Chapter 5.13

Translator : PolterGlast

"Hey, Nozomu! Where on earth are we heading!?"

"For the time being, we are going to the west side of the training area! It will be easy to hide since the vegetation is dense and overgrown there!"

Under Nozom's instructions, Mars and the others rushed out with all their might to avoid engaging in battle with the other party as soon as the training started. According to Nozomu, there were several small hills around the training area, but most of them were surrounded by forest, therefore, monitoring a large area from a high place seemed ineffective.

On the east side of the training area, there is a highway connected to Arcazam, but there is no other characteristic terrain worth mentioning.

At first, they were planning to build a base on a small hill. Certainly, there were no trees growing from the edge of the forest to the top of the hill, and it was easy to observe the approaching enemies, but at the same time there were no trees to hide them, so they would fight against the attacking opponents more often.

Although there is Mars who has the strength equivalent to the upper class, there is Nozomu and the others who only have relatively low strength. So, they would lose if they were attacked in quick succession.

Therefore, Nozomu rejected the plan and chose to hide in the forest instead.

Currently, they are running towards the west side which has a lot of trees...

"Haa, haa... No, Nozomu-kun! Behind, behind!!"

"They're after us!!"

Hamria and Cami who were running behind raised their voices. When they took a closer look, they could see the figure of the other party running from the other side of the trees. The other party has found and chased the fleeing Nozomu's party.

"I know! Just run for now!"

Nozomu encouraged them to keep running no matter what. Hamria, who was next to Cami, was probably the least physically fit, and her breathing shown that she was already in pain.

"Hey, Nozomu! Isn't it better to ambush them instead !?"

"Don't! The other teams aren't scattered yet! If we fight here and meet with other parties, we will be the first to be defeated !!"

Nozomu is most afraid of being attacked by two or more parties at the same time. For other parties, the low-strength Nozomu's party would look like an easy point to earn. Nozomu's party with such low strength is a good way to surely earn points in the early stage, and It's one of the parties that will definitely be targeted.

It is a foolish idea to stop in this state, which may be targeted by multiple parties, which is why Nozomu's first objective is to gain distance and prepare for interception.

"Uo! They are attacking us!"

"It's okay because there is still some distance! Instead, just focus on running for now !!"

Various types of magic bullets such as fire bullets, wind bullets, and pure magic bullets were pouring down from behind. Tommy screamed because of the magic bullets that passed beside him, but Nozomu calmly measured the opponent's distance and continued to urge his party to run. Even though the magic cast from behind was considered strong, it was still far away and was disturbed by the overgrown trees, so it didn't hit Nozomu's party.

The Solminati Academy's students had many mock battles on the training ground, so they didn't have much experience when fighting in places with many obstacles such as forests.

Of course, it wasn't that they didn't learn to fight in narrow spaces or in the forest, and many students have fought in the forest at the request of the guild. However, they had forgotten to make use of that experience, because they only focused on chasing right after the start of the special training.

"Damn! Wait!"

The party chasing from behind yelled and chased while releasing magic again and again. However, the released magic was still blocked by the overgrown tree and didn't reach Nozomu's party. What's more, their own magic hindered them from pursuing further, and the distance between them and Nozomu's group grew wider.

The pursuers chased Nozomu's party in a hurry, but it was too late, and Nozomu's party had disappeared and was hiding behind the overgrown trees.

=================================

"...Fuu. Looks like we managed to shake them off."

"Haa, haa, haa ... I see. I'm glad."

Nozomu finally stopped after confirming that there was no sign of any pursuers from behind. The other members exhaled, perhaps because they were relieved that they had shaken their pursuers off. Hamria collapsed on the spot.

After gulping down the water from the water bottle and taking a breath, Nozomu took out a wooden rod wrapped in strings from his pouch.

"... Nozomu. What are you doing?"

"I will make a warning network for now. I wonder if we could confirm each other abilities in the meantime? Mars, I'll leave it to you."

Nozomu started to work while answering Mars' questions. After one end of the string was tied to a tree, he immediately entered the forest and stretched the string around his party in a circular motion. Finally, after several laps, Nozomu returned to the original position, and then the other end of the string was tied to the wooden rod, the wooden rod was fixed by attaching it to a tree.

If someone came and touched the string, the fixed wooden rod would fall and notify them that an intruder had arrived. This is the simplest alarm device.

Mars asked about Jin's abilities while Nozomu created the warning network. By the time Mars finished, Nozomu had also finished creating the warning network.

"Then let's make the base now, that said, it's just setting traps around us."

"Hey, Nozomu. Is it okay to just setting traps? I know it's good for strengthening our defenses, but I wonder aren't we too passive..."

Mars complained about Nozomu's idea. Of course, seclusion would not improve their situation while the other party took on one task after another and earned points in battle. On the contrary, it is better to take action as early as possible, considering that the other party will take on the tasks that can be done one after another.

"I know. I've thought about it. So please listen to me first."

With that said, everyone then devoted themselves to listening to Nozomu's words. Nozomu's idea is like this.

First, divide their party into two. One of them is the team that handles the task. The other is the team defending the base.

The team that handles the task consists of Mars, Tommy, and Cami. The team defending the base consists of Nozomu, Jin, Deck, and Hamria.

The team that handles the task requires considerable attack power and mobility against the opponent. Therefore, Nozomu chooses Mars, the most powerful force in their party, Cami, a dagger wielder with high agility, and Tommy, a swordsman.

Also, because it is necessary to defend the base, Nozomu who was the leader of the party, Jin who had commanding abilities, and Hamria who used a wide-range specialized weapon such as spear were chosen.

Nozomu's strategy is that the team performing the tasks will prioritize exploration tasks and earn points, while the defense team will defend their base.

"Hey, wouldn't it be better for everyone to act together? I guess it would be safer that way..."

It was the mage, Hamria, who told Nozomu of her opinion in a reluctant voice.

In her opinion, it was safer to act together, but Nozomu shook his head and denied it.

"No. Rather, it's worse to act together. We don't have much effective defense against wide-area magic attacks. If we were hit by a preemptive strike while moving through the forest, we might be wiped out all at once."

In Nozomu's party, only Mars, who has a lot of Qi, and Hamria, the mage, who have effective defenses against magical attacks. It wasn't that the other members couldn't use magic, but considering that their enemies were more likely to be higher-ranked students than just the same 10th class as them, even if they could defend, there was a high possibility that they would be overwhelmed. by their magic.

"That's why our party's task will be focused on exploration because they are less likely to meet the other party than escort tasks."

In the escort-related tasks, the teacher plays the role of the escort target, but as long as the teacher becomes the escort target, they can't expect them will defend themselves. Rather, the escort target may slow their movement speed down, or pretend to have an accidental problem and act as a shackle.

In order to protect such an escort target, it is necessary to devote all of the party's strength to the task, and as a result, the efficiency of earning points will decrease, and in the worst case, there is a high probability that the party will be annihilated due to the former reason.

However, if it is an exploration-related task, all they have to do is bring the instructed item to the headquarters. The chances of being ambushed are not zero. However, if they reduce the number of people and choose only the fast-paced members, the chances of encountering an ambush will be much lower, and the fas