Isaac regarded her in silence for a moment. Then he gave a short nod. "Alright."
She blinked at him. "You... believe my words?"
"I’m going to use a Contract," Isaac replied. His tone was calm but firm.
Her eyes widened.
Isaac put a hand on his spatial ring.
While making it seem like he was pulling the Contract from inside, he purchased it from the Special Shop.
[5,000 Constitution stat has been deducted.]
Constitution: 1,000 [9,000] → 1,000 [4,000]
[Contract acquired.]
He held the white parchment in his hand.
"You had a Contract already?" Althea asked, suspicion flickering in her eyes.
"Yes," Isaac answered without hesitation. "We’re going to use this to confirm every word you’ve said until now is true, and that you’ll share correct information about the evolutionary trial with me if I help you."
"Okay—"
"And," Isaac cut her off, his voice sharper, "you can’t tell anyone anything about my abilities or my partner’s abilities, and what we did in the trial."
Althea pressed her lips into a thin line.
She hesitated, then said, "I will have to give information about the trial once I leave. If I stay silent, my family will know a Contract was used on me. Then they’ll do everything to find out who forced me into it. You’ll end up antagonizing them."
"Then let’s change the last term. You can tell your family about the trial, and that you met me here. But you can’t reveal my or my partner’s abilities."
Althea gritted her teeth, clearly unhappy, but in the end she nodded. "Alright."
Isaac used his mana to write the terms on the Contract.
The white parchment glowed faintly as the conditions formed into neat letters.
Both sides read it carefully.
Once satisfied, they each poured their mana into the paper.
The parchment flared with light, then vanished.
A tether between their souls was created. It was invisible but heavy.
If either violated the terms, the other would know, and the price would be severe soul damage.
Isaac tucked his hand back into his coat. "We should move now."
Althea stood, brushing dirt from her knees.
They began the hunt.
Althea lifted her hand.
A soft hum left her throat.
She began to sing.
Her voice echoed through the forest, carrying strange resonance.
Small birds, translucent and glowing faintly, formed out of her song.
They fluttered upward, splitting into different directions.
"They’re scouts," Althea explained quickly, glancing at Isaac. "They can fly ahead to locate monsters. If needed, I can make them explode for one-time attacks, or apply debuffs."
Isaac gave a small nod. Celia, standing behind him, leaned forward slightly, intrigued by the magic.
One of the birds darted away, then returned moments later in a flicker of light. The others followed.
"They’ve found three monsters," Althea said. "All three are in different direction."
Isaac was surprised by her efficiency.
Althea focused on her skill.
The birds drew attention of the monsters.
They sensed her ’weak’ mana, and lunged toward the birds.
The monsters destroyed birds before tracing the skill caster by the mana.
Then, they charged toward Althea’s mana signature.
Branches shook violently as the monsters appeared, snarling.
But before they could reach her, roots erupted from the ground, catching them by surprised.
They curled around their legs and locking them in place.
And then—
Isaac dropped from the upper branches of a tree like a shadow.
His sword, Frostveil, gleamed coldly. In one smooth motion, he swung.
The blade connected, severing the first monster’s head cleanly.
Without stopping, his momentum carried into the second, and then the third.
Each swing transitioned seamlessly, his body moving like he was performing a well-rehearsed dance.
Three heads hit the dirt almost at the same time.
Althea froze where she stood, unable to hide her shock.
His speed, his precision, and the complete lack of hesitation. It was nothing like the warriors she had trained with.
She could not believe he was a human, and a Farmer at that.
Even the SSS rank Combatants she had seen were not Isaac’s match.
By the time her thoughts caught up, Isaac had already stored the corpses into his Soulbind pendant.
He bent down and picked up three glowing fragments scattered among the remains.
[+3 Map Fragments]
He took two, then handed one to Althea without a word.
She snapped out of her daze and accepted it carefully. "Thank you."
She glanced at him again, still unsettled by how casual he seemed after such a display of power.
After storing the fragment, she spoke. "The map fragment drops will slow down the more you collect. But the drop rate increases based on how many people you’re working with."
Isaac raised an eyebrow. "I see. So working together means fragments drop faster, but you spend more time on collecting them since they’re split."
"Yes," Althea confirmed. She hesitated, then added, "Honestly, your drop rate should’ve decreased already, even with me here. You had two map fragments before these. It’s surprising the drop rate is still this high."
Isaac nodded thoughtfully.
He had a suspicion.
The System might be counting Emily and her summons within the Soulbind pendant, as well as Celia, as part of his team.
And a larger team meant a higher drop rate.
"It’s time you start explaining the trial," Isaac said, his tone firm. "We gave you a fragment."
Celia’s eyes lit up, her curiosity plain.
She leaned in closer, eager to listen.
Althea sighed softly, then began. "This place is a Lost Land. Long ago, it was known as the Sun Dragons’ Cradle."
"Sun Dragons’ Cradle?" Celia asked quickly.
"Yes. The Sun Dragons used to send their children here. The sun above this land is special. It helps their bloodline to grow properly."
Celia’s mouth opened. "Huh? Sun Dragon. Isn’t this—"
"Celia."
Isaac cut her off before she could say more.
She blinked, then realized she almost revealed Alice’s name.
A nervous smile crossed her face as she looked away.
Isaac didn’t let his thoughts show, but inwardly, he was already connecting the pieces.
The System reward... if I complete the evolutionary trial within twenty-four hours, I’ll get the Callow Family Sun Dragon Cradle.
So this whole place would become mine?
The idea was startling.
