The next day after Thirteen made his announcement…
"Run, you maggots!" Thirteen shouted while riding on Blacky's back. "My Grandma runs faster than you guys."
Shasha, who was running beside Thirteen, looked at her brother with a smile.
Their Grandma, Lady Callista, was hale and healthy, and she had also regained her youthful beauty.
It was only natural for her to run faster than them. After all, she was one of the strongest Champions in the world.
"Run like your life is on the line!" Thirteen shouted, forcing the Wanderers to increase the pace of their running.
Currently, only the intensively trained individuals like Kane, Herman, Miriam, Phoebe, Raon, Rion, and Lambert (the one whom Uncle Boo turned into stone) were at the head of the pack, leading the others.
Shasha was in the rear, simply running alongside Blacky.
At first, the leaders, as well as Shasha, were able to run without problems.
But when Thirteen brought them to the sandy area of the beach, everyone was forced to put more effort into running because running on soft sand was harder than running on normal terrain.
The Wanderers struggled, especially the ones who hadn't received any training. Some of them even collapsed on the sand and were left behind by the others.
"Go ahead, Shasha," Thirteen said. "I need to help the stragglers."
"Mmm." Shasha nodded before increasing her pace to catch up with the group at the lead.
Blacky walked toward the fallen Wanderers, who were heavily panting for breath, and stood in place.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"I know it's difficult, but you will thank me later," Thirteen stated. "If running is all you need to do to clear your First Trial, then you should run as if your life depends on it. Since you're unable to run right now, then walk.
"If you're unable to walk, then crawl. When the Gate of the Moonlight appears, you can either run through it or forever stay here in the Arcadia Archipelago as bones. So, stand up and start walking!"
Gritting their teeth, the Wanderers pushed themselves up one by one and started to walk in the direction where the others had headed.
All of them had determined looks on their faces, showing that they don't plan to die in a place like this.
Thirteen watched them with a calm expression on his face. If possible, he hoped that all the Wanderers would be able to return home.
But this mission was truly difficult for ordinary teenagers who still hadn't attained the Rookie Rank.
Several hours later, the Wanderers returned to the camp, all panting for breath.
Some of them were sprawled on the ground, breathing heavily. They no longer cared if the dirt got stuck on their bodies.
Everyone had managed to arrive safely at the base, which was a good thing. Those who were truly unable to continue were picked up by Giga, Hercules, and the Trolls, who brought them back to their camp.
Suddenly, Thirteen and the other Wanderers sensed several strong presences that were headed in their direction.
A four-meter-tall Ape, a Winged Tiger, and a two-meter-tall Gray Forest Wolf walked toward their Camp with defeated looks on their faces.
All of them were Rank 5 Sovereigns and were the rulers of their own domains in the Second Island.
Behind them, Uncle Boo walked with a smug smile on his face.
"What do you think?" Uncle Boo asked.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Not bad," Thirteen replied. "How did you convince them?"
"We just had a proper talk."
"That's good. Communication is important."
The three monsters wanted to spit on the ground. The so-called proper talk that Uncle Boo mentioned involved threatening them to come with him or he would eat them all.
With a Rank 8 Sovereign threatening to kill them, how could they possibly not comply?
"Listen. From now on, all three of you will follow the orders of this boy," Uncle Boo said as he patted the ten-year-old's shoulder. "You can call him Boss or Leader if you like. Well then, Zion, I'll go look for other Monsters to talk to about our special operation."
Without even waiting for Thirteen's reply, Uncle Boo left, leaving the five Sovereigns behind.
"Well then, let's talk about our pla—"
Thirteen wasn't able to finish his words because as soon as the three deemed that the Beholder was indeed gone, they roared at the boy with the intention to intimidate him.
However, only the other Wanderers got scared of their roars, with some of the girls even started crying on the spot.
To their surprise, the ten-year-old didn't seem fazed and simply looked at them with amusement.
The Winged Tiger then decided to lunge at the boy, who was just a puny human in its eyes.
But before its claw could even land on Thirteen's Body, Giga appeared in front of Thirteen and activated its Titan Heart.
The Blaze Chad Skunk's size tripled, turning him into a six-
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})meter-tall monster.
But that wasn't all.
The moment Giga stood on his hind-legs, he truly became a giant. With a single swipe of his claw, he effortlessly swatted the Winged Tiger, making it crash face first into the ground.
The Black Ape pounded its chest with its fists before charging towards the Chad Skunk with the intention to fight it.
But before he could do that, the two Ogres, O1 and O2, blocked his path and clobbered the ape with their spiked clubs, making it cry out in pain.
The Forest Wolf, on the other hand, decided to run away instead of fighting.
However, it had only managed to take four steps forward when a Magma Bal-Boa appeared in front of it, blocking its path entirely.
Rocky gave the Forest Wolf the "where do you think you're going, buddy?" gaze, making the Forest Wolf whimper.
"It seems that Uncle Boo didn't talk to you guys properly," Thirteen said after the three Rank 5 Sovereigns were neutralized. "No matter. I have better ways of communicating with hard-headed monsters like you guys. O1, O2, tie them up!"
The two Ogres nodded as they picked up the adamantine chains that Rocky had spat out.
All of them were used to hunting Rank 5 Sovereigns, which their Master had to hunt to farm Apocalypse Points.
Unfortunately, Thirteen lacked manpower right now, so he didn't plan to kill these three monsters.
Once all three monsters were properly tied up and unable to break free, Thirteen crossed his arms over his chest and stood in front of them.
"I'm sure that you already know about the incident that happens on this island every ten years," Thirteen stated. "Powerful monsters from another world will descend in the Arcadia Archipelago in order to perform a ritual.
"In that ritual, they will kill as many monsters as they can to serve as sacrifices for the ceremony. I'm not sure what Rank you guys were ten years ago, but you should know, right? The people of Artem would only sacrifice strong monsters. Meaning, the three of you will be hunted down without fail.
"Now, I'll give you a chance. Either join us in our fight or die alone. What is your choice?"
The Winged Tiger, and the Ape roared in defiance. They said in their own language that they would rather die than serve a weak human.
The Forest Wolf, on the other hand, remained silent. But its eyes were filled with defiance, mirroring the thoughts of the two monsters beside it.
"It's good to see that the three of you have strong wills." Thirteen smirked. "We'll see how long it will last. Drag them away."
Giga, Rocky, and the Ogres dragged the three monsters away from the camp because he didn't want the other Wanderers to suffer from the aftermath of what he was planning to do.
Of course, many of them got curious, so they followed Zion, wanting to see how he was going to deal with the three Sovereigns.
Several minutes later…
"Giga, give them a good dose of your Giga Destroyer," Thirteen ordered.
The moment the three Sovereigns realized what the skunk was planning to do, all of them cried out in fear.
Unfortunately, it was already too late.
Giga's extremely potent stink spray landed on their faces and bodies, soaking them all in the most heavenly scent that they had experienced in their lifetime.
The Wanderers, who had come to watch the show, all retreated in haste, especially after smelling the foul scent that spread in the surroundings.
The leaders of the different Wanderer Teams were horrified after seeing such a scene.
Taiga, on the other hand, only smirked. As someone who had received Giga's spray more than once, he could guarantee that by the time his Master's talk with the monsters was over, they would no longer dare to raise their voice against him, ever again.
