Click!
Ramon's brown leather hunter vest made a clicking sound as his friend helped him strap it in, and instantly he felt protected while still feeling light.
"Nice," Ramon gave a thumbs up as standing up, he made a few hops round the room.
"As light as a feather," he complimented with a grin.
Click!
He helped Aegon fix his own too.
As soon as they were both done, picking their hunting tools, they stood up to leave but before that, they turned to look at their last roommate.
Elmas unlike their brown hunting clothes had a black leather vest on.
At this moment, he was in the process of struggling to strap the shoulder belt on himself when he noticed the gaze of his 2 roommates.
Silence.
They just stared at each other like time froze all of a sudden.
"Humph," Ramon smirked, waiting for him to ask.
Elmas didn't ask though.
Pushing himself against the stone wall of their room and timing it well, he managed to use the force of the wall to strap his shoulder belt in.
Grabbing his machete with its leather sheath that was beside his bed, he strapped it to his back before stepping out of the room, leaving the 2 others.
He didn't even look at them.
Ramon scrunched up his face. "That conceited bastard".
"That was creative," Aegon laughed. "I didn't expect it, let's go". He led the way outside as they went to the main lecture hall of the wildlife department.
On arriving there, they finally saw the big party.
Multiple huge canopies of palm fronds were already set up at the front of this lecture hall. Seated at the front chairs were esteemed figures of the academy, the headmistress, Mr. Patrick, and HODs of other departments.
Again, the deputy headmaster was nowhere to be seen.
That was not the most important fact though, the most important fact was that apart from the instructors of the academy, other faces populated the canopies.
The parents.
Aegon's eyes snapped wide with joy. "They already came?"
"When?"
His eyes quickly scanned through the crowd and it didn't take him long to find them. They sat at the front row chairs; his eyes brightened up on seeing them.
"Ramon!" "Ramon!" He grabbed his friend's hands.
"Look, my parents!"
Ramon was surprised. 'Aegon's parents?'
He looked and instantly, he could tell that Aegon was right. Sitting at the front row seats was a family of 3, all with well-groomed white hair like Aegon's.
Aegon's father was a stone-faced middle-aged man with a clean-shaven chin that could almost be mistaken for the surface of a mirror.
Despite the thick wealthy animal skin attire that he wore, Ramon as a warrior could easily tell the fit physique hidden behind the thick clothes. He was powerful.
Sitting to his right was a beautiful lady with long flowing white hair.
Unlike his stone-faced expression, she had a gentle smile on her face.
'Aegon's mom?' Ramon thought.
And lastly, sitting to the Winsmoke family patriarch's left was a young girl, probably not more than 10 as she looked around with pure curiosity on her face.
"Mom!" "Dad!" Aegon waved happily.
"Sophia!" Aegon made a funny face at her.
Seeing Aegon, Ramon saw the little girl react excitedly as she pulled at her dad's sleeves excitedly. He heard her mutter. "Dad, it's Aegon!"
The attention of his family was finally drawn to him.
The stone-faced expression finally crumbled into a faint smile as this middle-aged man, likely a powerful mage waved at his son.
Seeing his family, Aegon felt even more pumped for this competition.
He grabbed his friend's hand. "Ramon, we need to do our best".
"We need to win!"
The huge glowing magic crystal that hovered above the palm frond canopies was probably how the hunt would be broadcasted to the spectators.
The students of this year's 5th batch were gathered before the main canopy where the headmistress and her academy delegates sat.
As Aegon and Ramon jogged forward to join them, Ramon looked through the crowd but didn't see the face he was looking for. 'She didn't come?'
'No! She'll definitely come, Hope Town to here is a great distance'.
'She's probably not arrived yet'.
Ramon didn't see his mom yet but like Aegon, he was already feeling pumped up for this hunt. He wanted nothing less than excellence now.
'I want to show her how much I've grown in her absence,' He grinned.
As soon as all the students were gathered, the headmistress stood up.
"Students, parents, all our esteemed guests, we welcome all of you to this special edition of our 5th year promotion exam, a prelude to the end of the year party". She looked round with a smile. "I'm glad you all made it here today".
"The children need the support of their parents to exceed their limits".
Then she looked at the students. "The rules are simple".
"You are not allowed to carry a weapon created for warriors higher than the Legionnaire Stage, no cheating of any form is allowed".
"If you're caught, you'll be disqualified instantly".
"Go into the wilderness and give us a quality hunt". She smiled.
"Also, rest assured, competent instructors have been put on standby, there shall be no casualties. If you get injured to that extent that you need rescuing, your hunt is over".
She raised her hand high. "The hunt…, starts now!"
Bam!
A lot of the excited students turned and instantly started sprinting out of the academy in teams of 2, straight towards the direction of the Wheat Trye Wilderness.
