After a period of the battle ending, the students gathered and the teacher clapped towards them, and they looked towards her.
"Everyone, five minutes break. Consider this battle an experience for what's to come."
"Understood!" the students replied.
After the teacher clapped, she left and checked the surroundings, wary of any approaching enemy. Meanwhile, the students gathered around the trio in admiration.
"You were amazing in the fight!" one student spoke to Leon's group.
"Haha, that was nothing special," Leon replied.
"How did you know their weak point was the head, Aaron?"
"That was a truly incredible move, Ilia."
"How did you do that? Can you tell us how you did it?"
"Just a swing of the spear," Aaron spoke indifferently.
"I felt it instinctively during my fight," Leon spoke cheerfully.
"Meditation," Ilia replied coldly.
"You make it sound so easy. Being children of hunters is really something else," a particular student replied while leaving.
"These people are friendly, aren't they?" Leon asked.
"You're really stupid, Leon," Ilia replied.
"Exactly," Aaron replied.
"Huh, why?" Leon replied suspiciously.
"They were secretly mocking us without us noticing."
"Huh, how so?" Leon spoke in surprise.
"They mentioned our families. They simply didn't acknowledge our personal effort."
"That kind of person thinks we could only do this because our families have influence."
"Really, I didn't see that at all," Leon replied suspiciously.
"You need to grow up, Leon. Not every word comes from a sincere intention," Aaron replied.
After they talked for a while, their break ended, and they went towards the meeting point. After walking and fighting some weak monsters, and exploring some plants, they finally arrived at the place.
"Good, we are now at the meeting point," the teacher spoke.
"But where is everyone, teacher?" a student asked.
"This is strange, aren't we all supposed to gather here?" another student asked.
"It's possible they are delayed. The forest itself is like a moving maze," the teacher replied while activating her smartwatch and checking something.
"Um, teacher," a student asked while raising his hand.
"What now?" the teacher asked angrily.
"There's blood on the grass. Is this normal?"
"Where?" the teacher asked suspiciously.
"It's over there," the student pointed with his hand towards the direction.
The teacher examined the blood, and there was a serious expression in her eyes.
"This blood..... it's fresh," the teacher spoke while examining the blood.
"What?" a student asked.
"Do you mean there was a battle just now?" another student asked.
"Something wrong is happening here," Aaron spoke with worry in his eyes.
The students heard the sound of footsteps approaching slowly, and from the direction of the sound, strange shadowy figures appeared and revealed themselves.
.
.
.
.
"And here is where we saw them."
"You mean the monsters?"
"No, they weren't monsters. They were..... they were..... hunters."
"What did you just say?"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
What appeared was a group of hunters, carrying heavy magical weapons, and moving slowly. Their number was twice that of the students.
"Who are you? Are you hunters?" the teacher asked.
"Yes, we are hunters," one of them replied.
"A question, ma'am. Are these all the students in Class B?" another one asked.
"Yes, this is us," a student replied.
"We are all here; none of us are late," another student replied.
"Wait a minute, how did you know that? Did the teachers tell you this?" the teacher asked.
"Yes and no," he replied.
"What do you mean by that? Where are they now?" the teacher spoke while slowly pulling a dagger from her pants.
The hunter remained silent like a stone.
"I told you where they are_____
Suddenly, an arrow launched and pierced the left side of the teacher's chest, and she flew three meters before crashing forcefully into the ground.
"Teacher!" the students screamed in panic.
"Alright, boys, you know the rest. Seize them all!" spoke who appeared to be the leader of these hunters.
The hunters rushed towards them and attacked them violently. They swung and fought the students, with the widest sadistic smiles on their faces. All the students sensed the situation and fought clumsily.
The students fought fiercely, while being surprised by the sudden attack. The trio led the students and fought against these hunters, but they lacked practical experience compared to them. Some of their limbs were severed by their weapons while they fought. Students screamed as some were grabbed by their hair.
Leon felt panic and rushed towards the leader of the hunters and engaged with him, exchanging several blows between them.
"Why are you doing this!" Leon screamed while swinging his sword, with anger and hatred filling his eyes.
"Don't be afraid, be grateful to us!" spoke the leader of the hunter group.
"Because we will give you a real experience of what it means to be a hunter."
.
.
.
"We tried to resist,but we failed. They were greater in number and strength, and then... I don't know why, but they took them away, and said they would be good merchandise."
"I was scared. I hid, I ran, and..." ridley spoke in terror while recalling the events.
"Calm down, you are safe now," kuro spoke.
"Thank you," ridley replied.
"Was there anything distinctive about them?" kuro asked.
"I don't know. It was dark the whole time."
"Wait, they all had a hyena emblem on their clothes."
"Do you know exactly where they took them?" kuro asked with interest.
"Yes, perhaps.... I don't know.... I heard they would take them to the hideout."
"Are you going to help them?" ridley asked hopefully.
"Absolutely not," he replied decisively.
