Game

Finally done with setting up the cameras, Mr Zheng returned, making it just in time when the others were done.

Thank goodness the last guy put up a quarrel and refused to join Ishraq's team when he lost. Well, technically it's not a good thing, but it's a good thing for me. At least they won't come to me and make me the middle of everything.

"Alright, so your four groups will be dispatched in four different directions of the forest, as I've mentioned and I'll say it again.

Each aberrant defeated will be 20 points, while each animal chased out of the key line is worth 5 points!

On my count, the game starts in... 3... 2... 1!"

As soon as the "1" escaped Mr Zheng's mouth. Everyone sprinted off into the forest with their groups.

Mr Zheng then walked over to me and sat beside me and began monitoring the screen with me.

It's rather boring to watch, everyone else were basically walking around looking for animals and shooing them off. No intense battles, no aggressive interaction, nothing. Just peaceful animal interaction, except for some that are on the slight aggressive side, screaming at the animals and scaring them off.

But really it's basically the same, finding a target, scaring it off, repeat.

Actually, now that I think of it...

"I should have been able to go, right?" The question slid out of my mouth.

"No, there are aberrants in the forest as well, and with your body, it's probably an instant kill on you if you were to encounter one of them."

...Yeah, he's right.

As expected, I'm useless.

Without mana, I can't do a single thing.

I can't even participate in simple things like this because I am such a fragile piece of glass.

"Hey, cheer up. Just because you can't join this activity doesn't mean you can't join the others. There's a lot more on schedule for you, I promise." As if seeing through me, Mr Zheng patted my back and reassured me.

"...yeah." I said, although still feeling down, I think I cheered up. At least by a little.

Maybe for now, I should stop thinking and just focus on staring at the others doing their things...

...

...

.....

——

Mr Zheng silently took notes of the scores for the students while his eyes dashed between the countless screens split between 25 different cameras.

But he still paid enough attention to the kid beside him to notice Edmond seemed to have fell asleep sitting there.

A smile crept across his face, he never expected Edmond to be of much help, so he never bothered to ask. Well, if the kid is asleep, then let him be. Edmond seems to be craving for it all the time, so Mr Zheng decided to just let him have his fill.

But still, now that Mr Zheng think of it, maybe he shouldn't have encouraged Nick to hand over the form in Edmond's stead back then.

He thought maybe Edmond will be able to have fun here with him in charge, but in the end, every thing here requires at least the very basic use of mana to some degree. Even building tents require mana because of the frames had this mechanism to soften and harden when mana runs through it.

Sure, Mr Zheng could have used the methods without mana that he is used to, but with so many students, there are definitely going to be protests from their parents afterwards. He's working in a Royal Highschool after all.

Especially this first part, to clear the forest of animals and aberrants in case they attack in the middle of the night. It's a basic protocol for every hitchhikers who plan to camp in the forest for the night, especially with a ley line nearby. Not to mention that this forest is literally situated on top of a branching end of one of the central ley lines of this nation.

Usually, even without ley lines, mana would slowly gather somewhere and begin settling, it could be a cave, a pit, or a lake. But as long as it is a spot with little to no disturbance, mana would settle.

Then what if something were to absorb these settling mana?

If it were humans, they would have been a lucky star and can take all these mana for themselves, they can use it for themselves, recharging their mana devices or refilling their own mana pool. But when it comes to the common wildlife, things take a different turn.

Although mana is neither good nor evil, it's simply a "thing" that is able to exist both in the form of substance and in the form of energy. Which is why, anyone and anything will be able to put it to use if they were to obtain it.

And so does animals. Usually, an ordinary creature would not be able to harness the power of mana as humans do. But when they stumble into places with large mana deposits, their bodies will be affected, changed and adapted to be able to comprehend mana, granting them the ability to manipulate it and use it.

These individuals, are referred to as aberrants. Strong, mana-infused creatures taking on different "traits" as the mana changed their body. Which is why, if let alone for too long, it can cause havoc to the ecosystem and affect human settlements nearby. So hunters will be hired to hunt these aberrants down.

Back on to the topic, since aberrants are already a hidden threat to humanity, then wouldn't Mr Zheng sending the kids off into the forest be dangerous?

Indeed, it is. Yet not exactly. After all, aberrants are classified into different ranks. Taking accounts of their hostility, lethality, and amount of mana into measure, aberrants are usually categorized into six levels: Safe, Common, Potent, Perilous, Hazardous, and Anomalous.

So it shouldn't be a problem for kids to hunt down potent aberrants considering these aberrants are simply animals that were a little more threatening than your usual wildlife. After all, the kids are almost turning 15.

But for Mr Zheng, he thinks a little bit differently. Because in his eyes, these kids are ONLY 14. He couldn't help but think that the educational system and the parents are able to let them risk their lives like this. Sure, it's how the world currently works, but still, it felt slightly off.

Not to mention these kids are way mature inside than they should be, if Mr Zheng were to say, children of their age should be enjoying their lives and live happily without anything to worry about.

But again, these are what Mr Zheng thought. Perhaps for the rest of the world, these kids ARE enjoying their lives by cultivating their mana and improving themselves through fighting.

So all that Mr Zheng could do, is to rid this path of any thorns that may be lethal to the children in hopes for the best of them.

——

"...Strange." Shirazaki mumbled as she look at the map Jun Meng handed to her after mapping out the area with a mapping spell.

"What is?" Jun Meng, who is currently beside her, asked. Both the groups had decided to collaborate for the time being, because most of the better students in camp either went for Gary's or Ishraq's squad.

