Chapter 180: Expedition (1)
Chapter 178
It was finally the next day.
Well, at least the Aspirants assumed it was.
Nobody could truly be certain because they had been forced to sleep through a world bathed in perpetual light, only to wake up to that same sun shining immensely bright in the sky.
The passage of time felt distorted under the relentless orange glare of Palatine.
The only way they knew for sure was that Captain Jake had gone from door to door, barking at them all to hurry up and get dressed.
Within an hour, the Aspirants were fully prepared, and breakfast was already over and done with.
Filing outside into the sweltering heat, they stood in formation before the instructors, with Jake standing slightly behind the two men like a silent sentinel.
"Good morning, Aspirants! Today marks the first day of our gracious one-week expedition. I hope that you are well-rested and ready to roll?" Sony called out.
— Yes Sir!
"Good." Sony gave a firm nod, a small, encouraging smile playing on his face.
"Before we head out, I just want to let you all know that this is a partially joint expedition between both classes. This means we will have one unified leaderboard and not two separate ones for each class."
The bulky instructor chimed in next, his voice booming over the gathered teenagers.
"... And the leaderboard is directly connected to our bracelets. Any kill made by a squad is automatically registered as the required points on your devices, which will then transfer back to ours so you can monitor exactly where your squad stands. At the end of the expedition each day, you all will be permitted to view the scoreboard."
The Aspirants mumbled and nodded amongst themselves, the competitive tension in the air rising alongside the temperature.
"Also," Sony interjected, raising a hand for silence.
"We will be moving out together initially, but once we are outside the shelter, the two classes will split up with their respective instructors leading them. This is to avoid any unnecessary clash between the two classes."
"And for protection," the bulky instructor added, his expression turning solemn.
"In case we encounter something we can’t handle, Captain Jake will be standing at the crossroads of the team split. Only when we deem the situation absolutely necessary will we call him over using a feature only we possess. Got that?"
The Aspirants cast nervous glances at one another, the reality of the danger outside the walls beginning to settle in, before responding in unison.
— Yes Sir!
The instructors exchanged quick glances before nodding at one another.
In unison, their voices rang out across the outpost.
"Let the expedition begin!"
***
It took thirty minutes for the large group to traverse the distance from the barracks to the outside world.
Contrary to the enclosed, stifling space of the shelter, the wilderness was a little bit different.
There was a pathway of soft grass that covered the ground, stretching out almost like a lush football pitch.
Walking along, the squads searched for any location where they could begin their work, and at the thirty-minute mark, they found themselves at a prominent crossroad.
Captain Jake remained rooted there, standing as a silent guardian as he stared at the two classes.
The bulky instructor’s class headed west, while Sony’s class turned east.
They split up and entered a forest filled with giant trees; luckily, these trees had leaves that curled downward, forming a natural umbrella over the humans’ heads.
This helped shield them from the scorching sun, which had already begun to make them sweat profusely.
’Hard to believe that we are still in the morning.’
Traversing the forest was easier than expected.
Despite the huge trees surrounding them from all corners, there was still a wide enough path for the entire group to move through.
At any point, three humans could comfortably walk side by side.
The Aspirants gazed curiously at the different flowers and exotic plants their eyes landed on.
Strange, mythically blue flowers could be seen littering the ground at regular intervals.
The Aspirants yearned desperately to be able to actually scan them, but alas, Sony had yet to activate their devices to grant them that chance.
So, they were stuck with just admiring the flora for the time being.
When they were deep within the forest, Sony finally stopped in his tracks.
Positioning himself in the center of the class, he cleared his throat to command their attention.
The Aspirants stood with their respective squads, staring at the instructor before them.
"Ahem... I think the other class must have already begun. And per my knowledge, this forest stretches for a few dozen meters, so let’s just pause here for a moment. I will be activating your scanners now."
Sony paused for a second as he stared at the eager—and in some cases, bored—faces of the Aspirants.
Then he continued:
"But just so you know, if you go beyond twenty meters from my position, your scanners will be forcefully deactivated. This is to ensure you all remain safe and don’t stray too far.
We are in the green zone at the moment, but if you wander too far, you could stumble into the orange zone and encounter something far beyond your power."
He hesitated for a second, a pleading look flashing across his face.
"... So for your sake, and most especially mine, kindly don’t go too far and accidentally lure something back that we might not be able to handle. There could be beasts lurking around here at the moment, but they should be something you can easily manage."
Ray sighed silently to himself.
’I understand his worries. He is just a human, after all, without an ounce of meta-force, let alone an ability. So if we really encounter something, we can’t count on him to defend us while we wait for the Captain to arrive.’
Seeing that the Aspirants were listening attentively and seemed to grasp his warning, Sony exhaled.
He lifted his hand—the one sporting the sleek controller bracelet. With his finger hovering over a button, he cast one last glance at the gathered teens.
"I hereby declare that the first expedition of the week... begin!"
Tap.
Beep, Beep, Beep!
Thruuum—!
All the bracelets of the Aspirants activated almost simultaneously, pulsing with the same ghostly blue light they had shown the day before.
The moment the devices hummed to life, the Aspirants cast one final look at each other.
Within a flash, everyone bolted in different directions.
They hurried to scan any flower or rare plant that could grant them quick points, desperate to put their squad ahead of the others.
Squad Kai wasn’t left out of the frantic scramble, either.