A Few Minutes Before the Incident...

In the forest near Ravenhold, a group of five people was hunting a beast resembling a bear.

The beast was surrounded from all sides, and judging by its current condition, it was clear that it was losing this fight.

ROAR!

It was an Ironhide Bear, and now that it had been cornered, it no longer held back and unleashed its full strength.

The beast charged toward the weakest member of the group it could find, a chubby boy standing there with an expression caught somewhere between panic and resignation.

"Move your ass if you don’t want to die!" shouted a girl nearby as she unleashed a series of arrows toward the beast.

Sensing the danger, the beast slowed its advance and managed to dodge in time.

Meanwhile, the chubby boy, having heard her voice, seemed to get angry. Mana circulated through his body before he slammed his hand into the ground.

"The fuck did you say, bitch? Since when do you get to give me orders?" the boy shouted.

Immediately, a wall of earth rose in front of the beast, disrupting its momentum.

Just as the boy stood up, thinking he had stopped the beast, the wall was instantly shattered, debris flying everywhere, some of it hitting him directly.

"Seriously, did you eat your brain too or what? What exactly did you think raising a wall right in front of yourself was going to do?" he girl shot back while launching more attacks aimed at the beast’s neck, eyes, and flanks.

Once again, the attacks failed to land, but this time the Ironhide Bear didn’t have a chance to charge again.

Roots suddenly burst from the ground and wrapped around its legs.

Caught off guard, the bear lost its balance and stumbled to the ground.

Just as it was about to get back up, a cold breeze swept through the area.

Before the bear could understand what was happening, its head flew off its body and landed near the chubby boy, who had just recovered from the shower of debris.

Seeing it, he let out a frightened yelp but managed to hold himself together once he realized it was only the head.

He then turned toward the girl and shouted,

"Lirien, you bitch, what the hell were you thinking? why didn’t you shoot earlier?"

"Hey, just because your babysitter is here doesn’t mean you can take it easy. If you’re stupid enough to stand in the path of a D-Rank beast, then you can only blame yourself," Lirien replied without holding back.

The boy in question was naturally Percival.

After losing his spot in the group to Lirien back at the academy, he’d had to challenge someone else and beat them just to secure a place again.

He had thought he would be able to get revenge on her during the trip, but he never expected that even with his older brother leading the team, he would still be treated like this.

Frustrated, he looked toward a nearby tree and spotted Vincent watching him with an indifferent expression.

He wanted to say something, but under that gaze, he ultimately didn’t dare open his mouth.

Soon, two more figures joined the group.

One was a boy of average height with brown hair and round glasses. He was the one who had summoned the roots that had restrained the bear.

He was the second-year member of their team.

The other was a man in his forties, broad-shouldered and dressed in light adventurer gear.

He was their instructor.

"You two need to get your heads straight, If you keep this up, you’re going to get yourselves killed," he said while looking at Lirien and Percival.

Those two were the troublemakers in the group, especially Percival, who had turned out to be far more problematic than expected due to his poor teamwork and constant complaints.

Lirien, on the other hand, while capable, had the bad habit of provoking Percival whenever she had the opportunity, leading to situations like this one.

Soon, two more people joined them.

One was Selena, who had delivered the final blow to the beast.

The other was Vincent, who had stayed aside and allowed the four of them to fight the Mid-Stage D-Rank Ironhide Bear on their own.

The academy groups had already departed several days ago, and Vincent’s team was one of them.

Their group had been assigned to the territory surrounding Ravenhold.

Among the various locations available, Ravenhold had been considered suitable training grounds for the team’s overall level.

Most of the first-year students were still E-Ranks, with Selena being the exception after advancing into D-Rank a few months ago.

Among the first years, she was undoubtedly the most exceptional, further proving the talent that had earned her a place under the academy instructor’s wing.

Then there was the second-year student Arnold, who was also a Mid-Stage D-Rank.

And finally, Vincent, an Early-Stage C-Rank.

Academy students were generally talented by nature, but those who made it past the first year were the real gems in the rough.

The fact that a second-year student was already a Mid-Stage D-Rank at seventeen years old was impressive.

The same could be said for someone who had reached Early-Stage C-Rank at only eighteen.

Ignoring Selena’s monstrous growth speed, those two were undoubtedly among the academy’s most talented students.

Taking all of that into consideration, the academy had determined that hunting grounds centered around D-Rank beasts would be ideal for them.

It would push the E-Ranks to become stronger while allowing the D-Ranks to further polish their techniques.

The only real exception was Vincent.

Unless the opponent was an Advanced-Stage D-Rank, he wouldn’t struggle much.

The instructors knew that, which was exactly why they had sent him here.

Recently, the forests surrounding Ravenhold had experienced unusual activity that caused stronger beasts to leave the deeper regions and move closer to the outskirts.

Advanced-Stage D-Rank monsters would likely be common, and there was even a decent chance that Early-Stage C-Rank beasts might appear.

In short, the perfect hunting ground.

The instructor had thought a beast of this level would be good practice for the group, but who could have imagined they would nearly get themselves killed even in such a situation?

’I don’t get paid enough for this shit.’

At this rate, he felt like killing some of them himself because of the headaches they were causing him.

"Haa... let’s leave it at that. Even though your coordination was terrible, you still managed to bring down the big guy. Rest for now, then we’ll continue," the instructor said.

He had decided that the best way to make the five cooperate was to throw them against more beasts like this.

That way, they’d be forced to coordinate better.

That said, it wasn’t his job to coordinate them.

That responsibility belonged to Vincent, who had analyzed everything from afar but still hadn’t said a word.

Everyone began preparing a small camp where they could eat and take a short break.

Then, suddenly, the sky darkened.

Immediately, the instructor, who had been preparing to scan the surroundings for hidden dangers, felt a powerful sense of danger.

Without even thinking, he waved his hand and unleashed a powerful gust of wind directly toward the group of five.

Vincent and Selena noticed the action, but the attack came too suddenly.

They could only protect themselves at the last moment before being struck alongside the other three.

All 5 of them were instantly sent flying dozens of meters away.

Some crashed into trees.

Others were dragged across the ground, carving long trenches through the earth before finally managing to resist the force of the attack.

Percival, who had slammed into a tree, immediately stood up despite the pain in his back and glared furiously at the instructor.

"Bastard, what do you think you’re—"

But before he could finish, a pressure descended upon them.

Their blood seemed to freeze.

Before anyone could understand what was happening, a black flash tore through the space where they had been standing a moment before, followed by something that erased that section of the forest completely.