Twisting Islands, Twisted Region:

The name 'Twisted' sounded eerie, however, it was merely a representation of the twisting spaces.

Unlike other places, space here was neither uniform nor constant.

It wasn't uniform in the sense that some places had a far compact spacethe more compact a space, the harder to move through it.

It wasn't constant. The space tightened and loosened in periodic intervals.

Even Space Awakeners had a hard time navigating through this region.

It was because of the special creatures that lived in this regionthe ones manipulating the space and also the threat to participants.

There was a chain of islands in a river a short distance from the shore. In one of the islands, the two participants faced those threats.

"Roar!"

Caleb felt the space around him twist. Without hesitation, he teleported away.

Kacha!

In the process, the twisting space caught his coat.

His 6-star treasureAstral defense coat was folded as the space around it quickly compressed.

It wasn't folding in a conventional sense.

It was likethe space around the coat shrunk and the coat couldn't occupy the space anymore.

The stable space destabilized in a split second and his defense coat was compressed to the size of a fist.

Then it burst.

Like a full balloon bursting, the 6-star treasure was blown into pieces as the space blasted.

"My coat." Caleb cursed and glanced at the culprit standing on a tree far away.

It was a huge grey worm with no eyes. Its skin was translucent and one could see the silvery blood flowing inside.

Space worm.

Level 6 peak.

With its uncanny space sense, it blasted space and killed opponents with ease.

Just like it destroyed Caleb's prized defense coat.

"Fucking die!" Caleb's figure disappeared and he appeared on the tree top in an instant.

The space worm was long gone.

Before Caleb could think, he felt like his chest was crushed from both sides. He instinctively covered himself with space power and loosened the space around him.

The Space Worm appeared on another tree top. It was very proficient in hiding its tracks while teleporting.

In fact, Caleb only felt the spatial fluctuations indicating it teleported after he appeared on the tree.

"Die!" However, he wasn't disheartened.

During the time he was busy protecting his chest, he also locked down on the position of the space worm.

He clenched his fist and the space around the worm suddenly tightened.

The worm wriggled as it spilled out its space power and resisted his aggression.

At the same time, the space behind Caleb cracked.

If he didn't move in time, he'd have to face an unstable and hostile space rift. The injury would be enough to severely injure him.

"Tsk!" Caleb cursed inwardly and teleported away.

Since the space was unstable, he had to be extra careful in his teleportation. The Space Worm exploited this and broke his space binding, quickly teleporting away.

However

"Got you!" Caleb appeared right before the space worm and punched its. His fist was covered by solidified space as it reached for the worm.

The worm wriggled and tried to teleport.

But Caleb firmly solidified the space and made teleportation nigh impossible.

So, the worm did the next best thing.

"Kuu!" Caleb felt like he was hitting star ore as the space around his arm solidified.

The space worm decided to decrease the momentum of his arm and make his attack useless.

"Go!" Caleb already anticipated this and used his space power to 'loosen' the space.

His efforts to loosen resisted the space worm's efforts to loosen, and the resistance his arm was facing dropped.

"Die!" Right when his fist was about to connect with the Space Worm, Caleb grinned.

As he intended, his fist broke apart the protecting space layer of the worm and punched it into pieces.

Right at that moment, massive space power fluxed out of the worm.

Caleb's smile instantly disappeared as he hurriedly teleported out.

He appeared a mile away, but he couldn't even stand as he kneeled on the ground, clutching his stomach.

Blood spilled out onto the ground as his fingers traced a small chunk of missing flesh from his waist.

"Again!" Caleb stood up cursing and took a 6-star healing potion.

He'd have taken something more precious, but for the competition, it wasn't allowed.

His bleeding stopped, but he wasn't happy.

Right before its death, the space worm directed all its space power to destroy the space around him.

Thankfully, he reacted in time. But it was still a bit late.

"If I took my time, I could've killed without any injuries." He muttered.

It wasn't just his stomach that was injured, his shoulders, his arms and even his legs had multiple injuries.

"We don't have much time." A girl appeared in the distance and looked down at him with grey eyes.

Her white clothes were now dyed in blood. Other than her multiple injuries, she also added a new injury on her shoulder.

Caleb glanced at her state and grumbled. "If we took another member, we wouldn't have this worry."

Helia squinted her eyes and said. "Not again. The next strongest is a high level 6. She'd only be a drag."

"whatever. Let's end this already." Caleb waved his hand and looked up.

There was a floating island a mile above. It contained a nest of Space worms.

Caleb and Helia worked hard since the beginning to carefully lure out and kill the space worms.

If it was a normal hunting operation, they would've been fine.

But the circumstances were different.

The other three teams of Ashtarh, Sarah and Xavier all had three members.

They would be able to get the flag quickly.

Once they're done, their messengers would quickly search the other places. There's a high chance that one of the teams would come to the Twisting islands.

If Caleb and Helia fought avoiding injuries, they would take far longer. By that time, the other team would've already reached the Twisting Islands.

Helia was sure she couldn't win against Ashtarh and Xavier Teams.

She was, however, confident in defeating Sarah's team. She had fought Sarah before and defeated her.

But

'Why is that girl who is one year younger than me almost as strong as me?'

This jealousy burned in her heart and morphed into hatred.

"If we take too long, the other teams will come. So, we need to get the flag as soon as possible." Helia said with disgust.

Can't Caleb think of even this simple thing?

'Ashtarh, Xavier, you both declined to join my team. So, when I win, I want to see the look in your eyes.' She gritted her teeth and thought.

"There's only one space worm left. Let's go." Her figure disappeared and she appeared on the floating island above the original island.