Parallel Memory

[ "I use the bow as a weapon. I will be supporting from the rear."]

Daniel Smith said.

[ "Mine is rapier. I can tackle many rank F monster easily." ]

[ "Mine is a sword. I have powerful slash attacks which can even kill rank E monsters if they are caught off guard." ]

[ "I use Magic Wand. Well, I can use my Ice Magic to freeze monster surrounding us and also guard against their attack using Ice Wall."]

[ "Humph. My fist is my weapon. Don't get in my way or you will regret it." ]

Well looking at the giant body which seems like a wall, fist suits Kale Thompson. He has full body armor and with his fist technique, he is perfect for being a tank.

The five of us walked through the forest. The formation was perfect. There were one tank and two attackers at the front, one long-range attacker, and one support at the rear.

[ "Which path should we take." ]

Isabel asked us.

[ "Kale, what do you think" ]

Daniel Smith asked Kale as he is our leader for now. Though Daniel should be the one to choose the way as bow users usually have good eyes or skill that allows them to see clearly in long distance.

[ "Let's walk straight through the forest. We will encounter monsters as long as we are in the forest."]

A simple and straightforward strategy but I also like it. What's the use of thinking where we will go as this is the first time we are exploring this place. If we know the place beforehand then we could go to places where monsters are likely to appear but since it is the first time for everyone, this strategy was best.

[ "Let's move deeper in the forest." ]

With that, our team walked deeper into the forest. The forest was dark even when there should be sunlight outside. It was due to the tree being bigger than normal. The tree found in this area were all 10 meters in height.

After ten minutes of walking in the forest…

We finally encountered a monster.

[ "In front, A monster detected. It seems to be alone." ]

Daniel said.

Flashing its bloodthirsty eyes and showing its savage teeth was a monster known as Lone Wolf. It was a rank E monster who likes to hunt alone. The monster's specialty was its speed which can match the speed of a rank D human.

[ "Lone Wolf!" ]

[ "Get ready for battle." ]

I took out my Magic Wand. A Lone Wolf should be easy to kill by five students at rank F+ and we have me as rank E - which should be more than enough to take care of Lone Wolf. The team members moved forward with their senses heightened.

[ "Humph. It should be easy." ]

Kale jumped and attack the Lone Wolf.

[ "Explosive Fist" ]

-Swoosh!

The Lone Wolf quickly dodged the attack.

Immediately afterward, two girls attack the Lone Wolf.

[ "Quick Thrust" ]

[ "Flame Burst" ]

They both attack consecutively but to no avail. Lone Wolf was too fast for them, it easily dodge their attack.

[ "Grrrr"]

The Lone Wolf started to attack us. The Lone Wolf ignored those three at the front and was coming to attack Daniel.

( He must be trying to reduce the number by eliminating the weakest one first.)

It took only a few seconds for Lone wolf to reach his target. The Lone Wolf raised its paw and was about to attack when...

[ "Ground Freeze" ]

[ "What"]

Before Daniel could react, I launched my attack. The attack couldn't take Lone Wolf live but with its mobility gone, it was but a sitting duck.

My Attack Ground Freeze could freeze any enemy who is in the attack range. The Lone Wolf was no exception. He froze in his attacking position.

After a few seconds of astonishment, the team members came back to their senses. They attack and killed the immobile Lone Wolf easily.

The body of the Lone Wolf was stored in the storage bag given by the Academy. Though not very rare but the price of the storage bag was in tens of thousands of Ethan coins. To acquires, hundreds of such bags show that the Ace academy's financial power is very strong.

This Lone Wolf will give us 5 points and we could even sell the Lone Wolf body to the school for money or school credit. School credit is like money which is valid in the Ace Academy, we could exchange it for skill, Art, and other things available in the school. Unfortunately, Lone Wolf didn't have a monster core, if not the price would be very high.

[ "Wow! With your help, we have easily taken down a Lone Wolf. You could even freeze rank E monster easily." ]

[ "I never thought you could freeze rank E monster. " ]

Isabel and Lizbeth were both surprised to find such a strong freezing spell. The only high-level skill could freeze rank E monster given their defense.

I was able to freeze the Lone Wolf because it has a very weak defense compared to other Rank E monsters and also because I am Rank E-.

[ "Humph. Looks like you are not entirely useless. Let's Go"]

We continued to walk into the forest. We encountered a pack of White Wolf. They were only Rank F monsters but with 10 in number, even Rank E humans might face difficulties in killing them.

Though it was no problem for us at all. Firstly, Kale attracted their attention by attacking their heads on and taunting them. Then, I used my attack Ground Freeze to freeze all the monsters. It was just killing them after that.

After two hours of hunting in the forest, We encountered one more Lone Wolf and three-pack of White Wolf each consisting of 12 to 14 White Wolf. It was very easy to deal with them after we have grown accustomed to them.

( I had underestimated the power of Ground Freeze. Though only in Practitioner proficiency but Cryomancy Art is truly powerful. I just had to attack while the enemy was distracted and I could freeze the enemy. )

[ "Haha, With this many points we could honestly be placed in Top 10. With Zero support we could face any number of monsters we encounter." ]

Daniel exclaimed happily. Seems like he had changed his opinion of me. Well at first he was surprised by my skill but as I continued showing my skill, he came to regard me as a powerful teammate.

[ "Well. I need to thank you, Zero. We could earn this many points due to your skill. I may even Rank 200 in student ranking after the test." ]

Lizbeth said to me.

( Top 200! )

After the test, the points will be added and student ranking will be modified. With my current point, I think could reach Rank 700.

[ "I am also grateful to you. I feel like I riding on your coattail. ~Hehe " ]

[ "Humph. Well, you did a good job for a weakling." ]

( Can't you Thank me without insulting me.)

But for you to show appreciation. Looks like you are not that bad at all. Only if you could speak politely.

Kale Thompson was more useful than I expected. He could defend against all the monsters we encounter and even the attack of Rank E monster. He would surround himself with monsters while I freeze all the monsters surrounding him. Honestly, our teamwork was perfect.

Kale would cooperate with us when needed and also listen to our warning well. He was a talented person but his only shortcoming is his insolent mouth.

*****

Only one hour was left. So we decided to return. We were all excited to see our result.

After 40 minutes of walking, we encounter no monster. Just when we thought we were safe...

[ "An Attack!"]

Daniel shouted.

[ "What?" ]

The attack was aimed at Kale. We were shocked, not to find the attack but to find that the attackers were human. They shot an arrow towards Kale.

He quickly dodges the arrow but then...

[ "Fire Bomb" ]

The attacker immediately fired his spell. We had no time to dodge. The range of his attack was too large for us to dodge.

[ "Ice Wall" ]

I immediately use my skill to block his attack.

-Boom!

Though my Ice Wall manage to block the attack, my Ice Wall was blasted to pieces. I shudder thinking that if I didn't block that attack then it would have been us that was in pieces.

[ "HOW?" ]

The attacker shouted angrily.

[ "Who is that? Why are they attacking us?" ]

Daniel asked while trembling.

I looked in the attacker's direction, only to see two men wearing black robes but one had a Silver badge. My eye twitched as I recognize the badge.

( WHY? WHY THE HELL ARE YOU HERE! )