The wooden room was a circular one, all the walls were made out of wood. What type of wood? Well, Alwin couldn't say, but it was brown and definitely wooden. Probably maple, or oak, or birch, or some other generic tree species that existed. Let's go with oak because it sounded the simplest.

The gate they entered was affixed to the wall. It housed the black void that seemed to beckon anyone nearby to enter it. It was also the only feature in the room, aside from the wooden floor, walls, the door, and a ceiling that seemed to extend forever. Maybe his evolution would turn him into a giant. Being tall would be cool.

There was technically another feature in the room, but calling a person a feature seemed rude. That feature if you wanted to be mean, or person if you wanted to be a good... person, was a goblin. She was frantically flipping through her clipboard, muttering to herself, "This can't be right."

She was green as most goblins were, wearing a robe a size too large for her frame. The sleeves pooled on the ground and the bottom of the garment trailed behind her as she paced back and forth across the room. Her round glasses hung on the tip of her nose, threatening to fall off at any point. She was certainly an interesting fellow.

After a minute of frantic flipping, she looked up to address the class.

"Okay, so umm... Hi! I'm Lin, and you all are?"

"We're students of Mr. Milvus. He mentioned that someone was supposed to brief us. Is that you?" asked Uchronia.

"That's me! Welcome to the Human Hunter Corps camp in the Forest of Beginnings. First, I'll lead you to the exit, then we'll go over the briefing. After that, it's straight into the Forest of Beginnings!" she said, pushing up her glasses.

Outside the Forest of Beginnings' Warp Station, towering trees greeted them. Thick bushy leaves blanketed the canopy, casting a green hue over the camp. Turning around to take it all in, he realized that they had just walked out of a tree. No wonder everything inside was so brown!

That was cool, a bit horrifying but cool. Why was it horrifying? Just imagine that you're a tree, stuck rooted to the ground unable to move. A bunch of tiny creatures see you and think, 'Cool place to build my Warp Station in'. Next thing you know, they're cutting a hole into you, then slowly having your insides removed. Even if you screamed so loud that your throat gave out, those tiny creatures couldn’t hear you. There was nothing you could do, but sit there and endure the pain. That was your fate until the sweet embrace of death finally blessed you.

Enough with that tangent, time for more sightseeing!

Numerous dirt paths crisscrossed each other like a tangled web, signs labeling their destinations. 'Mess Hall', 'Infirmary', and 'Dorms' were just a few of the destinations, their names carved into the bark of the trees that the various facilities were housed in. The place was like a mini town, with various monsters—most of them were Goblins—walking to and fro.

"Welcome to the camp, class," said Lin. "And please stick with me."

The class trailed behind Lin, looking more like wide-eyed tourists than monsters on the brink of their first hunt. They gawked at everything, gasping with childlike wonder at every little thing. Along the way Uchronia, as usual, decided to start interrogating the one in charge, Lin. Of course, Alwin couldn't help but eavesdrop in on the conversation. Who could resist?

"Ms. Lin, I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"Earlier I heard you muttering something about not being right. Is everything okay? Should we be concerned?"

"Uh, well... Yes—no. Maybe? I’m not sure," she stammered, words tumbling out in a rapid, confused rush.

"That doesn't sound very assuring."

"Sorry, just—ugh. This just doesn't make sense to me."

"What doesn't make sense?"

"Um... How do I phrase this..." Lin muttered to herself for a second, before raising her voice once more, "Y'all are babies. Literal babies. Who sends babies out into the wild to dispatch some adventurers. And since when could babies talk so... well. Shouldn't y'all be more goo goo ga ga or something? Never had kids so I don't know, mom will kill me if I'm pregnant and Cor knows what she'll do to me. Anyway, do your parents even know you're out here?"

Turns out she did know how to phrase it, and she did raise some very interesting questions. Like what'll happen to her if she gets pregnant and her mom finds out. Just imagine the whooping of a lifetime she'll receive.

"I, uh... well... We passed the pop quiz, that means we're qualified to come here. Baby or not," said Uchronia.

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"The pop quiz, as in, that metal golem? Glowing yellow eyes, regenerative sword. That quiz?"

"It was easy!" chimed in Bion.

Lin may have been a bit too overzealous in her ramblings to Uchronia. The whole class couldn't help but eavesdrop. But, now that everyone was involved, the eavesdropping session had evolved into a discussion. One that both Lin and Uchronia helmed, although Lin might not have wanted the spotlight on her. Evident from how her cheeks were so red, Gus might've mistook them for tomatoes if she weren't careful. Plus all of that sweat served as an extra seasoning if Gus found her cheeks too bland.

"Ea—easy? How? It took me and my squad, five tries to get past that thing, and even then the damage that bastard did to my crew. Ugh." She paused to think for a moment. "You know lying is bad right? No point lying about passing the quiz. It'll do you more harm than good. So I say we just turn around and ship y'all back to Monsteria. Don't want you babies—I mean—kids to get hurt you know?"

