Mikhail was one of the crowd favorites in the competition, so many people were watching his battles. Specialized drones were released to follow these "Special Candidates," allowing everyone to watch them in real-time. This was to ensure that there would not be any unexpected incidents caused by outside forces that might affect the "fairness" of the competition. Alessia, who was switching views between Mikhail and Shasha, couldn’t help but feel anxious when she saw that her son was surrounded by six people. Gerald, who was seated beside her, was calmly drinking some fruit juice that Remi had prepared for him. But even though he looked calm on the surface, he was cursing the Ashford Clan internally for being shameless. Clearly, this group was not an ordinary group of Wanderers, but a team that had fought many battles together. They were the perfect "Assassins" to eliminate certain individuals from the tournament. "Mikhail Leventis, if you don’t want to get hurt, surrender now or prepare to fight," a sharp-eyed-looking Wanderer declared. ""That’s right!"" The Sharp-Eyed Wanderer’s subordinates all agreed with their Leader’s warnings. If Mikhail surrendered without fighting against them, that would be for the best. However, instead of answering them, Mikhail chose a much better option and that was… To run! Yes. Mikhail Leventis chose to run, catching the group who were targeting him by surprise. For the first second, they could only look at him in shock. They thought that Mikhail would say something along the lines of, "no matter how many of you are, all of you will fall into my axe." But he didn’t say those cheesy lines. Instead, he chose to run without even a moment of hesitation. "Damn! Why are you running away?!" the Sharp-Eyed Wanderer roared in anger. "Come back here and fight!" ""That’s right!"" Mikhail did no such thing and ran, not forgetting to pay close attention to his surroundings. While he was confident that he could win against the group of six people, Thirteen taught him that, usually, there would be one more hidden person belonging to that group who would strike when he least expected it. Unfortunately for that person, he just happened to be in the direction where Mikhail had chosen to run to. Thinking that he had been discovered, the hidden person immediately tried to run away, revealing his location. Mikhail didn’t let this opportunity slip by and rushed at the young man, who was skinnier than the rest of the Wanderers who ambushed him. With a well-aimed kick, Mikhail sent the skinny teenager slamming towards a tree. Because they were Wanderers, such blows would not be able to kill them. However, it was still enough for them to suffer injuries. Mikhail then reached out and decisively broke the bracelet in the Skinny Teenager’s wrists, eliminating him from the tournament. As soon as this deed was done, Mikhail continued to run away, leaving his pursuers behind. He had already made a plan to change locations as soon as the next scan happened. That way, even if his pursuers knew his general location through the scan, they would not know which direction he was headed. Mikhail planned to do this over and over until his pursuers were eliminated by other Wanderers or he got a chance to eliminate them one by one by himself. Meanwhile, in the Forest where Shasha was located… The young lady also found herself in the same situation as her brother, Mikhail. She was trapped in an encirclement of eight Wanderers, all of whom were planning to eliminate her and claim the hefty reward that the Ashford Clan had promised them. But just as they were about to do that, a few teenage boys appeared and attacked them from behind. One of them was none other than Vincent, who was in the same place as Shasha. Seeing the sudden turn of events, Shasha lowered her rapier and observed the battle with a calm expression on her face. The moment the battle ended, the Simps—errr, the righteous Wanderers who happened to pass by all greeted the young lady, who responded to them all with a brief nod of acknowledgment. "Miss Shasha, these Wanderers are acquaintances of mine," Vincent said. "It seems that certain groups of people have decided to stick together in order to eliminate certain individuals. "Would you like to travel with us until this competition ends? If we are together, we can guarantee each other’s safety." Shasha scanned the faces of the teenage boys who had joined up with Vincent to form a team before reluctantly nodding her head. "Thank you for the offer," Shasha replied. "I will gladly accept it." After hearing the beautiful young lady’s words, some of the young men did a fist pump, making Zion, who was at the arena, give his comments. "Young men should be bold and adventurous," Thirteen said as the screen displayed the scene of Vincent and his group fighting to protect Shasha from the hired goons of the Ashford Clan. "Ladies like it when guys take the initiative to save them from harm. So, all of you future Wanderers should train hard, especially the boys. "That way, when you meet a beautiful lady in your First Wandering, they will feel safe with you beside them." Claude, who was standing beside Thirteen, used this opportunity to interject and made a comment on his own. "Mind telling everyone how many ladies have you saved from peril in Solterra?" Claude asked. "Also, how many of them have become smitten with you?" Erica, Sherry, and Shana all subconsciously leaned forward as if trying to hear Zion’s answer more clearly. "I haven’t personally saved any ladies in Solterra," Thirteen replied. "So, I can’t answer that question, Mr. Claude." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺 Thirteen said it with a sigh as if he was regretting not being able to act cool in front of beautiful ladies. "I do not believe you," Claude replied. "You’re just being humble. As the Supreme Commander of the Alliance who has performed many miracles, I refuse to believe that you’re not in a relationship with someone." "Well, believe it or not, I’m still single," Thirteen replied in a good-natured tone. "I heard rumors that you are close with the Hero Party, especially Lady Erica," Claude commented. "There is also a young lady named Sherry, whom you have rescued during her First Wandering. "They even stayed in the same tent with you when you were camping outside the registration venue for the Dragons and Phoenix Tournament. How can they be together with you like this if you don’t have any relationship with them? Even if I believe you, other people won’t believe it. Everyone, who found this piece of news very juicy, perked their ears as if waiting for Zion to admit it. Erica had her own fans, and the Ashford Patriarch’s words made them go into an uproar as they glared at the teenage boy who might have already managed to run into first base with the young lady of their dreams. Alessia, who was watching all the way from the Aldebaran Continent, had a good impression of Erica and wouldn’t mind the sorceress becoming her future daughter-in-law. Thirteen, who had been hard-pressed by Claude’s strategy, smiled faintly as he raised his microphone to give his reply to the older man’s statement.