The swaying branches, the sound of falling water, and the chirping birds. Artur sat in contemplation, enjoying the relaxed afternoon. The gentle breeze made his eyes grow sleepy, occasionally causing them to close.
At the moment, he was on guard duty, watching over the entrance of the cave that served as the headquarters for class A15. Although Artur appeared drowsy, he was actually alert. Despite their base being protected by tall trees and the sound of the waterfall masking noises, Artur knew that the right use of spells could unveil this natural camouflage. So, when he heard footsteps approaching, Artur quickly turned his head.
A red-haired woman walking past the cascading waterfall. Water dripped from her wet hair, and her sparkling red eyes in the darkness of the cave could hypnotize anyone who looked at her. She wasn't too tall, nor could she be considered short. Her proportional body could make any man gulp in admiration.
But for Artur, this woman's arrival was very bothersome.
"Artur, aren't you resting? At least take a shower first, the smell of your body can make a skunk surrender, you know," the red-haired girl said.
Artur furrowed his brow, choosing not to answer. This red-haired girl's name was Rini, and she was one of Artur's classmates. Her proficiency in the fire spell faction earned recognition from the other students in class A15. However, for Artur, Rini was an annoying girl.
"You're not answering my question again... Are you actually mute? Or maybe... you're nervous talking to me? Hehehe... I know I'm very beautiful, but you don't have to be that scared, I don't bite, rawr!"
Artur's face grew even more sour, seeing Rini's exuberance as he ignored her, behaving like a teenager who had just discovered a packed lunch. Her fake sweetness and pretentious beauty made Artur's neck feel ticklish, and his fist clenched, wanting to break Rini's nose.
Artur had tried to keep a cold attitude towards this girl, but she always acted overly familiar with him, which only frustrated Artur even more. To make matters worse, unlike Lila, who made her intentions clear, Artur had no idea what Rini's purpose was in getting close to him.
"Sigh... stop bothering me, Rini. Can't you see that I'm on duty? If you want something, why don't you just say it now? I'm tired of your games!" Artur barked like a dog.
"Ow... Hey... hey... hey... why are you barking like that? I'm not a pigeon or a thieving cat. I don't want anything. Do you think it's strange to have a conversation with a classmate? Artur, not everyone who approaches you has intentions related to Robert! Why don't you consider that I genuinely want to be your friend?"
Rini's face turned serious as if she was genuinely offended by Artur's words. But it wasn't the first time Rini seemed offended by Artur's remarks, and whenever he tried to apologize, Rini would mock him, making sure Artur wouldn't fall for the same trick again.
With the same sour expression on his face, Artur snorted loudly, "You're not a pigeon or a thieving cat, but you're a venomous snake. If I had salt right now, I'd sprinkle it on your face!"
"Hey... hey... hey... that's not how you talk to a lady. You'll end up a miserable bachelor if you have a foul mouth like that. Come here, let this beautiful girl wipe off your filthy lips," Rini's smile widened into a crescent moon shape, but unfortunately, her eyes didn't smile along.
Like a tiger pouncing on its prey, Rini lunged at Artur and knocked him down. Artur was surprised by the strength of this petite girl and struggled. He tried to defend himself from Rini's locks, but every time he grasped something, his hand only felt soft flesh that made his blood tingle. As a result, Artur ended up with his body locked in Rini's triangle choke.
"Hahahaha... how about this? Can your lips still say hurtful things to a girl?" Rini, satisfied with her victory, looked smug.
"Pant... pant... pant... What the fuck are you doing!!!! I told you to stop fooling around. I'm on duty!" Artur, struggling and unsure of what to do with the soft body restraining him, shouted in frustration, unable to resist.
"HAHAHAHA... You're just looking for excuses for your defeat! Why don't you just admit my superiority and apologize? Is your mouth too filthy to utter even a single sweet word?" Rini tightened her hold.
