For a brief moment, Miri and that blue-haired woman—one with level 23—made eye contact and shared a glimpse with each other. It was then that Miri panicked a little and quickly looked away to avoid making the situation more awkward than it already was.

  Anne noticed Miri quickly turning away and regarded her curiously. “Hmm? Miri, what’s wrong?”

  “That woman with the blue hair over there,” Miri replied with slight apprehension. “She may be a strong contender.”

  “How do you know?” Anne asked curiously.

  “It’s just a gut feeling I have, you know. I can just sense these things.” Miri said. “That blue-haired woman…definitely someone we should be keeping an eye out for.”

  “Another one of your gut feelings, huh?” a man’s voice spoke out from behind the two women. “Though, in this case, I think it might be more accurate than you think.”

  Miri and Anne turned around to see Idris strolling up to them, a laidback smirk on his face. Unlike last time, he now carried a recurved bow and a quiver of arrows on his back.

  “Idris, you’re here!” Anne remarked with delightful surprise. “We thought you didn’t come. We’ve looked around for quite a while just to find you.”

  “Well, that’s not all that surprising, considering the large crowd we have here,” Idris said, gesturing to the masses of people around them. “Finding a single person within this is like finding a needle in a haystack. Lucky for you two, my eyes are quite sharp, enough to spot the two of you among the crowd.”

  “Sounds like you know a little bit about that blue-haired woman,” Miri said. “What can you tell me about her?”

  “Woah, there. Are we sharing information now?” Idris asked with a raised eyebrow. “I never remember officially agreeing to form a team with you two. And I’m pretty sure sharing information is something reserved for team members only.”

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  “Oh, come on. You’re really gonna be that stingy with your information?” Miri asked with slight annoyance. “Sure, we may not be team members, but we’re still drinking buddies. That’s gotta be worth at least something, right?”

  Idris chuckled. “Alright, alright. I’ll tell you a bit of what I know out of courtesy. Now, I don’t know how much of what I heard is accurate, but from what I’ve gathered, that woman over there is Blair Frosthart—part of the Arctic Aurora Guild.”

  “Wait, Blair Frosthart? I think I’ve heard of that name before,” Anne said. “Miri, remember when we were reading up on the champions of the previous Pentacle Trials? The name ‘Blair Frosthart’ came up. She is one of the champions. She won the Pentacle Trials five years ago.”

  “Oh yeah, I remember,” Miri recalled. “Out of all the names, Blair Frosthart is the one who stood out the most because, out of all the champions of the Pentacle Trials within the last ten years, she is the youngest of them all. And by a large margin as well. All the other champions average to around 30 to 40 years old, but Blair Frosthart won when she was only 20.”

  “Oh, so you have heard of her,” Idris said. “Well, in that case, you should have a pretty good idea of how formidable she is. She also happens to be the daughter of Delilah Frosthart, who has been a long-time champion of the Pentacle Trials, having several wins under her belt herself. What’s even more impressive is that Blair is rumored to not have any pre-planned team accompanying her when she participated in her last trial five years ago, one of the few rare instances where a trialrunner goes the solo route.

  “Being trained by a legendary veteran who is also her mother, it’s not that hard to imagine Blair winning a Pentacle Trial at such a young age. Even so, to reach such a high level of skill is not easy. Not all children of champions ended up becoming champions themselves. Blair Frosthart is perhaps a prodigy among prodigies. You best watch out for her if you don’t want to lose.”

  “Of course, aside from her, there are also a few other contestants to look out for—all from various reputable guilds within the city. There’s some people from the Silver Wolf Guild, some from the Midnight Raven Guild, some from the Vicious Viper Guild, and some from the Golden Lion Guild.”

  “Wait, the Golden Lion Guild?!” Miri exclaimed. “Oh no…you have got to be kidding me—”

  Before Miri could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a snide voice calling out from behind her. “Well, well, well, look who we have here?”