Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Earth Dogs
Listening to everything Garvin had said so far it was clear to the four above that he saw pretty much everything.
There was only one outcome whenever students were caught using their abilities inside the academic block of the academy and right now the four of them were waiting for Garvin to tell them what their punishment was going to be.
"Alright, I'm going to let the four of you down now," Garvin said before snapping his fingers.
Claudia was caught off guard so she ended up landing flat on her face, Arsha landed on his feet just like Kyle and Jessica used her wind ability to slow her fall.
The class sure had something to laugh about now and Claudia didn't like the idea of being a laughing stock
"You should have given us a heads up Sir. Gravin." She groaned as she slowly got up on her feet.
"No, you should try paying more attention, Claudia," Gravin responded.
They were all on their feet now and just before saying anything, Gravin scanned all of them carefully with his eyes.
Kyle still looked quite upset, Arsha looked as disinterested as ever, Jessica couldn't hide the mixed expressions of worry and embarrassment on her face and Claudia would put on that awkward smile anytime his gaze came toward her.
"How about we forget all of this happened?" Gravin remarked.
"Huh?" Claudia uttered with a confused expression on her face.
She wasn't the only one who was confused.
"He's just going to let them go?"
"If anything I want to see that Arsha get disciplined properly."
"Oh no, I want to see Miss. Self righteous get punished properly unlike what she was asked to do yesterday."
"You're going to overlook this?" Jessica inquired.
"No, I didn't say that, silly."
"Huh? But you…"
"I meant to overlook the fighting part, I'll just have to punish you guys for playing with your abilities in class, and the punishment for that isn't that much of a big deal." He explained.
"Oh."
"If you're going to punish us then just do it and stop playing these games." Kyle snapped.
"Who said I was playing games?" Gravin responded immediately. "If what you're saying is that you prefer the full punishment then I don't have any objections."
The only response Kyle could give to that was a huff before turning away from him.
"Alright then, follow me." He said before proceeding to start heading toward the door.
_________ _________
"I don't understand, Sir. Gravin, you said we were only getting punished for playing with our abilities then why are we out here in the forest?" Claudia inquired.
She wasn't kidding, they had gone past the barrier and were now in the forest filled with beasts away from the academy.
"This isn't really a punishment, Claudia, I just want you guys to help me with something and your sins shall be forgiven." He disclosed.
"So you want us to help you fight beasts?"
"I'll explain in detail when we get there."
The other three seemed to be dragging their feet as Garvin and Claudia seemed to be walking ahead of them while Claudia just kept asking him questions, some of them being a bit personal.
"I had no idea they were that close," Jessica muttered.
"Seriously, you're surprised?" Kyle remarked.
"Huh?"
"She's like that with mostly all the teachers especially the male teachers, just your typical teacher's pet and I wouldn't be surprised if some of them gave her….."
"That's enough." Jessica snapped, interrupting him. "It's obvious that you don't think highly of her."
"And why would I think highly of a slut?" He retorted.
"What did you just call her?" Jessica fumed.
That air was starting to get a bit stale now and that was because she was boiling in her head.
She wanted to hit him with the biggest wind slash she could conjure but she was hesitant because she knew that would get her in more trouble.
Gravin seemed to have noticed what was going on as he stopped to turn his gaze to them at that moment.
With his attention on them now, Jessica calmed down allowing the air in the area to flow freely once again.
"Your sister's the slut." She muttered as she continued moving forward. "The girl you came to fight for today is also one."
"Alright, guys, I've gotten tired of Claudia's questions so do any of you have any questions? This is your last chance to ask me anything before we continue moving forward."
It didn't look like Kyle and Jessica had any questions but Arsha had his right hand in the air.
"Yes, Arsha."
"You said we're here because we used our abilities, right?"
"Yes, that's correct," Garvin responded with a nod.
"Well, I don't recall using my ability in class today."
"Yeah, that's true, he didn't use his ability," Claudia muttered.
"Oh yes, the only one who knew I was there from the start but refused to do anything, you've got quite the sharp eyes, Arsha."
That was a shocking revelation for the other three and now they had their gaze on him.
"You knew all this time?" Claudia inquired but there was no response from Arsha.
"You're getting punished for pushing Kyle like that but let's just stick with what I said earlier to avoid confusion." He said before turning away from him. "Your senses and physical capability seem to be better than that of a normal person, I wonder why."
