"You guys ready?" Syra asked with a calm voice.
The entire group was wearing things that were unique to them. Syra was wearing amethyst robes that indicated her power and core grade.
It was the same color as her grandmother's robe, indicating that they were about the same level in strength.
These robes were usually only given to mages once they reached the topaz core. They could either be received in one of the Churches within the kingdom, or within any of the adventurer guilds since almost all of them were somehow connected to the kingdom.
The robe not only indicated their strength, but it also indicated their connection to the kingdom, their guild, group, community, or even family.
For example, Syra's robe had three crests within it.
One was a sun crest that was linked to the Light Academy, the other was a twisting flame that linked her to the Xylem kingdom, and the last one was the crest of the Skylark family that were just groups of patterns that no one really understood.
"Yeah, Syra just give me a second." Herla uttered a loud oomph as she pulled on her boots to get them on properly.
She wore regular adventurer gear, and despite being a mage, her clothes didn't show that.
Actually, she looked more like an assassin or a scout than a mage. Plus, the slightly skimpy clothing made it look like her clothes were made for mobility.
"Do you have to wear that..." Syra asked with a slight blush when looked at Herla's exposed abdomen before her eyes wandered up to see the shirt and jacket that only covered the top portion of her torso.
Unlike Earth, where clothes like this were considered standard practice, in the Xylem kingdom, almost no one wore such clothes, and the same could be said for the Delaer kingdom too.
The only place where such clothes were acceptable was with the treefolk, elves, or the beastkin since they usually lived in much hotter and more humid areas.
"I think it looks nice." Falco, Herla's boyfriend, commented while looking her up and down.
"Aww, really! You're so nice!"
"Can you two stop flirting for one second." David, who had already finished changing into his gear, stood up.
He wore a yellow robe indicating that he was still in the topaz core.
"Are we all ready?" Argon too a stell forward and asked. He had two swords on his back and a dagger on his hip, ready to be used immediately.
Everyone nodded slightly before Argon sighed and turned around.
"Teach! We're ready to go." Argon shouted, causing a man with a book on his hip to walk toward them.
"Alright, good. Take these stones and tap them if you ever feel like you might be in grave danger. Tapping it will cause you to forfeit your mission, though, so use it wisely." The man placed a couple of glowing stones that shone with mana. They were purple in color. However, unlike beast cores that were usually more round and had an orb inside them, these ones were very jagged, and looked like the stones that were usually used to light up places.
At just a touch, everyone could feel that rune on them. They injected a little bit of their mana inside it, and when they finally did so, the stone shone for a moment and created a link between them and it.
"Alright... Good luck. Go through one of the teleportation hubs and you will be sent to where you need to be. Before that, take this." The man gave them a sheet of paper that Argon quickly read through before widening his eyes.
"Y-You want us to do this? Isn't a it a little hard?"
"Well, you guys are one of the best groups in the academy this year. It is the reason we've given you a slightly harder mission than others would have received. I hope you understand that." The man explained.
"What's the mission?" Syra asked while pulling on Argon's shoulder.
Looking at the piece of paper, she slightly widened her eyes when she saw what was on it.
"An amethyst-ranked mission?"
"Yes."
"You do realize that I'm the only amethyst core in this group, right?" Syra asked.
"Pristine amethyst. Even Argon here can kill a lower amethyst on his own. The mission says that the beast will most likely have a dull-amethyst core, but could have a solid-amethyst core. This mission isn't one that will test you. It's simply one that will show us that you are capable of completing a mission at the same level of strength as you.
You all have the makings of an adventurer, and this is the time for you to prove that to us." He explained, causing the group to nod.
Most of them were pretty strong. Even Herla, who was technically the weakest among them, had the ability to kill a pristine topaz-cored beast.
David and Zelon could fight the weakest of amethyst-cored beasts, while Syra, Falco, and Argon could fight solid-amethyst cores and above.
"Alright... We understand." Syra said while the rest nodded as well.
They all quietly walked toward the teleportation hub.
Below them, they could see several runes shining with the utmost intensity. The light coming from them was almost blinding, but when they eventually stood on it, a warm relaxing feeling went through their body, while a sense of nausea shot through their mind.
*Zip*
"Are they gone?" A man with black hair suddenly appeared behind the instructor. He had silver eyes and looked like he was around the ages of 50-60 years old. He looked very similar to Lochras. However, there were quite a few differences...
One of them being the aura around the man that exuded nothing but power...
"Yes, sir... But, I have to ask you again. Are you sure of this? They might die..."
"Don't worry. Syra is more than capable of killing that thing with ease. It's just a matter of how much she likes those little friends of hers." The man grinned before turning away, while the teacher looked worriedly at his back.
He didn't want to do what he had done... The mission he had given them was for the particular group, not their class... Yet, he had to, even if that meant seeing all his favorite students die.
He didn't have a choice, right?
There was no other way, right?
Those were the questions that were going through his head as he walked toward his office.
And when he finally sat down and looked at the papers before him, gilt gripped its hand around his heart, causing him to suddenly kneel down and puke into the small bin basket right next to his desk.
"What's wrong, lecturer?" A voice suddenly entered the man's ears as he stopped puking, causing him to quickly look up and look around frantically to see where the sound had come from.
Suddenly, a handsome looking man slicked back his hair black with a comforting smile before dragging the chair he was holding next to the man, and quickly sitting down.
"What's wrong... Tell me, how can I help you." The man smiled, and without even knowing that had happened, the lecturer had somehow been caught in a trance.
"Tell me everything." The man smiled one more time before the lecturer lost consciousness... Or at least that's what it looked like from his perspective.
***
*Zip*
Suddenly, a bright light shone as a couple of teenagers seemed to have appeared out of thin air.
"Ugh... I feel like puking." Herla said between breaths while holding onto Syra for support.
"Don't puke on me please." Syra pleaded with the gagging Herla.
"It feels like my insides are being wrapped around each other and untied in a horribly long loop." Zelon could be seen on the floor, grabbing his stomach.
"You really need to work on your nausea. Remember that time we went on a boat through the lake? How does someone get sea sick on a lake! We're mages!" David complained with folded arms as he stood above Zelon, looking down at him with pity.
"Well, I think we're fine." Syra looked are, seeing that Argon, Falco, her, and David were completely fine.
"I-I think I'm fine now." Herla said, but she still put her arm over Syra's shoulder.
"Please get out of the teleportation hub." A man on the side sighed when seeing a bunch of kids appearing, two of them looking like they might puke at any moment.
"Do you want to carry you?" Falco asked Herla.
"No, babe... I don't think I can handle you right now."
"That's not what I meant..."
"Oh..." Herla blushed slightly, but the nausea quickly hit her like a tsunami, causing her to reel over and puke on the ground for a few minutes.
"Falcoooo... Carry meeee!" Zelon pleaded, but Falco acted like he couldn't hear him.
David, on the other hand, found himself forced to carry Zelon as they were quickly kicked off the teleportation hub for staying there for too long.
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