CHPT 12: The Redwoods

A couple days past by in a flash and it was time for Prof. Raizen's class to assist the SkyLight Guild in the removal of invasive Plated Snakes in the Redwoods.

Claude and the rest of his class headed out to the front of the academy and waited to head to the Redwoods.

"Alright everyone check your weapons and armor and get ready to move out." Prof. Raizen announced.

He took a look at his class noticing a good portion of students looked shaken...nervous— as they should on their first Guild assistance mission, while others looked excited like Veronica. Only two students here looked completely focused, like they wanted to get the job done as well as possible.

"Excuse me everyone is there a Ursula Legrand here? There's been a message left for her." a short and dainty lady with light brown hair asked from the back of the class.

After hearing Ursula's whole name the students began to gasp in surprise and awe upon learning that she was related to someone in the Grand Knights Guild, which is one of the top guilds with the highest concentration of Knights.

"Yes, I'm right here."

Ursula signaled to the short brown haired female as she came over to accept the letter.

"D-do you know R-Rory Legrand?" The small messenger asked with slightly reddened cheeks.

"No, no I don't." Ursula lied as she walked away holding the letter in a death grip since she already had a brief idea of what the message entailed, it read; "Ursula, I'm having a meeting with the Onslaught Guild on the estate, so you need to make yourself scarce until tommorow night....P.S I've noticed your putting on more muscle, you should relax with the weights...it's not pretty to be all bulky like that."

Claude watched Ursula as she read the letter, at first he assumed she'd be happy to receive a letter from family until he remembered what she said about her father that night at the academy. As he continued to observe her he noticed her demeanor change from agitated to absolutely furious. Her breaths quickened and her fisted hand was shaking at her side so violently it looked like it was going to pop.

Before Claude could build up the courage to try and say something to her, she unsheathed her sword and stabbed it into the ground with so much force it scared some of the students, then she tossed her shield like a frisbee and walked off towards The Platform.

Claude headed over to Prof. Raizen with a confused and worried expression asking,

"Prof. Why is she so angry?"

"Trust me when I say her anger is justified, if you want to know you'll have to wait for her to tell you."

Prof. Raizen stated before picking up his bag and signaling the rest of the group to move out, "Alright everyone let's kill some snakes!"

***

A few minutes into their walk and Prof. Raizen decided now would be a good time to announce the teams from his position at the front of the line.

"Ok as you all know three students per snake is a fair match up, these teams will consist of two close and one long range fighter in a back-point formation. So, team 1 will be..Tai, Veronica and Lucy as Archer.

Claude felt someone slide past him saying, "outta the way" her English accent made her sound more snobby than she probably meant. Most people would think Lucy is just plain rude but Claude thought she was a product of her environment, like Claude she was not of noble standing so, naturally she's got thick skin and learned early on that being nice doesn't get you anywhere so she gets to the point and backs up her words with her fighting skills. The last time Claude fought her she gave him a run for his money in close combat—as an Archer, so she's definitely a good all around fighter and talks tough for a reason.

Claude watched her sandy blonde shoulder length hair and slender build fade away as she headed to the front of the line where her team was.

After a handful of teams where announced he finally heard his name.

"Team 7 will be...Ursula, Claude and Warren as Archer, now that everyone's teams are announced I expect you all to be in your groups by the time we reach the redwoods so strap in!" Prof. Raizen said.

Warren excitedly ran to the back of the line of students to get near Ursula. "Let's go! Our team is bound to get a high amount snake kills with a relative of someone in Grand Knights Guild with us." He thought to himself with a wide grin on his face. As he approached Ursula he saw that her head hung low and she was clutching two silver battle axes with so much force that the veins in her firearms looked like they were about to burst.

Despite this, Warren walked up beside her and said,

"So..uhhh....Grand Kni—"

"Piss off."

"Yep, you got it."

Ursula and Warrens exchange lasted all of 7 seconds and did nothing to strengthen their team chemistry.

For the rest of the walk Claude stayed in the middle and was sure to keep his eyes on his team since Ursula didn't seem to be in the talking mood. During their trek through the light forest lined trail they passed loud mouthed Merchants heading back the way the class came into the city of SkyHaven, they were in carriages being led by strong and elegant looking stallions varying in colors of gray, red and black. They also passed Heroes coming back from finished Guild missions carrying bags filled with various monster parts that smelled of death, fur and other things he couldn't decipher.

After more walking on trails Claude could finally see the redwoods. The incredibly tall trees seemed otherworldly to Claude, they seemed like they should be in a tangent instead of here he thought as he watched birds ascend from the incredible trees in the distance.

As they approached their destination he decided to go over the game plan in his head to make sure he didn't hold his team back and had something to offer. "Ok, so we have two close combat fighters—Ursula and me, then we have Warren as long range. Due to Warrens less than average accuracy me and Ursula will have to deliver killing blows while Warren delivers shots aimed at the face to agitate the snakes..also Ursula is stronger than me so I have to make sure she has openings even if it's at my expense." By the time Claude was finished and satisfied with his strategy they were at the redwoods entrance.

"Ok everyone I will be watching from the back grading teams and students individually, everyone should aim for a A but I'll let a B slide...only this once, also whichever team kills the most snakes gets two silvers and a free pass on homework for a week." Prof. Raizen announced before letting the students venture into the forest.

The students stopped their chatter and seemed to take on a serious tone in unison as they all mentally steeled themselves for the battle in the redwoods.