Elite Expedition

Jerk! Bastard! Grrrr!

I am so annoyed by his presence but I cannot do anything about it.

"Stop right there," A warm voice, my saviour!~ My hero! I looked up and see his outstanding brown hair and golden eyes, giving me a comforting vibes.

"Why would I?" he asked fiercely. The man just smiled.

"The Grandmaster is looking for you," he said, looking at me. "Are you okay, my Lady?" and he helped me to stand up.

Gosh! His face. So handsome! How can someone be so handsome? Unlike a certain jerk!

"Tch." He said and walked away just like that. Yes! Go away! Shoooo! But what surprised us is when he suddenly stop and looked at us, "I will get back to you." he said fiercely and the students around us started murmuring to each other.

After that, the brown haired guy run after him. They look like they are friends. A hot headed guy and a cool guy! Mwahahahaha! Anyway, I forgot that Oril is with me and almost fainted.

"But seriously, Oril, what do they do in the Expedition?" I asked curiously and her big eyes narrowed.

"You seriously do not know?" she asked seriously and even crossed her arms. I raised my eyebrow,

"Why would I ask if I know?" I snapped back. We sit on the bench in the grounds, and she looks tired.

"I'm sorry, the overwhelming presence of the Fire Prince left a huge impression in my mana bank," she smiled sadly, "Because as you know, I have a low mana bank,"

Mana bank is like a storage of mana inside our body. For example, like a literal bank where you store your money. If you are a naturalist, you can regain mana and fill your mana bank using the natural energy coming from the nature. You can restore it by sitting and staying still. However, if you are a artificial, you rely solely on the mana stones to provide you mana. Oh, there is still another case, the Kleftis, where they stole the mana of other users by touching them or attacking them.

Most of the people here are naturalist, and a little percentage only are Kleftis. Those who are greedy for mana. That is why our school is full of trees, and there is even a lake in the northwest side.

Oril is a naturalist too, but her mana bank is only 10ore so she cannot store much.

"I feel like throwing up," she said and hold her stomach, "But I cannot move," she stay still closed her eyes when she suddenly run into the nearest tree and vomited.

"Urrrrk!" she continue vomiting. "It hurts!"

"I-I'll call a doctor!" but she hold my uniform,

"No! D-don't leave me, please!" she plead and continue vomiting. I comfort and console her, but when she starts vomiting blood, I got really nervous.

"You know, we really need to call for help!" she cannot answer me and continue vomiting, when she finally stopped.

"What is that?" a crystal like gemstone came out. I touched her forehead and was about to carry her when the brown haired boy stopped us. Where does he came from?

"Her mana bank increased to 20 ore! How could this happen? I'm sure it was just 10ore in the morning!" he exclaimed, happy about something when I stopped him.

"She is in emergency state, can we take her to clinic first?" I asked, nervously.

"O-ohhh! Sorry I got excited! It's the first time someone was able to increase her mana bank!" he look so amazed. He helped me carry Oril. I looked at him furiously.

"Is that a good thing? She almost died!" I snapped to him and he just laughed.

"Are you not busy? I heard you will participate in the Elite Expedition," he looked at me carrying Oril's bag.

"I will participate, do I need to prepare anything? No one informed me tho," I asked curiously because no one realy told me what to do.

"Huh? No one told you? Not even Hera?" he frowned.

"Yes, they just told me to see them tomorrow morning," I answered nonchalantly.

"No, wait--- What the f*ck?" I immediately turned my head to him. My saviour, the handsome puppy, can say those words, "I'm sorry I got carried away." he said.

"No, it's okay, I'm just shocked, hehe,"

"No, really, you must prepare everything you can use," he paused, then look at me, "That is not just a game, you can die!"

"They said it was just an expedition."

"Yes, it is, however, it's a competition for the qualifiers to enter the Wizard Tower," he explained, "And among the thousand student who will participate, only 100 can enter! You can be killed! So you need to prepare yourself!" he continue walking toward the infirmary.

"But I do not really wanted to become a wizard nor enter the Wizard Tower," I sighed, "I just want to give my mom a better life."

And who would know that Elite Expedition is just the tip of the iceberg?

I started packing my things from home: just a handful of clothes, shoes, emergency kit, a flashlight, and a knife. I scratch my head when I cannot find my knife.

I walk silently in the stairway and it was eerie. Oh, this is not horror do don't you worry? haha kidding aside, it was dark. I opened the lights and smell something delicious coming from the kitchen.

Excitedly, I run off to see my mom cooking my favorite dish: Pork Adobo! It is a dish that mom cooks that I did not like the smell at first, but when I taste it, very delicious! The soysauce and vinegar blend so well and the pork is marinated with so much flavor in it. Super tender.

"Mom!" I excitedly run and hug her. Such warmth.

"Oh, Sarah, have you been well?" she smiled.

Because of her, I am determined to come back alive. I know that the Elite Expedition was not a game, you could lose your life. I need to be strong enough to survive, so that I can feel the warmth of my mother again.

After packing my things, I went outside to feel the breeze of the city. Truly nostalgic. You can see the stars from here clearly. I want to live a normal life. A normal work. Why do mother want me to apply in a magic school when I do not have mana affinity?

Those things keep bothering me. Hmpf. I'll just do what I can! And give my mother a better life.

His eyes are vibrant gold, and he keeps swinging his wooden sword. He is sweating a lot. Under the moonlight and the continuous flow or water in the river, his determination is superb. I keep eating my snacks and it's been an half an hour and he just continue swinging it.

Deep inside me I feel that it is wrong. But I cannot pinpoint it. Maybe his stance? The more I keep thinking about it, makes my head ache. As if there is a barrier in that king of information, and it is locked, with chained. Haha. But I am not kidding.

"Ugh, damn it!" he said and slumped on the ground. I laughed unconciously and got his attention, our eyes met. I am dead.