning everyone! Hope you’re all awake and ready to go!”

There were a few murmurs, but only one or two people cheered in response, Gelida Olvo being the loudest among them.

Professor Mackenzie smiled at her and continued, “Be honoured! Today’s round will take place here—” she gestured at the fenced forest behind her, “—In Ipsum forest. This is where the garrisons stationed in Anguis and the Royal Guard come to train for forest engagement. It’s a premium spot, and those not in the Laurucian military are rarely allowed in here!”

She gave them a look as though she was expecting everyone to be really impressed by that. However, Cadmus suspected that, like him, no one really cared how premium this spot was. They all just wanted to get this round started.

“Alright, fine. Be that way,” Professor Mackenzie grumbled. Then, she brushed all of that aside, “Well, whatever. Let me explain the rules to you guys now.”

She pulled out a smooth-looking glass orb from behind her back the size of her head, and showed everyone how it periodically pulsed with a bright blue light.

“This here is an ancient elven beacon orb,” Professor Mackenzie explained, “We’ve turned it down to its lowest setting, but as you can see, it’s still very bright and noticeable. There are exactly twelve of these hidden inside Ipsum forest. Your task is to find one, and exit the forest with it still in your possession. I repeat, finding one isn’t enough, you also have to leave the forest while holding one.”

Cadmus blinked, feeling rather surprised. He knew that Professor Mackenzie had said that they would really cull their numbers in this round, but this was far harsher than Cadmus had expected it to be. Out of hundreds, only twelve people would pass on to the final round.

Wait…

“What if we find more than one?” Cadmus asked, raising his hand.

He was still wary of facing Ardea in one-on-one combat, or any of the other powerful-looking students really (of which there were many), so this second round could perhaps be the perfect opportunity for him to avoid that. If he could find all the beacon orbs before anyone else and exited the forest with all of them, then he would be able to win without fighting anyone he didn’t want to!

“Then you can absolutely take them,” Professor Mackenzie said, “However, you’re not allowed to exit the forest with more than one orb, so you’ll have to leave any other orbs you find behind at the end. Of course, this isn’t really a problem you guys should be worrying about. This forest is very large, and finding even one beacon orb will be more than just difficult. That’s why this round’s time limit is five whole days!”

Many of the students began murmuring to each other in surprised tones, and Cadmus frowned. The Academy expected people to take several days to complete this round? If that was the case, then it was highly unlikely that he would be able to find every single beacon orb before one of the really skilled competitors got to them. And the longer he stayed in the forest searching for more beacon orbs, the more he risked fighting one of those students earlier than expected.

With a disgruntled click of his tongue, he abandoned that plan. Even with his trump card, it was simply no longer feasible.

“Now, I want you all to divide up into teams of two,” Professor Mackenzie said, “That’s right! You’ll each have to select a partner to complete this test with. If your team manages to find a beacon orb and bring it back safely, then both of you pass to the third round!”

Everyone looked taken aback by the sudden declaration and started looking around at each other to figure out who they were going to pair up with. Some people, like Arthur and Lancelot, or Gale Holland and Mark Tempor, or Connor and Elis Holland had no trouble instantly deciding that they would be teaming up together.

Cadmus wondered if he should feel sorry for Gawain Le Fay. Though the blond Avalonian didn’t look upset in the least, his sister had paired up with Gwen Eviere, and his friends had decided to pair up with each other instead of him, so he had been left alone to find a new partner for himself.

Cadmus let his gaze wander away. He really couldn’t find it in him to care all that much about Gawain’s situation. Besides, he already knew who he was about to partner up with. He turned to look at Oliver—

“Guiles, do you mind if we team up?”

The question had come from someone completely unexpected: Elise Auxil. There was a determined expression on her face, as though she had resolved to do something incredibly difficult and huge. Ardea was right beside her, and her red eyes widened in shock as her lips parted in surprise.

Cadmus had never seen Ardea like this. She looked almost pitiful, the hurt on her face obvious.

“Elise…?” She asked, sounding lost.

Cadmus could sympathize. He had thought that Elise Auxil was Ardea’s most loyal aide in this Academy. Why had she come to Cadmus to partner up with him then?

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Elise said, turning to look at Ardea straight in the eye, “But this is something I have to do.”

