*****

Lina Meraki looked around her surroundings. She had been portaled into a rocky valley with no monsters or beasts in sight.

Of course, she also saw the 5 students surrounding her while brandishing their weapons. Seeing them march closer to her, she tried to negotiate even as she prepared for battle.

“Hand over your watch and hand over your pack!”

“I don’t know why you’re doing this. I don’t even have any points yet.” She sneered at the three girls and two boys closing in on her. Of course, she recognized them from her document.

Claire Alexander. Close range. Rank 380. Gift: Sink Hole. Moderately talented. Weapon: Sword

Nancy Dorsey. Close range. Rank 492. Unknown Gift. Moderately talented. Weapon: Sword

Gary McKay. Close range. Rank 860. Unknown Gift. Weak. Weapon: Sword

Sergio Gibson. Close range. Rank 712. Unknown Gift. Weak. Weapon: Spear

Joshua Byers. Close range. Rank 638. Speed Boost. Weak. Weapon: Sword

She focused her gaze on the highest-ranked student among them.

“It doesn’t matter! We’re tired of all of you 9 clan kids ruining everything for everyone! It’s because of you all we got dumped on this island with no food and no supplies.”

“I’m not the culprit. You should be taking your anger out on Solomon Nova. And besides,” Lina sneered at them before continuing, “You could have packed supplies and prepared properly. We were all there when the professor instructed us. It’s not my fault you didn’t use your brains.”

“You shut the fuck up!” one of the boys yelled out.

“Heh, don’t worry about Solomon. We’ll take him out too but first, we’ll knock out the weak ones like you so the rest of us can have a fair exam. Don’t worry we won’t kill you. All you have to do is drop the bag and your watch.” Claire replied as she brandished her sword.

“…You think I’m weak?” Lina asked them incredulously, her red eyes flashing with rage.

“Ahhh, don’t be mad. You’re not weak per se but compared to those monsters in the top 10, we can definitely take you with numbers. After all, it’s not like the Meraki’s are known for combat. Aren’t you all bookworms in business? You probably bought that rank of yours.” Claire laughed at Lina as she swung her sword at Lina.

Leaping back to avoid the swing, Lina landed stably and glared at them.

“Is that right?” Lina responded coldly. She dropped her bag, disregarding the small thud that sounded out, and propped it open, her small hands digging into it.

“I guess you’re correct. Compared to those flashy kids, I might seem a bit weak. But if you think I bought my way into my rank, you’re dead wrong. It does make me quite happy that you think I can afford to do so though.”

Finished speaking, she ripped out a small brown colored orb from her bag, bit her thumb, and smeared blood over it. As the students watched her, she held the orb and slammed her fist to the ground, creating a hole as her arm sunk past her elbows.

“Whatever she’s doing, stop her,” Claire yelled out.

“Animate Golem,” Lina whispered and the earth began to rumble as if there were an earthquake. She began to rise into the air as a figure formed of the surrounding red rock took shape beneath her.

“T-t-troll!!!!” Claire fell to her bottom as she stared at the 20ft creature forming from the rock before her. Right before her eyes, the rocks solidified into a beastly yet humanoid form holding a club made from the same red rock. Where its eyes should be was a disturbing red light and as it stared at them, it unhinged a jaw full of sharp teeth and roared while banging the club on the ground.

“Grrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!” Lina could feel the air vibrate as her golem fully formed and her face broke out into a cold smile. Although she hated the fact that she wasted a core on these small fries, it couldn’t be helped since they looked down on her while picking a fight.

Standing steady on the golem’s shoulder, she gave them a mocking curtsy.

“Rank 65, Lina Meraki at your service. Earned and not bought.” Grabbing her staff, she imbued it with mana and began twirling it as it extended into a blood-red scythe that was larger than she was.

“You think that I’m weak right? No problem. Take them out without killing them Golem. And seize their watches.” Without waiting for the golem to move, she enhanced her body with mana and leaped off the golem, swinging the scythe toward the girl sitting on the ground.

“Run! Run! Run! Run!” one of the boys began yelling as he began sprinting away.

The other four students began to dash away and the golem began chasing them, the ground shaking with each step.

Claire quickly leaped up, dodging Lina’s swing before swinging her sword and sending forth a blue arc of mana as she regained her footing.

Easily spinning her scythe and blocking it, Lina swung the blade at the girl’s feet. As Claire jumped in the air, her body spinning acrobatically, she began firing blades of mana at Lina in quick intervals.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lina expertly swung her scythe with a single hand as she deflected them while walking closer. Unknown to Claire, she hid another core in her hand, waiting for an opening.

“Is blocking all you can do Meraki?” Claire taunted her as she landed on the ground.

“Not really? I’m just waiting for that annoying gift of yours.” Lina replied honestly before swinging her scythe again as she dashed forward.

“Sink down!” Claire yelled out as she ran toward Lina, her sword ready to slash at the girl.

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Glooop.

