"I told you, treading north is dangerous." A girl shouted, defending against a spindle flying her way. She rolled on the ground once, picking up the spindle, using the momentum from her rolling to throw it back at her attacker.

The Spindle Bee swerved its body, barely dodging the attack, shooting forth another spindle in retaliation. The girl defended against it and picked up the fallen spindle with practice, throwing it once again. This time, her throw was stronger, piercing through one of the Spindle Bee's wings.

The puncture lacked penetrating power, impaled in its wings halfway, not proceeding any further. This hindered its flapping, causing its body to momentarily fall. Using the chance, the girl threw her sword, making a direct hit.

Her sword pierced its body, only stopping at the hilt. The Spindle Bee began to free fall, twitching in pain at its abdomen fully impaled. The girl jumped; her hand grabbed hold of the sword hilt, making a slash, and severing the Spindle Bee into two.

She descended, waving her sword to slash at another Spindle Bee aiming her way. The Spindle Bee flew back a little, escaping from her slash before it shot forth a spindle. Suddenly, 30 Spindle Bees arrived, with each shooting spindles at her.

"Ah shit," She sighed, glaring at her teammate, resigning herself to fate. The attack originated from all directions, even if she were to defend some, she would still be hit with the rest. She was bound to be severely injured and would probably have to be pulled out by the staff to prevent her death.

She crouched low, shielding her face and chest using her shield. She protected the back of her neck using the side of her sword, gritting her teeth to face the pain. A moment later, sharp pain originated from all across her body, the shock confounding her senses.

For a moment, she even forgot about herself, becoming stiff like a statue. When she opened her eyes, she was in a ward, lying on a berth. Placed beside her were her teammates, all in a state of sleep.

"Sorry, it was indeed my fault." The voice of a boy resounded in her ears, the tone lacking energy, almost choking with each word uttered. She swerved her head to the left, watching the visage of a crying boy. The boy shed tears, trying to cover his face with his hands to hide it but, the falling droplets made it clear.

The girl sighed, "We can only take this as a lesson for the future. Our strength, ranks, lineage, pedigree, etc. matter not when we are in the Wilds. Death is the same for everyone. Let us engrave this experience and prevent such a situation from ever occurring in the future."

"Nicely said," A staff smiled, arriving before her to check her pulse, "Nothing can be guaranteed in the Wilds. That is why we can never be careless. But, we should also take bold decisions when needed."

"Balancing cautiousness and boldness depending on the situations is how one can survive longer in the Wilds." Another staff entered, making a sweep of the area with her psychic energy. "Now that the lot of you are fully recovered, you can head to the stands and witness the rest of the Graduation Ceremony. This way, you will gain plenty of insight by comparing your decisions to the ones still on the battlefield."

"Yes, ma'am." The girl stood up and patted the back of the boy, noticing the rest of her teammates beginning to wake up one by one. They slowly made their way from the ward on the terrace of the White Building to the stands, watching a strange phenomenon occurring in the pond in the east.

"The Developer River Whale has made a move." The boy sniffed once, wiping his tears in a hurry to clear his view, sporting a solemn expression as he gazed at the pond. He and the girl were ranked in the top 300, the rest of their teammates averaged around the late 400s.

Even then, a single misstep caused them to be overwhelmed by the Spindle Bees and forced to be pulled out by the staff. Also, their attackers were only Tier 1. Now that they witnessed a Tier 3 being taking action, they were tensed.

"I hope we don't suffer a total wipeout."

…

In the east of the battlefield, bordering the rocky pillar terrain and the pond, a group of 25 sat upon a carpet, afloat. They whispered to each other, making some jokes that raised muffled laughter.

Despite their conversations, they never relaxed, always keeping an eye on their surroundings while concocting their next course of action. Seated in the middle were two Area Controllers, taking charge of shielding them and keeping the carpet anchored to a spot in the air.

