Chapter 24: Desert City Python

"All right, everybody get on the bus, please."

Jessica, dressed in comfortable clothes, took a quick roll call. The bus was almost 20 meters long, with two floors and a sleek design that could accommodate up to 200 people.

Jessica and Giles' students boarded the same bus and Cale followed. Giles' students led the way upstairs while Jessica watched her own students settle in.

The bus was made of a material so durable that it could withstand the power of <A>degree monsters. The windows were black, which made it difficult to see inside. It was quite safe.

Ten other buses were lined up behind the bus. They were set up to accommodate two thousand students.

When Cale got on the bus, he looked for a suitable seat. As he moved forward, he admired the interior design of the bus. It had seats reminiscent of first class seats on airplanes. The seats were divided into two rows, with two seats on each side. In front of each seat, there were tables with various snacks on them.

Cale went to the very end of the bus, hoping no one would bother him. He sat down in the window seat and relaxed with his back against the seat. Since he had heard Jessica's briefing before he even entered the bus, he put on his headphones, turned on some music and closed his eyes. When he pulled the black hat with the 'R' on it over his face, he went to sleep.

When Amaris saw that Cale had gone ahead and taken one of the back seats, she pulled the arm of Dante, who was standing next to her with a grumpy expression, and looked at Hope behind her.

"Let's go sit in the back," she said, and Hope smiled and nodded in agreement.

Even though Cale hadn't gotten close to anyone in the past month, Dante had people that he had gotten close to, just like Damien had his group. Amaris, even though they fought all the time, Hope, with whom he felt enlightened when he talked to her, and Felix, with whom he got along well because of his lethargic but fun personality.

Dante was dragged behind him by Amaris' hand on his arm. He knew where she was taking them.

When they got to the back seat, he could see Cale crossing his arms and isolating himself from everyone with a hat over his face and headphones in his ears.

After the incident a few days ago, he had seen people suppress their fear of Cale by further marginalizing him. Cale had become a freak to them.

There were many who didn't see him as their equal because the kids he had beaten were ranked F. Dante wondered why he hid his power.

Even though his eyes were cold, Dante saw the same kind of anguish in them that he saw in himself. No, maybe even more than he did.

Ever since his parents died, Dante had lived for their revenge. He wondered what Cale lived for. He wondered why there was indifference in his eyes.

Dante and Amaris sat in the seats next to Cale, while Hope and Felix sat diagonally across from them.

Damien and his group took the seats slightly ahead of them. Once everyone was settled, the bus started moving.

"Hey," Felix called out quietly to Dante and Amaris, drawing Hope's attention. Felix glanced at the sleeping Cale. "What exactly do you think his rank is?"

With his question, Hope remembered the incident six months ago. She had known then that he was powerful, but she couldn't guess now.

Dante and Amaris locked eyes at him question. They both looked at each other meaningfully, a look that did not escape Felix's eyes.

"You know, don't you?" he smiled at them suggestively and Hope looked at them curiously.

"I don't know his rank, but I know he's powerful," Dante replied shortly with a shrug.

"I don't think he's simply powerful," Felix said, looking at Cale with a thoughtful expression on his face. "I can't wait to see what time will show us," he said with a smile.

"Why did you think he was strong?" Hope asked curiously. She wondered why Felix was interested in her because he wasn't the type to wonder things easily.

"Didn't you hear about Terry and Nevil beating up their followers?"

"Oh!" Hope was surprised to hear that. Because the people who started the fight had used her name to start a fight. When she went to Cale and apologized for it, Cale was kind enough to tell her that she shouldn't apologize.

"Oh, that's right, you weren't in class at the time," he said and his eyes lit up with interest. "You should have seen how easily he ran over three people in one minute," he said and laughed. "God, he was so cool and so impressive," he said and continued to giggle.

"That fight was because of me," Hope sighed sadly and Felix frowned.

"Don't be ridiculous! They were already making excuses to mess with him. The fact that he was seen giving you his books was the excuse they wanted. It's not your fault!"

