She had striking split colored hair. One side a soft, dusty pink, the other an immaculate, pure white. Falling in elegant waves down to her waist.
Her eyes were a deep, mesmerizing shade of rose pink, and her skin was flawless. She wore the Academy deep blue uniform, which hugged her athletic, perfectly proportioned frame.
She was breathtaking, standing comfortably on the same tier of beauty as Eleanor Haleborn and Lynx’s own women... okay Almost as Eleanor and her Escorts those 5 girls were another level. But she was on par with His Girls.
Lynx’s Primordial Vision flared instinctively, a translucent panel floating in his vision.
[Name: Ophelia Dragwyn
Class: Blessed
Age: 20
Affinities: Earth A-Rank
Blessings:
Gaia’s Aegis: While on natural ground, your skin’s density increases by 30% making you way tougher. When mana is low, you can control Rocks and Earth with zero mana.
HP: 35,000/35,000
MP: 40,000/40,000
STR: 27,000
AGI: 19,000
STA: 20,000
INT: 19,500
DEF: 25,000]
Lynx smiled smoothly. Ophelia Dragwyn. The name suited her perfectly.
"Ophelia Dragwyn," Lynx said, his voice smooth and welcoming. "Nice to meet you too."
Ophelia’s smooth footstep faltered slightly, her rose pink eyes widening as she almost tripped over a small ridge in the stone path.
She quickly stabilized herself, looking at Lynx in genuine shock. She was certain she had never spoken to him before, nor had she introduced herself.
Kira, Lira, and Ava looked equally stunned, glancing between Lynx and Ophelia.
"How... how do you know my name?" Ophelia asked, her voice rich and melodic.
Lynx offered her a charming, lazy smile. "You follow me on Instalite."
Ophelia blinked, her mouth opening slightly. "Wait... what?"
"You go by the handle Goddess Leah on Instalite," Lynx continued smoothly, taking a half step closer to her.
The passive, overwhelming charm radiating from his body washed over Ophelia like a warm wave, making her heart skip an involuntary beat.
"When a girl as breathtaking as you follows my account, I tend to do a little research. A face like yours isn’t easy to forget."
Ophelia’s cheeks flushed a bright, soft pink. She raised a hand to tuck a strand of her pink and white hair behind her ear, completely flustered by his effortless confidence.
"If... if you knew who I was, why didn’t you ever follow me back?"
"I did follow you back although very recently," Lynx replied instantly, his voice dripping with smooth charm. "I just don’t use my account to post or do whatever you’re supposed to do with an Instalite account."
Ophelia tilted her head, trying to recover her composure. "Then what do you even use your account for?"
Lynx glanced down at Ava, Kira, and Lira, his smile softening. "I use it to message my women. They are the most important people in my life. That, and watching reels any reel I find interesting especially normal Humans Reel."
The moment the words left Lynx’s mouth, Ava, Kira, and Lira felt a surge of heat rush straight to their faces.
Their hearts fluttered wildly as a bright, radiant pride bloomed in their chests. Being openly acknowledged as his women in front of a Year 3 beauty made their souls swell with affection.
Lynx gestured toward his girls, introducing them smoothly. What a gentleman he was. "This is Ava, Kira, and Lira. And this is Ophelia."
Ophelia offered a polite, warm smile, extending her hand. "It’s a pleasure to meet you all."
"Your hair is so pretty!" Lira squeaked softly, happily taking Ophelia’s hand and admiring the unique pink and white split.
Ava shook her hand with a confident smile, joining the conversation easily, while Kira offered a polite nod, observing the Year 3 student with sharp, curious eyes.
"I know you’re a Year 3 Earth affinity student, by the way," Lynx added casually as they resumed walking toward the camp.
Ophelia let out a soft, beautiful laugh, her rose pink eyes sparkling. "Let me guess... Instalite?"
"Instalite," Lynx confirmed with a grin, causing the whole group to laugh together, chatting like old friends who had known each other for years.
Behind them, several male students from the upper years watched Lynx walking effortlessly flanked by four stunning women.
Hushed, envious mutters broke out among the ranks. "Look at that guy... how does he do it?" one Year 3 grumbled.
"He’s literally casually flirting with Ophelia Dragwyn while his own girls hold his arms... lucky bastard."
Further back, Eleanor Haleborn walked silently. Her purple eyes constantly drifted forward, locking onto Lynx’s tall, firm posture.
She watched his charming laugh, the effortless grace in his movement, and the hypnotic glow of his heterochromatic eyes.
Eleanor felt a strange, delicate flutter in her chest. She had spent the previous evening watching his clips on Instalite, unable to pull her gaze away.
Looking at him now, standing untouched at the pinnacle of strength and charm, she realized with quiet certainty that her heart was slowly slipping out of her control.
Within ten minutes, the group arrived at the Camp near the Academy Forest.
The camp was set up on a clearing right before the towering trees of the forest boundary.
Simple wooden supply huts, heavy canvas tents, crates of basic rations, thin blankets, and racks of standard health and mana potions were arranged in orderly rows.
This was not a luxury retreat, it was a rugged staging ground for war.
Standing near the center of the camp were Professor Rose, Professor Henry, and a third instructor. Professor Dominic, a stern Year 4 Professor with sharp eyes and an immaculate brown clothes... almost like a suit?.
