"Information broker?"
Lucian raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, and if you let me go, I’ll give you a very important piece of information."
Sabine answered with a big smile.
"What information?"
"Information about the people inside this Trial."
"You know who entered?"
"Most of them."
Sabine nodded.
"How?"
"I watched."
Sabine smiled proudly.
"I arrived early and stayed near the entrance. Every time someone entered, I memorised their face, clothes, weapons, race, companions, and any visible artifacts.
I was one of the last people to enter, that gave me enough time to identify most of the important candidates, as for those I didn’t recognise, I simply ignored them because they obviously weren’t important if they weren’t well known."
Lucian was impressed by the logic.
"And that’s not it."
"Hmm?"
Lucian tilted his head.
"I didn’t stop gathering information after I came in, the first thing I did when I appeared is to wander around. I listened to people talk. I followed a few groups, watched some fights, stole information from anyone careless enough to discuss their plans aloud."
"And no one attacked you?"
Lucian raised an eyebrow.
Sabine was... weak.
She was actually weaker than most beings he had the opportunity to fight, she was basically a normal, not very well-trained human with a few artifacts, someone like her shouldn’t be able to wander around like that.
Those boots she is wearing to suppress any sound she makes while moving were nowhere near enough to hide her, especially when this place was filled with beings with extremely heightened senses.
That was when Isolde spoke up.
"She wasn’t attacked because most candidates here possess at least a fragment of intelligence."
"What?"
Lucian titled his head.
He had next to no information about the trial, the Enclave didn’t give him the memo considering he was not supposed to enter in the first place.
Isolde on the other hand, took another sip from her flask and continued.
"Aevrienne watches this entire Trial.
This place is not some crude arena where mindless beasts earn favour by striking everything that moves.
The objective is not merely to survive and win battles, it is to stand before an Ancient Spirit and prove yourself worthy of carrying her Authority."
Yes, Aevrienne allows fighting, she even encourages it considering she made the rules where the victor gains the Waymarks of the defeated.
But she did not do that to find the strongest candidate, she did that to find a suitable candidate.
The more battles, alliances and betrayals she allows, the more she would learn about the candidate.
A person who hunted everyone they saw without purpose would reveal nothing except cruelty and poor judgment.
Most of the people who entered were heirs, hunters, nobles, or talented members of their race and they understood that Aevrienne was watching them.
They would fight over Waymarks, yes, they would attack to remove people blocking their path, yes, but most wouldn’t waste their strength attacking random candidates who had nothing they needed.
"A needless attack risks injury and reveals your abilities."
Isolde continued explaining.
"Worse, it may make Aevrienne decide that the great power she offers would be wasted upon an idiot."
"So most just let her be even if they sensed her?"
Lucian tilted her head.
Sabine’s expression changed.
She looked down, staring at her shoes and in her mind, she cursed that bastard who sold them to her.
So much for erasing her presence!
Scam!
That bastard scammed her!
Isolde, oblivious to what Sabine was thinking, nodded.
"That, and they must have sensed that she is with Isolde Verraine and is under her protection, so they let her go."
"You met her five minutes ago."
Naomi pointed out with a flat tone. Isolde only grinned and covered her face with her hand. Lucian shook her head.
"Spare her. A mere mortal like her lacks the understanding of time."
"I shall be forgiving."
The witch nodded.
"Your generosity is boundless."
Lucian bowed his head.
Naomi stared at the two in utter disbelief.
"So you protected me~"
Sabine chuckled as she glanced at Isolde, the witch actually stepped back when she noticed her gaze, that made Sabine chuckle even more.
Then suddenly, she glanced at Lucian and—
"Actually, there is one candidate who does not seem very interested in impressing Aevrienne."
Lucian and the others narrowed their eyes at those words.
"Varek."
Sabine said the name.
"I didn’t know who he was when he first entered, but as I wandered around, I saw his victims."
"Victims?"
Naomi frowned.
Sabine nodded with a grave look on her face.
"From what they told me, he has been moving through the maze to hunt other candidates. The victims I talked to didn’t even have Waymarks, he only attacked them because he could."
"And they weren’t eliminated?"
"He didn’t attack them to eliminate them.
He just... injures them.
Breaking limbs, cutting tendons, gauging eyes, injuries that are more than enough for them to stop resisting, but not enough to trigger the Trial’s protection."
Lucian narrows his eyes at those words.
He... did not like the sound of it.
Especially since Naomi was right next to him.
"Why is he doing that...?"
Naomi asked, terrified by the cruelty.
"I do not know."
Sabine shook her head.
"Considering that he drank their blood after incapacitating them, one could say he is doing it to feed.
But I wouldn’t be so sure of that.
He could do it purely because he seeks pleasure in others’ pain."
"The worst kind."
Isolde’s face turned grim.
Sabine nodded.
"I-Is he a Vampire?"
Naomi asked.
"Yes."
Sabine nodded.
The group stayed silent for a moment, Lucian’s mind began to race, planning what he would do if he faced the bastard.
Then—
"What else do you know?"
He asked with a solemn look on his face, Sabine however, smiled, her grim face returned to her usual cheekiness.
"That information was free.
The rest comes at a price."
"...do you really want to do that?"
"Do what?"
"Do you not see the state you are in?"
Lucian spoke as he glanced at her.
Sabine could barely move at this point.
Sabine looked down, observing her own state, but then she smiled.
"My state only gives me fewer business opportunities, not lower prices."
She was a true businesswoman.