. . .
'Ascenders Camp Trip'
That's what the envelope I'm looking at right now says.
I open the envelope and find a list of people's names in my class and their group numbers.
I scan for Faith's and my name.
A moment later.
"Faith Oberon - Group 7...
Orhan Alberon - Group 7!!"
Faith and I were in the same group, almost like a miracle. I knew that it was going to be a fun time, so I brushed my teeth, did my hair, and went downstairs for breakfast.
"Orhan, we have 15 minutes! Hurry and eat your breakfast. We got to get out."
My dad was stressed.
Because of?
"Okay, I wouldn't dare be late to the ascenders camp trip once in a lifetime."
I replied.
We couldn't miss this trip.
The few days had passed quickly, and now Faith and I would stay near the ascending for 2 weeks.
I ate the chicken breasts that my mom cooked; the taste was immaculate, but I was disappointed since I couldn't enjoy this meal because we were running late.
Finishing my food, I got dressed, took my suitcase, and was ready to walk to the city gate that points out to the slums.
"Son, hurry the hell up."
"Yes, Dad."
. . .
At the city gate.
I saw Faith and approached him.
"Hey dude, we are in the same group!"
I said with a smile.
"Yeah, how lucky. Speaking of which, where the hell is our guide?"
The Students from all over the school were in line, waiting for their group's escort.
Faith and I crouched down while we were waiting for the escort to arrive.
Crouching down in the street was a common occurrence in The Mirmaras Kingdom.
People in our group gathered around us; there were people from different grades and genders. Where would we even stay with all of these unsorted people?
At last, our escort had arrived. He was a tall, skinny man. His buzzcut, mixed with his frame, looked like a alive skeleton in front of us.
"Hello, I am Ferrue, I will be your group's guardian for this trip. Nice to meet all of you."
Ferrue said in a cracky but soothing voice.
Ferrue gathered our group members, and we headed out the city gates after the 6th group.
"As you can see, these are tamed monsters; you can ride them with no problems."
Ferrue pointed at some horses, or I'd like to say.
The horses had horns, just like unicorns.
Their hoofs were replaced with claws, ironically scary ones at that.
The class hesitantly got on the horses, and the horses started following Ferrue's lead.
How was this possible, Taming monsters?
I was looking forward to finding out.
Ferrue, with his horse, led the way.
We were riding towards the Ascending at full speed. Some students puked while going this fast. Faith and I were unfazed; even Ferrue had an expression, but we were straight-up statues.
. . .
After 2 gruesome hours, we arrived at our destination. I could see the Ascending so close, Faith and I were amazed.
"This is the dormitory where groups 1 to 10 will be staying," Ferrue informed us.
The building was separated into 4 blocks:
9th Grade, 10th Grade, 11th Grade and 12th Grade. Each block was also separated into 2: Male and female.
Ferrue gave all of us a list of our schedules, room numbers, and so on.
"Orhan, there is combat training tomorrow morning. Isn't that amazing?"
Faith asked me.
"Of course, man, let's both do well. By the way, what's your room number?"
"22, what about you?"
"18... This is where we bid farewell dude, goodbye." I said sarcastically.
While Ferrue told us we were free to explore for today, Faith kept up the act.
"Noooooo! I can't do it without you!"
Faith said in a low tone that nobody heard.
. . .
After placing our luggage, Faith and I checked out the facilities included in our schedule. There was mainly combat training, not that we didn't like it. The schedule also included intelligence-requiring activities like a math competition, but those are for nerds, Faith and I just decided to get a passing score and laze off.
Although Faith's sloth was concerning, he would always pass, no matter what.
That's what's so crazy about him; he has a supercomputer in his brain, but he can't utilize it as he wishes. If I can improve his brain through this schedule, he could be my smartest ally for life.
"I'm so tired. Do you want to separate?"
Faith asked first.
"I thought you would never ask, all right, let's separate; goodnight, pal."
"Mmm... I gotta sleep, goodnight."
Faith said in a sleepy voice.
After separating, I arrived at the 18th room.
I wonder what kind of people I am trapped to stay with for 2 weeks.
. . .
I knock on the door.
"Come in."
Someone said, followed by a cough.
I open the door, and without looking forward, I enter and close the door.
I turn back and scan the dimly lit room.
2 bunk beds, the upper floor of the one on the right way was empty.
The other 3 guys didn't even bother asking my name; they were visibly tired, and so was I.
I jumped on my bed and entered deep sleep in a few minutes.
. . .
Don't tell me... Another vision?
I was excited about it, but ruining my precious sleep was rude. Now I understand how Faith feels.
I opened my eyes, not shocked but caught off guard. I looked around, and after scanning my vicinity, I presumed I was in the 4th Layer.
I looked at my body, and this time, it was my current one.
I try walking and see no problems with movement.
I decided to use this opportunity to gather even more information, perhaps learn to tame monsters like Ferrue does.
After walking around in the dark forest I was in, I started to hear wolves howling.
Since this was a dream, I decided to check it out fearlessly, thinking I couldn't take real damage.
After a minute of walking downhill, I see 2 wolves, one gravely injured and one unfazed.
The difference? One was emitting gray light, and one was not.
Perhaps the power in this world is the grey aura. I decided to watch them for longer.
After around 20 seconds, the injured wolf had lost its ability to breathe and, therefore, died.
But the gray light-emitting wolf just stood there, closed its eyes, and seemingly focused on breathing.
In 5 seconds, the wolf's light began to shine lighter, and the dead wolf turned into a dried corpse, almost as if time had moved forward.
Orhan kept following this wolf, not getting discovered. The wolf kept on killing various animals, such as horned bunnies, wolves and boars with various mutations.
But something always kept on getting shinier.
The wolves aura had gradually turned white!