C25. Dark Forest (I)

"Hi. I'm Elliot. I use a staff" A meek voice introduced himself, a blond haired boy with pale skin gave a slight bow as he glanced over to his friend for moral support,

"I'm Zeffern." a brown haired boy his age smiled as he placed an arm around Elliot, "Nice to meet you all. I hope we won't be too much of a burden. I'm a basic sword wielder."

"Aligard." One last voice interrupted, the same kid from the arena fight stood beside them with a single sword by his side.

"You're a sword wielder?" Zeffern noticed, glancing over at the sword.

Aligard simply turned his head as he stared at Zeffern, lifting his sword up in reply.

"He's a quiet one," Sara whispered to no one in particular before stepping forward, "I'm Sara, the Group Leader for today. I'm a magic user. I look forward to working with you all," She introduced with a smile and a small curtsy.

"Staff user as well." Palmer introduced as he realised he was next, "Name's Palmer. I look forward to our co-operation." He gave a quick nod as if attempting to look 'cool' and 'mysterious', only earning himself a kick in the shins by Sara.

"You Bast-"

"I'm Lenso," I cut in, stepping forward with a sword by my side, "As you can see, I'm a sword Wielder as well." I gave a quick introduction before stepping back, just in time for the Team Leader to finish bickering with her 'subordinate', which only caused a hushed concern towards the reliability of such a leader to enter everyone's thoughts.

"Group 19?" A voice suddenly called out as Palmer's head instantly flickered over with great haste, "Professor Sylis!" He let out a weirdly wide smile as he brushed some imaginary dust off himself.

"Palmer," The professor acknowledged his existence before turning to Sara with a warm smile, "Is your group ready?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Sara replied with a nod of confidence, her staff in hand and her hunt card in her pocket.

"Alright then. Please follow me," She turned back around, her eyes coming into contact with my own for a split second before she walked off.

"Isn't she just so cool?" Palmer whispered, gripping my sleeve as he chuckled.

"Take those rose-tinted glasses off and just hurry up." I whispered back, slowly peeling his fingers off me and following behind.

"Oi. That's kind of mean, you know? And what do you mean, 'rose-tinted glasses'??" Palmer rebutted as he watched his hand get flicked off like garbage.

"They must be really stuck on tight then," I muttered in response, "Maybe get them checked out one day, might do you some good."

"Why is everyone bullying me today??" Palmer's voice shouted behind me as I heard his footsteps coming closer, "Has everyone just universally decided for me to be their sandbag?"

"Yes!" Sara's voice called out from the front as she spun around to poke out her tongue before turning back around,

"I wasn't talking to you! Stop eavesdropping, asshole!" Palmer instinctively blurted back, clicking his tongue, "See what I mean?" He looked over at me with pity.

"Yes, yes. Poor you." I gave him another pat on the shoulder as I hurriedly walked past him, making sure I kept up with the group.

"Hey, I know it was sarcasm that time! I don't like it! Take that back! Say it like you actually mean it!" Palmer protested, this time turning to the two new members of the group to vent his frustrations on, "You see what I experience nowadays?"

"Yep, yep." Zeffern nodded, as he walked alongside Elliot, "Poor you. Wish you better in the future." He gave Palmer a pity pat and continued to walk ahead, leaving Elliot to chuckle behind him and the poor Palmer to contemplate his life choices during the past few days.

-------

"This is where I'll leave you. Venture however you like, I'll be watching in the distance. Good luck." Professor Sylis stopped in the middle of the forest as she turned around and announced, her figure immediately disappearing straight after.

"So... what's the plan?" Zeffern cut the silence whilst everyone surveyed their immediate surroundings.

"It's all just trees," Palmer said, poking his staff at a tree trunk with not much interest, successfully breaking some bark off the surface layer.

"I guess we'll mark one of these, just in case." Sara advised, turning to me, "Can you please carve a symbol or something on this, Lenso?" She pointed her staff at a tree beside her.

I gave her a nod as I unsheathed my blade, cutting a large and clear '19' on the trunk.

"Alrighty. Let's go exploring then!" Sara then exclaimed excitedly, spinning her staff around before pointing at a random direction and began striding that direction with much flare.

"It's an A. D. V. E. N. T. U. R. E. What does that spell? Adventure~!" She sang a little tune as she skipped, her weapon leaning on her shoulder is if not a care in the world,

...

"Why do I have such a bad feeling about this...?" Palmer whispered beside me, but still following her anyway.