“Kia, entomb it!”

Following my master’s command, I dug a hole around a crystal deer – causing it to sink down into the ground. Once its head was just above the soil, I ceased digging, jumped out, then communed with the land to wrap around the crystal deer’s body. I watched as Teival clapped his hands together while singing a chant before releasing a jolt of purple energy towards the crystal deer – paralysing it.

I padded over to the side, out of the way, while my master bent over and placed a familiar crystal device on the crystal deer’s head. Witnessing him channel mana inside the device, I saw a familiar net grow and twist around our captured target.

“Okay, Kia. Open the hole again.”

I did as I was asked, revealing the image of the crystal deer entrapped within a fine mesh net of unknown material originating from the device atop its head. There was panic in its eyes – evoking a sense of urgency to escape – however it barely moved as the combination of net and shocking spell had it completely restricted. Just as I ceased opening the hole any further, the sound of Armin clapping and whistling in approval entered my sensitive ears as he approached us with a warm smile.

“Looks like things went well here! Good catch, Teival.”

“…How were things on your end?”

I observed the slightly taller boy raise his arms and place his hands behind his head as a big grin formed on his tanned face, “Caught it!”

“…That’s good…Then, should we go back to Base Camp?”

“Sure!”

With that, my master took out another crystal device and inserted a white crystal inside before pointing it towards the crystal deer. Tilting the device upwards, the action seemed to resonate with the net as it glowed before levitating the crystal deer’s body into the air. I saw Teival then turn and begin walking down a mountain path with our catch floating behind and following us. Of course, I traversed the path alongside him since there was little reason to remain.

As we scrambled over rocks and uneven terrain, I thought about how we were already within the first week of the next trial. Several weeks had passed since we’d been reassigned to Otto and I have to say, his style and choice of teaching is…quite eccentric. For one, even though Liesel had made every effort to incorporate all topics within her curriculum, Otto discarded every subject he held no interest in. As such, his lessons tended to focus more on crystal technology and spellcasting – something which proved quite incongruous to me based on how…buff I perceived his appearance to be.

I mean, there’s nothing wrong with just being taught about two subjects, however I felt it would prove disadvantageous to Teival in the long-term. Saying that, though, it seemed Otto’s subjects were quite opportune based on our current trial. Speaking of that, we were currently situated on a mountain with a forest draped around most of its body. Our task was to spend a month with our class and capture as many crystal beasts as possible – hence our actions with that crystal deer.

Although I say we were to spend it with our class, it would be more accurate to describe it as this mountain was the location for our class’ trial. I mean, every individual was still going to be ranked based on their performances, judged by the quality and quantity of crystal beasts caught. In other words, our class’ trial was contained within the mountain, whereas other classes were taken to their own various locations.

That brings me to Teival and Armin’s exchange earlier. Since they already had a relationship established from coming from the same class before, as well as having formed a bond from our previous trial, my master and Armin had deemed it more beneficial to work together. If they came across something difficult to take down, then they would take it in turns in whittling down the crystal beast’s strength before allowing one or the other to catch it. I felt it a little onerous having to share Teival’s attention with someone else but I have to admit I did see the advantages of doing it.

As for how the instructors would know who had caught what, well Otto had registered everyone’s capture devices at the beginning of the trial. He even offered to fix any that malfunctioned or got broken – though I had a hunch that was more to do with his love of crystal technology, rather than a stipulation for instructors to abide by. That’s the other somewhat strange thing about this trial, though: Otto was present at our class’s Base Camp the entire time.

I mean, I could understand if everyone had to report their beasts every night, or something, but…that wasn’t the case. No, instead he just lounged around the Base Camp – tinkering with some kind of crystal device – while the rest of us worked hard to capture crystal beasts. His presence felt…ominous? As if there was going to be some great calamity that he would be part of, or something. I mean, this trial seemed so much easier to accomplish than the previous one but it had been heavily suggested that the trials would get harder each time. So, I was left in a quandary over Otto’s presence and the ease of our task.

My confusion was soon to be cleared – as if on cue – by our instructor. About an hour after we had returned to Base Camp, everyone seemed to have arrived back from their capturing ventures. As such, Otto held a cone-shaped crystal device to his mouth and spoke. Well, I say spoke however my poor, sensitive ears would disagree!

 A booming voice of great magnitude assaulted everyone’s ears as the muscular man gave his unwelcome announcement: “Hello, hello, everyone! I trust you’ve all been having a blast in the first week! Since you’ve all been busy little bees capturing so many crystal beasts, I thought it was time to add a new element to the game!” Everyone was silent as they wondered what fearsome frivolities the instructor was going to add to our trial.

“I’ve been hearing a rumour from some of the Clan patrols about there being a rare Zapada Leopard living on this mountain. Do you know how precious such a thing is?! It’s worth more than a hundred of the top-quality beasts in this area, I tell you! So, I’m adding an extra task to the trial: whoever manages to catch it is guaranteed a pass! That’s all folks! Have fun!”

“…You’re evil! So sadistic! You’re wanting us all to fight each other over the Zapada Leopard, aren’t you?!” I growled at the muscled man walking back to his tent with a significant bounce in his step – as if he’d done something exceptionally entertaining. “Ah…now everyone is going to be more aggressive to one another…I hope they won’t go after Teival…”