"Cameron, hurry up! The opening ceremony is about to start!" A woman with clothes in a mix of glowing yellow and glowing red, contrasting from top to bottom calls
"Yeah, Ashley, just wait up" Cameron replies, looking back at Cynthia and Ryuku
"That's where your batch's opening ceremony will be held. Ours is over there" Ryuku points to his back
"So we'll be meeting at the canteen after the ceremony, alright?" Ryuku finishes
"Yeah, yeah. Goodluck on the team matching!"
"Yours too" Cynthia replies and Cameron goes running towards Ashley
"So what do you think will be the purpose of the opening ceremony?" Ashley asks Cameron walking towards the entrance of the eastern side open grounds of the school
"Let's just experience it, yeah?"Cameron trying to hide info he already knew as much as possible
"Good point…" Ashley pauses and then suddenly she starts running
"Race you there!"
Cameron tries catching up
"Hey! No fair!"
"And I…. Win…" Cameron says while panting heavily
"You're pretty fast…" Ashley replies while also panting heavily
Cameron takes a deep breath pointing at the pedestal upfront
"We have to wait for the Grandmaster now"
"I thought it's the principal we'll be meeting?"
Ashley replies with her arms on her hips
"Just… experience the moment, yeah?"
Cameron looking over the crowd of students infront of him
The Grandmaster in a greyish trenchcoat and black cloth under it. Walks over the platform and to the pedestal, taps the mic once and starts
"By enrolling to this high school. Regardless of it being free, it costs a large sum - of you. And the people around you. I suppose you enrolled here because you think you're up to the task of being a defender of the community. And before I leave, may you students have the best of luck through the years"
The Grandmaster pauses for a second, and then continues
"We shall move on to the team matching. All of you will be teleported to a hostile jungle. The first 2 people you meet along the way will be your teammate and should be the ones you bring along on the exit"
Cameron lowly start to panic
"We don't have weapons yet, do these guys even know how to fight? What can I do?"
"Again, the best of luck to you on the battlefield"
And the Grandmaster walks to his right, down the platform and everyone proceed to get teleported
Cameron grunts, wondering what to do
"Just like Minecraft, right? Punch some trees and make a wooden sword…"
He says to himself as he starts punching a tree, after a short while, someone can be heard from the back
"Hey I heard some barks breaking here I might want to meet y-you.." He looks to his left and sees Cameron with a fist deep in the log
"Well we have to live with this then" Cameron sticks out his fist and walks towards the person
"He's just like me… nice pants, some bandaged hands though… I don't have little to no hair and- oh wow he's into Hail of Blades! That band is sooooo great!"
The person waves at Cameron with an open hand on his mouth shouting out "You know I can hear you because this jungle is pretty quiet!"
"Oh.." Cameron's self esteem lowers as he gets closer and closer to the person
"I want to ask, teammate, do you know what to do with this because holy Estreus I do NOT know what to do…" the person asks
"Idk either! I came in thinking we'd be prepared before we get into some life or death mission but here we are!" Cameron does a soft slap on the person's back
"So, want to have a campfire and just talk about life until we die?" Cameron tells the person, pointing at the back towards a woman having a campfire, roasting some marshmellows
The person happily replies "ah, yes.."
Three people are fighting a tiger, one holding a rope made out of vines like a whip, the other holding a sharp bark from a tree like it's a sword, and the last one holding pebbles like it's grenades.
"Klene! Distract the tiger! I got a plan!"
The pebble man calls at the bark man
"Zelig, what's the plan anyway!?"
Klene replies while fending off the tiger
"And Feiry, give me your vines!"
Zelig calls to the vine man
"I'll trust you on this one, Zelig!"
Feiry throws his 'whip' towards Zelig
Zelig uses the vines to climb up the tree next to him, reaching for the nearest branch the tiger couldn't reach. Once he was able to do so, he aims each pebble steadily on the tiger
"Klene! Keep it steady!"
He shouts, Klene nods in approval and tries to have the tiger move as less as possible
Zelig throws two pebbles
"that should hit" he tells himself while the pebbles are flying, and it did.
He continues this until all 9 pebbles are thrown on the tiger. The tiger only became as furious as ever and started on lunging at Klene, who's trying to keep up with the pace of the tiger's attacks.
"Guess your plan didn't work? Eh?"
Feiry jokes on Zelig who's climbing down the tree
"Don't worry! I got a better plan!"
Zelig replies
"Well at least tell us the plan!"
Feiry and Klene exclaim at the same time
"Just let it run to a tree, then run!"
The environment, the people, the tiger, all stopped for a minute of silence for Zelig's absurdity
"Can't we just negotiate with it instead?"
Klene throws his bark and then crosses his arms
"That's silly, there's no way the tiger would just-"
As Zelig gets down from the tree, his sentence gets cut with the tiger roaring
"It's telling us something"
Feiry crosses his arms in response
Glaring at the tiger, Zelig exclaims
"There's absolutely no way we're negotiating with that tiger in any-"
His jaw drops as the tiger nods, reaching out a clawed paw towards Klene
Feiry chuckles and looks at Zelig
"See? That worked."
"Crine, you're really funny to talk with!"
The person tells the other person
Cameron nods his head in approval
"Hey Hailie, do you know how to get to the exit of this place?"
The third person nods in approval and Crine is surprised
"Want me to lead you the way?"
Cameron and Crine look at each other and then back at Hailie
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"I wanted to know my teammates before I go! So come on, let's start moving!"
