*Boom!*

Jake found himself back on the island, along with the other candidate.

His sights blurred as his brain began to processes information better. The massive influx of information damaged his mind as he endured headaches upon headaches.

*Drip!* *Drip!*

Jake's face got battered with drops of water. From his laying position, he looked up at the sky and comments, 'It is raining.'

What could be more perfect?

The beautiful shower of rain after a long day. It seemed that it had blessed the two candidates with its cool embrace.

The rain massages his sore muscles and feeling blissful, he surrendered his entire body to it, while closing his eyes.

It was a pity that he was already in the [state of deficit] or he would have removed his armor pieces, leaving only his bare body to the naked rain.

Shifting his eyeball to glance at his surrounding, Jake noticed the female candidate laying on the grass, just like him.

Her calm eyes met his, but nothing happened. She couldn't move her body and he was sure that she didn't care about fighting anymore.

The both of them tried to peer through each other's eyes, in an attempt to pass their time.

Jake had to admit that he had never encountered anyone more open than him. He was a person that could walk around a city with only underwear.

Yet, the female candidate beside had fought naked all this while. From her first fight in the town to outside the barrier, she didn't feel a single bit uncomfortable with the grazing of the wind on her uncovered skin.

If he could move his mouth, Jake would have chuckled right now.

He just continued staring at her silver eyes, matching her emotionless gaze with his own cold gaze.

His sight began to blur again. His eyelids closed many times, before opening back instantly.

As soon as their fatigue had piled up, Jake and the candidate blacked out. The constant soft beating of the rain was the only noise in the environment.

It was a strange sight. On a grassy plain was a large platform of ice that was battered beyond repair.

Dents and craters opened the ground and the bountiful rain filled the holes up with its water. The blue cloud breathed a cool temperature that could compel one to sleep!

In the midst of all these wonders were two individuals, who laid on the melted portion of the ice, sleeping like there was no tomorrow.

They didn't know that as they slept, blue energy coalesced around their arm to form a tattoo,...…. a triangle with an eye in it!

............

'Where am I?' sighed Jake

As soon as Jake's eyes fluttered open, he found himself laying on a bed, with binds tying him to it.

Jake took his time to examine his environment.

The light around him was dull. It didn't seem to be natural and was gotten from a [Light Crystal] around him.

Judging by the size of the place he was in, he could tell it was a tent. It was probably one of the bounty hunters' tents.

Most of them, including his team, left their tent unpacked as they were running out of time.

The slow rain beating on the tent made him understand that it had only been hours since he blacked, not more than a day, and the rain was just coming to a close.

'Hmmm….'

He spotted a movement in front of him. Focusing solely on that, he found the female candidate seated on a chair as she fiddled with an item while she murmured something.

Now, he knew who strapped him to the bed, and also who took his clothes!

The female candidate even wore his beloved jacket and trouser. Leaving the original owner with barely an inner long sleeves shirt and his underwear.

Out of nowhere, a dagger materialized in the air, aiming at his head.

It caught Jake off-guard, but before he could react, the dagger stopped mid-air.

Blue hue shone on it as it lost it dispersed like a sandcastle in the turbulent winds.

However, Jake knew that it wasn't the female candidate's choice to stop her attack.

Testing out his theory, Jake forced the binds off him and blitzed to the female candidate.

His hands curled to throw a punch, but that was all that happened. His body stopped moving when his fist was about to contact the candidate's face.

Jake sighed and went back to the bed, while the female candidate simply stared at him.

'It is that thing's work,' realized Jake.

That was the only logical explanation.

When he met the celestial tetrahedron, he was forced to sign a contract….an oath. He didn't know the terms of the oath, but he knew that it was a fierce one.

However, he had grasped a few terms about the agreement he signed. When he thought about them, they aligned with Rhys' purpose of giving him the golden card.

For instance, he could not harm the female candidate and vice-versa. That was why his body was compelled to stop when he tried to attack the candidate.

Yet, the term harm was general. It could be broken down into more specific terms.

Like harming via energy attacks. The female candidate had tried to throw her daggers, made out of her special energy, at him, but the blue energy from the tetrahedron intervened!

'I understand. Physical attacks are stopped by body compulsion. Energy attacks are prevented by direct intervention. But, there are still other forms of attacks,' analyzed Jake.

He didn't have the time to test them out. So, he moved that for a late time.

'What a sad life?' sighed Jake.

He wondered if he should consider Rhys' action as a betrayal or not. After all, it was the latter's plan to force them all along.

However, Jake believed the next time they met, he would be compensated.

Seated on the bed, the two candidates quietly stared at each other again. This went on for a full hour, while the female candidate never looked at what she was fiddling with.

'She understands the situation more than I do,' sighed Jake.

Digging into his [Spatial Ring], Jake brought out a pill made by an alchemist. It was an old pill. Jake guessed that it was made decades ago before the alchemist left the continent.

The pill was called [Voice Box] and it could stabilize his voice problem for a while, but it came with a deficiency. Jake's throat would throb after the effects of the pill washed away.

This was why Jake had never thought about taking it before. The situation had never called for it, but it did now!

Gulping the pill, Jake waits for the feeling of warmth in his throat.

After ascertaining it, he initiated a conversation, "What is that on your hand?"