Chapter 47: Draven starts the test, but without knowing what awaits him.

Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Draven starts the test, but without knowing what awaits him.

The next morning, the students gathered in front of one of the academy’s outdoor facilities.

The sky was clear and the temperature was pleasant.

Several transport carriages waited to take them to the forest, and Draven arrived accompanied by Taliah, who seemed especially cheerful.

"Did you sleep well?"

She asked.

"More or less."

"Were you nervous, by any chance?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because of the test."

"No, it wasn’t that."

Taliah smiled.

"Then I guess I won’t have to worry about you."

"I’d prefer if you didn’t."

"That’s going to be hard."

"..."

"Just try not to get into trouble."

Draven looked at her.

"Why do you always assume that?"

"Because I know you."

Before Draven could answer, they heard a familiar voice.

"Good morning, little monsters!"

Ari appeared accompanied by Jorvan and other teachers.

The professor was wearing practically the same clothes as the day before, but at least this time she didn’t have any bottle in sight, or so Draven thought.

’I should appreciate it. It’ll be one of the few times I’ll see her without one in her hand.’

"I’m glad to see that everyone arrived on time."

Ari commented, to which Jorvan sighed.

"Professor Torvellan, please try to maintain a professional attitude as much as possible."

"Of course, you grumpy forty-something..."

"What do you mean grumpy!? Anyway, I just hope you haven’t been drinking this morning."

"Such little faith in me."

"Have you been drinking?"

"...no..."

"Look me in the eyes, Ari."

"Well, maybe a little."

Jorvan closed his eyes.

"I need a vacation."

The trip to the forest lasted approximately one hour.

When they finally arrived, Draven could see that the place was considerably larger than he remembered.

An extensive fence reinforced with magic marked the boundaries of the grounds administered by the academy, and beyond it stretched an enormous forested region.

The trees were tall and the vegetation grew denser the farther one moved from the entrance.

There were also several watchtowers nearby.

’This didn’t exist in the game.’

The students got down from the carriages and gathered in front of a platform that Ari climbed onto.

"Alright, before we begin, a few additional instructions."

One of the teachers raised a small box containing several crystals.

"Each of you will receive an emergency magic mark."

Ari explained.

"If you find yourselves in a situation you can’t handle, you can activate it to withdraw."

"How does it work?"

A student asked.

"You simply need to concentrate a small amount of mana into the mark and speak the activation word."

Ari raised her own arm and showed a glowing symbol.

"The mark will send a signal to the teachers and activate an extraction mechanism that will pull you out of the test zone."

"And if we use it?"

Another asked.

"You’ll be disqualified."

Some students began to murmur.

"But you’ll still be alive."

Ari added.

"And that is far more important."

Her expression turned serious.

"Listen carefully. If you think you’re going to die, use the mark. I don’t want to be searching for the corpses of any of you who believed your pride was more important than your life."

No one replied, so the teachers began placing the marks on the participants’ arms.

When his turn came, Draven felt a small concentration of mana on his skin and a blue symbol appeared near his right wrist.

’Interesting.’

He briefly examined the magical structure. It seemed to be a transportation mechanism linked to a safety network installed around the forest.

It wasn’t especially complex, but it required a considerable amount of energy to function properly.

’I guess the academy doesn’t skimp on resources.’

Once the distribution was finished, Ari pointed to the map again.

"There are also restricted zones."

Several regions appeared marked in red.

"You’ll find barriers, signs, and magical marks indicating their boundaries, so do me a favor and don’t go in there."

"Is that where they keep the creatures that are too dangerous?"

A young man asked.

"That’s right."

"Are they dangerous even for the strongest students?"

Ari smiled.

"Especially for those who think they’re too strong."

Taliah studied the map with interest, but Draven, for his part, noticed an important difference.

’That northern region was open in the videogame.’

Now it appeared completely restricted.

’They definitely changed several things.’

The professor continued explaining that each participant had to personally recover one of the magical objects and return before six hours had passed.

The objects carried a special seal that would allow verification of who had collected them, and additionally, the students would enter through different access points to prevent them from gathering immediately.

"Deliberately cooperating to complete the test is prohibited."

Ari added.

"But if you find someone in danger, you may help them. So don’t confuse an individual evaluation with an excuse to abandon your classmates."

Draven nodded.

’At least that rule makes sense.’

Finally, the teachers began calling the students. Taliah was assigned to one of the western access points, while Draven, on the other hand, had to enter through the eastern sector.

"Well, looks like we’ll have to split up."

She commented.

"Seems so."

"Be careful."

"I will."

"And don’t try to do anything stupid."

"Could you have a little more confidence in me?"

Taliah smiled.

"I trust your skills."

"Then..."

"Your decisions? Not so much."

"..."

Before leaving, Taliah gave him a light pat on the shoulder.

"See you at the exit."

Draven watched her walk away.

’I should definitely worry more about her personality than about the test.’

When he received the starting signal, Draven entered the forest and the first few minutes passed without incident.

He advanced among the trees while carefully observing the terrain.

Unlike other students, he had no intention of running desperately in search of an object; first he needed to get his bearings.

’If I remember correctly, there should be a small stream to the northeast.’

After walking for several minutes, he found the stream.

’Perfect.’

At least some features of the map were still the same.

Draven continued advancing while avoiding several areas where he detected concentrations of mana belonging to creatures.

On one occasion he came across a small group of gray-furred wolves resting near some roots, so he changed direction to avoid waking them.

Farther ahead he heard the roar of a larger beast and decided to avoid it by circling around the place where the sound came from.

Thanks to his knowledge of the videogame, he knew that many creatures had fairly predictable behaviors.

Some protected specific territories, others only attacked when one got too close to their young, and a few could be avoided simply by staying out of their field of vision.

’This test is going to be pretty straightforward.’