So as a result, members of Jun Meng's team who are mostly consisted of magus specialized in supporting and utility spells, and Shirazaki's team being a jumbled mixture of everything without any real specialization, came to an agreement that Shirazaki will offer protection for Jun Meng's team of they encounter dangerous aberrants, while Jun Meng's team offers utility support.

"Look, here, here, and... here." Shirazaki showed Jun Meng the map and pointed on a couple of blank spaces. "Don't you find it weird that these areas are cleared out?"

"It might be results of aberrants fighting, I've seen some fallen logs around those places."

"It could be that, yes." But Shirazaki's eyebrows continued to furrow, seemingly whatever was bothering her still isn't going away.

"But don't you think it's a bit weird for aberrants to not occupy these places? It's obviously where mana will settle after all."

"You're right..." Jun Meng fell into deep thought. "Speaking of aberrants, we've spotted 7 of them in the forest, but it's a little weird, because none of them are above perilous."

"No perilous?" Then that means the deal Jun Meng and Shirazaki agreed on earlier won't really mean anything. After all, a simple magus of their age can easily take on if not hold off against a potent aberrant alone until the others arrive.

But why? Since this forest is located on a branching end of a large ley lines, it is only normal to have a lot of aberrants around. Ley lines are veins of mana supply running through the Earth after all, so areas above it tends to gather quite the amount of mana, giving birth to the aberrants as we know it.

Which means this entire area is full of mana, more so than other places, yet not as much as the main ley line, ending up with the area to only be populated by perilous aberrants and the ones below.

Then why? Why are there not a single perilous aberrant around?

This confuses Shirazaki. In her mind, she's prepared to take on multiple of them if the worst of scenarios happen. She is the only magus who had the proper training for combat in their alliance after all.

"Then... I guess it can't be helped. Let's disban-"

"Let's keep the alliance for now. We still need protection from potent aberrants anyway." Just when Shirazaki was about to offer to disband the team, Jun Meng interrupted her.

"What? Bu-"

"It's fine, we'll probably never win against Gary and Ishraq anyway, so if we're going to lose, let's at least lose without looking too bad."

"I see, you have a point, then I guess that will be the conclusion then. Come on, let's move before the others start to complain that us leaders aren't doing anything."

——

By the time I woke up, the hunt was already over.

And without any doubt, Gary's team won the game, hunting down 19 potent aberrants and chasing off 52 creatures in total. While Ishraq taking the second place following closely behind, with both Jun Meng and Shirazaki taking the third place with the same numbers.

Did they team up while I was asleep? Now I hate myself for sleeping on the game, because I missed all of the climax with the battles happening near the end.

Well, at least we had aberrant meat for dinner I suppose.

Since aberrants had their body mutated by mana, their meat is highly saturated with mana, which makes it twice as tastier than the common meat of the same species. It is also rumoured to be able to help with improving one's mana, which makes it more sought after than ever.

So naturally, it is always on high demand in the markets, often a rare dish on the dinner tables even for the riches.

Well, for me it really isn't much of a difference. It's probably because my magic system is completely down, since they taste just like your ordinary meat, nothing special about it at all.

I can still remember it, a couple months after I lost my mana, my father had put almost all of his property on mortgage to buy me a mean from an anomalous aberrant at an auction in hopes of restoring my mana.

And naturally, nothing happened.

It was supposed to be the most luxurious of all, a food so amazingly delicious that you can't stop after a single bite. But I tasted nothing. It was just meat flavoured with salt and pepper.

Which brings us to our current situation. Nightfall has dawned upon us and we're all sitting around a campfire set up in the center of our camp area. The aberrants were put to grill on the campfire and it's our dinner.

Everyone is enjoying it, while I couldn't taste anything.

I look around from my little corner separated from the others and see satisfied faces as they bite into the steak made with the boar aberrant.

Seeing this, I half expectedly bit into my serving.

Yep, nothing. It's just boar meat. Let alone nobody brought flavourings into these mountains.

Not being able to share the happiness with others, always being the abnormal one.

I hate this.

Maybe I really should just die.

What for to continue on living? It's not like I'll be able to enjoy anything as myself anyway, I'll always be a drag on. Because of me, my family is still paying loans. All I do is drag everyone down. Even Ishraq said it, more blatantly than anyone.

...Maybe I should find a place where no one will find me and-

"Edmond!!!" Someone pat my back and yelled into my ear, surprising me.

I turned to see who it was, but before I could, they already sat down. It was Jun Meng.

"You know, sometimes I'm envious of you." He said, one hand still on my back while another holding a plate with his own serving of our dinner.

"...What?" I asked, unable to comprehend what he said.

"I'm envious of you, because... you can slack off all the time!" He giggled at his own answer.

"..." To be completely honest, I can't tell if he's serious at all, but it all just feels kind of stupid. Maybe this is why I never go to Jun Meng on my own, our conversations are always one sided, with him being the talkative one.

"Aiya, enough of that. I'm actually here to to tell you that because you have been sleeping while we were hunting, the others were voting that you should be the one cleaning the plates."

"Bunch of lazy riches, they just don't want to do it because their maid does it for them." I said, annoyed. Why can't they just leave me alone?

"Shh, tone it down! You want them to hear it?!"

"Then let them hear it, it's as if they can make my life any miserable." I stood up, finishing off the last piece of steak in my plate.

"Don't say that. And where are you going?"

"To wash the plates." I simply said before walking off to Mr Zheng so that I can ask him about it.

"Wait, I was going to tell you to refuse it!"

"Whatever, I'll just do it. You said it yourself, I always have a reason to slack off, but now I don't."

"That's not what I meant!" Jun Meng scurried up from beside me and came after me.

"It's fine, it's fine." I waved my hands, indicating that it doesn't matter.

Jun Meng stopped coming after me and just stood there as I disappeared into the crowd.