The ground around Lina’s right foot immediately softened and as her body began sinking, she planted the rod of her scythe into the ground while empowering her left leg with more mana and forcibly jumped up. With a light flip, she slammed her foot into Claire’s upraised sword, before spinning her scythe to slap her across the face, causing her to fly sideways.

“Argh!”

Giving the girl no space, she immediately ran forward and began attacking her again.

As Lina’s swinging speed picked up, Claire began to struggle and fall back. Although she was able to anticipate and block most hits, the strength shocked her. Despite her small frame, the power behind each of Lina’s swings took her by surprise. Each time she tried to gain some distance, Lina would dash closer, adjusting the length and size of her scythe and attack even faster.

Gritting her teeth, Claire muttered again and the ground beneath the two of them immediately turned soft and sucked them down to their necks. As Lina struggled to get free, Claire forcibly utilized the majority of her mana to create a blast of mana to shoot her body into the air. As she looked down at the struggling Lina, her face broke out into a smile.

“Harden.”

The ground immediately turned from a red muddy mess back into solid ground.

Instead of seeing Lina’s distraught expression, she could see the red-haired girl smiling at her.

Just as her foot touched the ground-

“Got you,” Lina smirked as a smaller golem in the shape of a rabbit leaped from the hardened ground in front of her and headbutted Claire backward. As the girl flew back, the rabbit immediately grew in size, absorbing the rock under it until it was over 6ft tall and standing upright, and sped forward until it crashed its entire body into Claire. As she flew, the rabbit immediately grabbed her foot and smashed her into the ground, kicking her sword away before pressing her down with its large foot.

As the weight of the rabbit made of rocks pressed down on her stomach, Claire shrieked in pain.

“Let me go!” she shouted while squirming beneath the rabbit.

“Oh shut up. You got me all dirty and you don’t see me complaining.” Lina rolled her eyes as she enhanced her body to break out of the rock prison. Ignoring the struggling girl, she walked back over to her pack and took out a stack of papers.

Walking back to Claire, she squatted over the girl, her hand reaching for her watch.

“No wait! Please, don’t disqualify me. I’m sorry. I won’t attack you again.” Claire began crying, as Lina ignored her words and continued toggling her watch.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

“They’re all done. Thanks in advance for the points. Oh, before I forget, here’s a flyer. Come find me if you want to make a purchase when you have some points. And share it around with others that you see.” Lina gave Claire a business smile as she placed a pile of flyers beside the girl and began to walk away.

“Wait! Are you going to leave me like this? What if a monster comes??? How long do I have to lay here?” Claire’s gaze went between the rabbit that lay on her body and Lina’s.

“Who knows? I suggest you stop screaming unless you want to attract something.”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Seeing her other golem returning, she calmly went to pick up her pack.

Du du du!

As she linked the watches she had received from the golem, she glanced up at the sound, spotting the red smoke from a flare quickly fading away in the distance. It was the signal between her and a certain student.

“Hmph. I guess I’ll go find him although it pains me that he was right about this whole thing. I really need to find out who his information sources are.” Lina snorted to herself before dusting herself off and mentally commanding the golem to pick her up and place her on its shoulder.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

As each step it took shook the ground, she calmly sipped a black potion before grimacing.

“Bleh. The taste is horrible. Hasn’t he heard of preservatives and flavoring?”

As Claire Alexander watched the golem stride away, she stretched her free hand to pick up the flyer beside her and read it.

Lina Meraki Pop-Up Shop

We provide what you don’t have!

Are you trapped in a terrible situation? A certain professor didn’t deliver on her promises? Don’t worry, we have you covered. Come get your home-cooked meals, snacks, survival supplies, and potions at the Meraki Pop-Up Shop.

Location: Wherever Lina Meraki is. Look for a giant stone golem to find me.

Payment: I accept any currency relevant to the real world or whatever exam we’re taking at the time.

10% off if you bring this flyer, 20% off if you bring a friend.*

*Discounts cannot be combined*

“That money-grubbing bitch! What the hell is this? Does she think this is a game?” Claire crumpled the paper up in anger. Still, as she felt her aching body under the stone rabbit that refused to move and her stomach grumbling from hunger, she dutifully uncrumpled the flyer.

“It wouldn’t hurt to check it out though right?”

*******

“Julius, help me take these off.”

“I refuse.” A cold voice responded.

Solomon Nova stared at the blue-haired boy smoking a cigarette while he slowly walked through a clearing before entering the forest.

It wasn’t originally a clearing, but the boy in front of him had incinerated everything around for over 100 yards, leaving only charred corpses and blackened ground in his wake.

Even now as he walked, a circle of barely visible fire surrounded him, turning everything within it to ashes that floated in the air like black snow.

“Julius, please. It won’t even take much, just melt it without burning me.”

“You need to be punished for screwing around. I had plans this weekend. Besides, it’s not as if you can’t take them off yourself.”

“But if I do, I’ll get in trouble! My clan head will know!”

