Grand Ceremony Hall
Timothy and his classmates from Battle Class were lining up while waiting for the announcement. they will have their first mission today and all wish to have the easy task. after a few moments of waiting, Teacher Morgana finally appears before them while dragging a whiteboard by her side. on the whiteboard is the name of Battle Class student and their mission.
"good morning class.
this will be your mission for the final exam.
you will have two weeks to finish it and if you manage to finish it early, you can take the rest of the day as free time." explains Teacher Morgana.
Timothy focuses on the whiteboard and sees his name on it. his mission for the exam is to go to a Danger Zone named Prairie of Illusion. this is a Danger Zone where illusion magic beasts mostly appear. it was also the only place where you could find a unique resource called Illusion Stone which is useful in creating all kinds of disguise tools and display screens.
"Okay, students!
I suggest you all look for your necessary equipment to prepare for your journey.
head to the school gate and you will find a ride waiting for you. the school will provide some rides to help you reach the location easily." said Teacher Morgana as she began to leave.
as soon as Teacher Morgana left, the students started to chat around. they ask about the necessary equipment or information about magic beasts in their designated Danger Zone. unfortunately, most of the students didn't have any information about Danger Zone.
Meanwhile, Timothy and his two friends are already busy. they go to their dorm and begin to open their notes together. turns out Timothy got the most simple one out of three of them.
the Prairie of Illusion where Timothy was assigned for is a big grass field where illusions can appear anywhere. the illusion effect that could even make the strongest Weapon Master lose their way is the reason the prairie is categorized as a Danger Zone. other than that, the prairie itself is relatively safe. it possesses a good amount of fresh water to drink and a safe place to create shelter people can just build a tent.
the magic beasts that live in the Prairie of Illusion all have illusion-based skills and magic. together with the prairie, they help to make the zone a bit more dangerous. the unique part about it is that the Magic Beast that lives there will not attack first. they will only retaliate if they are attacked which means the place is safe as long as you pay attention and keep your hand in place.
aside from Timothy, his friends got a little more dangerous place to go. Jhonny has to go to Golem Mine and Lian is sent to a forest called Forest of Patience. Jhonny is expected to fight some golem in his exam area while Lian will not fight anything at all. Lian just has to prepare himself as the Forest of Patience will test his mental fortitude until his breaking point.
Timothy is happy because he already prepared a few things early like tents and other survival tools. for protection, Timothy has to rely on spare armor from school to protect him as he has no time to request a new armor to be made for him. aside from that, Timothy also prepared some minor items that he might need and kept them all safe in his travel bag.
Timothy sees that Jhonny still has to request a set of armor for himself and can only leave a few days later. as for Lian, he didn't bring much but a few changes of clothes and rations.
after saying goodbye to his friends, Timothy leaves his dorm room and heads to the school gate where a car is waiting for him. Timothy enters the car and puts his bag down. just before they started to move, the driver gave a piece of letter to Timothy who accepted it with confusion on his face. it is very rare to accept a written letter at this time and age.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
as the car moves out from the school's parking area at the schoolyard, Timothy opens the letter he just got and realizes it is from the school.
"good day, Mr. Brightblade
we have heard about your experience and ability in battle around the city as you help and defend the citizens. based on the information that we got, we believe that you need a more thorough exam compared to the other students.
with this letter, we hereby inform you to hunt for the Alpha of the White Fox Magic Beast. they are one of the most dominant species in Prairie of Illusion and we need you to cull their number while also taking down its Alpha to further delay their growth.
of course, our special request will not be for free or something. we will compensate you based on how many White Foxes you managed to hunt. if you manage to hunt the Alpha, we will also pay for it with some bonus.
we hope you consider our offer well.
if you agree with our request, please kindly tell your driver and we will arrange a good hunting spot for you.
best regards
Dragon Soul Special School Administration "
Timothy feels weird feeling inside his heart. this is the first time for Timothy that his help to society and citizens is being remembered and acknowledged. all the other time, Timothy only receives a big thanks from the people directly and must be satisfied with it as the media will not write his name at all even when he is the only one that do the work.
Timothy didn't hate the media, but deep down he wished for his effort to be acknowledged and written, not just a simple thank you from some random people.
talking about the letter, Timothy didn't know what to do. he knows he has to hunt something in the Prairie of Illusion but to suddenly ask to hunt an Alpha Magic Beast, Timothy suddenly doesn't feel the confidence. Timothy tried to check on his progress. he is satisfied by how much he has achieved but Timothy still doesn't feel good about the mission.
Name Timothy Brightblade Age 16 Years Old Human Mastery Level Weapon Apprentice 95% Human Mastery Skill Body and Mind Coordination Soul Weapon Evolution Rare Weapon+ 100% Soul Weapon Skill Brightblade Calculated Slash
Timothy's progress is good. he can feel that he is stronger especially since his Soul Weapon has reached one hundred percent. with this much physical power, Timothy believes he can take care of some White Foxes pretty easily. Timothy has read about the White Foxes, a Magic Beast that lives in a symbiotic relationship with the prairie. these foxes are very adept at using Illusion Magic and together with the prairie can create such a real illusion. to make it worse, the foxes often show normal things in their illusion which often makes people forget that they are supposed to be careful.
Timothy already has a plan to deal with the foxes in a one-on-one battle, and if he has to fight several foxes at a time, Timothy also has several tools that can help me deal with it. the problem arises when it involves the Alpha as they are the strongest and also the smartest fox around. Timothy believes that such a Magic Beast will have an ability comparable to a Weapon User, one level above Timothy's Weapon Apprentice.
Timothy begins to ponder on how to defeat an Alpha White Fox based on everything he has learned no matter how much simulation he runs. Timothy's Solution is to have someone else go with him or try to cultivate his body as fast as he can and hope for a level-up. both sound equally impossible as he is currently going solo hunting and cultivating even five percent of Human Mastery is not a task that can be done in a day. just as he begins to get a headache, the driver suddenly speaks to Timothy.
"please check on the box behind your seat, sir." said the Driver.
Timothy who is sitting in the passenger seat turns his upper body to the back and sees that a box is waiting there. Timothy quickly takes the box, opens it, and sees that there is a piece of armor set in there.
the armor is shaped like a short-sleeved winter jacket made of special Magic Beast leather. it is both durable and flexible which will give Timothy solid protection against Magic Beast. the collar part of the winter jacket is made of soft fur to add some more protection against cold and breeze. other than that, there is also a pair of gloves and boots for Timothy to wear. lastly, there is a pants cover that can be used over Timothy's pants.
Timothy quickly changed his borrowed armor to the new one and returned the letter to the driver. this new armor is very good and it boosts Timothy's confidence to deal with the Alpha White Fox. the driver only gives a slight smile as he keeps driving, going out of Jakurtan City to a field of grass a few kilometers away from the city.
"White Foxes!
here I come! "