Chapter 291: The plan of juniors

After reaching a few hundred metres into the mountain, the students gradually came to a halt, gathering around two figures at the centre.

One of them was a striking girl with long black hair. Unlike the outer strands of her hair, the layer beneath was in complete contrast, a strip of pure white, like moonlight hidden in shadow. Her deep black eyes scanned her peers as if searching for someone. She was Aria Starveil, a Rising Star from the Order of Blades.

The other figure was a young man with short, moss-green hair. His auburn eyes also seemed to be searching for someone among the crowd. He was Lorenzo Camber, a Rising Star from the Order of Rings.

"Greetings, everyone. I’m Aria Starveil," Aria began in a soft but firm tone. "I hope you have all already formed your teams."

"Those who have already decided on their teams, gather with your members. Those whose teams still need more members, step forward," Lorenzo ordered, his tone more commanding than Aria’s.

Following his instructions, most of the students formed groups of five. Those whose teams still had vacant spots stepped forward. Aria and Lorenzo helped them merge with other incomplete teams.

When the academy had announced the theme of the practical exam ten days ago, Aria and Lorenzo had not wasted a single day.

As the representatives of the freshers from the Order of Blades and the Order of Rings, respectively, they had sat down together and assessed the situation without any illusions. The hunters were seniors who had failed an exam, but that did not make them incompetent warriors. Ten of them, fighting at their full potential, could tear through a scattered crowd of juniors one by one.

Thus, the two of them devised a plan: never get separated, never stand alone.

"Listen carefully, everyone," Aria said, her voice carrying across the circle. "The plan is simple, so I want everyone to remember it. Every team will spread out across the mountain, maintaining an equal distance from neighbouring teams. Not too close, so we can cover more ground. Not too far, so help can arrive in time."

Aria’s gaze shifted to a young man with short amber hair standing among the crowd.

"Max," she called in a calm tone.

Max quickly stepped forward, his eyes brimming with excitement. Upon reaching Aria and Lorenzo, he pulled a large bag from his storage ring. It was filled with numerous hand-sized metal badges.

"Let’s save the detailed explanation for later," Max announced, addressing the crowd. "These devices are called mana handsets. They can be used for communication."

Max could barely suppress his urge to provide a detailed explanation of these devices. After all, they needed to spread out within thirty minutes.

"Every team leader will remain connected through these handsets," Aria continued. "Report everything. Forest tokens you find, unusual movements, anything suspicious. Silence from any team will be treated as an emergency."

"All teams will search for forest tokens simultaneously," Lorenzo added. "Don’t mark any of them yet. A neutral token is of no use to the hunters, so carry them unmarked and imprint your signatures only when the exam is about to end."

Some students nodded slowly, beginning to realise just how clever the plan was.

Then Aria’s gaze sharpened.

"Now, the most important rule. If a hunter targets your team, do not fight alone. Not even if you think you can win. Retreat if you can, delay them if you can’t, and report the situation immediately."

"The team leader must report your position," Lorenzo added coldly. "The nearest teams will converge on the location and surround the hunter. One team is prey. Five teams are a trap."

"A hunter can defeat five juniors," Aria said. "But a hunter cannot defeat fifty."

A murmur of excitement rippled through the students, and some of the nervousness that had clouded their faces earlier began to fade.

"And once all the forest tokens have been found," Lorenzo concluded, "we stop running."

"All the teams will gather into a single force," Aria finished, a faint smile touching her lips, "and we will hunt the hunters ourselves."

Her declaration sent a wave of confidence through the students. This Midterm practical no longer seemed difficult. Not only could they easily pass by following Aria and Lorenzo’s plan, but they could also defeat the ten seniors and earn a whopping ten thousand credits.

The leaders of each team stepped forward in a single line to collect their handsets from Max. Meanwhile, Aria’s gaze shifted to the dashing young man sitting on a high tree branch, his legs dangling lazily.

Beneath the strands of silver hair that fell over his face and reached down to his nose, his gem-like blue eyes seemed to be searching for someone in the crowd.

"Senior Noah, will you really not join us?" Aria asked out of courtesy.

All eyes shifted towards Noah on the tree branch. Some students even shot him displeased looks, clearly not wanting him to join for very obvious reasons.

"Why would I?" Noah scoffed, rising from the branch. "When I can defeat all ten of them alone."

With that declaration, he leapt off the branch and headed deeper into the forest.

Aria could only sigh. Not a single student doubted his claim. As an S-Ranked repeater, he was more than capable of defeating all the hunters by himself. Aria had wanted him to join them so they could share the credits earned by obtaining the tokens from the hunters.

"Miss Chloe, the hunters aren’t the only danger in this forest," Lorenzo called out to Chloe, who had just arrived and was already heading deeper into the forest.

She stopped in her tracks when she heard her name being called.

"I heard the academy keep Rank One and Rank Two monsters here," Lorenzo added in a serious tone. "You should stay with a team."

Now, everyone’s attention turned towards the breathtaking lavender-haired beauty. Lorenzo was not the only one admiring Chloe, who was regarded as one of the Campus Goddesses.

"Yes, Miss Chloe, the forest is dangerous. You should join our team," a boy in the crowd urged.

"Join ours, Miss Chloe. We have a Two-Ring Mage," another offered.

"No, join ours. We have a healer."

Soon, the forest was filled with the voices of young men trying to win the cold beauty’s favour by making their offers.

"Not interested," Chloe replied in a flat tone.

The next moment, she was gone, leaving behind a gust of wind and a trail of dry leaves in her wake.

Lorenzo let out a defeated sigh. Chloe barely spoke to anyone at the academy. The only person he had ever seen her getting close to was that arrogant commoner. Even the thought of him soured Lorenzo’s mood. He still hadn’t forgotten that humiliating defeat.

Lorenzo shook his head, pushing thoughts of that commoner aside. After all, he hadn’t seen Chloe with him for many days now. This was his chance to win her heart.

Once Chloe was hunted by the seniors and lost her tokens, he would step forward and help the damsel in distress. Perhaps that way, he might finally earn her attention.

While Lorenzo was already lost in his daydreams, drooling at the thought, Aria’s mind was clouded with her own thoughts.

’Out of the five Rising Stars, only Lorenzo and I are working together,’ she murmured inwardly. ’Chloe and Noah have both gone alone. As for the last and most unpredictable one...’

Her brows knitted together in confusion.

’Is he really not going to attend the practical?’