Constant clamoring echoed throughout the venue. As participants talked with each other about various topics. Like who was going to win? Although there were a thousand participants, this number was a minuscule amount compared to the total population of the Western Continent.

Felix was one among the many in the sea of crowd. Inconspicuous as always. His face blended in, he truly looked and fit the stereotype of a background character. Unlike the shining stars in the crowd who drew natural attention to them.

For example, Katsuro. Many looked at him with curiosity and hostility. Their sense of nationalism was flaring up against this foreigner. Katsuro had long raven black hair tied up in a bun. He wore a robe embroidered with golden lily patterns. His skin was white but a healthy complexion, not one that was considered so pale that you would think they were a corpse walking around. His face was also handsome and his disposition was one of aloofness as he completely ignored the gazes of the crowd.

Truly a main character.

There was also a girl in an extravagant red dress. Her blonde twin tails captured the gaze of the crowds. She was beautiful and very well known, as she has been featured in many magazines and news outlets. Her monster was also well known and feared, as many considered it a cheat. The girl was basking in the gaze of the crowd as she stared at Katsuro with a sense of jealousy, for stealing so much attention away from her. This girl was Katrina.

Then there was an up-and-coming genius, Blake. He was very obscure during his elementary and middle school years. But, recently he has been making crowds by appearing and winning in many competitions for high schoolers. It was well known that he came from a very poor financial background, as he was currently dressed in the same uniform that he goes to school with.

Not only that, he has stated countless times that he wishes to become famous so that he could support his mother and sister, the only family he knew. Blake had a crew cut with brown hair as he also stared at Katsuro with a burning ambition in his brown eyes. He wished to beat Katsuro and show that he was equal to these so-called geniuses who were born in better standing.

All the noises from the crowd vanished when a heavy sense of dread appeared.

“Silence!”

A voice shouted from the sky.

When everyone turned to see who it was. Their pupils dilated as they identified his figure. He wore a black robe with a golden cross necklace. The hood didn’t cover his majestic golden blonde hair that shined under the radiance of the sun. His hair was like that of a lion’s mane as it freely flowed behind his back, radiating a sense of beauty and majesty. He was Julius, The Apostle, a Legendary Monster Tamer.

Julius stared at the crowd with his cold blue eyes. Those who made eye contact with it shivered under his pressure. To be classified as a Legendary Monster Tamer wasn’t easy, as one had to have shown immense strength that could threaten other continents.

Though powerful, they were not the strongest. As it was, the guardians of each continent could be considered as the ones who stood at the top of the pyramid. They served as nuclear warheads, threatening each other continent from going too far while maintaining a sense of balance between them. As their battles would destroy the continents.

Seeing that everyone was now focused, Julius nodded as he explained the rules.

“Each of you will be randomly teleported into a forest. Your goal is to simply prove yourself. As for the criteria of proving yourself? Well, that’s up to the discretion of the people who are watching you. You have one week, to fight to your content. For those who want to give up, just shout ‘I give up’ and you’ll be automatically teleported out of there. Of course, there will be danger, but you should already know that. Of course, you’ll be immediately teleported before you face mortal danger, though. Does anybody have questions?”

Seeing that no one raised their hands, Julius nodded. These rules have been the same for decades and haven’t gone through changes. It would be surprising if anybody had questions. “Alright, each of you has 10 minutes to prepare yourself for the battlefield. You can pray to whatever god you believe in to give you some luck. After the 10 minutes is up, I’ll start teleporting you.”

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With that, Julius summoned a monster. It was a gigantic eyeball with three pairs of angelic wings behind it. On its head was a golden halo, as its pupil constantly enlarged and shrunk, sweeping the crowd with its gaze. Its iris was that of an ocean, the same as its master. It held an unknown depth inside the deep shade of blue.

It was an Ophanim, one of the servants of the guardian of the Western Continent. Only those who show great piety and faith in it could contract its servants. Hence why Julius holds the title, Apostle, an acknowledgment of his strength and his faith.

The gigantic eyeball gazed down at the mortals from the heavens as everyone stared at it in bewilderment. Isn’t this too much of a flex?

Ignoring the monster in the sky, the chattering continued. This time, the focus changed from Katsuro to Julius. Many were recounting his legendary deeds, while many expressed envy, wishing they could garner the support of a guardian, too.

It didn’t take long for the 10 minutes to pass. No one took Julius’s suggestion seriously. What plans could you possibly have when they would be teleported to a random area? All they could rely on was luck. Any alliance you could make would be immediately destroyed.

“Alright seeing, as the 10 minutes are up, get ready to be teleported. I hope you can prove your worth.”

With that, the gigantic eyeball’s halo flashed a bright light. The immense light radiating from it blinded everyone. As they could only close their eyes. Even that didn’t help, as they could still see the intense light radiating through their eyelids.

When the light faded, everyone opened their eyes to a different scene. Everyone had different sights, but if it was one thing, that was true. They were now in a deep forest, as birds and insects chirped, and the howls of various monsters echoed throughout the forest.

Felix found himself in a place sparsely populated by trees. Although there were still many trees, the foliage couldn’t block the sun from shining through. Taking note of his environment, Felix immediately summoned an ant. This time it was a fusion of Twenty Ants, it stood at a height of 6 meters with a width of 2.5 meters.

The more ants he fused, the stronger it got, but it seems like, after a fusion of Ten Ants, the increase in strength started to decrease. As the size change was no longer increasing as proportionally before. Not only that, there was a cap to the amount of ants he could fuse too, any over 50, and the ant would die. As its body would melt into a fine goop, before ceasing to exist.

Felix patted the fleshy ant as he commanded it to dig a tunnel for him. That’s right! Felix planned to just hide for the entire week. He had no plans to show his talent or fight for the amusement of anyone. Why would he do that when he was already guaranteed a free ride?

…

Unbeknownst to Felix, his grandfather was staring at him through the screen.

This was the area where recruiters and important figures watched the young talents. Commenting and evaluating their every move.

Felix’s grandfather was sitting next to another old man as they stared at him in disbelief.

“Max, your grandson has quite the temperament.” The old man chuckled.

Felix’s grandfather, Max, was livid. His hand had crushed the glass he was drinking wine from. His fury was unbound, scaring many people who wanted to strike up a conversation with him.

“When I see that kid, I’ll make his life a living hell.”

Max swore in his heart he had to fix Felix. He embarrassed him in front of a friend who he was bragging about earlier. Seeing the expression on Max’s face, the old man continued to laugh. It had been a long time since he had seen his old friend this angry before. He couldn’t help but take delight in his misery.

“Ignoring your grandson, there seem to be a lot of good seeds this year.” The man casually commentated.

“Hmph, they’re all trash compared to my grandson.”

“But your grandson is hiding in a tunnel, like a turtle.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll get Julius to fix the situation when it's the last day. Does he think he can just not fight?”

“Haha, isn’t that against the rule?”

Ignoring his laughter, Max had already contacted Julius and told him what he needed to do. Although surprised, he didn’t say no. It’s not like he could ignore the commands from the Goldenfield family, especially when it came from Max Goldenfield. That old man held a lot of connection and, most importantly, strength.

…

Unbeknownst to Felix, who was chilling inside a tunnel, his grandfather had already plotted on him. The tunnel dug by the ant didn’t collapse. They were great diggers, providing a lot of stability and room for Felix to sleep with peace of mind. While the competition was fighting each other, or fighting against the monsters in the forest.