Traveling through the forest was somewhat time-consuming, considering the amount of stamina that Selene and Lithia had the group wasn’t able to move at a very fast pace. Han checked the map and saw that they had only traveled a fifth of the total distance. At the current pace, they would be cutting things close for reaching the ruins before nightfall. Periodically, they would need to rest and allow the sisters to regain their stamina.

Oddly, they have yet to run into any monsters in this forest, which he thought to be odd. Periodically, Han would look around, to see if any indicators were letting him know that intruders were heading towards them. Since the Ha Yoon was so adamant about them being vigilant in this forest, Han figured that seeing monsters would be a relatively regular event.

“Y-Yi, do you think we can take another break?” Selene gasped and collapsing on her back, on top of a boulder. Sweat was dripping down her face, and her face was red from exhaustion.

Sighing, Han looked back at her and said, “we need to maintain this pace if we want to reach the ruins on time. I do not think you want to spend the night in this forest, with just the four of us?” Though he sounded harsh, Han understood that this was probably a lot of work for them. Unless a student came from a background that prepared for this amount of exertion, the average commoner would have a difficult time.

“I’m sorry, Yi, but we never thought we would be going into the field so quickly, after getting accepted into the academy. The area that we lived in was mainly flat terrain, and the monsters came to us, so we didn’t need to run around so much. I can’t believe such a forest exists, with all these cliffs and uneven terrain.” Selene said with frustration.

This was something he found to be unusual, considering the experience levels of many of the students. Why would the Academy purposefully make these students go through such a rough training experience? At least many of the students had already received some combat training, from family members or militia groups. Listening to the sisters, Han learned that many of the villages didn’t have the benefits of having protection close by. With the looming threat of monsters and demons, many had to create their own militia to fight off the attacks. This was even more so when it came to an event called, the Overflow. For some reason, monster and demon activity would increase by several magnitudes. No one knew the cause of this event, though there were many theories. With the Overflow, villages needed to set themselves up to protect themselves cause the main military force would be used to protect cities and large towns.

With him being frustrated at how, relatively, quiet this forest was, a part of him wanted to figure out where all the monsters were. “Did the other teams already take care of them?” He said, under his breath. If he were going to find out what was happening, it would probably be beneficial to have either Anacolis or Aracia here with him. Looking over at the sisters, Han said, “I will be going little ways away, to make sure that there are no monsters nearby.” Seeing the sisters' eyes widen, in fright, he said, “Brittany will be here with you, so you do not need to worry.” After seeing them relax, he nodded to Brittany and walked away from where they stopped.

Once he was far enough away, so as to not see the sisters and where they were at, he leaned against a tree and sent out his thoughts, “Jungle Sisters, your Master calls for you.”

From the ground, two shapes seemed to grow out of the ground. The two of masses of plant life, slowly formed into Anacolis and Aracia. Once they completed their transfer, the sisters bowed in front of Han. Both of them were as stunning as when he first created them, combining both beauty and savagery.

“Master, we are honored that you would summon us.” Both of them intoned.

“I have missed you sisters, seeing both of you brings joy to my life.” Han lovingly said. All his creations were precious to him, so not being able to spend time with them had always weighed heavily on him.

"We are unworthy of such praise, Master,” Anacolis said.

“My sister is correct, Master. We only exist to humbly fulfill your wishes and desires.” Aracia agreed, with her older sister.

“How is your domain doing?” Han asked the two of them.

Anacolis was the first to speak, “As you wished, both Aracia and I have created our minions, to help us guard our floors. Following the form that you had created for us, the minions that I set up are a variety of lamias. Each one was created into a different subspecies, allowing them to improve their ability to protect your realm.”

“Master, I have created a variety of aracnias, each with their own strengths for a variety of scenarios. With the minions that we created, Master has no need to worry about any external forces infiltrating your holy realm.” Aracia finished.

“You have truly made me proud, of the two of you. I am happy that my gift was not wasted on the two of you.” Han cheerfully responded. “Now, the reason I have summoned you, sisters, is to find out what is special about this forest. This area should be filled with monsters, yet I have not seen even a single corpse. I am, currently, pretending to be a student at an academy and the class I am attending is on an excursion through this forest towards ruins located here. There are other students here, so I do not want you to engage them. With your abilities, you should have no problem in staying hidden. Brittany, my personal attendant, is with me so all communications will go through her since Helania is back in the city. You will, temporarily, be under Brittany’s command and the both of you will coordinate with her.” Han ordered the sisters.

“Your will is our will.” They answered, accepting his command. In a flash, both sisters disappeared to fulfill his command.

Han turned around and headed to where his group was resting. When he returned, both Selene and Lithia looked ready to continue forward, towards the ruins. Seeing that Han had returned, the sisters got back on their feet ready to move. Han started to walk towards where the golden orb was floating.

“Brittany, I have summoned both Anacolis and Aracia to investigate the forest, about the lack of monsters. They will be under your command, so make sure to coordinate with them properly.” Han informed Brittany. Though she had experience with commanding maids and waitresses, this would be the first time she would be commanding those that are as powerful as the Floor Protectors.

As the day passed by, the sisters were able to build up their stamina. This caused them not to stop as frequently, increasing their time. Now that Han had assigned the Jungle Sisters to investigate the curious nature of this forest, he felt like the trip became more relaxing and enjoyable. As the sun was starting to dim, and the night sky was taking over, they went around a large tree and saw a clearing open up. In the center of the clearing were several ancient structures. Surrounding the structure, there was a broken up wall that had vines crawling all over it. Past the wall, there was a long road that looked like it had seen better days but did well to survive for so long.

