"HOWEVER HE IS BETTER THAN I EXPECTED!"

"I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD FIND SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE ABILITIES,"

"THE INFORMATION YOU ALL HAVE ON HIM DOESN'T DO JUSTICE TO HIS CAPABILITIES!"

Gustav couldn't hear audio when Tracking Life signs but surprisingly this one was heard.

Gustav wondered why he would be able to hear the voice of the rock being and the only sensible reason he could come up with was the fact that it spoke to the minds.

Gustav still couldn't hear Glade speaking but every time the rock stated something, he would hear it.

"THERE IS NO NEED FOR WORRIES!"

"HE IS MY TICKET OUT OF HERE,"

"HE SHALL BE MINE!"

"GO AND GATHER MORE OF THOSE STONES FOR ME, I WANT EVERYTHING TO BE PREPARED FOR MY FREEDOM THE MOMENT I HAVE HIM IN MY POSSESSION!"

Gustav could more or less guess what Glade was saying from the rock's reply.

And from what he had gathered so far, this rock being needed him and some unknown stones which Gustav assumed were the grand stones, to escape from here.

It didn't make sense to Gustav. Why must it be him specifically.

"DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THAT, THEY SHOULD BE ARRIVING AT HIS LOCATION ANY TIME FROM NOW!" 

The instant Gustav heard those words he suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.

His perception picked up on something in his surroundings and he instantly deactivated Life Signs Tracking.

Gustav's vision returned back to his surroundings and he stared at the passageways up ahead and behind.

This particular area was very large but in front and behind were more than seven passageways in total.

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!

Multiple feet tapping on the surface of the ground could be heard coming from every one of these passageways.

It was obvious that a crowd of people were headed this way.

"Seven… Twelve… Nineteen… Twenty two… Twenty nine…" Gustav made use of his great hearing ability to count the number of people headed this way.

They hadn't entered his range of perception so he could only use his hearing.

"So many…" Gustav could already tell that there were coming for him.

The instant one of them entered his range of perception, he scanned them with his senses and confirmed that they were indeed participants.

__________________

-Energy : 1200/2125

__________________

Gustav checked his remaining energy, "I won't be able to go against so many with such low energy unless I fight without making use of powerful skills," He muttered with a contemplative look.

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!

The tapping sounds kept getting louder. It was obvious they were getting closer. Some had even successfully passed through the passageway and were currently in the vicinity.

In a few more seconds waves and waves of participants started streaming out of the passageway and into the area.

They arrived at the middle in no time and paused their movements after noticing that the area was empty.

They all had purplish glowing eyes and were numbered in the forties to fifties.

Chatter! Chatter! Chatter!

-"The great lord said he would be here,"

-"This location is accurate, how come its empty?"

Although they were all being mind controlled, at the moment they could think for themselves. They were in control of their own body movement, however their minds were plagued with one thought which was, to capture Gustav.

Gustav who was being sourced for positioned himself in between two stalactites hanging from the ceiling area with his legs and arms tightly holding onto them both.

He watched the crowd of participants from above with a look of astonishment. They had occupied almost every spot below due to their large number.

'just how powerful must the rock mental capability be to mind control this amount of participants at the same time,' Gustav felt the situation was a bit more dangerous than he thought.

Not because of the large number of participants looking to abduct him but because of the rock itself.

'There's still about three hours left before my stats return back to normal… I have to hide out for now till that time,' Gustav didn't want to confront the rock as he was now.

He had enough strength to hold onto these stalactites for three days if he wanted to so staying up here wasn't a problem. The only thing he was currently worried about was Angy. He hoped she and Maltida had found a place to hide out.

Gustav was currently naked as he held onto both stalactites. His skin tone had changed to match with the color of the stalactites.

Even if any of the participants looked upwards, they woudn't notice because he was currently like a chameleon blending in, also the way he positioned allowed more than half of his body to be blocked by the rocks in some angles.

Or so he thought…

Gustav suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and looked downwards towards the west.

Glare!

A pair of glowing blue eyes were staring in his direction and the moment he looked down, their eyes connected.

'Oh well… shit,' Gustav cursed internally as the female participant pointed in his direction.

"There he is!"

The entire crowd raised their heads to stare in Gustav's direction but unlike the girl some of them didn't notice anything. The distance from the ground to the ceiling area was big so that made it harder for them to spot any difference.

It was obvious that her eyes were special. A few participants who had very good perception were the ones who noticed that something was off with that particular spot.

"He's right there!" 

The few that noticed it shouted out and started firing attacks at that spot.

__________

In the secluded room where dignitaries gathered to watch the performance of the participants as well as converse about the observations gathered from seeing them perform, the room was currently giving off a sombre vibe.

The MBO higher ups watched the projections in front with slightly confused expressions.

"The participants are going after one another now, ambushing others to steal grandstones, however we it doesn't look natural in anyway," One of them voiced out.