Chapter 215: Journey to the mysterious volcanic zone, which wasn’t mysterious: Like totally, not mysterious at all!

Practical class today was simple- just go and hunt a specific Mutor.

But unfortunately, my team members weren't here. 

Marg was with mom and Clyde was nowhere to be found. 

"So, what should I do?"

Everyone was already in teams, all except me: typical. 

So I had no choice but to stand in front of the teacher, looking grumpy. 

None of those three girls followed me and I actually felt great about that. At least I didn't have distractions. 

"I'd have told you to go alone but- why don't you go with team Robert? You two are acquainted, yes?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I just have to aid them then?" Robert's team was pretty good- or so I'd heard. 

"Well, you'll be heading towards the volcanic zone today, so make sure nothing happens to them, that's your job. If you do well, I'll give you full marks in the midterms. Though I heard recently a snake's been running around and hunting the Mutors in that area, so I'd be careful." He came in close and placed a hand on my shoulder. "And if you happen to get me that Mutor- I'd make sure you get extra special prizes," He whispered. 

"Wait, you actually owed me a prize for winning last time." And I was kind of sick back then too, and yet, he made me fight. 

And wait, a snake eating Mutors? Why the hell did I just get a Deja vu?

He chuckled. "Well, how about I make your wife pass too? I heard you two were getting married soon? Both of you will pass with flying colors in both the midterms and the finals."

I kind of wanted to punch myself in the face for saying that in public just half an hour ago. If I hadn't said the stuff about me wanting to marry Marg, in class, this rumor wouldn't have spread like this. 

But still, what was done was done. "Yeah."

I so wanted to punch myself right now, though.

***

"SO, I'll be basically acting as your bodyguard today. Don't expect me to fight anything for you, and I pretty much won't do anything unless your lives are in danger, got it?" I was definitely going to step in if they wanted my help though but that was a different story. 

Robert's team included two guys I'd seen before but never interacted with. 

They just nodded and smiled and whatnot. 

Apparently, they were afraid of me. 

Most of the teams had already left and we had roughly an hour and a half.

"Alright, that's reassuring." Robert however was rather happy to see me. 

Today was my birthday and tomorrow was the tea party of the Battlesuins. 

Honestly, I wasn't feeling that reassured myself. 

But as I told myself before, I wanted to live life one step at a time. Worrying about the future wasn't going to make it better. 

'But isn't that just running away from reality?' My subconscious apparently wasn't helping. 

And I was getting late for my own birthday cake!

Sigh. 

***

Our destination was the volcanic region of this island. 

Last time, I made a mistake and went to the ice cave, and yeah, stuff happened. 

But maybe it wasn't so bad. If I hadn't made that mistake then it was possible my encounter with Marg wouldn't have happened at all. 

This time though, I knew where the volcano was. 

We'd still had to either cross the forest or the snowy plains. 

I sure wasn't going near the forest, so we chose the snowy plains- or rather I chose it and the group just accepted without even a single complaint. 

I felt bad for doing this to them but yeah, I sure didn't want bugs to crawl near me let alone over me. 

"This is cold you know!" Robert screamed. 

For some reason, there was a mild storm going around. It was just a blizzard.

Okay, maybe it wasn't so mild. 

"DO you want me to warm you guys up with microwave or infrared?" I was okay with both. 

We were dressed lightly for the volcano. So the cold, was extra cold for them.

"Yeah, we'll pass." Robert grimaced slightly. 

I didn't really feel that cold but- yeah, I had to admit it, it was cold out here. 

We were pretty much almost there though and soon we'd have to strip instead of clinging to our precious clothes.

After all, volcanoes were hot!

***

"WHOOOH!" Robert let out some air as he unbuttoned his shirt. 

Behind was a land filled with white cold snow and two guys who could barely keep up. They were sweating hard and both had their shirts on their waists. 

In front of us, however, was just plain land at first which gradually got brighter and brighter- of course, the bright color was red. 

"Well, let's go I guess." I also unbuttoned my shirt but kept it on. 

It'd pretty much get drenched soon but I wasn't stupid enough to go shirtless in a place like this. 

The two behind us had decent powers. One could control air while the other could run faster than sound, but honestly, we needed someone who could cool things down. The guy who could control air was trying his best to make some breeze, but the air was hot, so yeah, not that effective. 

Robert on the other hand had intelligence. He seemed pretty smart and so far I didn't see him using his power. He didn't need to. Last time, he messed with my head and paralyzed me for a second, so that was probably his power. 

"Are you sure there's something in there?" I was in front and the rest were behind me. 

There were large rocks here- cracks there. It was burning and we were dying.

"Yeah, according to the map the Mutors should just be up ahead."

Robert was behind me and the two behind him.

Three sweating guys was not a sight I wanted to see, but here I was. 

Glad I was in front. 

'But wait, didn't the teach say something about a snake?'