Chapter 10 –
It was only natural that in a zero sum game competition like this one, conflicts would inevitably arise. Still hiding behind the tree, Finn appeared shocked by the sudden hostility from their fellow student, but William had expected conflict like this from the beginning.
He guessed they didn’t have any real intention to fight, and all they wanted was to scare him off and collect the points. They probably thought he was a pushover because he was only level one. William reached into his back pocket and thumbed the red button on the locator to claim his kill. However, he noticed that the bleeding student had done the same thing.
According to the rules, this would now be considered a disputed claim. The field exercise had only just begun, and the rules were already going to be tested to their limits.
“Leave,” demanded the frustrated male student who had blood on his face from the monkey’s thrown rock. “Or we’ll beat you up. It’s your choice.” He was the typical lesser elite family type, eager to prove himself to the world after being looked down upon by the other elites.
“That’s too far Sean, there’s no need to fight our classmates!” the pink haired student protested. She was part of the equestrian society at school. He’d seen her representing her club at the exhibition earlier this year.
“We’ve been here for twenty minutes now and found nothing. When will another monster come along?” the scowling other female student of their group cut in, agreeing with the belligerent male student. She had a slightly long face and a mole under her eye.
“Yeah, and plus it attacked Sean first. This guy just barged in to steal the kill!” one of the other three male students complained. William didn’t recognize any of them.
Two versus six. Five, if the pink haired girl didn’t fight. Could he scare them off before the observer arrived? Reason told him no, but he felt strangely confident. He wanted to push his limits, to know what he could do with this mysterious new strength of his.
He yanked the spear out of the monkey creature’s still flailing body and quickly assessed the situation. It felt just like high school again. Looking at the faces of their group, it was pretty clear that the other five didn’t actually want to get into a fight. Therefore, the highest value target in this situation was their leader Sean. Without him, their morale would be shattered.
“Finn, attack!” William shouted towards the tree that Finn was hiding behind. After a very flustered casting, a holographic rabbit hopped out from behind the tree. He actually managed to do it, impressive.
“What the–?” Sean said, looking confused at how a see-through rabbit was supposed to be an attack.
It served its purpose as a distraction well. William ran forward without restraining his real speed this time around, feeling his feet sink into the wet soil and leaving deep impressions as he closed the distance in blistering time. If it weren’t for the difficult terrain, he’d be even faster.
He flew straight towards Sean without stopping, the wind breezing past his face as he ran elbow first into the wider student, knocking him into the mud and his mace to the side.
“That’s impossible, how is he that fast?” one of the male students complained while spectating. “I thought you said he was level one!”
Sean grabbed at William’s leg with his muddy hands, determined to bowl him over, but William’s practiced reflexes were too quick for him. Since Sean hadn’t given up yet despite being knocked over, he needed to teach him a lesson.
William took the butt of his spear and whacked Sean’s stomach. The impact left a painful welt even though his military issue body armor, and before Sean could even finish grunting in pain he did it again. That was probably enough to get him to back off. He didn’t want to actually hurt him, although he knew as awakeners their bodies were far more resilient to physical damage than before.
At this point, the other five were simply gawking in amazement. Finn on the other hand was blindly casting all sorts of illusions, unaware of the situation.
“Sean’s a level two, how is that possible?” the third male student said. He simply stood there with his weapon in hand, looking far more reluctant to get involved than before.
“What are you waiting for, go attack them!” yelled the female student with the mole at the male students. She had a standard caster rod in her hand.
“If you want to do that, do it yourself,” the male student replied angrily. “It’s just one monster kill anyway, and these monsters in the forest seem pretty weak. No reason to make a big deal out of it.”
“Guys, do we have to fight each other…” the pink haired girl from earlier said weakly. Even she hadn’t expected William to take down their level two leader.
It looked like taking down Sean actually broke the will to fight for the rest of their group. They weren’t prepared for him to actually put up any resistance.
“We can all agree that this monster kill is mine, right?” William said, taking a step back from the defeated Sean who now sat up while holding his stomach in pain. There was dirt and mud in his hair and all over the back of his gray armor and pants.
However, Sean wasn’t ready to take no for an answer.
“Think you’re smart and all, catching me off guard like that with your friend’s bunny trick?” said Sean, wiping the dirt off his face with the back of his hand as he stood up. “You’re a joke. Fight me like a man.”
That was rich coming from someone who just tried to gang up six on one.
“I’ll fight if it’s just you and me. Winner gets to claim the monkey.”
“You think you’re all that just because you got me by surprise? I’ll put you in your place, level one!”
Sean rolled up his sleeves and grabbed his mace, but before the fight could begin a man in a ranger outfit and a baton arrived at the scene.
“Stop fighting! What’s going on here?” the observer asked.
