Loren, Loot and Relia returned to the inn, each carrying two shovels in their arms. Upon entering, they noticed that dinner had ended and most students had left to sleep. Turk and the teachers were left sitting in the inn's bar, drinking as they chatted. Turk turned his head to see the trio step into the inn.
"Relia, where did you go? I couldn't find you." He asked as he placed his mug on the table.
Relia smiled and pointed her head towards Loren. "Rito's disciple wanted to buy some things from the blacksmith, we just came back."
Rito noticed the shovels in the hands of the three. "Shovels? What did you need that for?" He asked Loren.
"You'll see tomorrow," Loren said while chuckling. "Do you still plan to give me a sabre?"
Not replying, Rito stood up while heading to his luggage. He rummaged momentarily before pulling out a short sabre inside a black sheath and throwing it towards Loren.
"Here. It's fairly old but it'll do, I used it myself before I came to Rito."
Pulling out the sabre, Loren saw an azure blade of exotic design, concluding that Rito used the sword when he was still in Rulland. Despite describing the sabre as 'old', Loren noticed that it was extremely well kept, the only wear being in the hilt.
Loren bowed his head, thanking Rito. "Thank you, master."
"It's nothing. Now head to bed, you're sharing a room with Benson." Rito waved his hand.
Going up the stairs of the inn, Loren entered his room and saw that Benson had yet to start sleeping.
Benson raised his head as he saw Loren, drowsily waving to him. "Yo, Loren."
"You haven't gone to bed yet?" It was already fairly late into the night, and Loren was surprised to see Benson still awake.
"Can't sleep," Benson shook his head. "Guess I'm too nervous."
Loren tilted his head. "How come? Didn't you do this last year?"
"That's exactly why. I did horribly last year Loren, I'm only at the top of the class because of my experience, in terms of talent I'm not like Loot." Benson absentmindedly stared at the ceiling as he talked. "I can only hope we win this year, I need that elixir if I want to enter the 2nd stage."
Loren understood what he meant, while both Benson and Loot were in their 2nd year at the school, their circumstances were entirely different. Loot had only joined the school late last year, repeating because he showed talent but was too inexperienced to graduate. While Benson had spent the majority of last year in the class without entering the 1st stage, most students in his situation would have left the school, but Benson said that his parents wanted him to become a knight so they forced him to attend another year.
Usually due to the high prices of enrollment, parents would not be willing to pay for another year of tuition for their children if they didn't enter the 2nd stage, content that they had learned some combat skills at the very least if they couldn't become knights.
A student who showed talent in entering the 2nd stage would usually go on to become a squire, choosing to earn money while learning from a fully-fledged knight instead of paying to learn from the school. The teachers even had multiple connections to various knight divisions in neighbouring towns to facilitate this transition after graduation.
In Saltera, one had to be in the Storage stage to become a knight, something many children dreamed of becoming. But sadly, the path of mana mastery relied heavily on talent, if one took more than 6 months to enter the 1st stage, the chances of entering the 2nd stage dropped immensely. The same could be said of the third stage, the acceptable range to master the first stage was one year, any longer and there would be a high chance of staying at the 2nd stage for the rest of one's life.
It was said that if one did not enter their path before the age of 25, the chances of becoming a master later on were essentially zero.
Benson's talent was too low, he wouldn't be accepted by any knight to become their squire, so he had to continue attending the school in hopes of an opportunity. The elixir gained from their hunt was one such opportunity. Paid for by the kingdom, elixirs that increased mana control would be given to schools to hand out to their students who displayed talent in areas other than mana mastery, such as hunting, commanding or skill in weaponry. Not hoping to find future masters, but reliable knights.
Loren's shoulders were heavy as he faced the reality of many aspiring knights in Saltera, he stared at his friend and understood that he would be responsible for his future.
"Don't worry Benson, we'll definitely win tomorrow's hunt."
Benson smiled warmly as he looked back at Loren. "We better."
***
The sun had risen and the students were ushered outside for the hunt, the tension in the air palpable, Benson was not the only student in his situation, many knew they had a low chance of becoming a squire by the end of the year.
As they followed the teachers into the woods of Galan, they double, triple and quadruple-checked their bearings, making sure they hadn't forgotten anything they needed. There would be more chances to gain an elixir later in the year, but no one wanted to wait.
Lunceen, Balto and Malto of Loren's group were especially anxious, their leader had yet to tell them what he was planning and Bort was acting highly uncooperative.
Seeing their worried expression, Loren tried to reassure them. "Guys, don't worry, we'll win. Trust me."
Despite his attempts to calm them, he still noticed they seemed apprehensive but shrugged his shoulders. If they didn't believe his words they could see what he had planned for themselves.
Instead of focusing on his team, Loren decided to try and imprint the surroundings into his memories. While both he and Salrie had memorized the map of the forest beforehand, it didn't hurt to view the terrain himself, a 2-dimensional map would always differ from reality.
That was when he noticed a lush field of herbs and plants being grown on a farm near the forest, their scent pleasantly filled the surroundings.
Noticing where Loren's attention was, Relia decided to introduce the farm to him. "That's the farm where the spices and herbs you all ate yesterday came from. The mana in this area is filled with the essence of the sun, our ancestors created Galan when they found this place, it facilitates plant growth and increases their potency and taste."
"Really? That's why the food tasted so good?"
Relia nodded in response to his question.
Loren still hadn't understood the intricacies of mana and was still clueless as to what it really was. For people in Altera, the amazing abilities of mana were common sense, something they had been raised around. As someone from Earth, Loren was unable to comprehend how the purpose or essence of something could be instilled, imitated or amplified.
Magic, which was able to imitate the phenomena of nature with just raw mana and spoken words was even more of a mystery to Loren.
'I definitely have to ask Relia about magic once we get back from the hunt.' Loren promised to himself.
The teachers halted their steps, causing the cohort of students to follow. They turned around and began to announce the beginning of the hunt, making each of the teens' heartbeats increase.
"From now until evening, for the next 5 hours, all of you will travel through this forest and begin your hunt. Collect the right ears of any beast you slay for proof and keep them in this satchel," The teacher threw a large leather bag to each group. "you may not be able to see us during the hunt but remember that we will be watching. You can come back to Durkson if you need healing but I must warn you that any student that returns will not be able to reenter the forest. Also..."
The corners of the teacher's lips began to rise. "while you will not be allowed to steal any of the ears of beasts another group has already killed, you can kill a beast another group is already in combat with if you wish."
The students were filled with puzzled faces, they hadn't been told this rule beforehand. Loren wasn't too surprised though, the hunt was meant to be a realistic simulation, and it wasn't too uncommon for a hunter's prey to be stolen or an adventurer's loot to be taken. Honesty, he was content that infighting was forbidden at least.
"No complaints, the hunt will begin... Now!"
As the teacher lowered his arm to begin the hunt, multiple groups ran out into the forest, the only two groups that hadn't run off yet were Loren's and Revold's.
Seeing Revold, Loren was reminded of his conversion with Benson the knight before, he wondered why was still in the school after so many years. If Benson was considered to have low talent, Revold would have none, after 4 years the teen hadn't given up despite not entering the 2nd stage.
"Loren, can you tell us what you are planning now?" Knocking Loren out of his rumination, Benson approached him, hoping to finally discover what they would be doing for the hunt.
Loren smirked towards his friend. "Alright, here's what I want everyone to do for the first hour of the hunt..."
While speaking he untied the large shovels that were attached to his bag, handing them towards his team.