"What, but my comrades!" ridley screamed in despair.
"Listen to me, I am a person like you. I am not that strong to face a group of hunters. I am just a teenager after all."
"Oh," ridley spoke sadly, looking down.
"But there is hope," kuro spoke, taking out his tablet device.
"You have this?! Can you call and ask for help?" the girl asked.
"Well, let me figure this out," kuro spoke while the girl approached him and stared at the device.
[Monster Types]
[Metal Types]
[Herb Types]
[Map]
[Analysis]
[Flashlight]
"Why is there no emergency call?" ridley asked worriedly.
"Because it's an assessment device. I thought there would be something useful, but at least there's a map. Let's see where our location is," kuro spoke.
"Hmm, we are here and we need... oh, wait, we aren't far from the exit. We might be able to get out of here, if you want," kuro spoke.
kuro stood up and extended his hand for her to get up, and he pulled her, and she stood up, feeling embarrassed.
"Thank you,.... um, what's your name?" she asked.
"Me? My name is kuro."
"Thank you, really, thank you," ridley spoke in a grateful tone as they left the cave.
As soon as they got out, she ran, and kuro held her hand while running. There was no light; it seemed the lamp was broken, and the path was completely dark for her. While kuro ran at a speed she could keep up with, he noticed she was still scared and terrified as she ran with him.
"Girl?" kuro asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Don't be afraid, we will be out soon," kuro reassured.
"Yeah, but Leon and the others," ridley spoke, remembering them.
"Since it will take us some time to get out, tell me more about this trio you mentioned," he spoke.
"They are Leon, Aaron, and Ilia."
"Leon Drago, he is the son of famous B-rank hunters Victor and Andrea. I heard his father participated in a mission to conquer an S-rank gate."
"Shouldn't he be somewhat strong, since his parents are high-rank hunters?" kuro asked.
"Yes, but he is still in the Awakening stage."
"What is that?" kuro asked.
"It's a stage where when you become a hunter at a young age, the power you can output is limited, and it fully unlocks after reaching a certain age. This is called the Awakening stage."
"What? Since when has there been something like this?" kuro asked in surprise.
"In our lessons, we learned this from the teacher. She mentioned that our bodies don't release our potential until they are ready, so we don't explode from within. This is a reliable study at the Dawn Academy."
"What else do you learn at the academy?" kuro asked curiously.
"We learn magic, combat techniques, and lessons on monster anatomy."
"A question, is your principal a strong person, since, as you say, you have an academy?"
"Yes! He is an A-rank hunter."
"That's good. What about the others?"
"Aaron Wilson, he is the son of a very famous hunter. He is known for his spear skills and conquering many gates. Aaron, like his father, is skilled in using the spear, and he is quiet and composed."
"As for Ilia Thompson, she is a sorceress, and her family is a family of hunter sorcerers, but I heard her parents died in a gate raid."
"She is considered the most proficient in using magic, but she prefers fire magic."
"Were they captured?"
"Yes," she spoke in pain.
"Don't worry, they will be alive. They captured them; if they wanted to kill them, they would have done so already," kuro spoke.
"And look, here is the exit."
"Finally," ridley spoke with hope.
whoosh!
Suddenly, an arrow shot directly towards kuro's bag and tore it to pieces. kuro fell, and ridley followed him because she was holding his hand. They turned and saw the source of the attack. They saw that there were hunters approaching with smiles on their faces. kuro looked at them with a dead gaze, before turning to ridley.
"No.... no!" ridley screamed in terror.
"You, go outside."
"I'll deal with them."
"Wait, what about you! It's dangerous to__"
"I said leave," he replied decisively.
The girl left, and he remained, until the hunters came to him and smiled amusingly, mocking him, while surrounding him.
"Oh..... look at this, the sweet savior boy style... ahaha."
"Stupid brat, do you think you're cool, huh?" another hunter asked.
"May I know the reason behind your actions? Once she reports on you, it's over," kuro asked.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Once we finish having fun with you, we'll go and catch that little bitch."
"Let me rephrase my question. Which organization is behind you?" kuro asked in a serious tone.
"Fuck you, mute," another hunter replied.
"You're trapped here with us now, you little rat, but not for long," another hunter replied in a threatening tone.
"Trapped here with you? Tch, I think you're mistaken about something." kuro took off his shirt, removed his shoes, and looked at them.
"I'm not trapped here with you."
"Huh, what are you saying, you little piece of shit___"
Suddenly, kuro's body began to shake strangely and transform.
kuro transformed terrifyingly. The horrifying manner of his transformation could be seen as his body enlarged, and fur started to emerge all over his body. His legs began to turn into wolf legs that he stood on, and sharp claws grew. His mouth transformed into something monstrous and bestial, resembling a wild animal's muzzle, with even sharper teeth. His eyes changed, becoming sharp and threatening.
The hunters were shocked in horror; they had never seen anything like this in their lives.
"You are trapped here with me!"