Round 2: Finally Eating... Something?

"Finding a key on an empty stomach... is really painful," Eli mumbled as he patted his empty stomach, which had been grumbling incessantly.

The forest was eerily quiet except for the occasional rustle of leaves.

He had been lurking in the forest for half an hour, but there was nothing edible in sight.

The dense foliage and twisted roots made the search even more frustrating, "Arrrhh..." Eli groaned in annoyance. If that damn Jimmy hadn't blocked his meal ticket, he would have at least eaten something to fill his empty stomach.

The task of searching for the key was becoming increasingly exasperating.

His ears suddenly flinched at a faint sound, and he immediately climbed a tree with agility. Perched among the branches, he scanned the direction from which the minute sound had emanated.

Hearing the clash of weapons, Eli's instincts kicked in, and he jumped from one tree to another.

He looked like a Monkey... maybe Tarzan!

Upon arriving at the scene, he observed two boys arguing heatedly.

"I was the one who found that!" a boy shouted, his face flushed with anger.

"So what? Just because you found it doesn't mean you own it," another boy retorted, his glare fierce and unwavering.

Eli then spotted a small red key lying in the middle of the clearing, as if it was waiting for someone to pick it up.

It glinted invitingly in the dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy!

"I've been searching everywhere, and yet this thing was lying here plainly..." Eli thought, his annoyance palpable. Just as he was about to make his move and steal the key, another person appeared, catching him off guard.

"Oh! What do we have here?" A white-haired girl entered the premises, looking at the boys with a haughty smile. Her presence exuded confidence and authority.

Eli flinched and stepped back.

He observed the girl who wore a black top and tight jeans. She seemed harmless at first glance, but the way she carried herself was overbearing, as if she had everything under her control. The boys didn't even move an inch, as if they were paralysed by her mere presence.

The girl had a disappointed expression before addressing them, "Come on, I've been itching for a fight. Come at me, you two!"

She beckoned with her slender hand, but the boys remained motionless. Their faces turned red while their eyes lost colour, staring blankly ahead.

Eli frowned.

He knew the girl was beautiful and all, but something about their reaction seemed off...

"Aren't they reacting too much...?" Eli pondered, then shrugged. He wasn't going to waste his opportunity. He looked at her one more time before throwing his pitchfork at her with precise aim.

The girl giggled and was about to pick up the red key when her ears twitched.

She dodged the pitchfork with cat-like reflexes, and it missed its target, embedding itself in a nearby tree with a solid thud.

The white-haired girl growled, her eyes narrowing as she glared in the direction the weapon had come from, "Who are you?" she demanded, but there was no response.

"Tsk, another coward hiding in the woods," she mumbled, raising her hand, preparing to use her magic when,

"Coward?"

The girl's eyes widened in surprise when Eli whispered just behind her. Before she could react, Eli caught her hand, folded it back, and slammed her to the ground with a swift, practiced motion, ensuring she couldn't move.

"Grrrr!!" she growled in anger, her face pressed against the forest floor.

"What are you? A dog?" Eli asked in an amused tone before questioning her further, "What did you do to them?"

The two boys were still staring at the sky with emotionless eyes, their expressions vacant.

The girl wriggled to escape Eli's grasp. The more she struggled, the more Eli pressed her down, making it impossible for her to move. She clicked her tongue in annoyance, unable to believe she had let a man sneak up on her!

She then turned her head slightly and glared at Eli, muttering, "I did just like this!"

Eli saw her ice-blue eyes shining brightly. Suddenly, he felt dizzy as his mind went blank, the world around him spinning into darkness, his body turned motionless.

The white-haired girl pushed him off and stood up, glaring at Eli with a mixture of anger and disdain, "This damn human, sneaking up on me without even alerting me... If my mother knows this, she's going to beat the shit out of me!!" she mumbled with an annoyed tone, dusting herself off and regaining her composure.

She wanted to punch him so badly, her fists clenched with the intensity of her frustration, but she hesitated, fearing her illusion magic might shatter if she unleashed her rage.

Yeah, ever since she came, she had been using her illusion like a double-edged sword, weaving it into her every move.

Her illusion trick was deceptively simple: it projected the raw desires of those around her onto a shimmering canvas of fantasy.

Those two guys were currently consumed by a primal urge to possess the girl they had just glimpsed, and Eli... Everyone knew what he wanted, so he was indulging himself without restraint.

The girl sighed deeply, She wasn't sure what others saw in the illusion, but the strain of controlling three people simultaneously was taking a heavy toll on her body.

With a weary sigh, she made the decision to retrieve the key and escape this place. Just as her trembling fingers were about to grasp it,

"Illusion magic...ah?" Eli's voice cut through the tense silence, dripping with annoyance and anger.

The girl flinched and shocked to see Eli was snapped out of her illusion, "H-How?" she stammered.

She glanced at the other two men ensnared by her illusion, their faces still twisted by desire, but unlike Eli.

"How? You idiot! Even though I ate those tantalising looking food, I couldn't taste a damn thing... everything felt as dull as a lifeless stone..." Eli's words were laced with longing and fury as he yanked his pitchfork from the tree with a violent tug.

"What the..." The girl's shock was palpable, her eyes widening in disbelief, "Why the hell would you desire food?! You should be craving women, money, or victory in the test, you idiot!" she shot back, her voice rising in frustration.

Eli's lips twitched, "So it's my fault that you couldn't create a damn tasteful illusion!"

"O-Of course!" The girl shrugged and folded her arms under her bosom.

"...."

"...."

Both of them stared at each other before the girl jerked her hand, and in an instant, ten small throwing weapons shot toward Eli.

Though Eli was taken aback, he immediately used his pitchfork to block the attack, but to his surprise, the weapons passed through the pitchfork.

He tried to block another, but again it passed through. He was truly taken aback.

'Illusions...' Eli frowned as he looked at the girl, who was smirking and glancing at his forearm where the real weapon was stuck.

"I see..." Eli nodded, clenching his lungs and teeth as a hissing sound escaped his mouth. He inhaled the surrounding mana, his eyes flickering brightly before stomping on the ground and leaping towards the girl.

The girl smirked even more, jerking her two hands and this time sending twenty throwing weapons at Eli.

'There's no way he could even find which ones are real!' she thought and decided to pick the key.

Yes, Eli didn't know which ones were real, but he knew what to do in this situation. He grabbed the middle of his pitchfork and used its two ends to hit the incoming weapons.

For him, it didn't matter which ones were real... He needed to put everything into his effort, and he did so without hesitation.

'Ting'

'Ting'

'Ting'

In a matter of seconds, three colliding sounds echoed, making the girl flinch and turn back... only to see Eli grab her neck and lift her into the air.

"Looks like your illusions... aren't that great," Eli said with an amused tone.

Veins popped on her forehead. Eli was about to knock her out when,

Thud

Something punched his stomach. He coughed and stumbled back as both he and the girl fell down together.

"~aahh"