Hunters are here!

Unwilling to waste another second, Liam quickly harvested their Beast Crystals and stored it in a small sack tied to his waist. Beast Crystals were essentially the energy cores of beasts. They usually possess large amounts of essence that could be absorbed by humans—refilling and expanding their own essence reserves.

'This place is dangerous.'

Concluding on that, he decided to scout the outskirts of the region before moving deeper inside. He clashed with grotesque hybrids, twisted things with insect jaws and bone plating—beasts of the same realm as him, always surviving after minutes of struggle. 

'I-i need to rest.'

His arms trembled as his grip on his sword tightened, its blade dripping with blood. Furrowing his brows, his brown eyes scanned the surroundings, noting signs of human passage recently.

'Finally some traces huh?'

Then he began searching for a suitable shelter with no Nirad Beasts around. After a while, he realized that the buildings were always inhabited by creatures—those who wouldn't be willing to accommodate him anyway. 

Fortunately, as he was about to despair, he came upon a camp created by students of Class-B. Although slightly wary, he still approached them with his hands up—a sign he wasn't there to cause trouble.

Immediately, the two students on watch shift readied their weapons at the intruder. However, after confirming that he was a human, their guard dropped and one of them called out to him.

"Hey, who are you?"

Clearing his throat, Liam replied,

"Liam. From Class-D"

"Okay then. You need shelter? You can join us." The blonde boy said with a sympathetic smile while the other nodded quietly.

Still in disbelief, Liam struggled to come up with a good reply.

"Uh, thanks a lot."

Relieved, he walked into the tent where six students were waiting, having overheard the conversation outside. One of them—a tall, broad-shouldered teen with a muscular build—stood up to greet him.

"My name is Aarav Khanna. You can just call me Aarav. It's nice to meet you, Liam."

Aarav's deep-set brown eyes radiated calm and his thick arms crossed over a chest that looked like it could stop a charging beast. Despite his burly frame and wild curly hair, his smile was soft, almost paternal.

"Nice to meet you too, Aarav." 

"I presume you're the leader of Class-D?"

"Not really, just collaborating with someone to give ourselves a sense of direction."

"Haha, that must be stressful. Don't worry you'll soon figure it out. For now, just rest. I can see you're utterly spent."

"Yeah, thanks to the cruelty of this test."

"Haha, you must be hungry right? Hey Rika, bring our friend some food."

From behind the group, a petite girl stood and approached. She had honey-blonde hair tied in a single braid and large amber eyes that sparkled mischievously. Her light armor clung to her curvy frame, especially around her chest, and bounced slightly as she walked.

Liam blinked, caught off-guard by the contrast between her bubbly demeanor and the deadly precision with which she handed over a meal pack.

Their conversation flowed smoothly from there as they chatted over the food—Liam getting comfortable with their kindness while Aarav silently enjoyed the company of someone from a different class.

"So how were you able to find each other? I haven't seen a single student since I started." Liam asked as he drank a bottle of water while questioning the source of the water internally.

"Oh, that was part of what we discussed before leaving class. We decided to put marks on structures we find— indicating each other's position and next destination. Through this I was able to find some of my friends here." Aarav replied with a small smile that never seemed to leave his lips.

"Ah, that's insightful." Liam replied cooly while gasping internally in awe.

"Thank you. It was something our leader devised after all." The Indian boy said, his smile widening. There was pride in his tone as he said the word 'Leader'.

"Hmn. Wait, you're not the Leader?" Liam asked as he struggled to contain his surprise.

"Of course. No one else can lead the class as peacefully as her."

"Who is she?"

"Ah, you don't know her. What a shame. Anyway, her name's Iruca. Iruca Sanders."

"You mean Iri?"

"Huh? You know her?" Rika asked, butting into their conversation.

"Um, kinda. Our families have ties by the way."

"Ohhhh! Nice. My respect for you has soared. To have such ties with Iruca-ji, such an envious thing."

Rika moaned in joy as she looked at Liam with starry eyes.

Both boys looked at her weirdly before Aarav whispered.

"Don't mind her. She practically idolizes Iruca."

"Haha, I see" Liam laughed dryly then tried to steer the conversation somewhere else. "So how dangerous do you think this place is?"

"I'll say this is a very difficult region since the creatures dominating the outside live in packs. They are very strong and I have a feeling we might not be able to win whatever is guarding the Citadel."

Liam nodded solemnly, already coming to that conclusion itself.

'Well, although everything seems real... it isn't real anyway.'

Seeking solace in that thought, he drank the last drops of water in the bowl.

"Thanks anyway. For the hospitality."

"It's nothing." Aarav smiled.

...

Outside their camp, a shadow passed briefly—unnoticed by the students on watch. It's form settled on a tall building adjacent to them as red eyes locked onto the students.

The red eyes, although beastly had a hint of intelligence in them as the mysterious creature growled quietly.

Several low growls echoed back as countless yellow eyes lit up all around the buildings around the camp, creating an eerie atmosphere.

Unknown to the students, this moment was going to be their first harsh lesson...

After all, the hunters had come—for them.