The sun was about to set, declaring the end of the day. Today would be marked by historians as the day on which the students had embarked on their adventurous journey through the Big Tree forest. One could argue that it wasn’t a real adventure as the objective was to train and the destination was a city that could easily be reached on foot without actually entering the forest.

However, for the students who had little to no experience in terms of traveling in the wild, and had only been exposed to the concept over the past week or so, it was a great opportunity as well as a hurdle they had to overcome. The group as a whole was rather excited, even the normally enthusiastic ones were looking around with sparkling eyes.

Aki, who was bringing along the rear of the group with Vinayak by his side, was probably the only person who was constantly checking his surroundings. It wasn't as if Aki was missing out on anything though, on the contrary, he was enjoying the jungle in all its glory. That being said, his cautiousness, which stemmed from the fact that there were beings in this forest capable of crushing him within mere seconds, never dimmed even a little.

Aki’s cautiousness had saved him numerous times, and while he did rely on his brain to get out of most situations, his trust in his raw instincts was not unfounded. Akio and the others were leading the group with their swords either in their hands or tied to their waists.

Shainaq had mentioned that sword as a weapon wasn’t meant for everyone, but it was one of the easiest to wield and had considerable compatibility with [Lord’s Blessing]. Even for the slower ones within the group, it wasn’t a challenge to shroud their swords in [Lord’s Blessing] to increase its stats, so to speak.

Aki could tell at a glance that Vinayak was rather excited, ‘I was bored hitting the stone dummy every day’, he excitedly muttered when they began their journey through the densest forest in all of North Gliblici.

Enormous trees enveloped the group as they marched forward at a moderate pace, there were traces of humans having stepped on the trail they were taking, which reassured the students and gave them a direction to follow. Three rivers flowed through the forest, each heading in a different direction. The most iconic of the three rivers was the river ‘Rahan’.

Rahan originated from the mountain valley located in the south-west of the country, and after crossing the Big Tree, made its way through the capital, Rahan, after which it ended in the ocean on the complete opposite side of its origin. It was said that in the ancient times, a traveler hailing from another country had accidentally landed on a landmass unknown to the world at large. He traveled and traveled until he found a beautiful mountain range covered in snow, with a river as gentle as can be beginning from one of the mountains.

He followed the river for hundreds of kilometers, with no end goal in sight. He just wished to witness the majestic river in all its divine glory, and the location at which this river ended. What he discovered was that this river, which originated at the south-west, ended in the ocean at the north-east, practically a diagonal line across the landmass. He then approximated the middle point of the river and found the country known as ‘Gliblici’, with its capital Rahan inheriting the name of the river that ran proudly in the middle of it.

Aki chuckled as he remembered this story that Shainaq had narrated in a moment of careless excitement. The other two rivers were called ‘Tranquility’, or so it translated into Japanese, and ‘Saqh’, which seemed to be the first name of a feudal lord of the ancient times who protected this river from annihilation during a war of attrition. The students had encountered the river ‘Saqh’ the day before yesterday. Aki suddenly remembered the sensation of Aki’s thighs while he was thinking of the Saqh river. His face took the color of light red before changing back to that of his symbolic calm expression.

Aki moved his eyes as he observed the trees, plants, ground, and the very atmosphere of the forest. He was surprised at the healthiness of the trees and the plants. The trees were huge with thick trunks, their branches were strong enough to carry the weight of a human, and their leaves were green and full of vitality. Shainaq mentioned that the trees in this area produced fruits in winter, the first month. As such, Aki couldn’t spot even a single fruit in his immediate surroundings. Like trees, plants such as shrubs, herbs, etcetera were healthy as well. Aki was amazed at the well-being of the small plants as the sunlight filtering through the sky filled with masses of leaves was rather limited, meaning that the vitality of these plants could be credited to [Lord’s Blessing]. Aki once again realized the omnipotence of [Lord’s Blessing].

