Holding her reddened forehead, Elena shouted.
“Why did you hit me?”
“Sorry. Your forehead just looked too tempting. I did it without thinking.”
“That’s too much!”
Elena pouted her lips.
Ian looked beyond her.
As expected, no monsters were following.
“Why did you run?”
“Of course, to come in first…”
“How can you come in first when I’m here?”
“Brother, you are like the High Priest! You are an exception in the rankings. Haha. This means I also beat Danya and Sister Lina to become second…”
Elena chuckled.
Until Lina and Danya, who were out of her sight, stood up.
“Elena, you’re here?”
Seeing them, Elena despaired.
“No way… Am I last? I definitely ran hard.”
Danya was practically born in the forest.
Lina had learned the forest to survive.
They were unmatched talents from the start.
Ian pushed Elena’s drooping back.
“Anyway, you made it. Let’s go.”
Ian led the group towards the base of Dragon Rock.
At a glance, Danya seemed normal.
Could Lina have some healing abilities?
Except for avoiding eye contact, Danya was back to her energetic self.
Then, Danya suddenly twitched her nose.
“…I smell something strange.”
Danya pointed to a spot.
It was a huge entrance at the base of Dragon Rock.
The closer they got to the entrance, the stronger the smell became.
The source of the smell was the stench of blood.
They reached the cave entrance.
Did a massive monster pass through here?
The entrance was wide and spiral, leading underground, like the entrance to a huge underground parking lot.
“It looks like even a house could fit in here…”
Danya’s muttering increased the group’s fear.
While Danya, Elena, and Lina hesitated for a moment,
Ian boldly followed the entrance into the cave.
Then he squatted to the side.
Long grasses lay before Ian.
He plucked a leaf from the pile.
Then he rolled it up.
“What are you doing, Brother?”
Elena, who had cautiously followed, asked.
“I’ll show you. I need fire…”
“Eek. Are you going to smoke? Or is it some strange leaf that makes you feel good?! Maybe my suspicion that Brother isn’t quite normal was right…!”
Thud.
While Elena clutched her forehead after being flicked.
“Lina, can you light this?”
“Oh… Okay!”
“Just a little, like lighting a cigarette.”
“I don’t… sm-smoke.”
“Sorry. Like lighting a candle.”
“Got it. Ifrit, can you help?”
A small flame emerged from Lina’s fingertip.
Ian brought the leaf to the flame.
– Whoosh!
He threw it forward.
“Everyone, step back a bit.”
Before he even finished speaking,
— Crackle, crackle, crackle!
The leaf burned with an incredible crackling sound.
The air was filled with straight lines of flames.
They left long, straight marks as if cutting through space.
After the flames disappeared.
The ground was etched with numerous deep, long ‘1’ marks.
Among the bewildered children, Lina spoke up.
“W-What is this?”
“It’s called Scorching Grass. When it reacts with fire, it burns in long, tearing lines, creating a special effect.”
Scorching Grass.
In the game, lighting this would give an effect similar to slashing with a sword.
A very useful plant for dealing with bosses from a distance.
Its presence at the cave entrance was simple.
It meant you needed it to attack the monsters inside.
“Danya. Can you attach this to an arrow and shoot it?”
As Ian roughly handed the Scorching Grass to Danya.
“Eek!”
Danya recoiled in fear, avoiding Ian’s hand.
Then, she brought her hands together and very carefully received the leaf.
‘What’s with her?’
Ian narrowed his eyes.
Blushing and avoiding his gaze, Danya summoned her magical bow.
“I-I can attach the leaf to an arrow and shoot it.”
As she said, the leaf attached to the arrow flew stably and hit its mark.
Seeing this, Lina clapped her hands together with a snap.
“Then I can light it on fire afterward, right?”
“Exactly.”
Ian smiled with satisfaction.
Now they understand each other perfectly with just a look.
The kids were growing step by step every time he took them along.
Unlike in a game where progress was shown with exact numbers, these moments felt much more valuable.
This is why nurturing promising talents is so rewarding.
He wanted to pat their heads, but he decided to save that for later.
Just then.
“Brother! Behind you!”
A massive black shroud was approaching them.
It signaled the start of the real desolation.
