Chapter 15
***
The run along the steep mountainside continued for over 30 minutes.
As Simon and the other Class A students breathlessly followed Hongpeng, the path suddenly ended.
In front of Simon were two cliffs, with a valley stream rushing between them, churning white foam.
"You'll need, to use Jet Black, to leap across, the valley ahead."
Hongpeng's words filled some of the students with dread.
"Y-You want us to jump over that?"
"It's alright. It just requires a little technique. Just like generating Jet Black on the ground, this time, you'll emit it from the soles of your feet."
She leaped into the air as a demonstration.
Black smoke exploded from beneath her feet with a 'bang', and she performed a double, then a triple jump in mid-air.
Gasps of admiration echoed around them.
"You don't even need to jump that high."
She landed with a somersault and continued,
"Just as you push off the ground, release the Jet Black you've gathered in your feet, like a burst. It's the feeling of stepping on Jet Black and leaping upwards."
Hongpeng, at the front of the group, ran ahead and leaped off the ground.
With a 'whoosh', she soared several meters into the air, easily clearing the valley and landing on the other side.
"Come on over!"
She laughed and waved her arm.
The students behind her hesitated.
While the valley wasn't particularly deep, no one wanted to be the laughingstock by falling in at the beginning of the semester.
The more cautious students slowed down, while the confident ones ran forward with shouts.
"Hyaaaaa!"
Whoosh!
They jumped.
A faint trace of black smoke could be seen trailing from their feet.
Three out of five landed gracefully, one tumbled on the ground, and the last one, lacking momentum, barely managed to grab the edge of the cliff.
"Well done!"
Hongpeng approached and pulled him up.
The male student climbed up the cliff with an embarrassed smile.
"Your timing for releasing the Jet Black was a little late. Try it faster next time!"
"Thank you, Professor!"
The other students followed, leaping across the valley.
Living up to their reputation as Kizen students, all twenty of them succeeded.
Simon, watching from behind, grew slightly anxious.
'The feeling of stepping on Jet Black, the feeling of stepping on Jet Black...'
"You seem to be overthinking it, Simon."
Rick said, casually waving his fingers.
"I'll go first!"
He turned and ran, then leaped into the air with his knees tucked to his chest.
"Whoa!"
The girls cheered, and Rick grinned. However, the cheers weren't directed at him.
Rick looked up and saw Hector rotating in the air, a meter above him.
Whoosh!
Hector landed smoothly, his feet sliding slightly on the ground.
A perfect landing.
"Excellent!"
Hongpeng beamed and gave him a thumbs-up.
Hector returned the gesture and bowed politely.
"Nice, Hector!"
"As expected!"
He then high-fived his faction members who had already crossed.
"...I just can't stand that guy."
Rick muttered, his face covered in dirt after his less-than-graceful landing.
"Oooooh!"
A second wave of cheers erupted from behind.
Rick and Hector turned around in surprise.
'What the...!'
Simon was flying.
Simon was soaring through the air, the soles of his feet pointing towards the sky.
Then, his body arched, his legs dropped, and he descended, scraping the ground in a backward motion.
Whoosh!
He flew past Rick and Hector and came to a stop in front of a nearby rock.
"Very well done!"
Hongpeng clapped her hands in delight.
'That bastard...'
Hector's face contorted in annoyance.
Simon bowed to Hongpeng and returned to the other students.
Rick, who had been leaning against a tree, trying to look cool, held out his hand.
Simon grinned and high-fived him.
'He's finally starting to show what he's capable of.'
'Is he a Martial Combat major?'
The students murmured, and Hector's expression darkened. His plan was falling apart.
"Now! The rest of you, jump!"
The pace picked up after that.
Unlike their initial hesitation, most of the students succeeded, with only two failing.
However, the assistants, who had been waiting discreetly by the valley, caught them, preventing them from falling into the water.
"Hmm."
Rick was writing something in his notebook. Curious, Simon asked,
"What are you doing?"
"Group project recruitment list. It starts next week, so I need to start preparing."
The notebook was filled with the names of notable Class A students, their strengths, personalities, and other details.
To Simon, Rick seemed different from the other students.
While most of them were struggling to keep up with the classes, Rick seemed preoccupied with observing others.
"So, what do you think so far?"
"Our class is generally high-level. Everyone's good, but..."
Rick closed his notebook and shrugged.
"She seems a bit lacking. I think she might drop out once the protection period ends."
Simon followed Rick's gaze.
It was the female student he had helped onto the hippo earlier, being carried up the cliff by an assistant.
"Is everyone, here? Then let's move, to the next area!"
As soon as all the students had gathered, Hongpeng started running again without a break.
The students, startled, followed her.
'Haha! What is this?'
It was different from the classroom lectures. It felt like a truly dynamic class.
After running for another 20 minutes, they emerged from the forest and reached an open hillside.
The gentle slope made it easy to pick up speed.
