"Hmm.. Do we really need to go this far Mathias? So much destruction. So many innocent lives lost. They are just children. Isn't this the exact opposite of what we stand for .."

"Your highness.. you must understand. We had no other choice. This mission is extremely important for the survival of our clan. That monster is definitely guarding one of the ancient legendary artifacts. And if we don't create a diversion this way, the academy elders will for sure notice our increased presence."

"And worst case scenario, if there are any ranked hunting parties nearby, they might fight with us for the monster" added the second hooded figure.

"Sometimes the outcome justifies the means but sometimes it just doesn't. I still don't like this plan very much."

"Please stay here, your highness. Here is an invisibility rune and a teleportation scroll. Please use these in case of emergency. I will scout the status of our hunt and report back to you. That monster is severely wounded."

"For a final SSS cla.s.s dungeon boss and a creature of mythical proportions, that monster was somewhat weak. But it is extremely slippery. I divined its location to this area. It definitely must not have gone too far. But please stay here away from the academy fights, your highness. Your safety is our highest priority."

Dismissing them, the tall, lean and muscular figure accepted the rune and the scroll. His fair, smooth and perfect skin was sparkling in the light. Adding to this, his chiseled features and his long braided hair made him look like an angel. "Maybe when I am managing the clan's affairs, I would feel differently", the druid clan's prince laid back on his serpent mount and stared at the academy in deep thought.

On the other end...

The escaped trio were just stumbling on the ground after teleporting out of the academy.

"Where are we man? It looks like we are in the middle of nowhere" Jian Tan was slowly gaining back his consciousness. Both Eluraa and s.h.i.+ Meng felt lost as well.

"There is really nothing we can do now. We just have to survive. Even if the academy ignores us, my father will definitely send multiple search parties for us" s.h.i.+ Meng slowly got up and dusted his back.

"Ok. I agree with that too. I have some stores of food and other necessities in my xenon. We should have enough supplies for a month or more. This place is as good as any other place. We can set up a base near that huge tree's base" Eluraa chimed in.

"Oh that reminds me. Let me climb up the tree and see if I can get an idea of where we are." s.h.i.+ Meng added. He immediately started climbing and reached the top in no time. Unfortunately, the tree was not tall enough for him to get any view.

Climbing back down, s.h.i.+ Meng suggested "Maybe we should search around a while for taller trees?"

Eluraa hesitated and thought for a bit. She then decided on using her full magical powers. Now that two other lives depended on her and she had already used advanced magical spells in front of them, it was too late to hide anything anyways.

"Wait a moment. No need to search for trees. I am casting a concealment spell on myself and will use wind-type magic to fly above and see if I can locate us."

s.h.i.+ Meng nodded in silence. Bending his head and looking at the ground he murmured, "I am extremely grateful to you for rescuing us and helping us this far. No matter what your secret is, I vow with my life to never tell about these incidents to another soul."

Eluraa slowly glided upwards and tried to reach a height where she can get a view of the surroundings.

"What the heck man? How is she so powerful and what is she doing in our academy?" Jian Tan was rattled. "Bleh. At the least, we managed to make it out alive", he immediately threw himself on s.h.i.+ Meng and hugged him. s.h.i.+ Meng just smiled and was happy that his friend was back to his old self.

Fwooshhh. Abruptly, Eluraa just literally dropped back down. "f.u.c.k. f.u.c.k. f.u.c.k. Guys we did not teleport anywhere. We are still within the academy grounds. I think the energy gathered was not enough to teleport us out of the magical barrier and we just ended up on the boundary."

It took a while for the guys to fully understand the meaning of her sentence. "Oh s.h.i.+t! We are still here?!". Eluraa was much calmer than the other two, "Our plan still remains the same. We should try walking outward and crossing the barrier. But, once we reach a safe distance, we should just wait there and stay low and hidden."

They immediately increased their alert level and made themselves combat ready. Replenis.h.i.+ng themselves with some food and water, they started moving forward slowly and cautiously. After half a day of walking outward, all three of their xenons beeped.

Fatigue +100

Eluraa realised she didn't turn off her xenon notifications after the professions' database update. Since she was outside the academy, she decided that it was best to leave it on for now.

During that night, two of them stayed awake and on the look out, while the third person took a nap. They rotated this way and all of them managed to get a little bit of sleep. They, then, continued with their journey forward. They had almost reached the academy grounds external barrier.