As soon as they stand up, Zelig gets out of a bush as if he was thrown
"Don't just push me like that! Feiry!"
Oh, he did get thrown
Feiry comes out of the same bush unscathed and approaches Hailie, Crine, and Cameron
"So I heard one of you here knows the way to the exit?"
Feiry points at each member of the trio and Hailie raises her hand and happily invites them to the journey
"Well, more hands mean better survival!"
Zelig and Klene stand with their jaws dropped at Feiry, who looks back at them with a smug look and tells them
"See? Negotiation."
And the six people continue on their journey towards the exit
"So let me introduce myself, I'm Feiry, F-e-i-r-y, this is Zelig, and then Klene"
During the introduction, the other two waved hands on the other team
"Ah, well-"
Cameron gets cut by Hailie
"We're HCC, I'm Hailie! This is Cameron, and that person is Crine!"
She introduces them in an enthusiastic way
"So, do you guys…!"
Feiry remembers Hailie and turns to look at her, only to be given back with an unsettling smile
"…ehm.. ehem.. PEOPLE have Glyphs?" Feiry asks the team
"Glyphs are essences hidden within the body. It gives enhancements according to one's need, and each stage gives something different from the last one."
Cameron explains out of the blue, making everyone shocked with the info and what it actually is
"The exit is still a long way to go, so explain some more!" Hailie tells Cameron
He scratches his head
"Well… that's all that I know for the meantime.. so.."
Feiry pushes the other 5 and says
"Well, cut to the next scene then!"
The Grandmaster talks through the microphone
"All of you surely have went through a lot with your team and I acknowledge the fact that all of you have come here… in one piece"
Cameron chuckles at the thought that the Grandmaster thinks they went through "a lot"
"Now we'll start with the team numbers. Team One will be Feiry, Zelig, and Klene"
The Grandmaster announces
Blue light start to cover the three, beside HCC
"Well, see you tomorrow" Zelig waves goodbye to the team to which by then everyone awaits for the next team the Grandmaster will announce
"Team Two will be Lawrence, Ferdinand and Tristan"
The three people at the far left proceed to get teleported
"Hey, those three looked the part of being Collosseans. Maybe we could make friends with them?" Crine asks Cameron and Hailie
"We'll… have to wait for that" Cameron nervously replies. Crine looks at Hailie and she replies
"We could! As soon as we're called!"
"Team Three will be Pyro, Cryo, and Spyro"
"That team has some odd names.."
Cameron tells Hailie and Crine
"Agree" replies both of them
"Team Four will be Cameron, Hailie, and Crine"
"Okay! Let's do it!" Cameron excitedly tells the group, raising his hands up
"What?" Crine replies as the three of them are getting teleported. Cameron looks at Hailie and she nods her head side to side, leaving Cameron hanging low
"I can't believe you guys can't do a simple high five…"
Cameron whispers inside the room
"Hey, this is nice!" Hailie tells herself, looking around the room
Crine jumps and then disappears out of sight
"There's only two of us.. where is Crine?"
Wondering why there's only the two of them, Cameron asks Hailie, with which she replies pointing on the top bunk where Crine shows up
"We got bunk beds!"
Cameron smirks and looks around, after seeing the bookshelf to his left. He lunges to it and takes a look at all the books he could read. Hailie, on the other hand is busy unpacking her stuff, having the bed by the window. Cameron looks back and sees the two occupying their space
"I guess I'll be on the bottom bunk?"
He asks the two who nod their heads in approval
"Why are you so obsessed with books?" Hailie asks
"You've been talking about books since we were at the campfire" Crine adds on
Reading the book, he didn't hear any of them
"Guess he's so endorsed" Crine says as he lays back on his bed
"Hey Cameron!" Hailie shouts, startling Cameron
"What is it? And atleast tap me on the shoulders rather than shout!" Cameron replies
"Why are you so obsessed with books?" She asks him
"They're.. uh.." he stutters, lowering his head, thinking of words to use. Hailie raises an eyebrow waiting for an answer
"They get you in a fantasy world and make you feel like you're a part of it. Something along those lines.."
"Oh, then, about that book you're reading.." Hailie asks, taking Cameron's interest towards the question she'd ask
"What's the title? And what's it about?"
"It's a documentary of Nero, a Wizard of the Fire element, and how he became known for his skills with the element to the point he's thought to be close with Charlene. The Wizard of Collosse's time that mastered all 3 elements"
Crine jumps out and gives more information
"The three elements, Fire, Water, and Earth, each with their own strength and weakness. Each element can be configured by its master to turn into sub magic given that the master has enough power and stamina to do so"
Understanding a little bit of what they say, but mostly confused. Hailie continued on asking questions until Cameron got fed up
"Hey, we already answered about Collosseans. The book I'm reading, and how they disappeared for 30 years in history. Most of these would just be tackled in class so why still ask!?"
The room becomes silent for a minute, Crine glancing at Hailie and Cameron one at a time until he went back to sleep. Cameron puts a bookmark and puts the book back at the shelf
"Well, that's goodnight, then"
He says as he turns off the light. Leaving Hailie in the dark
"Good..night.."
Crine wakes up
"What's with that unsettling aura?"
Hailie replies
"C-can you keep the lights on?"
Crine calmly takes his toothpick that's somehow under his pillow and hits the switch, the toothpick being fast enough that the impact pushed it in.
"Thank you" and Hailie proceeds to sleep