"This is just crazy." A brown-haired boy says while scratching his hair. "Not only are we in a crazy situation, but we had to be paired with the first-floor dweller defect."
Next to the brown-haired kid were two other kids. One of the kids was a young girl with dark pink hair and emerald green eyes. She was of average height for girls her age, and her hair was a little below her shoulders. To the left side of her face, she had a braid
"Will you stop talking, Elliot? Even if he used to be a first-floor dweller, he still ended up with the second-highest score at the entrance exam." The pink-haired girl says. "From what I remember, you weren't even in the top 100."
Elliot blushed in embarrassment
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?!?!?" He yells in anger and embarrassment
"Will you shut up?" The other girl says with a bit of anger. "Do you not realize where we are? Your yelling could get us all killed."
Elliot flinches from fear
"What's your problem?" Elliot says nervously
The girl was a little shorter than the pink-haired girl. She had pure white hair and ruby red eyes. Her hair was long and reached her waist; however, there were unkept and messy. To the side, just like the pink-haired girl, a braid
"Calm down, Lily." The pink-haired girl says while looking at Lily
"Open your mouth to yell again, and I'll beat you up." Lily says with anger to Elliot
Elliot gulps loudly
"Waaah! I heard the rumors, but I thought they weren't true. This girl is completely crazy!" Elliot thought nervously
"What are we going to do now, Alya?" Lily asks the pink-haired girl
Alya looks in front of them. There was a fourth person who was looking forward
"The first thing we should do is decide on someone to lead this team." Alya says while looking at the other kid. "What do you think?"
Adam turns around and looks at the other kids
[...]
A little earlier, back at the Academy
"Land Recovery? Isn't that what the Black Lion Order does?" A student says
"DOES THAT MEAN THAT WE ARE GOING OUTSIDE OF THE TOWER AGAIN!?" Another yell
The teacher stood in silence
"As expected, most of them still haven't mentally recovered from the event that transpired during the entrance exam." The headmaster thought
"You all are children of Leo." The headmaster suddenly continues. "Which means that every single one of you must grow up to become powerful Lions. No matter what it takes."
The panic that had spread amongst the children had now disappeared. It was only a few and simple words, but they carried an incredible meaning to the kids
"Each school year carries a total of 3 big Exams." The headmaster continues. "The entrance exam is the first, and it's used to filter the students based on three points. Adaptability to sudden situation changes, combat prowess, and it also allows us to see whether one can come face to face with a Djinn. Based on those three points and the number of points gathered, we can see who actually has the capability to become a Leo Knight. All of you are currently present because you all have passed, and you all possess the potential to do so. To become a Leo Knight."
The kids suddenly start whispering to each other with excitement. It was a natural reaction since Leo Knights and Lion Knights were different. The two are fundamentally the same. They are both tasked with the duties assigned to the order they join, but Leo Knights, unlike Lion Knights, are those blessed by the god of the tower, Leo. Receiving the blessing of Leo doesn't give you any extra abilities, but it allows you to challenge the current king and possibly become the next king of the tower. Making it possible for even a commoner to become king
"Settle down." Theo says to the kids
After they calm down, the headmaster continues
"The second exam of the Leo Academy is the Land Recovery." The headmaster continues. "It's the second exam conducted outside of the tower during the school year and also the last one."
*BOOOM*
A large dust of dust is lifted when something lands on the 1-S class reserved space
"You're late, Ryoma." The headmaster says
The dust clears up and reveals Ryoma and Adam
"Sorry, we lost track of time during our training." Ryoma says nonchalantly with a cigarette in his mouth
Adam was standing next to Ryoma. During the last six months, he hadn't physically changed that much. His muscles were a little more defined, a testament to his effort and training, but except for that, he looked the same. The only real difference from what he usually looks like was the katana at his waist. The handle was red and black, the hilt was, and the sheath was both pitch black, and so was the belt used to hold the katana. The headmaster notices the katana at Adam's waist
"Ryoma! You gave that sword to this child!?" He thought
The headmaster looks at Ryoma, and when their eyes meet, Ryoma moves his head to the side and puffs out some smoke
"What are you thinking, Ryoma!?" He thought confused
"The Land Recovery exam is conducted in incomplete recovered lands." The headmaster explains. "The event will be overseen and explained by your teachers when you arrive at the location."
[...]
Back to the present, the students were all separated into teams of five and were gathered in a camp. In front of the kids stood the teachers
"Now that the squads have been formed, I'll start explaining the event." Theo says to the kids. "The exam is simple."
On a table next to Theo were a few small chess looking like pieces with Lion heads on top. Theo grabs one of the pieces and shows it to the kid
"These are called Turres." Theo explains. "These lands have already been recovered, but not completely, as the last part of the recovery protocol is incomplete. Ryoma, how about you explain how land recovery works?"