The students wandered as a group for hours without resting, the low amount of light was somewhat of a problem, but it did nothing to reduce their pace any further. Around the time when the sun had set, the students in the front stopped. Aki could see the group scattering as to form an arc in front of Shainaq. Confusion filled Aki’s mind. Though the sky had considerably darkened and the visibility was rather low, it was unusual for Shainaq to stop so early, it would usually take another hour or two before Shainaq would allow students to set up camp.

“We will halt our march here for today. Honestly, I didn’t expect you guys to cover so much in one day, there is a good location for setting up camp just up ahead. We will set up our camp there for tonight, I have something in mind for tomorrow, so it would be better for you all to get ample rest tonight.”

Shainaq smiled a little mysteriously, which didn’t sit well with Aki.

“One more thing, even though we didn’t encounter any humans or animals today, it wouldn’t be the same tomorrow. You could say that we have barely scratched the surface, and from tomorrow onwards, you will experience the real Big Tree forest.”

Shainaq was unusually excited as his body twitched while he articulated. He had been a calm and composed man from the start and looking at him like this, Aki had a bad premonition. He prepared himself mentally and physically for anything that would be thrown at him shortly.

...

A few hours later, the camp had been established at a location not too far away from the bank of river Saqh. The tents had been set-up and fires were burning warmly at many spots throughout the camp.

Aki was sitting around one of these fires with a petite and slim girl by his side.

“Muranaka-kun, what do you think Shainaq will have us do tomorrow.”

“I am not quite sure, Arashiro-san. I have to say though, his excitement regarding this whole thing sure does scare me.”

Misaki smiled as she adjusted her glasses on her nose. They had discussed this once in the mansion, but it indeed was an absolute miracle that Misaki’s glasses survived where none of the other things did. The cellphones, tablets embedded onto the desks, the monitors, the air-conditioners, everything was crushed when the students opened their eyes. However, Misaki’s glasses survived. Misaki had horrible eyesight, and without her glasses, calling her a liability would be putting it optimistically.

“I talked to Sensei about this, and it seems Shainaq has some attachment to this forest and comes here quite often when the other soldiers come to train.”

“I have a really bad feeling about this. Speaking of bad feelings, where are the other girls and Vinayak?”

“Yes, it’s been a while since they went to the river to fetch water… Maybe they ran into an animal or something?”

Misaki said half-seriously as she stretched her body which unintentionally revealed her flat belly.

“You shouldn’t joke about it like that,” Aki said seriously before chuckling himself. “Well, they have Ayuzawa-san, Ohori-san, and Vinayak. I don’t think any animal, be it alone or in a group, should be able to hurt them. Unless of course, we are talking about exceptions.”

“Haa~ Seriously. I took pride in my eidetic memory, and even I can’t remember all of the stuff Shainaq taught us. What animal roams in what areas, where are the strong animals located, their weaknesses…” Misaki sighed as she brushed her face with her palms. “He has prepared us for this journey. There should be no real dangers along the path we will be taking unless I just raised a flag.”

Aki chuckled as he arched his body backward to grab a book placed under a bundle of clothes.

“I summarized most of the information here. It took me a couple of days, and I had to ask Shishidou-sensei for help. However, I managed to do it.”

Aki handed over a book, which seemed to contain a hundred pages or so, to Misaki. It was a thick book with hard binding and soft pages. Misaki glanced through the contents and spoke with a tinge of nostalgia.

“The pages here are thicker. Not too much, but it creates a huge difference.” Misaki caressed the pages with a smile. “What do I do with this?”

Misaki retained most of the necessary information, and she was used to being relied on by the class as a whole in these kinds of situations.

“I tried imitating your handwriting, though it seems I have failed.” Misaki gazed at the pages filled with words written in Japanese after Aki mentioned it. “So, how is it?”

“No, no, it does look like my handwriting. I just didn’t notice.”

Misaki’s gaze alternated between the book and Aki, her confusion visible on her face.

“I want you to help the other students, especially the slower ones in our class, to memorize as much information as they can. I have a feeling that we won’t be moving as a large group from tomorrow on. It wouldn’t be strange for Shainaq to have us form small detachments and explore that way.”