Entranced by the scene, Han walked into the ruins first, going past the walls. On either side of the road, there were old buildings with some of them entirely collapsed. There were statues of women in various poses, their bodies crumbling due to the passage of time. Looking at them, Han couldn’t help but feel sadden by how distraught they all looked. He tried to picture what they looked before, which just made things harder on him. Passing by houses and temples, he imagined the streets filled with the laughter of children as their parents looked after them. Now the ruins felt like a necropolis, a ghost of its former self where the dead roamed.

“I wonder where everyone is?” Selene wondered out loud.

The ruins seemed to be as large as a city. Some of the buildings were taller than most of the building inside Academic City. With the sun slowly coming down, the city started to look more ominous as if anyone within the city would be trapped, forever. Han thought about those myths he learned in school, where the hero would stay inside a forbidden city for too long and become trapped inside. Even though he had nothing to worry about, Han still felt a chill run down his spine. Looking around, he willed himself to see where his classmates were located. Blue dots appeared, all bunched up together, near the center of the city. Sighing in relief, he pushed back thoughts of a haunted city out of his mind. Ever since he was a kid, he would think that there were ghosts inside the various places he lived. Though a ghost would be no match for him, Han didn’t care to face any at the moment.

“Let us try the center of the city,” Han suggested to the rest of the group.

As they approached the center of the ruins, Han could hear the sound of laughter and chatter of his classmates. Everyone had already set up their camp and were getting ready to eat dinner. People seemed to group their tents around their party members, instead of just setting up wherever they wanted to. The experience inside of the forest likely created a strong bond between them. Now they talked to one another as if they had known each other for a lifetime.

“Look who finally came in. The teacher thought that she might have to go searching for you stragglers.” a group of nobles mocked them. Several of the nearby groups began to laugh, thinking Han’s team were a bunch of useless commoners. Many had a look of doubt, regarding the uniform Han wore and whether he was really an S-ranked student.

Han looked back at the sisters and saw that they were looking depressed at the reception they received. “Do not concern yourself with what others think about you. The two of you have grown during this single trip, so there is no need for you to feel embarrassed.” Han tried to encourage them. Both sisters looked a little cheered up, after hearing what Han said.

Looking up where Ha Yoon was at, Han headed towards the teacher. Han thought it would be a good idea, to let the teacher know that they had safely arrived at the ruins, before going off to set up their camp for the night. They found their teacher sitting by herself, in front of a campfire, cooking her meal. The smell that wafted into Han’s nose left something to be desired, and let him know that the teacher wasn’t going to be a typical wife if she ever got married.

“Teacher, we would like to report in, and let you know that we have safely completed the first task,” Han informed Ha Yoon.

Looking up at them, she gave a long sigh, saying, “I am glad that all of you have made it safely, though it should not have been that difficult with the lack of monsters in this forest.” Her shoulders shivered slightly, thinking about the unusual circumstance.

“We will now be setting up our camp, and preparing our meal.” Han simply said, not bothering to worry about the lack of monsters. Seeing Ha Yoon nod her head in consent, Han walked towards an open area that was, relatively, close to where the teacher was camped at. The sisters and Brittany followed after him.

When Han stopped in an open area, the sisters began to take off their packs and started pulling out their tent. To help them get through the forest, Han had the sisters equally distribute the weight in their packs. Selene, being the older sister, had filled her pack with more equipment, which helped to contribute towards her poor stamina.

Seeing the sisters get their tent ready, Han checked his side for any obstructions and waved his hand. Out of nowhere, a large elaborate tent appeared, already set up and ready to be used. The size of the tent made it look like a cabin, with module looking sections. The sisters watched in amazement at how fantastic Han’s tent looked, even compared to the tents the nobles brought. Just the size alone looked as if ten people could fit inside comfortably. Walking inside the tent, Han looked at the various comforts that were included in the tent. There was a cast iron stove (to help keep the tent warm at night), several leather sofas for people to sit in, a dining area for him to eat at, and a large master bedroom with a massive bed inside. In another room, there was a bathing area with a large bathtub. The tub was already filled with hot water and would stay at that temperature as long as he wished it. Though they were camping inside ruins, the feeling the tent gave off was they were staying inside of a proper home.

Taking a seat at the table, Han swept his hands across the table and made several dishes appear. The largest course was a pot roast, surrounded by vegetables and covered in a brown gravy. A large bowl of freshly cooked rice was next to the roast. There were also various oriental side dishes. Smelling the food, Han began to get hungry and took his utensils and started to serve himself.

“Master! Please, allow me to ready your dish.” Brittany looked horrified and protested.

“Brittany, there is no need to worry about that here. I am famished, so I will just serve myself.” Han rationalized to Brittany, not wanting to wait for Brittany to go through all the usual decorum.

“I must refuse, Master. I am your personal attendant, and I can not allow you to serve yourself like some barbarian.” Brittany stubbornly stated.

Seeing that Brittany had dug in her heels on the matter, Han just threw up his hands into the air and waited for Brittany to ready his meal. Though Han enjoyed being pampered by his creations, it was moments like these where he just wanted to dig into the food, like he would have done on Earth. When his plate was already, Brittany placed it in front of him. When it looked like she was going to start feeding him, Han said, “Brittany, you also need to eat. This is a casual day, so there is no need for you to take feed me. You have not eaten all day, so you need to eat something, too.” Part of him was being considerate towards Brittany, but another part of him wanted just to shovel the food into his mouth. Due to the time constraint, Han and Brittany weren’t able to eat a decent meal due to how slow Selene and Lithia were moving.