“I killed the monkey—“ William started to say as Sean butted in.
“We killed this monkey and this guy is trying to take credit for it!”
“That’s a lie. They just made that up.” William pointed at the monkey’s corpse. “Look at the puncture wound. That’s from my spear.”
The observer walked over to the dead and bloodied monkey which lay half submerged in the mud. He nudged it with his baton, revealing its lifeless eyes staring up. The pink haired girl looked like she was about to say something before she was silenced by an angry glare from Sean.
“Hm…”
After a moment of contemplation that both Sean’s group and William’s group silently waited for, with William getting very irritated that he was taking so long to deliberate, the observer finally spoke.
“It’s too hard to judge what caused the final blow when the corpse’s state is like this. Neither of you get points.”
“What?” snapped Sean.
“If I can’t say for certain who killed the monster, then the most fair solution is that no one gets points. I already have other groups calling me. Next time settle it between yourselves before hitting the button.”
Damn. If this was the case, then he had to act fast.
“We’ll split the points evenly,” William said, staring directly at the observer. “Between all eight of us.”
The observer turned to Sean. “Do you agree with that?”
Sean grumbled and agreed.
“Very well.” The observer took out a pad and examined the beast once again before tapping on the screen.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Common monkey monster found in the forest. One point distributed to all participants.”
The observer took out what appeared to be a laser pointer and waved it at all eight people individually. “There, the leaderboard back at base camp is now updated with your new score. I’m being a bit generous here, since the system doesn’t take decimals.”
So they had no way of seeing their points or anyone else’s points while on the field. That was good for helping them focus on hunting rather than staring at the points leaderboard.
“Any other questions?” The observer’s beacon was blinking.
Neither William nor Sean’s group replied. Sean hadn’t let loose of his grip on his mace the entire time the observer was talking. Behind him, the girl with the mole stared angrily.
“I’ll take that as a no. Continue with your hunt.”
The moment the observer had fully disappeared from view, a sharp gust of wind shot from the girl with a mole’s staff towards Finn.
“Ah!” Finn yelped, a bloody gash appearing on his face. He raised his own staff to cast an illusion but only a few sparks shot out.
“I’m out of mana…” Finn said weakly.
Shit, the situation was worse than before. The other three male students looked slightly emboldened and raised their weapons as well.
He had to take this fight seriously now. He dashed forward towards Sean like before with his spear facing forward, except this time before he even reached his target Sean managed to conjure what looked like a sheet of haphazard bricks in front of his torso which got in the way of his spear.
Shit, if only I had a real ability!
Another gust of wind came from the side and struck him in the arm. The wind had quite a bit of force to it and managed to push him off balance.
At the same time, the other male students were charging him and Finn. Only the pink haired girl was still hesitant with her bow.
Thwack!
A blow came from Sean’s mace, which William just barely managed to block with the shaft of his spear.
“Not so confident now, are you?” Sean taunted.
Another male student had closed the distance and threw a flaming punch towards him as a gust of wind flew overhead, barely missing both of them.
He felt the scorching connection on his torso, which felt hot even through his standard issue chest armor.
This was really bad. Sean’s group had so many members and much stronger abilities.
There was no way in hell he and Finn could win this fight. Finn was being chased around the forest by the other two male students, and his belt was somehow coming loose from the chaos.
“Run!” William shouted, conjuring his small flame. The male student and Sean recoiled from the bluff and he took the opportunity to turn tail and abandon the fight.
Another slash of wind came hurtling towards him, the magic strong and somehow feeling like it mirrored the tumultuous emotions of the female student that cast it.
It struck William in the back painfully and knocked him forward. He stepped deeply into the soil and regained his balance. In times like this he really appreciated his solid foundation.
“Help!” Finn shouted from the side.
Finn hadn’t realized that the other two male students had stopped chasing him. He was surprisingly agile with his short frame and enough of an adrenaline rush.
William ran with Finn deeper into the forest until they lost Sean’s group. They ran past a few other groups of students who looked in alarm at them running, thinking they were running from a monster.
After putting in a good amount of distance, they retired to a fallen tree stump to regain their strength.
“Those crazy bastards! Why did they attack us like that out of nowhere? I thought the points issue was settled,” Finn said, nursing the small cut on his face with a leaf. The wound was starting to close already, a sign of the regenerative powers of otherworld energy.
“People don’t always act rationally,” William replied. He knew this all too well. “I wonder where we are.”
He pulled out his map and started tracing the location based on the landmarks he saw earlier.
“We’re here.” His finger pointed at a part of the forest just slightly above the southern edge. They hadn’t gone too far.
“What’s our plan?”
“We should avoid any other groups for now and hunt by ourselves. We need to get stronger.”
Finn nodded. “From monster essence, right?”