“It can also be just speculation on your part.”

“Yep. That is a possibility. However, better safe than sorry.”

Aki smiled as Misaki closed the book and obediently nodded.

“Hey, Muranaka-kun… You said you had help from Shishidou-sensei?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. She was very informative.”

Aki nodded, seemingly unaware of the devilish smile that adorned Misaki’s small face.

“You have quite a close relationship with her, don’t you?” Misaki placed her elbows on her knees and her chin on her overlapping hands. “I’ve noticed that Sensei sits next to you so naturally… She also never holds back when it comes to you, she just says whatever she wants, I even heard her call you ‘Aki’ once… The other day, she just grabbed your spoon and took a bite from your porridge as if it was nothing… I wonder…”

Gulp

“What are you implying, Arashiro-san?”

Aki did his absolute best to appear calm on the surface, but only he was aware of the cold sweat drenching his back.

“Nothing much~ I may not look like the type, but I sure do enjoy some gossip. There are no laws here and the lifespans are all messed up, so dating someone ten to fifteen years older than you is no big deal.” Misaki smiled provocatively at Aki as she said. “Not that one should do it.”

“I don’t know where you are going with this, but I can tell you that your assumptions about my relationship with Shishidou-sensei are false. She has been genuinely looking out for me, and I really appreciate her.”

Aki said with a saint-like smile, but his inner thoughts were on the complete opposite side of the spectrum.

Appreciate? Looking out? That woman is a disaster! If I wasn’t there to support her, she would’ve already died or something. The only thing she knows how to do is drink.

“Is that so~? That explains your intimacy then.”

Misaki smiled and continued gazing at the fire, not saying anything further.

“Hey, Aki, Arashiro-san, we’re back!”

Aki heard a cheery voice from behind him, it was obvious who it was by the way the voice addressed him.

“Why are you guys so late?”

“Hehe~” Akio’s voice came from the same direction as Vinayak’s. “We brought some goodies back with us.”

Akio walked over happily and placed the wooden bucket filled with water beside Aki’s tent before sitting on one of the other logs placed around the passionately burning fire. She stretched her hands and felt the warmth of the fire with a smile.

Aki’s eyes couldn't leave Akio’s countenance being made visible in the deep darkness by the light emitted by the fire. Her black pupils that were reflecting the flame, her cheeks that had a slight blush of excitement, and her perfect face which was looking healthier and happier than it had ever been.

Nikki placed her bucket and took the seat beside Akio, leaving the final log for Vinayak and Umi. Aki tore his eyes from Akio’s profile and looked over at the couple that seemed to be doing something near the luggage.

“We caught a lot of fish!” Akio sensed Misaki’s and Aki’s confusion as she excitedly explained to the duo. “A fish just crashed into Khavare-kun and he stored it in his bucket. But then various types of fish just kept coming, so we filled two whole buckets with them!”

Misaki looked over at Aki as they both smiled wryly.

“So you didn’t get water?”

Aki turned his head and asked Vinayak who was hanging up the captured fish.

“Akio, you do realize that two buckets of water won’t last us till morning…” Misaki muttered with a sigh. “Well, it’s fine… It’s not too late, let’s all go and take a walk… Though we can’t see it properly from here, the night is beautiful today. We should have a good view of the sky from the river.”

...

Next morning.

The students had already packed up and were waiting for Shainaq to complete his final preparations. Shainaq threw the humongous backpack on his back as he stood up in front of the group with Chisa by his side. He raised his hand that was holding a map and had the other hand grab a ‘pencil’.

This world didn’t really have a ‘pen’, but they had a writing instrument which resembled a pencil. The difference is the absence of ‘eraser’. Essentially, it was a pencil with the permanence that came with a pen.

“Everyone, please bring out your maps.” Shainaq patiently waited as students retrieved their maps from either their bags or their pockets. “We are currently here. Now, this is going to sound absurd… But we will be parting for a few days starting today. There are multiple paths from here which lead… here!”

