Running with as much elegance,and efficiency that could be afforded to him Darian arrived before a barred gate located on one of the walls of chrokuses long corridors,at the opposite ends of the left ,and right sides stood long columns,located at the very top of these columns were white marble statues of harpies looking directly at each other.
At first Darian had gone to his appointed class but what he heard from mage professors at the scene was that the session had been extended,and moved to this location.
The black barred gate was covered with vines,and flowers while a feint light could be seen eminating from the inside,it had been suppressed by the the vines due to it covering the surface of the bared gate.
This place was considered a forbidden area that could only be entered or drawn near to by those given permission.
Unlike the three great Towers,whatever magic that sealed this place off was much less potent,meaning unlike the three great Towers it was subject to being more heavily guarded.
Out of the four missing,Darian arrived first slightly panting as he bent his posture infront of him was a sight of others giving him side glances as if they told him that he was not worth being a part of nobility.
Darian smiled," I guess,I can better relate to Gal now",on the other hand seconds later three students ran to that location their ties flying up,and down their blazers moving from right to left as Siegfried straightened his tie,they too almost looked out of breath.
Darian gave a side glance,and a half grin saying to himself under his breath in a prideful self deprecating manner," atleast I'm not the last one,this time".
Most of the class present looked in disgust,looking down on Siegfrieds group but Siegfried was no push over nor would he allow people to so openly mock him.
"When the abyss stairs he stairs back".
And that was exactly what he did meeting their gazes with his own,he had a strong aura when standing upright his build and strength could be clearly seen through the Outline of his very own clothes.
When his eyes met these nobles head on it was like he was exposing them what they unashamedly thought was done in secret in a metaphorical sense when he looked back,he brought their actions to the light.
Many turned their heads refusing to face the group of three again,Simply to avoid Siegfrieds sturn gaze it had a way of convicting people.
Astrea sighed,walking up to her half brother,giving Yulang ,and Simon a stern look before grasping Siegfrieds ears like a mother scolding her son.
" OW ",Siegfried reacted in pretentious pain,his relationship with her was the strongest out of all his half siblings,the two would play many games as children,and their father had even told him once that he was her protector
So all in all he had a strong sense of duty towards her infact Siegfried himself had zero interest in the throne itself ,and from a young age was informed it was not his destiny.
If a beastman ever sat on the throne surely a civil war would break out or at worst a complete coup,leading to Siegfried being jumped by absolutely all sides.
" Its unlike you to be so late",Astrea said poutingly,the seen infront of them caused both Simon,and Yulang to burst out in little laughter.
It was funny to think that their brave leader would be manhandled by such a prim,and proper looking girl,Astrea had an annoyed expression after hearing the sounds of laughter coming from the battle hungry duo.
Looking back at them she calmly gave a few insults," oh look at that its the bridesgroom ,and his tall idiot prince",such a thing was rare for Astrea which left the two shocked,they then looked at each other with contorted ugly faces.
The implication of Astreas taunts were simple she was calling them gay,such a thing was seen as shameful in ancient times no matter your position you would be burnt to the stake.
But ofcourse she still made sure to not take things to its full extent word getting out that they had such an argument,would still damage reputations either way possibly the duos more than hers,but still.
She quickly told off Siegfried,to get his act together before heading back to her team.
Darian walked to his team,who were waiting for him," took you long enough",Galahad said with a smile,Benjamin laughed," Catch your breath much",a smirk appeared on Darians face.
On a more serious note looking at the entire class gathered each group was stationed themselves with their normal dorm mates,in a circular formation,leaving pockets of space behind for each groups privacy,luckily this was one of Chrokus largest hallways so it could accommodate them all.
Because of there being 50 or so children per class including the gender disparity between men,and women this made it so some groups only contained a max of two people one such a case were the halfling princes Edward,and Julius which had somehow managed to remain together throughout it all.
Darian in curiosity asked," whats going on exactly",Galahad looked at Benjamin expecting him with his quick mouth to answer but he simply folded his arm,running a zipping motion across his mouth.
Galahad then decided to take it upon himself," So Basically we're doing a type of outdoor activity specifically,hunting down familiars,and potentially taming them for points,I assume this magically sealed door leads to an artificial biom located within a pocket space".
Darian was surprised but a little excited as well,his overall plans had not included going into pocket spaces,and taming or encountering familiars,but at the same time his experiences with the nameless book gave him some sort of caution.
New was not always good,and not all things were worth a persons Curiosity.
Infront of everyone the Teacher observed,his stature being that of six foot six ,standing as an imposing Giant,his Outfit allowed him to show off his entire chest area his biceps,and abbs he wore clothes that seemed fashioned from the hides of dead furry animals his body covered in Tattoos similar to that of kakau but in the form of different creatures that was like a tapestry draping on his back to his shoulders ,and upper wrists.
On him were chains lined with small skulls,bony accessories and brass coloured Claw like Gauntlets,his ears were pierced,he had tanned skin a pointed jawline,glistening white teeth with sharp canines,wide sheeks,and long black spiky curly hair that reached his waist,he was extremely muscular yet had the width of two teenagers,closer to that of a bear,with arm wrap covering near his feet.
