A Man's Insanity: A Changing World

After two months,

Mantora Mountain,

Fog is everywhere. The trees are quiet today, and no leaves are rustling. No chirping can be heard. Everywhere is quiet.

Even though it was quiet, quite a lot of people had gathered on top of Mantora Mountain.

The moment the Mantora Mountain opened to the world, many people gathered like a flock. Their only purpose was to win the hearts of the Mantora Mountain people. How? It was only going to be known when coming to the Mantora Mountain.

"Master, seven kids are doing extremely well. And their leader has the most trust in them. Even though the youngest two don't open up to their other teammates, they still work really well. They do not speak to others unless necessary. As for their leader, I think they are open to him." A man spoke. He had a cloak covering his whole body.

The person he asked was an old man. His beard was thin and reached his chest

"Are you talking about Jun Haru and his group?" Asked the old man.

"Yes, master, those are the ones I am asking about."

"I see. Didn't you notice something strange about them?"

"What?"

"They seem to be waiting for someone."

"Now that you mentioned it, I noticed it too. It seems like they are missing a member of their group. Even those two kids, I think, they only open up to him. I wonder who that person is."

"Whoever that is, he must be on his way here. After all, they are waiting for him. Keep an eye on them, I think these seven would be the ones to obtain the Torus." Said the old man.

"Yes, master."

"Anyway, are you sure that nobody knows the contents of the competition, I mean, the real reason?"

"Yes, master, except you, me, and a few trusted aids, nobody knows about the contents."

"Good, keep an eye on them. After all, trust is what we are after. Mantora cannot exist without trust. If you can trust your teammates even after you are not so close, you are what we want. Those seven display that clearly. If they are together even after they have disputes, they will for sure win."

Said the old man with a smile.

"But master, what about that unknown element, the person they are waiting for?"

The man had his worries.

"Don't worry, we will see that when he arrives. Anyway, if they trust each other and long for that man, I think that person can be trusted as well." The old man replied.

…..

"Jun Haru, we have been with you for only three months, why do you trust us so much? On top of that, you also tell us to trust each other even if we die." A boy asked. He was around nineteen years old. His name was Lei Feng.

"Tell me, we are still alive, right?"

"Yes, so what. Isn't it because we are just too skilled?"

"Do you think so? Many people, higher rank than us died, and you say it was our skills. Remember, the only reason we survived was because we helped each other and trusted each other. Only our team is the one with no casualties, all of us are alive."

"I think as well that we survived because of this exact reason. After all, when I was poisoned, instead of trying to win, you tried to help me. I still find it strange that we won just because only one of our team's member managed to reach the target area. On top of that, someone came right when I was dying and saved me, saying that they were just passing by. But others died who were poisoned."

A girl spoke, she seemed to be eighteen. Her name is Shi Kim.

"Now that you two mentioned it, I think so as well. I only survived because I went back to help Shi Kim from a horde of snake beasts. If I hadn't helped her and kept on going, I would have been surrounded by a horde of wild hounds and killed. When I realized it later on, I couldn't help but be thankful for the decision I made." A boy who also seemed to be around nineteen said.

His name was Ahm Li.

"But, how did you know about that? Or could it be that you are so naive as to trust anyone?" A boy asked. He was around twenty-one. His name, Sha Ban.

"Remember the person I told you about?" Jun Haru asked.

"You mean the one you always talk about? But why aren't you three telling us his name? Is there something you want to hide?"

"Yes, that is the person I am telling you about. I didn't understand at first why he always forced us to make groups and fight. He also told us to trust each other at all costs, especially on the Mantora Mountain. Even if we die, we must protect each other, was what he told us…"

"Now I know what he meant. He is always one step… no, many steps ahead. I have been seeing it for a long time. So, it would have been foolish of me to ignore his words, and so, I decided to do exactly what he told me to. Trust was what I went with here. I don't know why it is working or how it's working, but it's working…"

"He seems to know everything. I don't know how he knew about the Mantora Mountain, but if he had competed in this competition, I am sure we would have won easily." Was the reply given by Jun Haru.

"You see those two…" he pointed at Si Yu and Li Na who were sitting separately from the group.

"Those two only admire and listen to everything he says. To them, he is the only one left, not just them, even I am the same. Even though they speak to me and listen to my orders here, I can feel that they hate me as well for some reason…"

"Oh, I wonder who this person is that even Li Na and Si Yu admire. Are they related?"

"No, they were complete strangers who just met by chance."

While they were speaking, they heard a noise.

"So, you seven are the ones who are dominating every region of this mountain. I am impressed that all of you are alive."

Five people came out from behind the trees.

"Who are you?" Jun Haru asked.

They became alert the moment they saw these people appear.

"We? We were nine individuals, who came together to defeat the people who think highly of themselves. Even though only five of us remain, we still plan on winning!" Said the man with a determined tone.

"So, what do you want?" Jun Haru asked.

"Of course, your legs and arms. At the rate you are going, you might end up winning. Don't worry, I won't kill you, I am just here to stop you from going any further." Said the man.

"Prepare yourselves!" With this, the fight began.

!|!*****!*****!|!