CHAPTER 211: SAMANTHA’S SECRET

Some time later, Gabriel arrived before the front gate and found several students, both male and female, waiting for him patiently.

As soon as they saw his tall frame, they immediately began to whisper amongst themselves. Although they were whispering, their voices couldn’t escape Gabriel’s sharp senses.

"Damn, it’s truly him."

"Is he the guest instructor the headmistress mentioned?"

"I hope so. With someone as powerful as him, this would be our best excursion mission!"

In front of the group stood a slim blonde beauty in a tailor-made suit that clung to her body, highlighting all her curves.

"Sir Gabriel, are you the one we’ve been waiting for?" the woman asked in a professional tone, stretching out her slim hand.

Gabriel shook it and nodded, not bothering to say too many words.

"My name is Clair," the instructor said with a light smile.

What Gabriel didn’t know was that his simple actions would stir quite the ripple among the students.

After confirming that he would be tagging along, their whispers skyrocketed. The females were visibly more excited, giggling nonstop and sneaking glances at him.

Gabriel remained calm; it wasn’t the first time he had been placed in the spotlight and subjected to such scrutiny. After several similar situations, it was only natural to get used to it.

"Shall we proceed then?" he asked, moments later, staring directly at Clair, who blushed and nodded more times than necessary.

"Hahahaha, even Miss Clair is smitten by his looks," came a teasing voice, followed by a giggle from a group of girls. Neither Gabriel nor Clair failed to notice.

Clair’s ears burned as she cleared her throat.

Gabriel subconsciously wondered how his natural charm could be this effective. ’So what would happen if I used that skill I extracted from that Goblin General?’

He couldn’t even begin to imagine how people, especially the opposite gender, would react.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to learn any more skills until he completed his first class advancement quest.

The vehicle prepared for the excursion was a large armored bus, big enough to fully contain all members of the elite class—about forty in total.

Gabriel sat at the front beside the driver, while Clair, as the students referred to her, stayed near the back.

"I’m a huge fan of yours," the driver said enthusiastically as he started the engine.

"That’s nice to know," Gabriel replied, quickly changing the subject. "How sturdy is this vehicle?"

The driver’s eyes glinted as he began to speak excitedly about its durability. Gabriel didn’t really care to hear his rambling, but it was better than listening to the same praises repeated over and over.

Some time later, the bus left the city and entered the wilderness. Gabriel was handed a map, and after carefully studying it, he realized their destination was far from his camp. It would take a full day of nonstop driving to reach—longer if they rested.

"Aleveron Range," he read aloud. One thing he had come to understand was that the people of the Valerian Kingdom held their hero king in very high esteem.

One proof of this was the multiple statues of the king spread across the city, and places named after him.

Gabriel couldn’t help but wonder how the citizens would react if they ever realized he had extracted the remains of their beloved king.

Did he care what they thought? Definitely not! The only reason he hadn’t gone further was because he lacked sufficient extraction points.

’Thinking about that, I need to visit that place again.’

It didn’t take long for them to reach their first stop. Under Gabriel’s watchful gaze, the students were ordered by Clair to set up temporary camps.

"Here you go... there’s just one left, you can have it," Clair said, handing him a tent.

"Thank you, but my job here isn’t to lie in tents. You can keep it or give it to the driver." He politely declined and walked away.

She stood there slightly embarrassed, though smart enough to understand his reason.

"You can have it then," she said, passing it to the driver.

"No, miss, you need it more than I do. Besides, I can sleep in the vehicle," he replied.

"I insist," Clair said firmly, then glanced in Gabriel’s direction. "I want to keep watch as well."

The driver found this odd. It wasn’t the first time he had accompanied her on excursions, and she usually preferred the tents. Either way, he shrugged and accepted it.

Gabriel sat on a nearby stone hill. From there, he had a clear view of the clearing below where the students were and beyond.

His senses spread wide; after all, the elite class was very important, and there were plenty of people with bad intentions who would want to cut off their wings before they could even fly.

Suddenly, Gabriel sensed a figure approaching. From the scent alone, he could tell it wasn’t Clair.

"Sir Broken," a voice called out.

’A player... already in the elite class this early?’ Gabriel was slightly surprised when he saw the person and the name hovering above their head.

The student had raven hair that framed her face and cascaded down her temples, making it hard to see her features clearly. Still, he could tell she was pale—perhaps too pale.

"My name is Samantha," she introduced herself, looking to be around seventeen or eighteen.

"It’s quite rare to see an otherworlder make it into the elite class..." Gabriel commented.

"Oh, about that." Samantha blushed, scratching her neck and speaking in a soft voice. "I was lucky."

’Or just really talented?’ Gabriel thought but didn’t say aloud. Instead, he assumed a serious expression and asked, "How can I help you?"

"Right." Samantha began to fidget as if contemplating what to say.

Gabriel was already imagining some crazy stuff she might want to say and was prepared to shun her.

He had clearly seen how the female students reacted around him... could it be she was about to confess her feelings, or was it something else?

"Sir, this is a secret and I’ve never told anyone," she began. "I initially wanted to keep it hidden for as long as I could, but I know sooner or later people would find out."