They continued their walk after that and after just five minutes, they walked into an area free of the shade of the numerous trees in the forest and in front of them were two paths divided by huge trees and bushes making it for someone on one side to see what was going on on the other side
There were two curved hills on both sides but even standing on the highest point of that, it would be difficult to see what going on on one side from the other.
"Looks like we're finally here," Gravin revealed with a sigh of relief.
"This is our destination?" Claudia responded.
"Correct."
"Alright, so what are we supposed to be….."
She wasn't able to finish that statement as she sensed something move quite fast around the trees surrounding them.
Jessica noticed it too as she slowly backed into her roommate in a combat-ready pose.
Arsha didn't act like he noticed anything and Kyle just kept moving his eyes as fast as he could.
"Oh, I see you guys have noticed them too," Garvin remarked with an amused smile on his face.
"There's exactly fifteen of them." Claudia disclosed before the beasts could properly come into view.
"Yeah, but what tier are they?" Jessica inquired.
"They're Unique tier, all of them." Arsha disclosed.
"Unique tier, seriously?" Claudia tried to confirm but there was no response from him. "I guess that's not too bad."
"Here, I brought something for you guys."
They turned their gaze to Gravin at that moment to see a small portal open in the air and out of it came falling a gauntlet, a katana blade, and two long swords.
"I believe you'll be needing them for the time you're here."
"How did you get your hand on our weapons?" Jessica inquired with a shocked expression on her face.
The beasts decided to show themselves at that moment as they slowly stepped out of the shadows to reveal a pack of wild dogs.
They had a somewhat brownish fur and looked quite malnourished but that was just how they were, no matter how much they ate that wouldn't change. It was just like Claudia said, there were fifteen of them and they looked quite ready to devour them.
"There's no time for questions, Jess."
Claudia quickly picked up her weapon at that moment and charged toward the dogs, her body flickering with lightning sparks.
She was just about to close the distance when she suddenly stopped moving, her legs had been caught by the earth and to make sure she didn't escape easily, it stretched up to her things.
"What the?"
"Claudia?" Jessica gasped.
That wasn't the end of her getting trapped as she quickly got enclosed by four earth walls.
"This isn't good."
She knew something deadly was coming but just before anything could happen, one of the walls were smashed down and she was grabbed by her arm.
The earth binding her legs suddenly crumbled as she was quickly pulled out of there.
There was only one person in the group who would smash through an earth wall like that and now she had her head on his chest as her breathing spiraled out of control.
That was quite a close call because looking at where Arsha just pulled her out from, there were numerous earth spikes there now, those would have killed her if Arsha had not stepped in when he did.
"Thank you." She muttered under her breath before letting go of him.
'I had to do that, I wouldn't hear the end of it if Sis finds out I let you die to Unique tier beasts while I was close by to do something.'
"Nobody charges in like that against Earth dogs unless you're a powerful Earth user, of course, that's exactly what they want you to do so that they can trap you and crush you." Arsha articulated.
"Oh, I see, I guess I was careless."
'I guess that extensive knowledge of beasts is very useful when fighting them."
After seeing him smash through their earth wall like that, the beasts were a bit hesitant to attack but he wasn't the only one they were wary of, they could sense certain things after all.
"In that case, they're all yours, Arsha," Garvin remarked. "You can do it right?"
Arsha wasn't too quick to respond as he let out a sigh before lowering his gaze a bit and at that moment he met Claudia's gaze.
"Hmmm."
After a few seconds, she got uncomfortable and turned away.
"Fine." He muttered before stepping forward.
The beasts launched multiple earth shards at them from every direction at that moment but just before they could get close enough to them, they all came crashing to the floor.
Arsha closed his eyes at that moment instantly turning his surroundings dark but he could still sense it, the mana aura coming from every living thing specifically but his focus was mainly on the fifteen beasts.
"What's he doing?" Jessica muttered.
He tapped his right foot on the ground at that moment and just where the beasts were standing, hydro threads came bursting out from the ground.
None of them could escape the threads, it pierced through them and now they were all hanging mid-air growling in pain while trying to break free.
"What?" Jessica gasped.
Claudia had a shocked expression on her face, Kyle was trying quite hard to hide his bewilderment and Gravin was not hiding that amusement on his face.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone