I Refused To Be Reincarnated-Chapter 862: Thaur’Gorath’s Call

The misty grey sky wept snowflakes that danced in the wind. From the dorm sill, Adam watched them refract light as they fluttered along the wind currents of the garden helix before falling to form immaculate heaps on dead grass. Winter had killed the petals, but the spectacle had somehow become more breathtaking. At least, that’s how he and Quintella felt.

However, his sister felt no wonder for the snowmen built around the dorms, or for the snow crunching beneath her boots as she tiptoed to give him a trembling hug. The plushy he had offered her dangled from her hands, and when she lifted her face, tears streamed down her pink eyes.

"Do you really have to go for an entire week?" She sniffled, the cold of separation bypassing her warm robes.

Adam gently unwrapped her hands, knelt before her, and adjusted her plushy in her embrace. "It’s just a week. I’ll be back before you notice it." He smiled with infinite gentleness. "You’ll do fine, just like the first time you slept in your own room. And hey, I’m sure Sarah won’t mind keeping you company."

Her nod never rose back up. She buried it in her plushy, her voice coming out muffled. "It’ll feel so long... I’ll hang on, big brother. I’ll train too, so you’ll be proud of me when you return."

"I’ll always be proud of you." Adam hugged her. "Always. Now that you’re good at reading and that you’ve reinforced your body with mana, how about I give you a nice mana gathering technique after I return?"

She outstretched her pinky, and he shook it with his. "I’m sure it’ll be the best," she forced out a smile, pulling back from the hug. "Get first place in your field test."

"Of course." While Adam stepped back with a chuckle, Elliot emerged from the dormitory.

The boy adjusted his white satchel across his shoulder, then stood straight in front of Quintella. "Princess." A steely glint in his blue eyes. "I’m going."

"Take care, Elliot. I’ll feel lonely without you two." She adjusted his collar. "I’ll wait for you to recount your adventures, my dear friend."

While Elliot giggled on their way to Diane’s classroom, Adam tried to remember when these two started their game of princess and knight. Perhaps around three weeks ago, after they defeated the top alchemists on campus. It was also around that time that Elliot asked him for magic training. Well, he himself was an amateur in star magic, but he answered the boy’s questions about mana control while training Quintella.

Fascinated by his martial training, Elliot ended up joining her in the end. That was when it started.

The corner of his lips curved slightly as he reached the schoolyard between Diane’s building and the Common Hall. His eighteen classmates crowded around a frozen tree in tense, yet united silence. Diane herself leaned against the tree, her blond hair cascading down the heavy scarf that hid the missing left side of her lip.

"Ah, our two favorite troublemakers." She pushed herself from the tree, chuckling at their approach. "Right on time. Ready to ace my little field trip?"

"Depends where you drop us," Adam smiled playfully.

The footsteps of Albert and most of the students crunched on the snow as they moved toward him. Far from the hidden respect they had for him three months ago, they offered him enthusiastic greetings. Jonathan was the same as ever—silent in a corner with Brad, likely still not convinced by his performance, like Trevor and Nadia.

Once he greeted everyone back, Diane stole their attention with a soft clap of her hands. "Let me remind you of the rules before we depart. Our destination is the cursed gorges of Thaur’Gorath, where orc tribes practice shamanic arts to proliferate, conquer, and enslave other species. We like our ecosystems balanced. Therefore, you’ll raid one of their villages in groups of five. Of course, the more you raid, the more points you’ll earn: minus one hundred for failing, zero for accomplishing the bare minimum, and two hundred points per extra village raided."

She paused for a moment, letting the students digest the rules. Then, she continued with safety measures.

"The worst you risk is a few nasty wounds, perhaps some curses, but surely disqualification if I must rescue you, which means for the dimmest of you that you shouldn’t try to go beyond what you can manage. And what you can’t manage is surely the largest villages you’ll stumble upon halfway through the gorges."

Adam felt her gaze linger on him. He shrugged it off. The gorges were clearly a training ground, one among many, he believed. The college allowed the proliferation before sending students to train in the wilderness, against creatures that would strike them with absolute bloodlust. A good method for teenagers to build experience safely.

As he nodded, Diane grinned. "Since we’re done with the boring reminders, what are we waiting for? Adventure is calling you."

At her cheerful words, the ground rumbled beneath their feet. Before they could even gasp, snow fell toward the shrinking schoolyard, revealing they had been standing on the green back of a creature the entire time. Wintry winds whipped their hair against their faces as they cut through the sky on a strange, hulking, magical bird. The tree Diane had leaned against had never been a tree, but wet feathers frozen in the form of a tree.

"Whoa!" Elliot, like most students, crouched, gripping whatever giant feathers they could to stabilise their position while gasping in awe.

Adam remained standing, arms crossed over his chest, gaze fixed on the misty horizon. Species, villages, perhaps even ancient ruins to discover. It reminded him of his first adventure in the frozen lands of Avaloria, and that was all his heart needed to thump faster as they journeyed west.

Around two hours later, low drumbeats thrummed through the air. Below, tucked chaotically across the gorges, he saw fires lit across dozens of villages. Walls of gnarled thorns writhed over spiked wooden walls, and watchtowers rose every couple of meters.