“Hurry, we don’t have much time,” Moyasu urged the group.

 

The group unfroze and followed Moyasu as he quickly picked his way through the dark forest. Yuki kept up easily, he already knew this forest as well as the back of his hand. Magical Eyes also improved his vision to the point where he could somewhat see in the dark, seeing outlines of things he normally wouldn’t be able to see. The same couldn’t be said for the other first years who constantly tripped over roots and smacked tree branches.

 

When the sounds of a battle could be heard, Moyasu raised his hand to stop the group. He turned toward them.

 

“Alright, here we will spread out,” Moyasu whispered. “The fifteen of you will surround the monsters’ backside. You trainees stay with me. When I see that everyone is in position, then I will use my bracelet to notify Robert-san. He’ll give us the go and we’ll attack. Got it?”

 

They nodded.

 

“Good,” Moyasu said satisfied. “Let’s do this.”

 

With that, they separated and hid among the bushes to avoid detection. The enemy elementalists were in the back. They seemed to be directing the monsters and were not actively participating in the fight. But because of their location, Moyasu’s group had to be careful not to make any noise.

 

Yuki stayed where he was with Moyasu who didn’t move from his position. Yuki watched the other elementalists as they spread out and observed the behavior of the enemies. Then he noticed that one of the enemy magicians was acting oddly.

 

This person was cocking their head as if they were listening for something. They started to look around, peering into the darkness that hid Yuki and the others.

 

Yuki began to feel a knot of unease form in his stomach. Though it seemed impossible, this person seemed to have felt their presence.

 

Yuki’s suspicions increased when the person began to talk to one of their comrades. He began to loosen the blade of his sword when he saw them pointing at the bushes around them.

 

“Moyasu,” Yuki whispered.

 

“I see them,” Moyasu replied grimly. “Prepare yourselves.”

 

Then one of the enemy magicians raised their arms and let out at scorching blast of fire toward the direction of where Yuki and the others were laying. They dove out of the way and in the process revealed their location.

 

“I apologize in advance, Robert-san,” Moyasu said to himself as he drew his sword and ran toward the enemy fire elementalist.

 

Yuki too drew his sword and followed Moyasu, the other first doing the same. The fire had drawn the attention of many of the monsters and elementalists and some of the monsters began to run to them.

 

“Everyone! Commence attack!” Moyasu yelled to the hidden Aether elementalists. Then he splayed his hand and incinerated a goblin that was running at them.

 

Then all hell broke loose.

 

All around Yuki, waves of elemental magic were being casted by the magicians. Bolts of lightning clashed with the gigantic roots of trees. Ice walls were erected from nowhere to intercept raging infernos. And along with magic, the sounds of metal clashing against metal, claws, and other unidentifiable materials could be heard.

 

Yuki joined the fray, his sword whirling around him as he tried to block attacks coming at him from every direction. Rolling to avoid the swipes of an ogre. Blocking the slashes from a sword held by a hobgoblin. Spinning to dodge the axe of an orc.

 

He letting go of the sword with one hand, he snapped and hurled a fireball toward a mutated boar that was charging toward him. Yuki was lucky that all the monsters that were in the back line were the weaker of the group. The strongest monsters and people were busy fighting in the hangar.

 

Chopping off the head with a clean slash, Yuki caught up with Moyasu. The other first years soon joined them, panting from exhaustion. Moyasu gave them a nod and together the group of five began to carve a path through the jungle of magic, swords, and claws.

 

Eventually they saw Robert who was in the middle of a fight between three orcs. They hurried over to him, killing a goblin and Moyasu burning a troll to death.

 

“How are you guys doing this fine day?” Robert asked them with a wide smile as he chopped off the hand of one of the orcs with a massive broadsword that Yuki wondered how Robert had gotten. The German seemed to be enjoying the battle immensely.

 

“Somehow, one of the Founders magicians sensed us,” Moyasu reported dutifully. “I apologize.”

 

“No need to apologize! Let’s just fight!” Robert exclaimed with a laugh, his sword this time lopping off a head.

 

Time passed and the battle still raged on, neither side wavering. Aether had managed to whittle down the number of monsters down to twenty but the Founders still had all of their elementalists. Five had fallen for Aether, leaving them with only thirty people in total.

 

Yuki was beginning to tire. The more he swung his sword, the heavier the blade got. He arms burned from exertion and his legs grew sore from the constant movement. As he looked around, he noticed that the other first years were faring much worse than he was. They looked as though they were about to drop dead. And from the looks of it, they weren’t able to kill any monsters. From what Yuki could see, their blades were clear of any gore.

 

“We must end this!” Robert suddenly declared grandly. He began to raise his sword above his head and wind and mana began to whip violently around it.

 

“Everyone! Get the fuck out of the way!” he announced joyfully as he swung downward powerfully. “Eat my Gale Blade!”

 

The wind exploded, shooting out forward and sideways. For the unlucky, it sliced them into ribbons and instantly killed them. Those around the main body of the attack were blasted away and knocked unconscious. When the dust had cleared, the battlefield was silent. Every enemy was killed or unconscious. Almost every ally had fainted or badly injured. The only ones that seemed safe were Yuki, Moyasu, and the first years.

 

“Whoops, I overdid it. This is why they never promote me,” Robert joked before he toppled over from exhaustion.

 

“This idiot,” Moyasu said with a smile.

 

Yuki was relieved that the battle seemed to be over. His arms felt as if they were about to fall off. He sat down on the floor and rubbed a bruise on his ribs where a troll had grazed him with its fist. If the hit had landed fully, Yuki believed that his ribs would have shattered and he would have died a very painful death. While he rested there, the other first years collapsed next to him. Aaron was groaning about his legs, Leo was just laying there gasping, and Sayuri looked as if she had actually died.

 

“So how was your first experience in real combat?” Moyasu asked them as he sat next to them.

 

“I’m so tired,” Sayuri whined.

 

“I couldn’t kill anything,” Aaron complained.

 

“Aaaahhhhh,” Leo said.

 

Yuki didn’t reply.

 

“Well it’s not expected of you to be able to kill anything,” Moyasu comforted them. “You trainees aren’t even comfortable with killing little rabbits. And the fatigue will go away the more you train.”

 

“I’m just happy it’s over,” Aaron remarked.

 

Immediately, Yuki began to become tense. Those words are the words that always precede danger. He struggled to his feet and dragged his sword up.

 

A few yards away from them, a man was also getting back up on his feet. But unlike Yuki, he seemed to be completely fine. He shook his head and patted his shirt, dust exploding out from it.

 

“Ah, I’m going to be hella sore after that,” the man remarked brightly. “But thanks to that guy my job just got much easier.”

 

Moyasu shot to his feet, a glare on his face.

 

“Who are you?” Moyasu growled. “No one normal could survive Gale Blade that easily.”

 

“No need for introductions,” the man said. A fireball flared in his hand and an unnerving smile formed on his face.  

 

At that instant, Yuki recognized the man’s face. It was the face of the person that seemed to have notice Yuki’s presence when he was spying on the group of monsters.

 

The man threw the tattered robe that hung around him and revealed a black uniform that Yuki knew all too well. A small logo of a grey snake was emblazoned on the uniform.

 

“Shikaku,” Moyasu hissed.