Chapter 63: Wilderness training course (2)
After eating, we rested for about fifteen more minutes before we returned to our hoverboard.
As for the tent, just like how I'd prepared it, all I needed to do was press a single button and the entire tent would return into a box on its own.
Three of us would continue to travel deeper into the Wilderness, reaching an area where it was mostly D-Rank monsters.
And since we would kill any monster they encounter, the three of us racked up 1000 points combined.
"The hunting ground for C-Rank monsters is only 50 miles away. We can get there in two hours, but it's a little risky to travel during the night." Nina said to us.
"There's no need to rush. We have a whole month out here. I'll set up the camp." I said.
"Okay." Tia nodded
After setting up the camp, I activated the concealment magic as well as the viewing function for the tent, which makes the walls inside the tent transparent, allowing the three of us to see the situation outside their camp without needing to go outside. However, if one were to look at us from the outside, they wouldn't be able to see the interior.
Next morning we started to move after having breakfast.
Sometime later, we stopped moving and stored away our hoverboards.
"We're here. The only monsters that roam this area are C-Rank monsters such as the Torment Vipers and Skinless Mongrels." Nina said to us.
"What kind of monsters are Torment Vipers and Skinless Mongrels?" I asked.
"Torment Vipers are snake-like monsters that can spit out deadly poison attacks. If their poison touches your skin even slightly, your entire body will be tormented with intense pain. However, they're not as dangerous if you attack them from a distance since their poison attacks only go as far as 10 meters."
"As for Skinless Mongrels, they're a dog-like creature with incredible agility and speed. They're magic users' worst nightmare."
"You're very knowledgeable for a student" I complimented.
"Well, this isn't my first time here, and I have fought these monsters before."
"Anyways, I will deal with the Torment Vipers with my magic since you mostly fight with a sword." Nina said.
"Alright. Then I and Tia will deal with the Skinless Mongrels." I nodded.
After wandering for a few minutes, we encountered our first C-Rank monster.
It was a Torment Viper. It had black scales with a shade of green near its tail, a pair of emerald eyes, and it was at least 20 meters in length with the thickness of two adult human bodies.
"I will handle this." Nina said as she raised her hand.
"Raise, my servants," she mumbled in a low voice.
The following moment, twenty skeleton warriors wielding swords materialized around the Torment Viper, surrounding it.
However, Nina wasn't done, as she summoned three more skeletons, but instead of swords, these skeletons were wielding a wooden staff.
While the skeleton warriors distracted the Torment Viper, the skeleton mages bombarded it with dark magic, killing it within seconds.
Sometime later, we continued to look for more monsters to hunt.
The second C-Rank monster we encountered was the Skinless Mongrel. It had the appearance of a large dog, but it lacked any fur on its body, and its skin tone looked like rotten meat.
"I got this one." I said to Nina before approaching the Skinless Mongrel that was the size of an extra large dog.
"Start record."
When it noticed my presence, the Skinless Mongrel began rushing at me. Despite its large size, the Skinless Mongrel was very agile and quick on its feet, zigzagging as it ran.
However, I could see all of its movements clearly, and once it was close enough, I swung my sword, severing its head in a clean slash.
"Stop record."
After killing the monster, I turned to look at Nina and asked, "Can I trouble you to harvest the mana core with your skeleton? I don't want to get my hands dirty."
"Sure." Nina nodded.
She summoned a single skeleton warrior before commanding it to harvest the mana core.
Afterward, we continued to hunt for monsters.
Several hours later, we set up the tent to have lunch.
"How many points do you have now? I have 1,990 points."
"2,300 points." Nina answered.
"1,098 points." Tia answered.
"What? How do you have more points than me when I killed more monsters than you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I fought some monsters last night while you slept. Don't worry, I had my servants do the job while I watched from inside the tent," she said.
"…Being a necromancer seems like an easy job. After all, you just summon things and sit back while your summons do all the work." Tia sighed.
"Yes, but at the cost of requiring much more mana than your average magic user to be useful. Not only do I have to use mana to summon the skeletons, they will continuously drain my mana until I remove them. If I summon 100 skeleton mages at once, I would only be able to last about a minute before I run out of mana. The magic spells themselves are also very expensive. If the academy hadn't given me the summon skeleton spells as a gift, I wouldn't be a necromancer."
After lunch, the three of us returned to hunting monsters, quickly raising our points.
Once it was getting dark outside, we set up our camp and retired for the night.
"We have over 9,000 points as a team now." I said out loud as I stared at my watch.
"You can see our ranking. Just tap the screen on the watch." Nina said.
"Oh? I didn't know it had such a function." Tia exclaimed.
I tapped on the watch the following moment.
[Rank: 234]
"Rank 234?! So there are 233 teams ahead of us?! How is that even possible? We went straight to C-Rank monsters, and we fought pretty much all day!" Tia was in disbelief.
Unless these teams were hunting B-Rank monsters, how can there be so many people ahead of them? But even that wouldn't make sense since most students aren't strong enough to fight B-Rank monsters.
"Seems about right." Nina said.
I looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Most of them probably have a full team of 6 people, so they can split into 2 or even 3 smaller teams and fight more monsters that way. Furthermore, I am willing to bet that most of them are hunting at night when there are more monsters roaming the Wilderness. If you want to rank first in this training course, we'll need to fight B-Rank monsters at night and forget about sleeping." Nina explained.
"I'm not surprised. Those who rank top will receive artifacts and other stuff, after all." Tia sighed.
"I see… I don't care about getting first place in this training course, so we can just relax and—"
Before I could even finish my sentence, a notification appeared before me.
<You have received a Special Quest>
[Quest: Wilderness Training Course]
[Description: Rank Top in the Wilderness Training Course with an astounding score]
[Reward: 500,000 Magic Experience, 2,500 Magic Points, Rank-EX skill : labyrinth's heart]
My eyes widened with shock when I saw the details. The quest was different from what I remember but there was no way I am going to give up on a EX rank skill.
"Nina! We're going to aim for rank 1!" I suddenly declared to her, who was staring at me with a dazed face.
"Rank 1…? That's impossible. We don't have the manpower nor the strength to achieve such a goal. The best we'll do is probably top 50. And why the sudden change of heart? You said that you didn't care about getting first place just moments ago…" She looked at me with a suspicious gaze.
"I have my reasons. I won't force both of you if you don't want to."
Nina shook her head and said, "I never said that I wanted to take it slow. If you want to aim for rank 1, I will help you to the best of my ability."
Tia smiled and said, "Don't worry. I am going to support you. That's what friends are for!!"
"Alright, then it's decided. After dinner, we will separate into two groups. You both will be in one group. Let's meet after a month." I said.
"Are you sure? Even if you are strong, what if you encounter a rank A monster?!." Nina expressed her worry.
"W-Wait a minute, we're seperating?!" Tia exclaimed.
I slowly rubbed the top of their heads and said, " Don't worry. Nothing will happen to me."
"O-Okay..." Both of them nodded with a blush.
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