Second Semester (2)
My brother and I were transported to what appeared to be a dense jungle. The characteristic humidity of the rainforest immediately enveloped us.
"Tch, what a shitty environment."
I clicked my tongue. Heat and cold didn't bother me, but I hated humid places. The damp air made my body feel heavy.
"I've heard about it, but to think Tianis Academy can even simulate a place like this."
Unlike me, my brother looked around in wonder. He probably wasn't used to sights like this back in Arden Territory, where the seasons never changed, 365 days a year.
But I urged him on.
"Enough sightseeing. Check if there are any monsters around."
"Yes, brother."
Veil obeyed without complaint. After confirming no lifeforms nearby, we settled in a suitable spot. I spoke first.
"Securing drinking water is the top priority, don't you think?"
"I agree. We have to survive here for over 12 hours, after all."
We had to last in this jungle until midnight. It was currently 10 a.m., so about 14 hours to endure. If it were just 2-3 hours, we could tough it out, but anything longer required water and food. Plus, there were missions assigned to each team during this survival exercise. Energy was needed to complete them. That's why we were teaming up with Veil—one was better than none, but two were better still.
Of course, I could've secured water easily with magic, but unfortunately, I couldn't reveal that yet. The professor was probably watching this whole thing.
"Our sword is enough for tools, and we don't need a campsite."
Professor Mailon hadn't provided any survival gear. The point was for teams to cooperate and solve problems on their own. A campsite wasn't necessary either—we weren't sleeping overnight, and if it rained, we could just improvise with leaves.
But Veil didn't seem to agree.
"In survival situations, after securing water and food, you must always establish a base. That's what I was taught."
"Who fed you that nonsense?"
"The Monster Studies professor said it. It was about protocols during Monster Season."
"...Haa."
I let out a deep sigh. Veil reacted and continued.
"It's actually pretty helpful advice. During break, a black mage appeared in the territory, and the knights went out to subjugate it..."
"Veil."
I cut off his rambling.
"That time and now are different situations."
Veil's words were spot on, of course. They were the 'textbook' rules for life-or-death survival scenarios outside of class. But we were different. We weren't staying for days, and there was no need for long-term planning. More importantly, this class wasn't about pure survival—it was about fostering teamwork. That's why they gave us missions.
Veil pondered my reasoning for a moment before speaking.
"I'll follow your lead, brother."
He said that, but he seemed a bit dissatisfied. Probably because our views differed. Our action styles and personalities were polar opposites, after all.
It'll be fine, though.
Something felt off from the start, but we wouldn't fight. Veil was the kind of brother who respected his elder.
An hour into searching for water, we finally found a small spring after much hardship.
"The spring's pretty small..."
"They should've made it bigger."
But it was tiny—barely 5 cm in diameter, hardly worthy of being called a spring. It looked deliberately small. Survival environments could be hellish depending on the scenario.
"Let's draw water first."
Veil nodded, and I pulled out a wooden canteen I'd carved from a tree on the way. We'd made three per person, so filling them took quite a while—about 30 minutes per canteen.
During that time, we scouted for food. But no edible plants in sight. Digging in the dirt yielded nothing. With no river or monsters around, this area seemed barren of sustenance. And lunch was approaching; my stomach was starting to growl...
This could derail our plans. My mission was easy, but Veil's was tough. I kept vigilant just in case.
On the way back to the spring, Veil spoke up.
"Brother. Why didn't you return to the family estate during break?"
"...Don't ask."
I shut it down early. Mentioning home made my chest tighten unexpectedly. But Veil pressed on.
"If you had, you could've changed the family's and territory's view of you. Like I said earlier, a black mage showed up in the territory..."
His meaning was clear: If I'd gone back and crushed the black mage, I could've shed my wastrel image. And where that led was obvious.
"I told you, I'm not interested in the family head position."
"I don't understand why you refuse it."
"Don't try to understand. And don't be curious."
He wouldn't get it even if I explained.
"......"
Veil fell silent at my curt response but didn't drop the conversation.