"Ow... ow... ow... Bitch! You really need punishment to understand how cruel the world can be!"
"Try if you can!" Rini challenged.
Artur tried to resist, but the more he struggled, the stronger Rini's grip became. Artur could smell the pleasant scent from Rini's body, causing his face to quickly flush. This was the closest he had ever been to a girl besides his mother and sisters. It was only natural for Artur to feel his blood rush to his head, threatening to burst out of his nose and become the subject of mockery for the rest of his life. Artur even saw a mental image of Robert holding his stomach, laughing uproariously at Artur's nosebleed caused by a girl's grip.
"So, what do you say? Do you want to give up? I'll be generous and let you go since we're classmates," Rini became even more smug.
Artur grew more frustrated and had the urge to bite Rini's smug face, but then he felt something. Not the two soft fatty lumps behind his head, not the soft thighs constricting his groin, and not even the pleasant scent of Rini's hair tickling his nose. Artur sensed the movement of his detection spell placed outside their base.
"Rini, wait, let me go. I sense something!"
"Sensing something? PERVERT!! How dare you have lewd thoughts at a time like this! I misjudged you, Artur! Take this!"
"Ow... ow... ow... wait... wait... Rini, I'm not having lewd thoughts! Ow... ow... ow... I sense movement from the detection spell outside our base!" Artur quickly explained before his hand was completely broken due to Rini's lock.
"Ah?" Rini focused her mana and also sensed the movement from the detection spell outside their base. She then released Artur's body and became alert.
Rubbing his sore hand, Artur moved cautiously. "Let's check it out. It could be just a mutated animal passing by."
"I hope so too. They won't be able to detect our presence through scent because of the camouflage spell surrounding our base."
Del and Rini crept together towards the edge of the base. Their presence was concealed by the curtain of the waterfall, but the monitoring spell allowed them to see the outside situation.
Artur saw around 20 human shadows approaching, and his face turned pale. He knew their arrival here wasn't for investigation but for an attack. It meant that their enemies knew the exact location of the A15 base. Artur, always suspicious, immediately thought there must be a traitor among them.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm not the traitor," Rini defended herself when she saw Artur eyeing her suspiciously.
"How do you know I suspect you as the traitor?" Artur said with skeptical eyes.
"Of course, I know what you're thinking. Your wrinkled face screams it!" Rini huffed in annoyance.
"Hmm... You're still suspicious," Artur remained unconvinced.
"Idiot!... More than that, what should we do now?"
"You call the other kids. We'll defend this base until Robert and Sigurd's group returns. I hope nothing happens to them. Otherwise, we're truly screwed. Although this base has defensive spells, they won't hold up for long against the onslaught of 20 mages at once." Artur gave orders as the group leader.
"Okay! I'll be right back. Don't be reckless and attack on your own!" Rini said worriedly.
"You thought you knew me well? Do you know that deep down, I'm actually a coward?" Artur grinned, revealing his fangs.
"Yeah, you are!" Rini patted Artur's shoulder before leaving to call the other A15 classmates.
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"Higo, what do you think?" a black-haired girl asked the man beside her.
"Like Yin said, their headquarters is really here. But I never expected them to build defenses this strong in such a short time." Higo, a brown-haired man, spoke with a cunning smile on his lips.
He looked at the waterfall protected by dense trees. It was the base of the A15 class, their target to destroy today.
"Will there be any interference?" the black-haired girl asked again.
"Robert won't be able to escape Milton and Yin's siege, and the other unknown group's location won't be strong enough to change the situation here. We just need to destroy this base as quickly as possible before any unexpected changes occur. Like an attack from a horde of mutated animals. Don't worry, Vega, all of this will be over before you know it."
"Hahahaha... with that, the Midterm exam point will be in our hands!" Vega laughed.
"Hmm... let's make sure of that. Everyone, attack!" Higo issued his command.
Simultaneously, a rain of spell attacks struck the waterfall, shattering the tranquility around it.
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