The night fell, the true challenge of this trip had begun.
On one corner of the forest, a student kicked a kobold while shouting, "Why can't you do anything? Hurry up and build me a tent!"
"Kiuuh…" The kobold was trying to say anything but could only tolerate his behavior.
Unfortunately, the kobold couldn't build the tent. Not only did the student not bring any tent or the equipment for it, but the area didn't have anything that could be used as tents. The only things the kobold could find were twigs and fallen leaves.
On another corner, there was a student in better condition. She had set up a tent, but the eerie atmosphere of the forest kept her awake.
"Are we going to be fine? Are we going to be fine?" She kept asking the same question over and over again.
There was a howl coming deep from the forest, which made her rise from her sleeping bag while saying, "What's that? The aliens are coming?"
"I need your help, Axilys." She bit her lips, staring at her familiar.
"I can be on the lookout, but if I don't rest, I won't be able to recover my stamina and Ena. In the worst-case scenario, I won't be able to fight anymore tomorrow."
"I don't care! There are so many dangers here. You're the only ones who can do it." She shook her head furiously, demanding that her familiar stay awake.
Most of the students had similar situations. This was the first time they camped outside without anyone helping them.
However, the commoners were different. Their lives weren't that good to begin with, so they had to do a few things for survival.
Learning how to camp was included.
Some students had set up a tent, but a few were luckier than the others since their area had a lot of firewood to warm them up.
Meanwhile, August and his dwarf had worked hard together to build a dirt house. It was a simple cube with one chimney.
"You'll be on the lookout first. Switch with me five hours later," ordered August.
The dwarf nodded in agreement. This whole time, August had been doing everything together, so their friendship grew during the trip.
Meanwhile, the cyclops were in a similar predicament.
"Alright. It's good now!" Rudeus looked at the half-sphere made of dirt. It wasn't big or fancy, but it was a nice little hut that could block the wind. He had taken advantage of the cyclops' size to make this small hut like building a sandcastle.
"I will summon you once I need you. For now, recover as much as possible. We need to do this for seven days after all."
The cyclops nodded before disappearing into thin air.
Both Rudeus and August had their own places to block the wind. The same couldn't be said to Selena.
"Haa…" Selena let out a warm breath to the space between her hands while saying, "It's cold."
"You should have brought the tent." The vampire shook her head helplessly.
"But if I bring the tent, my speed will be reduced significantly because they're so heavy. I have to win against him on this trip." Selena shook her head furiously.
The vampire scratched the back of her head. She didn't know where Selena's obsession was coming from, but it wasn't her place to talk about it.
"If you fall sick, you're going to have a hard time for the next few days. You might even lose and couldn't do anything remarkable for this trip."
"I know." Selena looked down with a sad expression. She tossed more firewood while saying, "But it doesn't matter if I can't win. I need to prove myself to be able to summon a progenitor. If I can't, I will just become the puppet of a family."
The vampire scratched the back of her head, unable to persuade her. "Anyway, you should sleep as much as possible. Make sure to wear more clothes and cover your entire body with an extra blanket."
Selena nodded. She only took a blanket and a sleeping bag, so she also threw a towel on top. She hadn't found a river, so she had to move toward the river before her water ran out.
"Are you sure you'll be fine during the night?"
"I'm nocturnal. Even if I'm asleep, my sense is much sharper than what I have during the day. Don't worry. I can protect you while sleeping." She shrugged.
"Alright." Selena nodded helplessly. She laid down while wrapping herself as thick as possible.
"It's cold… but I'm going to win," was the last thing she muttered before closing her eyes.
The teachers smiled wryly. "The students are quite weak."
"Yeah. There are only ten people who seem to be doing somewhat better. It's a bit disappointing. Then again, this year, they have a lot of familiars specializing in combat, unlike last year."
"Agreed. I should also check the student that took the north entrance." He raised his head only to drop his jaw. "That's…"
"What's wrong?" Another teacher chose to check up on Nathan as well, only to get stunned by what she found.
In his camp, Nathan peacefully sat down next to the fire with Fenrir, looking at the night sky.
"Damn. It's so beautiful. Back on Earth, the city is so bright that we couldn't even see stars anymore," said Nathan while eating the dinner box he got from the tavern's lady.
Unlike the others, he was much more relaxed. His camp had everything since he would be staying in this place for several days, unlike the others that had yet to reach their desired spot.
He grabbed the makeshift kettle and took a sip of the hot water, warming his body. "Even though this forest is dangerous, this place feels soothing."
"Don't forget that we'll be fighting a lot tomorrow," Fenrir warned him before devouring the cooked fish in one go.
"I know, I know."
Looking at such a peaceful atmosphere, the teachers couldn't help but say the same thing. "See? When the others are busy surviving in the forest, he's really treating this as a camping trip."