The next day Lance and I were at the southern entrance of the forest.
There were four entrances in total, each with a dirt path that led straight to the central lake.
Students unloaded their gear from their wagons as dragoons stood by, bored.
Lance and I already had our gear ready to go. He was dressed in a green tunic with brown pants.
I wore all brown.
"Scared yet?" Lance teased as he ruffled my hair.
"Never, but I am a little anxious," I replied as I stared at the red beacon in my hands.
Lance pulled on his bag straps as he looked into the forest. "Anxiety is good. Keeps us alert, quick, and safe."
He smiled at me. "Did I sound like a cool mentor?"
I shook my head. "Nah, not really, no."
Just then a water dragon landed nearby and its rider dropped down with a thud. "Alright, elite scholars and their pages go first, line up!"
Lance and I moved to line up with the others. I could feel the gazes of the regular students. They were already planning against us I bet.
Less than half the manpower of a regular team and worth double the points.
I guess that's why we're going first.
The dragoon was dressed in simple, blue and black fatigues. "Check your gear, say your prayers, and keep your head on a swivel." His voice was deep but not unkind. He watched as students checked their beacons and trackers.
"Once you pass the treeline you'll have thirty minutes of grace before the rest of the students enter the forest. Use that time wisely, because it'll be the only advantage you have against the regular teams."
He looked over his shoulder into the forest. "The rules of engagement are simple. You cannot target other elite scholars and their pages. In addition to that you cannot form alliances with other elites and their pages."
He looked back at us.
"If you happen to fight in the same area that is fine. So is light conversation."
He continued.
But if you are caught camping with another elite scholar, marching with them for long stretches, or benefiting in any way from each other in a tactical sense, you will be disqualified. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir." We said in unison.
We waited in silence for a moment, then a loud horn blared in the distance,
The dragoon stepped back and waved his arm. "Go! Go-Go!"
We all surged forward.
The thick canopy swallowed the morning light. Nothing was but a green haze surrounded us as the smell of earth and animals grew pungent.
While the main group pushed deeper down the dirt path Lance and I turned off the path almost instantly.
I looked over my map as we marched through the thick forest floor. We moved in silence for about ten minutes before Lance finally spoke up.
"So, we get to the hill, camp out while the main fighting takes place, and watch out for stragglers, right?"
"That's the plan."
"Now that we're actually doing it, I'm feeling a lot more confident about it," Lance explained.
I nodded and we continued in silence for another 20 minutes or so. I had thought about using Ouro to make the trip faster but then I realized something.
We were in a forest.
If I start blasting around trees will fall or shake left and right. I'd practically be begging to be followed.
So walking it was.
We started to climb a gentle incline when a second sounded.
Lance and I exchanged a glance.
"They're coming," he said.
"I know."
The incline steepened enough to the point I finally had to start using Ouro.
Because I reasoned that if someone got to this point, it wouldn't matter if they knew we were up there or not.
And if anything it would be a deterrent,
"Lance, can you clear a lot of ground with your Ouro?" I asked as I crouched and prepared to jump.
Lance nodded. "Yeah, but it's loud. Unlike you water users I can't just throw water out my backside." He smirked. "I basically have to create a local explosion to launch myself."
I frowned. "We're not doing that."
"Then?"
We stared at each other for a bit.
As we stared at each other and walked I came to realize the unavoidable truth.
And its consequences.
Sigh.
Lance held me like I was a baby. We were chest to chest, with my hands pointed out behind him.
And his hands were under my legs to support me. Had this happened in a show, I'd have called it a shitty yaoi insert.
Now it's my reality.
"Not a soul," I hissed.
Lances snickered. "Loud and clear."
With that out of the way, I fired two high-pressure streams out of my hands.
Foooooush!
Lance was practically dragged up the remaining length of the hill.
When we cleared the trees and reached the top I pushed myself from Lance.
We both crashed.
He landed on his back and I landed on my ass.
Neither of us moved as we caught our breath.
Then Lance started to laugh. It was a soft, breathy laugh. "You know, I might tell Anna about this. It's her kind of humor."
I glared at him. "We made a promise."
Lance nodded. "We did. You said not a soul, meaning not another soul. But Anna and I are married so the law says we're kind of one soul, you know?"
I rolled my eyes.
"Whatever, I guess."
The summit wasn't large. It was a patch of rough grass roughly in the shape of an oval.
Trees surrounded us.
Except for the path I cleared out when I pushed my way up.
As I looked around it wasn't long before the third horn sounded.
From our vantage point, I could see trees falling as the four elements were thrown around.
Massive water balls and gusts of wind.
Loud explosions while the earth itself shifted.
Dragoons flew overhead on their dragons. I could already see them putting out fires and retrieving defeated students.
For the next few hours, Lance and I watched the chaos. There was always an explosion followed by a tree falling and a dragoon coming down.
My tracker would spike and settle as people ran by. No one ever climbed the hill and it made sense as to why. On the ground, you were being chased or you were chasing.
Going up a hill means you were either trapping yourself or going off course.
But as the sun climbed higher and sounds grew quieter that would start to change.
I glanced over at my side to see Lance fast asleep. I reached for my bag and retrieved my blanket attached to the bottom of it,
It was a thin thing with deep folds but it was better than nothing. I threw the blanket over him and it worked to hide his body.
He looked like nothing more than a breathing pile of leaves. With him covered, I took a sip of my canteen and ate a sandwich prepared by Jashen.
It was good.
As I ate time continued to pass and a quiet finally began to settle. The prey were nearly wiped out and now it was a game of hunter versus hunter.
Lance had awakened right as the sun began to set. He yawned and set his blanket to the side. "Thanks bud, so what are we looking like?"
"It's getting quiet. Really quiet."
Lance walked over and draped my blanket over my shoulders. "Good, should help you sleep better."
I looked up with a raised brow. "Me? I'm not going to sleep. I'm not even tired."
"Yeah, you are. You've been staring at trees all day. You're not at your peak performance anymore."
"I'm fine."
"And I want you to be better." Lance countered. "So get some sleep, in the morning we'll go hunting."
I wanted to insist I was fine but he didn't seem interested in the back and forth. I dropped my shoulders and wrapped myself up in the blanket.
"Will you wake me up if you need help at least?"
Lance nodded. "Obviously, you're all I've got buddy." He reached into his bag to produce a pillow. "Here."
I took the pillow and rolled up in my blanket. As I got comfortable I watched Lance gather sticks. "What's that for?" I asked.
"A fire," Lance answered. "It'll keep us warm throughout the night. Now close your eyes and dream of Jashen."
I frowned.
"I don't even like Jashen."
Lance looked over his shoulder with a grin. "Obviously. It's because you love her."
I didn't argue with him.