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The team that had been ambushed was eyeing Oli and the others with a strange gaze. There was a hint of fear and confusion in their eyes. But their team leader just smiled and offered a quick bow. “Thank you, Rot Team.”

“You’re welcome, Permafrost Team leader,” Oli replied while briefly bowing his head and picking up his spare mace.

Accepting the bow, the Permafrost Team leader stood up straight and motioned to the young lady Oli had originally taken hostage. “This is Young Mistress Crystal. She’s the daughter of the kings of Permafrost Region, niece to King Jeerda of Permafrost Province.”

“A human? … Did King Jeerda marry a human?” Oli asked.

Nodding, Crystal answered, “Yes. I’m her husband’s niece. My goal was to experience the qualifier for myself so I might be better prepared for the next Mortal Championship. Thank you for holding true to your word, and for saving us despite our complicated encounter.”

“There’s no need to thank us,” Oli replied. “We owed the Rhyner Team a lot of overdue karma, so we just came to collect it.”

“Still, you saved us. Without your help, at least one of our team members would have died.” Crystal pointed to the unconscious fox being treated and the man with the shattered shoulder. “In our current state, I wish to ask the team leader to tactfully surrender the competition. It would be our best bet to fully heal our teammates.”

“Of course, Young Mistress Crystal,” the Permafrost Team leader bowed immediately. He also bowed again to Oli. “Leader Oliver, thank you. Please, look for us after you reach the shrine.”

.....

“Will do.” Oli nodded.

Crack! ZZZZRRMM!

Oli and his team watched as their former captives disappeared in a flurry of spatial essence.

“So… Now what?” Yeter asked.

Laughing, Oli turned back toward the beacon, “Now that you’ve sent him back to Galdo ‘Village’, we can get back to the beacon.”

The team broke out in laughter while joining Oli in rushing for the beacon. After all, they still wanted to reach the beacon before nightfall. And now that they had gotten slowed down for a fight and a hostage situation, they had to make up for the lost time.

To the team’s surprise, the rest of their trek to the beacon went by smoothly.

What most of the others hadn’t realized was that Oli was emitting some of his soul energy the entire run. He had guessed that it would repel any wild beasts in their path. After seeing how the panther had reacted to Oli’s soul art, that was the hypothesis. Right away, it was quickly proven true.

The final challenge the team faced was reaching the beacon itself. Once they were close enough, they realized yet another reason why no wild beasts would dare approach the shine. It was built on top of a jagged, rocky pillar made into a plateau. And, of course, there were no stairs. This was the biggest obstacle for Yeter, a stallion with only hooves and no hands. However, Yeter immediately accepted the challenge and started climbing, leaping from ledge to ledge.

When Yeter soon slipped and toppled back down to a lower ledge, Oli just laughed and shook his head. “Freele, can you fly up?”

“Yeah, but it will be slow. And It will go even slower if I’m carrying someone.”

“Don’t worry about that. Just get to the shrine as fast as possible,” Oli ordered. “Fulkar, how are you at climbing?”

“Decent. I’m confident enough to make it to the top without issues since I can use ice to create steps or handholds to stabilize me,” said Fulkar.

Nodding, Oli chuckled, “Then just follow me. I’ll carve out handholds as I go. Yeter, do you want any help?”

“NO!” Yeter yelled with all his might, using earth essence to alter how much traction he had beneath his hooves. “I’m one with the goats! I’M ONE WITH THE GOATS!”

Yeter’s rallying cry caused Oli and Fulkar to burst out in laughter. But they decided to laugh while pressing on. With his essence nature, Oli easily carved out handholds by simply pressing his fingers into the rock wall. The same was true for his feet. That simple solution proved most effective as Oli almost caught up with Freele while she hovered to the top. Also, Oli was in fact a gorilla, so climbing was something Oli could do in his sleep.

The first to arrive at the top was Freele, who was panting but overwhelmingly proud to reach her destination. Falling back to lie on the floor and relax, Freele threw her arms to the sky, “I did it!”