The magic crystal started working, showcasing everything as it happened.
Ramon and Aegon didn't leave immediately though. Ramon looked at his sword, Storm Breaker as for the first time he felt a weird feeling of separation.
'Is this the heartbreak of separation?'
'Damn, it feels so weird'.
Despite his unwillingness though, Ramon wanted to pass this exam and not to just pass, he wanted to pass with flying colors.
He handed his sword to the nearby instructor and took a sword made for Legionnaire Stage Warriors.
"Storm Breaker, await my return, I'll be back with a bang!" He grinned.
"Aegon," He looked at his friend. "Let's go".
Gathering his astral energy on his legs, Ramon exploded with speed out of the academy even as Aegon struggled to keep up with him.
And the hunt officially started.
…
3 hours after the hunt started…
"Freya Atreus and her partner has done it again!"
"They killed another low-tier General Stage Beast".
"Her ability to spot prey from such a wide range is impressive, and her skills with her bow and arrow to kill them so effectively is crazy".
"These students are truly something". Murmurs and exclamations escaped from the canopies as the spectators were having a good time watching the show.
There was a chart displayed by the magic crystal showing the overall hunts of the different teams and 2 teams were already giving the others a massive lead.
[Hunt Chart:]
[1. Team Freya/Strigga: 17 kills.]
>15 Legionnaire Stage Beasts; 2 General Stage Beasts<
[2. Team Ramon/Aegon: 15 kills.]
>14 Legionnaire Stage Beasts; 1 General Stage Beast<
[3. Team Rock/Lily: 5 kills.]
>5 Legionnaire Stage Beasts.]
[4. …]
[5. …]
Even at this stage of the hunt as the students kept on giving their all, more parents arrived at the academy as they joined the others, watching their children demonstrate what they learned after 5 years in Centerpoint Astral.
This was also when Emiliana Brenden arrived.
She got a chair towards the back of the palm frond canopy but still with a bright smile on her face, she joined them watching as her son dazzled.
"That's my son!" She was proud.
5 hours after the hunt started…
"Oh!" The parents exclaimed.
"That was a deadly blow, good thing the instructor intervened on time".
The first pair of students were saved by instructors, bringing their hunt to an untimely end and leaving them with a haul of 7 Legionnaire Stage Beast kills.
They kept on watching.
"That Ramon and Aegon partnership is truly something".
"That Ramon's senses in the wild are almost on par if not even better than a beast, he locates them before they can even sense his presence".
"It's like the wilderness is his home and not that of the astral beasts".
"What a truly fearsome boy".
"It's a perfect combination of an Evolver and a Manipulator, no weaknesses".
"They already overtook the girl, Freya's team by 1 kill ahead".
"Who will win this stage of the exam?"
They were surely having a good time watching their children in action.
"Dad," A white haired girl pulled at her dad's sleeves again. "Who is that Ramon? Aegon's friend?"
The stone-faced man looked at the magic crystal display. "Probably".
"Wow! Aegon managed to have a friend". She sounded excited.
"I want to meet him!"
The man smiled. "Of course, you'll meet him, wait till the exam ends".
10 hours later, the hunt was still going on fiercely even as a lot of the students were already tired and exhausted. They kept on pushing on.
The hunt was to last a full 24 hours.
They started by 7 in the morning, so it was to the next day by 7 that the hunt would finally stop. This exam was also a test of endurance and willpower.
The hunt would last through the night.
In between watching, the parents also left for different reasons, to eat, the visit the toilet, and a lot of things but for most of the time, they watched their children's performance, cheering them on.
A few hours later, the veil of the night finally came, giving this hunt exam a different tone entirely as the wilderness became a far more dangerous place to the students but some parents kept on watching.
Like the academy promised, no casualties were recorded.
Everything was going well till 9:00pm.
Something happened.
"Centerpoint Astral Academy huh?"
"This is definitely the location I detected the unusual energy from," She muttered to herself as she casually bit her fingernails while thinking.
"The only problem is I can't feel the energy as precisely as I expected".
"Who has that energy?"
"Or better still, where did it come from?"
"Hmmm," She rubbed her chin. "I guess I'll just enter inside and wait".
She looked around. "It's definitely here, so it will attract them".
She grinned. "They will come to me".
That night, a powerful mid-tier Commander Stage Mage sneaked into Centerpoint Astral Academy, bypassing all its defenses yet no one knew.
…
That same night, in a hidden underground location under Centerpoint City.
Blink!
A pair of sparkling purple eyes blinked open.
3 auras appeared as soon as the eyes blinked open.
"Master". They kneeled on one knee and bowed.
"It is time, make sure the preparations are complete".
"Yes, master".