Jilial’s expression twisted the moment Averon mentioned the rewards.
The earlier slaps had barely caused any damage because of the massive difference in strength between them, but that did not make the humiliation any lighter.
Under normal circumstances, Jilial would have already retaliated. The only reason he was not doing anything was because of Avery.
But giving the rewards?
That was too much.
"No," the leader of the Lord Qizhal’s team, Jilial, said decisively. "The rewards from the first Boss kill are much more valuable than normal rewards. We will not hand them over."
"Miss Water Elemental Spirit—"
"But we can negotiate," Jilial interrupted quickly before Averon could finish.
Avery looked—showed that she was—slightly disappointed that she had not been called.
Averon laughed under his breath before crossing his arms. "The negotiation is simple. Give us everything."
"That is too much."
"You really aren’t the people who should be saying that."
Jilial’s mouth closed.
He understood exactly what Averon meant. Every team present in this Trial had come here for Isaac. More specifically, the Lords wanted to make Isaac their subordinate. Everyone already knew Isaac had created this competition because he was confident he could win, yet the Lords still treated him like prey they could pressure into submission.
Compared to what they were trying to do, Averon demanding rewards from a Boss hunt was nothing.
Even then, giving away rewards from a first Boss kill was painful. Those rewards were not ordinary loot. Some materials from first kills could influence the development of entire Cities.
"Fifty percent," Jilial said after several seconds of silence.
"One hundred."
"Sixty."
"One hundred."
"Sixty-five."
"One hundred."
"Goddammit, Averon! We have known each other for years! We have met in so many Trials together! At least leave us some dignity because of our history!" Jilial finally lost his patience.
Averon snickered at those words.
History?
Every single time he met them—or some other people from their City—in previous Trials, they would flaunt the influence of their Cities and Lords even though the people they sent to Trial were weaker than him.
They would force him and other participants to withdraw.
Averon had always endured it because causing problems with them would eventually affect his own City.
But things were different now.
Now he had someone backing him.
Isaac.
For the first time in years, Averon could openly push back without worrying about consequences afterward. He was not planning to waste such a rare opportunity.
Alice watched him from the side and clicked her tongue. "You are enjoying this too much."
"Obviously," Averon replied shamelessly.
In the end, Jilial could only grit his teeth and hand over the rewards. The other members of Lord Qizhal’s team looked equally unwilling, but none of them dared refuse while Avery stood there calmly watching everything.
Only after every reward had been transferred did Averon move aside and allow them to leave through the portal.
The members of Lord Qizhal’s team quickly disappeared one after another, their expressions dark enough to murder someone.
The moment the last person vanished, Averon burst into loud laughter.
"We are rich!" he declared while checking the rewards Lord Qizhal’s team gave as thanks for saving them. Indeed, doing good deed was always rewarded.
Alice clicked her tongue, seeing Averon laughing. She knew he was a kid, but he was enjoying it too much.
Still, Alice quickly brought everyone back to reality.
"Enough wasting time. We need to move to the Second Area before the other teams regroup."
Everyone immediately became serious.
The earlier battle had drained almost all of them. Eleanor still looked exhausted and leaned slightly against Sera while walking. Sera herself appeared stable on the surface, but nobody knew how much strength she still had left after the earlier battle.
Emily’s summons were also tired. Alice had consumed a large amount of mana too.
That was why they needed to hurry.
The remaining teams would stop fighting each other now, and if they managed to find each other in Second Area, they would join forces for an ambush.
For Emily and others, wasting time was allowing their enemies to make more plans.
Without delaying further, the group stepped into the portal.
The surroundings distorted instantly before the scenery changed completely.
They appeared inside a massive marshland covered in dark gray mist. Giant trees rose from the swamp like broken towers, many of them split apart or half-submerged beneath the water. Thick clouds covered the sky without leaving a single opening for sunlight.
The water around them nearly reached their knees.
The moment Averon stepped into it, his expression changed sharply.
His eyes immediately lowered toward the swamp.
"We need to get out of the water," he said seriously.
Emily frowned slightly. "Because of the poison?"
"You can already feel it?"
"A little."
