Grimmegap was waiting for us at the Academy the next morning. We showed up there for a short time to climb on some air shuttles and catch our ride to the site of the hunt. There were literally hundreds of the things, but even so we had to group up and I was pretty sure we would be seeing multiple trips back to pick up students. As we lifted off and started to race away into the distance I turned to Celine. "So, how many freshman are there anyway?"

She was staring at Benny, clearly shocked by his upgrade, but tore her eyes away to shrug at me. "Perhaps two or three hundred thousand? It varies year to year. Some classes stick around longer than others." She looked like she wanted to say more, but she was smart enough not to let her mouth run in mixed company. Besides, she hadn't known Benny before he hit H rank, so she didn't know how fast he'd ranked up.

We all avoided talking to anyone about rank specifics for this very reason, and only people at the tower (which we never bothered visiting anymore) would have been able to really comment on his rank up speed. Hopefully our results here would help justify that. I wondered how many people were watching this little event. I knew that it was broadcast but I was pretty sure the scavenger hunt wasn't one of the more widely followed competitions. Too many weak rookies who couldn't show anything impressive.

Cark was sitting off to one side, avoiding any talking or interacting, clearly uncomfortable with new people, or maybe just the situation in general. Whatever the case the bounty hunter was quiet and pensively sitting off in a corner of the shuttle flipping through pictures on his scan ring. I stood up and walked over to sit next to him. The pictures were of Cark with a little girl, one who looked a lot like him. "That's your sister right?"

He seemed lost in thought, but at my words his eyes jerked up to meet mine. "Hey. What? Oh, yeah. Cassidy. Sorry, just been worried. You sure this is going to help find her? Because no offense man, but I don't see it." His face was drawn, haggard even, and I was briefly worried he might not be in any condition for this. Luckily Jessie's new ability should help with that. I hoped. I'd send he over to juice him up when we finished talking.

For now though he needed to know this wasn't a waste of time. I put a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me. These are the same people. They're going to come for us, and if we hit them hard enough I'm pretty sure the puppet master will come out. This is his best shot to get me away from all my support back in the city. Plus, I'm sure there has to be some kind of range on that stupid mind control skill. Wouldn't make sense for it to work from anywhere at our rank."

The more I thought about it the more sense it made for the big boss to jump us during this thing. I didn't know how the spectators would see but I doubted it was anything omnipresent, not for something this low profile. Callie agreed with me on this too. She was absolutely certain that they would try something out here. It was literally too good of a chance to pass up.

Not just me either, Callie herself, Celine, Cark, a nice mix of important targets and annoyances to get rid of. Cark looked...afraid. I hadn't considered that he might not just be worried about getting his sister back. He might be wondering if he COULD get her back. I was hopeful the hypnosis took a while to sink in. They usually kept the kids for weeks, so undoing it should be possible if we got her early enough, especially if we could kill the asshole pulling the puppet strings.

If not I was betting there was SOMEONE we could hire to undo the damage, given the pull the WCP had, even if it would probably be stupid expensive. I stood up, figuring I wasn't helping things at this point. "Listen man, we're here for you. Getting Cassidy back is our number one priority. We baited this trap, and now it's time to let the bastards walk right in. I know it feels like this is a waste of time, but this is your best chance at getting her back soon. Especially considering all the backup you'll have."

He slumped back. "I know. Sorry. Kicking down doors hasn't exactly been getting results either. If I really didn't think this had a chance at working I wouldn't have come with. Clearly whoever these assholes are they have a vested interest in you, so sticking with you all is my best shot at finding them." Despite agreeing out loud, his voice sounded tired and hopeless. This was not my area of expertise.

I patted his shoulder again. "We'll be there soon man, and then we'll find them. You'll see." Then I turned and headed back over to where my team was. "Agria, do me a favor and put a little pep in our friend's step. He seems out of it and that's dangerous. He could use a pick me up, and maybe a pep talk if you can swing one." Jessie was an unconquerable bastion of friendliness and cheer on her worst day, and hopefully combined with the energy boost she could get our ringer out of his funk before we had to trust our backs to him.

Not that I didn't think he had a reason to be upset. But reason or not the guy was going to be fighting a death cult with us. I wanted him at the top of his game. Jessie popped to her feet with a smile, giving me an overly serious salute and bouncing over to talk to the bounty hunter. I stifled a chuckle. He wouldn't even know what hit him. Then I turned back to Callie. "So what's the plan boss?"

