After about an hour of waiting, Ethan and Ana had finally passed the city gate. Immediately, they noticed countless mana signatures and eyes watching them from the forest.

“No killing.” warned Ana.

“Spoilsport.”

The two had discussed basic strategy and rules prior to their arrival. Ethan would refrain from murder, and in exchange, Ana wouldn’t complain if he was a little bit… violent.

“Why, hello there!” A cheerful voice was heard, and soon, seven carefree teens popped out of the forest. Their leader was a spiky haired youth with a missing tooth.

"Already?"

“We’re the welcoming committee." the boy explained with a grin. "We're here to relieve you of your burdens, specifically of your tokens and belongings. You may not know this, but it's best to be light within the forest. So, throw them over. Now.”

There was no longer a smile by the end of his speech. Nonetheless, Ethan aplauded with gusto.

"Do you find this amusing?" asked the spicky haired youth while reaching for his sword.

"Of course." Ethan extended a hand and electrocuted the entire team.

The peak rank 0 robbers found no way to dodge or defend themselves, so they all fell unconscious while foaming at the mouth. A second later, no more eyes or mana signatures could be felt from the forest.

“You can run, but you can’t hide!” the youth shouted with glee.

“Weren’t we keeping the tattoos a secret?”

“Nobody’s watching, so let’s have some fun.”

Neither Ethan nor Ana wanted to leave early. This contest was a great opportunity to not only test their strength, but also to earn some coins.

Luckily, Ethan found something as soon as he started looting. One of the students had a necklace type dimensional pocket, so he placed all the others’ belongings inside it. Furthermore, when putting it near his ring, the necklace was naturally absorbed.

“They can be stacked.” concluded the boy.

For a few rare seconds, Ana was genuinely impressed. However, right after, Ethan began stripping the dudes down to their underwear and storing their clothes into his ring.

‘He’s worse than I thought.’ mumbled the girl while covering her face.

Since 2 days would pass surprisingly quickly, the duo did not bother gathering herbs. They knew the competition would do it, so all they had to do was confiscate the goods.

“Why, hello there!” Ethan enjoyed the first group's introduction, so he began using it whenever they found someone new.

“Wait, I don’t want no…” Before their target could finish his words, he was already zapped unconscious.

It was hard to detect mana up the mountain, but the newbie students made more than enough noise to give them away.

“15, 16, 17, …” As more hours passed, bodies and clothes stacked up rapidly. Fortunately, not everyone was focusing on defense.

One mage attacked from behind only to be met with a fist to the face. Another hid on top of a tree until the trunk got sucked into the ground by Ana, right before Ethan roasted its canopy.

A more creative student dug a pit using just her sword, and was hiding inside it for cover. While the two were walking by, she tried to ambush them with a freezing spell.

“Cute.” said Ethan before breaking the ice with a gravity field. Soon after, the enemy was levitating out of her hole while trapped inside a giant popsicle.

“I’ll strip this one.” Ana decided firmly.

“Suit yourself.” The mage's eyes had already caught on to something else. Behind the trees, several mana signatures were close enough to be felt.

“Not very original, are you!?” he shouted mockingly. In Agatha’s honor, Ethan summoned a hundred wind blades and sent them flying towards his enemies.

Two dozen trees were sliced to shreds and fell on top of the mages.

“No killing!” yelled Ana.

“I only cut the trunks, so they should be... fine?”

The fading mana signals under the giant pile of wood weren’t exactly reassuring. Ana felt them too and her temper was flaring.

“…I’ll go get them.” the boy finally gave in. ‘Fragile f**ks.’

The ambush squad survived and was robbed thoroughly. By the time night came around, the duo’s body count rose well into the forties.

“So, this is when the fight should have started.” joked Ethan.

“That might still be the case.” said Ana while pointing further ahead. Beyond the trees, on a rocky plateau near the top of the mountain, a couple dozen students were strewn around a campfire.

Most of them were out cold, and going by the amount of blood that dried around their bodies, some were most likely dead. However, there was one teen that was conscious and well, and he was currently tending to a barbeque.

“Why, hello there, Arthur!” shouted Ethan while grinning. “We’ve been looking for you.”