56 Preparations

Making their way towards the open fields, Foo asked the receptionist, "How should I gather the students?"

"Well, that is easy, as the section head you can use your token to issue a message to everyone in the third section. As there was that incident some time ago, the students from the third section are most likely all still here.

Although other operations of the academy have resumed, public lectures and exercises are likely to be canceled for some time."

Puzzled, Foo asked, "Token? What token are you talking about?"

"Ah, the token that the administrator gave you when you enrolled. You know that...

Ehh...."

Giving her a blank stare, Foo then commented, "The administrator? That would be you?

...

You forgot to give me it?"

"Tehe~

The examination and the meeting with the elder was so hectic~

Let me fetch it really fast! I'll be right back!"

And the receptionist run of to the distance.

"..."

Glancing at each other, the two men then continued in the direction they was heading towards earlier.

"She is really irresponsible..."

"Yeah, she gives that impression..."

How could someone as her possibly get assigned as an receptionist? Unless they did it on purpose to make it harder for common people to enroll...

The sought after geniuses often already had a contact in the academy that could make things easier... And the hope was that some of the weed were removed by improper administration...

After a while, they arrived at the open field. It stretched far in the distance, where it finally met the high walls. The ground looked like that of a battlefield,

There were craters everywhere, burn marks and rubble buried in the dirt. It seemed to have once been paved, but was now reduced to nothing more than a dirty field.

At least it was still usable. If you looked at it optimistically, you could argue that it was closer to a real battlefield than some nice and tidy arena.

"Hmm, looks like a good place for our tournament." Foo mused.

"But look at the ground! It needs lots of cleaning up—"

"Nonsense! It is perfect for combat exercises!"

It was absolutely not that Foo was too lazy to clean it up. It was because it, as mentioned before, gave a more realistic environment.

"But—"

"Then do you want to clean it up? And you have to do it before the students arrives. I want to start the tournament as fast as possible!"

Cleverly, the man decided to change the topic, "It looks like it is good weather for a tournament today!"

"Hmm? Yes." Foo said, and looked up at the sky, "Just the right amount of sun, warmth and clouds."

Luckily there was no rain clouds in sight. And the warmth was not too unbearable.

Suddenly Foo spotted something far away in the sky, close to the horizon.

-- Far away in the sky, close to the horizon --

Flying casually in the sky was a huge black dragon. With massive wings and evil appearance, it flew towards the place where it had noticed that odd incident that startled the trees all around.

The incident had startled it awake from its long slumber, and it felt that it was time to stretch its wings once again. Being called the Tempest of Carnage, he was indeed looking for some fresh food and some enjoyment.

But he was also curious as to what had disturbed his sleep. And did the cause not seem fun enough, he would make sure to punish it for waking him.

Humming happily, thinking of the beauty of flesh, blood and screams, the dragon continued his way towards the location.

On his way, he noticed that the academy that he was closing in on did not seem to have it usual protection. Normally it would have warned him that he was too close, but he had gotten no warning of the sort.

It seemed like something must have happened during the past eons when he had been asleep. Normally he would keep away, as it was more trouble than it was worth.

But the students and teachers of the academy seemed quite tasty, and their screams were to die for! If there was no protection left for them, he could play as much as he wanted with them!

As such, he made sure to take a mental note to visit them on his way back. Maybe he should try to be more stealthy? But on the other hand, he loved when everyone that noticed him dropped everything at hand and run away in panic.

As hunting them down when they were escaping was also fun, he decided to not bother to be stealthy, it was a bit bothersome after all...

Just as he was imagining how it would be to hunt the screaming students down and tear them to pieces, with what could only be described as a smile on his draconic snout, he felt shivers down his spine.

Focusing his piercing eyes, he searched for the source. He quickly found an open area in the academy that held two men. Although the distance was still wide, he could clearly see them.

One of the men was seemingly trying to avoid attention from the other, looking all around the place. The other, that those in the know would recognize as Foo, was currently looking straight at the dragon.

The piercing gaze of the human startled the dragon. Humans was such a weak creature, they would be unable to see him from so far. Only by using magic could they be able to spot him, but there was clearly no magic used at all.

But this man was currently inspecting him intently, rubbing his hands and licking his lips...

The brutal and fearless dragon suddenly experienced an unfamiliar feeling. Was that man wishing to... eat him?! Normally he would scoff at such a notion, but something behind that gaze made him extremely uncomfortable.

Suddenly the dragon turned on the spot, with the most agile manoeuvre he had ever done. Going into stealth mode, the dragon suddenly remembered something, ``Ah, I totally forgot about that matter at home! Yes, I must take care of that as fast as possible!``

It was not that the dragon was scared or anything, but he truly had some... stuff... to take care of, as far away from there as possible.

``Yes, I must hurry, or he will eat me... *cough* Or he will eat meagerly!``

He was clearly referring to the tree that stood outside his home. Yes. He usually feed it with some blood from his carnages, but now that he had been asleep for so long, it must have been starving for some proper food!

It was not that he was afraid of that drooling man, but he realized that the tree could not endure it much longer!

In the blink of an eye, the dragon was far away, speeding as if his life depended on it.