CHAPTER 36: DEPARTURE

When Athar arrived at the gates of the academy, a large crowd of students had already gathered. They had been divided into six groups according to their batches.

Four teachers stood in front of the sixth group. Athar recognized two of them—Angelica and Sankul. The other two were unfamiliar middle aged men.

Similarly, each batch had four teachers assigned to it, all standing in front of their respective groups.

Six large buses stood parked nearby likely for transporting them to their destination.

Athar’s yellow grade sword was strapped securely to his waist, and a small bag hung over his shoulder. Inside it, he carried the five beast cores allotted to him as part of his cultivation quota. He had no intention of letting the camp delay his progress, so he decided to bring all the cores along.

After all, the maximum duration a camp could last was no more than five days and he could afford to carry them all. Not counting the additional ones, he had acquired after killing Dervin.

Along with the cores, Athar had also carried along the two healing pills. Though he doubted he would need them, he believed in being prepared. A little precaution cost nothing, but it could mean everything when things went wrong.

"Athar, over here!" He heard Ryler calling out, waving energetically.

Athar walked over to join the sixth batch’s group. Like Athar, most of the students including Ryler, were carrying bags over their shoulders.

"Good morning, Ryler," Athar greeted.

"Good morning, Athar," Ryler replied enthusiastically. "Excited for your first camp?"

Athar gave a slight smile. "Somewhat. But just plucking herbs and picking through leftovers does not sound very exciting to me. Even so, I cannot deny that it is going to be beneficial."

"Haha!" Ryler laughed. "Yeah, but if you want the thrill of hunting beasts, this is the first step that everyone had to take."

He leaned closer, lowering his voice slightly. "And maybe... maybe will get one or two chances to actually fight a beast."

Athar nodded, considering the possibility. It was not impossible. For a student, even an average F rank, facing and killing an F rank beast was not too difficult, unless the beast’s grade or traits made it unusually dangerous.

Humans at the same rank had the advantage. They worked in pair with their own beast companion. It was like a two versus one fight. That coordination often made all the difference.

But risks always came with beast hunts.

First, the beast might not be alone. Majority of the beasts, especially in lower ranks, roamed in packs, and if you were not careful, you could be ambushed mid fight by others lurking nearby.

Second, there was no guarantee that an F rank student would only face an F-rank beast. An E-rank might appear suddenly out of nowhere taking the student by surprise.

Other batches had been trained to handle such situations. They had experience, protocols, reflexes forged in training.

The sixth batch, on the other hand, had none of that yet. If something went wrong, if panic set in, many of them might freeze in the face of danger. Nervousness and hesitation might take over them and they would be unable to react to a dangerous situation. And in the wild, hesitation often meant death.

Athar’s train of thought was interrupted when a small commotion erupted near the fourth batch’s group.

"There she is," Ryler muttered with clear annoyance.

Athar did not need to be a genius to know who he meant. Alice Aquila.

Over the past two weeks, Athar had seen her a few times, mostly in the dining hall. And every time, chaos seemed to trail behind her like a shadow.

But to be fair, Athar could not blame Alice for the disruption or the noise that always surrounded her.

The truth was simple. It was not Alice causing the chaos. It was the male students, all too eager to catch her attention.

Some of them even resorted to ridiculous stunts and foolish bravado, hoping to stand out.

But Alice? She was like a statue carved from ice and steel—cold, calm, and unmoved. Her face remained neutral or impassive, and no matter what happened around her, her expression rarely changed.

Athar shook his head in amusement. No doubt, Alice was one of the most beautiful females in the entire academy but Athar could never understand this obsession. But he did not understand that not every one of them was as dedicated as him towards increasing their strength.

"Good morning, everyone," Sankul’s voice rang out, drawing the attention of all six batches of students.

"It seems everyone is already here," he said, likely doing a quick mental headcount. "Now, I want each of you to form a straight line and board the bus in an orderly manner. No chaos. No pushing. No shoving."

"Your names will be entered into the register just before you step inside the bus, and I do not want any disorder or mistakes during this process," his voice boomed with authority. "The rest of the details will be shared inside the bus."

"Am I clear?" he asked firmly.

The students replied in unison and began moving into formation.

One by one, the students started boarding the buses. The two unfamiliar teachers stood by the entrance, recording each name in a register as they passed.

It took nearly fifteen minutes before the last student was seated. Naturally, Ryler ended up being Athar’s seatmate.

The bus began to move, and Sankul stood at the front, facing the seated students.

"First of all," he began, his voice calm but commanding, "welcome to your first beast hunting and resource gathering camp."

"There are a few things I need to make absolutely clear," he continued. "And I want each of you to etch this into your minds, especially because this is your first camp and you have no prior experience."

"The camp will last a full five days," he announced.

A wave of surprised murmurs spread through the students at the unexpected length of the expedition.

Sankul ignored the reactions and pressed on. "There will be several rules to follow throughout the duration of the camp, but there is one rule that stands above all else. One that is non-negotiable and must be followed under every circumstance."

He paused briefly, his sharp eyes scanning the crowd.

"That rule is: You will obey every word I or any of the other teachers speak- to its last meaning. It does not matter if what I say contradicts all the other rules, goes against some previous instruction, goes against your expectations, or even if you do not understand it."

"It. Does. Not. Matter."

"My word is law. Any disobedience," his voice deepened, "will be punished—severely."

As he finished, a suffocating, heavy aura surged from him—a silent warning that left no doubt in anyone’s mind: disobedience was not an option.

The students had no choice to nod as they gulped at this sudden ferocious demeanour of Sankul.

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