"The test begins in ten minutes," the teacher declared loudly.
Though slightly flustered by those words, Cole managed to keep his cool, not showing any intense emotions, only clenching his jaw tightly.
The second-year student watched all this from a distance. A smile could be seen plastered on his face while he fantasized about something.
"We might not even end up meeting in the forest, it is such a large place," Cole thought in an attempt to console himself.
He continued to scan the students while making conscious efforts to not look towards the second-year students that stayed together.
The purpose of his search was to locate people that seemed like they would be a threat to him.
Most of the suspicious-looking ones were mainly standing alone, completely ignoring others around them.
Cole saw Moses in the crowd, standing a little bit separate from another group.
He moved his gaze away after observing for a while.
It didn't take long before he found another acquaintance. It was Linda, sporting her signature annoyed expression as other red-headed students buzzed around her.
Though Cole found this slightly funny, the tense atmosphere prevented him from doing anything like that.
The atmosphere quickly got even tenser when the earlier teacher stood up again, as if he wanted to speak.
"It is time," he said loudly.
Varying expressions appeared on the students' faces, ranging from furrowed brows to wide smiles.
Cole, on the other hand, maintained a straight face, hiding his worries deep while tightening his hands.
"Begin." The gates to the forest swung open.
Cole and Bryan shared a final nod before sprinting forward.
The other students also picked up pace as they all rushed into the forest to face the unknown.
"Some of them won't be making it back alive," the teacher said to the person beside him.
"I just hope the headmaster is sure of this," the other person responded before turning around to leave.
The fog that covered the forest from the outsiders was different on the inside. It was thicker, making visibility low.
The students, upon entry, scattered in different directions while moving at very different paces.
The forest maintained its bone-chilling atmosphere, completely unbothered by the students' presence.
After moving as quickly as he could for about ten minutes, Cole finally stopped to relax and create his plan for the next week.
He couldn't hear or see any signs of other students around him based on the sheer magnitude of the forest.
"I wonder how Bryan is doing now," Cole thought while resting on a tree.
Settling in the forest proved extremely hard for Cole. As he couldn't ignore the Codex's reaction.
He hadn't failed to notice the codex's increased reaction the moment he entered the forest.
The forest around Cole felt dead and oddly alive at the same time. Further alleviating its dark aura.
"Could the Codex be reacting to the Forest itself or something else?" Cole pondered.
He checked his Academy watch on his wrist to keep track of time. The large canopy formed by the extremely large trees partially blocked out the sun, making it unreliable.
Suddenly, Cole heard it. It was a noise coming from not too far away.
It was the sound of battle.
"Someone fighting so soon," Cole thought as he stood up to his feet.
He brazenly decided to head over and take a look. To gather some information about his future opponents.
Making his decision, Cole climbed onto a tall tree with surprising dexterity.
At the top, he leapt from tree to tree, branch to branch, trying his best to make as little noise as possible.
Slowly, the sound of the distant battle grew closer and louder.
About five minutes later, Cole finally arrived close enough to the battlefield to see what was going on.
In front of Cole were fellow freshmen, currently in a heated battle. One had spiky black hair with an ordinary face, while the other sported short brown hair.
Cole observed the battle for a while before coming to a conclusion.
"The spiky-haired dude completely overpowers his opponent."
Like Cole previously concluded. The longer the battle raged, the more obvious the disparity became.
And soon enough the battle ended. The spiky-haired student won by a landslide.
While watching his defeated opponent, he said to him with a smug face.
"I was only able to defeat you right now because you haven't begun comprehending your innate spirit."
Both Cole and the kid lying on the ground looked up at him with shocked faces.
"Comprehending Innate Spirit, what do you mean?" The defeated one asked.
"You will never advance if you don't," the spiky-haired kid replied.
While still in shock, Cole forgot where he was and made a wrong move.
Skkrr
He went down crashing from the branch he previously was on.
The strange noise immediately alerted the two students as they looked towards Cole's direction.
"Who is there?" the spiky-haired kid asked vigilantly.
He didn't await any response and directly began heading towards that spot.
Cole on the other hand was still trying to regain his composure while standing. He looked in front of him to see the spiky haired kid already close by.
"Umm, hi," he said awkwardly.
The spiky-haired kid didn't bother responding, charging straight at Cole.
****Not Far away****
Two men that were surely not students stood gallantly on a tree branch.
They were dressed in dark trench coats that covered most of their bodies.
Behind the coat was a large emblem; the emblem was oddly familiar.
When scrutinized, it appeared like the Spiriters' emblem but with a large X running across it.
Just their presence displayed death as their bodies exuded a dark aura that rotted the plants around them.
"It is time, Simone," the thinner one of the two said.
"It is time for us to begin eradicating Spiriters and their outdated spirits, and we will begin with these kids." He continued.
"They will be the next generation after all," with an evil smile tugging at his lips.
The one called Simone didn't bother replying, only giving a nod before continuing to stare in one direction.
"I found one," Simone said before vanishing.
His partner only smiled as he looked in the same direction, and it didn't take long for a response to arrive.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaa," A young girl's scream suddenly rang out, as if signalling the beginning of utter chaos.
"Haahahah, Let's begin then." The figure said while also vanishing.
****Cole's location****
Cole, the spiky haired kid, the brown haired kid all froze immediately as the scream still lingered in the air.
Before any of them could do anything, another figure suddenly appeared in the area they were.
It was a slim man wearing a trenchcoat. Cole's eyes widened in shock as he stared forward.
He wasn't too shocked by the man's appearance though, what shocked him was something else.
His innate Spirit was the source. Its previous throbbing seemed like child's play now. Instead it was violently shaking as if responding to the man's presence.
The man didn't bother looking at anyone else, directly staring at Cole.
"I can't believe I found you so soon, Cole Bremont," He said.
Cole's shock morphed into utter disbelief.
"How does he know me?"