Physical Education.
Also known as: Survival Class.
Taught by the infamous brute Calvin Pinch, it was a mandatory class that would teach them how to survive out in the wild.
"I'm assuming you all have your things ready?" Towering over them like a giant, his body was clad with smoldering muscle. His beard was grayish and his hair was akin to silver.
They had the weekend to prepare for the trip, which meant that they had to go out in the city and buy the necessary items. Most people had an allowance that they had saved before entering the school due to most of them being nobles.
However, the commoners had to rely on the allowance handed to them by the academy.
Grace did not have this worry as he was a Walker and had a sufficient amount of Notes in order to buy the necessary items.
Some people... do not have that luxury. Grace thought. The commoners had to be incredibly picky with what they bought since they could not buy many items. The nobles, had the opposite happen to them, though.
They had to be careful not to prepare too heavily or they'd be weighed down.
Even though this is a field trip, it is also a hidden assignment being conducted by Calvin. Bringing a surplus of things would indicate that they are unable to survive out in the wild without everyday necessities assisting them. Which is why Grace only brought a minimal amount of items.
"Goodness," Rufus muttered. "Some of these nobles--are they just plain gluttonous?" All the first-years were gathered and many of them made the mistake of bringing a surplus of items.
"Well," Grace muttered back. "Some of these people have been pampered all their lives. It would be difficult to let go of those habits." Looking not too far away, Grace saw Anne hoisting a small backpack.
"You did good bringing a little amount of things," commented Grace.
"Indeed. It's safe to assume that, that demon will order us to hunt animals in order to get food." Rufus snuck a glance at Calvin, a chill crawling.
Anne chuckled timidly.
"Well, I didn't really have many options. Even though I bought a little bit of canned food, I thought it would be best to prioritize things that would help me hunt." Grace nodded.
By this point, Anne and Ivan should have gotten acquainted. It should have occurred the day after the duel. Even though I meddled in her affairs a bit before that--it must mean she started furthering herself earlier than in the novel. Grace thought carefully.
Truly, he was proud.
"You're Normal Grade 9," Grace spoke as if a matter-of-fact.
"Huh? You know?"
"Yeah, your mana seems stronger than the last time I spoke to you."
Rufus narrowed his eyes, listening carefully.
This certainly screams youth. With a commoner at that! Well, Grace Walker has always been rumored to be an eccentric guy with eccentric interest. Well, whatever that flowed Grace's boat, Rufus ultimately thought.
Soon after, once Calvin had finished checking all the students, they were all pushed into separate buses.
Grace was paired up with Rufus.
"So, the Central Academy Mountain Range," Rufus muttered, looking out the window. "You think there'll be mana beast there?" He finished, a small frown appearing on his face.
"Most likely not," Grace responded. "That place doesn't have ambient mana condense enough to properly form a mana beast. Though the mana at the mountains are probably enough to empower animals." Which is why towns and cities were made strategically.
To begin with, there was never an incident that occurred during this field trip. It was just a regular field-trip that tested their survival skills. It wasn't anything too special, but... Grace gave Rufus a small smile.
"I'm sure we'd be able to handle it."
"Whatever you say, bastard."
Rufus, at the current moment, was not the most important in the narrative. He merely did his thing and passed the day by training and eating and whatever that Rufus was good at.
However, that's already changing. Slowly, his essence is being injected into the story. Grace thought with glee.
~~~
Getting off of the bus at the bottom of the mountain range, Calvin waited until everyone was present as a collective.
"Alright," his voice boomed with the enhancement of mana. "These plains will be our 'home-base' and will be where we will be sleeping for the next two days!" There were a collective amount of groans that echoed in response.
"Get used to it!" Calvin yelled at everyone. "The world outside this academy is a harsh one! Pampering does not exist! The moment you graduate from this academy... the safety-tie is no longer there!" He wanted to beat that into their skull.
That everyone will eventually go through the process of "survival."
Whether out in the wild or within the dungeons themselves.
The key is to be able to preserve yourself and others in order to live!
"These next two days: hunt, search, gather, and collect! Anything that you find--it's yours!" Even though this was just a regular field trip, there was no limit placed on them.
What can be taken is their right.
"Conflict... this smells like conflict," muttered Rufus.
"Indeed."
"We should gather some allies... like that girl, Anne. And maybe that other guy: Ivan?"
"Oh?" Grace smirked. "Interested in them?"
"Absolutely. Anne is at Normal Grade 9. And Ivan... he's ascending the ladder at an alarming rate--Rank 22. He's been the only person that has been consistently moving up the rankings."
Indeed he is. The only reason why he hasn't reached higher is due to his skill variety and overall martial skills. He's been compensating through the use the power boost and his raw intelligence. How scary. Grace read the novel many times, and knew the rough time-table of Ivan's ascension.
He had progressed the slowest at the beginning, but in this reality: he's been progressing a tad-bit quicker than in the novel.
That's good. Grace mused.
Ivan's progression also signified a quicker progression for the rest of the cast. As they would also - at some point - have a common link between all of them.
Ivan was a source of inspiration.
"Let's do it. They are good company, after all."
Inwardly, Grace smiled.
This is quite honestly the perfect group of people to match up with. They did team up regularly after graduation in the novel. Their offensive synergy was tremendous. All of them worked well together and the author even reinforced this notion during multiple author notes.
Grace wanted to see that for himself in real-time, even if it's an inferior sample.
Approaching the duo, they saw the two of them already situated together. This was because - much like Ivan - Anne didn't have any other friend in school despite it being almost two months into the school year.
"Yo," Rufus greeted. "Wanna team up?"
"Eh?" Ivan widened his eyes. His gaze switched between the two of them in utter bewilderment. Even though the one true interaction between himself and these two was pleasant--he didn't think they'd personally go to him and Anne and ask to team up.
So...
He couldn't help but feel as if there was an ulterior motive.
"Is there something you want from us?" He asked.
Anne widened her eyes.
...I was going to accept... Anne thought. Though being careful was not hurtful, she figured that Grace's intentions were pure. That is what she gained from when he gave her those words of courage.
"There's a strategy," Grace told them. "To gain a bountiful of things. There's probably useful things in this mountain range an maybe something important on top of the mountain itself. However, that is dangerous."
"Yeah... but what does that have to do with us?" Asked Ivan, surveying.
"I've encountered Anne a few times and she's the same Grade as us three... with Rufus being Normal Grade 8. And we are pretty much all centered around magic skills, but also proficient enough to be close-ranged."
Grace smirked.
"I want to form a pure offensive group. Regardless of defense, the focus is to completely overwhelm them via magic."
This was certainly an interesting plan.
However, there was a major hole.
"What happens on the off-chance that we run out of mana?" Asked Ivan, leading the discussion.
"The key is to not be wary of the potential opponent. At our current strength, a lot of these animals are mostly harmless with them being incredibly sensitive to their surroundings. I believe it would be best to take a little of today to stock up on food within the bottom of the range. Then we make our move! Then when we navigate the mountain, we maintain an even more delicate caution. Even though the outside of the mountain is not dense enough to create a mana beast--the inside is. Avoid such cases."
There were even more safety measures, but the key to a faster progression in strength is to take a dive into the unknown.
"Also, we split everything amongst us four."