"Of all the people in this room, why did I have to be teamed up with you!? Just the sight of your face makes me want to throw up."

"I've heard that… a lot of times already, Lorelai. We might as well just work together." Dignitas sighed. 

Earlier, Lorelai had a negative reaction to it. Hell, she was so opposed to the idea of teaming up with Dignitas that she almost uttered some profanities at Professor Shib. 

Still, she had already tarnished her reputation as a daughter of the Seraphs. Any more wouldn't do her good in the long run.

"And when did I give you permission to call me Lorelai? Don't even think about saying my name!"

"What a great start, hah." Dignitas sighed. 

"Alright then. Everybody should have a partner already. Whether it be good or bad, you're going to be with this person a lot this year."

"And this leads me to our first assignment of the day! I'll need to know your strengths and weaknesses first, so everybody stand up. We'll be heading to the Outlands for today's class."

***

The Outlands was used to refer to a series of regions outside of the school district that the school still controlled. One such example was the mountain test during the first part of the entrance exam. 

The Outlands often served as a training ground and a place where students would come to accomplish their missions or errands. 

But while they were owned by the school, the Outlands were still very dangerous. Inhabited by beasts and mutated monsters of every kind, it was never recommended for a student to travel far unless accompanied by four others or a supervisor.

This was the place that Professor Shib was leading the class to. 

After entering the Academy's "Travel Room", they walked through one of the many portals, finally reaching the Outlands. 

"Desert… not my favorite biome, but it'll do." Dignitas brought his hand over his eyes and shielded them from the blazing sun. 

Their destination was a well-known spot for students to gather when looking to gather battle experience. This was Sand Valley, ranked C- on the difficulty chart. 

Thanks to the student uniforms which had special "cooling" runic enchantments on them, Dignitas didn't have to worry about his body temperature rising. 

Still, there was the occasional drop of sweat, which he knew was beneficial for the body. 

Once the entire class had walked through the portal, Professor Shib clapped his hands to gather their attention. 

"Alright, everyone listens up. You all should have the wristwatches the Academy gave you all, right? If so, don't forget to press the button located near the school's logo. It'll activate location sharing, so I can keep track of everyone's locations."

"If you are in danger and don't think you can handle yourself, just double-tap the logo. It'll send me a notification, and I'll make sure to head over as soon as I can."

"I'll also make my rounds and scan the desert surface just in case anyone encounters anything bad."

"If there are no more questions, then we'll continue on to the main mission for today. I want every single team here to gather at least ten pieces of good quality beast hide here." 

"Everywhere in this desert, there are hundreds, if not thousands of beasts hiding. If you guys can manage to slay ten of them and harvest their skins and hides and bring them to me, I'll consider your assignment finished."

"If you don't feel like going on a live scavenger hunt, there's another option for you. Southwest of here, there's a hole in the ground that leads to a network of tunnels. It's pretty complicated to navigate, but most of them lead to the nest in the middle. As for the keeper of the nest? You'll see for yourself."

"If you can bring me any part from that enemy, you'll be rewarded with bonus points."

"Now then, that should be it. Now go. And remember, teamwork will make this assignment easy. As long as you work together, you'll collect ten hides before you know it."

"Ah, before I forget. As a precaution, there will be no stealing from other students. This is to discourage fighting."

***

"I still can't believe I'm being put up to this…"

"Well, we'll have to find some way to work together."

"The thought of it disgusts me," Lorelai replied. "I'll be going on my own. I refuse to work with you."

"Ah, wait–" 

Before Dignitas could persuade Lorelai to stay, she had activated her Wind Steps and leaped away. 

"Definitely not a great start. I should follow her."

In this vast expanse of sand and dust, being alone was certainly not ideal. One could be attacked at any given moment. 

"And without Lorelai to provide support, I can tell that'll be difficult."

Immediately, Dignitas ran in Lorelai's direction. 

As he galloped past the flat reaches of the desert, Dignitas marveled at the rate at which he was moving. 

In the span of ten seconds, he had crossed a considerable amount of ground. 

And that wasn't all. He wasn't even tired in the least. 

"My stats really did improve. Glad to see the fruits of my labor have finally shown themselves."

But not even a minute into running, Dignitas sensed a disturbance in the ground beneath him. 

The earth began to shake, tossing many tons of sand in every direction. The vibrations traveled across the surface, throwing his balance into disarray. 

"I, uh, didn't quite expect to meet something this strong this early into the session."

The area in front of Dignitas had opened up to reveal a giant sand worm. Its skin was bare, possessing no such armor. Its mouth, however, was lined with dozens of sharp teeth. Each one was the length of a pencil.

"I'm not inexperienced with fighting enemies bigger than me… but this is a bit too much for my first day."

