NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11: All elite class 2
She turned to address all the students again, coughing slightly while looking at Mr Vain momentarily, her tone was crisp and professional. "Safety briefing," she said yet again, silencing the murmurs. "This isn't a game. You will encounter Category 1 beasts and potentially stray Category 2s. You are to terminate operation and rendezvous at the extraction point in the event of anything higher. Is that clear?"
Vane, unable to resist, added, "I'm confident my students will rise to the challenge should a Category 2 appear. They've been well-prepared for such… inconveniences." His eyes flicked to Miss Brooks, his smirk a deliberate provocation.
Miss Brooks didn't bite, but Rourke couldn't help but chuckle. "Relax, Vane. Not all of us are trying to win Teacher of the Year."
The tension in the air was thick, but Noah found himself more intrigued than nervous.
'Three teachers, three philosophies. Brooks is all about precision. Vane's obsessed with excellence. And Rourke? He just wants to see who makes it out alive. Together, they're like some weird power trio. I just hope this doesn't turn into a battle of egos before we even get off the ground.'
As the teachers finished their briefing, the engines of the craft began to hum to life. Noah stole a glance at the other classes.
Class 1-C, the so-called misfits, was a chaotic tangle of individuals who somehow managed to function as a unit. They laughed, shoved, and argued, but there was something raw about their energy.
'They're unpredictable,' Noah thought, narrowing his eyes. 'And unpredictability is dangerous. Rourke's teaching them to use that chaos. I'll need to keep an eye on them.'
Class 1-A, on the other hand, moved like a machine—disciplined, precise, and efficient.
'All polish and no cracks,' Noah noted. 'But cracks are where you find weaknesses. I wonder if they're as perfect as Vane wants us to believe.'
As for his own class, he couldn't help but notice how everyone had paired up, their strengths and weaknesses balancing each other out.
'Everyone's got a role to play,' Noah thought, clenching his fists. 'And if we're going to survive this, we need to be ready for anything.'
The ramp of the craft lowered, and Miss Brooks gestured for them to board. "This is your last chance for questions," she said.
Noah glanced at his teammates, their faces a mix of anxiety and eagerness. Just like him, not everyone had been on board a ship like this before.He took a deep breath, stepping forward with the others. 'No questions here. Let's see what we're made of.'
The trip was mostly quiet, with everyone left to their own thoughts. For Noah, that meant overthinking—his mental default. He stared at the floor of the craft, absently tracing the grooves of its metal panels with his eyes.
'Perfect Echo,' he thought with a bitter edge of sarcasm. 'Because mimicking someone's movements is so helpful when you're hunting beasts.'
He glanced at his teammates. Kelvin was slouched against the wall, head tilted back in a deep, unbothered sleep. Cora leaned forward with her arms crossed, her brow furrowed in thought. Lila sat upright, humming softly to herself, looking unreasonably cheerful for someone about to face potential death.
'Maybe they won't be too judgmental?' Noah wondered, hoping his lack of impressive abilities wouldn't make him the group scapegoat. He clenched his fists and decided to shove the worry aside for now. They had bigger things to deal with.
Suddenly, a loud whistle blared through the cabin, jolting everyone. The craft gave a slight shudder as it began to descend. Noah felt the floor vibrate beneath his boots and gripped his seat.
"We're landing," Miss Brooks announced over the comm.
The craft touched down with a mechanical hiss, and the rear hatch creaked open, revealing their destination.
Noah and the others hesitated at first, blinking as they stepped out into the light. The landing area sprawled out before them like something torn straight from a surreal painting. The trees towered above them, their trunks thicker than any they'd ever seen, with bark that shimmered faintly as if embedded with fragments of crystal. Their leaves were broad and iridescent, catching the sunlight in strange ways, casting colorful shadows across the forest floor.
The air smelled faintly metallic, mingled with a damp, earthy tang. The ground beneath their feet was soft, blanketed by a thick carpet of moss that glowed faintly green. The entire landscape felt alien, a stark departure from anything they'd learned about the Earth before the Seed.
In the distance, strange flowers bloomed in clusters, their petals pulsing faintly like a heartbeat. A low hum buzzed faintly in the background, almost as if the forest itself was alive and breathing.
For a brief moment, Noah stood frozen, taking it all in.
'This isn't Earth,' he thought, swallowing hard. 'Not the Earth we were taught about. It's something else entirely.'
A soft chime snapped everyone's attention back to their wrist devices. The holographic displays projected a countdown:
24:00:00
"What?!" Cora exclaimed, her voice cutting through the silence.
"Twenty-four hours?!" someone else echoed in disbelief.
The reality sank in quickly. The hunt was a whole day!
Teams scattered, their boots crunching against the moss as they dashed toward the forest, eager to claim their kills.
Cora nudged Noah, her tone urgent. "Let's move. Standing here gawking isn't going to help us."
Kelvin yawned, stretching as he jogged alongside them. "Relax. It's just the start. The beasts probably aren't even close to this area yet."
Lila, still oddly cheerful, skipped ahead. "I hope we find something cool! Like a glowing snake or a crystal fox."
Noah trailed behind, his gaze darting between the shimmering trees and the disappearing teams.
'Cool or not, we just need to survive,' he thought grimly, steeling himself as their group plunged into the forest.