The roast beef was so tender that his fork was enough to cut into the meat. Making sure the piece was covered in the delicious gravy, he ate the morsel and moaned in delight. Han felt that the food tasted even better after they had gone through the forest all day. Moments like the current one made Han feel thankful for his powers, where he didn’t need to wait for food to be prepared and could just make it appear with a wave of his hand.

Finishing his food, Han walked over to the bath. The steam rose from the water, a small fog that hovered above the water’s surface. Creating a clothing rack, he removed his uniform and hung it up on the rack. Even though the day was mild, there were stains the littered the cloth. Picturing the uniform clean, Han watched as each of the stains slowly disappeared. Once again, the uniform looked as clean as when he first put it on. While standing fully exposed, a mirror appeared in front of Han and allowed him to see what he looked like. It had been a while since the last time he stared at himself in the mirror. Even when he was on Earth, Han only looked into the mirror when he was going about his morning routine, like brushing his teeth or shaving. He never thought of himself as being particularly attractive, so looking at himself never appealed to him. His brown hair was a little longer than he remembered, now covering his bushy eyebrows. Seeing his face, he stared at each part of him, such as his nose, eyes, and lips. With his lips, he was often told that he looked like he was about ready to kiss someone. With his mother being of Asian descent and his father being Caucasian, he had a mixture of racial traits. This allowed him to not have the stereotypical thin lips that many Asians had. His nose was often described as bulbous, though not ugly looking. Looking at his eyes, the typical Asian eyes looked back at him. If he were to describe himself, Han wouldn’t call himself ugly but instead average. The rest of his body was not very unique, being slightly overweight but not noticeably so.

As he looked at himself, Han realized that he could make some changes to his body. Though with his powers there was no need to look more attractive or stronger, Han thought it would be a nice change of pace, like when someone gets a new hairstyle. He remembered friends making drastic changes with their hair after a traumatic event, usually with relationships. The first thing he did was slightly alter his body, making himself slightly taller. Under his skin, Han could feel the bones making rapid changes to accommodate his will. It felt like ants were crawling under his skin, making him shiver at the imagery. Occasional popping noises could be heard, and his skeletal structure made the changes needed. In his reflection, Han could see that he became taller and smiled. Being slightly shorter than everyone else was something that was always on his mind, considering how often a person’s body influenced social interactions. Now that he changed his bones, Han imagined himself with more defined muscles. Going with the bodybuilding image wasn’t something that interested him. He thought a body that was toned was more visually appealing, and looking like martial artists was what he aimed for when he was a kid. Though his power level didn’t change, the feeling of stronger muscles made his body feel lighter. His body was more responsive to his movements. Jumping up and down, gave him joyful pleasure. There was a difference between being infinitely strong with this powers and just naturally being strong. Moving on to his face, Han made some slight adjustments and gave himself a more appealing and symmetrical face. He remembered how beauty was very close to how symmetrical a person’s face was, so he decided to make his face just below perfect symmetry. Even looking at his face, Han thought that he was what people described as being stunning and beautiful. If he were to go back to Earth, there would be no doubt that companies would hire him to become a model. Many people would think that making oneself more aesthetically pleasing is unnecessary, he knew that people would lower their guard when facing someone that looked beautiful. No work needed to be done to win over people. This is why so many people tried to improve their physical looks and have surgery done on them.

With his current body looking the way he wanted it to look, Han climbed into the bath and enjoyed the warm water. His back against the tub and hands draped over the sides, he closed his eyes in bliss. Though the world may be different, there was nothing like soaking in a hot bath.

While he lay in the tub, Han heard the sounds of footsteps getting closer. Without needing to open his eyes, Han knew that this was Brittany. “Join me.” He simply told her, not speaking louder than necessary to maintain his current level of relaxation. The sounds of clothing being removed could be heard, the ruffling of fabric and undoing of buttons. Clothing falling to the ground and light steps towards the bath, and finally, the feeling of the water’s surface being disturbed. Ripples gently hit his chest, and the level of water rose as it was being displaced. Brittany’s feet could be felt against his calf, her smooth skin rubbing against his. As she lowered herself into the water, Han could feel her butt rubbing against his groin followed by her back against his chest. Turning herself towards him, Brittany lay on her side and rested on his chest. Her head nestled just below his jaw. Inserting his arm under hers and around her chest, Han enjoyed the feel of her body. With such a beauty on him, an ordinary man would be driven by sexual desire, but Han was overcome with a feeling a peace and satisfaction. A moment, where everything was right about the world encapsulated him.

“I could just lay here with you in my arms, for eternity,” Han whispered into the air.

“If Master allowed it, I would always want to be held by Master.” She cooed, in bliss.

“Yi!! You need to wake up.” A voice called out to him, through the comfortable haze of slumber.

Han grumbled at being woken up from such a peaceful dream. Glancing next to him, he saw Brittany laying next to him. The way she wrapped herself up in the blanket, made her look like she was in a cocoon. Getting up and sitting on the bed, he stretched out his arms and yawning. Conjuring an energy drink, he popped open the cap and enjoyed the sugar infused liquid. Emptying the can and making a basketball shooting motion, the can went flying through the air and vanished. Feeling the caffeine kick in, he looked back at Brittany and leaned over to giver her a kiss on her cheek. “My beautiful creation, you need to get up.”

