As soon as Professor Switch was finished with his speech, they were beginning their hike out of he city of Seersgrave. No gear. No bags packed. No goodbyes to family.
The journey to Mirage's End was more than a voyage to a sacred island-- it was more than reaching the bountiful grove and beginning their Sacred Diets. It was extended training the whole way. Without any survivalist gear to withstand the four day travel, they'd have to apply their foraging and hunting skills in real time. And every failure would hit with a severity most of them weren't used to.
And even if they did venture far from the Black Threshold of Low-Earth, beasts of High-Earth awaited. And they were far worse in their own right....
Some knew better than others.
"Logan, tell us about the bone-wraiths of High-Earth! They say they create their ranks from the bones of fallen gods and their marrow is necrotic magma, is that true?" Brutus asked as he marched backwards through the woodland city ahead of Logan. His heavy footfalls made Logan's ears itch.
"If you stuck to your studies you wouldn't have to confirm hearsay." Logan replied.
"I was busy training. Like any real warrior would. So can you help inform me, my lord?" Brutus mocked Professor Switch. His chubby cheeks going rosy as he giggled with his friends ahead.
"Kick rocks, bubble-guts." Logan snarled.
Brutus sighed, "I guess they don't call you the god of failure for no reason."
Logan and Sandmaw's ears perked up, "Who is calling me that?"
Brutus shrugged, "Everyone since you lost to Murciel the meathead."
"Murciel the—...You don't know a thing about him."
"Tell me then."
"He's n--"
"Stop all your yammering. We have a days walk ahead, conserve your energy. Be smart if at all possible." Professor Switch spat in his bird form as he flew ahead of the class.
Logan walked beside Murciel. Thin well done eyebrows furrowed, "It seems I've contracted your social ranking."
Olivander smacked his teeth as he lagged behind. "Didn't think it possible, Mr. Peltwalker."
Murciel nipped at Sandmaw, playing with the giant canine like he himself was a dog, "Do they still believe you defeated those Foul-Beasts?"
"Barely."
"Then you'll never know my pain." Murciel dodged a paw slap from Sandmaw and lunged, wrapping the beast in a headlock as he kissed his snout.
"I told you what to do if you want them to believe you, Murciel." Logan said.
"I….. I can't."
"Then you can't be anything other than Murciel the Meathead. And I can't stay beneath such a facade for long. Everyone is a wolf Murciel, but even alphas must show their fangs to stay above the rest." Logan said.
Murciel let go of Sandmaw. "What are you talking about?"
Logan pinched the bridge of his nose as they walked, "Maybe the meathead moniker isn't a facade, actually."
Murciel didn't get the tail end of his words as he hung underneath Sandmaw like a baby monkey.
They continued their walk for the day, only ever stopping to get a headcount and forage once outside the city limits.
Wildcats the size of shepherd dogs and snakes as long as the trees loomed as they ruffled through bushes and boosted the growth rate of unfinished crops into a state of something edible.
Murciel struggled. He never liked vegetables. They made him sick actually. As a child, his professors always said it was just him being childish.
If only they knew he was a Vampire.
He starved. Professor Switch was intent on them not eating meat in the forests. He told them to wait.
Murciel waited two days.
The journey was arduous if only for the walking portion that left his feet sore and covered in small scratches.
Everything else was amazing.
They ventured over valleys and massive bodies of water that sparkled under the sun like sheets of aquamarine crystals. Winged lizards migrating from High-Earth sailed overhead. Rain showers through the night spawned brilliant rainbows bouncing over the forests spanning for miles.
It made Murciel almost not want to bring any next world. The one he walked was already so beautiful.
They were on day three. The concept of forests was becoming an old one as the world changed.
The air was warm and thick, making breathing feel bizzare. Bugs were becoming larger and more violent, leaving them slapping and swatting at the fiends.
Professor Switch fell out of his bird form and walked ahead of them in the shape of man.
They were on the verge of starting lunch if Murciel's growling stomach was any indication of anything.
"Alright, foul-seeds. Today we eat meat."
"YES! FINALLY—" Murciel started.
"Quiet you beast! You'll scare away the prey!" Professor Switch snapped.
The feline Silverhenge Druids hissed back at him as they all stopped in front of a cluster of greenery.
"Welcome to the jungle." Professor Switch said. "The flowers here are more poisonous, the creatures are more stealthy and the greenery is harsher to manipulate. There's a reason Shamans rose to power here."
The mention of the term made Murciel shiver. His mother mentioned them once. Saying how they were part of the changing world.
"Have you ever seen a Shaman?" Murciel asked Logan as they were led into the jungle.
Logan shook his head, "No. They're….. elusive."
"Today you get a break. No hunting. Just observing your betters doing what they do best." Professor Switch explained. "Everybody, get in the trees! But watch for snakes and frogs. Both will end your life before you can say…. well, anything."
The Junior initiates climbed the jungle trees and waited in the upper canopy for hours.
Murciel was ready to sneak off on his own when the first of them finally appeared.
They looked like horses with deer faces and feline stripes.
Professor Switch called them tapir's.
Brutus called them dead meat as three sets of eyes began to glow in the nearby bushes.
Instead of the Druids in cat form pouncing as Murciel wouldve, they instead used their magic.
The air warbled as Ambient-Mana coalesced. The jungle grass exploded with growth in the shape of giant outstretched hands that gripped three of the tapirs.
The remaining members took off, creating a small stampede. The cats were on the move immediately, closing in on the trapped beasts with brutal killing bites to the throat.
Ten minutes later and Murciel and the others were on the ground, stripping hides and preparing for lunch.
"That was awesome!" Brutus said. "So fast."
"They could've gotten more if they wanted to." Someone else said.
Murciel licked the blood off his fingers when no one was looking and felt his power climb.
Then his ears twitched.
Sandmaw's did the same before he snarled.
Logan was up beside him, "What is it?"
Murciel shut his eyes and clicked his teeth.
His vision bloomed behind his shut eyes, highlighting the fast moving shapes of something massive.
Many things.
"Saber-cats."