A moment passed, and Cadmus wondered whether to accept her request. Oliver and he had yet to actually agree that they would team up after all. But then, the choice was taken away from his hands when Ardea’s face suddenly twisted in rage,

“Fine then.” She walked past them, “Vinari, you will come with me.”

Oliver looked like a man who had just received news that he was about to be executed,

“U-uh…”

Ardea paused and glared back at him out of the corner of her eye,

“Hurry up!”

Oliver yelped in fright and jogged after her, looking as though he barely knew what he himself was doing. He gave Cadmus one last look that seemed to be a vague mixture of apologetic and a desperate plea for help before they both disappeared into the crowd of students.

“Well, I suppose that makes my decision far simpler,” Cadmus said, turning his gaze back to Elise, “I don’t mind teaming up with you.”

And he really didn’t. Not because he was confident of Elise’s skills, but because he knew that even with no partner, he would still be able to clear this round with a fair amount of ease.

Elise nodded, “Thank you.”

“I’ll give you guys ten more minutes to pick a partner,” Professor Mackenzie said, her voice-enhancing spell allowing her words to easily carry over the sounds of the chattering students, “And we know that we’ve got an even number of participants here, so none of you should be left out. Once you’ve picked your partner, please tell one of our staff members. Keep in mind, once you do so, you won’t be able to change partners.”

Seeing no reason to wait, Cadmus and Elise went up to one of the adults dressed in their signature Academy midnight-blue uniform and registered themselves as a team. The staff member wrote their names on a document, and after making them both sign it, he told them that they were done.

As Professor Mackenzie said, they waited exactly ten minutes, during which time Candice and Gelida teamed up together, Gawain found a partner of his own (an Academy student that Cadmus didn’t know), and Ito Shin partnered up with a fellow Institute student.

Once the time limit finally hit, Professor Mackenzie pushed open a large gate that was built into the metal chainlink fence,

“Okay, so it looks like everyone has a partner now, which means we can finally get started. Before we send you in to your starting points, does anyone have any final questions? This is your last chance to ask them, so don’t hold back.”

Someone raised their hand and asked, “What if only one person in our team finds the orb and makes it back. Does that mean we both pass?”

Professor Mackenzie made an ‘X’ with her arms, “Nope, sorry, you both have to make it out with the beacon orb to pass, just one of you won’t cut it. Good question! Anyone else?”

When no one else raised their hands, Professor Mackenzie stepped aside and gestured at the entrance behind her, “No one? Alright then, If you guys are ready to go, I have only one last thing to say. It’s important, so make sure to pay attention. Our staff members will be patrolling inside the forest around the clock, so, if you’re in a dangerous situation that you see no escape from, and are willing to forfeit, shoot a fireball into the sky. Our staff members will be there to rescue you in no time!”

A nervous wave of murmuring followed her announcement, but Professor Mackenzie merely grinned and herded them in. The time for hesitation had long passed.

Each team was split up, and they were all guided to different locations by a staff member. None of them were taken deeper into the forest, they were all just separated along the outer radius. Cadmus knew this because Elise and his backs were still to the chainlink fence. The Academy was merely spreading them out along the starting point so that they wouldn’t meet each other too quickly.

“There’s no airship here today,” Cadmus noticed, looking up.

Elise looked up as well to confirm, and the staff member assigned to them (a middle-aged man with a black goatee and short hair) chuckled,

“Yeah, nobody on the airship will be able to see through the foliage, so they decided to leave it be for this round. It’ll be harder for us staff members to coordinate without having a few eyes in the sky, so you kids be careful, alright? Don’t bite off more than you can chew, because even though we have teams patrolling the forest, they may take some time to get to you guys.”

Cadmus nodded, “And when we find the beacon orb, we simply have to make it back to this fence?”

He pointed at the chainlink fence behind them.

“Yep, that’s all,” the staff member said, “We’ll be keeping tabs on you all, so we’ll know when you’re approaching and wait for you here.”

Cadmus nodded again. Sounded easy enough.

Suddenly, a thick column of red smoke rose from somewhere within the forest. Seeing this, the staff member gave them both a thumbs up,

“Alright, that’s the signal. The second round of the Twin Peaks Magical Tournament starts now!”