Callie was clearly ready for the question. "Simple, we have to set up a position for us to meet up. We're mostly going in different waves. Sadly I didn't have a chance to get my Might Stone score reregistered, but I've had my ranking a few days more than you which offsets that a bit. I'm up to the three hundred thousands myself, so the two of us will be moving out together in the third wave. Agria and Clockwork will be moving out at the official start time, and Cark will go with them since he's hired help. As much as I'd like to have one of us watch the base and the other scout, given the potential enemies sticking together is our best bet. How about your team Celine? What wave are you all coming out with?"

The elven noble shrugged in annoyance. "Given our ability ranks we haven't been able to push ourselves very high. Sixth wave. We would have been seventh without the mission, so we owe you our thanks. That's another hour of time we get in the hunt, and that's nothing to sneeze at." Her gratitude was clear in her voice, and I was glad we'd helped them out. This clearly meant a lot to the elf, though I was shaky on why. Probably some kind of noble thing.

With that settled, we all double checked our supplies and equipment. Aside from weapons we'd all brought plenty of food, water, and some camping gear. I'd also brought along some basic building materials for making a base. I was curious to see if I could use inventing when building a structure. Though I was also mildly afraid of what might come of it if I did. The last thing I needed was to accidentally make some flesh hungry house golem, but I figured the chances of that were low. It would take a ton of Vitality to animate a building, even a small shelter, and I only brought mortal materials.

Just as before, I didn't really feel it when the shuttle slowed down and landed. The propulsion system on this thing was so smooth even my Perception wasn't enough to pick up on the deceleration. When we landed everyone filed out, doing our best to stick close so as not to get lost in the massive field of Ascendants who had come along with us in the fleet of air shuttles. We stuck together, backs to the outcropping of rock nearby as a man in a purple suit with a wide brimmed hat stepped up onto a small stage and cleared his throat.

I felt a pulse of Impact as he let loose his aura like Zeke had done, but much weaker, especially over such a large area. I was guessing E rank. Rather than driving me to my knees it was more like an increased heaviness in the air. Not noticable at all without focusing, but it was enough to get everyone's attention. We all looked up, and the man stared down at us in boredom. "Oh good. You've noticed me. As some of you know, my name is Professor Tricks. I'm an E ranked member of the Fantasy faculty, and I've been tasked with watching over you this trip."

I blinked. I'd honestly forgotten there WERE professors. It was easy not to pay attention to the faculties you weren't involved in, and the Creation faculty didn't really bother with them because you could join one of the sponsored workshops for instruction. It occurred to me I might want to look into some of the classes, when I had a chance. This guy seemed like the real deal.

Professor Tricks pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "Behind me is a section of wilderness." He paused. "Also in front of me. And to either side. We're just kind of in the middle of the wilderness right now. Point is outside this clearing is the stage for your scavenger hunt. Each registered team will be given a list of random objects confirmed to be within the area. It is a BIG area. There are a LOT of objects. Despite that some of your lists may overlap. The areas where teams are likely to intersect are monitored and are being broadcast, just so you all know."

He sounded completely apathetic, and was very deliberately not mentioning any sort of ban on fighting or killing each other. That seemed brutal, but this WAS cultivation, it wasn't a surprise. He continued, still sounding bored. "As you know the teams won't be moving out as one. Contestants will be released in waves. First and second waves were already released, as some of you know since you've been waiting around for hours while your teammates scout ahead. Now we're releasing third wavers."

He gestured around him. "I'll tell you what I told them. This is the wilds, it's brutal, harsh, and dangerous. Move out at your own peril. We aren't going to be protecting you in secret. We aren't going to be watching your back. If you get lost or feel the need to give up emergency beacons will be provided, and no one with a lit beacon is a viable target, but aside from that one safety feature anything goes. If that's too scary for you feel free to catch a ride back when the shuttles head back to pick up the next group. For all the rest of you, good luck, and don't die."

With those words the man in the purple suit vanished and suddenly we were all holding beacons, with a list of items in the hands of the team leader. We all kind of stared blankly at each other, and I wondered what the hell that guy's power was. Regardless though, now wasn't the time to deal with that. Now was the time to get going. The third wave had begun, and Callie and I had our head start. Time to put it to use.