"That's true, but-"

"Or did that bastard blame you for all this?" he frowned, moving in place as if he was going to go and beat Cale up.

"No, on the contrary, he said it wasn't my fault when I apologized," Felix smiled again.

"See? Then don't upset yourself over things that have nothing to do with you."

"Yes," she said and smiled with relief.

As the bus traveled rapidly, the temperature increased, indicating that they were approaching the city of Python. The clothes the students had taken with them were suitable for the heat of the desert city, so they were not too uncomfortable.

As they traveled along the road in the middle of a sea of sand, all the students who had not seen it before looked at the city with admiration.

It looked enchanting with its tall buildings and the golden sands that bordered the sea in the middle of the city. But the more beautiful the city was, the more pathetic were the places on the outskirts that were constantly being hit by monster attacks.

As usual, the rich lived in the beautiful city, while the poor lived on the border, which was constantly attacked by monsters.

It was constantly controlled by hunters and protected by barriers. Nevertheless, there was still damage.

Jessica and Giles decided to bring the students here for their education. Not only would it give them the opportunity to fight various monsters, but it would also give them a taste of danger and prevent them from acting recklessly.

Cale slowly opened his eyes as the bus gradually slowed down and finally stopped. He put the earphones in his pocket and placed his hat neatly on his head. As the students disembarked, he followed them unburdened as he put his belongings in the space pocket on his wristband.

When he got off the bus, even though it was afternoon, he squinted as the light of the setting sun caught his eyes. A wave of fresh air surrounded him and a warm breeze caressed his skin.

In front of him was a beautiful three-story mansion planted on a large green field. Despite being called a desert city, Cale was fascinated to see such greenery.

Satisfied with what he saw, Cale headed towards the hotel Jessica had directed him to.

"All right, everyone, have a good rest tonight. You can walk around if you want. Tomorrow we will go to the edge of the city for your training with the monsters. Dismissed."

The students went to their rooms, satisfied with his words. When Cale entered his room on the third floor, the first thing he did was take a bath. Even though his clothes were made of fabrics that would keep him from sweating in this heat, it was muggy.

He decided to change and go downstairs for dinner. Cale liked the interior design he saw. The inside of the building was decorated with paintings and sculptures and the floor was covered with soft carpets.

Outside it was beautiful with a large garden and lanterns decorating it. When he went to the restaurant, he saw that most people had come to eat. Since it was self-service, he took his own food and went to an empty table.

After an uneventful meal, he went to his room for the night and lay down on his bed to rest.

***

The next day, when they arrived at the edge of the city, contrary to Cale's expectations, they would be brought to a large arena where they would fight monsters that had been prepared for them in advance.

The arena was more like a maze of layers and the test would be a competition. Each student would enter through different entrances and end up at a different point in the maze.

The first one to reach the center of the maze would win the competition. The number of monsters killed and the shortest time to finish the maze played an important role in the competition.

Since they couldn't put two thousand students in at the same time, the students were divided into twenty groups and had to complete the task within the allotted one hour.

Cale looked at the card in his hand. He was in the nineteenth group. This time he realized that the others had been divided into different groups.

The first two groups had already finished. Elliot Trevor was first in the first group and Veronica Cecil was first in the second group.

Hours passed. He saw that Hope, Felix, Amy, Sylvie and Amaris had also come out in first place. Damien came out about thirty minutes after entering and took first place, while Dante came out in twenty-seven minutes.

As people slowly came into Dante's power, Cale knew that Damien was uncomfortable. He was upset and hid it with a fake smile at Sylvie's attempts to console him.

Cale had finished at the back of the pack, as this race was of little use to him. Nevil, who was in his group, took first place and the next group finished the first stage of the competition.

The next day, twenty people entered the maze again at the same time and were given two hours to complete it, as the difficulty of the maze had increased.

At the end of the two hours Damien came out first and Dante second and the so-called training exercise was over.

When Cale came to his room in the evening, he looked at the message on his wristband and his mission. They had been given a mission to kill a target within three days.