Trip to the Enchanted Zone I
Ring! Ring!
"I'm up. Friday, switch it off." Peter sprung up from his bed, the alarm switching off right after. The day before, he made sure to sleep early so he could get a good rest and also wake up early too. This way he could cultivate for an hour or two before going to school.
He wanted the Stigma's mana reserves to be brimmed to the top, only Noah could help him if things got rough.
'Let's hope that girl isn't planning an assassination or something.' Peter smirked, cracking his knuckles.
He was in a good mood as he had broken into the 2nd stage of the Novice Rank two days ago and also successfully learned how to utilize the 'Shadow Steps' spell. Although Peter's mastery of the spell wasn't as good as Noah's, they both decided it was going to be beneficial that Peter also learned the spell.
"Fuuuu." Peter exhaled deeply sitting in a lotus meditation position and clearing his mind. Mana constantly moved towards his body, constantly moving through the cultivation necklace and into his meridians, moving towards the glowing stigma on his neck.
He cultivated for 2 hours, till it was 7:30. He got up from his lotus position and tended to his basic needs, washing and heading downstairs for breakfast.
"You're up early, young master." Miss Rose - the head maid - spoke in a joyous tone.
"Good morning to you too, Miss Rose." Peter smiled, sitting down.
"Here you go. I know today is a big day so all of the maids worked hard to provide you with the best meal." She said, placing a large plate of freshly cooked pancakes drizzled with Golden syrup on the table. The delicate aroma of the pancakes made Peter's mouth start to salivate, if he waited anymore, he felt he would go crazy from hunger.
"Thank you, everyone." He smiled at the maids, before digging in.
The maids all looked at him with content smiles. They knew the treatment their young master went through growing up and finally seeing him so happy in life, it would make any kind heart happy to see such a transformation.
In a matter of minutes, he had finished the pancakes and asked for seconds.
"Young Master, your appetite is growing. We may have to increase your portions from now on." The head maid brought more pancakes to the table and watched as the 11-year-old blind boy expertly cut into his food and munched away.
'So he's finally become a cultivator. Good for him.' Miss Rose thought, feeling happy inside. She knew her young master would change this whole family one day and she was willing to wait and watch, supporting him from the side lines.
**
"Welcome class. It's good you read the message I sent you all by text on our class group chat and have come prepared." Professor Granger spoke.
Everyone there had been sent a message to come prepared, wearing the school uniform and bringing along books, weapons, etc. She didn't want there to be a single mistake as this was their first trip.
"The Enchanted Zone we will be visiting is a closed-off zone so you all don't need to worry about your safety. There are dozens of personnel protecting the zone. Does anyone have any questions before we enter?" Professor Granger scanned the room.
"Good. Now get into a single file line and enter the portal that I will open up." She ordered strictly.
Miss Granger had informed them to meet in a large hall of the Academy. Channeling mana from her mana core, she spoke a single incantation softly causing a large Blue portal to open up. The students stared at it with wide eyes, wondering how many years it would take before they could also reach the Expert Rank like her. All the teachers at the Academy were either at the end stages of the Proficient Rank or at the start of the Expert Rank.
"Well. Hurry up then! I can't hold this portal open forever. Also, make sure you tick yourself at the register before you enter the portal. If you go missing and I don't know about it, the responsibility won't fall on me." Miss Granger said loudly.
One by one, The students ticked off their names on a register before jumping into the large portal.
'I feel like we're missing someone. Oh, wait. That blind kid. Where is he?' Miss Granger pondered, right as she was going to send him a message to ask where he was, she heard a loud bang on the doors of the hall, they had been opened.
The sight of a blind boy carrying a closed-up walking stick came into her view. His wavy dark hair was slightly messy and the bandage around his eyes gave off a pristine white color. The boy took a couple of deep breaths regaining his composure, before greeting his professor.
"Good Morning Professor. Sorry, I'm late, I got lost." Peter smiled awkwardly.
"How can you get lost in such a small facility?" She asked sternly, clearly annoyed.
"Well. I asked for directions but no one bothered to help so I had to find this place myself." Peter's answer was nonchalant like he was used to the treatment of being an outcast.
For some reason Miss Granger felt a tad bit of sadness bloom in her cold heart as she realised her question wasn't the best suited to the blind boy.
"I'll send you a map of the school when we're back. You can use Friday to navigate around the buildings. Now get moving, go through the portal. You're late! I'll sign you in, so just hurry." She said in a frustrated tone.
Peter smiled walking forwards and leaping into where the dense pressure he felt was.
The world seemed to spin under his feet and a powerful sense of nausea attacked his head. However, his mental strength was strong enough to overcome the side effects of the long distance dimensional crossing.
"Another one? State your name." A man demanded sternly. Peter guessed that it must have been the guard responsible for allowing the students to pass through.
"I'm Peter Magtris."
"Yup, you're on the list. Put your bracelet forward." The man commanded, pressing a couple buttons on his digital tablet.
Peter did as the man instructed and placed his left arm forward. A loud beep resounded as the man passed a signal to his Galaxy Bracelet from his tablet.
"This signal has been attached to your bracelet as a safety measure. Make sure you stick with the group, blind boy." The man scoffed.
Peter nodded at the Guard, before walking on wards towards where the other students were situated.
Miss Granger passed through the portal finally, following the same procedure. When she had finished, she teleported away instantly, reaching the group of students. They were all situated on an open field, surrounded by hundreds of trees and a dense forest.
"Good. Everyone is here. Gather round." Miss Granger levitated in the air above the excited students, making them all turn their attention towards her. The 200+ students all faced her, listening attentively.
"We are finally in the Enchanted Zone. Can you all feel the dense mana? Enchanted Zones are areas of concentrated mana. This is why several different types of habitats of Magical Beasts can be found here. It's perfect for magical beasts to nurture their young in these zones.
"This enchanted zone however has been cleared of magical beasts too powerful such as Tier 2's and higher. It was impossible to kill the Tier 1's as the environment would suffer. Most Tier 1 Beasts are not that strong and if you do come across any, please send a distress signal and I will teleport to you instantly.
"I have also sent you all a map of the local terrain, when moving make sure you team up with your fellow classmates. Traveling alone can make it easy for you to be endangered.
"Now to the real task at hand. The purpose of our visit today is actually to study the magic plants that can be found. I will send to you all a couple plants that I want all of you to go and look for. These are important herbs that have interesting effects on the body. I want you all to find them and store them in your bracelets. Whichever team brings back all of the herbs first will all equally share 200 Merit Points." Professor Granger announced, causing the students to burst into chatter.
"Now make up your teams and start moving." She gave her final order and the crowd of students began moving immediately. Most students were already in their friend groups as soon as they had arrived, so they all focused on finding the different herbs instead of making up teams and wasting time. They were racing against each other after all.
Just as expected, no one wanted to team up with Peter, leaving him standing by himself.
'Right. Who needs worthless baggage brother when you've got me.' Noah tried to lift his brother's mood.
'I guess you're right. Plus I should start preparing, I can feel a group of eyes on me already. They're probably targeting me.' Peter sighed, shaking his head.
These imbeciles would never give him peace of mind.
Peter broke into a sprint, heading towards the dense forest, moving in the opposite direction to where all the other students were heading. The other groups of students headed West towards the areas dense with different plantations, aiming to find as many of the required plants as they could, whilst Peter headed East.
No one bothered to go East, as the terrain was showing to be rocky and unstable on the map. Not only that, the dense forest trees cast a dark shadow on that area, making it extremely eerie. Who'd want to risk going that way?