A week later Hitori and Kamiya both fought four fights. Hitori won three of them, and Kamiya won two of them. The person who beat Hitori was from the top three, it was time for the fourth spot holder to fight one from the top three.
To meet his expectations, the second spot holder was an experienced wizard, he knew how to use spells and when. Although he could only use fire and water without a wand, he used his skills to beat Hitori.
So after forty fights in seven days, they had their top fifty students. Hitori and Kamiya managed to hold their position in the top ten, if not top five.
The students were supposed to gather in the hall for a meeting whose agenda was: Year-End Expedition.
Just as they had agreed, Hitori and Kamiya walked into the hall together at seven o'clock evening. They took seats at the back, waiting for the meeting-- more like a speech-- to start.
"How is Akemi-san holding up?"
"She has calmed down," Kamiya said, playing with his fingers, "she does not hate you anymore, but she does not like you either."
Hitori sighed. "It is nice. We had two weeks without Onogi or his silly attacks."
"Crazy attacks. No one just enters the mage hospital and terrorizes it, it is totally crazy. Do you get it?"
"Right. So what is on Akemi-san's mind nowadays? Since we do not have anyone plotting---"
"Plotting, that they are. I know, they can not sit calm. They must be coming up with a plot to kill us the second they spot us."
"We are leaving the city for the expeditions, perhaps we will have some time to plot against them."
"Akemi-nee-chan told me to stay away. If they are not attacking, we should not either. Because if they do, we would not be able to, they would not leave us alive to attack them."
"What else does she says?"
"Stay away from Hitori."
Kamiya's answer struck Hitori in the heart. He was not that sort of a bad boy. She did not have to become a mother and tell her kid to change friends.
"And... the scientist girl is in danger."
Hitori cleared his mind. "She sure is..." he muttered.
"Did you check on her? Is she guarding the territory?"
"She does not reply, she is not coming online, and I told her to stay away from the territory."
"Well, you have just left the territory open for anyone to come and take it?"
Hitori nodded. "That is the plan. No one has attacked in a while, a few did but the monsters were enough for them. I have set some deadly traps for Onogi if he comes, and he should come."
The door opened and Atama stepped in, followed by Senso, a guard, and a female teacher. They escorted him to the stage till he gestured them to step back.
"Look around yourself, this is the last slot of fifty students who will leave the city, complete their assigned task, and attend the year-end feast. Please remember, students have died on this conquest, we will make sure to keep you in the clear area, but if you go near the fog, it is on you."
The students suddenly started whispering and exchanged terrified glances. But Hitori sat with his hands in his cloak's pocket, listening to Atama.
"You will be provided with a set of blades if case anything happens to your wand. Make sure you stick with your group and do not go too far. While we will make sure of your safety, it is essential we look out for poison or venom."
"Monsters from the game, do you think we will see them?" Kamiya asked.
Hitori glanced at him, then glanced back at Atama. "Of course, it is the Forbidden Forest we are talking out. It consists more than a minotaur or goblin."
"Some guidelines and provided on the screen, I will tell you the rest-- which are the most important ones."
"That is a long list..." Hitori muttered.
Indeed it was a long list. Most of them were so silly that even a seven-year-old would know never to do those. But from the list, one was highlighted.
He heard Atama. "Your groups will be formed tomorrow. The students from the first conquest will help you spar. Of course, the students from the first and second conquest will be with you on this conquest. Do not worry, they will interfere, their region will be the dense part of the forest-- not monsters, but dungeons."
Now Hitori regretted skipping school. Maybe he could have got a chance to enter a real-life dungeon. Most of the time he spends in the game is killing stray monsters, that is what he would have to do this time, it was boring to fight them.
"On February first, 2053, we will leave the city for the conquest in the Forbidden Forest. You will receive tasks to complete, if you complete them and still live, congrats, you passed! You will come back to Mahoutokoro in April after the spring break."
That thought cheered Hitori. But then. 'Only if I live that long,' he thought, 'no. I have to live.'
Atama went on to explain a few more ground rules. When he was finished, he walked off the stage and disappeared.
Students got up, leaving the hall one by one. Hitori and Kamiya were walking to the exit when Hitori's eyes fell on the guidelines drawn by Atama on the white wall. His eyes fell on the highlighted guideline.
'Do not go near the fog. Not even as a joke.'
That sent chills down Hitori's spine for a second. 'What do you mean? We went, and nothing happened to us. What could happen this time?' It was not that Hitori wanted to go near the fog anyway, just saying.
The next day their groups were allotted. Kamiya and Hitori were together with two boys and a girl they had no idea about. The group decided to split. Hitori and Kamiya together, the three together.
To Hitori it looked like the girl conspired the boys against them, she must have told some lies or filled the boys' dumb heads with some shitty crap which made them do it.
There was anger and hatred in their eyes. Perhaps the girl just made the boys realize their hatred against the duo. But the girl said something about the duo the boys did not like.
