She stopped a few paces away.
"I am Althea Sylven Florathi Serinelle. The third princess of the Florathi race."
Isaac’s expression didn’t change, but inwardly, he was surprised.
The Florathi weren’t unknown.
Their race sometimes traded with humans.
In fact, the Vitality Grain seed tree humans and Isaac had access to originally came from the Florathi.
Behind him, Celia shifted slightly, still perched on his back.
She touched the soulbind pendant around his neck, speaking telepathically into Isaac’s mind.
’Her horns are a signature trait of the Florathi. I can confirm she’s one of them. But I don’t know if she’s really a princess.’
’Got it,’ Isaac replied calmly.
It made sense.
Celia had never left the city, so her knowledge of other races would naturally be limited.
Isaac looked back at the supposed princess.
"I’m a human. I apologize, but I can’t reveal my name for several reasons."
Althea gave a small nod. "Fair enough."
"So why did you approach me?" Isaac asked.
"I was preparing a trap for the monsters," she answered. "When I sensed someone strong approaching, I hid. I wasn’t sure if it was a monster or a participant."
"I see."
He was about to turn around and leave when her voice rang out quickly.
"Wait!"
Isaac stopped and glanced back at her.
"...?"
"We should work together," she said firmly.
Though her voice was steady, Isaac noticed the faint tremor in her hands.
She was nervous.
"This is an individual trial. Why would you want to work together?"
He could see the appeal of cooperation, but he wasn’t about to accept her proposal so easily.
Something about how she had been staring at him earlier during the briefing, and now conveniently running into him here, didn’t sit right with him.
"We can separate for the last objective. But until then, it would benefit us both. The monsters are strong and fast. Other participants may also attack us. It’s better to watch each other’s backs," she explained.
Isaac raised a brow. "And why choose a human for that? If I remember correctly, other races usually look down on humans for being a low-rank species."
"I saw you defeat that monster easily just now. That’s why."
Isaac didn’t answer right away.
He simply stared at her.
Seeing his silence, she continued quickly. "The monsters here are special. If a participant is weaker than them, they’ll attack.
"But if the participant is stronger, they’ll run away.
"Their speed is absurd compared to their other stats. It makes the first objective difficult for everyone
"If we work together, the monsters will come to me since I’m weaker. You can use that chance to kill them," she said.
"Sorry, but I already have a partner who helps me catch monsters," he replied.
Celia blinked behind him.
For a moment she froze, then her lips curled upward.
He had called her a partner.
The word made her chest feel warm.
But at the same time, she was surprised at how coldly Isaac was handling the situation.
It wasn’t like him.
And yet, even with his reluctance to cooperate with the Florathi princess, he didn’t leave immediately.
"If you can help me in other ways, I’ll consider it," Isaac said after a pause. "But you should understand something. The monsters are stronger than you. That means I’ll be the one doing the killing, then I would have to share the map fragments with you. That’s twice the work for me."
Althea bit her lip, thinking. "If you help me, my race will support you once the trial ends—"
"I’m sorry," Isaac cut in. His voice remained calm but firm. "But I don’t trust that you’re really the princess."
"There’s a [Contract] in the Special Shop. With it, I can prove I’m the princess. And I’ll be able to guarantee benefits from my race after we leave," she said quickly.
"The Contract costs five thousand stat points. I don’t have the points to buy it. Do you?" he replied.
It was a lie, spoken without a single flicker of guilt.
Althea looked down.
Her lips tightened. Her eyes flickered as if she was calculating something.
Finally, she lifted her head and looked at him.
"I know how the Evolutionary Trial progresses in this place. I know what the next objectives will be. When the second objective comes, you’ll be able to confirm my words."
"So what you’re really saying is that we should work together because you can give me inside information about the trial?"
"Yes."
Isaac smiled faintly.
That was all he needed to hear.
Her words had confirmed his suspicion.
"Celia, get down for a second."
"Okay."
She slipped off his back, landing softly on the ground.
The moment she did, Isaac blurred.
A shockwave rattled the ground as he appeared right in front of Althea.
His hand snapped around her neck.
With brutal force, he slammed her into a tree.
The bark splintered from the impact.
"You’re going to answer my questions," Isaac said in a cold and sharp voice, "or I’ll kill you before you can even ask the System to remove you from the trial."
His grip tightened.
"Understand?"
Althea gasped. Her hands clawed at his wrist. She thrashed, but his strength was overwhelming.
Celia stood frozen, eyes wide.
This was the first time she had heard his voice in a cold, and merciless tone.
She couldn’t believe it was the same Isaac who always spoke gently, and had a faint smile.
Yet she didn’t intervene.
