Ax spent most of the first day foraging for food and exploring the isnd itself, his dove following him everywhere. Even though the vegetation primarily consisted of mushrooms and fungal growth, there were ponds scattered throughout the isnd with trees and herbs growing. However, given that these are the only sources of fresh drinking water, they were surrounded by the fauna of this isnd or other seekers who were out to csh against each other.

  Three days have passed since.

  ***

  Ax was walking about in the forest, foraging for fruits and edible mushrooms.

  Humming to the tune of nursery rhymes, Ax picked off mushrooms off the ground as he was shopping for groceries. Looking around, he grabbed a few rocks and cleaned them off. With his hands full of mushrooms and rocks, he walked over to a pond. After hiding them in a safe spot, he cut one of the mushrooms into bite-sized pieces and pced them on the bank of the pond. Strategically where smaller critters would be more likely to take the bait.

  He then climbed a mushroom and began to wait, hiding in pin sight.

  About half an hour ter...

  A crab the size of his chest crawled up and began munching on the mushroom. As it was distracted, Ax immediately jumped and, without missing a beat, kicked the crab over on its back. He pinned its legs down against the ground with his knees and immediately stabbed the center of its chest with his dagger, immediately killing it.

  As he got up, he picked up the crab and walked over to a mushroom the size of a table. Pcing it on its ft top, he walked back by the pond and gathered twigs and branches and a fmmable cluster of spores. Sparking it by scraping off bits of flint he found on the ground, he started a small fme. He pced the rocks he hid away with the mushrooms into the fire, skewering some mushrooms over it. Letting it cook while he prepares the crab.

  He walked back to the crab and utterly dismantled it, throwing the crab legs and cws over the fme. Letting them roast while he shoves his sword under the thick, top shell of the crab. Shimmying his dagger into the same crease, he was able to take the thick, bowl-like shell off of its main body. He picked off the delicate crab meat from the exposed body and pced it into the shell.

  Putting away the useless organs for future bait, he took the shell filled with meat to the fire. After filling it with water, he threw the roasted mushrooms in, along with some herbs for fvor. After picking up the hot rocks with his sword, he threw them into the bowl, boiling the makeshift hotpot immediately.

  While he was about to munch on the crab legs, he saw something in his peripheral vision. Looking to his side, he saw a man the same age as him. Blond hair, green eyes, green robes, and pointed ears. It was an elf, and he looked hungry.

  Noticing that he was eyeing his food, he offered a cooked cw to him.

  ***

  "Thank you...", he said as he cracked the crab leg open. Almost gorging himself on its rich taste, groaning in satisfaction.

  "We haven't had any solid food since we reached the isnd," he revealed. Ax's mouth wide open, he gobbled up the cw like he was a dying Victorian child given. Ax, feeling bad, offered some more crab legs and some roasted mushrooms.

  Ax noticed that he didn't have a token either. "I assume you ate some of the slices in desperation?" he asked as he eyed his box strapped to his chest.

  "Correct, I only have three left," he said sheepishly.

  "How about you?" he asked.

  "I still have all ten; I've been living off of the isnd the entire time," Ax revealed, the elf's eyes widening in shock and amazement.

  "What? How? I mean, I know you just told me—," he stopped mid-sentence. A shifty smirk appeared on his face, catching Ax off guard.

  After both of them finished their crab legs, the elf cleaned his side of the campfire. Seeing that Ax had a pile of crab shell scraps next to him, he walked over and tried cleaning them and threw them aside.

  "I—you didn't have to; it was okay," Ax said reluctantly.

  "No-no, you gave me food. I should help out at least a little bit," the elf said as he wanted to get even.

  The elf almost immediately got up and began to walk away.

  "Hey! Don't you want to try the stew?" Ax asked as he left.

  Silence

  "For someone who wanted to be polite... he didn't even ask my name," he mumbled as he tasted the stew. The seafood soup and aroma filled his stomach and invaded his nostrils.

  ***

  After finishing the stew, he stood up to throw away the crab shell and—

  Thus

  His box with his golden apple slices fell to the ground, confused as to why it fell. He picked it up, clearly remembering that he had tightly secured it to his waist.

  "Why is it light?" he asked himself, confused. His eyes widened as he immediately opened the box. He saw only three slices...

  "That elf...", he grumbled. The elf's hand switched their boxes when he cleaned Ax's side of the ground.

  ***

  The sixth day had arrived.

  As Ax finally began to take this trial seriously, he ran all over the isnd. Looking for tired seekers he could take on and any leftover monsters or tokens he could cim.

  Running past tall mushrooms, something caught his eye before he ran past it. He saw someone lying against a tall mushroom stump, surrounded by their own pool of blood. With one of the coordinators standing over them. As he walked closer, he recognized the man lying on the floor.

  "Houzi?" Ax asked cautiously. Houzi looked beside him to see Ax staring at him. The coordinator looked at Ax and looked back at him.

  "Seeker Houzi, you ck slices of Idun, and you are unable to fight. You are disqualified, and your token will be revoked," he said. Preparing to pick him up and take him back to the ships.

  Ax looked at him, seeing Houzi's wounds. It was clear that it wasn't done by any other seeker; it was inflicted by a beast on the isle.

  "Wait!" he said hesitantly as he walked over to Houzi and sat down next to him.

  "If you want to steal back the token, do it already. I don't care—ah," His words got interrupted as Ax shoved a slice of Idun down his throat. As the wounds closed and he gained strength. He began to stand up on his own two feet. Seeing this, Ax looked back at the coordinator.

  "He can walk and fight now; he's no longer disqualified, right?" he asked the coordinator, looking at him straight in his eyes.

  The coordinator chuckled and turned around. "I guess not...", he said as he leapt into the flora.

  "Why did you aid me?" Houzi asked.

  "...", Ax was silent.

  "I don't need your pity," he said bluntly, ready to leave.

  "Wait, the reason why I help you is—" Ax stopped his words as a three-horned beast was charging at Houzi.

  He knocked Houzi out of the way, and the beast pierced its horns deep into Ax's chest. The creature had a horse-like head, a body that exceeded the size of an elephant's and three horns that were all equally as sharp as spears. Lunged deep into Ax's chest. His body limped on its horns, hanging and swaying as blood dripped from his legs.

  Houzi could only watch as his body couldn't move; he was still tired. His legs shook as this monster had already horrifically damaged him before. The beast was an 'Odontotyrannos,' and it just killed Ax in front of his very eyes.