Their current altitude was at 81 metres, hovering just above the rock pillars. A psychic arm was coiled around one rock pillar, using it to anchor the carpet, and preventing it from hovering any higher, and also from moving due to the wind.

Sitting at the front was Rakh Veera, observing the pond with a concerned gaze. He noticed some teams from his Batch arrive at the pond, unable to proceed any further. The goals hovered above the water surface, situated quite far away from the land.

It wasn't a distance that could be crossed by jumping. Also, swimming to the destination wasn't an option, thanks to the Frenzy Beasts that lurked within. The pond was the water source the River Whales drew out from.

The column of water began from the north of the pond, forming spirals in the air before hitting an elevation of 90 metres; it then began to proceed west. It took a meandering route, going above the rock pillars and the trench-filled terrain, always maintaining its altitude.

It took a turn to the south while on the edge of the rock pillar terrain in the west, unwilling to proceed above the swamp. It arrived at the southern-most point, taking a turn towards the east. It proceeded over the rock pillar terrain and a flat terrain that was a mixture of sand and hardened clay.

Finally, it returned to the pond in the eastern-most area, taking a plunge downwards before mixing into the pond. It covered a significant territory. Since it defied physics, the River Whales had to constantly swim through it, maintaining its inherent structure through the Trait they were born with.

Upon prolonged absence, the column of water would start to dissociate and fall off to the ground, acted upon by gravity. Hence, the River Whales took shifts, taking turns to make a full circle through the column of water, also spying on the activities of the other Frenzy Beasts using their high vantage point.

At the start of the Graduation Ceremony, the yellow face created by Madam Mila listed 12 Frenzy Beasts races living on the battlefield. Based on their knowledge, they could somewhat guess as to which Frenzy Beast lived in the territory they visited.

Other than the River Whales, two other Frenzy Beast races lived in the pond. If they were on land, they were nothing to worry about, capable of being killed by even weaker beings. But in their natural habitat, they were terrifying foes.

"The Rigordile and the Shoe Fish; unless something is done about them, we would be unable to secure a foothold on our goals." Rakh Veera muttered, turning his head behind to inquire about the opinion of his teammates.

The two Area Controllers sat in the middle, with the remaining two Amplifiers taking their left and right respectively, acting as a form of protection for them. Of the remaining Tier 1 Cadets, the three Line Controllers sat right behind the Area Controllers while the Observers were dispersed around the remaining spots on the carpet.

When he turned around for an opinion, he only meant the Tier 2 beings. As for the rest, they were ranked dead last in their Batch, not even worthy to get an opinion off, unless someone proves otherwise.

Everyone from the top 10 was assigned with teammates that ranked in the 700s and the 800s in the rankings. Only in this way would the overall strength of their teams be around the average.

"We have a greater advantage while on land," The amplifier on the right commented, "We can kill the Floating Spiders and use the web they have weaved to make paths in the pond, also creating many barricades using the stone pillars around us."

"A sizeable plan but it will cause too much commotion." The Amplifier on the left let out a sigh, "Even we would get drowned out if we have to face a horde of Frenzy Beasts."

"I fear a commotion is bound to happen," Rakh Veera's tone turned serious, prompting everyone to assume battle-ready positions. Trailing his line of sight, they noticed a phenomenon in the depths of the pond.

The water splashed around, forming a vortex, raising a column of water. A hurricane formed, the volume of water lifted being enormous. In response to such an action, the number of River Whales swimming in the column of water above doubled, as if all the River Whales had arrived.

An enormous Frenzy Beast floated, covered by a large revolving sphere of water, causing a waterfall around its edges. A stream of water gushed out from the pond, entering the sphere of water, forming a loop as the enormous Frenzy Beast began to rise in altitude.

"Begin to retreat! Now!" Rakh Veera bellowed, feeling a chill creep up his spine. The massive Frenzy Beast within the revolving water sphere gazed his way, making eye contact, spurring his action.

The revolving water sphere rumbled, creating two streams that ejected it, turning into arms that coiled around, forming rings that spun at low speeds.