"Dan's sick, and he's currently resting," Merell told Klaus who was staring at the students. "Are there no newly found items?"
"Sadly, no," Klaus replied. He paid little attention to Merell. It appears that he was focused somewhere else.
Merell decided to leave him be, but he gave one last glance to the direction where Klaus was looking at. There, he saw a group of five students huddled on a little spot near the center of the camp. He shrugged and went back to his tent. It was his turn to search for the items on the list.
….
"Aren't we going to turn the grass over to Klaus?" Korona asked Levi who was staring off into space.
Surprisingly, Levi replied, "Not yet."
"Won't it wilt?" Aeon asked.
"The scent had already died down. I put some soil in the jar and planted it there," Levi said. He seemed ready for such questions and already knew how to respond.
The group shrugged at each other. Since Levi knew what he was doing, then they just need to trust him.
For the day, they weren't planning on doing anything. They wanted to take a rest and observe the progress of other groups, even if that means losing an item to search for.
Their motive for this was simple. They didn't want to waste time on the spots nearest to them mainly because, according to Dan's guide, there was an extremely low chance of finding the items near the camp. If the other groups were able to find a number that exceeded their expectations, then that could only mean that time has changed and Dan's guide was only partially valid.
Aeon, Suri, and Korona split with the group and went into the forest. Only Levi and Selena remained.
"What do you think about them?" Levi asked Selena who was sitting quietly beside him.
Albeit uncomfortable about the atmosphere, Selena replied, "They are highly capable."
Levi smiled at her and asked again, "Do you think we should stick around?"
"Mn."
….
Aeon walked around the forest with his hands behind his head. He was already comfortable with the area, and, due to the purging done by the students, it was already quite peaceful. "What do you guys say we do?"
Excitedly, Korona proposed, "Let's go on a picnic! Let's rest for a day. I'm so sick of looking at magical beasts."
"Me too," Suri agreed. Being on the battlefield thrilled him, but they never get used to seeing animals die in a brutal way. Even if they were innately aggressive.
"Alright. Let's go on a picnic then!" Aeon headed south and the others followed. South of the camp was relatively safer because there were lesser beasts there. The vegetation there wasn't quite rich so it did not attract many. It would be the perfect place to relax and chill.
The group found a small clearing. Luckily, it wasn't raining like the other day. The sky was cloudy, and it wasn't too hot.
They sat on a thick patch of grass.
Aeon laid down and looked at the sky. It hadn't been long, but he already missed his dad. It was the longest time he was away from home, even when his dad was taken as a prisoner. He subconsciously touched the scar on his left cheek.
Aeon did not live in the border city of Sildonia when he was still in the Meredith Empire. He was living in the capital city, Mistfall. But when he heard about his father being captured when he was at school, he bolted out and stole a horse.
If one disregarded the Meredith Emperor's family, the Morgans were probably the most well-known, so when Aeon tried to escape, he was immediately blocked in the city gate by several soldiers. At that time, Aeon was driven with madness. He beat up the soldiers and forced his way through. In the process, he was bashed by a shield in his left cheek and his horse died. However, because the soldiers held back, he was able to successfully escape.
Looking back, Aeon could not imagine how he had done it. He was already strong three years ago, but he couldn't be stronger than a dozen soldiers. Also, if mages interfered, he would be subdued in no time.
After his escape, he surrendered to the soldiers who successfully captured Sildonia. Thankfully, the Florentine Empire abided by the laws that governed warfare and no civilians were harmed.
After the fall of Sildonia, the war between both armies stopped, and it ended up being a Cold War. Since the cause of the war was the lack of resources of the two empires, it naturally ended when the two found a way to fix that hole.
For the Florentine Empire, with Sildonia, they gained access to more areas that housed several resources. As for the Meredith Empire, they coincidentally found a new mine that solved its crisis. There was no more bloodshed, but trade, or any contact, was still not established.
Aeon sighed with emotion. He missed his old school and his old home. His uncle was someone to miss as well even though he was a bit weird. He'd pay any price to bring his dad back even just for a day.
Realizing that he was spoiling the good atmosphere for himself, he shook the sad thoughts away. He thought that it was a bit quiet so he looked back at Suri and Korona who were behind him. "Hey guys, do you have something to e—what the fuck are you two doing?!"
Korona had her head lay down on Suri's lap as Suri fed her with grapes. She was giggling and kicking her legs but when Aeon yelled at them, she froze. Her mouth was left wide open. Suri's hand holding a piece of grape was frozen midair. They both looked at Aeon with confused looks.
Korona woke up from her daze and replied with a crooked smile, "We're eating grapes, Aeon. You want some?"
Aeon stood and ran towards the two and extended both his hands to emphasize on the two's behavior rather than what they were actually doing. "I'm talking about THIS!"
Suri and Korona looked at each other, but they couldn't understand what Aeon was talking about. Is it because of the fruits? They looked at their food and noticed nothing amiss and that only confused them even more.
