"To all of you who have reached this far, congratulations, and welcome to the third trial!!"

The announcer this time was once again a mage, this one wearing soft blue rubes and a typical wizard's hat on his head. He was using a tool to project his voice, which suggested that he was not apt at handling sound magic.

"So far, you have conquered fear! You have proved your resolve, and now you will…"

Around three hundred participants in total still remained, much less than the thousands that had been in the first trial. Making it this far was already an accomplishment in and of itself, but those who stood in the arena of the third trial had no intention to let their journey end so early.

So, they all listened intently to the words of the mage dressed in blue robes, even if the introduction was long-winded and quite irrelevant.

Well, not all of them listened, some had other, more important matters filling their thoughts.

Toward one of the edges of the crowd, standing on one of the red crosses attributed to every single participant in this trial, was a challenger covered in a dark cloak that covered all of their features.

'At least here I'm somewhat safe…'

Her arm twitched and she winced in pain. She had yet to recover from an injury she had sustained in the midst of an ambush just months prior.

She clicked her tongue. 'That damn Vandervite… it'll take more than that if you want to get rid of a platinum-ranked adventurer…!'

Midnight, the cloaked figure, sighed.

She still lived, but she did not know how long it would remain that way. For the past seven months, she had been running and hiding throughout forests, cities, slums and even sewers in order to escape her relentless pursuers.

To catch an adventurer that did not want to be caught, a platinum-ranked Thief at that, was no small feat, and Midnight knew few on the entire continent who could hope to accomplish it.

The Vandervite was certainly not a family she thought capable of such a thing. Back then, she had known that it was a ridiculous idea to report her failure in person, but she had wanted to see the face of the one who had harbored such hatred toward her one last time.

In fact, she had truly considered ending Marquis Vandervite's life then and there, but she had ultimately decided against it. Now, she somewhat regretted it.

'I thought it was a possibility that he would send someone to silence me… but I was sure they'd let it go after some time… '

It would have made sense for them to have given up by now, since Marquis Vandervite was known to be a pragmatic person who measured everything with gains and losses.

What was the purpose in pursuing Midnight to the ends of the lands?

Certainly, he had tried to use her to assassinate an adventurer but… so what?

Verity was a no-name silver-ranked adventurer from who knew where. As far as Midnight was concerned, he was a literal nobody, but that is only because she did not know who his master was, and that was exactly why she did not understand how catastrophic it would be for Marquis Vandervite if the truth was revealed.

As she stood in the arena, she constantly scanned her surroundings.

Her pursuer could have been anywhere.

Indeed, the person after her was alone. A singular enemy, but a terrifying one.

A creature that could use the shadows to their advantage just like her, but who was also an extremely skilled combatant and who had tormented her over the course of the last seven months. Every time she slowed down, he caught up. Every time she disappeared, he was one step behind.

Even now, she still had no idea what he looked like, as she had only ever caught a glimpse of him once, four months ago when slumber had taken her for a split second and she had nearly been beheaded.

Midnight's purpose for having joined the tournament was simple.

'Here in Colosseo, he can't move as freely as outside… When the trials are ongoing, he cannot attack carelessly, and when they are not, it will be hard for him to find me among thousands and thousands of adventurers.'

She generally cared little for the Rising Stars Tournament, but this time, it became a light in the darkness for her.

Of course, if she wanted to benefit from its protection, she had to pass this trial. If she did not, the areas where she could hide would be limited, and she was certain that somehow, somewhere, that creature was watching her, waiting for her to make a mistake, to slip.

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The Trial Overseer cleared his throat, having finished with the formalities, and he at last began detailing the trial itself.

"This trial is simple, challengers."

He began chanting, and a medium-sized magic circle appeared in front of every single participant in the arena.

Verity's eyes widened, and he stepped back as a large water bubble took form before him.

Coincidentally, he had ended up placed right beside Felicia.

Her lips parted. "Ohhh, I wonder what they'll have us do this time. Hopefully it's not as boring as the last two trials."

Verity scoffed. '...Boring isn't exactly the word I'd use… but I can't compare myself to a monster like her.'

The Trial Overseer's voice boomed again. "The only task is to break this water bubble before you, but beware, the spell we used contains the power of several mages and several parameters to make it highly resistant to both magic and physica–"

SLASH

Droplets of water splashed onto Verity, and he slowly turned his head to his right.

He looked at Felicia with a blank expression.

In contrast, she wore one of utter disappointment.

"No way...Right?" She said with a frown.

She looked up at the mage. "Is that really it? Did I pass, or is there more to it?"

The mage nearly dropped his amplification device. "N-No… That's it. You've passed, just… please go."

She exhaled sharply, pinched the bridge of her nose, then turned to Verity. "Well, see you later, Verity. Don't take too long, there's a restaurant I'd like to try before it's packed."

Verity blinked a few times. "Uh, yeah, sure, I'll hurry u—"

SLASH

This time, it came from the other side of the arena.

