As Kyren and Hiro continued their journey through the unknown forest, their surroundings remained eerily devoid of any signs of life or other students.

"Kyren, we've been walking for so long, but we haven't come across anything or anyone. It's strange that we haven't even encountered a single student," Hiro remarked, voicing his growing concern.

"Yeah, it's definitely odd. I've been paying close attention to the landscape, but nothing seems to repeat. This forest just feels vast beyond measure," Kyren replied, his brow furrowed in thought.

Suddenly, Hiro's stomach grumbled loudly, breaking the silence. "Kyren, I'm starting to feel really hungry. Do you think it's okay if we rest for a while and try to find some food?"

"I'm not entirely sure, Hiro. We can't afford to waste time while others might be finding their way out. But at the same time, we can't let ourselves starve either," Kyren pondered aloud.

"You're right, Kyren. Maybe we should just quickly search for some fruits or veggies to eat," Hiro suggested.

After scouring the forest for edible plants, they came up empty-handed. The toxic gigantic trees were consuming all the nutrients from other sources, leaving them frustrated and hungry.

"This forest is the worst. There are so many trees, but nothing edible," Hiro grumbled in frustration.

Kyren remained silent, his instincts beginning to stir within him.

"And to make matters worse, night is falling deeper. What terrible timing," Hiro lamented.

"Hiro, I need to tell you something," Kyren began, his mind racing with thoughts.

"What is it?" Hiro asked, sensing the seriousness in Kyren's tone.

"This forest seems to be designed to trap us for at least a day. If we don't find a way out soon, we'll be forced to press our button to give up, or worse, die of hunger," Kyren explained, his words heavy with urgency.

Panic flashed across Hiro's face. "Then we don't have time to waste here."

"Agreed," Kyren affirmed, his resolve strengthening.

"But how can we be sure we're heading in the right direction?" Hiro questioned, voicing a valid concern.

Kyren paused, considering Hiro's question carefully. "I don't know yet, Hiro. But it's our best shot. We'll need to have faith and hope for a bit of luck."

...

They are rushing towards to an unknown path, but in the meantime the cries for help echoed through the forest, Hiro immediately moved to rush towards the source of the distress, but Kyren stopped him in his tracks.

"Hiro, wait! Let's not rush into anything. It could be a trap," Kyren cautioned, his voice tinged with concern.

"But Kyren, they need our help," Hiro protested, his instincts urging him to act.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Stay vigilant for now. Let's observe the situation first," Kyren advised, trying to keep a level head amidst the chaos.

Together, they climbed into the trees to get a better vantage point. From their hidden position, they witnessed a group of three students tied to a tree, clearly in distress.

"It's hard to watch, Kyren," Hiro muttered, his heart aching for the helpless victims.

"I know, Hiro. But rushing in blindly could make things worse. We need to be cautious," Kyren replied, his eyes scanning the scene for any signs of danger.

As they watched, another group of armed students approached the captives, their intentions clearly malicious.

"What do you want from us? We don't want to continue anymore," one of the tied-up students pleaded.

"Haha! Don't worry, we'll kill all of you if it helps us get what we want," one of the armed students taunted, his words dripping with menace.

"Then, tell us what you need, we can help you." one of the tied-up students offered.

"What we wanted is not coming from you." after that he punched the tied-up students in the tree, this make the girl tied up unconscious,

Horrified by the violence unfolding before them, Hiro could no longer contain his anger. Ignoring Kyren's warnings, he rushed towards the armed students, managing to disarm two of them with a swift sneak attack.

Meanwhile, Kyren remained hidden, trying to formulate a plan to help without revealing himself.

As Hiro rushed to free the captives, one of the students warned him to be cautious.

"Thank you for saving us. But be careful, they want to steal your buttons. They don't want us to give up; they want us to die in this forest," the student cautioned, still holding onto their grip to ease the pain from the rope.

Kyren's mind raced as he processed this new information. If the captors stole their buttons, they would be trapped in the forest indefinitely. "Why would they do this?" Kyren wondered silently.

Hiro, meanwhile, confronted the captors, demanding answers from the similar thoughts of Kyren. "Why are you doing this? What do you want?" he demanded, his voice tinged with anger and confusion.

The captors simply laughed in response, their mocking tones sending a chill down Hiro's spine.

"Brave of you to jump in, but foolish to think you can win against us," one of the captors taunted, his words dripping with arrogance.

"We'll give you one last chance. Hand over your button, and we'll spare your life," one of the captors demanded, their tone menacing.

"And then what? Tie us all up to a tree?" Hiro retorted, his voice filled with defiance.

"Hahaha! Well, at least you won't die by our hands. Isn't that a fair deal?" another captor sneered, their laughter echoing through the forest.

As the captors taunted Hiro, Kyren seized the opportunity to launch a surprise attack. With a swift and precise strike, he incapacitated one of the captors, causing him to collapse unconscious on the forest floor, bleeding profusely. The remaining captors were caught off guard by Kyren's sudden assault and momentarily fled the scene. However, Kyren wasted no time; he grabbed the weapon of the incapacitated captor and threw it to the student Hiro had saved. "Take it," he urged, "Team up alongside us."

For Kyren and Hiro, this was their first experience with real bloodshed, and they couldn't help but feel intimidated by the gravity of the situation. However, they knew they had to fight back to protect themselves and the other students.

"Hiro, it's time to show what we got. Cover me while I take on the others. You too, help us too deal with this captors, and I see the two student along with you is an elves, use a healing spell to this man so he doesn't die here." Kyren commanded, his voice steady despite the chaos unfolding around them.

Hiro and the other student charge in along side with Kyren, they fight 3v4 but Kyren and Hiro has a slightly advantage of the 4 students, they manage to beat 2 of the 4 captors while the other 2 ran away.

"So what is your real purpose in stealing the buttons? Don't lie. I have no intention of sparing your lives if you continue to mess around, like I did to this man," Kyren pointed his Gladius at the one who had a fatal wound.

Meanwhile, Hiro was shocked at Kyren's demeanor, but he really understood that they needed to act like this to scare their enemies.

"We are stealing the buttons because we don't have any," one of the captors, now tied up to a tree, replied.

Kyren and Hiro were shocked by what he said. "What? What do you mean?" Hiro asked.

"We are not students here; we are prisoners of our realm," another prisoners said.

They were really confused about what was going on.

"What?" Kyren said, trying to understand their situation.