Bat

"I'm Commander Zuko, the one who will be in charge of you for these three days starting tomorrow. I don't have anything to tell you other than your mission. Tomorrow, all of you will go there and kill every magical beast in sight!" A muscular man pointed toward the mountain range in front of them.

This muscular man had spiky brown hair. But the most fierce thing on his appearance was the scars on his face. There were three claw scars from his right eyes running through his nose to his left cheek. It made him appear very fierce.

Behind him were a few soldiers and teachers, including Shirotsuka Sanae. When they looked at their teacher Shirotsuka Sanae, wearing a white military uniform, they felt that she was also a warrior despite her usual attitude. The aura she gave them was fierce and cold. They didn't know why, but the uniform turned her nonchalant and lazy aura to a warrior's aura.

And on the other side, around thirty students were standing for a morning briefing. After getting off the bus, they flew toward the military base with an aircraft carrier. But because of long procedures for the choppers to bring them to this stadium, they just arrived a few minutes ago and gathered here for a brief meeting.

"Anyway, what all of you will do is set up your own tents in this big field. If you want to take a bath or whatever, you can use the toilet in the stadium, but I don't recommend you to do that since most of the water has already been there for hundreds of years. So… I don't think I need to explain.

"Well, you have a canal near this stadium, and I've checked the water, and it's good. Well, you can also ask a water magician to help you with that. If you're in the army, you might have already given away water without someone asking you to. But you're a student, so I'll understand if you hate your classmates or something and don't want to help them with it. It's all up to you.

"I, as the commander for this operation, won't care about that. Just take it as a punishment if you make your classmate an enemy. Anyway, we'll gather once more tomorrow morning. And you'll need to camp out there since you're not allowed to go back here unless there's an emergency. Good luck and disperse, you can ask your teachers where to get your tent."

It was truly surprising that a strict-looking middle-aged man like him could even joke like that, especially considering how he was a military officer. After that, the students immediately ran toward their teacher, Shirotsuka Sanae, who only pointed her finger to the right. "You need to set up your own tent. One tent is enough for two people, and you can set it up together."

When they heard that, the students were dumbfounded. A lot of students were complaining, especially those who had huge family backgrounds. They had been pampered their entire life. Even though they had been taught that they would have to be a soldier in the front lines and wouldn't get comfort when they were there, it was useless for those young people, especially those who loved that comfort zone.

Of course, it didn't mean all of them were like that. A few students didn't complain and immediately grabbed their tent. They even asked their friends to set it up together.

Ayaka was one of those people. She didn't complain or anything since she had prepared herself for this. She asked Kai to set it up together.

Kai nodded, and they went to grab their tent together. But when they arrived, the soldier asked them, "Are you two in a group?"

"Yes, we're group 3."

The soldier who was in charge of distributing the tent nodded. He then gave them a tent. "A tent is for two, so you'll need to share it."

"What!" When Kai and Ayaka heard that, they were dumbfounded.

"We only have twenty tents for forty students, so yeah. Although you're a student, you're also a soldier on the front lines. Especially in a battle between life and death, there will be no social status or whatever. So now that you're on the front lines, it'll be obvious you are going to start from Private. So you can't waste resources unless you're a captain or above," the soldier said nonchalantly.

"Eh?!" Ayaka was startled. She glanced at Kai while blushing.

"I'm fine with sleeping anywhere. It'll only be only for three days anyway. And maybe I can switch places with someone." Kai shrugged.

Ayaka opened her mouth, wanting to say something. However, the words wouldn't come out of her mouth.

Unfortunately, at this particular time, Katsuragi Takaki appeared out of nowhere. "Since you're not going to be with her, you can switch places with me… no, I'll gladly give you my place."

Katsuragi Takaki then turned to Ayaka and said, "I am a gentleman, so don't worry, I won't do anything."

When Ayaka heard that, she felt a chill down her spine. She had this repulsive feeling, and she suddenly had the urge to grab Kai's hand. But if she needed to choose, she didn't need to think. She immediately chose Kai.

With that thought in mind, she immediately stopped Kai by grabbing his hands. "Let's go. I don't mind."

"Oh, that's right. I need to tell you one more thing. You need to sleep together with your group, so changing places with someone from another group is a no-go." The soldier told them another rule.

Katsuragi Takaki froze, not wanting to believe what he just heard. "You-!"

However, when he was just about to complain, Ayaka already steeled her heart and dragged Kai somewhere. Katsuragi Takaki could only grit his teeth when he saw that.

Kai helped her set up the tent and met up with Fujino Chitose and Carmina Elvera.

"Well, Teacher wants us to make a rotation for the lookout. So Kai and I will be the first one, and after four hours, both of you will go next. How does that sound?"

Chitose and Carmina nodded their heads.

Kai then looked at Ayaka. "I'll be away for the time being."

Ayaka tilted her head in confusion, but she ultimately nodded her head.

Kai just felt uncomfortable in his heart. He didn't know why, but he felt uneasy when he came here. It was like his blood was riled up by something, but he didn't know what. So he wanted to go around the stadium to check if this was a false alarm or not.

Kanggye Stadium was big. However, because they were in the open, they didn't dare to light this building up, so they could barely see when night fell. When Kai went around inside the stadium, he was also barely able to see.

The light from the flashlight alone wasn't enough. Still, it wasn't a problem for Kai, as he could use his hearing in this situation.

Empty stands, broken chairs, pieces of glasses on the floor, and even dried blood on the floor that could not be swept away since there was no water around. Kai felt as though he was in a horror movie. Of course, it wasn't like he believed it, considering he was a magician with a different system from the poltergeist.

He heard a few things around, but even if those were magical beasts, they should pose no problem to them as they were the lowest and the weakest magical beasts that could be ignored.

After strolling around for almost an hour, Kai thought it was a false alarm, so he prepared to go back. However, he suddenly saw another light coming from in front of him. Kai immediately activated his sword while raising his flashlight to see what kind of creature was making such a light.

The same applied to the opposite party. The other party suddenly raised the light and pointed at him.

"Who are you?!" Both of them said at the same time. However, when they heard each other's voices, they were shocked and lowered their flashlights.

"Teacher?"

"You must be Kai Carter."

It turned out that the light came from Shirotsuka Sanae's flashlight. Both of them felt relieved after knowing that the other party was someone they knew. She then came closer to Kai and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check something. I somehow get this uneasy feeling, so I thought I needed to check. I don't mean to boast, but this feeling is often correct. How about you, Teacher?" Kai explained as he lowered his sword.

"I'm just patrolling around. Although this place has been checked, it still needs another checking. The other teachers also started checking this place to make sure that it's safe," Shirotsuka Sanae explained.

"I see." Kai nodded. "Well, it seems like a false alarm to me. I"ve checked the entire stadium, but nothing has come my way. I noticed a few magical beasts, but they're not a threat as they're only the weakest magical beasts that can't injure us."

"You're still a student and a newbie. Let us, the professionals, do that, since you might make a mistake or leave something," Shirotsuka Sanae assured.

"All right, I'll—" Kai wanted to go back before he heard something. No, it wasn't only him, but even Sanae could hear it. She immediately raised her flashlight.

When Kai heard this sound, he was surprised, as this was a kind of ultrasonic sound. And hearing the frequency of this sound, he immediately realized. It was the same for Shirotsuka Sanae, who already saw the figure of the magical beast. Both of them said at the same time:

"Bat!"