Feeling the sweat drip down my forehead, I climbed atop a tree branch and touched the ninth particle so far before instantly waiting for Mira’s instructions.
"Co down."
Confused, I pointed upward at the sky and replied.
"There’s still m-"
Almost instantly, a cold and calculating voice replied.
"Others are coming; it’s inefficient for us to compete with them and split this territory. Let them have it, Jett. I found a better place."
Jumping down from branch to branch until I was close enough to the ground, I buckled my knees and landed before walking over to Mira.
While I was exhausted from jumping around like a monkey, she was physically fine.
On the other hand, I could already see her ntal state deteriorating.
Despite her enhanced eyesight and hearing, her brain’s maximum capacity was the sa as normal humans.
Since she was taking in so much more information than a normal human, though, she would start to develop headaches when she used her powers for too long.
Seeing ready, Mira zig-zagged through the trees and walked back onto the academy’s stone path, making a right.
Confused, I caught up with her and asked.
"Why are we going East?"
Without even looking back at , she answered.
"Although the particles were initially concentrated in the West, people are now using their own elental abilities to gather particles."
"These particles are newer than the residue ones from the principal’s instructions, so the mana particles are flocking to them."
"The most populated area and place with the most elental usage is the center of the academy, so we are too far west."
Passing by multiple students and even so teacher supervisors, we eventually halted after two minutes of running.
Panting and gasping for breath, Mira, exhaustedly pointed upward.
"First tree, third branch. Jump to the second, first. Fall to the ground and two steps."
Nodding my head, I scaled the first tree, using my awakened strength to pull up to the first branch.
...
...
...
"Next area, let’s go."
Gasping for breath and barely keeping up, I asked while we were running northward.
"h-how many are we at?"
"25."
Pausing and looking ahead at a massive crowd of students who had gathered under multiple tree, I questioned.
"W-what if we actually win?"
At that mont, Mira suddenly slowed down, now running side-by-side with , and looked at with a confused expression.
"Isn’t that what we’re going for?"
Wasn’t she supposed to be the smart one here?
Sighing, I caught my breath and continued.
"...but if we win, everyone will know we didn’t attend the Imperial dorm ceremony."
At that mont, as my words lingered in the silent path, Mira suddenly sped up and ran directly ahead of , blocking my path.
Then, turning around to face and halting a couple of steps in front of with her right leg backward and left leg in the air, she suddenly said.
"Who cares?"
At that mont, as my blood-red left eye t her ocean-blue eyes, Mira had her mouth wide open.
Her pearly white teeth were spread apart, revealing her resting cherry-red tongue, stained by the strawberry cake, and her lips were as wide apart as possible.
A faint red color appeared on both of her cheeks, and her pupils were glowing like two sapphire gemstones as she stared at , full of excitent.
*WHOOSH*
The outside wind simultaneously pushed back her short black hair, revealing another slight red color tainting the bottom of her ears.
Was she laughing..?
Seeing slow down, Mira allowed to catch up with her before yelling.
"Rember our deal!? I bet I can spot faster than you can gather!"
Perhaps it was because of the night’s coldness or the harsh journey I had taken to co here, but my lips inadvertently parted.
My cheeks spread out and rose, and a sudden rush of... joy coursed through my brain, causing a smile to appear on my face as well.
She was right.
Who cares?
Feeling a sudden rush of energy rush through my legs, I sprinted forward, faster than ever, and passed by Mira while announcing.
"Winner takes all."
Before we even reached the next area marked on Mira’s map, she imdiately began speaking.
"Tree 2, branch 2. 4, 5. ground, four steps."
She was speaking so fast that any passerby or normal person would genuinely believe that it was a different language.
However, for so reason, I could understand it perfectly.
Taking the information, I ran ahead of her and entered the forest, imdiately finding the most optimal route to scale the tree.
Heading up the first tree, which was easier to climb, I halted and suddenly leaped to the right, barely managing to grasp the top of the second tree’s second branch with my left hand.
Pulling myself upward atop the branch, I imdiately grasped the blue particle before jumping backward, onto the first branch of the fourth tree.
Just as I reached the second particle, another set of instructions sounded from below .
"6,4. above top of 7. 8,3. ground, three steps."
She was getting quicker and quicker with her spotting, but so was I with my gathering.
...
...
...
As the full moon shone above, colored blue due to the mana bubble around the academy, one would expect to see the academy empty, with everyone sleeping and preparing for class.
However, it was the opposite.
In fact, one would say it could be more crowded than ever.
After all, the results for the competition would co out for thirty minutes.
Even those with no remote chance of winning were curious to see who would co out on top.
And more importantly, what rewards would the top placers win?
Another crowd had already ford in the academy’s main street, completely blocking anyone from entering, and everyone’s gazes were on the red pillar.
Standing at the exact center of the academy, the massive blood-red pillar stretched all the way from the ground to the top of the blue bubble, resembling a skyscraper of sorts.
As I gazed up at the sky, admiring the odd blue moon, a sudden voice sounded from beside .
"The clocks just passed midnight; we have thirty minutes."
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