A few days later, a large group of students from Olsylvia Academy gathered at the entrance of the Croft Canyon, which was located on the east side of Olsylvia City. This time, the Academy had organized an activity specifically for their students and did not involve the neighboring academies.
Every time a new batch of freshmen arrived at Olsylvia Academy, the school would organize a group activity on the fourth week of school. This activity was “The Great Hunt”, also known as the “Game of the Brave”. It was a large scale activity for the purpose of igniting the passion and enthusiasm within the students. The participating students were grouped based on their hostel arrangements.
The Great Hunt was specially designed to be held at the Croft Canyon, which was named after the great adventurer, Croft, who had found this place thousands of years ago. Legend had it that the canyon was filled with many prized demonic beasts and herbs. It was practically every explorer’s wet dream.
In this location, a mage could find a suitable demonic beast to enter into a contract with and a knight could find their perfect steed. It was amazing! Every single profession would be able to find something that they needed over here. The basis of this activity was probably a game script to provide benefits for the students.
As the teams were allocated according to their hostel arrangements, Bella was grouped together with her dorm mates-in-name. In terms of actual combat ability, her team was definitely the strongest among all the participants. As President Isaman had not moved into Bella’s hostel yet, she was not grouped together with them.
“Dear students, this year’s hunt will last three days, just like the previous years. Now, please be silent as I will be announcing the general rules of The Great Hunt!”
In the distance, the current principal of the Olsylvia Academy, Principal Elvis, stood on a podium while he spoke about “The Great Hunt”. According to his introduction, the Croft Canyon was just a name. This place was not just a canyon, it was a teleportation array that would create an arena that matched the overall ability of the student body.
Moreover, each team would be sent to a different area. Each hostel would be sent to their own personalized area with no possibility of it being replicated elsewhere. To ensure their safety, every single student was given a Return Transportation Stone. If they felt like they were unable to continue, they would have the choice to return to base. However, the student would be automatically disqualified.
Ability of the students? Bella had a bad feeling about this. Those in her hostel had remarkable powers that were beyond comprehension. If they were sent over, it could definitely be construed as cheating! The other freshmen hostels would definitely enjoy some benefits, however. Their abilities were nowhere as powerful as Bella’s group’s.
“In that case, I wish everyone a merry few days of adventurous exploration! Remember to build rapport with your dorm mates along the way!”
At Principal Elvis’s command, the gates at the entrance of the Croft Canyon began to open. Bella decided not to reveal any of her dorm mates’ hands. After all, she was also keeping her true abilities a secret.
The two loli Demon Gods, Angel and Mia, did not participate in “The Great Hunt”. Their current status was of Bella’s servant girls, and they were not official students of Olsylvia Academy. Therefore, they were not eligible to take part in the activity.
With a ray of light, Bella and the others were sent away to their dedicated areas with the other students. “The Great Hunt” was basically a survival course. Each student’s “script” not only tested their team’s ability to survive, it also required them to hunt specific demonic beasts. Once they were done with their list, then they would have completed the hunt.
After three days, the school would award points to each student based on their battle spoils. The results would then be added into their final examination scores for the semester. Of course, the items the students got from their “script” would belong to them. Even if it was a divine artifact, as long as it was found by a particular team, it would be a legal possession of the hostel.
“Elvis, brother, the map for this year’s hunt doesn’t seem right. Look at this legend, it appears to be new!”
“Eh? Let me see. Where is this… what in the world… this appears to be the map of an island. How did this happen? Which hostel does it belong to?”
“I’m not sure. Have you gone senile? These instructional maps would not contain the names of the participants.”
The map that lay in front of the various deans of Olsylvia Academy showed a new area that had never been seen before. In addition, there was no indication of the danger level. Under normal circumstances, there were three danger levels – green, yellow, and red. The green meant that everything was going well, yellow represented a little trouble, and red meant absolute danger. However, the area that had just appeared was purple. This new fourth color meant that there was no way to determine what the situation was like.
Bella and her team hit the proverbial “jackpot” and were sent to a beach within the new mysterious area. This place was a lost relic, a new moon island called Copperfield Island.
“Erm, what is going on? This is such a huge island!”
“The island doesn’t look like it’s anywhere near the human continent. Honestly, I have no idea where it is!”
Being the more curious one, Lisha glanced at her surroundings with a wide-eyed wonder. They were currently on a gorgeous beach on Copperfield Island and it was covered in beautiful, glittering seashells. Giving in to her playful nature, she began to walk towards the edge of the water. As Kriss was worried for her safety, she followed her.
As there were no outsiders around, Ariel, Noreya, and Elaine casually stripped off their disguises to reveal their true appearance. They had changed into their gear before they got here. Ariel was in mage’s robes and Noreya was in an assassin’s suit. Elaine was a little more special as she was dressed fully as a puppet master.
“Bella, I think there’s no harm to err on the side of caution. This island has not been visited by anyone for thousands of years.”
Bella nodded slightly at Elaine in agreement. The flora and fauna on the island was thick and wild. Clearly, it would have taken more than hundreds of years to allow them to grow this much as these trees were more than a hundred meters tall. Based on their heights, the trees were definitely thousands of years old.
“Older Sister, there are…”
“Lisha, do not panic. They are all dead.”
Lisha’s panicked voice rang across the beach. Almost immediately, Kriss’s gentle words of comfort could be heard. Bella and her team rushed across the beach, only to see abandoned remnants of what used to be human activity.
The beach was littered with wrecked vessels which were splinters from old wooden sailboats. There were many skeletons left among the wreckage, which were believed to be from the victims. These human remains must have been left by those who came on the island as there were many relatively new-looking weapons by their side.
“Lisha, do not be afraid. All these are not… in any case, you do not have to worry about these things.”
Bella went over in an attempt to comfort Lisha. The weapons that had been left behind looked like they were new. This meant that they were not normal weapons, but they were hand-made by a master of the craft. Weapons like that would be able to withstand thousands of years of weathering the seasons.
This area looked like it was an old battleground. As far as the eye could see, skeletons and human remains were littered across the grounds. It was likely that there were more than ten thousand of them. Other than that, there were all sorts of swords and knives everywhere. These weapons were not of poor quality. Anything that could withstand the test of time like this was definitely not ordinary.
It was a pity that a flag was nowhere to be seen as Bella and the others were now unable to determine which empire this army was from. Just as they continued to survey the battleground, an enormous figure flew out of the sand and sprang towards Lisha.
At this critical moment, Kriss, who was standing right beside Lisha, swiftly pulled out one of the swords from the ground and blocked the attacker’s claw. Hearing a loud clash and looking over, Bella and the others managed to see the attacker’s true appearance. It was a monstrously large crab. This island was way too dangerous to be on if it had murderous seafood that could potentially kill you.
The demonic beast, which took on the shape of a giant crab, had alarming combat ability as it was able to take Kriss’s attack head on. Her blade had absolutely no effect on the claw. It did not even leave a mark! However, the crab-like demonic beast probably was stunned by the fact that there was someone who was able to fight its attack head on. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Kriss and Lisha immediately teleported out of its field of attack as fast as they could.
