18 Camping Game
-Road to Black Sting Clan-
The students of the Black Fist Academy are all now traveling across the road that connects to the city of the Black Sting Clan. The land on Black State isn't really as forgiving as the other States, mostly drylands and not enough vegetation for animals to shelter to. The center of the Black State where the Black Fist City resides is the only place people won't have to worry about food when winter comes.
Ai carrying nothing at all, looking behind, 'It's been a day now since we left the city. Well, it's not really my first time leaving the city so I guess I'll make something out of it.' Even before the war, his father doesn't want him to leave the city.
Before their journey started, their teacher gave them 1 day to prepare and because only students can travel with them, Ai and Nin don't have a choice but to leave Su'e behind with the care of their trusted friend, Duno. Though it looks like both Ai and Nin don't carry anything at all, unlike the others who have lots of things to bring.
Fortunately, they are traveling with their teacher making their journey safer. Without their teacher, they could have been ambushed by bandits by now. Wearing a 3-star uniform, even the strongest bandit leader would think twice before even planning to set an ambush.
Seeing her students, traveling non-stop for almost a day is showing its effect. "We're almost there. Let's continue the pace and we will be there before sunset." The students are getting hungry and thirsty, even for the teacher herself, she needs to rest as well and before she could even notice, they slowed down greatly that the night has come.
...
Finding a good place, not far from the road, Wai decided to stop the travel. A grassy plain near a small bridge where the lake flows, no wonder this place is filled with trees and tall weeds. A good place to rest or they'll be dead before they even reach the city.
"Guys, you can rest now, I guess it's really impossible to travel Black Sting Clan in one day. We will have a little discussion later on so for now, set up the camps here. Avoid going too far, wolves will be appearing soon and there are bears as well so going alone or in a small group would be dangerous." Wai knows that they're capable but teamwork is nowhere to be found. And she needs to fix it before they face real beasts.
After setting up the camp with a couple of tents around, Wai set up a campfire for everyone to gather. Counting the numbers of the students, there are currently 30 of them, seeing it as a good number for what she's about to tell everyone.
Everyone gathered around, eating what they have brought with them before the start of their journey, it seems someone got the attention of everyone.
'Where did this guy get that amount of meat?!'
'He didn't even bring anything at all? Did he hunt wolves or something?'
Everyone was curious looking at Ai who's currently smoking a big chunk of meat while Nin is waiting for it to be cooked.
'Drool, you idiots. Thanks to Deboko's gift, the magic ring, I was able to store lots of stuff in there. You guys made fun of me before so... suferrrrr....' Showing off like an idiot, it seems their teacher really is impressed.
'Having a magic ring, not only for him but also for her, the only one who can give those is Deboko, the Auction leader. He only gives it to someone as a gift when he knows that someone has a large amount of money to carry or rare items to keep. Both of them are mysterious as ever.' After all that happened, Wai seems to get the idea of why the Head Leader wants to look after them.
This journey seems to be the first for mostly everyone. Ages 18 and below are not allowed to travel outside unless they get permission. Excited maybe, but the based on the rumors about beasts and bandits, they are more afraid. After the heartful meal to replenish their strength, they finally gathered around for the teacher's announcement.
"It's time for you guys to act like adults and stop being spoiled brats!" What a grand opening for Wai.
It looks like everyone is displeased but a teacher is a teacher and there's really nothing they could say or else they will taste the wrath of the flying book.
"Today, 5 teams will be created and our top 5 students will be the leaders." The atmosphere started to change. Being in a class, most students prefer training or doing things alone but this time, the teacher is proposing teamwork and not only that, they chose the leaders based on the cultivation Qi rank and not based on being a real leader.
'What the hell? Then I'm going to Kin's Team!'
'Most of the leaders are weird...'
'Kiri... as a leader... my god...'
Everyone hated the idea of making teams based on the strongest students but as if they have a choice. Their only hope is to get in Kin or Sha's Team. The other 3 are... mostly weird.
Almost about to spit, Kiri decided to stop as he doesn't want to get hit once again. Still... "I don't like burdens. I prefer fighting alone."
"Dude, nobody cares about your opinion. When I say you will be on a team, you will be on a team... If you have any more complains, I will make sure that mouth of yours won't work anymore." Wai seems to be not in a good mood... 'I haven't had my nap yet and you, asshole, is being a pain in the ass...' It's not that he hates the guy but he definitely is an ass.
"..." Couldn't say a word, Kiri sure is thinking twice now before opening his mouth.
"Without any more delay, top 5, step forward." Ordering the top 5, they finally stepped forward.
"It won't be fun if everyone could freely choose their leader, right? And that won't be fair for everyone either so we will have a game." Wai didn't really want a game but she's planning something.
"Every leader will have 5 pieces of cloth tied to their body. There will be numbers written on them from 1-5 and the numbers will be determined by the rank of the leader so... here." Giving the pieces of cloth to the leaders, "Everyone must get at least one piece of cloth before the sunrise or else, I will decide who your leader would be."The leaders tied those to their waste, the game is about to start.
'What the hell is with the rules?'
'So this will be a game of tag of choosing the leader?'
'There's no way we could chase a Sha or Kin!'
'Maybe there's another way... like changing the numbers....'
"Oh, before you come up with nasty ideas, the cloth was made by me so no one could tamper the numbers. Leaders can do whatever they want, either run away from the students they don't want to join their team or test the student and see who really has the qualifications of joining them. Be careful of being picky, in the end, you will still end up with 5 additional members." I can see that some of the students have already set their eyes on the teams they want to join.
'So in the end, I have no choice but to pick some of them. I guess it's not bad to have fun once in a while.' Nin seems to be digging the idea. She's the top student after all.
'One day, I will be a leader for real and this will be a good chance to find people who will stand by my side till the end. I wish... that person could be in my team...' Let's be real, Sha just want a specific person to be in her team but like her one-sided love, it's not possible.
Smiling like an idiot, 'I will give all of you the previlage to serve me!' Kiri seems to think that someone wants to join his team... really...
Wai looking around, "Seeing that everyone is ready for this little game, I will give the leaders 60 seconds to prepare so... the game will start now!" After the teacher said those words...
Like the sound of a gust of wind, *SWOOOSH SWOOOOSH!* Three of the leaders finally made their move.
Kin disappeared without a trace while Sha runs across the lake. Sha's Qi control is so advanced that she was able to run on water, who are you? Jes*s?
Aki'ko, same as the others fled as well with fluent footwork that not all eyes could follow.
"Grrr... Kiri will make all you suffer!" Letting out a devilish smile, Kiri is waiting for the others to steal his cloth but...
"What on earth are you doing, Ai?" Wai seems to be confused about what Ai is doing.
"Oh, I'm about to sleep..."