Hitori confronted Kamiya on this topic and he agreed. That just might be it, he said. Those girls have a skill or talent for creating conspiracy.
"Does that matter?" Kamiya asked. "We are better as a duo than working at a party."
He was right. Hitori agreed.
Then the next day came the eighteen of January. The students who won a spot in the top twenty-five for the first conquest arrived. They were of the same age but far more superior than the third conquest's students.
They displayed their skills. Hitori found themselves a good guy, he explained to them a few important things about conquests.
"You should look out for dangerous monsters, although the clean area is supposed to be clean, a high-level reptile, slug, slime, or a crawler will come out of its lair to hunt you if you get too close to it."
"Like what?" Kamiya asked.
"Venomous snakes? Anything except the great ancient green dragon that haunts our city."
Kamiya's eyes widened. Hitori leaned closer. "So does it exit after all?"
"It does. No one has seen it, but legends are sometimes true. It loves forests and it adores our Forbidden Forest. It has built its lair in the deep."
"W-Why would not it attack the city?" Hitori asked.
"The walls, Hitori." Kamiya shrugged.
But the guy shook his head. "Ancient monsters like Dragon and Dinosaur never leave their lair. They never do, they might lore you into it, but they would never come out of their lair."
Then he taught them some basic knife defense techniques. "Now watch this carefully, it will cost you both mana and stamina, so only use it in an emergency, or if you believe it will end quickly."
The guy grabbed a knife in his hand and raised it above his head as he closed his eyes and focused his mana on the knife.
"Think of this knife as an object to release your mana. Think of it as a wand…"
He opened his eyes and swung his knife down, it released a bolt of ice. Both Hitori and Kamiya watched in awe as the bolt struck against a wall and disappeared.
"T-That was amazing." But that was not the end. They turned their eyes back to the guy only to find the knife covered in ice.
A cold wave surrounded the knife, the guy was panting, and crystals of ice sparked from his hand.
He released his breath and gasped for air. That stopped the flow of mana to his hand. And soon, the ice disappeared in the cold of January.
"The knives are not made of core, unlike wands. That makes it hard to pass our mana through a non-core object. In exchange, it drains a lot of mana."
Hitori and Kamiya had learned the lesson.
"Some forge blades from a core, that costs fortunes– well, nine thousand yen is the starting price."
"Ooh…" they both said at once.
"Take care of your wands, if they break, all you have is your experience and fist fighting skills." They nodded.
Their training was processed. The teacher called them once in a while to give some information about the monsters they were supposed to encounter.
Minotaur's horns and weapons were actually worth quite a lot. The suit Duergars wore was worth thousands of yen. And the weapons goblins used were sold for pretty good rates. And most of the reptiles– mutated reptiles– had cores in their heads or hearts. The bugs, were worth nothing even if you kill a fist-big bug, they were nothing but flies in the end.
The students were given careful advice to stay away from mutated plants. They mix with normal plants easily, you never know when a vine will leap to strangle you, most of the mutated plants had liquids in them, and those who needed those liquids to prepare potions paid quite well for it.
Herbs were an important factor for the clerics, they prepared different potions and herbs by mixing two or more herbs.
In the end, Atama told them to take care. He gave the students a day to rest before teleporting to the Ministry's building, to the guild master. The students had time to talk to their parents, see them off, pack some food, import weapons and armors from their parents, and new wands, especially for the conquest. And lovely, be-safe kisses from their mothers.
"Do you want a new wand or something?" Eya asked.
Hitori drew his wand and examined it. "Have not used this much, I think it will do."
"Take care, Hitori-san, do you want us to come over—"
"No. No, please," he repeated, "no please. I do not want help from you– I mean, not with his matter– I can fight a few monsters myself, I should be able to, in fact. I want to do this… my way."
"Do not sweat it." Kakashi stepped forward, he dug his hand into his side pocket, and pulled out something, Hitori could only see a silver chain hanging from his hand.
Hitori glanced at him. He said, "Your father left this, you were too arrogant to even take a look at it."
"The wand?"
"Tengoku has the wand. Something else came with the package– loads of money and this." Kakashi punched his fist on Hitori's chest, the dropped a miniature katana on his shoulder.
Kakashi pulled back his hand. Hitori found a katana hanging by a chain on his shoulder. "W-What is this?"
Kakashi stepped back. "I heard you are good with katana. This is a Red Dragon Slayer. Your father slew an ancient red dragon and forged this katana out of its skin, bones, teeth, mana, and core."
"And that, Hitori-san, is a very powerful weapon. Use it carefully or you will end up losing not just the weapon but your arms. Now, good luck."
She grabbed Kakashi, and they both disappeared. Hitori grabbed the keychain and examined it.
It was a dark red blade, small but deadly. Hitori grabbed the chain and put it on his neck. It landed on the silver locket he was wearing.
Hitori pulled his hood to take a look inside. Then he grabbed the silver locket and pulled it above the dragon slayer.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m