“Let’s hurry inside.”
◆
The cave was dark and damp.
They walked for a while, following Lina’s softly glowing flame magic.
“W-Wait. Everyone, stop.”
The sound of four pairs of footsteps abruptly halted.
Drip, drop.
Only the sound of water droplets could be heard in the eerie silence.
Within that, the cave began to tremble.
— Thud
— Thump
The sound grew louder and more frequent.
— Thud!
— Thump!
The approaching sound suddenly stopped.
Elena’s face turned pale.
Danya and Lina scanned their surroundings with tense expressions.
— Ssssst!
A chilling hiss, like a snake flicking its tongue, echoed.
And the trembling began again.
Rumble, Rumble.
The cave shook violently, and dust rained down from the ceiling.
Finally…
A giant creature emerged amidst the rough vibrations shaking everything.
Everyone froze, observing its overwhelming form.
A monster with the head of a snake and the body of a Komodo dragon.
Its black skin was covered in slick, sticky scales.
A forked tongue flickered out.
Its bright yellow eyes gleamed.
The creature’s presence was as imposing as that of a dragon.
Ian knew what it was.
‘A Grade 4 Danger Species, Gergos.’
A Grade 4 Danger Species meant a monster capable of threatening an entire medium-sized city just by its appearance.
In other words, a named monster.
Sssss!
It made an unpleasant sound as it flicked its tongue.
Its long, slitted yellow eyes scanned the surroundings.
Only then did small cries of fear escape.
“I… Ian.”
“What is that?”
“Oh, dear god.”
The children, frozen in fear, clutched their weapons and trembled.
It was understandable to be scared.
“Everyone, get a grip and get ready!”
Ian snapped them out of it.
◆
Meanwhile.
On the surface, dusk was beginning to settle.
Six hours had passed since the promotion battle began.
Even though they were students raised in comfort, they were, after all, students of the prestigious Lichten Academy.
They were gradually adapting to the wilderness.
Those without teams had soon formed parties, and everyone was moving for survival.
Their destination was the center of the island.
They could see the enormous shroud of desolation creeping from the island’s outskirts.
“Ah, I’m hungry!”
But the shroud wasn’t the only problem.
As time passed, hunger grew more intense.
Most of the kids had packed emergency rations, but it was only enough for a day.
As hunger set in, the problem of securing food became apparent.
While hunting animals was not an issue, processing them afterward was. For these students, hunting was merely a hobby. They didn’t know how to prepare their catches for consumption.
“How do we even clean this?”
“Ugh… the innards are gross…”
Parties that included students from commoner or hunter backgrounds were better off.
However, their numbers were quite few. Even if they were fortunate enough to have such members,
“…No matter what, it’s heartbreaking to eat such a cute rabbit.”
Many students still had psychological barriers.
Eventually.
Everyone’s attention turned to one place.
[Supply Base]
It was the location the professors had pointed out on the map before the promotion battle began.
“They said we could find food there.”
“And a place to sleep. It’ll get cold at night.”
A convenient place to solve both food and shelter needs.
The only base along the route to the center was the ‘Rock Base’.
Knowing the competition could become dangerous, the kids started flocking there.
“Stop.”
A giant over two meters tall.
Bare-chested, with no regard for others’ stares.
His massive muscles exposed.
Victor Jan, the runner-up of the Knight Department.
A descendant of barbarians.
His already fearsome reputation was enhanced by his deep, intimidating voice.
“W-What’s going on?”
“To pass, you need to pay one coin each.”
“A coin to pass?”
“Got a problem with that?”
Crack.
Victor Jan’s threatening demeanor made the students quickly summon a coin from their bracelets and hand it over.
The coins were absorbed into Victor Jan’s bracelet.
“Move along.”
“Th-Thank you.”
Blocking the path to the base.
Collecting tolls.
Just enough so the students wouldn’t revolt.
Victor and his party had collected over 2,000 coins this way.
“Victory is assured. But it’s boring.”
Victor frowned and looked back, asking.
“When on earth is Ian coming, Emilia?”
At Victor’s question, Emilia, hidden in the shadows, revealed herself.
“Just wait a little longer. To reach the center of the island, this is the only path.”