As Lynx walked into the open space, his eyes met Professor Rose’s crimson gaze. For two seconds, an unspoken electric current passed between them.
Lynx offered her a faint, knowing smirk, remembering the intense, explosive hours encounter they had shared the previous morning.
Rose’s eyes flicked away sharply, a microscopic flicker of heat passing over her face before she restored her stoic, terrifying expression.
Lynx hummed internally, sensing a subtle wave of possessive jealousy radiating from her aura as she saw him surrounded by girls.
He resolved to thoroughly handle her later tonight once the camp settled down.
Rose stepped onto a raised wooden platform, her voice booming across the camp. "Listen up! You will be stationed at this camp for exactly one week.
Your sole objective is to enter the Restricted Area, hunt beasts, and cultivate raw combat edge. This is not a picnic. You will sleep on this place, eat basic rations and healing potions, and bleed against monsters."
In the back ranks, Julian Frostborne listened with a dark, satisfied grin. Everything was falling perfectly into place, exactly as Kol had predicted.
Professor Dominic stepped forward, holding a heavy metallic chest. Inside were fifty dark silver ring artifacts.
Dominic moved through the ranks, handing one ring to each student.
"These rings will remain on your fingers at all times," Rose explained, holding up her hand.
"They are linked to a master tracking array. They monitor your location, your vital signs, and the exact number of beast slayings you accumulate."
Rose pulled out a small, rectangular remote artifact and pressed the central rune.
A massive, semi translucent magical screen materialized in the air above the platform, visible to every student in the camp.
Runic text flashed across the display, rapidly sorting the fifty names into ten distinct teams of five.
"You have been assigned to five man squads," Rose announced. "I have personally balanced these teams. Lower-year students have been paired with upper-year elites to ensure survival and maximize field experience."
Lynx looked up at the screen.
Team 1: Eleanor Haleborn, Nadia Goldspire, Layla Solara, Iris Nightglow, Rhea Dawnwhisper.
Team 2: Julian Frostborne, Mars Richardson, Kol Mikel, James Shantel, Peter Musk.
Team 3: Lynx Azarion, Ava Musk, Kira, Lira, Ophelia Dragwyn.
Lynx smiled. The team composition couldn’t have been better. He had his girls, plus Ophelia to round out their elemental coverage.
Beside him, Ophelia looked at the screen and smiled warmly at Ava and Lira, pleased with her assignment.
Professor Dominic stepped around the platform, handing out two small glass vials filled with shimmering red and blue liquids to each student.
"Two standardized restoration potions per person. One for health, one for mana. Use them wisely. You will not receive extra supplies until tomorrow morning. Except you have the time to absorb the mana from air... which you don’t have."
Rose pressed another rune on her remote artifact. The team list on the floating screen vanished, replaced by fifty distinct, real time visual feeds representing the point of view of every individual ring artifact.
A large glowing timer appeared in the top right corner, reading: 02:00 PM.
"It is currently two o’clock," Rose said, her voice dropping into a hard, unyielding tone.
"You will now cross the boundary into the Restricted Area immediately. You will hunt continuously until five o’clock. The moment your ring vibrates three times, you are to disengage and return to this camp instantly. Anyone who remains in the forest past five o’clock will face severe disciplinary action or be eaten by level 6 beasts."
A Year 1 student raised his hand anxiously. "Professor! What if a team wanders throughout but fails to locate any beasts?"
Rose looked down at the student with a cold sneer. "That will not be an issue. The Restricted Area is densely populated with Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5 beasts. The moment you step past the inner boundary, they will smell your mana and hunt you down.
If you encounter Level 4 or Level 5 beasts, do not attempt to fight them individually. Fight as a coordinated team, or you will die. These monsters are far stronger than the training dummies in the academy halls."
Several Year 1 and Some Year 3 students gulped nervously, clutching their potion vials tightly.
"The rules are absolute," Rose finalized, sweeping her fiery gaze over the crowd. "Hunt as a team. Do not abandon your comrades. Use your potions when wounded. Survive."
Rose, Henry, and Dominic turned and walked toward the edge of the camp, where a massive, shimmering translucent barrier separated the safe zone from the towering dark trees of the Academy Forest.
Rose raised her hand, tracing three glowing runic lines into the air. The barrier rippled, creating a wide, open archway leading directly into the woods.
"Move out," Rose ordered.
The fifty students began filing through the archway in their assigned teams.
Julian Frostborne and Peter Musk passed Lynx, shooting him one last cold, lingering glare before disappearing into the dense foliage.
Lynx turned to his team, his heterochromatic eyes shining with calm confidence. "Everyone ready?"
"Ready!" Kira cheered, a eager grin breaking across her face.
Ophelia let out a soft laugh, adjusting her posture. "Lynx, I’m a Year 3 student and the top student in my class. You should be worrying about your lower year girls, not me."
Lynx chuckled, shaking his head. "Let’s just go."
As they stepped toward the shimmering archway, a nervous Year 1 student walking nearby grumbled under his breath, "I’m supposed to be sitting in a nice warm classroom receiving lectures right now... instead I’m walking into a monster forest."
Lynx and his group stepped through the barrier, leaving the camp behind.
On the wooden platform, Professor Rose, Professor Henry, and Professor Dominic stood before the massive hanging screen.
The fifty live camera feeds were now active, showing fifty individual perspectives as the students fanned out into the shadowed, dangerous depths of the Academy Forest.
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