Intermingling Students

The tension between the two camps didn't settle down. Instead, it seemed to increase.

The Maple Dragon Kingdom's side wanted to ease the tension and tried sending several diplomatic parties across, but all of them returned in fear at the aggression displayed by Styx's monsters and guards. The most recent diplomatic party was a cut above the others though.

"We are the teachers from the Royal Academy! Will you leader or representative step forth to meet with us?"

A lot of the students from Lagoon Porter City looked towards them nervously, but there was a wall of monsters in between them that snarled and bore their teeth at the teachers. They stood there unperturbed though, a distinct larger amount of courage than many of the other teachers.

An arrow flew out from an elf with piercing blue eyes, cutting off several strands of hair and causing them to flinch. She silently stared at the teachers with ice cold eyes, her opinion of members of the kingdom blatantly expressed in her gaze.

"You are currently trespassing on the territory of the Maple Dragon Kingdom!"

That teacher held his expression in place whilst trying to take the moral high ground. He didn't give into the provocation but stood his ground. If anything, he was relieved that he had finally gotten their attention.

He knew the relations between the kingdom and the dungeon lord known as Styx were incredibly poor, so he wasn't entirely surprised at their hostile reception to them.

"This is currently in the territory of Lagoon Porter City, you should be relieved we haven't slaughtered you all."

From within the procession, Therina stepped forth, two wispy smoke like tails floating behind her. Styx had in fact sent Therina here to not only protect the group, but serve as his representative should it be required. She was the commander of this group, but she usually didn't need to do anything. If anything, this was instead a vacation for her.

"Miss Therina!" Piri abruptly jumped out in surprise and tried to rush over to her, leaving her school friends behind, but she was abruptly blocked by monsters whilst Styx chastised her in her head.

The Royal Academy teachers were flabbergasted with how shameless the strange dark elf was being, but they indeed held information about her and knew she was one of the highest figures in the dungeon, second only to the dungeon lord himself.

"This is the entrance to the Fae Forest Realm, which has limited spots and our kingdom is responsible for assigning to entrants," The teachers tried to steer away from a debate on land ownership in order to avoid a fruitless argument of laying claims against one another. "You have brought so many students but there are no entry spots available…"

"All our students will be entering. If you have a problem with that, draw your weapons. They have travelled all this way and can't simply turn back."

The teachers felt their kidneys hurt once again. The recently fallen Lagoon Porter City was the closest city to the secret realm, even if it was a bit underdeveloped due to it been in the outer regions of the kingdom.

"Ahem… We will…"

The teachers begun, but as the monsters bared their teeth and guards drew their weapons, they shut their mouths and looked back at their students with eyes filled with worry. If Styx's forces attacked, it would be a bloodbath.

These students were the future backbone of their kingdom, and they had to protect them by all means. They wished their kingdom had more forced to deploy and protect them, but they were already strained due to the recent failed attack on the dungeon and demon incursion.

"We can give you… 1000 spots…"

"5,000."

Therina had expected her provocation to force them to draw their weapons, but they kept taking steps back to avoid that outcome. She had already prepared a small gathering of nightmare monsters to attack too, just waiting on her signal.

Eventually, they accepted Therina taking 3,000 spots to the secret realm, meaning 3,000 of their own best of the best students would miss out. The teachers took many steps back to announce this, as they truly did have the moral high ground on the matter.

The main reason was that Styx was attentive in trying to avoid being the one to throw the first punch.

The moral high ground was important in gaining the support of the people after any large battle, no matter whether it was for the defenders or attackers.

"A truce? Why should I agree to that?" Therina rose her brows at the teachers proposed condition.

"This is a trip for the young generation to secure a partner for the rest of their life. This is not a place of war and bloodshed, we only wish to protect the young."

Therina gazed at him in an uncomfortable silence before eventually releasing a long and resounding sigh.

"Very well, should you not attack, neither will we. We cannot make any promises for the students however, but we will stop any fighting before us."

Unbeknown to kingdom's camp and their representatives, Therina had made this decision without consulting Styx. It had to be known she held extreme prejudice against humans ever since her village was raided and countless elves, her brothers and sisters, were raped and sold into slavery.

Ever since taking the life of the former Duke's son though, as well as Styx taking over a human town, she had witnessed all kinds of sides of humans and formed an odd melancholy in her heart that quelled the former raging flames.

She still didn't like humans, but she was less discriminatory towards them and also held no desire to simply extinguish children. She could easily harden her heart and due it without regret or remorse, but she would not do it for any inconsequential reason.

"We will hold the same stance. We cannot control the young, but we hope to at least not shed any unnecessary blood in this place."

