The second path was exactly as Master Ortiz had shown Tristan, a steep cliff about a hundred meters high that had to be conquered with their restrained condition.
The nearly ninety degree cliff certainly felt a lot different when he saw it then and now, when he was blindfolded and could only 'see' it with Katra.
Heck, he even could only feel the lower part of the cliff with his second stage Katra, causing the upper part to be obscure in his sense. Coupled with the fact that his hands were bound, the only way to go up was through the dozens of wooden poles that stuck out of the cliff like a certain object.
He realized he would need several seconds to sense the pole with his second stage Katra, and in this kind of competition where speed ruled above all, his current capacity was simply not enough.
Hence, he planned to use the same strategy once again. Tristan would use his enhanced hearing and Katra to remember which poles his competitors chose and rushed to that particular spot. All in all, being the consequent was much easier than being a pioneer.
After several seconds of contemplating, Tristan decided his target to be the MAN among them all once again, the almighty prick Sindur.
However, when Tristan thought Sindur would be jumping and start climbing, the man stopped right beneath the steep cliff.
As a result, he also stopped in his tracks and decided to wait because he thought the man needed preparation before starting the climb. Unfortunately, that was not what happened next.
The prick actually waited for the others!
"Alanis, Elyon! We will do as planned!"
'What the hell!? They are working together?!' Tristan was screaming in his mind as he saw the three number 1 disciples reunited.
The moment Elyon arrived where Sindur and Alanis were, they nodded to each other and leaped to the cliff at once. The trio took the three nearest wooden poles, but when Tristan expected them to jump again, they stopped and decided to wait.
'What the hell they were waiting for?!!'
Once again, Tristan was confused by what happened.
At that moment, Tristan could hear more elves had passed through the first course and make their way to where he was. All of a sudden, the area beneath the cliff became crowded.
At that exact same time, the trio jumps up to continue. Tristan quickly follows only to realize many other elves were jumping at the same wooden poles the trio leaped onto earlier. With all their hand-tied this only result in them crashing into each other.
"Dammit!" Tristan cursed. Meanwhile, Sindur and the other two continued their climb and had nearly reached the second course's end.
Tristan was annoyed as he heard Sindur's taunt coming from the top of the cliff.
"Just get back to where you came from!! Hahahaha!!"
The condescending words that came from the prick truly made Tristan angry. It was apparent that those three 'number 1 disciple' were working together to make sure the outsider, which was him, failed in the Gauntlet. This situation was exactly like something that happened in a school, where all the kids bullied that one kid who was different from the rest.
Even though he was angry, Tristan didn't lose his cool as he wasn't willing to give up. Hence, his mind quickly went into full capacity, trying to find another way in order to kick those people's ass.
A moment later, it seemed that Tristan had thought of a way as he separated from the crowd and headed back to the woods. He picked the tree closest to the cliff and started kicking using his entire battle power.
BAMM!! BAAMM!! BAAMM!!
A tall, thick tree fell towards the cliff after receiving Tristan's revenge-filled kicks.
As the huge tree slowly made its way to the ground, Tristan quickly jumped onto it and ran over the fallen tree. The other participants who witnessed all of this happening were dumbfounded, while the shadow of the fallen tree loomed over them.
When Tristan reached the end of the tree, he lifted his foot and sent it down as hard as he could, causing him to shoot into the air towards the top of the cliff. The leap, which was powered by his 200 battle power, was enough to let him land on his destination.
Now, in front of Tristan were three chains where three annoying elves were running on them.
Tristan didn't waste any time as he immediately jumped and stomped on one of the chains. The stomp, supported by the momentum of gravity and the strength of 200 battle power, made the poor chain shake violently, as if a mega tsunami was passing through it.
Tristan smiled widely when he heard Sindur's scream.
Bingo!
He swiftly did another jump, heading to the location of the shout.
Then, Tristan 'accidentally' stepped on Sindur before he used the latter as a stepping stone. Thanks to Sindur's help, he managed to lengthen his jump and reach the end of the chain.
The last thing Tristan heard before he sped away was Sindur screaming his lungs out as he fell down from the chain.
'That's the consequence of toying with me! Have fun down there, you bastard!' Tristan thought to himself, while a smile appeared on his face.
With Sindur removed from the board, there were only two more competitors for Tristan to beat, and they were currently several meters in front of him. He wanted to take the lead before they reached the fourth course, but unfortunately, Tristan only managed to close the gap when they arrived at the fourth course.
The fourth course was a row of dozens of archery squads. They were all waiting at the finish line, with their longbows nocked with arrows. Not long after, the sound of the air being split apart by something could be heard.
Swish Swish Swish …
Dozens of arrows rained from above. Some of them made an arc in the air while others flew in a straight line, speeding towards the three front runners.
Sensing the incoming arrows, Alanis and Elyon immediately tried to dodge them. They sidestepped, shifted, and moved their body in various ways, dodging the arrows perfectly while also keeping their advance steady. Naturally, Tristan decided to follow their trail.
However, the problem this time was, the closer Tristan got to the finish line, the harder it would be for him to dodge the arrows as they would be faster and harder to predict. At first, Tristan's battle power really helped him in dodging the arrows. But now, he really had to depend on his Katra because the arrows were too much for his senses to handle.
Swish!
An arrow flew past his ear at a very close distance.
In his mind, where Katra projected everything that he sensed, Tristan saw a bundle of energy coming towards him. Those were the arrows. He tried his best to dodge them, but he could barely handle it the closer he got to the finish line.
Then, what he was afraid of eventually happened.
Splat!
Tristan's shoulder was pierced by the arrow that came faster and harder when he reached the halfway point. Because of that, he stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.
While he was gritting his teeth in pain, Tristan could see his two competitors almost out of his detection range, heading towards the finish line.
A thought popped into his mind.
'Am I going to lose?'
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