“Exactly. But there’s more than that—look at these weeds.” He plucked a handful of thin reedy weeds that were growing near the stump near them. He’d noticed their tell tale dome shape when they sat down. “I think these are thistleweeds.”
Finn’s head jerked back in surprise. “Aren’t those kind of expensive back at home? I think my mom bought some during the winter break and made tea with them.”
“Yeah, they go for fifty credits a small pouch. Everything from the otherworld is expensive. They’re an elixir ingredient.”
“My mom heard her friends say that drinking thistleweed tea can make you stronger.”
“Only a bit. They’re still considered cheap compared to any higher quality elixir ingredients like dragonheart mushrooms.”
William took out his metal drinking flask and slipped some of the thistleweeds into it. Then he lit a flame under the flask with his ability.
“I’ll make some for you too. Let’s keep an eye out for any monsters.“
They drank tea and waited for any signs of monsters. The tea caused a warm sensation in his stomach, a sign that it was working. Absorbing otherworld energy through any method was the main way to grow stronger, although naturally the more difficult methods were more impactful.
Another group of students meandered by, causing them to duck and hide behind the fallen tree.
After a long wait where both of them were getting impatient, the chatter of monkeys came from somewhere above.
“That sounds like a lot of them,” Finn said nervously.
“It’s about time. More points for us then.”
He spotted one swinging past a vine nearby. Hoisting up his spear, he threw it at the moving target.
It was time to get stronger.
END OF CHAPTER THE REST IS FROM AN OLD STORY
a deer.
Zack tried to remain calm, holding the steel bar in his hand as steadily as possible, but his racing heartbeat and clammy hands betrayed his true feelings. This wasn’t fighting a scorpion that he’d fought ten thousand times anymore; this was a completely new enemy that he’d never even heard of in his entire currency mining career on the Royal Road.
Still, he had a sense of mastery and competence that carried over from his currency mining days. A professionality when it came to exploring new situations like this one.
Walking slowly and deliberately, he quietly stalked the trail of blood down the hallway, his eyes scanning the area for anything out of the ordinary. He was approaching the corner.
Damn. If only he had grabbed a piece of a mana crystal from the preliminary examination, he’d be able to check the reflection to see what was down that hallway around the corner. Those fluorescent blue crystals were excellent mirrors when it came to reflecting light.
Tossing a mana crystal up and down to check his surroundings was his signature move, and the one that earned him a fearsome reputation as the strongest resource farmer in the game. Unfortunately, he didn’t have anything crystal-like at the moment.
Zack momentarily thought about breaking a piece of glass, but he didn’t want to alert the demon if he could help it. He simply had to take a peek, the old fashioned way.
Steeling his nerves, Zack peeked around the corner.
Krrrrrr…..krrr…..
Less than five yards away, the four limbed demon with a twisted body hovered over the body of the woman, the woman’s black size-seven kitten heels that were often seen at offices cracked and bloodied. A black aura of such malevolent intent surrounded the female demon that Zack felt chills down his spine.
“It’s over there!” someone’s voice shouted from the other side of the inner courtyard.
Hamagku’s head rotated backwards at an impossible angle towards the voice across the courtyard, the demon’s black eyes bulging with interest. Zack could only hold his breath as the female demon began to walk further down the hallway, leaving the corpse of the woman behind.
That was his chance. He snuck across the hallway while the beast was still occupied as stealthily as he could, crossing the office of Academic Affairs and the Student Council Room, until he finally came across the Storage Room.
Taking the small key with the circular bow out from his pocket, he inserted the key into the keyhole as quietly as he could and turned. With a satisfying click, the door to the storage room unlocked.
Now, he could monopolize all the resources from this storage room. Even in a life-or-death situation like this, the collection maniac that resided deep within him was waking from its dormant state. Zack thrived in situations like this, where he could be first to harvest the spoils from previously undiscovered areas. This was gaming 101, and wasn’t this just some kind of morbid game, played for the entertainment of the council that Callow had mentioned?
The key to the storage room was very likely a gold mark exclusive item. So, not a single other examinee would have access to the storage room. Zack opened the door quietly, curious of what it would contain.
Dust. That was the first thing that he encountered, or should he say the first thing he got ambushed by, as he coughed heavily without any means of suppressing the sound he was making. At this moment, if that monstrous ghoul had not moved on, he’d be dead to rights. But there was no sound of movement from the hallway where he’d last sighted the demon. If his luck held, he’d be safe. He stepped into the storage room, only to get inundated by notifications.
[You have found a hidden location in Gakuen High.]
[You are the first to discover the Storage Room.]
[Your cosmic notability has increased.]
…
[Your hidden reward for clearing the preliminary examination under 10 minutes has been revealed. Limited constellation communication has been unlocked earlier than scheduled.]
[Restricted constellation communication has been restored.]
…
[Several potential sponsors have noticed your existence for the first time.]
[A sponsor is angered by the other examinees’ disrespect of you in the lecture hall.]
[A sponsor is in awe about your decision not to flee through the window in the lecture hall.]
[A sponsor is excited by your bravery skirting across the hallway behind the demon’s back.]
Just what the hell was all of this? Was this entire examination being broadcasted somewhere for these so called ‘sponsors’ to watch?
…
This reminded him of online game streaming sites, the same ones that made that clip of him mining during a boss fight viral. Zack was used to online attention around him, as he had accumulated quite the notorious reputation as Zero, but that was still humans watching human streamers. But this? Constellation communication? Just who the hell was watching him now, then?
Shaking off his surprise by the grandiose notifications that he received for stepping into the storage room, Zack closed the door behind him and locked it for extra safety. It was a bit larger than the tiny utility closet he’d been expecting, and he could walk around a bit.
Thankfully, the notifications could be pushed to the side. Zack wasn’t sure what he’d do if notifications continuously popped up when he was just about to die. With his newly earned peace and quiet, he examined the storage room for the first time.
He spotted three unlit candlesticks on a shelf, but his eyes were drawn to the back wall. Draped on the wall was a tapestry of sorts, but instead of a painting of a landscape or something mundane like that, what rested in white paint on the tapestry was a diagram that looked undeniably like a magic circle. Within the very center of the diagram was the Akashic character for water.
He had learned the Akashic characters during elementary school alongside ancient Latin, as was the standard for all schoolchildren. They were part of the mandatory curriculum as a part of ancient heritage class, and were still commonly used in the business world despite being outdated. There was a bit of a high class connotation to the ancient characters, and thus corporations and traditional priests alike heavily used them for their symbolic nature.
Thankfully his memory was quite good, and he remembered the basic Akashic characters by heart. This one was definitely water.
[You have found a magic circle. Spell diagram has been uploaded to your phone.]
At that moment, his phone vibrated, and Zack eagerly took it out of his pocket. It was a black screen once more, except now there were two tabs. The first tab was a spell diagram tab, which contained the pictograph of the water magic circle drawn in chalk on a blackboard. Ah, so that was what chalk was for. Zack’s mind quickly revisited the paltry amount of chalk he had saved from the lecture hall, and it was now becoming more clear just how precious of a resource chalk was. With the amount he had, he’d just barely be able to draw a single magic circle.
The second tab was Chronicles of Gakuen High, which had a notification icon on it.
Zack tapped on the chronicles tab, curious as to what was updated.
[Chronicles of Gakuen High has been updated.]
Strangely enough, instead of completing the original entry and telling him how to repel the demon with a line of salt and something else, there was now a completely new entry dated slightly after the original entry. The new entry was quite short.
The girls soon discovered that Hamagku doesn’t like water, more likely than not a remnant of her trauma from drowning in a well. We collected seven buckets of water from the school bathroom, when–
…
Well that wasn’t very long, but still, this Chronicles of Gakuen High book was simply a cheat, wasn’t it? It told him the background of the demon as well as the demon’s name, and then its weakness to water upright?
Meanwhile, Zack had to wonder, the other examinees had absolutely no idea about Hamagku except for what they saw. Only the marked examinees would have a clue… and as the gold mark, he was given not just a clue but nearly the whole picture.
A smile began to spread across Zack’s face. With this kind of informational advantage, he was in position to excel at this examination, just like he had done in the preliminary examination on the fire pit island.
[Several sponsors are waiting in eager anticipation for your next move.]
Zack very carefully unpacked the stub of chalk that he recovered from the lecture hall and repackaged it in a little paper pouch, using the slip of paper that gave the original hint about its location. He gingerly tied it around his neck with the piece of string. Next, he spent five minutes staring at the spell diagram on his phone, committing every line of it to memory through brute force. With that done and the three candlesticks collected, it was time to leave the storage room.
As he left the storage room and made a right, Zack noticed that the entire hallway leading to the other side of the building had collapsed. How did he not hear this happening? Maybe the sound was a bit muffled while he was inside the storage room.
Suddenly, the dead man’s advice made more sense. Had he leapt down from the window like the rest of the examinees, there would be no way back up and into this side of the building anymore. The rewards from the storage room would have been lost permanently.
How did the dead man know all of this, anyway? Was he from another cycle, like that strange talking tabby cat Sylvester mentioned?
Those were questions that Zack did not have the time to ponder, as a piece of the roof suddenly fell behind him.
[Zone is now closing.]
[Please move to another zone.]
Grabbing his metal rod, Zack made a run for it past the corpse of the woman. A move that he would later regret.