A few seconds after delivering the note, Mart thought, "Don't my words sound like a death flag? Ugh"
[Definitely]
"Damn," Mart insulted in his mind.
[You stole the first kiss from a beautiful, shy, and pure young woman: special reward]
Mart watched Selis take a bag out of a demonic pendant and examine a series of potions contained within it.
He looked back at Asfil, and although she still had her cold attitude, she no longer seemed upset, so he decided to close his eyes and continue practicing magic spells.
••••
A few hours later, all the floating cabins stopped, and the students stepped onto damp grass with soil that was not very solid. The air smelled of dry, rotten leaves due to the humidity. In front of them stood an immense mountain that looked more like a continent. From where they were standing, no one could see the end of the mountain's base on the right or left. Its height varied, with some areas low and others piercing through the clouds.
At the entrance, there were so many trees and undergrowth that it looked like an untamed and unfathomable forest. Some students from classes B and C had to go to the bathroom. Seeing it and imagining it were two different things. Mart understood them, but he preferred to wait for the privacy that the mountain could offer him.
-Students, follow your guidance counselors. If your group is mixed, depending on the class with the most students, you will follow the counselor. They will show you the area you requested earlier. -explained Professor Drian, using demonic energy in his voice.
Almost two-thirds of class C and a few from class B followed Professor Helen. As they walked, she called out to the leader of each group and pointed toward the mountain, whereupon the groups set off without further ado.
-Mart Sevec. -announced Professor Helen, pointing to a rocky area of the mountain.
-Follow me. -were the determined words Mart used, although with the gloomy surroundings and possible dangers, his hands were sweating.
"Don't think too much about it, just 3 monsters in the second rank, and we'll get out of the mountain," he thought to relax a little, as his body temperature rose as if he had a fever. Mart slapped himself and said to himself, "Be strong, I'm a demon now, not a human."
[Self-recognition: special reward]
"Thank you, you're a great moral support," he said in his mind with some irony, although he was also being sincere.
-What's wrong with him? -Asfil murmured coldly, although she was actually getting anxious seeing Mart nervous.
-It's his first time here, it's normal for him to be a little nervous. -Sefil replied sincerely and kindly.
"This naive young woman is just in love," Asfil thought as she took a deep breath and then exhaled to calm herself.
After walking for several minutes, Mart stopped and said:
-Where are we?
Asfil looked annoyed, but Selis just giggled. "My fault, my fault, I was never one for jokes," thought Mart, who had tried to relax the group. Although it didn't work as he had hoped, the cringe he felt helped him a little, and Asfil's anger helped her let go of her anxiety.
-Just three monsters, and we'll be out. No more, no less. We mustn't take unnecessary risks. -said Mart, taking out his map.
Selis nodded quickly; only Asfil seemed a little pensive.
Mart looked around. About two kilometers away, there was a lake, which was marked as a level three danger zone.
"That's a shame. I always heard that natural water sources were ideal places to hunt animals. I figured it would be the same for hunting monsters."
Mart looked at the map again. There was an area with some trees, but it wasn't wooded. It was an ideal place to start exploring, as it was only a danger zone in range 1. Mart considered that with patience, they could hunt some monsters in the requested range on the perimeter of that area.
"We have seven days. If we're in a safe area, there's no need to rush," thought Mart.
However, he sensed Asfil's presence approaching. She looked at the map and seemed somewhat pensive. Marc was about to speak, but she said, pointing to the lake area:
-Can we try to hunt a level 3 monster? We just have to wait for one to appear alone, lure it to this spot, and attack it. We'll get a higher score, and we won't need to hunt three monsters.
Mart began to get an idea of what Asfil wanted, but for him, the risk involved in approaching the lake was not worth it.
-Three days in the almost clear rank 1 area, if we don't catch anything, we'll follow your strategy. -Mart said firmly and put the map away.
••••
A few hours later, the three were in the clear zone of rank 1 in danger, they had made a fire and were sitting on the pieces of a tree they had cut, the sky was practically dark and the clouds were dyed the same color, the environment was creepy, the light from the fire only illuminated a few meters around, but Mart infused demonic energy in his eyes and could see more clearly, he could not help but smile at the thought: "it would be embarrassing for a demon to fear the dark".
In the distance, different sounds could be heard, some produced by the natural elements and others by monsters, beasts or animals.
When midnight had come, Selis and Asfil had gone to sleep, they agreed that they would stand guard for three hours each, soon he would have to wake one of them, but suddenly Asfil arrived, she sat down on a piece of the cut tree and asked him earnestly but hiding her doubts and fears:
-Mart Why did you come to me, I'm just a hobby? If so it's better to know, I'll stay away after this foray.
Mart looked at her and turned his gaze back to the campfire:
-Let's say it was a circumstantial thing, that in the end I ended up liking it too much.
Mart threw the branch with which he was stoking the fire into the fire. "If Emperor Acad could have his harem, why shouldn't I who pretend to save the country he created?", thought Marc as he headed for a tent to rest.
Asfil was puzzled, she felt better after conversing with Mart honestly, though she still did not trust him, the rumor about Selenia was something only a deaf man would not have heard.