As Shainaq was speaking, he continued to draw on his map. He marked the group’s current location with a circle and then drew multiple lines, all of which lead to a single spot about 4-5 centimeters away, which would translate to about 100-125 kilometers.

“This…” Shainaq pointed at the only straight and easy path which would directly lead to their inevitable destination. “Us.”

“This…” He traced all the other paths which in some way or another lead to the same place. “You all.”

Every student at this point in time was thinking the same thing.

Why is he so excited?

...

About thirty minutes later, all the students had finished asking questions and were busy choosing their routes. Shainaq had instructed them to form a minimum of five groups.

“Muranaka-kun, where do you want to go?”

Akio excitedly approached the duo of Aki and Vinayak while easily carrying a bag twice her size over her delicate shoulders.

“Hm?”

Aki looked at Akio in confusion, Vinayak was no different.

“We… What route are we taking?”

Akio wondered if her voice was inaudible to the duo so she repeated herself in a calmer tone than before.

“Ayuzawa-san… Aren’t the four of you going with Uenohabaru-kun and the others?”

“Huh?”

Akio’s eyes widened as she surveyed the situation. Until now, she was talking to Chisa and Shainaq about some matters concerning the class, so she wasn’t aware of what transpired. She naturally assumed that she’d accompany Aki and was extremely excited for the adventure that awaited her.

Since Aki was doing some planning for the journey, Vinayak led Akio to the side and said in a low voice.

“Ayuzawa-san, Tanikawa came over a while ago. He began to consult Arashiro-san on where they would head off to. I mean, you are a group of seven. Ohori-san was about to reject them, but Aki advised against it. It was okay since it could be justified as being mere coincidence or friendly relations until now. Nobody found out that Manaha-san was sleeping with us either. However, if you were to accompany us this time, it would be clear where the four of you stand, and that could end up being disastrous, to say the least.”

Akio was an intelligent woman, she understood what Vinayak was implying. She understood it, or at least her brain did, her heart was a different story.

“But-”

“Even if we are in a different world. Even if the previous cliques and societal pressure exist no more, the mentality is something that hasn’t really changed. I love Ohori-san, and I know you’re aware. It hurts me too, but we have to consider the big picture as well…”

With those parting words and a sympathetic smile, Vinayak walked away leaving the dazed Akio behind.

It took a while for her to finally get control over herself, but when she did, she could do nothing but weakly smile.

“Hahaha~” She laughed to herself. “Such a cruel world.”

...

“Misaki, what about this?”

“Misaki, I think this will be a better option.”

“Tsun-chan, Yoshida-kun, both of those routes have the same overall length, but we have to consider what the other people are choosing.”

“Heh! Other people? Misaki, just choose the best one, that’s ours.”

“Yoshida-kun, that’s no good.”

“Hahaha~ Just do it.”

“Sigh~ Well, we should be fine taking this one.”

“Okay.”

“Asahi, how about it?”

“Anything is fine.”

“Ahaha, got it!”

“Yoshida-kun, aren’t you way too excited?”

“Don’t tell me you are not excited Umi. We’re finally going to fight real beings. There are no rules here. You can kill any number of beings, and nobody will bat an eye.”

“I don’t know…”

...

Three hours later. Seven people walked along a path that was filled with obstacles and animals. Though they hadn’t encountered any animals yet, it was inevitably as they were treading deeper into the forest by the second.

The atmosphere around this group was awkward at best and depressing at worst. There was no conversation, each had their own desires they wanted to act on, but none could voice them out.

Akio was walking, no, dragging her feet at the back of the group. A single memory resurfacing in her mind again and again.

Akio, the only one in that school of yours who can match us in status is the scion of the Uenohabaru family. I am sending you to school, be sure to make it count.

This was the only thing Akio’s father had said to her regarding her admittance in Mekangham Academy. There was no party, no celebration, not even congratulations from her own blood-related father. Just an order wrapped up perfectly in parental advice.