"Did you know? The day sister returned to the family, she cried in secret."
"...Did she cry a lot?"
"I don't know. She pretended nothing was wrong as soon as I arrived."
I thought she was fine, but apparently not.
"Brother. For sister's sake, how about coming back next break?"
Veil tried tempting me with our sister. But I had no intention of it, and she'd endure just fine. I told him quietly.
"Hey, little bro. Why are you butting into things between me and sis? I can handle it. You got a crush on her or something?"
"...I like Elraim sister as family, but as a woman, she's not my type."
"Then butt out."
"As your brother, I can't."
The kid sure loved to talk. I'd noticed it at Orange Forge, but Veil was unusually chatty and attentive toward me. Especially when we were together, he seemed restless. Maybe he was making up for lost time. Like with sis, my wastrel antics had probably kept him from talking to me before.
By then, we'd reached the spring. And there, lurking in front, were shadowy figures. I fired a sword aura to intimidate them.
Ku-goo-kwang—!
A massive roar echoed as a deep gash scarred the earth.
"What if you hurt them?"
I snorted at that.
"If they get hurt, tough shit. They were trying to steal our water."
Over three hours, we'd painstakingly filled the canteens mid-process. Steal that? They'd deserve death.
My gaze turned to the thieves. Like us, a first-year and second-year mixed team. They clutched four full canteens.
"Ahaha, must be a misunderstanding. We were just gonna drink some..."
"Put them down."
"O-okay..."
Laced with killing intent, my voice made them drop the canteens. I approached and snatched them back. Good—they hadn't diminished. But the thieves couldn't tear their eyes away.
"Thirsty?"
They nodded frantically. Their parched looks suggested they hadn't had water in a while.
"Alright. Let's trade. Tell me what you've got. Food would be great."
Veil interjected.
"How about information instead of food? Their footprints suggest they came from the opposite direction."
"We don't need to trade vital resources for info. Food's the immediate priority. And please, don't interrupt when I'm talking."
"But brother, food is important, sure, but if they have info..."
A slight clash of opinions. The two in front shouted desperately at our exchange.
"Info, food, whatever! Just give us some water!"
"We've been four hours without a drop...? Please, just a bit..."
"Fine. Drink."
Seeing their deathly faces, I handed over two canteens. They snatched them and gulped greedily. Only then did they look relieved, like they might live.
"Now spill what you have."
They began pulling items from a leather pouch—mostly meat and other human-edible stuff.
"How'd you get food? We found zilch."
"We came from the west over there. Animals and monsters everywhere. You'd see tracks every ten steps."
That explained the lack of lifeforms. They'd divided the environment extremely.
I probed further.
"Any ruins there?"
"Uh... something like ruins, yeah. But it wasn't related to our mission, and water was urgent, so we ignored it."
"Tell me the location."
The guy immediately described the ruins' position. Being newbies here too, it was only rough landmarks.
"Seen Evan or the princess?"
"Nope, unfortunately. Some teams we met said they had..."
"That's enough."
With the location confirmed, I'd gotten all the info worth having. I told Veil,
"Let's head west. Target's probably there."
"As you wish."
We parted ways with the first team we'd encountered.
We arrived at the western jungle. Monsters appeared immediately, charging at the sight of us.
"Battle stations. Monsters."
"Yes, brother."
No time to scout. We prioritized clearing them first. Drawing my sword, I said,
"First time fighting together, huh..."
"Yes. Even during hunting practice, we rarely crossed paths."
The vibe of holding swords side-by-side felt a bit awkward. Maybe today was truly the first. I'd never seen my brother fight monsters either.
Meanwhile, the monsters roared and lunged. Five in total. Brother and I exchanged glances. As they leaped, we thrust our swords in unison.
Chaeng!
But oddly, only the clash of metal rang out. I looked at my blocked sword, then sideways. Brother was staring back at me. We spoke simultaneously.
"What are you doing?"
"Brother, what are you doing right now?"
We gawked at each other in disbelief.