Free and Unfettered 21 Leaving Them To Fend For Themselves

Thinking up to this point, she snapped the book she had been carrying in her hands shut, jolting the students out of their learning trance.

"Gather your things. We'll be having a one week field trip."

Deltan immediately felt a chill run down his spine at the barely visible smirk on his younger brother's face. He had a bad feeling about this.

The students quickly gathered their things, puzzlement showing on their faces.

"Teacher, I don't remember you telling us about a trip outside of the city," a bespectacled student asked. Brown hair and brown eyes, he looked like a gentle and unassuming scholar. He had black frames in the shape of a circle which almost took up half of his face. For a twenty-six year old, he had a baby face which suited his fluffy light brown hair surprisingly well.

Nine's lips quirked more before she regained her normal emotionless face.

The female students inwardly squealed while the males were slightly dazzled.

"That's because I didn't," she said.

Before any of them could react, she whisked them all off in a large-scale teleportation to the Forest of Calamity that she had been frequenting with Deltan everyday after class ended.

"I'll give you five minutes to send a transmission to whoever you need to let them know where you are."

The moment they settled and looked at her with curious but trusting eyes, she spoke. "One day is how long I'll stay with you and protect you. After that, you're on your own. The goal is to survive for seven days and nights. Each of you must hunt at least five First Tier Magic Beasts, three Second Tier Magic Beasts and one Third Tier Magic Beasts."

A few eyes widened with horror, and a couple of others looked nervous. Interestingly, Lucien, the brown-haired student who had raised a question before, looked calm and serene. He gave off the feeling of a scholar detached from the world.

Nine's eyes flashed with amusement. It looked like this fellow wasn't so simple! She eyed her group of twenty students, discretely imprinting a rune that would teleport them out the moment they faced death.

Reassured, she disappeared in front of their eyes, causing some students to gawk at the spot she had previously stood, looking lost.

Nine hid in the shadows, silently evaluating and following their movements. It was time to sift out the diamonds from the rocks.

There were five students that stood out starkly, whilst the rest were mediocre in her eyes.

Her elder brother, Deltan.

The brown-haired bespectacled student who looked like a scholar, Lucien.

Brooke, who was brash but had a steady and joyful heart when learning.

Aciel, a female in her late twenties with blonde colouring and blue eyes who looked like she was struggling in class.

Eden, who had black hair and green eyes coupled with a face and bearing that seemed completely ordinary, but had eyes that flashed with intelligence that others missed.

These were the five students who had caught her attention in the past week of teaching and observing. She looked forward to seeing if she was right, and she always was, and how they would react trying to survive a week in the Forest of Calamity.

The group was silent as they looked at each other.

"We have to find a source of water first. That's the most important thing. It gets dark early in the forest," Aciel said.

Aciel had taken a few trips to the forest, but it had only been to the outer regions, so she was slightly experienced, but it was more than the others who had never set foot outside of Cosmos City.

The rest agreed, immediately gathering their belongings and leaving. Some of them were cursing that they didn't bring anything relating to survival with them. They didn't even carry a water bottle, with how short classes were.

Gritting their teeth, they tried to be as silent as possible as they made their way through the forest, trying to avoid any Magic Beasts or monsters that lurked in the woods.

Amongst the students, Deltan was the most relaxed here. He almost felt like he could cry when put back here. Everything looked the same without Nine there to guide them. Although slightly nervous, he made sure to keep his body relaxed and not tensed so that he could react to any danger or threat almost instantaneously.

After trudging for roughly half an hour, the twenty students minus a few were already exhausted as they strained themselves, trying to take everything in as they stayed alert.

Nine shook her head.

Hearing gushing water, a student exclaimed. "Water! We finally found water!"

The female student next to him got a shock as she covered his mouth to prevent him making another sound.

It was only then that he realized his mistake. Hearts pounding, they strained their ears to see if anything had been alerted to their presence.

They only calmed down when nothing appeared after five minutes. Glaring at him, the female student let go of her hand as he laughed sheepishly.

Deltan took charge as no one seemed willing to step up to give instructions. He divided them into groups of five, four groups in total. He made sure that each group at least had one person capable of using healing magic and at least two bottles of water per group.

"Team one gather water. We have a few water bottles that we can split amongst ourselves. Team two, gather as many dry sticks so we can use it for a fire before it gets dark. Team three, collect something we can use for shelter and bedding. Team four will hunt for food. Remember, we have to come back and gather before it gets dark. If you encounter something you can't handle, shoot some magic into the sky."

The students nodded as determination filled them. There was no infighting amongst them as they headed out to carry out their tasks. The vast majority of them had already experienced the vicissitudes of life and were unlike fresh students in the normal stream without magic that were still young and green.

The youngest in the class was Deltan, who had just hit twenty, followed by students ranging from twenty-six to thirty-two. Some of them even had children already.

Inrerestingly enough, Deltan led the team with Aciel, Eden, Lucien and Brooke. Nine raised an eyebrow.

The group of five gathered in a circle as they discussed what they should hunt.

"I think we should avoid the Magic Beasts and just go for monsters," Aciel suggested, looking slightly worried.

"I disagree. Are monsters even edible? We don't know if they have poison that could kill us. We should hunt low-tiered Magic Beasts," Eden said.

"I agree. Even if we're able to use healing magic and detoxify, we shouldn't risk it," said Lucien, calmly analysing the facts. "Even if hunting monsters would be easier magic wise, we still have to complete the task Teacher set for us before seven days are up."

The rest of them nodded to agree. The group of five cautiously applied magic that would lighten footsteps and soften sounds. They moved as stealthily as possible within the vast greenery around them.

No matter how they tried to hide it, there was a nervousness in their footsteps.

Even Deltan was feeling the pressure. Every time he had come here, he knew that he had his younger brother to protect him, but there was no such safety net here now. More than that, he wanted to prove himself. Not just to his Fourth Imperial Brother, but more importantly to himself.

As he got beat down everyday, he couldn't help but think that he was just so worthless compared to his brothers. As the eldest prince, he actually had no particularly notable achievements to his name and was forced to rely on his mother's family. He didn't want to live like that anymore.

Quietly, the group of five finally crept up on a First Tier Magic Beast, which looked like a rabbit, as they took the necessary precautions.

Deltan launched Second Circle magic, Shadow Cage at the rabbit. The rabbit struggled viciously, realizing it had been caught. Its eyes flashed with hate as it opened its mouth, trying to use magic. Aciel attacked with her sword, instantly beheading it.

The five of them let out a breath. That didn't seem so bad.

Just as they were about to relax, Deltan heard a familiar sound.

Chapter end