“Man, what a week,” one of the students groaned as they packed their bag at the end of the last class before the weekend. They’d all just taken a quiz of various questions relating to monsters and survival, a way for Drim to check how much they’d actually been paying attention and what lessons had stuck—during which Pox wandered around the classroom to proctor, eating any cheating materials he discovered the students were using.
“Can’t wait to just chill and do nothing. What are you guys gonna—”
“And what makes you think you have the weekend off?” the class’ instructor cut off the incurring conversation before the bell to dismiss them rang. “Since my time with you is limited, The Angler didn’t want to waste even a day. But I understand the need for rest, so you’ll essentially have the same chance to relax and do whatever you want, just under different conditions.”
“Once this class is over, you have one hour to leave the campus and head into the eastern forest. There, you will spend your weekend camping out. You’re welcome to do anything with that time. All you’re required to do is survive and make it back for the first lesson at the start of the next week.”
“When you leave today and go to your rooms, you’ll find a pack waiting for each of you. It contains a lot of gear that you’ll want to bring, and you’re also allowed to take whatever you want. Your phones, books, batteries, I don’t really care. But only this once.”
“You’ll be camping every weekend while you’re under my tutelage, for four weekends in total. Each time, you’ll receive less and have greater restrictions on what you can bring, forcing you to rely more on your knowledge and skills each week. Additionally, you’ll be in a new location each time which will also increase in danger.”
“As I’m sure you all know, the eastern woods are by far the safest. Because of the main road that leads to this school, monsters are scarce, wary of the humans and cars. The worst things out in that direction were a flock of recently-culled Chucks. I doubt most of you will encounter monsters at all this weekend, and if you do, they’ll be the more heavily domesticated ones.”
“You’re far more likely to run into regular animals, though still be cautious, since people often forget how dangerous they can be. Still, it should be one of the easiest and safest camping experiences you can have in this world. Try to enjoy it and learn to love nature. Odds are you’ll be spending a lot of time there in the future.”
“For this weekend only, you can also camp in a group if you want. If you’re ill-experienced, take this chance to learn from the others, because you’ll be on your own next weekend. But if you do go it alone this time, you’ll get some bonus points. And as you may have surmised from that, I’ll be checking in regularly, but from a distance. You’ll never know when I’m there, so pretend like I’m not.”
The teacher dismissed them right when the bell rang with just a few final bits of info. “You have one hour starting now. If you’re not off the campus by then, you will be removed from this class. Don’t delay, but also take this time to prepare. I’d recommend not idling for too long, since it starts to get dark pretty early this time of year.”
“I’ll see you at the first lesson next week, Well, those of you that survive.” Though his words may have sounded disheartening, he mostly meant it in jest, but with a touch of sincerity, so that the students knew to take it seriously.
As they’d been told, when they got to their dorms, each had a bag waiting for them. It contained a rather generous, if not egregious amount of camping supplies. They each got a pop up tent, cooking kit, easy to make food, a full box of tools and other essentials like wipes and flashlights. There was even a portable toilet, basically just a bucket with a hole in the lid, but it was better than using the ground. And lastly, they had a flare in case of emergency.
With that, some students grabbed their packs and headed out immediately with nothing else but the clothes they were wearing and whatever was in their pockets. Some more took their time as if they were packing for a proper camping trip—clothes through the whole weekend, extra pairs of socks and underwear, battery banks to charge their phones and laptops.
And others packed as if they were heading for vacation. Some brought their full bedding setups. A handful brought fancy clothing as if they were going to meet up with someone in the middle of the woods and even brought colognes or perfumes and jewelry. A few crammed every snack they had into their bags.
There were some bold enough to visit the cafeteria before they left to try and get dinner. And to their surprise, they weren’t turned away. The Slayer hadn’t said anything against it after all, and it made sense to leave on a camping trip with an already full stomach. He just hadn’t mentioned it to them either.
Most of the students didn’t go too far beyond the gates, just traveling out of sight of the school. But a few took the chance to embrace the wilds, hiking to find the best spot where they could enjoy their weekends. Some pitched their tents next to ponds, while others found rocky outcroppings to use as shelter. A sizable group found an open field and built a tribe of tents. One student even walked so far that they ended up at the edge of a ravine where they decided to camp.
It was interesting to see diversity, but because they were so spread out, it’d be that much more of a headache for the instructor to keep tabs on all of them. In each of their bags, however, Drim had hidden a few petals of his making in the stitching. That would let him know were at least their belongings were at all times if he focused. Additionally, he had a small fleet of camera orbs that would be flying around, checking on the students regularly, and alerting him if something seemed amiss.
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While he’d be making regular rounds and observing each student in turn in person, The Slayer was also going to take the weekend to get back to his roots and enjoy some proper camping of his own. He wouldn’t ask his students to do anything that he wouldn’t after all. But that was more of an excuse to enjoy some peace and quiet, relishing in the beauty of the world.