Styx watched all this through the gaze of Therina and many others, simply smiling to himself and sipping on a bottle of wine he had tried his hand in distilling.

With that, the icy tension between the two sides melted, but nervousness still remained between the two sides.

~~~~~

⠀

The students set up stalls on both sides, which they used for cooking foodstuff or selling weapons, books, mana crystals and other trinkets.

Even though they were young, they were still able to explore the dungeon or train under supervision. There were those that slipped through the cracks and ventured on their own though, and this unfortunately lead to some untimely deaths among the students.

In a world where everyone was either constantly at war or scheming against someone, this was considered a normal matter.

Several students bravely crossed the distance between the two camps and mingled with the others to see what they were selling or gossip.

Piri was among these, leading her slave friends Avora, Felix and Thomas, as well as a couple of other classmates, across to the kingdom's side.

"Hey, why are you using an umbrella when its not raining?" A young and handsome red-haired student looked at Piri oddly as he asked.

The little dark elf glanced back at him and simply stated, "The sun hurts my skin."

He focused his eyes on her pristine light grey skin and briefly nodded his head.

"Are you a dark elf?"

"How observant."

"Eh… I was just asking… Hey, I heard that all the women in your city have been turned into… you know…"

"Breeders?"

Piri's voice was getting colder while her escort nervously tried to calm her down, afraid she would lash out at the red-haired boy. Several of the kingdom's teachers also focused their attention at the unfolding situation, ready to intervene should it turn violent. They were also interested in information from Lagoon Porter City, which they had previously only heard from traders, who had a genetic trait of overexaggerating everything, and some brief reports released by the Royal Academy of Research and Technology.

"That is something completely voluntary."

"But I heard everyone does it. Is that wrong?"

"No, most women do."

One of the teachers had become triggered by this and stepped between the duo before looking down at Piri with a scowl on his face.

"Do they not care about their bodies being destroyed from the inside, never being able to have kids?"

"Hmph, who are you to lecture me? You know nothing of Lord Styx!"

Piri harrumphed before departing, leaving the teacher rooted to the spot in shock that a student spoke back to them in that tone.

The students interacted more and more over the next several days whilst the kingdom teachers became increasingly nervous about how their students were getting too close to the monsters.

They didn't trust the other side to be able to control their monsters to the point their beastly instincts would not cause them to lash out at some student who slipped up and looked at it too provocatively. No such incidents occurred though, much to the relief of not only them, but also the teachers from Lagoon Porter City. Their understanding of everything was much greater than the former, but even they were worried about the monster's bestial instincts kicking in.

Both sides found out about the other's VIPs too. The kingdom side had many sons and daughters of nobility, but more importantly the one and only Princess Zoerina too. Styx's side was just Piri, and whilst not a princess, many secret reports about her were written of her being very close to the dungeon lord himself and also apparently a promised future dungeon wife, the title used for the women who were the dungeon lord's wives and seconds in command.

Piri and the princess hadn't met each other yet, whether by coincidence or by intention it wasn't clear. Being the two most important students in their respective camps though, it seemed to only be a matter of time.

~~~~~

⠀

The giant red crack opened more and more every day, but there was still a film covering it that prevented anyone from entering.

Piri stood at the forefront of her class as her teacher begun reciting the rules to the secret realm once more.

"Students, remember the following rules. All the companions that you can choose from upon entering are related to your talent or disposition, but it is up to you to choose which one of those suits you best. Take your time and try to feel them. Once you have chosen your companion, you will be sent to random positions within the Fae Forest Realm."

"All the spirit beasts, yes, spirit beasts not monsters, are at the First Step and cannot reach the Second Step until they leave the realm, so you will not encounter any dangers above that. Do not be careless however, as even at the same level, there can be very big differences in strength."

"You have up to 72 hours to find and secure as many spiritual fruits and treasures for your companion after that. Every spiritual fruit will increase your companions potential, some even granting them new traits or powers."

"You must be careful though, as others will often target you out of jealousy. If your spirit beast dies, you cannot contract with another one. There is also no way to leave early, so take that into consideration."

"We are currently at peace with the students from the rest of the kingdom so both you and them can remain safe. Competition is fine, but no killing."

As the teacher explained all the intricacies one after another, all the students bobbed their head in understanding whilst having various thoughts. There were those who just wanted a partner in life and were filled with exhilaration, especially those who previously would have never had this opportunity.

But at the same time, there were also those who harbored evil intentions in their heart, truce be damned. They would eliminate any potential competition if they could, especially if they had got a better partner than them.

Envy was an overpowering emotion.