The rest of the year seemed to flash by quickly, and before anyone realized it, it was time for the school's yearly event: The Egg Hunt. The Misfits had already planned everything out, and they signed up in multiple groups, ready to participate and determined to do something nobody has ever managed to do; collect all of the nine eggs. As the event was always something that only the brave or foolish considered, not everyone was paying attention to who signed up. Not even amongst those who wrote their names up. There was only one meeting amongst the Student Council members, all of them questioning Lia why but she just answered because 'Why not?' They had no answer to it, mainly because the Headmaster himself was silent about it.
When the day of the competition came, they arrived in neatly organized groups, shocking many as it was the first time the whole organization was present in full numbers, and more than 100 students gathered around. Only then did they realize something was off and something big would happen. While they were waiting, Lia was looking around constantly as if searching for somebody.
"Are you waiting for someone?" Koa asked, knowing her cousin very well.
"Yep! He should come! I sent him a message a week ago, and he did not say no!"
"To whom?" Keily asked, but his answer came when Lia laughed out loudly, pointing at an arriving figure.
"To him!"
"You kidding me…" Koa groaned while the rest of the leaders also grimaced as it was Simbad who was approaching them leisurely.
"Hello." He said, looking around, watching their distrusting eyes calmly. Only Lia was grinning and jumping up and down before him.
"Yey! Now my party is complete!"
"You did not leave me much choice." Simbad answered, looking down at Lia with a soft smile creeping up on his face, "You signed me up."
"Well, you did not say no!" She countered, sticking out a tongue while Koa and Aurora were facepalming themselves at the same time.
"True." Simbad shrugged, "It will be a good exercise. I never attended one."
"I can guess why." Raufon grumbled, "Nobody would have invited you anyway."
Simbad simply looked at him with the same small smile, leaving his words without any comment and just stepping behind Lia, waiting patiently for the start of the event. After every participant was present, Lucian's voice came through everyone's bracelet, announcing the start and rules of this year's Egg Hunt.
"Seeing the high numbers this year, I decided to change it up a little bit." He announced with a laugh, "There will be nine of me inside the forest this time around. All of me will have a golden egg on hand. The task is easy; Get it from me! You can use any means necessary. After obtaining an Egg, your group will be transported out of the competition! Please note that if you team up with others, you will count as one group when getting the Egg!"
"Hm…" Lia furrowed her brows, meaning that if they regrouped as 'one' inside, the moment they got an Egg, all of them would be ejected. "This means we can't really work together… That Silly Fox is still a fox, eh?"
"No matter." Sion answered, ready to go, "We came prepared." He smiled as all of the Misfits' groups were mixed at the start, having one member from each of the elements.
"Yep." Raufon agreed, grinning, "Don't worry, Boss! We are destined to sweep this one!"
"Good!" Lia laughed, "I expect nothing less!"
"Also," Lucian continued, "There is a time limit! A day!"
"What?!" Many cried out, feeling that was unreasonable. There was never such a short Egg Hunt… ever!
"So move fast if you want results." Lucian laughed, ignoring the sudden outrage and loud exclamations from those who gathered around. "My clones are going to seek you out anyway… and attack you on sight. I won't hold back, so expect… injuries." He added, and his voice sounded vicious. "Worry not; I am limiting my powers to the 4th Tier. But if you think that I am going to be weak? Think again… to me, all of you are nothing but little grunts, ripe for a good old spanking!"
With that, his voice died off, and before anybody could react, they were teleported inside the forest; the different groups scrambled up completely, cut off from each other.
"Map!" Aurora signed to her subordinates, raising her hand and displaying it from her bracelet.
"Captain…" Shishi stepped up, being assigned under her, watching the same image that Aurora was focused on. Their map was covered with a fog of war, obstructed, and only their surroundings were visible. "Even our communications are blocked. I can't reach anyone."
"We are cut off." Aurora wrote, remaining calm, "No matter! Get into formation, and we are going to head south! Hass!" She looked at the one from Raufon's group, one who had the badge of the element of earth on his uniform. "You are going to be responsible for drawing out our map! Keep it updated!
"Yes!" He saluted as they started to move, exploring their surroundings.
At a completely different part of the forest, Sion's group was already facing a problem whose name was Lucian.
"Well… I did not expect you to be the first." The Headmaster smiled, watching Lucian and the group behind him getting ready to fight.
"Me neither." Sion nodded, summoning his pistols, his whole body brimming with energy, taking aim.
"Well… let me see what you learned in the past four years." Lucian smiled, "Take it as part of your graduation~."
