"Hoo. You think the others would be okay?"
"They will be fine. It's no time to be worrying about others."
Van and his party were currently walking deeper into the woods. They have travelled quite a bit of distance from their rallying point, going through and the lush but spacious forest.
But although they were surrounded by trees, the scenery was eerily quiet. And even Van could only hear whispers and murmurings if he focused enough. For such a forest full of vegetation, there doesn't seem to be much of life.
"Ack. This is getting boring. I thought we were going into action as soon as we got inside the forest. There seemed to be a lot of them near the clearing, but why haven't we encountered a single one!?"
Hearing the impatient tone in Harvey's voice, Beatrice could not help but roll her eyes. "It's not all about fighting monsters, Harvey. If it was, they wouldn't be calling us Explorers."
"Oho, is that so?"
"Tch."
But although Beatrice was slightly annoyed with Harvey's endless complaints, she too was quite puzzled. They have been walking for more than 30 minutes now, and yet they have not seen even a single harpy, flying or otherwise.
They heard shouts from the other groups from afar at the beginning, so it would seem that they have encountered their fair share of battles, but now, it was complete silence. Only the scratching of the branches entered her ears, only the breaths of the earth welcomed them in the forest.
"Gah!"
And the peace was broken by Harvey once again.
"Shh. Are you trying to attack monsters?" Beatrice quickly covered Harvey's mouth.
"Y...yesh?" Harvey's words muffled through Beatrice's fingers.
"I feel like you're underestimating our situation too much."
"It's only a Rank F Portal", Harvey waved his hand as he tried to recover his breath, "Even Mr. Jacobs' said that even newly awakened System Holders could clear it, that means with the four of us, this Portal is easy-peasy."
Hearing the confidence in Harvey's tone, Beatrice once again let out a sigh. Seeing as Harvey could take on Edward's advance head-on, then the harpies of a White Portal would definitely not even be a challenge to him.
"Anyway, like I said. Our goal here is not to kill monsters in the first place. It's to let us experience what it's like being an Explorer. If we have to wait for a few hours, then that just means that it's part of the experience. Isn't that right, Miss Gemma?"
"Ack." Harvey once again voiced out his boredom as he walked in front of the group, pushing away the branches that blocked their path.
Gemma, on the other hand, could only nod her head. She was currently thinking if she was even needed here in the first place. Van is considered to be the Number 1 freshman. Beatrice was also well-known and was actually also a choice for the Student Council.
Harvey… well, he is a Lauder. He's probably strong as well. These three alone could probably clear this Portal on their own.
But most importantly… Victoria was here. What if something happens to her during the exercise? She would surely be the one to be blamed since she is their supervisor.
What if her grandmother blames her? She's done… she's so done. Charlotte Gates would probably squash her into a paste, and then use that paste to write on her grave. But then there wouldn't be a grave since she wouldn't really have a body left to bur--
"!!!"
Her thoughts were then disrupted by the sound of something rustling in front of them.
"Be on guard", she quickly said as she slowly made her way behind Victoria.
Beatrice quickly summoned a gust of wind in front of her, "Wait for it to--"
"I got this!"
Before Beatrice could finish her words, Harvey suddenly rushed forward towards the rustling bush.
"Harvey, don't be reckless!"
And as Harvey was halfway to the bush, a shriek echoed and a harpy leaped out towards him, its sharp and large talons threatening to decapitate his head. But alas, the difference in strength was too much.
Harvey casually pushed away the harpy's feet and caught it by the neck, gripping it tight. The harpy struggled, its tiny hand that protruded from its wings trying to get Harvey's hand away.
"Kraa!"
Harvey stared the harpy straight in the eye, looking at himself through its reflection.
"What are you doing!? Kill it!"
"T… this?" Harvey could not help but gulp as he let out a stutter, "Do… do we need to?" Harvey felt his breaths become heavy as his eyes remained looking at the harpy's eyes. The harpy's shrieks enter into his ears as cries of mercy.