Ryoma, who was sitting down on a chair and staring at the sky with a cigarette in his mouth, looked at Theo
"Sounds like a pain in the ass, so I'll pass." Ryoma says while looking at Theo. "You can do it yourself, Theo-sensei."
Theo turns around and faces the students with anger
"There are three steps to a Land Recovery Expedition." Theo starts as he tries to calm down. "The first step is obviously reconnaissance. Knowing the land and the territory is important in a mission like this. The next step is clearing out as many Djinns as possible on the land so that they don't become a problem during the third step."
"Sometimes there are some crazy strong Djinns that take the land as their territory, so we must kill them before even starting to clear out some Djinns." Ryoma says while staring at the kids. "To be completely honest, at least half of you kids are going to die during this event."
"RYOMA!!!" Theo yells
What Ryoma said truly shocked and shook the kids. The effect of the headmaster's speech had completely disappeared and was replaced by doubt and fear
"Is that true, Teacher?" One of the students asks
Theo sighs and looks at the kid
"Unfortunately, it is a possible outcome." Theo says calmly
"Are the teachers not going to help us, just like in the entrance exam?" Another student asks
"That's not why we are here." Amonet says while approaching Ryoma
She takes his cigarette out of his mouth and throws it away
"Don't forget that you're not the only one here." Vylette says with a smile
"*Tsk*." Ryoma makes annoyed
"There is only one reason why we are here." Amonet says to the kids. "To intervene if something like what happened during the entrance exam happens. As long as something that you kids can't handle according to the Academy's standards for your year, we won't do anything else than watch."
"No way..." Some students say
"Enough." Theo says. "Let's get back to the explanation. The third and last step of the land recovery is called Marking. Marking is done by planting a Turres on the land. The Turres will then proceed to mark the land and make a connection to the main tower. Once the tower has completed the marking and connection, the Turres will then proceed to protect the land just like the main tower does."
"That would make it impossible for powerful Djinns to enter the land." Loris says."Unlike the main tower that can kill any Djinn, the Turres's can only detect and produce a certain amount of arcane energy. So, powerful Djinns would still be able to enter those lands. Anyway, squad leaders come up and get your Turris's. "
The leader of each squad lines up and takes a Turris. Ryoma gets up and heads to Adam's team
"Why didn't you come take a Turres, kiddo?" Ryoma asks Adam
"We haven't decided on a leader yet." Adam answers
Ryoma drops a mini tower in Adam's hand
"Why are you making shit so complicated." Ryoma says as he walks away
Adam frowns with anger
"He knew I didn't want to be the leader, yet he gave me the Turres!!!" Adam thought with anger
"Guess that's dealt with." Alya says while looking around. "So, where is our fifth member?"
"It's me!!!" Someone yells
Adam looks bright orange head that appeared next to him
"You've got to be kidding me." Adam says
"Yo, Adam!!!" Byron says with excitement
"I want to change one of my team members." Adam says to Ryoma
"WHAAAAT!?!?!?" Byron yells with his mouth open
"Not happening, kiddo~~." Ryoma says as he walks away while waving his hand
He then stops and turns around. He points at the katana at Noah's waist
"Ah, since you still can't control that, you better not use it." Ryoma says while pointing at the katana
He turns around and leaves
"There is a total of 120 zones to recover. It might seem a lot, but it's normal due to the area that the mini tower can cover, and to be frank, we've asked the Black Lion order to leave as much land as possible for this event. We have a total of 600 students, divided into squads of 5 for a total of 120 squads. 120 squads and 120 zones" Loris finishes
Byron comes closer to Adam and looks at the katana with curiosity
"What's this? It looks cool! Can I try it?" Byron continuously asks
"Hey." Adam says
Byron looks at him
"Catch." Adam says as he throws something to him,
Byron catches the object and opens his hand to look at it. Once he does, his eyes widen dramatically by surprise
"Isn... ISN'T THIS THE TURRES!?!?!?" Byron yells
The other four look at Byron
"Why are you giving it to him?" Alya asks. "Do you realize that giving him this means that he becomes the squad leader?"
"I don't care who's the leader as long as it's not me." Adam says while looking at their task zone
The zone that Adam's squad was assigned to was zone 26. One of the largest zones, which consisted of a plain with a few trees and a forest that was connected to zones 27, 28, and 29. The squad was currently located on a hill that had an overview of the four nearest zones, including theirs. The 26th zone is large; therefore, it obviously had a lot of Djinns in it. There were small ones, some fairly tall ones, and even some big ones.
"Giving the role of squad leader to that idi... him is probably not the best idea." Lily says to Adam while looking at Byron
"Then you do it." Adam says while keeping his eyes on the zone. "I already said that I don't even care."
Behind the three, Elliot and Byron are looking at the Turres, fascinated
"You probably should care since we can die here." Alya says. "I don't think you want to die at the age of 11, right? "
Adam turns around and looks at the girls. He then turns back and jumps down from the cliff
"I'm going first." Adam says as he lands on the ground, a few kilometers away from their assigned zone