36 Survival

Friday afternoon.

As the promised time approached, the third-year students of the Department of Magic gathered inside the station.

"Wow, it's cold."

"I'm worried. How can we endure two nights and three days in this freezing weather?"

Everyone was dressed in large backpacks or expansion bags and thick fur clothes, as if they were about to go to the battlefield.

Their appearance resembled a group of baby bears huddling together.

And Dianne looked no different from the others in the entire academy.

"Hahaha!"

"Why are you laughing? You're the same as me."

"Well, well, but still, you and I are not the same. Who would believe that Dianne Alben, the greatest in the world, would be like this?"

"Yurii, stop teasing me with such words."

As the bustling noise of the students in the Department of Magic grew louder, Professor Tolman appeared.

He had a modest appearance compared to the students, and he didn't seem to be affected by the cold at all.

"Is everyone here? Let me quickly check attendance."

Tolman called out the names of the students one by one, and they responded as their names were called. During that brief moment, everyone's attention was drawn, and laughter erupted.

"Hey! Daniel! That's way too much, isn't it?"

"Hahaha! Hey, look at that bag. It's about to burst!"

"Philineus, I can't tell if you're a person or a bear. Won't you be hunted later?"

In this moment of laughter, Dianne was finally called.

"Dianne Alben?"

"Yes."

The students' gaze naturally turned towards Dianne.

Like the other students, she was dressed in fur clothes, but she couldn't hide her distinctive noble atmosphere.

"As expected of Dianne. Even dressed like that, her dignity remains unbroken."

"To be honest, I was expecting something a bit funnier, but this is just... "

"No, wait a minute! Isn't this funny?"

Yurii tried to protest, but everyone shook their heads and looked at Dianne in admiration.

In response to their reaction, Yuri forced a hollow laughter with a disappointed expression, but no one else reacted.

"Quiet, quiet. Next! Adrias Cromwell."

"Yes."

Adrias Cromwell, who had recently earned the nickname "Professor Slayer" among the students for driving out Beoban Fernandez, stepped forward.

Although he was called by a slightly playful nickname, within the academy, a growing sense of approval for him had taken root.

It was understandable. He woke up every morning, trained with the intensity of a knight, visited the library without fail to borrow books, and even found time to read books in his spare time. Seeing his dedication, it was impossible not to acknowledge him.

Of course, it was also a well-known fact that his magical abilities were still not great, apart from that.

The voices of the students looking at Adrias Cromwell, who had been called, suddenly stopped.

Adrias was expressionless as he read a book in one hand. Although he was dressed more neatly than usual, it still seemed inadequate, and most importantly, there was no bag in sight.

"Um, Adrias?"

Someone called out to him, and Adrias looked up.

"Yeah. What?"

"Um, didn't you bring anything?"

"Me? Um, it doesn't matter anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Since Professor said it's a survival survival, I thought they would confiscate everything."

Upon hearing Adrias's words, the questioning student nodded.

Of course, as long as the students weren't fools, they all had the same thought.

But just in case.

If by any chance they could bring their belongings, those who, like Adrias, hadn't brought anything would fall behind in the competition.

"Really? Okay then. Good luck."

"Yeah, you too."

But the questioning student simply nodded and stepped back without saying anything.

Most of them knew that they would only suffer losses if they started an argument with the recent Adrias.

Moreover, he was the famous creator of the Everlast Potion.

No male student wanted to be on his bad side for no reason.

But unlike them, Dianne thought Adrias seemed foolish.

'What's the point of just reading books every day? From my perspective, he's just someone who lives immersed in books.'

Adrias, who seemed like a useless bookworm to Dianne, seemed pathetic for not preparing for the unexpected.

With the attendance check completed, the third-year students of the Department of Magic boarded the train under the guidance of Tolman and set off for their destination.

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"Now, return all the luggage you brought to the assistants here. We will return them to you on the day of our return."

"Ugh."

"I had a feeling this would happen."

Upon arrival at the destination, Professor Tolman immediately started confiscating our luggage.

The other students reluctantly returned their belongings and stood in the cold with only their thick fur coats on.

A staff member approached me as well, but all they took from me were a book and a sheathed sword at my waist.

The staff member who took the book and sword from me glanced at me with a strange look as if he had seen everything.

"We won't take your clothes since it would be too severe, so we'll only take the luggage. Now, let's proceed with the detailed explanation of this evaluation."