As everyone followed Hongpeng,
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The same scene from just a few hours ago repeated itself.
The same herd of hippos was charging up the hillside from the opposite direction.
"Uh, uh oh?"
"They're coming this way! P-Professor?!"
But Hongpeng was gone. So were the other assistants.
The students stopped in confusion, but the approaching hippos showed no sign of slowing down.
'This is dangerous!'
Simon stopped and focused. A hippo was charging straight towards him.
'The feeling of stepping on Jet Black!'
Thud!
Simon leaped into the air, and the hippos thundered past below, kicking up dust.
Several other students were also airborne, just like Simon.
'I'm falling!'
Simon shifted his weight and landed in an area with fewer hippos.
As soon as he landed, he had to roll and dodge to avoid being trampled.
"Ugh!"
Two more hippos were heading straight for him.
Simon pushed off the ground and jumped again, just in the nick of time.
'I almost died.'
The fear of death sent chills down his spine and jolted him awake.
Simon turned around, wiping his sweat.
'This can't be part of the class, can it? There'll be casualties at this rate...!'
His eyes widened.
He had expected chaos, but the situation was completely different from what he had imagined.
A female student had cast an exhaustion curse, causing the hippos to collapse in front of her, forming a wall.
A male student had dug a hole in the ground using dark magic and was lying in it.
Other students were riding on the hippos, cheering, while some had created ropes from Jet Black and climbed up trees.
Everyone was escaping the danger in their own way.
"Kyahahaha!"
Cindy Vivace was floating in the air using necromancy. Simon finally realized.
'I'm in no position to worry about others.'
His worry had been misplaced. And he had to compete with 1,000 students like these.
"You okay, Simon?"
Rick, who had climbed a tree using a Jet Black pole, jumped down.
"Don't worry too much. Those hippos are all under Professor Hongpeng's control. Some students collapsed, and the hippos avoided them."
"...Oh, is that so?"
It was common knowledge that Hongpeng possessed not only Martial Combat skills but also the power of a druid bloodline.
The assistants, descending from the sky, clapped their hands and shouted,
"Alright, alright, no time to rest! Get up!"
"The hippos will be changing direction and coming back down soon! Everyone, get up!"
The students, hearing the word "hippos," scrambled to their feet.
An assistant pointed downwards.
"The professor is already waiting below! Let's move!"
Another sprint began.
After passing through the dense trees, they reached a picturesque hillside covered in colorful flowers.
Hongpeng was waiting for them on the flat ground below, waving her hand.
"No more obstacles! Full speed ahead to the professor!"
"Wooo!"
The students cheered and ran down the flower-covered hill. Simon and Rick also ran down the slope excitedly.
The wind blowing from the opposite direction cooled their sweat.
Dandelion seeds danced in the wind, and leaves fluttered down like snowflakes.
Simon felt a strange sense of liberation as he descended the hill.
"We're here! Now, break time!"
Hongpeng shouted.
The students collapsed on the ground, and the assistants, seemingly prepared, distributed drinks.
Laughter and chatter filled the air as the tension eased.
The excited students recounted their heroic tales from earlier.
"Oh, look over there!"
"Food!"
Kizen servants arrived with a food truck. Everyone's eyes lit up.
"Originally, you were supposed to eat after class, but I contacted Kizen because I thought the students might be exhausted. Is that alright?"
"Kyaa!"
"You're the best, Professor!"
It was time for lunch.
The menu was a high-protein meal centered around meat.
Kizen's food was famously delicious, and the portions were generous.
There was even soy meat for vegetarians.
Everyone took their food and sat down on the grassy field, enjoying their meal with a view of the mountains and lake.
Simon and Rick found a spot under the shade of a tree.
The outdoor meal after the strenuous exercise tasted especially delicious.
"Man, there's no professor like her."
Rick, like the other students, seemed to have fallen under the spell of Hongpeng's class.
"Using her class time to feed the students, that's unheard of at strict Kizen."
Simon nodded in agreement, smiling.
"But it's a bit different from what I heard."
"What is?"
"I heard Professor Hongpeng is actually a very typical Kizen professor."
Rick looked confused.
"Professor Hongpeng, the nature-loving, pure-hearted one? Nah, whoever told you that is wrong. Dead wrong."
Simon blinked. Lorain had told him that herself.
Clap, clap.
Hongpeng clapped her hands, gathering the students' attention.
"Students! Finish up. We'll be leaving again in 10 minutes."
The assistants jumped up and shouted,
"Departure in 10 minutes!"
"Finish your meals and get ready!"
The assistants relayed Hongpeng's message.
The relaxed students hurriedly cleaned their trays and started to prepare.
"We're doing it again?"
"I thought we'd just rest and ride the hippos back."
The students gathered, murmuring.
Simon watched the assistants busily moving around and thought,
'I think this is where the real class begins.'
***
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