"We need to decide who we’re going to send for the first game, the beast taming competition." Silas and the others were sitting inside a small tent, planning their strategy.

"Silvano is too tired to fight, so we have to send a team of two in one of the games. I guess it depends on what we value most." Nora summarized things pretty well.

"The way the games are arranged and the bets he made. I'm almost completely certain that Grimdow is fine with losing the first two games."

"Because he wants the slaves?"

"Yes, losing a single item for them is nothing, and giving us information was part of his first offer. But if you look at the third game, he clearly doesn't want to give us the materials for free, and the slaves were the reason he came here. He only cares about winning the third game."

"If he wants to crush us so bad, why go for three games instead of a single game?" Nathan asked.

"Because he wants us to think the competition is important. If we lose the first two games, they can create a precedent for us honoring the bet. If we uphold our word in the first two bets, then we end up looking bad in the third bet. After all, we had two opportunities before and lost them. He could say we’re being sore losers and then destroy us."

The existence of the Crimson Baron was most likely the reason for looking for a justification for their destruction. If they said they refused to obey the agreed rules, they could defend themselves.

"It's like one of those marketing scams where if you buy the first product, they keep calling you and pestering you until you give up and buy more products. They used to do that to me all the time."

"That sounds terrible, Rebecca." Nadine gave her a pat on the shoulder to lift her spirits.

"In any case, we need to win the third game no matter what. We can afford to lose the other two, but we should still try." Silas wrote down the names in three groups according to the competitions.

They talked for a while and finally decided on the order of teams.

***

"Let’s begin the first game of the day!" David announced with enthusiasm, and behind him, a series of fireworks exploded in the sky. "The first game of the carnival today is the Beast Taming Competition. Let me hear you roar for the games!"

The members of the caravan, along with the slaves, made a bunch of noise. Grimdow sat beside Silas on the top of a wooden stand covered in a fine red carpet.

In only a few moments, Silas learned about their technology level. The fireworks show and the small device David was holding worked like a microphone, but it wasn’t connected to anything.

Cink told me about the technology of the Valein Empire, but it seems they aren’t the only ones that have modern technology. No, I should think this is an old invention, and they have even better things. Like in a futuristic setting.

"From the Pix-Dawn Alliance side, two humans step up to challenge us! Although they look weak, they are System users. Franco and Nathan!"

Both step up to the starting line. "You only sent two for the first competition; aren’t you the one underestimating us?" Grimdow asked.

"You’re sending one person; don’t talk about underestimating. Beside, they are the only ones we need to win the first game." It wasn’t a bluff; he was serious. They had a plan to win every single game. He assigned Franco and Silas to this game because it was the only one that could let them use their powers to the maximum.

"Representing the Crimson Caravan, our Master of Beasts and Slaves. The master of pain and discipline. The four-handed tolgar, the furious whip, Se’ky!"

A wave of fire erupted from inside a tent, and Se’ky came out shaking his whips in a dance. He was used to bragging and demonstrating his abilities before a game. He was wearing jagged, sharp armor, and a sword rested on his waist. He was going serious in this competition to redeem himself in the eyes of his master and the other members of the crimson caravan.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The screams and cheers from the others filled the Rock, this was Se'ky's redemption.

"Let’s go over the rules one last time. For this game, you need to capture and train a wild beast in less than one hour and make it cross this ring of fire." He pointed to a hoop covered in flames inside a circle.

"You can’t enter the circle or touch anything inside. The beast must be the one to move according to your orders. Violence between the contestants is prohibited, and they can’t attack or harm each other’s beasts. With that said, let’s begin—"

"Wait, when does a beast count as mine or his? What if we both try to choose the same animal?" Nathan asked before the game could begin.

"Mm, in that case, the first one to touch the beast gains ownership."

"So, if the beast hasn’t been touched, it is considered wild."

"Yes, those are the rules. Can’t you guys follow something so simple." David mocked them, but they didn’t pay him any attention.

"Don’t worry, I won’t try to steal the beast you want. I can train a simple worm to cross that hoop in half an hour. Go and choose whatever beast you can tame; I already won this game." Se’ky smiled proudly.

