The Herb King

The participants were sent together with their respective teams to random safe locations.

"We can finally show our power!" Michael muttered as he took out a Unique-Rated spear from his storage ring. This weapon was one of the most precious artifacts of their Singler Household. It might be nothing compared to the weapons of the bigger households and empires, but to Michael who had grown up using this spear, it was the best he had.

Grace snorted as she looked at Michael. Just like him, she was also looking forward to this group competition since it was the only time she could reveal her power to the world. She wanted to let everyone see the results of her practice!

"We are teleported to a relatively safe place. I don't think we can find some keys in this area, but let's look around for a bit. Let's move separately, but you guys shouldn't go too far from this spot. If you encounter another group or a magical beast that you can't defeat, retreat immediately or call us through the Communication Rune we had prepared beforehand. Let's meet again at this spot in an hour." Alec said as he looked at everyone. Although he was no longer the strongest in the group, they respected him for his leadership skills. Even Janrose couldn't compare to him in this regard.

"Alright. You guys take care! I'm off!" Michael smiled before dashing away.

Grace nodded at Alec and Janrose before she went in another direction.

Meanwhile, Janrose and Alec also went separately shortly after the two left.

At this moment, Michael stopped in front of a hill. He quickly hid behind a massive tree when he sensed that there was a strong aura coming toward him. He concealed his aura and used a concealment technique to blend with his surroundings.

A short moment later, a huge bear-like magical beast with sharp spikes on its back appeared on top of the hill. Its eyes were red and filled with bloodlust.

'A mid stage Level 3 magical beast!' He exclaimed in his heart. Suddenly, he squinted his eyes. He didn't see it clearly earlier, but there was actually a Silver Key on a stone beneath the bear-like creature! Seeing this, Michael couldn't help but grin. He tightly grabbed his spear as he waited for the Spiked Giant Bear to leave. However, the bear didn't seem to have the intention of leaving. Instead, it chose to sleep on top of the hill. The Silver Key was only an arm's length from it!

'Dammit! I have to quickly grab it and run before that big guy wakes up.' Michael cursed in his heart. After observing for another five minutes, he silently walked toward the Silver Key while keeping his eyes on the sleeping magical beast.

Michael became more nervous the more he got closer to the Silver Key. He didn't want to wake up the bear since it might cause a commotion which would attract more trouble for him. As for killing the bear, he wasn't confident that he could kill it with one strike. This Giant Spiked Bear was a tough skin and its body was covered in scale-like armor. Even with his Unique-Rated weapon, he wouldn't be able to kill it in one strike.

Just as he was about to grab the Silver Key, the sleeping giant bear suddenly turned its head and opened its eyes.

When he saw the large pair of unblinking red eyes staring at him, Michael cursed in his heart. He quickly grabbed the Silver Key before running down the hill.

ROAARR!!

An enraged roar echoed behind him, but Michael didn't even bother to look at what was happening for he could already sense that the creature was following him.

"It looks like I have no choice but to kill you!" His eyes suddenly turned cold as he stopped in his tracks. He glanced at the Giant Spiked Bear and adjusted his stance. He learned of a spear move from Aethelwolf and it was even more powerful than their Singler Household's spear techniques. The name of this spear technique was Domineering Spear Thrust. It sounds lame for some reason, but Michael didn't mind its ugly name. This spear technique was comparable to the Divine Sword Technique in terms of potential and power. However, because of his limited strength, he could only execute two of the six spear movements.

Michael eyed the Giant Spiked Bear as he channeled his world essence into his spear in preparation for his attack.

Rumble! Rumble!

The ground trembled as the Giant Spiked Bear lunged forward with its sharp claws.

Michael's eyes were calm as he watched the bear move towards him. Its movements suddenly slowed down in his eyes as he pushed his spear forward with all his might. "Domineering Spear Thrust, First Style: Willow Leaf Strike."

An oppressive energy enveloped the tip of his spear, bringing with it unparalleled power!

BANG! 𝒷ℯ𝒹𝓃𝓸𝓿ℯ𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝓶

The Giant Spiked Bear roared furiously and attempted to swipe his spear, but it was flung away by a strong force! The bear whimpered as a large part of its right paw was blasted into smithereens! It glared at Michael before escaping back to the hill.

Seeing this, Michael didn't chase it. They only had 24 hours to look for the keys and he didn't want to waste his time with a bear since it wasn't worth it. For him, finding more keys was more important. "You're quite lucky, big guy." He smiled before his figure flashed and disappeared.

Meanwhile, in another area. Grace was moving on top of the trees with agile movements. She was holding a pair of daggers in her hands. These daggers were Unique-Rated weapons she got from her Urgel Household's treasury. Her sister, Julie Urgel, bestowed the daggers to her in hopes that she would perform well in the competition. Grace didn't want to disappoint her sister and her family.

"Another Bronze Key..." She muttered to herself when she saw a Bronze Key hidden within the branch of a tree. It was the third Bronze Key she found after searching for over thirty minutes. At this moment, she already had 30 points in total since one Bronze Key was worth 10 points each.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"Hm? Someone's fighting..." Grace followed the sound while staying hidden on top of a tree. Soon, she saw two groups confronting each other. In the middle of the group, there was a shining Golden Key hidden in the crack of a huge boulder.

"We are not allowed to kill, but Sir Omar didn't forbid us from fighting! You guys should stop resisting and give us the Golden Key!" A hook-nosed young man with golden hair shouted to the opposing group.

"Dream on, fools! We might be outnumbered, but all of us are Level 3 Espers!" The leader of the other side was a bald young man holding a sickle. He looked incredibly intimidating with his scar-covered body.

The two teams had uneven strengths since one group has ten members while the other group only had five members. Each group has a mid stage Level 4 Esper leading them and even the weakest among them was a peak stage Level 2 Esper. Grace didn't want to get involved in their conflict especially now that she was alone. However, she couldn't bring herself to leave the area. The Golden Key was too tempting for her to pass this chance. After all, one Golden Key was worth 1000 points! She needed to collect a hundred Bronze Keys to get that many points!

Thinking about this, Grace crept toward the huge boulder while activating a concealment technique.

Among the members of the Leone Empire, she was the most proficient in concealment. Even Alec and Janrose couldn't compare to her in terms of assassination and concealment.

The battle between the two teams was slowly coming to an end. Surprisingly, the team with five members managed to defeat the opposing team who had twice their numbers!

'Now's my chance!' Grace's figure flashed as she activated a movement technique that increased her speed. She moved like a gust of wind and grabbed the Golden Key hidden in the boulder.

"There's an enemy!"

"The Golden Key is gone!"

"Chase that thief! Dammit!"

Grace heard the angry shouts of the two teams. She smirked derisively as she moved past the dense shrubbery with exquisite footwork. The members of the two teams tried to chase after her, but they eventually gave up after losing her shadow.

"Dammit!" The bald young man cursed as he looked around. They could no longer see Grace.

They fought with another team and won, but the Golden Key was taken by another person. How could he not be angry?

The person that they were looking for was now hiding behind a huge stone that was as tall as an adult male. Grace carefully evaded their field of vision and went back to their group's meeting spot.

'Haha! Those guys are so foolish! With this Golden Key, our group will have the chance to get the top spots in this group competition.' Grace smirked.