Chapter 201: Gay?
Chapter 199
Racing through the strange, jagged terrain, the Aspirants felt they had no choice but to follow Berg; that included the bulky instructor, who didn’t stop to question the boy’s motives.
All the man had heard was:
’I know a shortcut.’
And that was all he required to follow without any hesitation or questions asked.
He simply needed to get his remaining students out of that slaughterhouse as soon as possible.
Those fast enough were able to match Berg’s brisk pace as they jogged behind him with relative ease.
Given how rapidly they were traveling, they theoretically should have been completely exhausted—especially considering the sheer duration of their intense combat.
Aside from those who were severely injured or naturally weak, every other person was able to keep up without any major problems.
It seemed like their daily morning physical training exercises played a vital role in this moment as they bolted forward.
They had long since left the golems behind, yet they sprinted with everything they had, terrified that those holding the rear guard would eventually lose or die, allowing the beasts to chase after them unrestricted.
Berg remained at the forefront, looking intensely focused as his eyes darted around the plain he was traversing.
Occasionally, he would glance back and mutter a curse under his breath, his brow furrowing.
’Come on. Where is he? I thought I was specific when I said all weaklings should follow me. Who does he think he is, staying back to handle the rear guard? What a total fool.’
A forest was finally revealing itself in the distance, and judging by Berg’s body positioning, it seemed they would be traversing through the thick greenery.
’How was this a shortcut?’ the bulky instructor wondered inwardly, his suspicion growing.
Mid-run, he began rummaging through his pockets, searching frantically for something.
But no matter how hard he searched, or which pocket he checked, he was unable to find what he was looking for.
’Huh? Where did my map go? I kept it in my pocket so it would be easier to pull out when I urgently needed it. Did it fall off during the heat of the battle?’
Left with no other choice and no navigation, he had to trust and follow Berg’s supposed ’shortcut.’
The moment they reached the forest’s threshold, Berg glanced behind him once more.
That was when he finally spotted Ray, Trish, and some of the other Aspirants who had stayed behind arriving together as a group.
An imperceptible smile curved his lips as he turned around and dashed into the shadowed woods, with the others following after him without any further questions.
Though, they were all slightly worried.
What if they encountered more beasts in this dense forest?
What if they stumbled upon something even stronger than those golems?
"Fret not! This forest is absolutely free of beasts, so let’s keep running!" Berg shouted over his shoulders as he maintained his sprint.
Ray lifted a skeptical brow.
’Since when did Berg begin leading us? What happened to the bulky instructor’s authority?’
A few dozen meters away, they could see a shimmering, shiny light at the end of the gloomily warm forest.
With how tired, exhausted, and injured they all were, they had even forgotten about the issue of the scorching sun above.
Ray was currently running alongside Van as they kept a steady, rhythmic pace—not too fast and not too slow, ensuring Van wouldn’t collapse out of sheer exhaustion.
"Should I give you a piggyback ride?" Ray asked as he stared at Van, who was panting roughly but still pushing himself harder with every step.
Casting a frown toward Ray, Van snickered despite his lack of air:
"Why are you gay?"
Ray chuckled dryly as he kept running, his eyes fixed on the path ahead.
"You wish. Just so you know, I love boobs, a lot."
Van lifted a brow, a look of skepticism crossing his weary face.
"Eh? Since when? I thought you were entirely focused on vanquishing the Aberrants. So when exactly did you have the time to discover you like boobs?"
Ray shrugged, turning his gaze toward Trish’s nonchalant expression.
His eyes accidentally drifted downward for a split second before he swiftly regained his composure and looked away.
"It just happened."
"Finally! We are almost out of the forest!" Berg yelled over his shoulders, his voice echoing through the thinning trees.
Within a minute, the Aspirants all filtered out of the woods, immediately getting hit by the scorching gaze of the sun overhead.
They paused, staring at their new terrain and surroundings with a mix of awe and caution.
They were currently in a vast open space, seemingly devoid of any living beings like the golems they had just fled.
There was a large meadow of white lotus flowers scattered across the terrain, with hints of strange, ethereal-looking red blossoms interspersed in their midst.
These red flowers were positioned strategically around the white petals, creating an eerily beautiful view that felt almost too perfect.
A massive mountain stood in the background like an ominous statue, silently watching over the sea of flora.
The flowers themselves were low to the earth, not rising more than six inches off the ground.
’Huh?’ Ray frowned as he felt a strange sensation.
When they had been in the forest, and even the rocky terrain of the golems, the wind moved and flowed as usual; but here, it was as if the breeze didn’t even exist.
The flowers didn’t sway at all, remaining eerily still like frozen glass.
"Come on, let’s head over to the mountain. After crossing it, we will find ourselves on the road that leads back to the shelter," Berg announced with a beaming, confident smile.
Grins crept onto the faces of the Aspirants as a wave of relief washed over them.
However, Ray’s frown only deepened.
’And when exactly did Berg start caring so much for the others?’
The instructor scanned the injured faces of his students.
Those who were bleeding were trying their hardest to staunch the flow by pressing their hands against their wounds.
"Uh... I think we should wait for those still fighting the beasts. They should be getting here at any moment," the bulky instructor suggested, his voice heavy with fatigue.
Berg just shrugged indifferently.
"Why not? I also know the perfect spot to rest and wait up for them." He smirked and began walking away toward a specific section of the meadow.
The others cast glances amongst themselves, shrugged, and followed suit.
Within moments, they stood in a small clearing that was devoid of those strange flowers from earlier.
But unfortunately, this clearing was not wide enough to accommodate the hundreds of Aspirants.
Consequently, some were still forced to stand or sit within the meadow of flowers.
The more exhausted students simply collapsed onto the blossoms, panting heavily from the trek.
"Any healer here?!" the bulky instructor shouted.
Two Aspirants stepped forward, a boy and a girl.
They moved across the clearing where all the injured elites and the instructors were gathered, beginning to heal them one by one while biding their time and waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.
Ray and several others, including Van and Trish, just stood in the meadow of flowers, their eyes fixed on the forest line as they waited for Kai and Felix to show up.