It was Elio, his sword extended before him in a thrusting motion.

"Strange…what is causing this…" He mumbled, walking to the exit of the arena.

Felicia gave him a look that Verity did not miss. Her hand seemed to grip the hilt of her sword tighter and although she tried to repress it, her lip slowly curled upward.

For some reason, his heart tightened.

A man in full body armor in front of him, likely a knight, raised his sword, a scoff escaping the slits in his visor. "This test must not be that difficult then," He said, bringing his great sword down in one single motion.

CLANG

The knight's sword was easily repelled, and he was pushed away. He looked at his hands, trembling from the recoil. At the moment of impact, the water sphere had bent, promising to break, but then it had rebounded back into shape, sending him flying.

The strangest of all, however, was that despite the apparent elasticity, the knight's hands trembled as though he had come into contact with the hardest of steel. Truly bizarre.

The mage in the sky, who's heart had nearly dropped as the knight raised his sword, smiled, and regained his composure. "S-See!! That is your trial!! The Water Sphere before you must be destroyed, but it won't be easy, be certain of that!"

Verity watched Felicia leave, and he looked at his own bubble.

He exhaled sharply, and he hit it with a normal attack.

The bubble sent him flying back.

'Yeah, of course it wouldn't be that easy for me.'

Verity inhaled sharply this time. Those around him who had yet to try anything looked with anticipation as they saw the resolve in his eyes and felt the energy gathering in his body.

"Oh… looks like he's about to try something."

"Let's see if he can break it…"

He raised his spear. 'Nine Hells Style Seventh Stance - Violence: Absolute Destruction!'

This was the strongest attack Verity could use, and it was the one attack that, if hit its target, had guaranteed victory in all of his battles until now.

It was effectively unblockable

BOOM

His spear came into contact with the bubble, and a loud bang resonated from the clash. Those around Verity were hopeful. The bubble bent, and bent, and bent, until Verity's spear had nearly reached the center.

Verity grit his teeth and pressed on with all of his might.

He was close, so close.

Perhaps if he had better control of his aura he would have succeeded.

After a minute or so, his muscles began twitching from the strain of the attack, and in the split second that Verity's blow grew weaker, he was launched several feet back by the water sphere.

"Ah… how unfortunate…"

"I really believed he would succeed."

"All that anticipation for nothing…"

He skidded on the ground and ended on his back, his eyes directed toward the sky. "Damn…" he muttered to himself.

He promptly stood up, and returned before his water bubble.

He raised his spear, and hit it.

He was pushed back.

He hit again.

He was pushed back.

He thrust his spear this time.

He was pushed back again.

The onlookers shook their heads.

"...I guess he doesn't know what else to do."

"I should focus on mine…"

"How desperate."

Elsewhere in the arena, others were finding other ways to break the water bubble.

One such person was the young archer with night blue hair.

He drew his bow and aimed an arrow toward the sphere.

"[Piercing Arrow] plus [Lightning Arrow]"

His arrow glowed, and sparks of lightning crackled from it.

It flew at a staggering speed toward the water sphere, but upon contact, it shattered instantly.

The young archer stroked his chin. "Hmm, the power is not enough but… the arrow itself is too brittle as well, huh. Let's see..."

He looked around him, and a smile appeared on his face. He walked toward a mage woman with a large staff, and green mage robes.

When she finished casting her spell, Wind Cutter, and the sphere did not even budge, the archer tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned around, an annoyed look on her face, but it immediately softened when she caught a glimpse of the archer's face.

"Y-yes?" She said.

The archer extended a hand. "Sevrin, it's nice to meet you, miss."

Her cheeks flushed ever so slightly, but suspicion instantly overcame that initial feeling. "W-what do you want?"

Sevrin pointed to her water sphere. "Well, it seems like both you and I are unable to break our water spheres. In such a predicament, I believe it would be beneficial for us to work together."

The mage frowned. "Obviously that's not allowed, are you an idiot?" She spat at him.

Sevrin tilted his head. "And what makes you say that? Has it been stated at any point that we could not cooperate? If I remember correctly, the only demand is that the water sphere before us is destroyed."

She wanted to retort, but after only considering his words for a moment, she could not. "B-Be that as it may, what if you're wrong, and it was implied?"

Sevrin shrugged. "Then we fail, but that would not be much different to what would happen regardless, no?" He smiled… eerily. "Unless you believe you can destroy that water sphere by yourself… but as a mage, I'm sure you can tell that won't be possible at a single glance, can you not?"

The woman's frown grew deeper, and she clenched her teeth. At last, with a sigh of resignation, she extended a hand. "Syris. I specialize in wind magic, but I guess you already knew that. You archers usually know a bit about elemental magic."

Sevrin shook her hand, and then held on to it tightly as he dragged her somewhere else in the arena.

Her cheeks flushed. "H-Hey! I can walk by myself!"

But Sevrin ignored her.

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