“Congrats!”

Turning her head to the side to see who it was, Freele sighed, “Yup! We did it… I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Zelsh and the kings got me healed right away,” said Trenk. “But we’ve all heard about what happened after I left. The Rhyner Team leader won’t shut up about how you cheated them out of a place in the second round.”

“Does that mean we made it in time?”

Looking to the shrine’s edge, Trenk nodded. “You’re the fourth team, and you’re only half a day later than the third team so you weren’t far behind.”

Oli lightly stretched while walking up to Freele and Trenk. Unlike Freele, Oli felt practically zero exhaustion from his climb.

“Where are Fulkar and Yeter?” Zelsh walked up with a proud I-knew-you-could-do-it smile.

But Oli just laughed and pointed over the edge. “Fulkar’s right behind me, using the handholds I made. As for Yeter, you should see for yourself.”

Trenk and Zelsh both did just that. They peered over the edge, waving to Fulkar not too far away.

Yeter was only a bit further down than Fulkar. But they couldn’t bring themselves to wave at the stallion, nor would they be able to get Yeter’s attention. By the time Fulkar got up, Yeter was close enough for everyone atop the shrine to hear his chant in the background.

“... One with the goats! … One with the goats! …”

Zelsh almost fell back in laughter, but he proudly gave Yeter a thumbs up, shouting, “Atta boy, Yeter! Keep it up!”

“YES, MASTER ZELSH!!” Yeter proudly yelled, glad to hear his master’s voice and approval. That prompted Yeter to get even louder. “ONE WITH THE GOATS! ONE WITH THE GOATS!!”

Soon, half of the people at the shrine were approaching Zelsh and his Rot Team in order to learn where that crazy shouting was coming from.

Jeerda came forward the moment Yeter set hoove on the shrine. But before she could greet the newest team to arrive, Yeter shouted at the top of his lungs, “I’M KING OF THE GOATS!!”

The entire shrine broke out in laughter while Yeter realized what he had just done and who was nearby.

Even Jeerda couldn’t help but laugh. “Zelsh, you and your people never cease to amaze us! Really… Now, allow me to congratulate you all on becoming the fourth and final team to reach the shrine. Though all other teams have arrived before you, three of those teams arrived via their orbs. That makes you the fourth team to qualify for the second round. Congratulations!”

While Zelsh, the kings, and many candidates started clapping, Oli raised his hand to ask a question. “Does that mean the second round starts now?”

“No, that’s not the case,” Jeerda answered. “We’ll be holding the second round on the same day we had originally planned. After tonight, you’ll still have three days to rest and recuperate before we begin the exhibition of the second round.”

Oli finally let himself fully relax after hearing that. “So the next round is an exhibition? What will the lineup be?”

Smiling, Jeerda shook her head. “That we don’t know. We won’t know until the day we begin. After all, that’s how it works drawing lots.”

Zelsh used that moment to explain, “We draw lots for each round of the exhibition. That way it’s always random and there’s no bias for any candidates. Unlike the first round of the qualifier, the second round is always the same. So make sure you fight until you’re one of the last three standing!”

“One of the last three? … Will there be a final match to find the strongest candidate?” Oli asked.

But Jeerda shook her head. “No. Four, five-man teams are entering the exhibition, which gives us twenty candidates. I’ll be submitting four wildcard candidates which may include people of my choosing from the losing teams of round one. That will give us twenty-four combatants for the exhibition. From there, we draw lots each round until twenty-four becomes twelve, until twelve becomes six, and until six finally becomes three.”

Nodding slowly, Oli appreciated the unusual tournament structure. Since it was so straightforward, Oli could breathe even easier now. With only one-on-one fights left, Oli was more confident than ever. Now, Oli hoped he would face opponents that would still give him a challenge. He had less than three moons till the prefecture qualifier, so Oli needed as many opportunities to grow as possible.