"Gah, but it's not like I can run, either." Placing his hands on Dainsleif's handle, he pulled out the entire sword, revealing its mesmerizing red blade. 

Dignitas had seen it in movies. Sandworms would often bury underneath the surface and attack their victims whenever their guard was down. 

And added to the fact that they supposedly could "swim" very quickly, he had no choice but to stand his ground. 

"On the bright side at least, I'll get my first piece of skin."

No more words were spoken. The worm let out a terrifying, ear-piercing shriek that shook the surroundings. 

Dignitas prepared himself. He made the first move. 

"Death's Vision." 

The worm's figure grayed out in his eyes, along with the rest of the world. There were only two things in his mind: what the worm's first attack would be, and how he would react. 

But before that, Dignitas figured he could get a few hits in.

Being the smaller one, he had an advantage in regard to maneuverability above ground. Unlike the worm, who was more of the type to lay in wait, Dignitas was a fighter. 

Tightening his grip on Dainsleif, Dignitas swung it downwards at the exact moment he reached the worm.

The beast didn't take this lightly, though. Feeling a sharp pain attacking its lower body, the worm thrashed about in an attempt to hit Dignitas.

"Wah, calm down! You're gonna dirty the uniform."

Pulling back, Dignitas waited until a certain part of the worm's body closed in on him.

And luckily for him, it didn't take long. In an attempt to clear the entire area, the worm began preparing an attack. 

*whoosh*

Somehow, it was even faster than before. The worm stretched out its entire body and swung it around itself in a wide sweep. 

Anticipating this (thanks to Death's Vision), Dignitas made sure he was just outside of range. 

The moment the worm's body closed in on him, he stabbed Dainsleif directly into its naked body. 

"Kraaakkkk!" The worm shrieked in pain. The hit only seemed to fuel its rage, as it was now thrashing about at an even faster rate. 

"Time to end this. Wouldn't want other beasts to interrupt me."

Pulling Dainsleif out of the stab wound, Dignitas swiftly placed his feet onto the worm's still flailing body. 

After making sure he was perfectly balanced, Dignitas began to run up the worm's body. 

It was difficult. As he made his way to the beast's head, he was assaulted with various attacks. Multiple attempts were made by the worm as it tried to swallow Dignitas whole. 

The worm also had no bones. As such, its flexibility was off the charts. This made its attacks surprisingly unpredictable, even with Death's Vision. 

Of course, Dignitas wasn't going to lose from just this. Death's Vision had a thing to it: the more damaged his enemy was, the more likely his foresight to be true. 

And so, Dignitas made sure to take advantage of this by repeatedly stabbing at the worm any chance he got. 

But eventually, he made it to the top. He was just behind the worm's head. It continued to flail around, with the teeth somehow getting just a few inches away from Dignitas' face. 

"Momentum attack, haha!" Using a great deal of his strength, Dignitas drove Dainsleif's entire blade into the worm's flesh. 

There wasn't much to say afterward. Gathering his stamina, Dignitas pulled down on the sword as hard as he could. 

The force carried him downwards, allowing him to ride down the worm's helpless body. 

The entire area around the worm was soaked in blood as Dignitas dragged his sword along the entire length of the beast. 

Taking its final screams, the worm eventually fell down with a great thud, scattering dust into Dignitas' eyes. 

"Besides the stinging in my eyes… I think that went pretty well, all things considered."

Of course, he wasn't one to forget his original mission. After letting Dainsleif rest in its sheath for a few minutes, he pulled it out again, revealing a clean, almost shining sword. 

Which was then again dirtied, as he used it to carve up the worm's skin. 

"That's one, nine more to go. I should look for Lorelai."

Sheathing Dainsleif, Dignitas continued on his way, making sure to avoid any odd disturbances he felt. 

It wasn't long before he was able to spot the figure of three people arguing. 

One of them was basically prostrating on the ground. Dignitas instantly recognized the person as Lorelai. 

And from the looks of it, she was being bullied by the two students, one a man and the other a woman.

Dignitas couldn't lie. Their appearances were so forgettable (due to his interest being on someone else). His main focus was on the dirtied Lorelai. Her clothes had been sullied by the dirt, and her hair was now messy and untied. 

Hiding inside a particularly deep mound he had dug up, Dignitas leaned in closely, listening into the ongoing conversation. 

And as an extra precaution, he activated Death's Vision and set both the two non-Lorelais as enemies. 

This way, if they were to try to inflict any injury on Lorelai, he'd be able to sense it. 

Still, they were quite a ways away, so he had to really strain his ears. It wasn't a distance he couldn't cover, given time, but he still needed to keep his guard up. 

Just in case anything… unforeseen arose.