43 Lecture

At the top of the cliff millions of tiny motes of light appeared, slowly floating to the top. They gathered together one microscopic spec at a time until just under 300 people appeared.

"AHHHH!" Screams echoed through the clearing, and steam erupted from the river as several people dove into the water hoping to put out the fires burning them to death. These were the lucky ones who'd managed to avoid being directly hit by the dragon fire, even so their clothes and flesh still burned.

Steven gulped as he turned his totally bald head to watch, his body twitching in sympathetic pain as memories of burning alive flashed behind his eyes. The potion had managed to replace all the burn and scar tissue, but it'd take months to completely regrow his dreads and who knows if he'd ever recover completely from the mental trauma.

"Did I get taller?" John asked, looking around from his vantage point overlooking the river, he felt like he'd suddenly grown 5 feet.

"Dumbass!" Mike yelled, shaking his head in disgust. "You're standing on your crocodile!"

Looking down, John blushed slightly before he laughed at his own stupidity. Jumping down, he walked a full circle around his new monster. "Damn, your huge!" John exclaimed. In the tunnels there hadn't been enough light to get a good view, but now... "You must be at least 18 feet long and 5 feet tall!"

Steven dragged his sight away from the river to focus on the croc as well. "Damn, he's huge! I never got a good view before now, he was always underground."

As if he could understand what Steven had said, the ground began to shake slightly and moments later the crocodile was hidden underneath them.

"I'm jealous, that's one hell of an escape route." Mike said.

By this time, several of the advisers had moved to help everyone who'd been burnt, healing potions had been handed out and skin was regrowing. Taking a closer look, John was surprised by the sheer number of people who'd been injured. "Was it really so difficult to get the eggs?" He asked, drawing the ire of everyone around him.

Quincy, who had just returned from the river with the entire left side of his face peeling as the potion went to work, glared at John. "I personally saw more than 20 people die from a single breath of fire!"

It was only then that John realized out of the 20 people who'd run to the trial with him he could only find 16. It was even worse across the river, he could see holes in the formations of the beast clan's and several people. Listening closely, he could hear calls for medics and several of the advisers grouped together cursing as they realized just how badly the trial had gone for them.

Floating over the center of the lake, Mr. Parker sighed as he shook his head. He'd known that there would be casualties, but hadn't thought they'd be this bad. Usually only 10% of a trial die, but the dragon had been agitated by the sheer number of contestants and after eggs had started going missing it'd gone crazy.

"Everyone!" Mr. Parker yelled in his high pitched voice, trying to get attention. His voice was drowned out as several more cries medics came from the boats, and a young man started wailing after he learnt his sister had died.

"Quiet!" Mr. Parker yelled, this time the massive image of a dragon appearing behind him as his voice grew deeper. Electricity crackled around him and several of the weaker students fell to their knees under his oppressive force.

"I am ashamed!" Mr. Parker continued to yell, the apparition behind him becoming clearer and seeming to come to life. "You are supposed to be the elites! The future defenders of the Confederacy, we are relying on you to reclaim the world and protect the people! Yet, after experiencing a single life and death experience you are screaming for help like little babes." Mr. Parker spit into the river with such force that it caused a massive wave and the boats rocked violently, nearly breaking their anchor chains.

"Gallandwell High is one of several schools heavily subsidized by the Confederacy. Every day you spend here costs more than the average person earns in a year, but no one complains about the cost because the survival of the Confederacy is reliant on people like you. This terrifies me!"

Mr. Parker swept his angry glare across the area one last time before taking a deep breath. The apparition behind him began to slowly dissipate as Mr. Parker slowly lowered himself to the ground. "Everyone is to follow me back to the school where we'll announce everyone's results and hand out prizes to the few who deserve them. While we're running back to the school I want you all to think about how you can repay the Confederation for its investment in you!"

Finally reaching the ground, Mr. Parker began to lead the way back to the school. Behind him, everyone was forced off the boats before they shrunk and flew into spatial rings. The Beast Clan's rushed to swim, jump, or fly over the river and joined up with everyone as they slowly jogged back to the school. This time, the pace was much slower and no monsters were allowed to bother the students. Everyone was quiet, contemplating what Mr. Parker had said.

John was running along, Snakey sleeping on his shoulders while the crocodile followed along under the ground. Mr. Parker's lecture had hit him hard, John never really cared about strength in the past. Even now, he didn't really care all that much about being the strongest. He couldn't help but wonder if he truly belonged at Gallandwell, if the Confederacy wasn't wasting its money on him.

The plan had always been to get strong enough to join the Tamer's Guild and accept a minimum of missions, spending most of his time hanging out with his monsters. He hadn't even thought about surpassing the Soul Formation Realm until now, after all less than 1% of humanity ever manages to do so. He was finally feeling the weight of the Confederacy's expectations in him, and he wasn't sure if he could live up to them.

To his right, Mike was examining all the new students with a hint of disdain on his face. The Beast Clan's where alright in his opinion, but most of the students from the countries were weak. Greenhouse flowers who'd never experienced true danger. Unlike John, the expectations of the Confederacy didn't bother him at all. He had always planned to become the strongest hunter in history, his goal to be the first person to kill a World Boss!

Steven ran slightly behind them, his hand reaching up to feel his missing eyebrows and hair sporadically. Every time he touched his now bare skull he sighed in despair. Mr. Parker's lecture didn't even qualify for his attention, he had more important things to worry about...