"Then let’s begin the first game!" David grabbed a whistle and blew it.

They had the whole desert to look at, but the time limit made it hard to go too far away. As soon as the game began, Nathan and Franco ran, looking for the first creature they could find. There was a bird flying in the sky, but it was too high.

"It's too hard to force a bird to obey us when it can fly away. We need something on the ground."

Because they couldn't follow them into the desert, David flew above them in an eagle-like creature with his microphone to inform and comment on the participants' current situation.

"Nathan and Franco have taken the lead, while Se’ky is following them closely behind. He’s taking his time to see what kind of animal they’re going to capture."

Se’ky was giving them the advantage, not only to prove his superiority but also because the challenge of having to find a beast in this desert was extremely hard. Only someone who knew about the kinds of animals living here would stand a chance to find something to tame.

The two humans weren’t tamers or trainers of any kind. He could recognize they were a bit strong, but taming a creature was an impossible task for them. He was already sure of his victory, which is why he was watching to see what kind of trick they were going to pull.

You guys have no idea about this desert. At most, you’ll be able to drag a worm around and back to the circle, but that’s only if you’re lucky.

Nathan stopped and made a signal to Franco. In a moment, he took out a knife and started to cut his hand.

"What?" Se’ky watched the blood drip into the sand. They were using blood as bait to attract the worms below. "How did they know?"

As the blood made its way below the sand, the smell attracted the predators below. Silvano confirmed it, but they already knew about the presence of worms in the sands of the desert. They were scavengers lurking underneath, looking for prey or corpses.

These giant worms weren’t too strong; they preferred to avoid fights and eat corpses or the remains of other predators. But they haven’t tasted human blood before, and that uncertainty made them more willing to attack.

It didn’t take long for a giant worm to come out of the sand. It had nothing to fear, as the two below were much smaller. It opened its mouth and prepared its sharp teeth. Before it could take a bite, Franco smacked him to the side with a punch.

The worm was stunned for a moment, then another punch was delivered, and finally Nathan raised it with his shield.

"Uf, is heavy."

"Can you take it back on your own?"

"Yes, you need to do your part. I’ll take this worm through the ring of fire." Nathan dragged the giant worm back to the carnival.

"Oh, it looks like Nathan has chosen a giant worm to use as his beast. But why isn't Franco helping him?"

"A worm; I’m surprised you knew about them living in the sand. Using your blood is a good idea. Is true you can make it cross the hoop with a beating but is going to take you longer than me. Shall we make it equal?"

Another worm came from the sand; it was also lured by the scent of fresh blood. Se’ky summoned a single whip and walked to the worm. He was going to humiliate them by winning with the same kind of beast.

But before he could whip the worm, it was killed by a wave of air. The body exploded into hundreds of pieces, and the meta chunks littered the sand.

"What are you doing?" Se’ky looked at him with anger, but Franco was completely calm.

"Sorry, I wanted to take it back as a second option, but I used too much strength. It's fine since you didn’t touch it; it doesn’t count for the rules."

"Bastard!" Franco was correct. Since he didn’t touch it, it was a wild beast, and there were no rules about attacking a wild beast; only the ones that had been touched were protected.

Se’ky tried to whip another worm that was coming close, but Franco killed it with the same attack before he could touch it. He looked back to the carnival, where Nathan was using his shield and the barriers to make a ramp for his worm.

"I’m not touching the circle; my shield is in the air. So, I’m not disqualified, right?"

"Yeah, as long as you don’t touch the ground or the hoop." David said it with bitterness.

The barriers created a simple path for the worm to cross before it could enter the sand again. It was still stunned, but the moment it woke up, it was going to run away, passing the hoop and winning the competition for Dawn.

"Tch!" Se’ky finally realized what was happening. Franco was going to keep killing all the animals before he could touch them. Even if the worm didn’t cross the ring, they would win by default as he failed to find a beast in the time limit.

"You didn’t want to play dirty, giving us the advantage? You’re an idiot. It never crossed your mind that we could defeat you. You chose the game and the rules, but you lost because you didn't take us seriously."