Today was the day of the Tournament. Where nations from all around the world would compete for their chance of making big bucks, but also claim the title of the world's strongest guild.

The trio, with the seven other members of the American Guild, were situated in front of a portal, which would teleport them to an arena for their first trial. The Tournament would take a couple of days to process, since it was split into five stages, so about five days.

The guild members around the world stepped into the portal, with about a hundred nations across the world participating. These were determined to be the strongest nations thus far in the year, so it made sense to include them, since stage one would eliminate about fifty in the first try.

As everyone stepped, crowds across the world cheered for their home country to win, and once all the nations stepped in, a blue screen, like in a game, appeared in the sky for every single country. A live feed of what was happening to all the Adventurers every single second.

Last year's matches took hours or days at a time for just one stage to clear, and this year wouldn't be any different. In fact, this year would be much harder for the Adventurers since the stakes have never been higher.

Once everyone passed through the portal, the nations were split across the labyrinth, with safe zones in the middle in which only the first fifty countries could get into. So, if any country were to mishandle its teamwork, the country would be bound to fail, no matter how strong or weak they are.

"Let's go, we got this!" Nova enthusiastically said, trying to boost the team morale.

Everyone nodded, except for James Mahe, whom Nova saw from his peripheral vision, planning something malicious. That grin that James had on his face made Nova gulp, but he focused on the labyrinth ahead, knowing that he needed to focus if he were to survive, since the Tournament meant that fatality was an option.

So, he needed to ensure that at least he, Elesch, and Adam were safe, even if they got eliminated. As all the countries entered the labyrinth, the first stage of the Tournament started: The Descent.

The labyrinth was massive, stretching out in every direction like a maze built for giants. The stone walls were rough and uneven, glowing faintly with streaks of blue light that made it easier to see but also gave everything an eerie feeling.

Tunnels branched off everywhere, some wide enough for a group to walk through side by side, others so narrow they'd have to squeeze through one at a time. The deeper they looked, the more the paths twisted and turned, making it almost impossible to tell which way led forward. To make things worse, the ground would sometimes rumble, and parts of the walls would shift, sealing off paths and opening new ones.

It wasn't just the maze they had to worry about. Strange sounds came from the darkness, growls, scratching claws, even faint whispers that didn't belong to anyone in the group. Shadows moved in ways they shouldn't, and everyone knew monsters were waiting somewhere ahead.

At the very center of the labyrinth was the first safe zone, but only the fastest and smartest teams would make it there. Everyone else would be left behind.

Nova tightened his grip on his daggers as the first stage had officially commenced. Everyone ran forward, as the walls of the labyrinth already began to shift, twisting and turning, as new paths were created but then blocked right away. The group didn't know how to move or where to move, since everything was happening so fast.

Zane then spoke up, "Let's just try to cover as much ground as possible to see what the labyrinth looks like, then we can map out a way to escape it."

Everyone nodded, going forward, then splitting up, as each nation's ten players were given a radio to contact and stay in touch with the others. So, the trio went together, as Zane and Michael stuck together, with James and Trevor being a pair, and Emma, Col, and Galileo staying together.

Nova was responsible for leading the other two as they focused on details, like mapping the labyrinth, and focusing on signs of other nations or monsters close by. Nova didn't blink for a whole five minutes, his eyes not hurting or watery, his focus unwavering as his primary object was to protect Elesch and Adam.

Then, Nova heard eerie noises from afar, though they were getting louder and louder, even though the trio had stopped moving. He told the others to get to the walls, as he realized a pack of wolves, but he didn't know what type of wolves they were, was hurdling towards him.

He grabbed the other two and rushed towards the side of a wall, putting his hand on both his mouths, as the wolves went right past them. Just a moment ago, he had covered them with some of the sand from the dungeon so that the wolves couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary, even though their noses were as sharp and thick as steel.

After the wolves seemed to have moved away, he realized that they had five pillars on their hands, which meant the wolves were B-rank creatures, dangerous for Elesch and Adam.

Nova sighed, and just as they got up, he rested his head back, closing his eyes, then opened them again, as Elesch poked him on the arm. He looked towards her, as she looked scared.

"Look in front," Elesch whispered, her eyes wide in shock, as if trying to forget about the thing in front of her.

"What..." Nova muttered as he turned his head to face the B-rank wolf that was in front of him. "...The hell..."

It was a Barison Wolf, the B-rank pack of wolves that had just passed him. This one in particular was a female, and she was growling towards them, though not attacking, as if she was trying to protect something.

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