Her eyes fluttered and seeing him, Brittany smiled and unwrapped herself out of her blanket. Grabbing his uniform, Han casually put on the outfit while taking peeks at Brittany sliding into her clothing. When she caught him staring, she giggled and blushed from his attention. Summoning a mirror, he checked himself to make sure that everything looked proper and neat. When Brittany finished putting on her clothing, they made their way out of the tent. The sun was warm and bright, illuminating the ancient city. Everyone was close to finishing up, packing up all their gear, and were occasionally looking over at them. He saw Selene standing next to Lithia, their packs already on their backs.

“Yi, you need to hurry up and get everything ready. The teacher said that we will be getting ready for the next part of this journey, so you can’t delay!” Selene scolded him, for sleeping in.

Han stretched out his neck while ignoring Selene’s lecturing. With the two of them standing in front of the tent, Han just snapped his fingers and made the tent vanish. All that was remaining was the imprint in the grass and dirt, which was the only evidence that the shelter existed. Seeing Selene’s surprised expression, he chuckled and walked over to where the teacher was sitting.

Ha Yoon was relaxing on top of some rocks that looked to be part of some other structure. When she saw him approaching she gave him a tired look. “I can not believe that you have the ability to make something that large appear and disappear.” She sighed, thinking about his unusual ability.

Grinning, while shrugging his shoulders, he asked, “I heard that we will be moving on to the next part of the class activity? I was curious about what we will be doing.”

Noticing how he casually ignored her statement, she said, “in this city, there is an area that is usually infested with monsters. This is one of the reasons why this city is now in ruins, cause out of nowhere monster activities increased to the degree that overran the city’s defenses. Now some nests are scattered about in this region. Under this forest, there is a high concentration of mana, which may be the cause of the initial incident. To prevent the number of monsters from increasing, we will be going into the nest and exterminating monsters. With the ability of all of you, there is no way that we’ll be able to clean out the nest, but it will be good for experience and skill building. Each of you students already has a basic knowledge of combat, as part of the requirement of being accepted into this academy. If anything happens, I will be here to oversee events as they transpire.”

“How many monsters do you expect to be there? I assumed that there would be monsters inside the forest, but I did not see any on the way to the ruins.” Han inquired.

Ha Yoon placed her index finger to her lips, the situation seemed to bother her. This is understandable considering that this forest is known to have monsters, and then the monsters are no longer in the woods. Looking at Han, Ha Yoon responded, “This is a very disturbing event. Inside the nest, there should be several hundred monsters. The majority of them should be in the farthest part of the nest, at least that is how they were organized in prior nests that were exterminated.” She sounded unsure on this fact.

Nodding his head and thinking that there was no reason to continue asking questions, Han walked back to where the sisters were standing. From the sight of things, the other students are now ready and had everything packed up. Reaching Selene, she gave him a questioning look as if to ask what he had asked the teacher. Shaking his head, he replied, “we will be entering into a monsters’ nest, and proceed with killing the monsters to improve our combat skills.” Seeing her eyebrows go up from this news, Han continued. “Considering how there should have been monsters inside of the forest, I am concerned about entering into this nest with so many students that lack the necessary fighting skills.”

“Do you think it will be safe for us?” Selene asked, her voice indicating how worried she was. Compared to her experience with fighting off monsters in the place she grew up in, there was a difference between that and entering into a nest.

“Since the teacher will be there with us, there should not be any issues.” He tried to comfort her, though he had an uneasy feeling building within.

“Brittany, let the sisters know that we will be entering a monsters’ nest. From what the teacher said, there should be more nests in this forest. I want them to enter one of the nests, and see what the distribution of monsters is like. Let them know that they have permission to eradicate all monsters inside of the nest. Make sure that they need to focus on the number and set up of the monsters.” Han ordered Brittany.

“Yes, Master. I will inform Anacolis and Aracia about their new mission.” Brittany acknowledged.

Ha Yoon walked in front of the students and waited until she had their attention. “We will now proceed to the next stage. Inside these ruins, there exists a monster nest. The monsters that reside inside the nest are relatively weak, so we will be killing them to help keep the population of the monsters small. Our goal is not to eliminate all the monsters, but to gain experience. This means that I will not tolerate students that act recklessly inside the nest. Instead of having each team enter separately, there will be three teams that will move as a group into the nest. Two groups will have four teams working together. The four-team groups will be the first and last to enter into the nest. As the two groups with an additional team, your responsibility will be to make sure to keep the groups in the middle aware of changing situations. When you enter into the nest, there will be a long tunnel which will then branch into many tunnels. One of the four-team groups will stay in this junction, along with a three-team group. Splitting off from the main party, the other groups will head into one of the tunnels. Once you have killed a sufficient number of monsters, the primary force will return back to the junction to rejoin the secondary force. We will then rotate the group, and just like the first time, a secondary group will go back into the same tunnel. Depending on how successful we are, this will be repeated several times.” After giving out the itinerary, Ha Yoon began sorting the teams into different groups. There were now five groups, with two of them having four teams.

Looking at the teams that were added to his, Han thought it was interesting that both of them were composed of commoners. It seemed like Ha Yoon had organized the teams so that nobles were set up with other nobles. Considering his ability, there wasn’t a need for him to be concerned with being matched with commoners. At a second look, some of the commoners looked like people who were competent, at least when looking at their equipment. Like Ha Yoon had said, students that are accepted into the academy have a base level fighting skills. With this in mind, it was unlikely that he would need to step in too often. Watching these commoners fight the monsters could be mildly entertaining, though he would step in if necessary.