She trusted him enough to know he had his reasons.
"I asked if you understood what I said," Isaac repeated, his grip pressing harder against her throat.
"Y-Yes," she croaked.
Tears began to gather in her eyes.
"How did you find me?"
"It was a coinci—"
Her words cut off with a scream when Isaac’s palm suddenly burned with golden light.
He was channeling Solar Mana into his hand. The heat seared against her skin. The burn wasn’t lethal, but it was painful enough to break her composure.
"No more lies," Isaac said coldly. "You stared at me during the briefing. Now you show up here and act like it is coincidence. You reveal you know details about this trial—information that you wouldn’t share unless you trusted me not to betray you. It’s like you know my character."
His eyes narrowed as the Solar Mana flared brighter.
"You already know my real identity, don’t you?"
Althea froze.
For a moment, she forgot the searing pain around her throat.
Her mind blanked.
How had he pieced it all together so fast?
He caught the little glance, and slip in her words so easily?
"Your reaction confirms my words," Isaac said, withdrawing none of the heat.
Her teeth clenched.
She forced herself to look him in the eye despite the fear that pressed on her chest.
Now that the matter was revealed, she had to act fast, or he could kill her.
"Isaac Hargraves... let... me go..."
The sound of his name coming from her lips confirmed Isaac’s suspicion.
He released her neck abruptly.
She dropped to the ground, coughing.
The cold dirt against her palms grounded her as she dragged air into her lungs.
Isaac stood tall above her, mask shadowing most of his face.
"Have the Florathi put something on me that lets them locate me and identify me? Answer me."
Althea looked up.
Her green eyes were defiant even as her body trembled.
His aura weighed on her like a mountain, and even though she didn’t understand the source (dragon aura), she knew instinctively that resisting it would only anger Isaac.
"Yes," she finally admitted while breathing hard. "You are a valuable resource, Isaac Hargraves. An SSS rank Farmer has never existed in history. Not once. We couldn’t afford to lose you because of the selfishness of humans. Our plan was to let you grow naturally, while protecting you from the shadows. If humanity fell... we would have welcomed you in our arms."
"How do I remove the tracker?"
"I don’t know—"
The words hadn’t even left her mouth before the air turned crushing.
A suffocating weight slammed onto her shoulders, pinning her against the tree trunk behind her.
Her bones creaked as if the very world had turned against her.
Althea gasped, unable to stop herself.
Her throat burned under the pressure.
It was the effect of Isaac’s Extreme Colossus Will title.
The title let him terrorize others by releasing something called ’pressure’, or ’presence’.
The effect was directly proportional to his strength stat.
"Don’t forget you will die here if you’re lying. I have my ways to confirm your words." Isaac’s voice cut through the heavy silence.
If he wanted, he could buy a [Contract] right now to force her into truth.
He didn’t reveal he had stats for it, though.
"I don’t know," Althea said again, straining against the invisible weight. "The only one who does is the Seventh Queen.
"She... she was the one who pushed for it. The tracker was her idea.
"The rest of us were against it. We knew it might offend you, but she said nothing was more important than your safety."
Isaac didn’t move.
The silence stretched until her lungs felt ready to burst.
She fought to breathe, her voice breaking as she added, "Trust me... we didn’t want it either. Our race isn’t stupid enough to anger that monstrous woman who protects humanity."
Something flickered in Isaac’s eyes behind the mask.
"Monstrous woman?"
"The Sword Empress," Althea said quickly, her words tumbling out now. "You humans don’t know her true strength. You treat her like a normal Overlord. But we know better. The Florathi race knows how terrifying she truly is. We wouldn’t dare provoke her by tracking someone under her protection."
At that, Isaac finally lowered the weight.
His Extreme Colossus Will receded, and the crushing atmosphere vanished.
Althea collapsed forward, coughing violently.
Sweat rolled down her face.
Her body trembled with the release of pressure.
Her limbs felt weak, as though she’d been holding up the sky itself.
Isaac watched her silently/
His expression remained unreadable beneath the mask.
When her breathing evened, his voice came again. "Why were you staring at me during the evolutionary trial briefing?"
Althea wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked at him with a glare.
Though, her body still quivered under the lingering memory of his aura.
She didn’t try to resist the truth this time.
"My original plan was to protect you," she admitted, her voice steadier than expected. "It was coincidence that we met inside the trial. I didn’t want to risk your death here. I thought... it could also be an opportunity to build ties with you."
Isaac didn’t respond.
His silence made her nerves fray.
She clenched her fists, forcing herself to continue.
"But after I found you, and saw your strength... I thought maybe we could work together. That’s all. Nothing else."