CHAPTER 38: ANGELICA’S REWARD

After the tents were erected, the students were asked to assemble at the front end of the camp. Sankul stood at the forefront, ready to instruct and guide the students through the next phase.

"Before we proceed to anything else," Sankul began, his voice echoing through the forest, "there are a few important rules and expectations I must make clear."

"First of all," he continued, "students from Batch 1 and Batch 2 are allowed to go up to 7 kilometres deep into the forest. You all are an experienced bunch as this is your third camp and I do not need to give a lot of guidance to you all."

"In that range, you will mostly encounter F Rank beasts, and perhaps a few E Rank ones. However, since most of you are already at the E Rank and possess some experience, you should be able to handle it."

He continued, "Students from Batch 3 and Batch 4 are permitted to venture up to 4 kilometres. This zone contains only F Rank beasts."

"And finally," his gaze shifted, "students of Batch 5 and Batch 6, those of you with no prior experience are only allowed to go as far as 2 kilometres. This zone also contains only F Rank beasts but the beasts are not your problem. Most will have already been dealt with by students of other batches and if something is left, it will be dealt by the teachers. You all should be focused on picking up herbs or any other material you feel."

A few murmurs of protest stirred among the students of the fifth and sixth batches, but Sankul ignored them.

"We will try to create an opportunity for you to engage with a beast or two," he added, "so be mentally prepared for it."

"Right now," he continued his voice slightly tense. "There are 24 teachers at the camp and tomorrow few more teachers will be joining us. We will try our very best to not get any harm even close to us."

"But I cannot rule out any untoward accident," he sighed. "You must all remain cautious and must always think before you act."

He then raised a small red, rectangular token in his hand. "This is a signal token."

Without warning, he crushed the token in his palm. A flare of deep red light burst upward into the sky, climbing high enough to be visible from quite a distance.

"Each of you will receive two of these. You must tie them to your wrists. Not in your pockets, not in your bags. On your wrists. The moment you sense danger, crush the token. It will signal us instantly. No hesitation."

"I do not want to hear later that someone died or was seriously injured because they were too slow or too proud to crush their token."

"Am I clear?" His voice boomed across the camp.

A chorus of affirmations followed.

The signal tokens were then distributed among the students. Each had a sturdy thread attached, allowing them to be tied securely around the wrist. Athar, like the others, tied one to each of his wrists

"Now," Sankul continued as the tokens were distributed, "about what we need to do immediately and for the remaining four days."

"We need food," he said. "And we need to gather that from the forest only."

"We can find quite a few varieties of fruits, but only fruits would not be sufficient. We need beast meat too to survive," he said.

Following this, a squad of 20 students was formed from the first four batches and was given the responsibility of hunting the beasts. Another squad was formed to work on the carcasses and extract the meat, and yet another was tasked with preparing food from the raw meat.

A nearby stream was identified as the water source, and separate squads were assigned to fetch the water needed for food preparation.

As Athar carried a bucket of water, he could not quite fathom the chaos at the camp. It did not look like a camp of students who had come to gain strength or seek experience. It felt more like they were being trained for military purposes. And as that thought struck Athar, a realisation dawned on him.

They were obviously being trained to cooperate in large numbers. The perimeter... the orderly discipline... the squad divisions—everything resembled a military structure. And the more Athar thought about it, the deeper that realisation crept into him.

Although he was not sure of the aim or the purpose of this, Athar was certain that were in a sense being trained militarily. And no matter how much he tried to ignore it from his mind, he could not unsee what he had already realised.

"Anything on your mind, Athar?" Ryler questioned as he walked alongside him carrying the water bucket.

Athar shook his head.

"You looked lost," Ryler commented in whisper but did not press the issue.

By the time night climbed in, the food had been prepared and distributed uniformly among the students. For those used to luxurious meals, it tasted rather bland, and there were a lot of complaints and grumbling.

The thought that they would have to eat the same food for the next few days made the taste even more unbearable. But there was nothing they could do about it.

Athar, though he too had become used to the fine food of the academy, did not find any problem eating it.

Following the meal, three squads of students were selected to stay awake and guard the perimeter in turns. Athar was selected for the first squad. Teachers too were selected for the role.

More than a couple of hours had passed since Athar had begun his watch near the perimeter when he sensed a presence approaching him from behind.

He turned around to see Miss Angelica walking toward him with a smile on her face.

"Enjoying this experience, Athar?" Angelica asked as she came to stand beside him. "Something like this for the first time is truly memorable."

Athar shrugged. "Hard to say for now. But I do not think, plucking herbs would be a thrilling or exciting thing to do."

Angelica chuckled as she looked at him. "You are a tough nut to crack, Athar."

Athar did not quite understand what she meant, nor did he ask.

"Are you not eager for the reward I promised you?" she asked.

Athar nodded. "I am eager. But I thought you would give it to me when the time was right."

"Haha!" Angelica let out a soft laugh. "You are quite gullible too."

"Follow me," she said.

Athar looked at her, confused. Follow her? At this time? Where?

"Come, Athar," she added with a smirk. "I am not going to eat you."

"But my watch," Athar began to protest, until his eyes caught Sankul standing a short distance away, giving him a nod.

With no other choice, Athar started following Angelica.

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