Averon nodded grimly. "The water is toxic. It seems to be interfering with mana flow inside the body. The longer we remain in contact with it, the slower our mana circulation would become. Eventually activating skills will start taking longer. If it gets severe enough, mana could stop moving entirely."
Everyone’s expressions darkened slightly.
That kind of environment was dangerous even without monsters. In high-level combat, even a slight delay in activating a skill could mean death.
"Don’t worry," Avery said calmly from the side.
She lowered her gaze toward the swamp water.
Immediately, the water around them split apart.
It was not a violent movement. The swamp simply moved away from her as if it instinctively feared touching her existence. A dry path appeared beneath the group.
"We can walk normally now," Avery said.
Averon was stunned, then smiled wryly at the sight. He had completely forgotten they had the Water Elemental Spirit with them. In front of Avery, a poisonous swamp was barely an inconvenience.
"Let’s move. We need to find a Boss or Mini Boss before the others," Alice said.
The group quickly advanced deeper into the marsh.
Not long afterward, movement exploded beneath the swamp water. Two giant undead lizards burst upward with massive jaws open wide. Their rotting bodies leaked dark mana, and the pressure coming from them was comparable to Overlord-rank monsters.
Before anyone else could react, the Colossus Grazer raised its head.
Three wind blades shot forward.
The undead lizards were instantly sliced apart before they could even reach the group. Their bodies crashed heavily into the swamp while dark blood spread through the water.
Silence returned almost immediately.
Averon stared at the corpses before glancing toward the Colossus Grazer.
"That thing is honestly ridiculous."
From that point onward, their journey through the Second Area became almost carefree.
Monsters continuously attacked from within the mist, but nearly all of them died before they could get close. Giant swamp beasts, undead creatures, mutated insects, and twisted aquatic monsters were all torn apart effortlessly by the Colossus Grazer.
The rest of the group only needed to collect the loot afterward.
Emily also made sure not to waste the corpses. The slime absorbed weaker monsters while the N’theris Serpent happily devoured stronger prey. The serpent appeared especially excited whenever undead creatures appeared, swallowing them with obvious satisfaction.
"It seems happier than usual," Emily commented while watching it consume another corpse.
"It probably likes the death mana," Avery replied.
Emily nodded before taking out another vial and collecting blood from the latest monster.
Alice noticed the action and raised an eyebrow. "Still gathering those?"
"Celia’s weapon needs blood from a thousand different species to evolve. Since we are already killing these monsters, it would be wasteful not to collect samples," Emily explained.
At this point, Emily had already gathered dozens of new blood samples. Some of the monsters in this dungeon likely did not even exist outside this place.
Two hours passed in that manner.
Despite traveling for so long, however, the group still failed to encounter a Mini Boss.
At first nobody thought much about it because the Second Area itself was massive. Eventually, though, something began to feel wrong.
"We have passed this tree before," Eleanor said quietly.
Everyone stopped moving.
The broken giant tree beside them indeed looked familiar.
Averon frowned deeply. "No. We changed direction earlier."
"We still came back," Alice replied.
The group quickly realized the problem. The mist itself was affecting their senses.
The interference was extremely subtle. It did not directly confuse their minds, which was why nobody noticed it earlier, but it slowly distorted their sense of direction over time.
Without realizing it, they had been walking in circles for who knew how long.
Instead of continuing blindly, the group finally stopped moving.
Avery stepped forward after thinking quietly for several moments. "I can remove the interference."
"How long will it take?" Alice asked.
"About ten minutes."
"That is acceptable."
The group used the opportunity to rest while Avery began casting.
A massive magic circle slowly spread beneath her feet, covering the swamp with glowing blue patterns. The surrounding mist trembled as her mana expanded outward.
Ten minutes later, Avery opened her eyes.
The magic circle disappeared.
"The mist can no longer affect us," she said calmly.
Everyone immediately felt the difference. Their senses became clearer, and the strange feeling of disorientation vanished completely.
Now that they could move properly again, Avery extended her senses through the waters, trying to see if she could find the Mini Boss now.
Several seconds later, her expression changed slightly.
"...That is a tricky monster," Avery muttered.
...