"But we didn't lie. We beat that metal guy," said Alwin.

"Yeah! He didn't taste so good, sadly," Gus added.

"Taste? What? But, seriously? Really? Wow..." Lin was at a loss for words. "A bunch of babies—kids beat that quiz easy? Oh Cor, what am I doing with my life..."

"Are you okay?" asked Gus.

"Yea, just give me a moment. This isn't a dream, right? I mean... they're sending a bunch of babies to go fight some humans. Not just any babies, some super strong babies apparently. It's just... I don't know anymore."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Food always makes me feel better. Muffin?," asked Gus, holding up a banana muffin using his Spirit Hands.

"No thank you. Just let me compose myself a bit."

"Well, compose yourself faster. We're here," said Bion.

True to that rude slime’s words, they were here. Almost the whole class shot a glare at Bion, for his poor demeanor, but the slime couldn't care less. He was giving Dark Slimes a bad name, and Alwin's reputation just dropped a couple of points.

An archway made out of a twisted tree trunk, and some vines to tie it all together, greeted the class. Along with two Goblins guards stationed on either side of the arch. Both clad in brown wooden armor and armed with wooden clubs bigger than Alwin's.

"So, kids... the briefing. From here on out is the Forest of Beginnings. We made camp in the heart of the forest, where the trees are the largest. Your task is to head into the forest to dispatch any lurking adventurers. If any of you know any fire spells, try your best not to use them. People live here and the last batch of students didn't exactly leave the best impression. None of you are allowed to go out of the forest, the easiest way to tell is by looking at the trees. The closer you are to the edge the smaller they become. And... be back before sundown. And... that's about it."

That was a short briefing. Maybe that's why they're called briefings because they're brief. (Please don't leave.)

"What are the adventurers like?" asked Uchronia.

"Easy to defeat, I guess. Pretty much all of them are just starting out on their journey. They like to come here to get some experience. The Human Hunter Corps set up camp to try and get rid of as many of those humans and protect the residents too. But the humans just keep on coming and some of the monsters here don't like our presence," she sighed. "You try to help and they just think we're the problem."

"Excuse me, Miss. So we just walk around these here forests, and humans will just mosey on up to us? Sounds like a darn good deal," said Flintlock.

Lin blinked a couple of times, muttering, "Why's he talking like that?" before the reality of her words came crashing in, causing her to perform her best impression of a tomato. "Um... pretty much?"

"If you've passed the quiz, you're pretty much good to go. But, every once in a while you'll get one of those haughty adventurers. You'll know them when you see them. They normally have an entourage with them, all of them addressing the person as 'young master'. Those you should stay away from, other than that, most adventurers are easy to deal with."

"This'll be easy. I bet my squad can get the most number of kills," said Bion.

Uchronia performed her trademarked eye rolls at the statement, while most of the class chimed in.

"Of course! Me and Bion are the ultimate team! We're like soulmates!" squealed Brie.

"Who cares about that, as long as my squad beats Tess' squad," said Galeo.

"As if! You and that lousy spear of yours couldn't even kill an ant," said Tess.

They both walked up to each other, staring daggers.

"Settle down, lads. This ain't a rodeo," said Flintlock, pulling the duo apart.

"What cowboy said. I'm just here to enjoy the sun," said Phyll.

"Squad, let's move out. Let's leave these chumps to continue their bickering. And sweet Uchronia, good luck dealing with that Al-loser," chuckled Bion.

Bion's squad walked out of the camp, along with the rest of his squad: Brie the Furball and Concord the Leafling. Alwin wondered how much Bion's squad had improved, he didn't care about Bion, that guy was probably more useless than a bucket of cheese. No, he was curious about the others. Brie had that Revival skill so she should be okay, but Concord? All she could do was be really quiet, because of that Silencer skill of hers. Maybe she learnt some really useful skills from the library. Something like a fart technique? With Concord's Core Skill, it would be silent but deadly.

After Bion had left, two squads departed at the same time. Tess' squad and Galeo's squad. Their squads were forced to chase after the duo, as they screamed something about fighting until one of them died.

Tess' squad consisted of herself, the Leafling that could conjure up a supposedly Impenetrable Shield. Clavis the Dark Slime whose Core Skill involved picking locks. Then there was Flintlock the Furball, also known as the cowboy wannabe.

Galeo's squad consisted of himself, the Furball that could conjure up a supposedly Unstoppable Spear. Phyll, the Solar Powered Leafling who was bathing in the sunlight, and Deb the Dark Slime whose Core Skill enabled her to Loan skills from others.

Now the only squad left was Alwin's, and he was ready to go out there and slay some humans!

After giving their thanks to Lin, something that they were forced to do by Uchronia, the trio departed the camp into the Forest of Beginnings.