Seeing that none of them was responding, Aeon shook his head. He closed his eyes and breathed deep. He looked completely like a raging parent. Then, Aeon said, "A-Are you two… dating?!"
Realization dawned on the two. They both smiled at Aeon and replied at the same time, "Not officially."
Aeon gave a long, overly exaggerated gasp, trying to guilt the two. He pointed a finger at them then said in a high pitch, "you're doing this behind my back?!"
Suri panicked, he waved both his hands in front of him trying to get Aeon to calm down. He was also shaking his head to say that Aeon was wrong. After doing that, however, Suri realized that he was the one being wronged. Why did he need to answer to the person? He wasn't his dad!
"Doing what behind your back?!" Suri angrily yelled.
"THIS!" Aeon gestured at them with his hands to prove his point.
"Why should you care?!"
"Duh, because I'm part of this group! You should date me, too!"
"That doesn't make sense." Korona chimed in.
"It doesn't need to," Aeon harrumphed.
"That makes less sense!" Suri said in exasperation.
Aeon calmed down a bit. He realized that he was being unreasonable. Maybe he just felt sad about not knowing something that anyone in the group knows. He gently said, "How come I don't know about this?"
Seeing that Aeon calmed down, the two also calmed down.
"We actually weren't hiding it," Suri said matter of factly.
Hearing this, Aeon tried to recall hard.
Yo guys!
What's up guys!
Where are we going today, guys?
Guys!
Guys.
Guuuuuuys!
…
Aeon gasped exaggeratedly again.
"You two were always together!" Aeon yelled as realization dawned upon him.
"We thought you knew, so we didn't say anything," Korona said as she sat down.
Aeon dashed towards Suri and started slapping him.
Pak! Pak! Pak! Pak!
Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu!
Then, Aeon rushed off. He yelled from a distance, "That's for hurting my feelings!"
Suri touched his burning cheeks.
What the fuck just happened?
In the end, he could not understand. He looked at Korona, but the latter just laughed at him. Suri sighed. He was going to beat the shit out of Aeon when they see each other at the camp.
After a few moments, Aeon came running back.
Suri smiled smugly.
Come here, you shit.
However, after Aeon closed in on them, he saw something slithering behind Aeon.
At first, it wasn't visible because several trees covered its large body, but when it reached the small clearing, they got a clear view of it. It was a gigantic white snake, and it didn't appear friendly. Venom dripped from its fangs, so obviously, it was not docile.
Suri scrambled to pick up his broadsword from the grass while Korona started casting a spell. Snow crystals started falling from her staff.
When the snake closed in, they realized that it was humongous. The biggest beast they have ever seen, so far. Just its head alone was as tall as 5 meters, good enough to be a mid-size magical beast already. And this was on a creature that naturally had a flat head too!
Was it something the three of them could handle?
The question popped up on the three's minds almost at the same time.
They were quite far from the camp and they can't afford to risk bringing it along without alerting Klaus prior to their arrival. It seems that Aeon should rush back as fast as he could while Suri and Korona slowed it down. Could they handle it, though? If it dispatches the two of them in a second, wouldn't that be completely useless?
Out of the two's expectations, Aeon yelled, "We can't run! We can only stop it!"
The two could only sigh. What he said was the truth, though.
Korona finished casting. Two enormous lances made of ice appeared above her head. It was a C-grade spell.
Suri jumped on one lance. He was planning on riding it to reach the snake faster.
As Aeon neared the two, he followed Suri's example.
They both nodded at Korona.
Korona pointed her staff at the slithering snake and the tip of the lances pointed at the snake.
"Lance!"
The two lances shot forward invoking a response from the snake. It lifted its head upwards thirty meters from the ground.
When the lances were about to hit the belly of the snake, Aeon and Suri jumped forward.
SHATTER!
The two lances hit at the same time, but it did not pierce through the snake's skin.
This feat was already shocking. Suri thought that jumping at the snake was a really big mistake. His broadsword was already enchanted with Explosion, so he might as well hit the snake then back away. He slashed at the snake's belly.
BOOM!
The blade of the sword collided with the snake pushing the latter back by a bit. At the same time, Suri was pushed faster towards the ground from the impact. However, it didn't seem to affect the snake much.
Suri landed on the ground and looked up at the snake's head. The creature was looking at him.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Some of the snake's flesh near its head opened outwards, revealing several dart-like objects. The darts shot at Suri.
Suri's eyes opened wide and he rushed as fast as he could to get out of the way. The darts on the snake's body looked completely minuscule, but it was actually as thick as an adult man's thigh.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions followed wherever Suri ran. The snake actually had an excellent aim.
Suri assessed the situation and he realized that he couldn't find Aeon. He had lost his way back when they jumped towards the snake. As Suri dodge, he subconsciously looked over at the snake's belly.
Aeon wasn't there, but he was within Suri's vision.
Aeon was climbing the snake through its side.
….