This harpy is alive… moving. He knows he could crush its soft neck. But still, its neck felt like the strongest metal to Harvey, his fingers unable to press them down even no matter how much strength he puts in it.
"Tch."
Harvey then flinched as he felt a breeze, he then felt something warm splashing onto his face. The harpy in front of him no longer struggled, and he could feel its blood trailing on his hand.
"T…" Harvey could not help but slightly back away as his hand let go of the harpy. Beatrice summoned a sharp gale straight towards the harpy's neck.
Looking at the harpy's now mutilated face, Harvey ran to the nearest tree and kneeled, the sound of him retching echoing through the forest.
"..."
Gemma could not help but sigh as she saw Harvey's reaction. This was actually the first lesson of the exercise-- learning how to kill a monster. Fighting is one thing, but no one would truly know how one would react if they had to kill.
The Academy always chooses their student's first Portal carefully… and consistently. They always choose a Portal that has monsters resembling that of a human's, so when the time comes… They will not hesitate when they see the face of death, literally.
And it would seem that Harvey failed his first test.
Van also looked at Harvey, but not in the way that others looked at him. The harpy… was scared, begging for its life moments before it died-- Van heard its pleas.
If Harvey knew of that, would he even have the strength to continue anymore?
If Beatrice knew of that, would she still be as relentless and not hesitate?
Perhaps something that he should just keep to himself, he thought.
It took a few minutes before Harvey calmed down, his gifts well received by the trees. And as soon as he was done puking his guts out, he burst out in laughter.
"Gahaha! What was that, a bug got inside my mouth!"
"I saw no bug," Victoria quickly replied.
"..."
And so, the group just continued walking, no longer hearing Harvey's excuses. But as the group continued exploring the forest for another half an hour, their trek was once again met with only silence.
"Hm… something is really weird."
Only Beatrice had only been in a few Portals, she knew enough that something wasn't right. An hour of scouring the woods, and yet only a single harpy?
Gemma as well, could not help but agree. It was fine for the first 30 minutes, seeing as there were 20 of them inside the Portal. But now, everything just went awfully quiet.
They could not even hear the shouts of the other groups anymore. That would mean they also have not encountered any monsters along the way.
"We… should go back and regroup," Gemma said as she stopped walking. The others all looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Continuing deeper into the forest would most likely just waste their time.
But as soon as they turned around, the whole forest seemed to tremble as the sound of leaves endlessly falling to the ground chattered into their ears.
"!!!"
"Duck!"
"What!? Where!?"
"!!!" Van's eyes sparkled as he turned to look at the rustling noise behind them, turning on his skills.
And there, harpies were currently on their way to them, their wings stretched and they numbered more than a hundred.
***
"Chairman. I have news for you about the kid."
"Oh… Have you questioned Lauder's men?"
Chris was currently inside the Explorer Association Chairman's office. There were slight bags under his eyes, but still, his eyes contained a hint of fire.
"Yes. And we have confirmed that the one who attacked them was none other than the boy who Sarah is currently sponsoring."
"I see", the Chairman stroked his rugged beard as he continued to work on his papers, not even looking at Chris.
"Then have your men report their findings to the city guards, we have more important things to discuss than to trouble ourselves with my granddaughter's playthings."
"There… is actually one more thing I have not reported to you yet since Sarah asked me to keep it a secret."
"Oh, out with it then."
"The boy… killed his father."
"What!?"
Hearing Chris' words, the Chairman suddenly stood up from his seat and slammed his palm on his desk, breaking it in half.
"That is a grave sin! Do you know what our holy government would do if they found out my family is harboring something like that!?" The Chairman roared, the finesse and grace that he had could no longer be seen.
"Yes. That is why I chose to report it to you, Chairman. Even at the expense of my friendship with Sarah being broken."
"I have already been lenient enough to let Sarah remain into this house, I will be damned by the Gods if I let another one in! Get me a mount, I would go to the city guards myself!"