The mana here was dense, the air vibrant compared to the cursed wilderness outside.
Owning it would be like holding a piece of heaven.
Althea didn’t notice his inner thoughts.
She continued explaining, "There are several objectives in this trial. Each one will force you to fight against stronger enemies. You already know about collecting Sun Flower Beasts that we see during the first objective. The next objectives... they’ll bring stronger monsters."
Celia leaned forward. "How many people have ever succeeded in completing the Hell difficulty?"
Althea shook her head. "None that I know of."
Isaac’s brows furrowed.
He had already suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed left a weight in his chest.
Before he could speak further, a transparent screen suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Ranking Board has opened.]
The glowing letters hovered in front of him, drawing his attention completely.
Althea looked at the screen before her eyes.
"What?" she muttered. Her tone carried disbelief. "Why is the first place blank?"
Isaac’s eyes narrowed.
Another line of text appeared in front of him.
[Please choose a name to see the ranking board.]
[Note: Until you choose a name, you cannot collect Map Fragments, or move to the second objective.]
"I need to choose a name," he said quietly, mostly to himself.
"What?" Althea tilted her head, trying to make sense of his words.
"The first place is probably me."
He said it as though it was obvious, but Althea’s eyes widened.
Her lips parted in shock.
"You can’t be serious..."
But Isaac wasn’t surprised.
His drop rate had been abnormally high thanks to what the System must have considered his "team." Emily, his summons, and even Celia counted. Combined with his strength, defeating monsters instantly gave him an edge no one else could match.
"What name should I choose?" he asked aloud, ignoring Althea’s stare.
"How about Cārus ?" Celia spoke from behind them.
Isaac turned toward her. "Cārus?"
She nodded. "It means Strong Warrior in my language. It fits you."
He considered it for a moment, then gave a short nod.
"Okay. I’ll choose Cārus."
[Name updated.]
[You can now see the ranking board.]
The screen shifted, filling with names and numbers.
[1. Cārus – 4 Map Fragments.]
[2. Edmund Hawthorne – 4 Map Fragments.]
[3. Orvane Drixley – 4 Map Fragments.]
[4. Cassandra Evermere – 4 Map Fragments.]
[5. Octavius Blackthorn – 3 Map Fragments.]
[6. Selaira Veycroft – 3 Map Fragments.]
[7. Aurex ...]
[8. ...]
[...]
[89. Althea Sylven Florathi Serinelle – 1 Map Fragment.]
Isaac studied the list.
Several others already had four fragments, but he held first place.
’I might be first because I collected the map fragments fastest,’ he thought.
If Althea’s explanation about drop rates was correct, then those others must be relying on large groups to farm fragments this quickly.
Or, more likely, they were taking them from weaker trial participants.
Beside him, Althea’s face shifted from disbelief to something close to dread.
Her eyes stayed locked on the glowing letters.
"You..." she whispered. "How many stats do you even have? To buy the Mask of the Unknown and still be this strong—"
Her voice dropped lower, almost as though speaking to herself.
"We underestimated the resourcefulness of an SSS-rank Farmer. The Seventh Queen was right. His potential is far beyond the others."
Isaac didn’t respond.
He had no reason to argue or explain.
Instead, he closed the status window and stood.
"We should keep hunting."
Celia used her teleportation to move them quickly between areas.
Althea lured monsters with her birds.
Isaac cut them down before they had the chance to retaliate.
By the time fatigue set in, Isaac had collected seven fragments, and Althea had six.
Fourteen hours gone.
’If everything continues smoothly, twenty-four hours will be just enough,’ Isaac thought.
But that was assuming nothing went wrong.
He already knew the monsters ahead wouldn’t fall so easily.
Each stage would increase their strength, and the final trial would demand everything he had.
They stopped briefly under the shade of a crooked tree.
Althea leaned back against its trunk, stretching her arms.
"She’s gone again," she said after noticing Celia’s absence. "Scouting?"
"Yes."
Althea’s eyes slid toward him. "She is Celia, the star idol, right?"
Isaac gave no answer.
He drank from his water skin and looked off into the distance.
"What’s your relationship with her?" Althea asked.
She sat down beside him with casual curiosity, clearly looking for something to pass the time.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about." His reply was flat.
She exhaled through her nose, half amused, half frustrated. "You really don’t talk much, do you?"
Silence stretched for a moment.
Althea fiddled with a loose thread on her sleeve.
Her mind circled back to the name Celia had given him.
Cārus.
She had studied enough to know its layered meanings.
While it did mean Strong Warrior, in most contexts it was used differently.
From her perspective, it looked suspiciously like Celia was flirting with him.
But hearing Isaac’s neutral tone, she realized he probably didn’t even know about that.
Before she could comment, the air in front of them rippled.
A faint shimmer took shape, and a blue-black cloud spiraled down into the clearing.
Celia emerged from it with a serious expression.
"They’re heading this way," she said immediately.
Isaac straightened. "The group of participants you were following?"
She nodded. "Yes. There are ten of them. They’ve been sweeping the area in formation. I think one of the people near the top of the ranking board is leading them."
"Can we avoid them like the other groups?" Isaac asked.
Celia shook her head. "Not this time. Their path is direct. It’s like they are moving while knowing our location."
Isaac looked at Althea.
"Anyone among them is from your race?"
"No. I’ve checked the Ranking Board, and I’m the only Florathi here. Besides, only royal family, and a select few can access your tracker."
"So, the people here found us by coincidence," Isaac muttered. "They probably want our map fragments."
Althea’s hand tightened around the hilt of her weapon. "Should we fight?"