Round 2: She was something else!

Eli clenched his hand a few times before looking at the blushing white-haired girl standing before him.

Her face was a mask of fury, and her eyes, a piercing shade of red, brimmed with unshed tears, glaring at him as if he had killed her family!

"Let's talk about this," Eli said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. He wasn't entirely sure what he had just touched; the sensation was squishy, soft, and... strangely feathery.

He pondered, his brows furrowing in confusion.

What on earth had he touched? Glancing at the girl, it became evident that he had inadvertently come into contact with something sensitive to her.

"Y-You damn pervert!" the white-haired girl spat, her voice trembling with anger.

She hugged herself tightly, trying to cover whatever it was he had touched, and mumbled, "I-I will definitely tell my mother about this..."

Eli's face contorted in horror, 'What the hell?! Why are you bringing your mother into this?!' he screamed inwardly.

Desperately, he tried to reason with her, saying, "This was an accident... L-Let's talk it out between us. There's no need to escalate things."

The girl continued to glare at Eli, her fiery gaze unwavering. He sighed heavily and said, "If you want, you can touch me... Let's consider both of us equal in this."

Hearing his suggestion, the girl's face turned an even deeper shade of red. She erupted, shouting, "YOU JERK! PERVERT! ASSHOLE!"

Eli's lips twitched in frustration.

Let's be honest, it was indeed an accident, and what's more, it was she somehow with unknown weapon, hit his stomach, so she would be the one at fault here!

After Eli pointed that out, the furious expression on her face lessened slightly, though she remained visibly upset. "L-Let's say that's my mistake..." she muttered reluctantly.

Eli allowed himself a small smile, but it was short-lived.

"However, you touched something precious, so..." Her eyes landed on the key, indicating she wanted it in exchange for her silence.

Eli's eyes twitched with irritation. 'This girl...' He then snapped, "Fuck off!" He defiantly showed his middle finger before moving to grab the key.

'My charm spell didn't work?' The girl flinched, seeing that Eli was not succumbing to her allure. She frowned for a moment, then quickly moved to stop him.

'Sssshhh'

A throwing knife landed just inches before Eli, halting his motion abruptly. He looked up to see the girl gazing at him with a serious, almost desperate expression.

"What?" Eli asked, his patience wearing thin.

The girl frowned, realizing her illusion and charm spells were ineffective. Fighting here would only lead to more complications for her later. So, she proposed,

"Let's have a truce."

"Truce?" Eli echoed, skepticism evident in his tone.

"Yes, we can share the key for now instead of wasting our energy fighting each other. We can both search for another key, after finding an another we go separate ways!" she suggested.

Searching alone was a daunting task, but with two people, there was a significantly higher chance of finding another key in a limited amount of time.

Eli nodded, understanding her logic but, "Why would I?" he asked in an amused tone.

He knew she had run out of tricks, which was why she was resorting to this desperate measure, but Eli wasn't about to fall for it.

The girl bit her lip, thinking quickly. She needed to come up with something fast. As her eyes roamed around, they fell on two hapless individuals still caught in her illusion.

She smiled slyly and raised her hand. Eli tensed, ready for another illusion.

However,

His eyes widened in surprise when he saw a huge chocolate cake materialize in her hand.

"It was supposed to be my victory cake... Well, whatever, you can have it," the girl said, her face a picture of defeat.

"Hmm?" Eli smirked, skeptical. "Do you think I would fall for another petty illusion of yours?"

"Tsk, this is a real cake!" the girl insisted. She took a small piece, eating it with sweet, deliberate slowness, her lips curling into a satisfied smile.

'Gulp'

Eli gulped involuntarily. He could smell the rich, enticing fragrance of the chocolate cake and, seeing her eat with such genuine pleasure, made his stomach churn with hunger.

Eli bit his lips, trying to resist the temptation. He needed to stay focused, finish this block, and move on to the next one.

"Haa... You think I would fall for your petty cak—"

'Ggrrrrrrrrrrrrroooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwlllllllllllllllllllllllllllll'

"...."

"...."

Eli's stomach growled so loudly that even the white-haired girl's face contorted in shock.

It was, without a doubt, the longest and loudest stomach growl she had ever heard in her life. Her lips trembled as she tried to suppress a laugh.

Eli's face turned beet red with embarrassment as he saw her struggling to hold back her laughter.

He glared down at his stomach, mentally berating it. 'You had one job, and yet...' he thought, completely mortified.

"Tsk, fine then!" he snapped, clearly annoyed.

The girl's grin widened, her plan having worked perfectly.

Just as they were speaking, a sudden sound interrupted them.

'Sssssssshhhhhhhh'

A portal opened above the key and a green-haired boy peeked out, "Oh, I got the key!" he exclaimed, snatching the key from Eli's hand before disappearing as quickly as he had appeared.

"....."

Both Eli and the white-haired girl stood frozen, trying to process what had just happened before they both shouted in unison, "WHAT!!!"

Their voices echoed through the forest, reverberating off the trees.

Meanwhile, in another location,

"Sigh, Father," Aadya said, exasperation clear in her voice as she looked at her father. He awkwardly coughed and said, "H-He must be really hungry... I mean, look at his clothes, he must be poor one... He might not have eaten since yesterday," trying to make an excuse for the boy's actions.

"Haaa...." Aadya released an exasperated sigh and nodded before turning her attention back to the monitor.

As the trio observed how the others were doing while occasionally glancing at Rock, they still couldn't believe he had allowed a soulless to pass. If the headmaster found out, they were certain Rock would face severe punishment.

Though they wanted to stop the boy, they couldn't, as they themselves had allowed a few unworthy individuals to pass.

Meanwhile, back in the forest,

"Who is he?" Eli asked, taking a bite of the cake.

"According to my intelligence, he must be one of the rare space elemental users. Judging by his appearance... hmm... he might be one of the chosen heroes from the Arcadia Triarchia Continent that I've heard about," the white-haired girl answered thoughtfully.

"Oh..." Eli nodded, but his full focus was on the cake he was eating. The moment he took a bite, he felt as though he was submerged in chocolate; his whole body felt rejuvenated, and he wanted to swim in the chocolatey goodness.

Seeing his excessive reaction to what seemed like a simple cake, the girl couldn't help but ask, "Do you love it that much?"

Eli nodded with teary eyes, genuinely grateful to this unknown angelic girl. Even though she had come for a fight, food was food, and it was above all else.

There were no enmities when it came to food.

The girl couldn't help but tease, "What would you do if it was poisoned?"

"..." Eli's happy expression froze as he halted mid-bite, looking at the girl who now seemed more like a demon than an angel.

"Hehe..." The girl giggled, thoroughly enjoying his reaction—

"MMMFFFFF!!!"

Suddenly, Eli took a large piece of cake and shoved it into her mouth.

"Let's die together!!" he mumbled before forcing more cake into her mouth as she wriggled to escape.

"MMFF!!" Only muffled sounds escaped her as her eyes filled with tears. She looked at Eli's indifferent and happy expression while he fed her, realizing he was actually enjoying this!

'PERVERT!!!' she screamed internally, even as the cake was pushed down her throat.

Meanwhile, the two idiots who were still caught in the illusion were daydreaming, even though she had stopped casting it.