Teams Victor and Alicia moved across the mountainous landscape, their expressions showing vigilance. They were eight in number, consisting of two awakened and six unawakened. The awakened were Victor Wesley, who received a reality-breaking hearing from Mr. Fatars two days ago. The irony... The other person was Alicia Hart, a tall, beautiful girl with tanned skin, long black hair tied in dreadlocks, sharp yellow eyes, and an Amazonian physique. Well, she came from a long line of Amazonian descent, which explained her status as an A-Rank awakened. She was strong, even more than Damien.

She appeared more on the nonchalant, I-don’t-care side. The six unawakened were Darren Cole, a short boy with messy, red hair and green eyes. He held a pair of daggers shakily. Emma Holt, a slim, almost thin girl with short blonde hair, held two revolvers with a sharp gaze. Despite her unawakened status, she ranked among the top twenty in the academy for her ruthlessness and pure battle skill. She, along with Silas and three other students, was the only unawakened among the top twenty students, though Silas was out of the mix now. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Peter Green was an average-looking guy with short black hair, dark eyes with dark circles around them, pale skin, and a very athletic physique. But despite that, he looked scared as he held a spear. Beside him was a very tall guy, about 6’7 feet with long brown hair that was tied into a man bun in a crude way. He was what you would call dirty and fat. His name was Christian Golf, whatever that name meant.

On Alicia’s side was a beautiful, petite girl with dyed blue hair and unnatural blue eyes, probably the effects of contact lenses. She was the definition of cute, though in an artificial kind of way. No offense. It suited her in an artifi- never mind. Her name was Natalia Nat. Weird name, huh. The last person was a... ahem... femboy-looking guy. Maybe he was, who knew? He had natural, white-blond hair that was styled in a single, long braid, blue eyes, and a smooth, unblemished, fair skin that would compete with Anna’s. In terms of handsomeness or, say, beauty, he lost only to Silas. His name was Alpha Sunbank.

They were on their first outing from the camp. Their mission was to scout around in hopes of finding Silas or Chloe, or any clues that might lead to them. Although everyone knew that it was impossible and a COS 90 job, no one wanted Mr. Fatars breathing down their necks. That man was scary.

They were almost a kilometer away from camp, with no clues leading to the pink-haired menace or the shy girl. They’d found some fruit trees on the way, though, and plucked some for further investigation. Alicia was the leader, with Victor as the assistant. The rest were all unawakened at the moment, though that would be changing pretty soon. The place, this rift, was the best place for an awakening, despite its danger. There were bound to be powerful awakened, but at a cost most still hadn’t come to terms with.

The sun was high up in the sky, and in such a mountainous region, the heat of the sun was almost unbearable. It wouldn’t be a surprise if most awakened fire and earth-related abilities. It was just an estimate, though. Nothing was certain. The group was huddled together. They still lacked the experience and strategy of a veteran hunting or mercenary group.

Alicia took the front while Victor took the rear with the others in the middle. The teachers knew the danger this posed, leaving two awakened and six unawakened to go out on their own, but it was needed. This wasn’t a yellow rift, which was fairly easy. The number of deaths in a yellow rift was 1/1000. A blue rift was different. Even they were exempt from the danger of death. Anyone could die. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that if they’d met Groka and his orcs, most would’ve died. But this wasn’t about Silas, yet.

A small vine snaked after the group, unknown to them. Not even the awakened felt its presence. It moved swiftly and silently, passed underneath Victor’s feet, and grabbed hold of Christian. It wrapped tightly around his ankle. It happened abruptly.

One second, Christian was walking heavily; the next, he was dangling in the air, held in place by a thick, black vine. Victor moved swiftly, turning his hands into sharp metal and cutting Christian loose. He fell hard on the ground, letting out a pain-filled yell, but no one cared about that. They’d been ambushed. That was more important than the cry of a giant, fat guy.

Victor’s skin swiftly changed to silver, his eyes gaining a dark blue glow, while his hair became a pale gray. His ability was a C-Rank, Metal Body Projection. He could turn his body into metal and even make it sharp.

To the front, Alicia’s eyes glowed and turned to slits of a beast. White fur appeared on her face, arms, and feet. Her hands became claws. Her ability was Bestial Trait Manifestation. It was an A-Rank ability that allowed her to gain the traits of the last animal, monster, or beast she made contact with. She was currently a white tiger and a dog. Yes, the animals could be multiple, but the most she could use were three. That was her limit.

Just as they finished their preparations, they heard low, hungry growls that made most of the unawakened shiver. Christian and Peter were almost on the verge of tears. Natalia was already in tears. The monsters that appeared in front of them were huge, brown-furred coyotes, about 6-feet-tall, with vines snaking in their fur as if they’d been sewn into their skin to grow. A device in Alicia’s pocket vibrated. She swiftly took it out while she flexed her claws, and her expression turned grimmer.

The device was an evaluator with 98% accuracy, and currently it showed:

[C-Rank]

They’d encountered a C-Rank Coyote pack that numbered up to ten. Even as an A-Rank, that number was still too much, plus she had to protect the unawakened. It would take only a miracle at this point to save them.