Han’s group followed the others, with the teacher leading them all. As they walked past buildings and other structures, the overall feel of the class felt tense. There was a feeling of anticipation, with people knowing that they were going into a potentially dangerous situation. Even on Earth, people would get killed or severely injured in environments that were designed for training purposes. He remembered talking to a classmate who had enlisted in the army, and how there would be an accident resulting in a soldier being killed or injured. The worst thing that these students could do is get too tense, and not be able to react appropriately. Situational awareness would be a life-saving skill that these people needed to learn quickly.

After walking for some time, Han saw a massive structure in front of them. If he were back on Earth, Han would have thought it was a stadium. On the floor level, the stadium had entrances surrounding the base. Each of the entrances had arches, making them look very Roman looking. Deciding on an entry didn’t seem to matter, as Ha Yoon walked into a random entrance way. Entering the structure, Han was amazed by what the residents, of this ruined city, were able to create. In the hallway, murals were showing epic adventures, fighting monsters, demons, and gods. One of the murals attracted his gaze, a woman that stood in front of a massive army and brandishing a mighty sword. In front of her, there was an impossibly large number of creatures. With their sheer numbers, they looked like a bottomless bit of teeth and claws. Behind this army of horrors, was a black waterfall that seemed to feed the numbers of nightmarish beings. When he walked up to the mural and looked at the woman, Han couldn’t see any fear in her eyes. Seeing this image made him wonder if he could do the same as her if he didn’t have his powers. Regardless of what world he existed on, there would always be people that were willing to stand in front of insurmountable odds.

At the end of the hallway, it opened up to show what looked like a place for citizens to enjoy battles and performances. In the center of the ceiling, there was a stream of sunshine that pierced through the darkness. Instead of lighting up the entire area, the light seemed to focus on a deep gouge in the earth. Seeing this massive hole in the ground, it looked like the sunlight was guarding the entrance and keeping whatever darkness sealed inside. Each of the students exclaimed in amazement at such a scene in front of them. When Ha Yoon reached the edge of the hole, she turned around and looked at them.

It was a sight to behold, the way she stood in the light while the rest of them were in the shadows. “This is the entrance to the nest. As I have already told you, the group with four teams will enter first. Though the entrance looks intimidating, just remember that the creatures inside are at a level where you will be able to succeed. If you keep your head, all of you will be able to return to the academy. Heroics will not be tolerated! Keep to your team and group, and you will return stronger.” Ha Yoon informed them, her voice telling them that foolishness will not be tolerated.

As the vanguard entered the ominous hole, Han checked to see if there were any monsters. At the moment, the nest seemed to be as quiet as a tomb. When the vanguard was deep enough into the nest, Ha Yoon indicated the next group to enter. Looking at the next group, which was composed of nobles, he saw that they walked with more confidence though they did seem to have some caution. Compared to the nobles, the next group walked in a jerky manner. Their fears only served to hinder their movements. Luckily, Han didn’t see monsters that were close to the entrance.

When it was his group’s turn to enter the nest, Han looked at the walls of the tunnels. There seemed to be a mixture of claw and burn marks. Between the rocks, there were glowing streaks of blue that lit up the inside of the tunnel. Based on the look of this nest, there must have been either colossal monsters or many monsters that built this nest and maybe they had left behind some type of residue to help illuminate the tunnel system. His footsteps reverberated as he walked further into the slanting tunnel, causing loose rocks to roll downhill and creating more noise. The way noise was so easily carried, the biggest concern was whether the monsters would hear their passage. As a learning opportunity, this would be effective at giving people valuable experience. Sometimes the best lessons are those that are learned in horrific moments.

“Where do you think the monsters are at?” Selene spoke no one, in particular, her voice quivering.

One of the guys in his group looked back at her, and said, “you should be hoping that we don’t see a monster.”

“Why do you think that?” Selene asked the guy, grateful for the distraction.

“Even though each of us has some experience at fighting, do you think we have the ability to fight so many monsters? This seems more like a suicide mission, instead of a class lesson. I don’t know what the Academy is thinking, sending us into this mess.” the guy grumbled.

The guy next to him drove his elbow into the guy that spoke. “Shut your mouth, Ryleth! This place is terrifying enough, without us having to listen to your useless theories.”

“You know I’m right! If we don’t end up dying in here, we might end up as invalids!” The guy named Ryleth argued.

Listening to the two of them arguing, Han continued to scan the area to see if he could spot any monsters near them. Based on far away he made this ability detect other creatures, there were no signs of monsters in the area. This served only to annoy him, but not to the degree of opening up the map and researching where the monsters were. Considering how he wouldn’t be in a dangerous situation, to go that far would be like skipping to the end of a movie, instead of watching events unfold.

Once they reached the junction, Han’s group was part of the secondary force and entered the tunnel. The size of these tunnels was mind boggling, being so massive deep underground and not caving in. He wondered whether there was something that the monsters did to the ground, to increase the structural integrity. With the ruins on top, it would make sense for the entire network of tunnels to cave in on itself.

As he was contemplating all of this, Brittany said, “Master, I have received a report from Anacolis and Aracia. They informed me that they discovered a nest, and upon entering it, they did not see any monsters until they entered deeper into the nest. Deep in the nest, there were thousands of monsters resting in caverns. To figure out the strength of the monsters, they made a noise and caused the monsters to flood into the tunnels. They are still inside the nest fighting off the monsters, but there is no worry of being overrun. After they finish exterminating the nest, they request to come to Master’s aid.”

“Did they mention how strong the monsters were?” He asked.

