The day after the first Exam the trio entered Professor Oberis' class, who had a special surprise for them.
After everyone sat down Professor Oberis took out a pile of papers from a drawer on his desk. "Alright, Now that Professor Pate's exam came and went, it's time for MY test! Now, you might be asking yourselves "What is the test going to be about?" Well, it certainly won't be a boring paper you have to fill out or me asking you questions while on the safety of a classroom! No Sir, I like to be more... Practical... in my teaching methods! And that means only one thing, a camping trip! On this trip I will put to the test everything you have learned on this month of study and then some more." He spoke with a cheerful tone and then signaled at the pile of papers.
"But unfortunately we can't have this trip without the authorization of a parental figure, so please come and grab one of these papers and have a parent or guardian fill the necessary information along with their signature. Please do so quickly as I need them signed and on my desk by next week at the latest."
Max went to grab a paper along with Gareth and Vitria.
After all the students had grabbed their papers Professor Oberis continued the class.
"Perfect! Now, let me tell you a couple more details about the trip.
It will last 3 whole days, on which you will sleep in the tents given to us by the school, so please take good care of them! Also, if any of you has to take any medication please specify which and in what intervals on the paper, allergies too! The trip will start on a Watesday (The 3rd day of a week), so exactly 2 weeks and a day from now. Am I forgetting something...?"
After explaining other important details of the trip the class continued as normal until the bell rang and the school day was over.
Max, Vitria and Gareth were walking out of the school as they talked.
"I can't believe we're leaving the city walls! I've never even seen them from up close... Are you guys excited?" Gareth asked.
"Yeah! I've never been out in the wilderness either, but won't Elemental Beasts attack us if we're outside?" Vitria said in a worried tone.
"I don't think so, we aren't leaving the safety perimeter of the walls, so we should be more than fine. They're going to sweep the area clean of Elemental Beasts a couples days before the trip too, probably." Max replied nonchalantly.
"Uh... and since when are you an expert on wall security and stuff?" Gareth asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, my dad was a guard on the wall so i know some stuff." Max shrugged.
"What?!" Gareth and Vitria said at the same time.
"What...?" Max replied as they looked at him, completely dumbfounded.
"What do you mean "What?"?! Wait- you mean he was? What happened?" Gareth asked.
"Well, he moved to Erlan's Pass, on the edge of the Sylverian Province, close to the Frontier, he's a guard there now." Max replied, still not understanding what they were on about.
The Frontier is what most Elementals call the line where civilization ends and the true wilds begin, where only the strongest of Hunters dare explore.
To get appointed as a guard even close to the Frontier one had to be an extremely strong and exceptional Hunter, as Elemental Beast attacking the walls are very common.
The Sylverian Province is the most sparsely populated province and the farthest from the Capital of The Democracy, it's also where development of new cities and the hunting of Elemental Beasts is sky-high. The Frontier is where this province ends.
Gilded Leaf High is on the city of Golden Berry, which is on the edge of the Aedalus Province towards the Sylverian Province.
The Capital of The United Provinces of Auelo is found on The Imperius Province, which also shares borders with The Elemental Republic.
On the second biggest continent known as Lanther is The Heavenly Empire.
On the biggest continent named Auelo there's The Elemental Republic and The United Provinces of Auelo.
On another, much smaller continent named Valerian, exists The Celestial Theocracy.
The United Provinces, The Republic, The Theocracy and The Empire are known as the 4 Great Countries, there's also many other nations, yet this is not the time to talk about them.
"In the Frontier?! But- y'know what? I don't believe you, Show proof!" Vitria said as she crossed her arms.
"I- don't have any-?" Max was still very confused about the situation.
Just when Max said that they reached the exit of the school.
After saying goodbye they went their own ways.
•••••
It had been 2 weeks and a day.
In that time Max managed to get the proof Gareth and Vitria wanted, which was from
2 years ago when he visited his father on Erlan's Pass and took a photo of the city from up the wall.
Max was on the bus going to school, all suited up for the occasion with a green hoodie and black pants, his backpack was bursting with multiple changes of clothes, shoes and the like, it even had two full water bottles strapped to the side.
