52 Departure

The sky was clear, perfect for the first day at school. As it was the first day, everyone was called in front of the courtyard for the principal's speech. Xin Fan quickly got dressed and exited the dorm with Chilong and Tianfei. The assembled into class lines awaiting for the principal to enter the stage. Principal Yao headed up towards the shoddily constructed podium wearing a summer outfit holding a small scroll. He unrolled it and gently placed it upon the podium while adjusting his glasses.

"Ahem...Welcome back everyone for a new semester of school. As you probably can remember, this semester would be one of the more exciting ones. I hope you are ready to face what ever challenges that may come at you. I also hope that you will stay unified in the fight against demonic beasts. Well, I'm afraid to say that this may be as usual, a hard semester for you fifth year student's as you would be spending hours on your study and training to get into the military. The fourth years, you will be going to participate in a cadetship program in the military. The second and third year students, will participate in the cross schools tournament which is held throughout the state. May I wish you all the best in your ventures."

Principal Yao pushed up his glasses as he read the last few lines from the scroll.

"And finally, the first years. We are starting a new program in tower city, City of the abyss. In case you haven't read the newspaper, we finally broke through and made a controlled abyss environment. I won't go too much into it as your teachers would elaborate onto further detail."

The principal carefully rolled up his scroll after reading the final lines before looking over to the crowd once again.

"As I said before, Good luck and have a good semester."

He slowly got off the stage before disappearing back into the building he came. The classes were reassembled and returned to the class room. As the students sat down, many had questions on this so called 'program'. Wang Mei was not a person who liked lengthy explanations but today, she made an exception.

"Hah...so bothersome. Oh well I've got to explain this some way or another. Well, you kids, are gonna go to tower city. It's a city close to a controlled abyss. What's an abyss you may ask, It's where all the demonic beast emerge from. We can destroy it all we want but more keep popping up. That's why we are training in tower city."

Xin Fan was the first to raise his hands and ask a question.

"What will we be doing there?"

"Good question. Well, you would be in groups of 3 or 4. To make a long story short, we're gonna chuck you kids in a controlled abyss, and see how long you can survive. Of course, we will be able to monitor your every actions. The point is which ever group survives for the longest gets the most points to their report. Oh and bonus points if you kill demonic beasts. You don't have to worry abut dying either. Someone would be there to save you at the last moment. It would be fun."

The teacher chuckled for a moment before turning back towards the class.

"Is there any more questions?"

"What is there to do there?"

"Well, there are ruins to explore, a crucial part of abyss diving. Normally it is littered with treasures. To some degree, you may enter them but don't go in too deep for the depth's as it has not been fully explored. It is after all in ruins where most cores exist. Anymore questions?"

Seeing that there was nobody putting their hands up, she decided to finish the class early.

"Well, we assemble here in 3 days to head to tower city. I already contacted your guardians beforehand so we already have permissions. I advise you all to get ready."

As she left the class, the class was in uproar. Many rushed out the door to get prepared. After all, soon, all the supplies would be sold out.

As they did so, Xin Fan turned around to the two sitting next to him.

"So I guess we are a team now?"

"Well...I guess so."

The the formation of the team was quick and went straight to the point. Unlike the others, he was already prepared for the trip. Who knows, maybe he may even last the longest. All of what's left is to distribute the supplies he bought early on.

"So that's why you bought this!"

Xin Fan nodded his head as he took out his supplies. The divided it up equally giving a third to Chilong and Tianfei. The three left for the dorms and on the way back, came across the farming club. Nong Tumin was discussing some business with the siblings.

"Don't worry about the plants, I will look after them."

As Xin Fan walked up, they all turned towards him.

"Oh Xin Fan, you are a first year right?"

Xin Fan nodded.

"I heard that Tower City would be quite a distance away, of all of us, you would be the last of us to come back. I just want to know whether you want me to take care of your plants."

"Oh sure. Thanks!"

The siblings also thanked their leader before going off to do their own thing. As they returned, Xin Fan could here the disgruntled mutters of other first year students.

"So unlucky. All the ropes were sold out."

"Everywhere...I couldn't find any tents."

As expected, the general store was quick to run out of stock. Xin Fan internally thanked the principal for giving him an early warning. Xin Fan returned back to the room to continue training. Ever since the kidnapping incident, he felt the desire to become stronger. Although he could only wait to raise his cultivation, he could still train his body slowly till perfection. Although with no guide line, he really didn't know what to do and was reaching a bottleneck with no improvements. Soon, he would need to buy something else from the shop.

-

The days passed like a flash as the departure date came in closer. Before Xin Fan realized it, he found himself standing at the gates outside the school in line behind he teacher. 150 students crowded around waiting for something to happen. Xin Fan could here the sounds of horses galloping and wheels turning in the distance. Soon, lines of horse pulled carriages were stationed outside the school. Class by class, the students boarded the carriage. 10 children per carriage. Once all the classes were boarded, the carriages departed. Along the way, the group split into three in accordance to the classes. it seemed that each class would be going by a different route. Xin Fan opened the window letting in some fresh air. The start of a new adventure awaited him.