His name was Iron claw,famously known as the man who cracks the ground by flexing his muscles.
Even to Siegfried when looking at such a man who could not help but give their respects,Iron claw strummed his throat getting everyones attention," listen here you fools!!,late or not I dont give an f,to those who come late to my classes your getting left behind,per natural selection,its simply thats just apart of fate afterall,in any case I wont be repeating what I said earlier,all you need to know is we're going Hunting!!!".
Suddenly a green aura covered iron claws hands as he began doing hand signs as he did those the vines covering the gate would slowly retreat the flowers acting as if time had been reversed disappearing to obscurity infront of them a brilliant light gushed out insulting their eyes before dimming.
As they could see greenery as far as the eye could see nothing but flowers,and far off trees,Iron Claw took the first steps," Come!",he said his authority carrying power.
Just like that the rest of the class naturally went in,one at a few groups at a time,before they had all entered.
" aaahhhh",Iron Claw said while smelling the very air," Do you know how many arguments, I got into just to book this place",the students were in ahh it was even more beautiful than it looked outside.
Their was no single Sun in the sky,but many floating orbs hovering above the clouds producing light but also filtering the air for any impurities.
The students appeared on a hill covered with flowers,and grass with one small pool sized pond of water,and barely any large creatures in site except a small pollinating creatures with the appearance of both a bee,and a mosquito,such a creature was the best at pollination.
The sky was blue as usual,with clear mountains surrounding the hill from kilometers away although they were not as tall as 100kilometres which were rare even in the real world,and below the hill was an open plain then with roads leading to different areas ,and further into a deep jungle.
Iron Claw spoke one more time," This will be your hunting ground,Your job capture ,and tame a worthy animal you can call your familiar,And for those who already have you can let them go ,and get double the points"
"You get a point for capturing an animal,which depends on its quality ranging from a 100 to a 1000 points,those who already have familiars may exchange the animal to double the capture point putting you ahead of most,but ofcourse proof must be provided".
" how will you do that you ask well this ",suddenly from Iron claws hand spinning disk glowed with white light before exploding out strapping themselves on the wrists of every student.
This is called a collar of Obedience,each of you only optained one because that's all you need,the collar is a standard spell derived from the Beast path,it allows you to force any creature wearing the other half to forcefully submit to your will,it also connects the mind of the user to the beast,allowing you easily store them inside your pocket space or completely sustain them using your mana alone".
"But luckily as students if this institution,the food for these familiars will be provided by the institute the strain will probably be too much for your little stores of mana".
Darian was relieved,he had no interest in gaining a potential extra burden,while also thinking this was perfect to max out his card to gain greater benefits,he took out his card looking at it with great interest.
Then Benjamin asked Iron Claw," what do you mean by Standard spells"," I see", Iron Claw sighed clearly tired," first since I've heard that brat Aster,explained the basics of the paths,I would like you all to Guess which path do you think I practice", Iron claw said smirking.
For some this question took minutes to process as they did not want to judge him by his appearance,and be wrong but to others like Darian it was clear as day remembering skrull ,and the similar appearances it was clear.
" Beast Path!!" ,they shouted out some just jumping on an established bandwagon,Iron Claws face was stoic,and frowning leading others to believe their guesses were wrong swallowing their saliva in huge gulps others having worried expressions ,and looking at their friends with blame.
Suddenly after a few minutes of Silence and Suspense Iron claw laughed," exactly!!, atleast you payed some attention".
These few words like a popped balloon deflated the tension,allowing the students to grasps their breaths,and sigh.
Iron claw continued," Standard spells or common spells may be confused,for the standard 100 of a path but it's completely different,standard or common paths are basic spells that could derive from a path but don't necessarily have to have connection to it".
"A long time ago the idea of having familiars while not being apart of the beast path became popular so certain spells were created that anybody could use with no major practice in the beast path".
" Anyway that's as detailed as I can go without having my brain fried",Iron Claw said scratching his head.
" In any case,these creatures are mostly trained,designed to make things hard but not kill you,same goes for you killing of any animal or excessive destruction will result in point deductions,and possibly more,there are also safe zones located throughout allowing you to heal,and gain more energy".
"You can choose to go as a group or Solo run this shit,I would propose the latter to truly test your skills,I'm giving you about a day to complete this".
Everyone gasped a day ," that's too much"," common",Iron Claw shut down the constant noise," I'm here to teach survival skills,and to understand nature,you won't always be in comfortable situations in life".
" Besides a day in here is about an hour Outside",the students minds suddenly understood but sighed, they would still be spending and experiencing a long time inside this enclosure though.
Feeling annoyed his lips twitching Iron Claw,had to shout out," The Entire area is about the size of a province,so you have room don't roam too far,other than that get fuck off my line of sight or I'm going to kill you!!".
His powerful voice sent everyone to a panic,as they began Quickly making their way down,towards the valleys.
Iron Claw laughed," Best of luck to yah,little missys".