Once he got there he saw the busses that would take his class to the camp site, they looked rather well armored.
Then he met up with Gareth and Vitria, who were similarly prepared for the trip.
Max walked over to them while drinking from the thermos his mom lended him, she also told him to fill it with tea but he knew better and put coffe inside.
He had to wake up like an hour earlier to prepare everything so it was fair.
"Hey guys! Excited for the trip?" Max asked as he took another sip from the thermos.
"Yup, So excited I could barely get a wink of sleep last night..." Vitria sighed as she rubbed one of her eyes.
"Same..." Gareth said as he yawned.
"Oh... have a drink then." Max passed the thermos to Gareth who after having a few gulps passed it to Vitria.
"Thanks, can't believe your mom let's you drink coffe, mine would kill me if she knew..." Gareth said as he felt some energy return to his body.
"Yeah, my mom would ground me for a whole month..." Vitria added as she passed the thermos back to Max after drinking a few sips.
"Yeah..." Max awkwardly laughed.
After a few more minutes of chatter Professor Oberis' came out of one of the busses.
"Hello! Could all the students of the Long Range Combat Department come to this bus please?" Professor Oberis' spoke loud enough for everyone to hear him, a few moments after him one of his assistants came out of another bus and called out for the students of the Short Range Combat Department.
"Uh, so we aren't going to be only class going... neat." Max thought outloud as the trio walked over to the bus the assistant came out of.
The assistant made all the students form a line and asked them their name as they got inside the bus, the first bus ended up being filled up before Max, Gareth and Vitria could get inside so they got moved to the left over bus along with all the remaining students.
A few minutes after that Professor Oberis came over with a group of Students from the Long Range Department, it seemed like the bus they were supposed to be on was filled up too, yet their group was actually smaller than the left over group from the Short Range Department.
The seats all the way back had been taken by a group of five people so Max, Gareth and Vitria had to split and sit on the side seats, Gareth and Vitria sat together on the left side while Max sat by himself on the right side.
Gareth had his headphones on and was trying to sleep while Vitria was texting with her phone.
Max was reading a comic he brought with him, Vesuvius' Fall: From Hero To Legend. Volume 18, it was quite the good read.
While Max was immersed into his reading someone suddenly sat next to him, he looked to his side to check who it was only to find Selena looking intently at his comic.
"Uhhh... Hi?" Max said as he closed his comic.
"Oh- sorry, I didn't know you read Vesuvius' Fall-" Selena quickly went to grab her backpack and pulled up her own comic Vesuvius' Fall: From Hero To Legend. Volume 21.
"Oh! You're even a couple volumes ahead of me-" Max opened up his comic.
"Yeah- in what part of Volume 18 are you on?" Selena asked as a mischievous smile formed on her face.
"Uh... When Vesuvius and Kelda are having their romantic dinner he promised her, it's quite cute after all the stuff they went through..." Max hid his face with the comic.
"Oh... then you aren't going to expect what's going to happen next!" Selena laughed evilly.
"Uh? What's going to happen next?!" Max asked in an agitated tone as he stopped covering his head with the comic.
"I won't tell you, find out on your own." Selena chuckled as she started to read her own comic.
Max continued reading his comic, even as the bus started moving and the caravan of busses was making its way towards the city walls he was more interested in his comic rather than the scenery.
That was until he reached a specific page, put the comic down and had a lost look on his face.
"He's dead..." Max uttered.
"Keep reading!" Selena urged him.
"I did! Kelda is going apeshit on the guys who killed him- but he's still dead..." Max eyes started getting misty.
"Just keep reading and you'll find out what happens!" Selena urged him again as she put down her own comic.
Max grunted but continued reading.
A few pages after that Max stopped, took a long breath and whispered because he didn't want to scream in rage "He revived?!"
Selena laughed on his face as Max looked at her like he had just swallowed shit.
"Thanks, I actually thought it was going to be something important." Max said in a sarcastic and annoyed tone while Selena continued to laugh.