{
Hidden Information : A piece of hidden information, key to the lesson, would be revealed to the buyer only. It can be extremely useful or utterly useless depending on how it's used.
Limit : One person can buy 3 pieces of hidden information only.
Mana Stones Required : 10
> Buy
}
In my opinion, this item is a bit controversial in nature.
Any member of the group can buy this item, but the only one who would be able to know the hidden info would be the buyer only.
Isn't that a bit unfair?
Or it might have been deliberately kept in the shop, to make the group members remain afraid of betrayal by someone in their own group, so that they would try to maintain good relationship among themselves to avoid that scenario.
And I am going to perform the exact same act of betrayal.
I am sure that Selena would have warned our group members not to buy anything without permission.
Well, I would die to see her face, after she notices that I have spent her hard earned mana stones, without doing anything.
So, with that in mind, I clicked on the "Buy" option, and instantly the number of mana stones our group had collected came down to 34.
The panel buffered for a moment.
Honestly, the concept of hidden information is too ambiguous in and of itself.
It's price is set very high, so that atudents would be forced to follow the usual path of earning mana stones the hard way.
But, many would think that the price is set high, because the information itself can help them gain large number of mana stones, which is not the case.
Well, I am starting to understand the motive behind this new curriculum little by little.
After the buffering, a single line appeared on the screen.
"There is an agent from the academy among the students."
***
"U-Um.... "
I, Selena Aurelius, along with the other 3 of my groupmates, except that shithead, are currently searching for monsters together.
Suddenly, Elric, called out from behind us.
His combat skill is "Bow Mastery", which means he is an archer, the marksman of our team.
Moreover, he is tasked with the carrying of mana stones we have collected until now, as he insisted on it for some reason.
He is the only one among us who doesn't have a passive skill, well if we are not including Kai, the No-Skill Brat.
As he called out and stopped in his tracks, I looked around to see what was wrong.
" What happened? The bag feels heavy?", I asked if his hand was hurting or something due to the weight of mana stones, he had been carrying for hours.
"No, um, it's actually the opposite. The bag feels lighter, somehow. I am not sure though."
I was wondering what his reply meant, when a very annoying thought creeped into my mind.
Then, I hurriedly opened the "Shop" menu from my status window, to check the number of mana stones our group had.
And my suspicions were proved to be correct.
{
> Shop (Temporary)
AVAILABLE MANA STONES (GROUP 1) = 34
Hidden Information : 10 Mana Stones (Bought = 1/3)
Energy Drink : 1 Mana Stones
Transmitter (a set of five) : 2 Mana Stones (Bought)
Monster Detector : 5 Mana Stones
Healing Potion : 2 Mana Stones (Bought : 1)
....more
}
'I knew it! '
That bastard Kai, used 10 whole mana stones, the ones we earned.
I just used a single healing potion to heal my deep wounds, so that the number of mana stones we have collected so far would be remain the highest among all other groups, with minimal consumption.
And we all have been holding back in my orders for more than 4 hours now.
Nobody among us even used the energy drinks or water bottles, as it would have lowered our collection.
"Damn it! It must be the work of that Kai Rayleigh. ", Arlan exclaimed, realizing that we have been betrayed.
I also had thought that he would be reasonable enough not to cause any trouble, but I think I overestimated him this time.
He has always been a shithead after all.
" Selena, what should we do now? ", Aria asked me, as calm and composed as she has been this whole time.
" .....As the purchase has been made already, we can't do anything about that. And, we don't even know his location right now, but judging from the fact that his voice has not been heard even a single time during these 4 hours, I am guessing that he is not within the 2 kilometers of radius from us."
I continued after putting my sword on my shoulder.
"So all we can do now is, search for monsters like we have been doing. Also, there is only half an hour left for the lesson to end. So, be prepared for anything. "
"What does 'anything' mean, Selena? ", Arlan asked, confused by my wording.
" From now on, students would fight among each other to secure their mana stones' quota of 5. So, Aria, keep your spatial detection skill on, and report me if you sense any moving object or monsters. Arlan, you would be with me as combat partner. And Elric, you stay close to us. The most important thing is the mana stones you are holding. Make sure, you protect them, until the end. Got it, everyone? "
The 3 of them nodded along, as I resumed our march in search of monsters.
The forest around us was eerily silent, the air thick with tension as we moved forward, our senses on high alert.
The sun had dipped low in the sky, casting long shadows through the dense canopy, making the atmosphere even more ominous.
Every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig seemed amplified, as if the very forest was watching us.
Aria's eyes glowed faintly as she activated her spatial detection skill, scanning the area for any potential threats.
"Nothing yet," she whispered, though her voice was tight with the same tension I felt.
Passive skills didn't use much of our mana, so Aria kept on using it continuously without any problem.
Meanwhile, Arlan's passive skill was only suitable to use during fighting an enemy.
My own passive skill, too, didn't make much sense to me, so I wasn't using it.
There were a few things I deduced from all the fights with these monsters.
First one is that all the mana stones are buried under the ground, directly upon which the monsters were standing.
Second is, they don't attack you until, you get within 2 meters of radius of that mana stone.
Third is, each monster has a specific mana stone that it protects, the one upon which it stands. If you show a mana stone you collected previously, in front of another monster, then it wouldn't show any reaction.
Fourth one is, the mana stone buried underground and the mana stones we collect after defeating the monsters are fundamentally different, although their value is the same.
And fifth one, the most important is, these monsters' body weakens if pierces through by any sharp weapon imbued with our mana. That was the reason why, me and Aria were able to defeat the first monster after I pierced my sword through that monster's body.
I have been following this deduction to defeat the monsters until now.
My goal was to gain mana stones in the traditional way, not relying upon those hidden info.
But, now that Kai has bought a single piece of information using our mana stones, he knows sething that we don't.
Is there any meaning behind his actions?
Is he in danger, and this was his signal asking for help?
.....
Why am I even worried about him?
I should focus on monster hunting right now, so that we can at least replenish our collection.
But, suddenly, a realization hit my mind.
"The total number of mana stones is limited. "
That implied, if all of the monstere were already defeated, and their mana stones were taken by other students, then it would be extremely unlikely that we would be able to find any other monsters now.
As I was going to discuss this topic with my groupmates, Aria warned us.
Monsters don't move from their location, unless their mana stone is taken from them, nor does the trees of this forest.
If all the monsters are already defeated, then the only movable objects in this forest are the students themselves.
As Aria detected movements from several directions, I glanced at Arlan and signallrd her to remain in defensive position, with Elric at our center.
Aria's passive allows her to detect things within 10 meters of radius, which is not that large.
However, inside this dense forest covered with profusely branched long and thick trees, detecting movement within 10 meters radius was really helpful, you won't know who is hiding behind a tree.
If the students that were coming towards us, were the types I described before, there is a chance that they would fight us in order to snatch our mana stones.
Therefore, I took out my sword and held it in the front.
Following my suite, Arlan did the same by taking out a pair of daggers in front of her.
As we took our defensive stances, footsteps could be heard.
Then Aria exclaimed, "They're here! "
****************************************
Author's Note :
Please comment down your thoughts on the story so far.
And, drop a review, if you find it interesting.
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