She thought that the seven of them got along just fine, and that belief was shattered when she understood the true meaning of ‘not holding back’. Akio’s group and the Asahi trio was together because of mutual codependency, and it was something that Akio had come to realize very recently. If she hadn’t spent the last month with Aki and Vinayak, she would’ve never known what hanging out with people of the opposite sex without a business mindset is like.

This sucks…

She was genuinely upset at her current circumstances. Misaki was walking alongside Tsun-chan as they pulled the vanguard while the others just chilled in this middle. Akio raised her head, but she couldn’t really see anyone’s back because of the humongous backpacks everyone was carrying.

I was never really friends with them, huh…? Well, I did approach them because Father told me to, but it somehow hurts...

Nobody could see it, but teardrops formed at the corner of Akio’s eyes.

I have to spend the next few days with them… The four of us can’t talk freely either.

No matter the background, no matter the upbringing. It was natural for women to be interested in discussing certain topics amongst their friends, and relationships were one of them. On one hand, Umi was genuinely developing a liking towards Vinayak, and on the other, Akio had fallen so hopelessly deep for Aki that it worried the trio to no end. And while Misaki and Nikki weren’t really interested in finding a lover, they did indeed have their share of interesting stories to share.

Sniff

Akio sniffled a bit before placing both her palms on her face. She took a deep breath as she calmed her chaotic emotions.

Why am I here…? To hide from others? To protect Muranaka-kun? But why would he need protection? Who can harm him? How can someone harm him?

The complicated and emotional thoughts were replaced by logical questions. Her feelings were completely focused on Aki, so Vinayak was naturally forgotten.

No, he doesn’t need protection… And even if he does… Can’t I protect him?

Asahi was the strongest in the class because he had physical strength and stamina to compliment his ability to channel high amounts of [Lord’s Blessing]. However, if the evaluation was solely in terms of [Lord’s Blessing], Akio was a league of her own. She could channel the most amount of [Lord’s Blessing] out of everyone, so much so that even Shainaq was impressed by her potential.

“Hey, Misaki. Come here.”

Akio raised her head and called out to Misaki. Instead of walking over to Akio, Misaki merely stopped walking and waited for Akio to catch up with a confused expression. It seemed Umi was interested in what Akio had to say, so she joined the duo as well.

The rest of the group kept moving after Akio mentioned that it was not a serious issue.

“What is it?”

Misaki asked as the trio walked a dozen or so meters behind the rest.

“Which path did those two take?”

Akio asked with a serious expression. There was no need to explain the identities of the two people Akio was referring to.

“This one…” Misaki brought out her map and pointed at a path that completely diverted from theirs about three kilometers before. “We are going through the forest, and they are traveling along the bank of river Saqh.”

“Is there a way I can get to them from here?”

Misaki’s and Umi’s eyes widened.

“W-well, it isn’t impossible.” Misaki looked around for a while and pointed at the dense forest on their right side. “If you run through this patch of forest, you should find yourself at the Saqh river eventually, and since they are walking alongside it, you should encounter them if you look around. It’d be a different story if something held them back and they were late, or they just sprinted and are way ahead.”

“But I’ll able to find them, right?”

“I mean, you should be able to, but there are a lot of factors… The person we’re talking about is Muranaka-kun after all, it wouldn’t surprise me if he found a better route and left the river one. I’d say there is a twenty-percent chance.”

Misaki said with a bitter smile. She somehow understood where Akio was coming from, because she felt the same, albeit on a much smaller scale.

“I am going. I’ll just focus all the [Lord’s Blessing] on my legs, and it’ll be easy!” Akio confidently smiled and eyes Umi who was still quite shocked about the whole situation. “Umi, how about it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you coming with me or not?”

“B-but-”

“Just tell me if you wanna go or not!”

“But why do you even want to go?”

“Coz I miss Muranaka-kun and wanna be with him? Also, you’re coming with me. I don’t wish to make Khavare-kun feel like a third-wheel.”