“They said that defeating each monster took a little bit of effort, but nothing they could not handle.” She answered.

Hearing the report, Han looked around and increased the distance of what he could detect. Doing this wasn’t something he wanted to do, but considering the new information, it was probably better to err on caution. As if looking at a densely populated city at night, from space, there were thousands of red lights that appeared. Placing a palm on this face, Han felt a massive amount of annoyance. Not only were there monsters, but the number of them was also beyond the expectations of the teacher. Not only that, the monsters caused the Jungle Sisters to put in “a little bit of effort,” meaning they were beyond the capabilities of these students. Han understood that if nothing were done, there would be a massive number of casualties even if the teacher stepped in. Ha Yoon was only an A-ranked adventurer, so expecting her to defeat thousands of monsters was ridiculous. Looking at Selene, he said, “we need to go back. We need to talk to the teacher.”

“What are you talking about?” The guy, who was arguing with Ryleth, asked.

“There was a miscalculation with this mission,” Han said to the guy.

“What miscalculation??” He asked again, sounding a bit worried.

“I have the ability to sense monsters, and what I am sensing is beyond what we can handle.” Han lied to the guy. He could flat out see the number of monsters inside of this nest. As long as they went back to the junction, they would likely succeed in not alerting the monsters.

Seeing that his group had stopped, the vanguard group stopped and looked at them curiously. Walking back to them, one of the teams approached them. Based on their equipment, this team was composed of nobles. “Why have you stopped?!” the leader demanded, expecting to hear a reasonable explanation for this delay.

Ryleth looked at the noble and said, “this guy thinks that there are monsters in the direction that we are heading towards.” With the way he was speaking, it was evident that he didn’t believe Han and didn’t want the attention of a noble.

Seeing this kid place all the blame on him, Han sighed. Based on the nobles attitude, something bad was likely to happen. “There are not just monsters ahead of us, but their numbers and strength are greater than what we expected.” He tried to reason with the arrogant kid.

“All the better. Instead of fighting against weak monsters, is it not better to fight against something you can test your strength against?” He mocked Han, insinuating that Han was a coward.

“Let us just leave this coward behind,” a pretty noble girl suggested.

Based on the lack of melee weapons on her, Han surmised that she was a mage. Though she was outwardly cute, in a sexy schoolgirl kind of way, her attitude was somewhat lacking. The other teams that were part of the vanguard started to voice their agreement, in leaving Han behind and how they could handle a couple of weak monsters. Han did a face-palm, debating whether he should just leave these people to die. Even if he could defeat the monsters, it didn’t feel like it concerned him. There were a couple students that voiced the need for caution, and how they should just go back and get the teacher’s decision. It was these people that convinced Han to stay. It would be a bit unfair for those with common sense to die because of some overconfident individuals.

The mage that agreed about leaving him behind spoke up, saying, “we are the nobility. Since we were children, we were trained to be able to defeat monsters. Even the teacher confirmed that the monsters in this nest were within our ability. I know that with my skills, I would be easily able to defeat some monsters. Watch and learn you, commoners, I, Selestra Ignalis, will show you difference that exists between us.” Immediately she began to chant a spell. “I call upon the power of hellfire to turn asunder all those who stand in my way, Bolt of Hellflames!”

Everyone stared as mana swirled around her, and transform into flames. The students near her started to back away, and upon unleashing her spell, they watched the intense fire shoot out to the nearest tunnel wall. The was a loud noise and explosion that resulted from her spell. Once the fire and smoke died out, there was a large crater remaining. Students started to clap in amazement at the strength of the spell performed. For commoners, seeing such a strong spell was a marvelous thing to behold.

Han groaned as he watched the bolt of hire streak towards the tunnel wall. This is why no one liked those who were pampered since birth. Even on Earth, people hated how wealthy family acted as if they had some divine providence, and often led to massive company scandals. Looking at the red dots in the distance, he saw that they had begun to move towards them. Turning towards Seline, Han said, “You need to take your sister and head towards the entrance. If you are able to reach the entrance, I want you to start heading back to the safety of the city.”

“What do you mean? W-w-why do I need to take my sister to the city??” she stammered, her eyes showing that she was confused by the situation.

“There is no time to discuss this. You need to take your sister and run, now!” He yelled at her.

Shocked by Han raising his voice, she nodded her head and took her sister. The two of them were running the way they came, though it would take some time to reach where the primary force was waiting. He didn’t even bother telling her to report what was happening and run back to the city, cause there was nothing that could be done. The hornet’s nest was toyed with, and now the hornets were angry.

“Now you understand that with us nobles here, there is nothing for you commoners to worry about.” The girl arrogantly proclaimed, basking in the cheers of her fellow classmates. They hooted and cheered, making a lot of noise with the enthusiast cheering. Initially, there was only the sound of the students, but slowly a rumbling noise could be heard. It was very faint and distant, but slowly it rose in intensity like an approaching storm off in the distance. The cheering began to fade away, as people realized that there was some kind of noise, which was getting louder.

A few of the classmates looked at Han, looking for answers. He casually raised his hands and shoulders and said, “it might be a good time to run.”

The nobleman that approached him, earlier, scoffed at his suggestion and proceeded to equip is sword and shield. “Sounds like we have some guests to entertain.” He laughed, encouraging his fellow nobles. They laughed along with him and also began readying their weapons.

With everyone else looking forward to the approaching wave of monsters, the only person that didn’t look joyful was the noble girl that fired the spell. She shakily looked at Han, who glanced at her and gave her a smile. Seeing his smile, she took a step back, away from the thunderous noise.

