UNLIMITED SPEED

Sitting around a big campfire, Noah kept to himself like the others currently did. Chunks of sticked wolf meat hung above the crackling flames to roast them, but at that point, no one felt like eating anymore. They had eaten a lot already.

The eyes of the experts continued to dart his way many times, but it didn't bother him. They didn't harbor any negative feelings from the looks of things so he left things as they were.

After the death of the wolf, the group immediately moved to clear the area of any threats, but they had only found a few beasts around. The other three had been surprisingly resourceful. They created a wall around the clearing they had made themselves, while also placing protection since mere wood and rocks wouldn't be enough to stop middle-stage beasts.

So in less than four hours, they were settled in an area close to the spot the portal had dropped them. Unfortunately, no one knew where exactly they were. Coupled with the difficulty the tall trees posed in scouting, they could only do as the elder had said and waited.

"Why isn't elder Von here?" The blonde-haired guy eventually broke the silence causing a frown to appear on Williams's face.

"I thought the tournament was to begin today or was there an issue with the portal?" the blondie continued in a troubled tone.

"Look, we don't know anything. I'm as lost as you," William replied trying to make sense of the situation when an idea popped up. His eyes fell on Noah's calm figure and he opened his mouth to talk, but with respect in his voice.

"You were the last to go through the portal did he tell you anything?" William asked, but his words met silence. At least for a few seconds.

"He did tell me something," Noah replied and all attention fell on him more attentively.

"He said the tournament itself will be beginning four days from now, and he'd meet us here in about two days," Noah explained calmly. His words caused a sense of relief to befall the three since a few moments of since followed his words.

"Did he tell you why he would only be meeting us in two days?" the blonde-haired man spoke. "Anything that we can use to better assess our situation?"

'Yes, he wanted me to gain your respect, and it seems it worked,' Noah replied inwardly, but shook his head in response.

"Oh I see," the blonde-haired expert replied more or less downcast. He threatened to ask why only he had been told of that plan, but he couldn't or wouldn't.

Another long silence followed, and soon the air began to get awkward. However, Noah was already deep in his thoughts assessing the clash with the higher-stage wolf.

Although he had one-shotted it, the amount of essence that had been required to do so had been a bit high. More than 6k worth of essence had been poured into that singular discharge, and he understood the reason for it.

He wasn't the system that was able to optimize the cost of spells while allowing them to retain their power. All he had done was pour fuel into the construct in his mind and shaped it. He had also feared that adding less would make the attack incapable of killing the beast, so he more or less kept pouring until his instincts begged him to stop.

The result had been the sword-shaped mass of electrical currents more than five times the length of the average man.

Thankfully everything had worked out. Although the forest had been on fire for while, a bit of water affinity was all that was needed to quench it. The pink-haired lady had shown her incredible worth there, by conjuring a large mass of water high above the burning area before detonating it and showering the area with water.

The scene had been nothing short of spectacular. Glowing blue water falling from the sky like rain. It made him feel nostalgic. Now that he thought of it, Noah had never witnessed rain in Cregar. Hopefully, that would change.

However, when he considered the fact that he had never stayed in one region for too long, he could only believe he had missed those seasons.

All in all, the event that had occurred when they arrived in the forest had been great. It had been months since Noah fought magical beasts, so the experience had been refreshing even if his opponents had been weak.

It made him hold high hopes for the coming tournament, since if all those participating were as spectacular as the individuals around him, then the event would prove to be a serious challenge. It excited him greatly.

Unfortunately, he would have to wait around three days before everything began.

'Why were we asked to depart this early if the tournament is still around half a week away? Does it have to do with us being part of a great guild?' Noah wondered, and he couldn't help but feel he had arrived at the answer.

"We should get to know each other's names since we're guild-mates," Williams suddenly broke the silence pulling Noah out of his thoughts.

"You all know my name, but I'll reintroduce myself." He stood. "I am Williams Ramio, fourth son of the noble house of Ramio. Unfortunately, my mother was never married into the family and I was an unwanted child. Due to this I was never really accepted and had to run away at some point," he explained giving them a short view into his life's history. His introduction had caught them off guard since he didn't wait for anyone to agree with him.

Taking his seat he glanced at the blonde-haired man, who sighed a stood.

"I am Liam, second son of a commoner. My parents and two sisters were killed when a large pack of magical beasts raided our town. I and my elder brother survived, but he became a mercenary and I a member of a great guild," Liam explained, his eyes flickering with a deep sense of pain even if it lasted only a second, after which he sat down.

Eyes fell on Noah and the pink-haired lady. The duo gazed at each other for a few short seconds before The pink-haired lady stood.

"I am Illiana, I knew met my parents and was maltreated by the many families that took me in. This continued until I was found by Elder Gina. I proved my worth to the guild and they let me in," she explained in a quiet tone before sitting down.

All eyes fell on Noah's figure at that point, and he had no choice but to stand.

'Why do they have such tragic backstories!' he screamed inwardly.

"I am Aiden. I was the son of a single father. I never knew my mother, but I once had a brother. However, they are all gone now." He gave them an honest explanation. His story wasn't any less tragic than theirs.