The assistant prepared a makeshift blackboard, which Tolman covered with his command baton. On it was a map with unfamiliar markings besides the known locations.

"You don't have to memorize this map. Each of you will be given a map individually," Tolman explained.

A map... It may be mistaken as something anyone can use if they have it, but without understanding the Dokdo Law, using a map was difficult. I wondered if the students, who had only learned magic, had studied the Dokdo Law. But for me, it was fortunate.

Tolman began explaining the evaluation.

"This place is the 'Bilbore Mountain' in the Magna Marquisate, as you all know. Now, you must survive within the designated area for two nights and three days. In addition, you must collect the points marked on this map, which are represented by the circles."

So, survival meant that.

It wasn't just about enduring.

"In addition to the points marked on the map, there are many hidden points throughout the area. However, the points marked on the map offer far more points. So, you should be cautious when collecting the points marked on the map, as others will be aiming for them as well."

Surviving for two nights and three days was difficult enough, but now we had to collect points as well.

Indeed, it was a challenging evaluation for students who had little experience.

"While on the mountain, actions such as murder, severe injuries, non-consensual sexual contact with others, and contact with eliminated students are not allowed. You can form teams and betray others to claim their points. You can exchange food for points or engage in battles to snatch points."

He said so, gesturing to the assistants.

The assistants then approached and handed us a bracelet and a small bag each.

"If your bracelet breaks, you will be eliminated. At that moment, the assistant professors from the Knight Department will come to rescue you. If you find yourself in distress or think survival is impossible, immediately break your bracelet. However, remember that your life is more important than the evaluation. Use your judgment wisely. Once eliminated, your remaining points will be valued at one-third. Now, let's proceed with the evaluation."

I clasped the bracelet around my wrist and looked inside the bag.

Inside, there was just a map.

"I just wanted a simple evaluation to receive a decent grade," I thought quietly, looking up at the mountain where the evaluation would take place.

"Maybe I can be a bit ambitious."

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Bilbore Mountain in the Magna Marquisate referred to one of the peaks of the wide mountain range located in the central west of the Empire.

Bilbore Mountain wasn't particularly high or remarkable in any way, but it had a relatively large area.

"Whew."

A breath of white mist rose and disappeared into the air.

The woman, who was halfway floating in the air while climbing the mountain, paused for a moment and leaned against a tree, settling down.

Despite the freezing cold weather, she seemed perfectly fine.

Around her, a translucent barrier was formed.

"So, this is..."

Her physical stamina and mana still had plenty left.

The real problem was finding the way.

Even with the map, she couldn't tell where she was in the mountainous area, as the starting point was random. It was challenging to navigate through the forest while looking at the map.

'If only I had a compass or something.'

All she had left was magic, but wasting mana recklessly wouldn't be efficient for enduring the two nights and three days.

'For now, let's continue a bit further.'

She had already climbed up and luckily obtained some points, so there was no rush.

Looking at the points written on the bracelet, she realized that she needed a place to spend the night.

She continued forward, and eventually reached a snowy plain in a basin-like terrain.

There were six locations on the map that resembled the basin's characteristics.

Thinking that one of these six places must be the right one, she was about to move forward when suddenly she heard a voice.

'Are you Lady Alben?'

Startled by the sudden voice, the woman turned to look beside her.

There stood Adrias Cromwell, holding branches and firewood.

"Adrias."

"I didn't expect to see you here."

In response to Adrias' words, Dianne prepared to use magic and remained cautious.

However, Adrias, instead of escalating the situation, put down the firewood and raised his hands.

"I have no intention of fighting."

"Even if you don't, what if I want to fight?"

Adrias responded to Dianne's question with a blank expression.

"Have you arranged a place to stay?"

"A place to stay?"

Suddenly mentioning a place to stay...

Could it be that he discovered a cave or something?

Dianne was skeptical of Adrias' words.

Come to think of it, unlike herself, Adrias seemed unaffected by the cold, despite his relatively thin clothing.

"Yes, I've made a temporary shelter here."

Adrias kicked the ground with his foot.

As he did, a lid covered in snow and various debris was revealed.

"If it's alright with you, would you like to take a short rest here?"

Upon hearing Adrias' words, Dianne pondered for a moment.

She certainly needed a place to rest.