“… Fine. I’ll go.”

Umi wanted to argue further, but she stopped once she realized that Akio’s mind was already made.

“I’ll inform Nikki later. You guys should go.” Misaki smiled. “I’ll distract the boys, you will have about five minutes before they realize your absence. Take care.”

“Ok.”

“I still don’t think this is a good idea but whatever.”

Misaki explained a little bit more about the direction they should head in before running ahead to join up with Asahi and the others, who were about twenty meters in front of Akio.

“Let’s go then!”

Akio smiled and grabbed Umi’s hand, flinging both of them and their humongous backpacks into the dense forest.

...

At the exact same moment when Akio was completely depressed, Aki and Vinayak were having the time of their lives.

“Ah, this is life.”

“Can’t agree more.”

They had chosen one of the more difficult paths to travel on. One would imagine a path along a river to be more popular as it held many advantages. The immediate and consistent availability of water. The relief from the intensely dense forest. The convenience of having seemingly unlimited food.

However, out of the six total paths, this was the only one that the students avoided, and by the process of elimination, was given to the duo. The reason is very simple, the chance of running into a lot of animals.

Three rivers flowed in the forest, but the forest itself was freakishly large as well, making the rivers a commonly uncommon resource. Naturally, the animals would be attracted to the water as well. It was normal for animals to mark their territory somewhat close to a water source, especially the ones with small cubs. As such, the students gave up the opportunity to travel on the best path in exchange for a relatively safer route.

Looking at it another way, Aki and Vinayak were exposed to a lot of danger as they walked carefreely while carrying their stupidly huge backpacks. But they couldn’t care less. They were enjoying every bit of it.

“I feel a bit famished.”

“Vinayak, you ate like two kilos of fish this morning. It’s been like three hours since then.”

“I know~ But still~”

“Sigh~ There is a good spot right up ahead, we can stop there and finish the leftover fish so we can catch fresh ones for lunch.”

“Excellent!”

As Aki tiredly smiled at Vinayak’s unending enthusiasm, his ears suddenly perked as he grew vigilant. Aki placed his bag on the ground, taking a stance facing the forest on his left with a deep frown on his face.

Animals? No, they are too fast… Then again, the existence of [Lord’s Blessing] makes everything possible…

“What are you doing Aki, is there something in the forest, I don’t hear anything though.”

Even though he didn't know what was going on, Vinayak dropped his bag as well. He circulated [Lord’s Blessing] to cover his whole body.

It’s coming close… This rhythm… There are four feet, but they are uncoordinated as if coming from two different beings… Animals running on two feet? Humans? But why would humans be running around in the forest at such high speeds? They are approaching here fast… They are already clo-

BAAAM!

A very massive explosion occured.

“Aaaah! That hurts!”

"What's happening!? Eh, Ayuzawa-san!?"

“Ah, Khavare-kun, wassup?”

“O-Ohori-san!? What’s happening?”

“Well, it’s hard to explain… But it looks like Muranaka-kun is being strangled by a turtle.”

“T-turtle? It does look like a turtle shell, but I don't think Ayuzawa-san will take it well.”

“It doesn’t matter. It looks funny, and that’s all that matters. I’d have taken a photo if my phone hadn’t fucking shattered.”

“Let’s calm down, shall we?”

“It’s so annoying. I wanna bash in someone’s face.”

Umi glanced towards Vinayak.

“I-I am sure we will meet some dangerous creatures along the way.”

This conversation was happening about five meters away from where the previous explosion had occurred.

“Ouch, that hurts. You okay, Muranaka-kun?”

Akio, who was laying on top of Aki asked in a concerned tone.

“Yes. I am fine. I defended myself.”

“Is that so~?” Akio’s mood suddenly shot through the roof. “Take care of us from now on!”

She excitedly said as she rubbed her face on Aki’s chest with a satisfied expression on her face.

This is the best!

“What even happened…?”

On the other hand, Aki was left in confusion while having a beautiful woman frantically rub her face on his chest like a puppy.