"What do you see?""... Animal tracks…. Is that?"
"Goblin tracks. There must be a nest nearby, stay alert and stay close."
After 3 days the academy expedition was finally smoothly underway as the students had more or less gotten used to the new and extremely in depth, hands on way the were now receiving education. The students all underwent different special courses in groups that could number anything from just a pair to an entire cla.s.s on an entire range skills they had believed they would have to wait several years to learn, one of those cla.s.ses were what Terra was currently teaching to the 4 students that were following her in the middle of a forest.
"Look at the nature around you in detail and it will reveal everything you would ever need to know. Nature follows a strict pattern, for example moss only thrives were the conditions are just right, damp, not a lot of direct sunlight. Now what can I deduce from those characteristics?"
"A source of water?"
"Definitely. But more importantly for our current situation it is unsure footing, therefore we will keep in mind to avoid it like the plague at the moment while we continue tracking our pray."
While Terra flexed her knowledge as a former ranger of the nutriusly deadly black forest Lux had a more.. Practical skill set she was currently drilling into the (un)fortunate students under her care.
"Aim lower! Keep your center of ma.s.s in mind or I will personally teach you how it feels to be tackled to the ground!"
"Y-yes ma"am!"
"And you over there! What the f.u.c.k do you think you"re doing!?"
"M-ma"am! Practising my kicks ma"am!"
"Not with that f.u.c.king form you are! Someone has been f.u.c.king sleeping in cla.s.s once more, you all know what this means!"
Acting like a true drill instructor like she had done so often before in the Galactic Empire Lux demanded an immediate presence as the 30 some students came to a hold and gathered around her standing at attention as they repeated in unison.
"""""Ma"am! It means that we"re all being punished!"""""
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"Precisely! Now drop down and give me 50 push ups!"
"""""Ma"am! Yes ma"am!"""""
"Beautiful! If you all were to act like mindless drones you would be doing perfectly! You there, stand!"
Continuing her stream of constant criticism Lux pointed to a random student to stand while the rest continued to do push ups in unity, the first time this happened the one that got to skip out on the collective punishment taught himself lucky, but now? Not so much.
"This is how you kick a person away!"
Demonstrating for the knightlings Lux mercilessly placed a low pus.h.i.+ng kick square in the center of the students center of ma.s.s and send him flying into the ground.
"The aim is to separate the opponent from yourself! Judge the distance from the target, fix your stance then kick straight and true! None of that fancy twisting or footwork is needed for this one, which is why I simply can"t understand why some of you still don"t get it! Now why is it that you are being punished!?"
"""""Ma"am! Yes ma"am! It"s because we are a single unit!"""""
"And what happens if a single one of you fails at a critical point!?"
"""""Ma"am! Yes ma"am! If a single link fails we all die!"""""
"Good answer! I like having enthusiastic students like you around me! Give me 50 more just to show how full of spirit you all are!"
"""""Ma"am! Yes ma"am!"""""
Not all the students were submitted to their own personal h.e.l.l however. A large part of the students were either studying magic formations or some mix of battle theory and chess in the from of what their teacher called "Maneuver warfare".
"Observe, orient, decide and then act! Observe unfolding situations, outside information, implicit guidance and the environment. Orient based on hostile culture, a.n.a.lysis and synthesis, new information in response to existing knowledge! Decide based on hypophysis and complaining of known knowledge, then act! Strike fast, lethal and with precision! Use your head!"
From an outsider"s perspective the magic academies expedition might have looked more like a military crash course than anything else, because that was exactly what it was. The goal was to instill the future generation with knowledge that would help them survive and thrive under pressure, therefore was only a tiny part of the courses applicable to only warfare. The students would be taught how to avoid danger outside of the safe cities, deal with unexpected situations and thrive under pressure.
---
"What the h.e.l.l is this place!?"
In the middle of what was supposed to be a lush forest something, or someone, had created a literal h.e.l.lscape. The trees had been burned so intensely that they coal that some of them were still burning to touch without protection. The ground hadn"t been spared abuse either, any trace of small plant life had been completely incinerated with such brutal heat that not even dust remained after the heat that had rendered everything from the top of the highest tree down several meters into the ground sterile. This was something none of the veteran hunters had seen before, they had seen destruction on grand scales before to be sure, but not like this.
"Dragons breath?"
"No there"s no leftover mana residue, or any dragons gla.s.s either.. Perhaps a high tier magic spell?"
"Any of this hardly matters! Where are the targets!?"
But as one of the hunters pointed out they weren"t in the forest for any purposes, the only thing that mattered where their targets they had been hired to kill.
"That is a good question, so kid where"s the targets?"
With the group once more centering on their objective attention turned to the only person not wearing a metal tag in the group.
"What, how should I know that? I"m just here for revenge, same-"
Suddenly he froze up mid sentence as some sort of alien influence took control his mind.
"East, 20 kilometers. Approach at night while they only have a single guard on night duty, I will make sure you are not detected by those pesky golems. - as the rest of you."
Giving extremely precise commands while seeming completely unaware of it himself, the youth didn"t catch the hunters expressions as they processed the information they had been given.
"Okay then, let"s wait till nightfall. Until then stay out of the direct light and stay hidden at all cost."
With guidance from their mysterious guide and commander the group of nefarius hunters slowly closed in on the magic academy"s expedition area, with no idea what they were walking into.