Chapter 62: Entering the Valley at Night

According to the agreed time, the students of Fire Lizard City gathered outside the city at 4 PM. Under the lead of Abigail Darn, along with a hundred guards and the mayor, this group of several thousand people walked for over an hour, arriving at the edge of the Tam Canyon.

The mayor said, "The nearest entrance within dozens of miles is here. As usual, our guards will take turns guarding these entrances. If any student is injured or decides to quit, we will send them back to the city to rest."

"That's great. It's a bother to have your town... your city's people help us. Fire Lizard City has grown to this size, not large, but being classified as a small city is not an exaggeration. I believe it won't be long before we call you Mayor."

The mayor couldn't hide his joy, though he said he didn't mind, his expression didn't match his words.

A new student, curious, walked to the edge of the canyon and looked down. The sight made him dizzy and his ears rang. The nearly 90° vertical cliff face was clear, but it was probably six or seven hundred meters deep. Some indistinct black dots, which turned out to be rocks, could only be seen after a long look. The curious student, who might have been a bit timid, was so scared that he sat on the ground and kicked his feet back, causing others to laugh at him.

The entrance, being called an entrance, still had a path. For thousands of years, people often came here, and the nobles of the empire and elites from various countries considered it a good place for adventure. Therefore, the local government, to respond to the central government's call and to boost the local economy, spent a lot of effort to carve out several paths about a meter wide along the canyon cliffs. The location of Fire Lizard City was one of these paths.

Under the guidance of the accompanying teachers, the students went down the path one by one. The path was flat, and the one-meter-wide road was wide enough for one person to walk. However, some timid students were still very cautious, their legs trembling so much that they could hardly walk, and they had to inch down the path by leaning against the wall. The bolder students behind them became impatient, urging them on, and finally decided to use wind magic to fly down, showing their bravery.

The bold student flew into the air, turned around, and laughed at their slow pace. However, before he could laugh for long, a giant bird swooped down and caught him in mid-air. The sharp beak, gleaming with a strange light, pecked at his armor, creating a dent. The student struggled and thrashed, but he couldn't break free from the bird's powerful talons and completely forgot that he could use magic to counterattack.

The other students were also alarmed, with several women screaming. Fortunately, there were teachers with them. One teacher quickly flew behind the giant bird, grabbed its neck with one hand, and gathered fire elements in his other hand, burning the bird's feathers. The bird released its talons, and the teacher quickly rescued the student but didn't let go of the bird's neck. Instead, he used a more powerful fire spell to burn it to a crisp.

Back at the cliff edge, the captured student was still trembling with fear, his face pale as if he had lost all his blood. The students in the teacher's group clapped and cheered, praising the teacher and feeling proud to have such a capable teacher.

The teacher, flattered by the students' praise, said it was nothing and held up the giant bird, saying that they would have dinner tonight.

In fact, Kurotin Academy was unlike other small schools. The regular teachers were all of advanced level, numbering around 200,000. Some joked that Kurotin Academy was not a school but a military base. This description was not an exaggeration.

A teacher walked to the frightened student and said, "This is real combat. With your abilities, you shouldn't have been so helpless against that bird. But you completely lost your ability to resist. No matter how well you perform in the academy, if you haven't experienced real combat, you will face death on the battlefield. Remember this; this is the purpose of the academy's combat training."

The frightened student nodded repeatedly and gradually calmed down with the teacher's comfort.

After this incident, no one dared to fly into the air easily. Seeing the large birds circling in the sky, everyone became more cautious.

The sun was setting, and the canyon was darker than the outside. Luo and his group of companions sat around a campfire, roasting lizard meat on branches they had found. A pot of fragrant snake soup simmered, and the first night in the valley was about to begin. The real battle had already sounded the alarm the moment they entered the valley.

Henry Sibley, Bev Irina, and Donalos K. Selt, it was unknown whether it was fate or something else, but all the members of Luo's group were knights, and they all knew each other, just like Bing Zhe. Even their tanned teacher, Haxic Johnson, was a combat knight. According to their teacher, they were a knight team.

However, the atmosphere among them was not as harmonious as their profession. Except for Luo and Irina, who chattered and laughed, the others refused to speak to each other, even showing hostility, which troubled their teacher.

On the other side of the canyon, Konelia's group was full of laughter and joy, even holding a campfire party. The members of this group included Aurora Dor, Donna Boya, and Baji Doldis from the five major families, and their teacher, Hel Daisy, were all women, known as the women's group. These women chatted away, from makeup to shopping, from pets to fashion, as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other for years.

Vain was also among them, and their group was assigned to the same team as Konelia's, so the two groups traveled together, holding a pre-battle party.

The four groups were in the same canyon, doing the same thing, but the atmosphere was different.

This was a survival test, and there was no need to deliberately seek out battles. They played until midnight, set up tents, and went to sleep. Since they had just entered the canyon and were still in the outermost, most dangerous area, the teachers didn't need to be particularly vigilant. After instructing the students to take turns on night duty, they also went to sleep.

"Snore... snore... snore..." As soon as the groups entered the canyon, the campsite was filled with snoring. After sleeping for only two hours, Boya finally saw the hourglass in her hand run out and woke up the sleeping Konelia in the tent.

Konelia sat up, half-closed her eyes, and fell back to sleep.

"Hey, wake up, it's your turn." Boya called her several times before finally waking her up completely.

Konelia put on her clothes and apologized repeatedly. As she came out, she saw Vain also coming out to take his turn on night duty. Seeing him walk out with his eyes closed and still snoring, she couldn't help but laugh, and her sleepiness was mostly gone. She decided to play a trick on him, gathering water elements in her hand.

Vain, wearing his undergarments and holding his armor, was still dazed when a water ball hit his face, instantly startling him. He shouted, "Enemy attack! Danger!"

Konelia was shocked and couldn't stop him in time.

The dozens of camps in the area were awakened by Vain's shout. They hastily grabbed their weapons and armor and ran out. The nearby camps, not knowing what was happening, also called their companions to prepare for defense. This caused over 20,000 people in the camps to be roused, holding torches and weapons, watching for any movement in the darkness. Some didn't even have time to put on their clothes, running out in just their underwear, shouting that there were monsters and to run.

Konelia realized she had caused a big problem and apologized to them, hoping they would forgive her. The students, knowing it was a false alarm, blamed Konelia and returned to their tents to sleep, some so angry that they cursed her.

The people around also knew it was nothing and, after a round of scolding, went back to sleep.

Konelia, who had never been cursed so harshly, couldn't help but feel wronged and started crying.

Vain knew he was partly to blame, making Konelia bear all the blame. Not knowing how to comfort her, he could only keep apologizing to her.

Daisy, seeing her cry, asked her what had happened.

Konelia, sobbing, explained what she had done.

The other teachers also came over, patted her shoulder, and smiled, saying, "You did well. This is a dangerous area, and the night duty must be vigilant. Although it was a joke, you did wake Vain up. Vain, you didn't do anything wrong either. Being startled from sleep and immediately warning of danger is very important. However, don't do this again when on night duty."

"Yes, teacher," Vain scratched his head, embarrassed but happy to be praised.

Hearing the teacher's words, Konelia felt a bit better and slowly stopped sobbing.

Daisy smiled at her and said, "Really, you were right. Even without danger, making these guys adapt to the environment early is very helpful. Don't be sad, continue your night duty."

Thus, the first night in the canyon began in a ridiculous manner but ended well.