“Pincer then, knock them into the air, and I’ll do the rest.”

The plan was a sentence long. Brief, and simple.

“All that’s left to is to watch out for the one with the gauntlet, he can stun you for 10 seconds if he hits you twice in the same place. And watch out for the shadow of the one with the daggers.”

He looked at her and blinked.

“I can see their skills as well, you know?”

“. . .”

Maria thought how she would have possibly known. When had he explained anything about his eyes to her? They only seemed packed with mysteries, mysteries her own eyes couldn’t pierce through. And she didn’t bother with them much.

“Are you two done spouting?” A voice cut through them as the mercenaries gave way for the noble, “You do realize how outnumbered you are, right? So, could you two weaklings step aside and let us be on with our way?”

His face, roundish with emerald eyes of mischief that reminded of her brother, was the definition of smugness. Maria saw the mercenaries behind him grimace. At least they knew, numbers meant little in this world, and the outer image of a person meant even less. What mattered was only strength. With absolute strength, no amount of people would make a difference, cautiousness was needed at every step to make a living.

“No can do,” Maria shook her head, finding it odd why she would possibly back down after coming this far, “I need that orb.”

“I don’t want to be called a weakling by someone surrounding himself with mercenaries,” Rain retorted with contempt, even less in a bid to be mannered.

It was the first the princess had heard of such things, however. She looked at the aristocrat in question, inquisitorial.

“Merely safety measures. Even if I lose the orb, I can simply receive their markers and pass this test as easily as I came in," The noble scoffed, sooner smiling, "I just want that artifact."

"Sounds like rubbish,” She replied, and turned to her partner, “Is that even allowed?"

"Yup.”

There was nothing in the rules against taking the Markers of your teammates for yourself. In fact, he suspected the continually massive decline in numbers on the beginning of the first day from 250 to 223 in less than 15 minutes had been due to party members betraying one another. At the very least, this noble was smart enough to hire 'Mercenaries' - vagrants outside of the Adventure system.

In all honesty, Rain thought, it wasn’t a bad strategy. In fact, it was genius. Mercenaries were less likely to betray him due to the contract they must have signed, and even if he couldn’t clear the passing conditions with their power, he could simply have them hand over their markers and be done with the test at any time. So, he safely seeked the Golden Beast and its orb while, with their numbers, they stood a non-zero chance at ‘capturing’ Mao.

“No wonder they found the orb so early. . .”

“They mustn’t have fought any other people,” Maria thought aloud.

To maximize their chances, the group must have spent their time hunting beasts and avoiding human battles. Yet, who knew what the point of the Hunt was if participants could swindle their way so expertly. She supposed it was both a test of might and wisdom.

The noble drew his shortblade with an uncaring sort of grin.

"If you won’t move, then, I’m sorry. Attack them, and bring their markers,” He commanded.

Rain twirled his weapons and slashed forward.

Two azure lights flew, condensing and compressing within the air before becoming concrete things that bashed against a buckler’s shield. The air ripped, tore, and the person in question skidded aback at the brute force of it.

Maria raised her blade, blocking the advance of a long sword for her partner’s throat. She parried, iron scraping in the air with a spark almost as noticeable as flint, and countered with a punch.

Her hand met that of a leather gauntlet brass with iron at the fist, and a dark blue sword blocked another. There was a tinge of pain, but her opponent's crumbling face showed he endured much worse.

A dagger came for her and she saw a shadow upon the ground scatter to her feet. Her head tilted, dodging the attack, and her feet moved back.

She brought down her blade, blocking a long-sword, and her partner spun, bringing a wave of water that crashed into the group and forced them back.

The group of men quickly jumped back with the break and settled around the boy. One had a shake in his arm, and another held a small shield with cracks upon it. She heard murmuring within the circle.

In that encounter, she had confirmed that her and Rain’s bare stats were objectively higher than the average for that group. In other words; their plan was feasible.

Maria glances at the map, wary of the black dot that was almost half way here now. How could the man move so fast? Did he have a secret ability to fly now?

