The group walked around, moving from place to place in fascination. Most of the buildings and taverns they saw were magically enhanced, giving them state-of-the-art structures. Colossal statues of important figures stood at different sections of the shelter, and the greenery around them was nothing short of breathtaking.
"Isn't that the statue of Grand General Fredrick?" Lance said as he surveyed their surroundings.
"It seems like this dimension is directly under the military," Erik said. "And from the looks of it, people live their everyday lives here."
"Maybe they were assigned a task to find powerful beasts to harvest from, dark beasts, maybe," Kaiden said with a curious look.
Xin chuckled the moment she heard Kaiden. She turned her head and looked at her like she was a lost child. "Do you really think we'd be sent to this dimension if there were dark beasts? Do you have a death wish or something?"
Kaiden stopped dead in her tracks and slowly walked toward Xin, a vein popping on her forehead. "Hey, watch your tone, you piece of shit!"
Noticing the commotion about to erupt, Erik stepped between them, urging Kaiden to calm down. Chuck quickly grabbed Kaiden, pulling her back toward him.
Kaiden hit Chuck quite forcefully, and she felt a certain "meat" press against her behind. The sudden contact spiked Kaiden's pulse, and her initial anger twisted into something else—something she couldn't quite understand.
Chuck felt Kaiden's body against his and subtly pushed her forward, trying not to make the situation awkward. "You both really need to try to get along. I don't want us getting devoured by some crazed beast because of this petty hatred."
The heat of the moment began to die down. They continued walking, taking note of the intriguing things scattered throughout the shelter. More students poured in through the portal, making the area crowded and noisy.
Following behind the last of the students were the staff members assigned to guide them for the event. Professor Modrick walked with broad shoulders, the medals on his uniform glinting under the bright sun. Zhul, the combat instructor, followed after him, clad in his Japanese-styled ninja outfit that seemed to absorb visible light.
Two more staff members, Fay and Tan, walked behind them, both wearing long overcoats that shimmered faintly with energy. They all moved toward the midsection of the shelter in a trained formation. Without wasting time, Professor Modrick reached into his pocket and pulled out a device with a red button on it.
Modrick raised the device above his head and pressed down on the button. A deafening sound blasted across the entire shelter, similar to a powerful alarm.
"What the fuck is that?! Don't tell me there's an annoying speaker in this fucking dimension too!" a student yelled as he plugged his ears.
"Attention all students," Modrick announced through his comms, checking his wristwatch. "You are to report to the midsection of the shelter immediately. Failure to do so in the next… two minutes will lead to a quick disqualification for your team."
All the students rushed toward the midsection, which was close to the portal's location.
Chuck and his team arrived at the crowded section, where the four staff members were prepared to address them. Fay, dressed in her shimmering overcoat, stepped forward.
"I don't have much to say," Fay began. "The rules are simple: kill and harvest as many beasts as you can find. When the event ends in three weeks, your points will be tallied." She walked through the crowd as she spoke. "Regular beast crystals are worth 10 points, and evolved beast crystals are worth 20. Hopefully, you won't find anything above that level."
"What do you mean by 'hopefully'? Does that mean there might be dark beasts?" a student asked as he succumbed to the heat of the sun, making sweat stream down his face.
"According to our reports," Fay said with an annoyed look, "all dark beasts have been eradicated. So you have nothing to worry about."
"O-okay… so what about the…" The student froze mid-sentence as he noticed Fay's death stare, sending a cold chill down his spine.
Fay continued explaining what they should expect in the dimension. "You will all be given a holographic map that displays the full structure of the dimension. The yellow zone contains regular beasts. The red zone is where evolved beasts are located. The green zone is where you're standing now, and there are no beasts in the green zone."
As she spoke, a golden bracelet materialized on each student's wrist, pulsating with light. Chuck glanced at his bracelet and couldn't help but be reminded of the golden essence of his Harelm energy.
"To get a visual of the map, double tap the bracelet with two fingers. Now get on with it for the event has begun!" Fay yelled.
Chuck and his team moved forward, discussing their strategy.
"I think it's better if we head to the yellow zone first," Kaiden said, examining the projected map. "Most of us haven't fought a beast before, so we need to gauge their strength before starting the real hunt."
"You have a point," Erik said, standing closer to Xin. "Once we're confident enough to take on evolved beasts, we'll head to the red zone."
The team headed toward the yellow zone, and they saw multiple students moving in the same direction as chatter filled the arena.
They traveled until they were fully out of the green zone. The first thing they noticed was the lack of vegetation. The yellow zone was filled with fine sand and no traces of grass.
"It seems like the green zone is literally a 'green zone,'" Chuck said, observing the arid landscape.
"Ohh, I see what you did there, Chucky," Lance smiled.
"What! Why do people like calling me Chucky?" Chuck thought.
Chuck opened his system skills, checking if he had enough in his arsenal for the beasts.
[ Skill ]
[ Infernal Shroud: LV 2 ]
[ Infernal Craft: LV 2 ]
[ Forced Absorption Technique: LV 2 ]
"I haven't even tested this skill yet. Maybe I'll be able to use the Forced Absorption Technique on a beast… if I don't get killed."
They arrived at the innermost part of the yellow zone. The green zone was now completely out of sight, leaving them surrounded by endless sand.
"We've been walking in this goddamn desert for almost an hour and haven't seen any beasts. Maybe they're hiding. Or maybe they're too scared to face us, right?" Xin said.
At that moment, the group felt a sudden vibration beneath the sand, making them stumble as they tried to regain their balance.
"You just had to jinx it," Kaiden said with a frustrated look.
There were beasts around them, and the beasts were hidden beneath the sand.