Arthur darted through the forest towards the gathering place and reached there in less than a minute. It didn’t take long for the sounds of talking to reach him.

As he slowed and emerged into a wide clearing, he saw them.

At least fifty students were gathered around a clearing in the forest floor, standing in clusters near the edge of a dense thicket. Most of them were armed and ready, and they were discussing something with their respective teams, all wearing the same look of curiosity and cautious anticipation. But there was an unmistakable tension between the teams present there.

Arthur took a step forward and approached one of the teams.

Heads turned immediately towards his direction and the students started to discuss about him.

“Which team is he from?”

“Who just walks in like that solo?”

One boy stepped forward from the team he was approaching, his posture rigid as he asked with a sharp voice. “Hey! What are you doing here?”

Arthur blinked in confusion, a little thrown by the hostility in the boy’s tone. “Why?” he asked calmly. “Is this place restricted or something?”

The boy scowled but didn’t answer.

Before the tension could thicken, a girl’s voice cut in. “Excuse him,” she said, stepping past the boy with a polite smile. “Please don’t mind him. But may I ask… why aren’t you with your team?”

She had sleek, coppery-brown hair tied back into a ponytail, intelligent green eyes, and the kind of easy confidence that came from leading others. Her uniform bore an insignia of some magic academy that Arthur couldn’t recognize.

Arthur met her gaze evenly. “We split up to cover more ground,” he replied. “It’s faster to accumulate points that way.”

A flicker of surprise crossed her face, but then her lips curled into a small smile. She thought either this man was stupid or strong enough to hunt solo in the forest. But she decided to gamble a bit and invite Arthur to her group.

She extended a hand. “Vivian Lyselle. I’m the leader of this group.”

Arthur shook her hand. “Arthur.”

“We’re preparing to take down a C-Rank beast,” she said with a bit of seriousness in her tone. “It’s guarding a grove of fruits. And by how the beast is protecting the area, it appears the fruits are valuable.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow. “A C-Rank beast? That’s pushing the upper limit of this section’s restriction.”

“It is,” Vivian nodded. “But it’s bound to a certain area. Most likely it is a confinement array, it stops the beast from leaving the grove, but it attacks anyone who enters its circle. So far, no one’s dared a direct approach.” She paused for a moment and said, “Would you like to join our group in this hunt.”

As she spoke, the boy from before, the same one who had questioned Arthur, stepped forward again, frowning. “But Vivian, we don’t know his…”

She raised a hand without looking at him, and he stopped talking.

Vivian turned back to Arthur. “We can’t promise you the beast’s points. Whichever team lands the final blow gets the points. But…” she tilted her head, “if you manage to grab a few of the fruits, they are yours.”

Arthur considered it for a moment. “Deal.” He also wanted to see what kind of fruit it was, that it had to be guarded by a C-Rank beast.

Vivian gestured for him to follow, and as they walked, she filled him in. “There are five teams working together. We’re coordinating an assault, the beast is strong enough that a single team wouldn’t stand a chance, so we’re pooling resources.”

“And you trust them not to stab you in the back?” Arthur asked with a raised brow.

Vivian smirked. “I trust the fact that none of them have the courage to do so.”

Arthur looked at her weirdly, he didn’t know what she was thinking. Maybe she has some kind of important identity that nobody here wants to offend her.

When they reached the main staging group, another figure stepped forward to intercept them, a tall boy with spiky blond hair and a sword sheathed at his hip. He squinted at Arthur with mild suspicion. “Who’s he?”

Vivian didn’t miss a beat. “A friend. He’ll be joining us.”

The person, apparently one of the other team’s leaders, opened his mouth, clearly ready to object.

Vivian smiled sweetly. “It wouldn’t be a problem, right, Jonathan?”

The boy faltered mid-sentence, cleared his throat, and muttered, “Ahem… Of course. He’s just one person, it doesn’t matter.”

Arthur raised an eyebrow at the awkward pause.

A few nearby students exchanged glances. One of the other team leaders whispered under his breath, “Simp.”

Vivian didn’t react. She simply turned to Arthur and gestured ahead. “Come on. I’ll show you what we’re up against.”

They stepped through a narrow game trail, thick with overgrown roots and patches of soft moss. The atmosphere of the group grew tense the deeper they went. 

The clearing opened suddenly as they reached their destination, and Arthur stopped dead in his tracks.

There, resting in the middle of a stone grove surrounded by five gnarled trees with purple fruits hanging from them, was a Cerberus like creature.

Its body was thick and muscular, covered in dark black fur, and its paws were the size of human torsos. Most terrifying of all were its three heads, each snarling and baring sharp, glistening fangs.

