I cleared the bushes in front of me and made space for myself as I moved forward. The forest was pretty dense, hence it was harder to move around if you weren’t being careful.
Half an hour had passed since the practical exam began and if I had to guess the current situation, I’ll say that by now all the students were scattered evenly on the island.
My judgment was based on two factors. First, this island was too big thus far, making the chances of running into other students fairly low. So if you aren’t trying to find other students, you probably won’t run into them by accident.
𝘧𝓇𝗲𝑒we𝙗noѵ𝑒l.𝐜o𝘮
Secondly, the students won’t try to find each other, hence the scenario stated above will not play out. This was because of the hidden tasks. Mr. Halls had said that if you completed a task, but the item was stolen from you, the reward will go to the person who stole and reported it back and not to you.
Due to this, most of the students won’t risk their chances and will try to clear the exam alone. There will always be some who have complete trust in their friends and will stay together, but they’re in the minority.
I was somewhat impressed that Mr. Halls implanted the idea of stealing the items in the minds of the students. The way he explained it, it seemed as if we were telling them that “stealing is allowed, so do it to your heart’s content, the academy won’t stop you”.
It was probably to increase the competition in the exam, and now the students who weren’t planning on stealing the items of other students or those who hadn’t even thought that this could be done will at least entertain the idea if they stopped another student with an item.
That’s why I was wandering alone, too, and thus far I haven’t seen any other students. This was good since I was headed toward the location of one of the hidden tasks.
I arrived at an opening in the forest where the trees were low and the vines and bushes were decreasing in population. There I decided to stop for a while and check my location.
Hence, I turned and looked around for a couple of minutes before finding a tree that was fit for the task. It had a lot of branches, a thick trunk, and looked pretty rigid.
I walked up to the tree and rubbed my hands together, doing a bit of stretching to prepare myself to climb the tree. This had been easier if I had the Requiem sword with me. I just had to call Req and tell them to fly up and assess my location.
But we were not allowed to bring any weapons. So it was pretty much of a letdown. I hugged the tree tightly, placed my arms and legs accordingly, and began climbing up.
It was hard since I was doing this after a long time, but I still knew how to place my hands and legs in the right places, and to balance myself once I’m up there. So I was able to do it in the end.
When I was at the top, I found a branch that looked like it wouldn’t break if I stepped on it, thus I transferred myself over it and stood straight to let a good look around the area.
I looked in the direction of the mountains which were located at the center of the island, narrowing my eyes and trying to guess the distance.
‘I think I’ll reach there by tomorrow morning if I keep going at this place,’ I thought. This island was the same as the one in the novel, but it was much bigger than I’d expected.
My destination was a hidden task that was placed in the mountains. Leon completes multiple tasks in the novel, however, since most of the tasks were in the forest and things were shown from his perspective. It was hard to guess the location of the tasks from the information only.
The mountains, on the other hand, could be seen from anywhere on the island, and it’d be easier to compare and find the area shown in the novel, as I won’t have to go around in circles between a jungle of trees as I’d have to do if I ventured into the forest.
I climbed down the tree, and that was harder than climbing. I placed my leg on the wrong branch, it snapped, and I fell from around twelve feet of height—although it was not a direct fall since I broke many branches and leaves on the way.
I gained a few scratches and my left knee was skinned, but fortunately, I didn’t break any bones. It would’ve been a huge pain in the ass if that were the case.
“Maybe I should rest here for a while. It’s not like I race to win anyway,” I mumbled and sat under the shadow of the tree, leaning against its trunk.
That was when I felt my throat drying up; it was winter, but all this moving around had made me crave water. Finding it here in this forest would be tough, as I didn’t see any rivers around. I pity them.
𝘧𝘳𝐞𝚎𝑤ℯ𝘣𝗻𝘰ѵℯl.c𝐨𝚖
Fortunately for me, I had my elemental magic. Thus, I used it to create a wall of water and drank it. I used some to wash my injuries too, then I tore the sleeve of my shirt and wrapped it around my knee to keep the infection from spreading.
I rested there for around ten minutes, and then I got up to walk again. I was venturing inside the bushes again and had left the opening behind. It was then that I heard a sharp, crackling sound as if something broke—probably a branch.
I stopped in my tracks, and there was a slight rustling in the leaves a few meters behind me. But it was only for a split second, it would have gone unnoticed if I was not paying attention.
Standing there for a few minutes I waited for something to happen, then when it seemed like no one was gonna come out, I ignored it and started walking toward the mountains again.
