Heavy wing beats flapped in the sky as students held onto Kuu for dear life. The beast continued to soar through the sky as it let out a happy scream.
"Aha! Seems Kuu has taken a liking to you all! He's not normally this happy about flying a lot of people at once!" Daisy shouted, hoping her voice would carry across the rapid winds and towards her students. The giant beast gained even more speed as the students latched onto it's back and held its feathers in order to not be thrown off.
After the arduous journey, Kuu finally landed into a field. With a mighty caw the beast lowered its wing and let everyone off. Daisy gave another hearty laugh before nuzzling the beak of her magic beast.
"You sure do love flying through the sky to your heart's content, don't you?" As if responding, Kuu gave another shout as it retracted its wings. While the two were bonding though, her students seemed to be recovering from the intense experience of riding bareback on a giant magic beast.
"Alright everyone, sorry for the sudden surprise. It's not very often Kuu get's to fly in his true form so he tends to get excited." Daisy gave a light chuckle as her students groaned in response, as if her cute apology was in any way enough for them to overlook what just transpired.
"But, look around you all. With scenery like this, surely the rough flight was worth it, no?" She pointed to the field they were all in, and one by one the students' eyes opened wide. As far as the eye could see, vibrant and unnatural colors stuck out compared to the normal flora of everyday life. "This is a mana zone."
One by one, the students got off the ground before walking around and taking in the sights. Many of them haven't traveled far beyond the area of Ashiya, so they hadn't seen anything like it. Vibrant orange grass, purple and violet plants, curved tree branches and many more unnatural items.
"See this tree here? Its roots are thicker because of the rich mana flowing through the earth. And the fruit it bears is the sweetest thing you'll ever have!" Daisy went on to explain other phenomena they might find in the area, encouraging the rest to try and relax and enjoy the area some.
"Of all the things to bring us outside for, it's nothing but a boring field of grotesque plants." Elise began complaining to herself as she watched the rest of her classmates walk around the wide open field. Her eyes continued to scan the wide open field before landing on Zain. She squinted in anger as her face scrunched up slightly. "Of all the people for me to be classmates with…"
"Alright everyone, gather up!" Her sulking was cut off as Daisy called all her students to attendance in the middle of the field. "Now, I know you're all excited to go about running around, but we didn't come out here just to frolic in the grass. I brought you all here for a reason."
Daisy had been leading her students through a thicket for a while, and after traversing the dense forest, they all arrived at a small and humble village. Most of the buildings were made with tree bark and stones. Within the village, humans and magic beasts were working together to take care of everyday life.
"Welcome to my home village." As they entered the gates the surrounding people all turned towards Daisy and began greeting her happily. Children and other adults welcomed her back as she led her students towards a massive open dome in the center of the village. Once inside everyone could see magic beasts of different varieties, each in a habitat that catered to them. Large tree branches acted as perches for the flying types as they soared in the open environment. Bulls and massive lizards walked on the ground along with a multitude of other animals.
"Alright, the lesson I have planned for you all today is simple. Choose one of the animals in this area and write your experience being with them by the end of the day. Find one you really enjoy!" Happily, Daisy unleashed her students into the giant den of magic beast, allowing them to choose whichever one they liked to study.
Grass crunched underneath the feet of Zain as he walked into the massive sanctuary and looked around. He saw some students messing around with the more playful animals, and others looking at the stronger ones. He came to a stop in the middle before sighing.
"Another useless class…." Disappointment was obvious in his tone as he walked on aimlessly. "Looks like the only two classes that can prepare me for the future are advanced mana control and combat class." Zain wandered through the area before him, yet found nothing that truly gathered his attention. Amid his stroll, Zain found himself alone in the area, no magic beast or student in sight.
"Hm?" Zain stopped as his footing shifted slightly. The patch of grass beneath his footing dipped slightly into the ground as a streak could be seen. A metallic scent lingered in the air that reached Zain's nose and grabbed his attention even further. He kneeled down to touch the flattened grass, feeling the slick surface.
"Something was dragged down this way…" After checking no one would follow him, Zain went down the pathway, finding nothing but heavy shade from trees, and the occasional sound from nature. Further and further in he walked before coming face to face with Elise. The girl in question quickly stopped in her tracks before staring him down.
"What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
The two confronted one another as a shriek came from the cave behind the two. A high pitched shrill only an animal was capable of producing entered their ears and took their attention off one another. As soon as it came, it was silenced as a new sound of tearing flesh followed soon after.
"Something's eating…." Zain explained as Elise stared on in disgust. "Go call the teacher, I think there's a demonic beast on the loose." As Zain told Elise what to do, he began walking into the dark cavern but was surprised as he heard more footsteps behind him. Looking over his shoulder he saw Elise following behind him.
"Why are you following me? I told you to get the professor."
"And when did you get the idea you could order me around? I found this disturbance myself and chose to follow after it. If anyone needs to get the professor it should be you." Elise stormed past Zain before heading further into the darkness. With a grunt Zain ventured on, summoning lightning in his palm to act as a source of light.
"Shine your light more up here! I can hardly see a thing!" Elise started making more demands of Zain on the way through the winding tunnels.
"How about you stop storming ahead? I need to mark down the way we came so we can get back out." The two continued onwards in the dark tunnels before more light started to encompass their view.
"About time. It shouldn't be that hard to generate light when you wield lightning itself."
"I'm not making that light."
Down one pathway the two could see a lit up area. They were deep underground and had no other source of light beside Zain's lightning, so seeing something give off light that bright was enough to raise Zain's guard. Slowly he walked down the path that held light before entering the enormous room. Moss covered the walls as blue crystals shone in the dirt, giving off warm light.
"A cavern? This deep in the earth?" Zain questioned what was laid before him, but his attention was drawn down to the massive walk way. Milky white oval shaped objects lined up across the ground, numbering an amount that couldn't be counted in one sitting. They had stumbled onto a nest.