End of Excursion

"What a talented girl." That was Landon Quill's honest opinion after witnessing the powerful magic. Despite not being anywhere close to her, he could see her perfectly.

Not, it was just that. Ace Quill could see every student within the forest. He saw it with his left eye which was covered with his left hand. He had to cover it to maintain his vision over the entire training area.

It was a product of his gift, named Argos.

"Who are you talking about?" His fellow Ace Abigail Mendoza asked him. Landon turned towards her, still covering his left eye. 

"Fiona Wilde. She was able to launch an attack that could even injure grade 2 aberrants. And she's only 16." Landon replied in amazement.

"Yeah, this year's class is amazing." Abigail agreed.

"I wonder why she wasn't given an S+ potential. She definitely deserves it for using such powerful magic." Landon pondered.

"It's because the examiners didn't want to have more than three S+ potential rankings. And we don't know the full extent of Fiona's gift. So her potential was conservatively estimated. Unlike Tobias whose gift is an inherited one." Abigail replied.

"That makes sense. Then again, the potential ranking is just a letter." 

They discussed others and their opinions of them. The purpose of the excursion was not only to give students the chance to fight aberrants in the wild.

It was to check if they were even able to fight in the fog. Some people didn't have the mental resilience to fight and confront aberrants. They would collapse with fear and be unable to use mana. Those students were useless and expelled from the school soon after.

Luckily, none of the students in this group suffered from that condition. 15 minutes passed and Landon realised the excursion time was almost over. 

To inform the students, Landon created an illusion of himself in front of all the groups and asked them to return to the entrance promptly.

"Thanks again for coming out here." Abigail acknowledged Landon. "Without you, the excursion wouldn't have resulted in zero casualties."

Landon's gift didn't only allow him to scout. It extended to offence as well. At any moment, if a student was in danger, he could instantly kill it from kilometres away. However, this time, he only had to protect the students a couple of times.

"Nah, don't mention it. It's like a vacation to me. I like the time off." Landon replied. "Speaking of which, if you have time, want to grab a grab cup of coffee? I found a nice place in the city."

"No thanks, you cheating bastard." Abigail shot him down immediately.

"Well, it was worth a shot. Though it was back in high school, you would've accepted immediately. You came up to me many times." Landon joked.

"That's only because I respected you as a senior. You were strongest in the year." Abigail retorted immediately. 

"But I do remember you confessing to me," Landon smirked.

"Hmph." Abigail snorted in annoyance. "I didn't know what type of person you were at the time."

Both Abigail and Landon had attended PCA at the same time, with Landon being one year ahead of Abigail. Though they joined different squads, they kept in touch.

Landon was a handsome guy, with curly, light brown hair and a chiselled face. He had designer stubble. His main feature was his green eyes which could charm many people, a product of his gift.

"Still I can't believe you cheated on her. She was a cute girl as well. Why did you think you'd be able to get away with it as well?" Abigail asked exasperated.

"Well... a man has his needs. And there was this hot woman. I may have gotten a little careless. I hadn't seen her for nearly a year anyway because of my work at the RSO." Landon tried to make excuses.

Abigail ignored his excuses. However, the last part caught her attention. "The RSO, huh? I wondered why they pulled you away from there, even for a month. You're one of their top agents. Isn't your job important?"

"It is. But ensuring there are no casualties among the students is equally if not more important." Landon responded in a serious tone, unlike before.

RSO stood for Research and Special Operations. It was a sector of the military dedicated to counterintelligence and special covert operations.

The organisation usually employed rangers and below, since elites and higher were essential combat assets against the threat of aberrants.

But Ace Quill was a special case considering his abilities and was recruited by the director himself.

"I've heard tensions are high between the nations. I heard Aqualis and Alpha are both mobilising their militaries." Abigail asked on the sly.

"You're quite informed. There might be a war soon. Ever since Pyrostorm died, Palentia has been the target of the other nations." Landon replied.

Aberrant rankings didn't end at grade 1. There was a level above that. They were Titan-ranked aberrants. Each titan had a codename in place of a species name.

They were so strong, that even champions couldn't hold up to them. And unlike other aberrants, they didn't actively attack humanity.

If they did, humanity would have already been wiped out. They usually remained stationary, only moving when provoked. Because of their size and power, they produced immense amounts of dark mana.

They were the reason humanity couldn't expand further. Nearly 50 years prior, a nation was destroyed when they inadvertently angered a titan.

Even with all the champions and the entire military, they couldn't kill it. Only when Palentia stepped in with their champions, Titan Pyrostorm was finally killed.

The nation that no longer existed was called Scedan. Palentia had only stepped in when Scedan weakened the titan and finished it off when all Scedan's champions died.

Palentia, being Scedan's neighbour took away most of the territory that Scedan formerly had and the territory that the titan reigned. Palentia took away large swaths of land, gaining immense power and access to many resources.

Aqualis and Alpha were the closest countries to Palentia. Because of Palentia's increase in power, the two countries allied. They've had a tense relationship with Palentia ever since.

The students arrived, and Abigail marked everyone down, ensuring everyone was fine. When calling the names, Landon noticed three names that hadn't been answered, before and after the extra-circular lesson.

He wondered the reason for their absence. He guessed they were sick and didn't think too hard about it.

***

With the excursion over, the exhausted students returned to the dorms. On the way back, the buses were filled with chatter about what kinds of aberrants they encountered and how they killed them.

One of them talked about how an attack protected them when they were about to be killed by an aberrant. 

Some of them suffered some injuries, but they weren't severe enough to warrant an emergency hospitalisation. However, many students wouldn't be able to attend school for the next couple of days.