"Alright! Now, we are going camping for one week starting tomorrow. During that time, you will hone your magic and learn how to survive off the land. Form groups of Six, gather all you need until this afternoon, after that return here." The teacher announced to the whole class
Of course, Rhyle was the first one I teamed up with. The next one was this fashionista type guy with blonde hair named Lance and then a girl with almost the same vibe as Lance, named Elaine. One other girl was a noble which was very knowledgeable but she doesn't talk that much, her name was Celia. There were now five of us and I tried to find a last member when I saw a girl walking to a group and asked if she could join because they also have one vacant spot, but they declined. She kept going to other groups but they also declined which made her feel disappointed so I went near.
"It is nice to meet you, I am Wil. Would you like to join our group?" I asked
"Of course! I'll be in your care!" She said with a gentle smile
On closer look, she had white short hair that hide her ears, blue eyes and a line that seem to stretch from her left hand to her right eye, her name was Lexia.
We introduced ourselves to each other and went back to our dorms to get ready, afterwards we regrouped and made sure that we had everything we needed, Tents, clothes, pots, etc. Then afterwards we went back.
"Looks like everyone's here, now we will journey to a forest near the capital city. It will take about half a day, we will start now so we can reach the forest in the morning. Go into your team's carriage and let's depart."
While in the carriage, we talked about how we will make this work. Both Elaine and Celia would cook the food whilst Me and Lexia gathered ingredients. Rhyle will gather wood. We then checked what other things the school provided us with. There were knives, swords, bows and a few baskets. After half a day, we arrived and went to a clearing.
"Everyone! Each one of you will be in different places. Do not in any way interfere with the other teams and be sure to not change your surroundings a lot and do not take too much recourses. Now, start!"
With that, the teachers escorted us to each camping site. We immediately started making the tents and got ready to make breakfast. Rhyle went to gather wood and both me and Lexia went to catch fish. We went to the river and saw many teams gathering fishes as well, the men were catching them with their bare hands while the girls were carrying fish they caught.
"Seems like their having a hard time, do you think we can catch some?" Lexia asked.
"Of course we can, trust me!" I replied.
I went into the water and tried to catch some fishes but to no avail so I went back. Thinking what would be best, I started to channel mana through my body and used earth magic to make a long string and a metal hook. I then tied the hook to the string and the string to a sturdy stick and started fishing. Soon enough I got a lot of fishes and went back with Lexia.
"What was that?" She asked
I couldn't say that I remembered it from my previous life so I said:
"I call it a fishing rod. I made it once before I went to the academy."
When we came back, Rhyle was already back and they were getting the fire ready. I washed the fish and cut it into three. Soon enough we made some fish stew, it was good and I couldn't help but get more helpings.
A few days later I was doing the same thing as always but this time me and Lexia hunted animals, she was good at using the bow but one time, we were hunting a boar near a mountain with a cave. She shot the boar with an arrow but it did not do a serious injury so the boar ran into the cave squealing we followed it but the squeals mysteriously stopped and large stomping was heard. A large manticore walked slowly towards us carrying the boar in it's mouth.
"WHO AWAKENS ME FROM MY THOUSAND-YEAR SLUMBER!" it roared
Lexia, frightened, grabbed my hand and ran outside. But the manticore flew in front trying to stop us, Lexia jumped back and used her bow, trying to aim for the eye, but it was blocked. The manticore screeched loudly, I held my ears but Lexia fainted with the intensity I ran back and carried the unconscious Lexia to safety. I then turned back and fought the manticore I held two daggers and kept slashing it while evading the attacks but it was faster than me so I can hardly dodge and kept getting hit with intense force but...
The manticore transformed into a man. He was taller than me and was neither bulky nor thin.
"Do not let your guard down, human." It said
In an instant he disappeared and before I could react, he slashed my back with his hand, blood was flowing out with an intense speed and I was slowly loosing consciousness. Then I saw a dark room with the same man that I saw when I went unconscious before was standing there again.
"0.00001" he said while smiling lightly
I woke up once again and I felt a large amount of power well up in me. I instantly noticed the manticore attacking once again and blocked it, but to no avail he kicked me and sent me flying out of the cave. He was then in front of me and punched me upwards while I tried to block it again but he sent me flying upwards and again he was immediately up where I was and used his left leg to hit me downwards to the ground ultimately making me loose a lot of power. I was back in the same black room with the same person.
"0.00005" he said
Once again I woke up and I felt more power. Then I started to be on par with the man but still, he was stronger. This happened again and again.
"0.00010"
"0.00020" the hooded man kept saying until
"0.05000" he said for the last time and I was able to hurt the man.
Both me and the man were on par exchanging blows and using magic on each other. But from the damage I sustained earlier, I was not able to beat him. I kneeled down while catching my breath. it was already late afternoon. The surrounding trees were cut the mountain was badly damaged and there were lots of blood on the ground. The man almost cut my head but...
To be continued.