With «Bloodlust» fading, its side effects kicked in. Max felt an intense piercing pain in his head as if someone was hammering a nail on his head. He felt dizzy and staggered a step back hitting the back of the armored vehicle, plunging into the abyss.

August only took a moment to realise that the car had become lighter. He turned around and immediately extended his hand trying to get a hold of Max. But his fatigue from earlier had slowed him down. His fingers only managed to graze Max's hand as he saw Max disappear in the darkness below.

" Max!!! "

….

20 hours before the Beast Horde….

Arcane Academy..

A big fat ball of meat was running through the streets of Academy towards the Dorms.

He hurriedly entered the Dorm No.7 and went up the stairs.

" Slam! "

The door to the room was flung open and the fatty entered the room panting.

" Huff! Huff! Did you get..Huff! to Max? ", he asked looking at the two other people in the room.

" No..not yet..we can't reach his phone..", this voice belonged to Axel.

" What is happening out there Kevin? Is everyone prepared for departure? ", August asked. He was the only person left.

It was the time when they were about to leave for Orena.

" Instructor asked all of the students to report within 10 minutes.", Kevin spoke.

" You bunch of rascals can't do anything peacefully. When has been there a time when you haven't caused trouble for me?", August grumbled before further continuing.

" Anyways, both of you can go..I will ask the president and the teacher in charge to let me wait for Max. And you two keep an eye on Wilson. If he dares to pull any kind of stunt, report it to me."

Hearing August, ... Kevin and Axle smiled wryly.

Report about Wilson...keep an eye on him...what could they possibly do to him..and would they even dare to spy on him..not to mention, if he really pulled any kind of stunt, there wouldn't be a need for a spy to report.

Just think about it..

Last time...he barged into the second year's classroom and beat the sh*t out of them since they offended him.

Will there even be a need for a spy to report about such matters. The incident was a full blown case.

But still, since August was in front of them, they vigorously nodded.

After that, they walked out of the Dorms carrying their backpacks and boarded the Academy's S25 armored vehicle.

They were followed by 4 more vehicles from the Association who were there for the protection of the students. The vehicle took the National Highway and traveled through the route specially used by the Association for connecting to the border. And the journey which would take about 3 days of an average time even if one calculated all the resting time and every other need was completed within 6 hours.

…

14 hours before the Beast Horde….

The armored vehicles finally stopped as they reached their destination. The instructors asked the students to remain seated as the Mages made sure that there weren't any high level beasts in the vicinity of their examination.

After half an hour, the area within the 5km was finally secured and all the mages had dispersed guarding their designated positions.

The instructors finally led the students out of the vehicles.

At the back seat of the vehicle, there were a few familiar figures.

Wilson, Kevin and Axle.

Even though the back seat could clearly accumulate a dozen more students. There was no one willing to sit with a bunch of trouble makers.

Obviously there was an exception. There was a purple haired guy sitting near the window on the back seat.

He was none other than the No. 1 tyrant, Norek Blaze. His eyes were closed and there weren't any signs of movement from him.

On the second row just behind the instructor was James Oven, No.2 tyrant and son of Guild Union's Head.

In the 4th row on the left were the two campus belles Lisa Walker and Elly Lorenz.

They were accompanied by an Instructor from every department who were sitting in the front row.

After getting out of the vehicle, the Instructor from the Mage department announced.

" As you know that our main purpose for coming here is to train you all for the upcoming All Academy Competition. So, we will follow the same format here. You will be out there left to survive on your own. Each squad leader will be given a squad band. At the end of the third day, the squad with the most band wins. As for the team's whose bands are taken away, they will not be eliminated. They can fight and claim the bands from the other teams. You will only be given a day's worth of ration."

" Instructor..how will we survive with only a day's worth of supply? "

Hearing the students, the instructor replied, " There will be low level beasts in the area and not to mention about the trees and vegetation. It will be a test for your knowledge too. I believe that every department had already covered the course about Orena."

With that, many student's faces turned nasty.

" What about weapons and equipment? We can't possibly fight with only bare hands and magic spells.", a student from the mage department asked.

" What are you worrying about? Haven't we taught you how to fight using your elemental ability…"

Hearing him the student immediately looked down evading the instructor's gaze.

" But still if you really can't do without weapons, you can carry a single weapon with you. But you should know it very well. No matter how strong a weapon is, it will shatter without proper care. That's where the students of the Blacksmith department come in. They will be responsible for taking care of your equipments and other crafting related works. There are many resources out there in orena. I am sure they will be very helpful to you. And out of all of you..the students from Blacksmith department are best at identifying them..at least that's how it should be...ain't I right Instructor Strong..", the mage department Instructor turned and looked towards the Instructor from the Blacksmith Department clearly provoking him.

" You don't need to worry about that, I know my students well. I just wish that the students this year has greater strength. Even though they are blacksmiths. They have to be strong. After all, our situation is different from other Academy's…"

Hearing him the Instructor's face turned dark.

What did he mean?

It was very clear.

The students from the Mage department are weak. They are unable to protect the student from other departments. That is the reason my students need to be stronger....thats the reason why we are always at a disadvantage during the All Academy Competition. And you dare to question my students.

Many of the students understood that the Instructor from the Mage department was slapped right across his face, but who would dare to laugh.

" Haha...haha!!! "

Unless he was a red haired trouble maker.