“Where are Anacolis and Aracia, currently?” He asked Brittany.

Brittany looked preoccupied for several moments, and answered, “They are now on their way to our location. Anacolis informed me that they would be at our current location in a few minutes.”

“Hmmm… I suppose if they are already on their way here, then there is no reason to tell them not to come.” Though Han didn’t need the sisters to help, it felt nice to have such considerate creations who worried about him. “Since they are coming, I guess this means that we should play around with these monsters, for a bit.” He thought out loud. “Brittany, I want you to hold off the wave of monsters. Restrain yourself a bit, to let a couple of monsters through. People tend to appreciate the effort of others if they experience how difficult the task is.” He ordered her, musing about some things.

With a flash of light, Brittany equipped her armor and created two large broadswords. Walking to the front of the vanguard, she stood ready to take on the horde of monsters. The other students stared at her, not sure what she was planning. Many of them looked bewildered at how she was able to wield such heavy looking swords, on top of the weight of her armor.

From the darkness emerged a wave of creatures running towards them, some of them on the floor, ceiling, and walls. The only place that was free of monsters was the center of the tunnel, making it look like a giant worm was rushing towards them. Han walked a little to the side, to give himself a clear line-of-sight and patiently waited for them to get closer. A couple of the students, realizing what they were facing, began their chants and forming their mana into offensive spells. When they were finished, each of them fired various spells of different elements. Most of them were bolts of fire, ice, wind, and water. Though they would look impressive to students, they looked pitifully inadequate for the oncoming swarm. The few spells that hit a monster were shrugged off, doing no damage to the monsters. It was like shooting a gun at an oncoming train, the difference in force was too great to bridge.

“Fighters, line up in the front and prepare to receive the monsters’ charge. Those who have both fighting and magic skills, all of you need to be in the middle and protect the mages. Mages, line up in the back and start forming your spells and fire them. We are proud students of the top academy, so there is no need to be afraid.” the eager noble yelled out, rallying the students. Pointing at a team, he yelled, “go back to the primary force and alert them of the situation. We will need them to send reinforcements!!” Accepting their mission, the team ran back to the junction.

Han was pretty impressed at how the noble was taking charge. “I guess nobles are useful in some areas.” He murmured. “There is no way that they will be able to withstand the first attack, so let me give them a fighting chance,” Han said out loud, chuckling. Lifting his hand and pointing it ahead of him, he whispered, “incinerate.”

Streaks of flames flew down the tunnel, quickly turning everything in its path into ash. The flames were so intense that streaks of melted rock were left behind, replacing the relaxing bluish hue with a fiery light. Not seeming to care about the loss of their comrades, the monsters continued to rush forward. Cupping his hands together, Han imagined a flow of liquid lightning being formed into a ball. Sparks spat out from the globe of raw energy, as he poured more power into it. When it got to a sufficient size, he compressed it to the size of a marble. The energy resonated out of the marble, with Han being able to feel a force pushing him back. Closing his hand over the marble, making a fist, he made the motion of throwing a punch, and when his arm was nearly fully extended, Han opened his fist. Shooting out, the marble flew down the center of the tunnel. As the sphere of raw power reached the monsters, he pulled back his hand and made a clenching motion. With an intense light, the globe released hundreds of tendrils of lighting, charring everything the tendril touched. The globe flew down the center as it lay waste to everything it touched. Aside from monsters that weren’t killed, there was the smell of ozone in the air, the kind that is smelled after an intense thunderstorm.

With two large Area of Effect spells sent into the charging monsters, the number of them drastically diminished. All the students stared at him in amazement, with how strong his attacks were compared to the other mages. Seeing them staring at him, Han made a gesture towards the remaining monsters to remind them to not lose focus. The first person to engage the monsters was Brittany. Just as the monsters were leaping towards her, both of her broadswords were covered in large flames. As smooth as a hot knife slides through butter, the blade of one of her swords glided through the monster. Both halves of the creature continued to fly past, before landing on the ground and sliding to a stop. Slashing her blade upwards, a streak of flames cut into tens of monsters. Crouching to the ground, Brittany’s legs propelled her forward into the swarm. With mechanical precision, monsters were sliced apart.

The air was filled with the charred smell of grilled meat, causing several of the students to throw up onto the ground. Watching Brittany, they saw as she flew from one area to another, swinging her massive blades and causing streaks of fire, as if a giant animal was clawing the ground and leaving tracks. With some of the monsters heading towards them, the fighters were ready to meet the monsters that slipped past Brittany.

Selestra thought that she could show off her magic, to her classmates. Listening to that boy, Yi, talk about them needing to retreat made her annoyed. She thought it was ridiculous that someone wearing a white uniform would say something so cowardly. When she had unleashed her strongest spell, Bolt of Hellflames, she basked in the thunderous applause from the commoners. “This is why peasants are useless, and we, nobles, have to clean up their mess.” Selestra thought to herself, disgusted by such incompetent people being in her class. Since birth, she was raised to be a strong member of the House of Ignalis. Her father would hire mages to come and teach her how to boost of fire magic abilities. With her abilities, she was considered to have the greatest potential as a fire mage in the history of the House.

When she arrived at the academy and went through the examination process, she learned that her abilities landed her in the lower B-rank. For someone, her age to reach such a high level was extremely impressive. Her servants had showered her with praise, and she sent off a letter to her family to give them the good news. In this class trip, she was going to further demonstrate how great she was and increase her House’s prestige and power. Selestra’s father was a duke within the kingdom, so they received many favors from other houses. Considering that she was the third daughter, the pressure to perform better than her two older sisters was great. Becoming a duchess wouldn’t be possible, but if she performed well the title of Baroness would be possible. At the academy, those not meant to inherit titles would need to gain connections to improve their social and political status.

