"Not even a day outside Purgatory and you already started calling me up? Maybe that Reen girl spoiled you too much, Eren. This is not the way an Ace ranker should behave.

I know what you are doing. But fight your own battles, would you? Don't drag me into this."

Layla said to Eren in a complaining voice. The latter snorted his nose before replying:

"Stop being such a pretentious brat, Layla. What have you got inside that's so significant anyway? Didn't you want to see the outside world?

We are outside, you know. You might as well roam, let loose, and help me at the same time."

Layla hmphed and puffed her cheeks before replying:

"Haah! I would indeed roam the world and see things. But it would not be because you told me to. I will do that on my own when I want to. Right now I'm busy reading. I need to brush up on my skills, you see. Unlike a certain someone, Master Eliza is counting on me.

I don't have time for your silly antics."

Eren rolled his eyes and looked at the book Layla was holding and said in a teasing voice:

"Hey. How many years have you needed to study books like these? If you couldn't grasp what's written to this point, your chances of understanding it completely tonight are practically zero. Am I wrong?"

Layla stuck her tongue and puffed her cheeks. Nevertheless, she closed the book and tucked it away in her storage. She folded her hands below her almost non-existent bosom and said in a low voice:

"What do you want? You know I have a few limitations. So don't ask me to take care of all your problems"

Eren raised his hands and gestured to her to stop saying anything further. He then clarified what he wanted from her. The latter finally relented and nodded her head.

****************

Tai and Jerry were both proficient rankers and leaders of their teams. They couldn't battle with low rankers on the same battlefield. So they made gestures to each other and chose a relatively open area a few 100 meters away from the main battlefield.

For a few minutes, they fought. It was a sparring match to test the waters for both of them. Since both were Adept rankers, the destruction they caused in the surrounding area was considerable. Yet none of them looked like they were fighting seriously.

Both Tai and Jerry had come to realize that the former had the upper hand because of his superior ranking status. But Tai knew that the disparity of power between levels of the same rank could be filled by using appropriate artefacts.

That's why Tai had been vigilant in dealing with Jerry. There was an unwritten consensus in both the opposing teams that their respective Adept rankers should be left alone. So it was just the two of them in the area.

Tai and Jerry both were close combat fighters. The former launched another round of kicks at the latter. Jerry's effective parry using his forearm as the guard halted the attack. He was about to pull the leg against which he had just defended himself from. But Tai retreated to a safe distance before that.

Tai thought of something and decided to open a dialogue with his opponent.

"Greeting my fellow Adept ranker. My name is Tai Kawan. Why are you guys chasing those three people? And where did you guys come from out of the blue?"

Tai looked at Jerry, who was also looking at him in the same way. The latter snorted after hearing Tai's question. He introduced himself as well before replying in a cold voice:

"Stop pretending like you don't know anything. You prepared such a large team close to the entrance and you are telling me you don't know? Do you take me for a fool?"

Tai frowned and the creases on his forehead increased when he heard Jerry's accusation. He had come to realize that Ronny's statements were made just so that he could create a rift between two teams even without knowing the reason behind it.

But after hearing Jerry's rude reply, Tai had come to realize that it was too late to negotiate now. Even if he could prove that Ronny didn't have their assistance, Jerry would likely not listen.

"*Sigh! Don't say that I didn't try to find a peaceful way after this. I guess I'll have to sweat it out. If there's no use in verbal exchange, let our hands and legs do the talk."

Tai chanted and circulated his earth element mana within his body. The ground beneath him started vibrating and the vibrations soon reached Jerry. He knew Tai was getting serious now.

Jerry channelled his wind element mana and prepared himself. The two rankers used their movement spells at the same time to scale the distance between them and meet in the middle.

Both Adepts were fixated on each other. Almost all their senses were locked onto each other. Only their mana sense could help them identify any threatening foreign presence around them. So far they had detected nothing. As a result, they were sure that both of them were fighting each other alone. And nobody would interrupt their fights anymore.

But just before their fists were about to meet each other, both Tai and Jerry sensed something and looked upwards. Something was getting dropped and was about to hit the ground. They both thought that it was the opponent's sneak attack and didn't try to catch it, lest something happens to their hands.

Both sides were about to retreat. But the drop had already hit the ground before they could do so. They both saw that it was a vial of potion that had broken in front of them. However, before they could exchange confused stares, their vision changed.

Because of that vial break, both Adept rankers had fallen victim to the illusion. It was the same D-Rank illusion bomb a certain someone had received as their reward. Only one illusion potion of the same rank remained in his possession after this drop.

The cause of their current state was watching them from far in the sky, right over their battlefield. Eren had played a spoiler in the battle between two Adept rankers.