The left head had scars crisscrossing its snout and one milky eye. The center head was the largest, its crimson eyes looking at them with intelligence. 

Around the grove was a golden barrier, clearly designed to keep the beast in.

It stood slowly, all three heads lifting in sync, as it saw a group approach it.

Arthur could feel the pressure it was exuding from here, the beast was definitely strong for an early C-Rank. He was not sure if these students would be able to take on the creature, but maybe they could overwhelm it with quantity, and he was also there.

He looked toward Vivian. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Nope.” She pointed to the trees. “And that’s what it’s guarding. The fruits are radiating dense mana, I have no idea what fruits they are but they are definitely precious.”

“I am not sure if you guys can take it down without anyone dying.”

Vivian replied with a serious tone. “Maybe so, but we cannot miss the opportunity to acquire so many points and the fruits.”

Arthur did not question her judgement, his eyes narrowed as he turned towards the Cerberus.

…

Arthur stood with his arms crossed as the gathered students began organizing themselves, and nervous energy filled the air. Fifty students had now been split into two groups, the fighters and the gatherers.

Vivian addressed the two groups. “Once we engage, there’s no turning back. Our goal is simple; distract the Cerberus long enough for the gatherers to get the fruits. After that, we’ll all converge and try to bring it down.”

She turned to Arthur and the other twenty students designated for fruit gathering.

“There are five trees,” she explained, “and we’ll assign four from each team. The twenty of you, and Arthur will pluck the fruits as fast as you can. And once the job is done, move in and help the others to take down the cerberus.”

Arthur nodded, keeping his expression neutral. “Understood.”

The students gave short nods, their eyes flickering with nervous determination.

This plan was made to make sure that even if they are unable to subdue or kill the beast, they can at least gain something valuable, and would not have to fight in vain.

Then they all started to move.

..

The fighters, strongest of the 2nd Circle mages and ten students at the 3rd Circle, took the front line. They approached the Cerberus’ grove with caution, fanning out into a wide arc just beyond the barrier.

Then just as they entered the inside the barrier, they started to chant spells.

“Ignis… Orbis… Fractura!”

“Tempestae…Fulga!”

“Frostbind!”

Light from the spells lit up the grove.

A barrage of elements rained down, fireballs, wind blades, ice spears, and even a lightning cage descended upon the Cerberus like judgment from the heavens.

BOOM…CRACK…BOOM!

The ground trembled with the force of their combined magic.

The Cerberus let out a roar that shook the leaves from nearby trees. The beast wanted to move away, but just behind it there were the trees, so it tanked all the spells. 

When the dust settled, all of them saw the beast bleeding from several small gashes across its body.

All three of its heads glared at the group with murderous fury.

It gave a thunderous roar and lunged at the group.

With its fangs bared, it exploded forward with terrifying speed, barreling into the fighters. They scattered in all directions, just as planned, each unleashing a fresh volley of spells to keep the beast distracted.

…

Amidst the sound of blasting spells and thunderous roars, Arthur and the twenty students moved closer towards the trees.

Slipping past the outer region with the cover of the shrubs and trees, they reached the grove undetected. The Cerberus, preoccupied with dozens of students hurling spells at it from all directions, hadn’t noticed them yet.

“Move quickly, but quietly,” One of the students whispered to the others.

They nodded, boots brushing softly against the ground as they made their way toward the trees. 

The five fruit-bearing trees stood tall and crooked, their bark twisted and gnarled. Thick branches jutted out from the trunk holding small purple fruits, the size of avocados. 

Arthur leapt onto the nearest tree, his hands gripping bark that felt slightly cold to the touch.

Above him, other students were already climbing. They worked quickly, plucking the fruits and tucking them into spatial bags or rings.

Arthur reached a low-hanging branch and plucked one fruit. It was cool and heavy in his palm, but had a velvety texture, with dense mana radiating off of it.

He wanted to try and taste one but thought it was not the right time, and slipped it into his dimensional storage and got back to work.

Meanwhile, the sounds of battle roared in the background. They heard explosions, and growling of the beast, unmistakably due to the ongoing clash.

Arthur plucked fruit after fruit, moving from one branch to the next. From his peripheral vision, he could see others scrambling to do the same.

A few moments later Arthur leapt to another tree, and looked back at his group.

“Almost done,” one student whispered.

After grabbing a few more fruits, Arthur climbed down the tree. The cerberus was still going berserk. One head spewed fire now, roaring as spells continued to slam against its body. The fighters were struggling, he even saw a few already panting from exhaustion, but they were holding the formation.

He and the other students finally finished collecting all the fruits, and it was time for them to support the others in taking down the beast.

***

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