“What does that have to do with me?” Julius gave him a cold look before puffing out a cloud of smoke in the shape of an ‘o’ at his face.

“Take it off or go find someone else to take it off for you. Either way, stop bothering me before I turn you into charcoal.”

“I hope you get cancer or even better get burnt to a crisp by lava,” Solomon said snidely.

“And I hope your Caerus beats your ass until you become one with mana. Why do you want them off anyway? You should still survive fine without them.” Julius responded before looking at his watch. In a short time, Solomon quickly surpassed Evelynn and rose to rank 3.

Solomon paused, his eyes flashing as he glanced around before responding, “I keep feeling that something is weird, but with the restraints on, I can’t sense things that well. I’m curious about what’s happening so I want to check.”

“I don’t feel anything.”

Solomon smirked before responding, “Of course, you don’t since you’re not as talented as me. Living in a volcano has dulled your senses.”

Julius simply took a deep puff of his cigarette and sent a blast of fire at him.

Solomon created a barrier to block it with ease before continuing to stroll beside Julius, taking care to avoid the expanding circle of heat that surrounded him.

“Go away, Solomon. Go bother somebody else to take off those cuffs ‘cause I won’t do it.”

“Fine. Anyway I came to tell you to keep a sharp eye since we’ll be working together soon. Don’t say I didn’t warn you if something happens.”

Bang.

Both boys glanced upward, spotting the cloud of red smoke that quickly faded away.

“A signal flare? How interesting. I wonder who packed that?” Solomon murmured, his face lighting up with a mischievous smile.

Seeing the troublesome look on his face, Julius wanted to sigh.

“Why don’t you go investigate that and leave me alone.”

“Maybe I will. Remember what I said. Stay sharp.” Solomon waved at the boy, before dashing in the opposite direction.

Julius waved absent-mindedly before taking out another cigarette and placing it in his mouth. As he stared into the distant treetops, his calm voice echoed out.

“Oi. Are you coming out or should I start a fire to burn you out?”

The forest was silent for a moment until he sent a small fireball shooting through the trees.

Suddenly, 3 students, each holding bows appeared on different branches. Each of them held their bows at the ready with mana arrows loaded up.

“Hand over your watch!”

“Not you, I’m talking to the purple-haired bastard behind you. Cassandra, what do you want?” Julius directly ignored them and focused his gaze elsewhere.

“Oh? You found out?” a voice spoke out and a girl dressed in a black body suit appeared hanging upside down from a branch. Her long purple hair trailed down but her face was covered in large sunglasses and a black face mask.

“Why do you think I’m burning the forest up? It’s to keep sneaky bastards like you and Killian away from me.”

“The poor trees.” Cassandra laughed before swinging upright and balancing on the branch. “I heard a commotion so I was curious about what was happening. I didn’t expect you to be chatting with Nova. Wanna share any more details with me?”

Before her words finished, a fireball flew at the figure, destroying the branch and tree, causing her to disappear in a puff of purple smoke before she reappeared on a different tree branch.

“Temper, temper. Anyway, I heard something interesting so I’m leaving. Have fun with your battle. Oh, I suggest you tone down your power usage and check your pack if you haven’t already. The professor left us a fun surprise.” Cassandra waved before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.

Julius held back a sigh before turning to the students standing stock still in the trees. They were staring with a stunned expression at the spot Cassandra Mirage had just disappeared from and he snapped his fingers to get their attention. As they turned to him, he dropped his cigarette, not paying attention as it was incinerated.

“Are you coming to me or am I coming to you? I would think twice about it since someone might stab you in the back while you’re not paying attention.”

The students thought about the woman who had briefly appeared and disappeared, took one look at his body shimmering with heat, the charred path behind him, and the tree that evaporated from existence before turning and running away.

“Funny punks.” Julius snorted before digging into his pack as Cassandra suggested. For some reason, he was getting hungry.

As he pulled out the measly supplies and the light-hearted note left by the professor, flames flared out of his hands, incinerating the pack and all its contents.

“That professor is a fucking bastard.”

**

“Achoo!” Professor Lee sneezed as she patrolled the academy grounds.

“Is someone talking about me?” She muttered as she rubbed her nose.

“Well, it can only be a good thing. Goodson is watching the students and I’m free. Just look how peaceful it is. Most of the troublemakers in the first years are not around and I can actually go home early today.”

Although she worried a bit about her students, when she thought of going home to bed at a decent time and sleeping in, she felt immensely happy. As she walked, she couldn’t help but whistle a happy tune.

Whine.

The blue gemed wolf walking beside her whined despondently, her ears and tail drooping. Staring at the saddened wolf beside her, Rebecca Lee rolled her eyes before smacking her on the head.

“Stop complaining Little Blue. During this week that Asani is gone, I’ll properly retrain you. See if you accept bribes again.”

Whine.

Seeing the look in Rebecca Lee’s eyes, it was the first time Blue prayed for a student to come back.

*5 bucks to anyone who correctly guesses Lina Meraki’s 2 gifts 🤭*