Chapter 151: Departure

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[Profile]

Name: Cedric Stormrider

Age: 21

Race: Human III

Classes: Luminous Sage (Main), Demon Slayer (2nd), Alchemist 50/100 (Sub)

Level: Tier 4 Lv.1

Titles: Son of Heaven, Master Smith (+4)...

System Authority: Lv.8

Companion Beast: Aurelion (Radiant Sunlion) T1 Lv.5

Aptitude:

Body: EX!

Energy: EX!

Spirit: EX!

Final rating: EX+

Skills:

Actives: Sword Intent Lv.99, Kickboxing (M), Iron Skin (M), Multi-Stab (M), Air-Hop (M), Lightspeed Lv.76, Dispel (M)

Passives: Elementary Sage Physique (U), Sage's Perception (U), Education Lv.120, Demon Lore (M), Slayer's Mark Lv.25, Sage Arts Lv.90, Marksmanship (M).

Sub-Class Skills: Focus (M), Decode (M), Symbol Mastery (M), Crafting (M), Metallurgy (M), Smith's Blessing (M), Repair (M), Essence Distillation Lv.50, Vitality Infusion Lv.50

[Mandatory Task:]

: Hell Dive - Survive the Endless Undead Horde for 6 hours twice.

: Rewards - 100% Demon Soul gain, Clearance Streak +1

: Punishment for Failure - Failure Streak +1.

: Record: Clear Streak - 16, Failure Streak - 0

With no other options left, he could only stay and stave off the loneliness he felt. It's not that bad yet and he could still endure it. He just hopes that the girls return soon.

Just like that, days passed by quickly and the day of their departure arrived.

The freshman students were all gathered at the plaza, waiting for the rest of their batchmates to arrive before leaving.

Cedric was already here, packed and ready to go. Aside from a small backpack filled with a change of clothes and sealed rations, he bought nothing else. He even left his inventory mostly empty by placing them at a bank.

And just to prepare for the worst scenario, he signed a will. Yes, he did.

It says that if something were to ever happen to him during this excursion, all of the assets he had - wealth, status, treasures, etc, would all be transferred equally to Erica and Chrissy. If the girls are unavailable to claim this, they will all be donated to RMC and his chosen orphanage.

Of course, Cedric wasn't planning to die out there. It's just for the worst-case scenario. It wouldn't hurt to be prepared, that's all.

Cedric noticed that just like before, Orion was already here with them, he was just hiding his presence nearby, waiting until every student appeared or until the agreed time.

As soon as the last student arrived, Orion calmly broke his cover and appeared in front of them like a ghost.

He regarded the Freshmen with serious expression before saying: "I hope you already prepared well, because whether you're ready or not, we will be leaving now."

Orion then whistled and all of a sudden, a portal appeared behind him. From there, a flying bus emerged, honking merrily as it approached the nervous students.

"Get in, all of you." Orion commanded.

The freshmen scrambled to get it to the bus. As if their seating location would change anything. Cedric didn't even bother competing with them. He waited until the majority of his batchmates got in before getting in himself.

He already knew that the first three rows of seats closest to the driver were empty because he had seen it with his senses even before he got in. Shrugging to himself, he chose to sit in the 2nd row to the right, next to the window.

As soon as everybody was in, Orion signaled the driver to move along. And the bus began to fly.

"The Starlight Royal Academy is close to the Eastern Walls..." Orion announced to get their attention. "...that's where we're headed today."

"Your mission is simple. Once we got there and you've settled in, you'd be divided into groups of five. The team you get is final so be professional and work together."

"Each team will be assigned a Team Leader coming from the Military Camp. They'd be supervising your mission and will teach you how to do it properly. Take note that they are not your babysitters. Once there, you are expected to respect and follow their law, and should you violate any of their rules, even the Headmaster wouldn't be able to save you from their punishment."

Orion's words caused the already nervous students to feel more dread creeping up their spine.

"If I were you, I'd treat this seriously. If you think that I was just scaring you when I said that you might die here, then you're done for. Remember that you signed something pertaining to that. Those are official documents for a reason. We wouldn't go that far for a mere prank."

The students gulped nervously. Nobody really doubted his words...openly, that is. For some students, some of part of them wished that this was indeed just a prank and that the Instructor was just testing their resolve. However, from what Orion said and how serious he looked just now, it seems that it truly isn't a joke or a prank. They might really be in danger here."

A bout of silence permeated the bus. The students were starting to feel nervous, especially those who were looking out the window because they could see that the skies were turning darker and darker even though it was supposed to be morning right now.

[Alert! You are approaching the border of Human Territory. Please be advised that your signal with the Acala System will start to become weaker the further you go in. System Functions might stop working after a certain distance.]

[If you didn't mean to arrive at this location, please turn around and leave. The area behind the walls is filled with dangers that not even the System could accurately calculate.]

Cedric wasn't the only one who received this notice.