Everything he’d worked for in the previous test was gone. It was smoke. Tears welled up in his eyes but he refused to cry. I would’ve done the same.

He rooted through his pouch and pulled out a potion bottle. He pulled off the stopper with his teeth, drank a little bit of it and poured the rest on his chest. He’d spent some time learning how to make these. This was the only brew he’d succeeded at. He didn’t have any more.

He got up and took a deep breath. The rules swirled around in his head. There had to be a way. There was a twenty minute period before a hill was destroyed and during that time, the wards would be down for a singular hill.

Running all the way up and checking for the wards was going to take time. He started chewing his lower lip. I should observe for now.

Six people were pulled down to the ground. The mood was sullen and despondent. Musnuf kept his distance. It seemed like Treasure and the Flower sisters had gotten their hands on a hill.

“The Hill-Holders have been determined. You can start checking now.” The group of six scattered off to each hill. Just by being there, they could pressure the Hill-Holder to use up their rings.

Musnuf started running up a hill in a random direction. The wind flowed over his chest. His robes were in tatters. He made it to the top and walked into a translucent barrier. He placed his hand on it. There was a giant rune floating up in the center of the platform.

He could see the other hills and it was Treasure’s hill without the wards. Two disciples had made their way to her hill. She’d antagonized a lot of people with her stunt.

She dealt with both of the disciples in a matter of seconds. She moved like a specter. It was amazing but her smile displaced the effect.

The rune disappeared. A grin formed on his face. Let’s try this. He descended the mountain until he was sure the Hill-Holder couldn’t view him. He formed a new construct. It was a basic shape described in the manual. A cube with an open top. He tried to imagine a cardboard box and it resulted in a brownish color.

No! He made it disappear and made a new box, this time it was coated in the light blue of the sky. He couldn’t manage a Mirroring effect but this was good enough. He let it float up and pulled up. The rune had disappeared.

He could see the other disciple panicking but he didn’t move. Musnuf tapped his forehead. This wasn’t going to work. He had to draw him out. He even used Amplification to enhance his emotions of panic. It did make him run around like a headless chicken but he refused to step out of the ward’s edge.

I need to draw him out. He decided to create a giant flame wall. This one was much harder to create but copying over the manual had enhanced his understanding.

He forced more essence into amplification and the disciple came running out. The second he was off the platform, the wards disappeared.

Musnuf ran out of his hiding spot like a specter. The disciple spotted him as well and realized what had happened. The disciple grabbed his neck and he was missing something. “My key!” He rushed back too.

Musnuf spotted a stone platform in the center of the mountain, a key was floating on it. He grabbed the key first. He was expecting the wards to form up again and push out the disciple but that wasn’t the case.

Don’t tell me, I have to defend it for fifteen minutes? He turned around to find a massive flame ball hurtling towards his face. He pulled his hands up to block. He screamed out, nothing was going to prepare him for getting burned. He kept on holding to the key and slipped it in his pouch.

The disciple looked like he was about to cry. His grief must’ve multiplied when the fire disappeared and the rune re-appeared. “This isn’t fair!”

Musnuf laughed and pulled his staff out. “Let’s see where I’m at.”

He placed a single step forward and thrust the staff forward using his right hand. The disciple dodged it and took out his sword in return.

Musnuf decided to keep the pressure on. He blasted the disciple with sharp pointed strikes. He pulled his hand back. This was taking too long.

“That was five minutes give or take?” The ground started shaking underneath them and the mountain to his left crumbled. It was a majestic sight. The stone caving in on itself forming a splash of dirt all over the ground.

A giant cloud of dust was launched into the air. The dust concealed their visibility and he sprang out again with a two-handed downward swing.

The disciple chuckled and just stepped out of the way. He realized his mistake too late. He’d over-extended himself and now he was exposed.

The disciple swung straight down and left a gash on his left shoulder blade. Musnuf suppressed his cry and used the staff to land a direct hit in his abdomen.

He took a step, but he swung for his neck this time. Musnuf raised his staff to block it. He was holding the upper and lower ends. He pushed the disciple back and ghost chains grappled onto his legs. Musnuf smacked him square in his face, he’d pushed everything into that strike.

That knocked him out. Musnuf grabbed his legs and pushed him off the platform. His unconscious body rolling down the ground.

“The wards really are down.” He heard a laugh behind him. This wasn’t going to end, was it?