Either way, they had to hurry.

She raised her weapon, knocking an arrow that had better use off its course and jumping to action.

‘Pincer them first,’ The two moved around the cautious group.

She slashed out as white light rolled.

The buckler took the brunt of the attack, blocking it with his iron shield. The already cracked shield all but shattered with another swing of her Radiant Sword. The quality of the two was incomparable.

She dodged a fist and sidestepped a dagger, slashing once more as light overcame the area. The blinding light brought her the chance to escape their range.

“!” Her hand waved forward and a barrier covered the group of mercenaries and the noble.

“Rain!”

She watched as the boy dropped from the sky, water rumbling. But that did not come from him.

She looked forward, to see the men make way for a wave of the noble’s hand, his muttering all but gone.

“This is how you use it, boy, !” He chortled, blue light that once danced around him bursting out and becoming water.

The barrier around them broke and a mass of pressurized water streamed forward.

‘He’s a mage!’ Rain thought, canceling his attack as his feet landed on the floor.

The noble laughed with zealousness but Maria merely smacked her hand forward as a light barrier covered the two. The wave crashed into the sphere, cracking it and she took a step back.

“,”

As soon as her barrier shattered, she cleaved the attack into two. Her weapon technically didn’t cut through it, merely separating it into two sides.

The waters splashed to their side.

They stood against his dumbfounded face.

“. . .alright, you can attack them again.”

They waited for no one.

Maria walked forward and soon broke into a small run. She dodged an array of fists that appeared like snails to her and jumped.

“Goodbye.”

The man turned to see her fist pound against his face.

-BANG-

She placed her all into that punch, using the full power of her A ranked strength for once.

The brawler’s head smashed against the ground and his eyes bobbed within their sockets. Against mercenaries with an average C ranked strength slate, this was the outcome.

She reached a hand out, small spherical barriers appearing within the air and blocking a rain of arrows.

“Rain,” She said.

The boy crossed his blades and slashed, then slashed again, and again.

Six azure lights fanned out, spluttering to the front and sides of the group, forcing them to narrow and back away even as they dodged or blocked.

Two dark-blue blades impales into the ground and the earth shook and tumbled before a pillar of water shot out, sending the group flying

At that moment, Maria activated her barrier once more, this time pulling as much strength into it as the light surrounded the group.

“There we go,” She jumped upon her sword and brought them along with her to the sky.

The wind whirled her hair and she could hear the mutterings.

She reached a suitable height, and smiled at them.

“How about we bargain?” The noble was the first to speak among the mass of people crowded within the barrier.

“Nope.”

The barrier disappeared and she followed their screams down enough to hear their short thud against the earth—knocking them out much like the brawler. As she watched none stand back up, it was safe to say that they won.

The two stripped the markers of the mercenaries, and Maria tapped that of the noble to find a glittering, golden orb, float out in which she placed into her own.

5/5, 5/5, and the orb in hand. Maria affirmed, nodding that they were at the tip of her plan.

She looked down. The rest of the mercenaries had been forced to disappear. Maria has taken two of their orbs and Rain had taken the remaining three. Only the noble remained, passed out.

Now that they had a proper look of the Noble, they realized he wasn’t only dressed fancifully for the Hunt, he was perfectly cared for. There were almost no stains of dirt upon him, almost no scars, and he smelled like flowers—perfumed.

“I want to kick him.”

“Don’t.”

The two dirtier youngsters, with clothes riddled with holes and blood felt that they might have failed as nobles. No, they felt as if, as smug as the boy was, he was the definition of a noble. He used his advantage of money and status well.

She sighed. Next wondering if he would be able to pass the hunt without his mercenaries. In the end, as she glanced at the map and saw red dots scattering about, and a black dot almost approaching their location, she turned to Rain.

“Let’s go,”

They hopped upon swords and flew towards the mountain range for the final battle that awaited them.

“I’m so going to get him back,” Maria had her spirits ignited, as if something was calling to her to give Gushin Mao a punch or two, wether or not her punches would make a difference.