Chapter 131: Rite of Passage [2]

The shadows swallowed me, turning my vision dark for a couple of moments. Not long after, my vision returned to normal, and I found myself standing in the middle of a forest.

I had been teleported to the location where the Rite of Passage would take place. I didn’t know exactly where it was, but I was sure it wasn’t far from the estate.

The trees looked ancient, their trunks stretching so high that I wondered if they had once tried to reach the clouds. The ground was covered in wet green grass that stretched throughout the forest for who knew how far.

The first thing I noticed was how silent the forest was.

There was no rustling of leaves, no birds chirping, nor could I hear any other animal sounds.

So instinctively, I crouched and then jumped as high as I could.

Not long after, something green with several rows of sharp teeth snapped shut around the exact spot where I had been standing.

SNAP!

I landed on one of the branches and looked down, immediately recognizing the monster.

It was a Cannibal Plant.

They were green in color, which allowed them to camouflage themselves well within the forest’s environment. They spread themselves across the ground with their mouths wide open and waited patiently for prey to step into their traps. The moment something did, they would snap their mouths shut and devour it.

So if I had been even a second late, I would’ve become food.

Which sounded weird to me because humans were supposed to eat plants, not the other way around...

"How lucky am I to be teleported right on top of a monster?" I smiled.

I checked my shadow and found it empty, meaning Ezio had left it before I was teleported away.

The rules of this Rite of Passage were very simple.

You had to survive by killing monsters and defeating the other contestants until only one contestant remained.

And of course, if someone was on the verge of dying, someone would step in, save them, and teleport them back to the estate, which would automatically disqualify them.

The good thing was that we didn’t need to gather points by defeating the others, so I had nothing to worry about.

There were twenty-five of us in total, including me.

It was quite the number.

I had to face almost all of them eventually because I believed some of them would target me first and try to eliminate me.

I wasn’t a fool.

The idea of getting ganged up on didn’t sound appealing to me.

There were quite a lot of people, and as much as I’d love to eliminate them all, I didn’t have infinite stamina or mana. So that was a no-go.

Instead...

"I’ll just rest and wait for them to eliminate each other."

I leaned back against the trunk of the tree, clasped my hands behind my head, and closed my eyes.

Let them fight and get tired.

Only then would I strike.

I spread my senses around me and kept them active just in case someone or something tried to sneak up on me.

I could already imagine the faces of everyone in the hall watching me.

...

Currently, in the hall.

Everyone inside had a perplexed expression on their faces.

They were all staring at a huge holographic blue screen that had multiple smaller screens displaying every single child in the forest.

Why did they have such perplexed expressions?

It was because one boy they were watching was currently sleeping at the top of a tree.

The moment the Rite of Passage started, the majority of the people had been eager to see Yves get eliminated first, so they were naturally focused on his screen.

But unfortunately for them, the moment Yves was teleported into the forest, he was quick to dodge the attack of a Cannibal Plant.

That surprised some of the elders.

But what made them frown was what he did next.

The kid simply lay down on the branch of the tree he had jumped onto and started sleeping as if he weren’t participating in one of the most important events of his life.

"Is this kid insane?" an old man in his fifties with short white hair and a well-trimmed white beard asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

"If he isn’t scared of getting eliminated, why would he suddenly decide to sleep while the others are fighting?" another person said.

Murmurs continued to spread throughout the stands as they watched Yves’ motionless figure.

"I think the brat is actually smart."

Some of the people in the stands turned around and looked at a broad-shouldered man with a mane of curly white hair that fell over his shoulders. His crimson eyes were focused on the screen as he massaged his beard.

The aura he gave off was strong.

"Why do you think that, Jean-Marc?" an elder asked with interest.

Jean-Marc crossed his legs and smiled.

"The brat probably realized that it would be futile to start fighting now because of how many opponents he has to face. It would be foolish to waste his energy so early. The best thing he can do is remain idle, wait for the others to eliminate each other, and only move when the time is right or if someone finds him and attacks him."

"That actually makes sense. Here I was thinking that he was just scared to fight." The elder nodded and stroked his long beard.

Many others had already come to the same conclusion.

If Yves were actually afraid of fighting, his body would’ve given it away.

But he wasn’t scared at all.

His facial expression had remained cold, and he hadn’t even panicked when the Cannibal Plant attacked him.

Which made them question one thing.

How much had the black sheep of the family changed?

Ezio was standing in the middle of the hall where the kids had stood before being teleported, and he was also looking up at Yves’ screen.

And he was not alone.

The other twenty-four Shadow Guardians were there with him.

"I can’t believe you actually chose him." A woman’s voice came from Ezio’s left.

Ezio looked at her from the corner of his eye.

She had obsidian-black hair tied into a bun and dark-gray eyes. A teasing smile rested on her face.

She was Ana’s Shadow Guardian, Setra.

"My choice is not your business." Ezio glanced back at the screen.

"Ouch, why are you always so cold? I’m just trying to make conversation." She put on a fake pained expression.

"And I’m trying to watch, so shut up."

"Tsk, lame."

She clicked her tongue, and her playful expression changed into one of coldness.

"You know that he’s not going to win, right? No matter how much he improved in the span of two months."

"I also think the same. He can’t just bridge the experience gap in two months with the other kids." A lean man with dirty-blond hair and silver eyes who stood to Ezio’s left spoke.

He was Vultron, Alexander’s Shadow Guardian.

"Sure, he was smart not to fight now, but eventually someone will find him, and he’ll be forced to fight. Even if he wins, there are other stronger contestants, so his luck will eventually run out," Vultron said.

"Hah, I don’t even know what you were thinking when you chose him. Even if he is awakened, what matters is whether he has a good Story or not because those other kids really have some good Stories." A man with ginger-colored hair and blue eyes snorted.

"That bet he made with the twins? He’s going to lose, and I can’t wait to see your face." Setra smiled.

Many of the other Shadow Guardians voiced their opinions, while some simply remained silent and didn’t bother joining the conversation.

Ezio remained silent and ignored all their remarks.

But inside his head, he was laughing like a maniac.

’Heh, if they knew that he had awakened a Mythic-grade Main Story, they would faint right now.’

Ezio believed—no, he was certain—that Yves would win.

So he decided to do something he had learned from Yves.

He didn’t look at the other Guardians as he spoke.

"How about we make a bet?"

Setra raised an eyebrow. "A bet?"

"Yes. Let’s bet on who we think will win. I bet all my life savings on Yves," Ezio said.

His words made the Guardians frown, while others chuckled.

"Are you fine in the head?" Setra asked. "We all know that Yves won’t win."

"If that’s what you think, then put all your money on it."

Ezio was gambling, but he trusted Yves ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent.

Because if he didn’t win, Ezio would be poor.

So he prayed that he did.

"I accept. I bet on Arnold," Setra said.

"I bet half of my money on Josh," Vultron said.

The other Guardians joined in as well, and soon they were all making their bets.

Ezio couldn’t help but feel greedy.

Damn, I’ll be so rich if I win this. You better win this, Yves. I’m putting all my money on you.

Many contestants were eliminating each other on the screens as time passed.

Eventually, only fifteen remained.

And after some time, Yves was finally found by someone.

"Oh, it’s starting."

Everyone immediately looked at Yves’ screen.

Even Van Der Vaal, who had kept his eyes closed the entire time, opened them and looked up.

For the next few minutes, something unexpected happened.

And everyone went silent.

"What the heck?" someone said from the crowd.

"What did he just do?"