Given the opportunity to enter as part of the secondary force, first, would help her gain valuable experience and recognition. The forest was meant to have many monsters, but they didn’t run into any. Without killing monsters, it wouldn’t matter where they went cause no one would care. Splitting off from the main group, and going to kill monsters would let her have the most kills. With her fire skills, killing off monsters was nothing to worry about.

When she heard the rumbling noise, Selestra thought that it was just the clapping and cheering from her fans. It wasn’t until the noise was getting louder than her classmates that she realized that something was horribly wrong. The noise sounded like a distant storm heading their way. When the boy, Yi, suggested that they run, she understood what was coming towards them. Yi had said he sensed a large number of monsters and that they should go back, but being arrogant they didn’t heed his advice.

The sounds of thousands of feet rushing towards them were getting louder and seemed to drill into her mind. As it got louder, it felt like she was getting closer to death. Glancing over at Yi, to see if he knew what they should to, he only smiled at her as if telling her to prepare for her own death. Stepping back, the thought of running back to the primary force crossed her mind. Their teacher was an A-ranked adventurer, so surely she would be able to protect them. Though there was only one of her and thousands of monsters. It was unlikely that a single person would be able to hold off against such a force. Her whole body started to tremble in fear, it wasn’t until she felt a warm sensation on her legs did she realize how terrified she was.

Out of nowhere, fire streaks tore through the monsters and left behind molten rocks. Instead of the comforting blue glow from the walls, the tunnel turned into an inferno with the red glow flooding the tunnel. Even from where she was, Selestra could feel the radiating heat. Frantically, she looked around to see who had created such a strong spell. Her classmates were also looking around to find the culprit. While she searched, an intense bluish-white light suddenly appeared. Looking at her hair, she could see the tips sticking out and an invisible force pushing her back. Turning her head, she saw that Yi had a bright blue ball in his hands, It seemed to be made out of pure lightning, letting off crackling noises and a high whining sound. She couldn’t start directly at the ball, cause of how bright it was. Watching as Yi pulled his hand back, she wondered what he was planning on doing with that. Pushing his fist forward there was a loud crack, as a tiny ball flew towards the monsters. Then that small orb exploded, and tendrils of lightning radiated out, incinerating everything it touched. The air had a weird smell to it after the globe exploded. Her eyes opened wide as she tried to figure out how such a young looking boy had such power. Not even her father was as strong as he was. Did it mean that his uniform truly reflected his abilities? These thoughts raced through her mind. Suddenly, she felt the dirt on her legs, and turning her head she realized that her legs had given out. “What are we doing here?” She said out loud. Tears started to stream down her face, as she understood how serious of a situation this was. “We are going to all die here...” She whispered. Thinking back to her childhood, Selestra wondered what the point of all the training she went through was. Did she miss out on her childhood just to die in some hole in the ground?

Drowning in her despair, Selestra saw a creature running on all fours, several times bigger than her dog with insect wings on its back. Everything seemed to slow down, so she was able to see the four green eyes that stared back at her with cold apathy. The dirt being flung back by the force of its claws, as it rushed towards her. As it opened its massive jaw, she thought about how she wanted to meet a wonderful guy and have a happy wedding like her eldest sister. She remembered watching them dance during the wedding, her sister’s face having such a large smile and looking happy.

From out of nowhere a sword swung downwards and lopped off the monster’s head. The head flew away, and the body slid several feet on the ground. Not understanding what was happening, she could only stare at the body of the headless creature.

“Are you alright?” a voice asked her. Looking up, she saw that it was Yi holding out an arm to help her back up.

“How...” was all that she could say.

“I could not let such a stunning woman be eaten by a monster, now could I?” He spoke, grinning at her.

In the background, Selestra could hear the sounds of people screaming and the flashes of spells being cast. In her chest, she could feel the pumping of her heart. Taking Yin’s hand, she got back on her feet but fell into Yi’s chest. His arm wrapped around her shoulder and he held her, as she rested her head on his chest. “I am scared. I do not want to die.” She whispered, her tears starting back up again. The drops fell on his uniform.

“I will protect you,” Yi assured her, his breath hitting the top of her hair.

While she wondered how he was going to protect her in this nightmare, she heard him quietly say, “feel the power of absolute zero.” Looking up at him and then towards the monsters, Selestra felt a sudden chill, and the remaining monsters stopped in their tracks. They seemed to glitter like diamonds before they began to crumble. A mist of ice crystals was left behind, where all the monsters used to be. In the crystal fog, all she could hear was the groaning of her classmates that were injured during the attack. There were a couple of students that lay on the ground, not moving. When she realized that they were dead, she brought her hand to her mouth. She tried to keep back the feelings of grief that seemed to want to bubble out of her.

Looking up at Yi, she could feel her lips trembling, as a wail fought its way out. Yi looked down at her, seeing her streaks of tears on her face and her trembling lips. She imagined that he probably thought that she was an ugly and arrogant looking woman. This was all her fault. If she didn’t try to show off to her classmates, many of them would still be alive. As she stared into Yi’s eyes, she wanted to know if he knew how horrible and monstrous she was. While thinking about these things, she saw his head lowering towards hers and his eyes closing. The feeling of his lips on hers drowned away all other thoughts from her mind. Thoughts of the world around them fell away as she kissed him back.