Even he had brought a tent with him, not wanting to entirely shirk modern conveniences. But he did have nostalgic longing for the days of laying out under the stars, using his powers once he first understood them to make canopies of leaves and bedding of moss. Simpler times. Scarier times. But he missed them all the same.
◆◆◆
“So how was everyone’s weekend?” The teacher asked with a bright beaming smile at the first lecture of the week. He was feeling relaxed and rejuvenated, thoroughly enjoying his quiet camping trip where the only work he’d done was some light stalking of his pupils. His question was mostly rhetorical, since he’d been keeping close tabs on how everyone faired
A few seemed to match his enthusiasm, though, that had genuinely enjoyed their time. But there were just as many who looked visibly dead and rattled, clearly having not showered or slept properly at any point over the past few days. Most looked decent though, like it hadn’t been the worst experience, but still showed signs of slight sleep deprivation, which was common for people camping for the first time.
“Well, regardless of how your experience went,” The Slayer continued. “I hope you’ll take those lessons into the next trip this coming weekend. It will only get more difficult from here, but also since you know it’s coming, you’ll have a better time preparing. I’ll tell you right now, though, don’t go buying anything. Since you’ll only be allowed to take what’s in your provided pack next time along with a list of items that you’d all already have.”
“We’ll also be shaking up how we do things this week. I’m a firm believer that only so much about monster hunting can be taught in a classroom. So every morning we’ll have lectures, but every afternoon we’ll be outside. Today will be training, and tomorrow will be a monster hunting trip. We’ll alternate every day until the weekend until you camp again with another quiz before you depart.”
“So let’s get started with today’s lecture. We’ll be discussing bites, gashes, poisons, infections, and how to treat them.”
◆◆◆
That afternoon, their training was more based on survival fundamentals than actually getting stronger. Drim used his own body as their test dummy, taking advantage of his regeneration. The man would cut himself on a random part of his body, sometimes with a rusty utensil or using an added irritant. Then the students would take turns treating him. Since he only had so many limbs, however, those in waiting would practice the techniques on each other.
And once the class had a good handle on it, they moved on to the rougher lesson of cauterizing wounds. If the students were Fiends, The Slayer would have forced them to receive the cut and treatment themselves so that they could understand how it’d feel. But since they were all humans and Lessers, he didn’t want to give them any permanent scars. They’d earn plenty enough in their future careers.
On the next day, he took the class on a proper monster hunt that had been issued by the Monster Hunters Association. It was to clear out a herd of Gazeebras that had been ruining farmland. The amount of students was honestly a bit much for such a job, but it was still better to bring them all together at once, though the teacher felt a touch silly driving the academy bus to take them there—making it feel more like a fun school trip than actual work and danger. Maybe next time he’d borrow The Salvation.
Drim had the students do all the killing themselves. All he did was use his powers to set up a wide perimeter where the monsters couldn’t escape. Not that it was ever actually needed since none of the Gazeebras made it that far. While certainly overkill, the students performed admirably, and on the ride back seemed to relish in the work they’d done.
Then, as proper monster hunting tradition, the instructor didn’t take them immediately back to the campus that night. Instead, they stopped at a local tavern where they were allowed to order whatever they wanted, alcohol included, using up the reward money from the job. For many of them, it was their first taste of a proper job well done and some of the perks that came with it. And the shared experience really drove up the camaraderie of the class. Even more reserved individuals like Kleff and Hagath began to lighten up in the atmosphere.
The following day was more classical training. Drills and spars while Drim walked around correcting bad behavior wherever he saw it, and giving tips where he noticed the potential for improvement. Then on the fourth day, it was time for another hunt, but a less official one. The instructor led them on an expedition into the woods north of the camps, a more rocky terrain, where they hunted anything they came across.
Finally, on the last day of the week, after their quiz, they were sent out camping once more. This time, their supplies were significantly reduced. They still had a tent, a sleeping bag, and common tools. But there was no cooking kit, and the food they were provided was also drastically simplified. It was all common snacks for camping like granola bars and trail mix, nothing that had to be cooked.
But it also wasn’t enough to get them through the weekend, pleasantly at least. This was to encourage foraging and hunting to a lesser extent if they could manage it. Either they’d have to put in effort to survive, or they’d be hungry until they returned back to civilization.
Additionally, they weren’t allowed to bring any sort of technology. In their bags was a survival guide to ensure safe foraging, but other than that they could bring books or notepads, or anything analogue to not let their minds go numb. The list of what they could bring only further allowed for clothes and basic toiletries. They also didn’t have the portable toilets this time, so included in their tools was a trowel to help with digging holes.
And just like that, a new weekend of adventure began. It was certainly rougher for some, but many didn’t even notice the handicaps they’d been given, really starting to embrace the lifestyle. Then the next week, it was time to shake things up again.