Monster Paradise

It was a Wednesday on 5th January. The sky was blue while the sun was shining brightly. It was a good day. More than 3,000 Year 1 students queued according to their classes on the Martial Hunter College field, including Lin Huang and the other teachers. It was the last battle drill for the Year 1 students in the semester where the results would be taken into consideration for their final exam. It was important that the teachers and the students took it seriously. Everyone was present.

It was the first time the Year 1 students saw how the dean, Liu Ming, looked like. Since he had leveled up to imperial-level, Liu Ming had lost weight. Lin Huang had contributed to that as well since the both of them were training every night for at least five hours a session. It was impossible for Liu Ming not to lose weight when he was working out every day. His features were sharper now. Although he was short, his position gave him a magnificent vibe. If Lin Huang did not know him, he might have been scared of Liu Ming.

That intimidation worked on the students on the field. As the news of Liu Ming leveling up to imperial-level spread in the college, the students looked at him with awe and respect. There was complete silence when he appeared; none of the students spoke. He then started giving his speech. As it was his first time speaking since the semester started as well as his last time speaking during his tenure in the college, he made it a long one.

Lin Huang poked the gloomy Qin Tianxing next to him with his elbow.

”Old Qin, how’s your preparation with the students for this assessment? Are you confident in winning Class 1?”

”It’s alright, I guess, but it’s difficult to surpass Class 1.” Qin Tianxing smiled awkwardly as he shook his head. He had lost his usual confidence and determination.

”Have you been going too easy on yourself these days? Why have you been so mopey recently and not sitting in my class?” Lin Huang jested and pretended that he did not know about his crush on Hong Zhuang.

”You’re the one who’s going too easy on yourself!” Qin Tianxing glared at him and gave an excuse. ”Maybe I’ve been busy recently…”

”That’s a shame. Let’s get a drink tonight. Tell your bro all about it!” Lin Huang could not take Qin Tianxing being in the doldrums anymore.

”Okay then,” Qin Tianxing agreed after some hesitation.

The both of them drew lots but they were not selected as the guardians of the battle drill this time. The battle drill would take place from Tuesday to Friday, so those would be their rest days for the next couple of days. After Liu Ming finished his speech, the other two Vice Presidents went up to give their speeches. Before the battle drill officially started after that, Lin Huang and the other teachers spoke to the students one last time.

Lin Huang then walked to the students of Sword Dao Class 2. The students were upset because they had heard he would not be teaching anymore after the semester ended.

”Sir Lin, are you really not teaching us next semester?” Zhou Ling had tears pooling in her eyes.

She had complained about him for a couple of weeks when the semester started and had even talked badly about him behind his back. However, her attitude changed after going through classes. With Lin Huang’s guide, it was obvious that the Class 2 students had improved by leaps and bounds. Zhou Ling was not the only one. The other students did not want Lin Huang to leave either.

Lin Huang nodded and did not bother hiding the truth.

”We’ll meet again. I’ll leave Division 7 after this and won’t be teaching you guys anymore.

Hearing that he was going to leave Division 7, all of them fell silent as that confirmed that he would definitely leave the college.

”Don’t think too much. Focus on your assessment. We have one last class next week. I’ll teach you guys a new sword skill. It’s a simplified gold-level combat skill!” All the students’ eyes lit up when they heard Lin Huang’s promise.

The students had learned four sword skills this semester as Lin Huang would teach a new one every month. That would add up to be five sword skills if he taught another one next week. Meanwhile, most of the students from other classes had only learned two sword skills while another two or three classes had picked up three sword skills. A gold-level combat skill would mean that the sword skill could be used all the way until they got to gold-level. The college usually only taught bronze-level skills while some of them would teach up to silver-level skills. There had never been a teacher who taught gold-level skill, let alone a simplified one.

The students were all pumped by this news. Lin Huang then gave the students some reminders before seeing them off to the dimensional relic. The battle drill took place at a grade-2 wild zone, the Dry Desert, this time. As the semester had passed, all of the new students were now on iron-level. They were vastly different from who they were months ago, so it made sense for the battle drill to be more difficult this time.

As the Dry Desert was a grade-2 wild zone, there were bronze-level monsters there. The threat was much more prominent than the first two assessments that had taken place in a grade-1 wild zone. Moreover, this wild zone had limited water source. The assessment was extra challenging because the students were prohibited from bringing any food or water during the three days in the wild zone. Lin Huang and Qin Tianxing were laughing as they watched the excitement on the students’ faces from the video projection.

”These kids think that they’re on vacation,” Qin Tianxing chuckled.

”I’m sure somebody’s going to cry soon,” Lin Huang laughed and nodded.

The Dry Desert looked beautiful as the humidity in the air was low. The dehydration rate would speed up with time, and perhaps the students would be thirsty in less than two hours. Some of the students realized that and looked for a water source the moment they arrived there while most of the students were taking selfies with the beautiful scenery.

As Lin Huang expected, many of them started feeling thirsty after one to two hours. They realized that the assessment was not as simple as they had thought. In reality, everyone, including the teachers had no idea that it was Lin Huang who had suggested the venue to Liu Ming. He wanted to leave the students with an important lesson before he departed the college. Liu Ming agreed to his suggestion right away, not because of Lin Huang’s position, but because he wanted the students to remember the battle drill as well. As expected, many students were crying even before the first day of assessment ended.

”I’m so thirsty! I need water…”

Meanwhile, Lin Huang who was the culprit of the students’ suffering was merrily drinking with Qin Tianxing.