But how could she know whether it was a trap or not, and how to follow him?

Perhaps it would be better to eliminate Adrias and find out the true nature of the lid...

However, Dianne's thoughts didn't last long.

Adrias, who had opened the lid, went into the ground and soon gestured to Dienne.

"Will you stay up there?"

That gesture wounded her pride for some reason.

Adrias didn't seem to fear her at all.

Moreover, she found herself ridiculous for being cautious of someone like Adrias.

If it was a trap, then let it be.

I will cleanly break through it.

Dianne decided to act with the confidence that she could eliminate Adrias at any time.

"Be careful when coming down."

In the end, she followed Adrias through the opened lid and descended.

The inside of the lid was deeper and wider than she had anticipated.

Although she could create such underground passages using magic, her mind was not agile enough to come up with a solution in such a drastically changed environment.

"You really thought of creating something like this."

"Yes, it's nothing special. I'm sure you could have done it with your magic as well," Adrias replied.

"Hmm..."

Adrias carved a cup out of wood and filled it with water, offering it to Dianne.

Dianne gave him a suspicious look for a moment, but he seemed unfazed as he extended his hand.

"We've been in the mountains for quite some time. Without proper hydration, you might experience dehydration."

Adrias pointed to the sweat dripping from Dienne.

"Despite wearing thick fur clothes and using magic, you may not have noticed, but you've likely sweated a bit. Dehydration can lead to impaired brain function, followed by kidney failure, and finally, the heart's function ceases."

"Alright, I'll drink it then."

How does he even know all this?

Dianne thought to herself, realizing that Adrias had extensive knowledge despite spending all his time reading books lately.

She accepted the wooden cup he offered without much concern, even if it were a trap.

She had enough confidence to overcome any traps.

With that in mind, she drank the water without much worry, even though she was certain her throat wasn't dry.

The water went down smoothly, despite her expectation that she wouldn't feel thirsty.

Meanwhile, Adrias had been organizing the firewood in one corner, and his actions were truly fascinating.

Despite his magical skills being far inferior to her own, he had prepared everything so efficiently while she was lost.

'How did he even come up with all this?'

It was an incredibly well-thought-out survival strategy and preparation.

However, she couldn't admit that she was inferior, so she made up her mind to get up and leave.

"Thank you. I don't want to impose any longer, so I'll be on my way."

"Are you leaving already? Without having this?"

"This? Should I eat this before I go?"

Dianne questioned Adrias, and he calmly walked toward a corner of the tunnel and made a hole in the wall.

Inside, there was a small space with a pile of ashes, emitting smoke and glowing embers.

Adrias then cleared the ashes, revealing something burnt and blackened.

"It's rabbit meat."

Rabbit meat, huh?

When did he manage to catch a rabbit again?

"How long has it been since we entered the mountains?"

During that time, Adrias had prepared not only this shelter but also various wooden tools, firewood, and even rabbit meat...

Dianne was left speechless by Adrias' activities, which seemed to defy common sense.

Whether he knew Dianne's thoughts or not, Adrias crushed the charred object.

Now she realized it was the rabbit meat covered in mud.

"It may not taste as good without spices."

Adrias assumed that Dianne would eat it, and unknowingly, her hungry stomach growled.

Come to think of it, it was already well past dinner time.

The rabbit was much larger than she had imagined.

Adrias cut off a piece of the rabbit leg and handed it to Dianne.

"It's still hot, so be careful not to burn yourself."

Dianne cautiously accepted it and blew on it gently.

Then, she carefully tasted the meat, which was surprisingly delicious.

Perhaps it was the saying that hunger adds flavor to side dishes.

Although it was a bit bland, the juicy meat offered a satisfying taste.

The two of them ate the rabbit in silence, and leaning against the wall, they rested after finishing their meal.

'What am I doing right now?'

That thought briefly crossed Dianne's mind, but soon the unfamiliar environment, the experience of getting lost, the contrasting warmth of the shelter, and the contented stomach gradually made her eyelids grow heavy.

"Adrias..."

Watching Adrias, who was sitting across from her, carving something out of wood, he resembled the young Adrias she had seen long ago.

She embraced the image of the young Adrias, and with that, she drifted off into the realm of dreams.

(Note: The text refers to characters and events that may be unfamiliar to readers who are not familiar with the webtoon "Tower of God".)