The magician had nowhere to go, so he decided to go visit Albus and help him with his work, after all. Even if Maximus is immoral, he has at least a heart.

'I apologize for the inconvenience, is that okay?'

He is back and the headmaster does not want to see his face today, as if Maximus is doing it deliberately.

'What do you want today? Don't you have works?'

'I thought about my decision yesterday and changed my mind.'

'Are you going to tell me about that thing then?'

He got excited again like a young child; waiting for an answer, but it is not the answer he wanted.

'I decided that I would help you with your work because I am almost the main culprit.'

The manager sighed and his face was overwhelmed by expressions suggesting that he would fail, which was no longer new to him.

'You are that beautiful lacy trap and I am the foolish rabbit that falls into it every time. I don't understand how I still fall over and over again?'

'Even the ant has secrets; I don't want to tell you because it has caused more than enough problems. You must not cross the threshold otherwise the world may end before sufficient progress is made.'

'Take half of these letters and write an appropriate response, ask me if you don't know how to respond.'

'Hmmm, one, two... Thirty-five letters. That is a bit too much. '

'Bear even part of the consequences of your actions, friend.'

One hour passed and he finished writing replies to all the letters, placed them back on Albus’s desk, and pointed to the pile of letters.

'You have a lot of friends; I didn't even know you knew some of them.'

'It's not like I want that number at all but nothing can be done about it, it's one of the necessities of being a director at a renowned academy.'

Maximus left after offering some help and had found a perfectly suited idea for tomorrow's training.

----------------------------

'You've improved a lot in these few days, today's training is special and our destination will be the desert.'

'The desert? That place filled with sand is like a giant beach.'

Most have never seen or visited the desert before, which is too far from their homes. It is different from other destinations and that is what excited them a bit, it did not change their nervousness about the kind of training they would have there.

'As before, the aim of the training is to get used to the desert environment and its dangers.'

'Another life or death training... At this rate, I won’t sleep again.'

'Stop being silly and gather around me to take you there.'

The students gathered around their teacher who formed a teleportation formation and in seconds the landscape changed completely. The color of the sand was neither yellow nor golden; it was between brown and orange as the color of eggshells. Because of this color, the sand was hot so students wrapped their shoes in mana to prevent them from being worn or damaged, which is an obstacle to training.

'This region is characterized by two things, the first is its unbearable heat and the second is the Titanus anaconda. A giant snake that preys on those who encroach on its area... Apparently, you have assaulted it.'

Maximus remained afloat in the air and did not touch the sand even after the teleportation.

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'How long do we have to survive this snake in this suffocating atmosphere?'

'Until I am satisfied with the result, the test will not stop. Find a solution for yourself to survive.'

The sand began to shake and the comrades felt danger and each of them began to run in zigzags to form an unexpected path. Dante felt the increased vibrations beneath him, he tried to detect the predator by visually detecting the mana but the heat of the sand acted as a barrier preventing this, increasing his speed and then reversing direction at the last moment and avoiding the snake's jaws. With a diameter of two and a half meters and igneous rock-like scales, they gave it a tremendous resistance and tolerance to the scorching heat of this sand.

"Damn, didn't work, should I activate a detection range or something? Detection range, detection range."

'Listen to me all, I found a way. Form a ball of mana around you with a radius of at least ten meters. This is the only solution to detect its presence. And yet don't loosen your defenses; we don't know what will happen.'

Maximus, who was floating at a sufficient height, was impressed by Dante's idea and quick wit.

"He found a solution this quickly, but let's see what happens next. The surprise is yet to come."

A somewhat sinister smile sealed these words and continued to enjoy watching them desperately trying to survive.

Thanks to Dante's instructions, they were able to sense danger a second before the snake came out, making it easier for them to survive, but Dante was not comfortable with the situation, it seemed easier than calling a survival training, and once he saw the terrifying smile of Maximus, he was sure that there was a mistake that he did not notice.

The comrades continued to avoid the snake and the vibrations were increasing for some unknown reason. Orion and Dante noticed the matter and made sure there was something wrong with the test. Among them Mira was not even aware of the situation. Dante rushed towards her and then picked her up with his arm and the two rolled, a second snake came out about the same size of the first. Dante shouted towards the rest.

'There are more than one snake, we don't know how many, but they are numerous.'

"Well done, Dante, you noticed the problem and saved one of your comrades. It was right to ask for your help that day."

Maximus remembered his second day after his return where he talked to Dante on the ceiling and asked him to help the others when the right time comes.

Aliana took out the spirit of the earth and asked it to check what was underground to identify potential dangers. The spirit entered the sand and seconds later returned.

'What did you find?'

'I have bad news. There are four snakes in total of an equivalent size to the two snakes that have attacked so far, but...'

'But what? Hurry up, we don't have time.'

'There's one that's huge, at least three times bigger than these giant snakes. He's moving quietly deep down and I don't know when he might change his mind.'

Aliana brought back the spirit of the earth to the ring and called out everyone to tell them of the danger lurking here.

'We have to look for a rock or a rocky plateau. A much larger giant snake has not yet attacked. They react to vibrations in the sand. Let's get away from these dunes as fast as we can.'

Maximus did nothing but watch, he observes and evaluates their actions to help them recognize their mistakes later. He knows about the danger in the depths of the Red Sand Sea, but he thinks of something different, a way to carry out the plan in his head.

"Good cooperation, they will get better over time. Practical experience is the best as I expected."

'I don't exist, disciples, don't rely on me.'

Turning in a direction in search of a place to take refuge, Yoon Hwa glimpsed from afar a place of the same color as the sand but slightly different from the dunes. She remained hesitant and since no one talked about finding a place. It happened that she pointed to that hill.

'This way! I suspect there is a rocky hill. Let's move fast.'

Two kilometers from their current, position was that hill and for the ten minutes they took, they avoided the snakes that all came out and as they approached, the ground shook badly beneath them. They all felt chills from head to bottom of the feet. The sensation of helpless prey in front of its natural predator. Dante shouted at them to hurry up as there was no more than fifty meters left to arrive.

'Rush with everything you have, he is getting closer from the bottom.'

At the last moment, they all jumped at once a little more than five meters high and reached over the rock. The sand began to rise and then receded, revealing the top of the food chain in the region, the diameter of his body is about six meters and his length is unknown, but it is so large that it rose to forty meters outside the sand. Titanus Titanic Anaconda, covered with more like dragon scales than snake ones. This is how those who explored this region called him, it was a name that fulfilled his greatness. His body began to lean forward, ready to pounce on his prey.

'Quickly descend from the plateau before it crushes us.'

Everyone descended from the rock except Dante, who had a way to avoid the monster and lure it towards himself. After everyone hid except Dante, the anaconda's attention turned to him and the moment it swooped in he turned into a shadow and the snake could not hit him then. This went on for several times, the anaconda got tired of it and went to his remaining comrades, and this caused several successive problems...