The moment they had saw the explosion from a distance, Grace and Rufus made sure to follow it. At first they thought it might have been Ivan and Anne, but they soon realized it wasn't.
"The air..." Grace muttered.
"Yeah, it's cold."
The temperature around them was drastically lower than what it had been when they were much further out. Moreover, as they approached, some of the wood bark had little icy-frost. And from what Grace recalled--
"There's only one person out of all the first-years with this kind of ice magic."
Rufus grimaced.
"What a hassle." Rufus didn't know Albert that well, nor did he have much interest in him. But he was something who wielded magic that opposed his own and vice versa. And that was enough to at least acknowledge his strength.
Arriving where Albert was located, they saw him standing over a person who was completely knocked out of consciousness. He was huffing loudly as he landed on his buttocks.
"What a fucking painnnnnnn!!!" Albert yelled. Once he heard people approaching, he saw Grace and Rufus looking at him.
"You realize that conserving mana is important, right?" Rufus asked as if it was a matter-of-fact. Though--it is, but someone like Albert probably did not care whatsoever.
"Yeah, but so what? That guy was a rank below me and tried picking a fight. So I entertained his provocations and beat him up." Even if it cost him much of his mana reserves, he thought it was a well deserved beating.
"Numbskull..." Rufus muttered.
Albert glared.
"Mr. Rank 2 picking a fight?"
Rufus smirked haughtily.
"And lower myself? I'll pass."
Grace merely sighed at their continued provocations towards one another.
Just like in the novel... Ivan, Rufus, and Albert--all just natural rivals to each other. How amusing. He was entertained, frankly.
It was the mere sight of witness these people interact in real-time and in the flesh.
"Hey, Albert," Albert turned, Grace catching his attention. "Want to join us? Him and I and Anne and Ivan are going up the mountain." Albert raised an eyebrow.
"You got a death wish?"
"No."
"Then why go up that fucking mountain?"
"It's a ticket to get stronger. The inside of the mountain has dense mana, and even the outside of it has a denser mana than the bottom of the mountain-range and even the city. And until we graduate, we can't go to a dungeon ourselves, so we have to compensate somehow."
Grace shrugged, a mischievous smirk appearing.
"And... well... who knows... what if there are artifacts... wouldn't that be nice. But if you insist on not going... then I guess more things for us."
"Tch. You're one sly motherfucker. I'm in."
"Good. That makes the trip easier. Just... try and conserve your mana, though."
~~~
"Hi." Albert waved his hand to Ivan and Anne.
"Is he joining us?" Anne asked.
Grace nodded his head.
"He agreed. I figured we needed more man-power. There was an Earth Deer, and I didn't expect them to be here, so being too safe isn't bad."
Ivan shrugged.
He didn't have an opinion on the type of person Albert was. Although his only concern was the fact that Albert was a bit of a unpredictable variable. As he was always ready to jump the gun to fight.
But the added man-power was nothing something he opposed.
"Are Earth Deers not supposed to be around her?" Ivan asked.
"Kind of," confirmed Grace. "They usually stay around the middle-part of the mountain due to the denser mana. So it was surprising that an Earth Deer was present at the bottom." Ivan frowned.
"Does that indicate something?" Ivan questioned.
Grace's brows furrowed.
It means the narrative has been changing far longer than my recent interference. However, that makes sense--my family are transmigrators and their very existence means constant change of their surroundings. Both voluntarily and involuntarily. Grace sighed.
But there was a more simple way of explaining this sudden shift in change.
"Perhaps... evolution."
That was the best way to describe it. Onwards, the strength of individuals all across the world would experience a shift as the environment around them would eventually demand more than what the world offered currently.
"Huahh," Albert sighed, flailing his arms. "Evolution, eh? Whether that's a good thing or bad thing--I'll still work diligently to gain the right to self-indulge in goods."
With that being said, they moved onwards, unable to do anything about the appearance of an Earth Deer.
"Is there any service here?" Albert questioned, sighing. "Walking is so so boring." Playing games on his phone would be a luxury. But the usage of a phone out in the wilderness and further was almost impossible.
"Complainer complainer," whistled Rufus. "We're almost there." The sun was drawing closer to the west. And he was right. Arriving at the base of the mountain, there were multiple pathways that led to different parts of the mountain.
"Straight, I suppose?" Anne asked, pointing towards the path in front of them.
"Probably for the best," Grace responded.
I better not regret this... Truth be told, there was a particular reason as to why Grace wanted the offensive power of all these people.
There was a 1-star dungeon hidden on the side of the mountain.
Canonically, the cast did not go up the mountain during the field trip. So the dungeon was never found until after graduation once the mana that it exuded became so potent that it became an 7-star dungeon. Although it wouldn't have gotten to that point had the dungeon not been neglected.
They needed the experience, Grace figured.
And at their current offensive production, conquering the dungeon in one day was plausible. However, maintaining caution was still important.
On the off-chance that something did change, we should be ready to retreat. Biting more than he could chew was not something he wanted to do. However, taking into account of everyone's level of strength currently--
As a collective, we can probably produce strength comparable to a Normal Grade 4. That should be enough to conquer this dungeon. Still, they were still bottom-at-the-barrel in terms of strength.
They could not let their guard down no matter the circumstance.
"Be wary," Grace spoke as they walked straight. "Earth Deers and Mountain Lions will become more common." There were more than just those two, but they were the prime dangers around the area. As they were the only things that can possibly do them any harm.
They moved in a formation; Rufus stood at the front-left with Albert to the front-right. Ivan was not the most versatile spell-caster, so he was positioned at the middle.
Grace and Anne were positioned at the back due to their range-centered skillset.
Crunch!
Their eyes fled towards the source of the noise. Looking upwards, there was silhouette of a vague figure.
"A Mountain Lion," Anne muttered beside him. Normally, a Mountain Lion could hardly even be considered half of a star, so they usually aren't the most treacherous existence to fight out in the wild.
The Mountain Lion leapt up, descending from the rocks, bearing its fangs mightily.
"Tch," Albert, clicking his tongue, shot out an icicle from his palm. It, however, did not touch the Mountain Lion due to him not timing the shot correctly.
"Hey, Ice-man," Rufus smirked. "It's like this, idiot." From where the Mountain Lion would land, Rufus erected a small column of fire. It rose beautifully as it formed into a spear-like shape.
Before the spear-like fire could pierce the lion, the lion opened its mouth. Releasing a mighty roar, the fire that Rufus had manifested dispersed by the equal strength.
"What the fuck," Rufus muttered.
"Guys, focus," Grace turned to Anne. "Restrict its movements." Anne nodded her hand, conjuring a wind spell that traveled across the air. Unable to see the incoming attack, the lion was pushed back, crashing into the rocky cliff.
A 1-star... how problematic. However, that did not mean it was out of their league. Grace looked at everyone.
"Attack."