The first to make a move was Sion, pulling the triggers and letting his artifacts draw mana from his body. They were condensed, focused, and processed in a fraction of a second, sent through the specially constructed barrels, enhancing them to the limit, before two bullet-like spells flew out, aiming straight at Lucian. As they were flying through the air, faster than any human could react, their glow blinded anyone looking at it directly.
"Not bad." Lucian thought, his body surrounded by a black bubble that sprang up from nowhere. It distorted the space around him, making Sion's attack miss its target.
As the blinding attack was swallowed by an unnatural darkness, a new scenery greeted Lucian. His defensive spell was ebbed away by an intensely burning fire. It was pushing against his element of darkness relentlessly, unafraid of everything. The three brothers from Lia's group were the ones to produce the incredible heat and the blinding light coming from it. Their teamwork was perfect, and they managed to nullify Lucian's defenses at many places, opening him up to the follow-up spells.
They came in the form of water arrows straight from Ash's palm, one of Koa's subordinates. They surrounded and synergized with blue electricity from the Misfits of Metal, aiming directly at Lucian's body. He saw that the remaining of the group was already preparing spells to hinder his escape or counter any spells he may throw out.
"Wonderful…" He murmured, happy to see their teamwork and the fact they performed so well. "I don't need to hold back against you that much, do I?" He added, forming a small smile before simply teleporting, leaving behind purplish smoke as he disappeared with a pop, just to step out of thin air, straight behind Sion.
"No, you don't." He replied, without looking at him, aiming behind himself, right above his shoulder, shooting at Lucian's forehead at point-blank range.
The Headmaster pulled back his hand that was clawing at Sion's back, directing his attack to cut through the appearing vines around his ankle while breathing out red lightning, clashing against Sion's spell. Ultimately, he teleported again, blinking away from the group, appearing on a nearby tree's thick branch.
"Close." Lucian chuckled, looking down at them and then at the Golden Egg fastened to his belt that had a smudged fingertip on it.
"Almost…" A girl moaned, her uniform billowing as she was from the Misfits of Air. All throughout their fight, she was only focusing on the Egg, jumping in a moment ago to grab it while the Headmaster was distracted.
"You are good…" Lucian nodded at them, "Even though you never fought with someone who could slip in and out of No-space and-" He tried to explain, teaching them a little, but that simple slip was all that they needed. "Brilliant…" He murmured, his red eyes looking down at the missing Egg from his belt.
The one who held it was someone from Aurora's group, one of her lieutenants, a boy who went through a crash-course training under Aurora, taught the same way as the 4th Branch soldiers. He was hiding since the start of the battle, merged into the shadows, only watching, doing nothing, and waiting for the ideal moment to strike… and when it came, he did not miss.
"It seems we are quick to adapt, Headmaster," Sion answered, grinning as the others started to exclaim with surprise and with an outburst of happiness.
"I fell into the trap of complacency." Lucian nodded, beaming at them, jumping down with his hands behind his back. "It seems I became rusty in the past century or so! Ahaha! Good job! Never relax on the battlefield, and never miss an opportunity when it presents itself!" He laughed loudly, clapping, and just after a quarter of an hour, the first group was teleported out while the System announced that the Misfits of Light had obtained the first golden Egg, and there were eight remaining.
"Sion works fast!" Lia laughed as she traveled with her own companions, searching for a clone of Lucian.
"Yep!" Keily grinned, following her, "Say, Boss, how are we going to get all nine eggs if there are only eight groups of us?"
"Who said there are only eight of us?" Lia chuckled, flashing her white teeth at them.
"But…" Keily blinked his eyes, looking back at the others who were similarly confused.
"None of you checked the groups' descriptions? The forms that your leader signed and handed over for the competition?" Simbad asked, traveling next to them.
"No. Not really." Keily answered with a bit of embarrassment.
"You are lucky your Boss and I did not appear ad a completely different place." Simbad sighed, shaking his head, making Keily furrow his brows as he was still not liking his presence.
"Keily," Lia continued, looking back over her shoulder with glinting eyes. "When we find that Silly Fox, you are going to lead the group and go get our Egg! Me and Simbad here will go forward and search for another one."
"What? Why?" Keily asked, surprised, just like the rest.
"Because I signed up as a separate group with Simbad. You are the one leading the Misfits of Fire! Duh? You really did not read anything, eh?"
“B-b-b-but!” Keily stuttered, “I thought… you are the Boss and…”
"Ahahaha~!" Lia giggled, "And? Does that mean you must follow and do everything I say?"
"That is a Boss's job!" Keily protested.
"Well, he is right. If we look at it from an army standpoint." Simbad agreed with the bunny boy for a moment before continuing. "Although not reading your orders is another big no-no. So… well, you live and learn."
"Ahahaha~!" Lia nodded repeatedly, "We can't work together, or we will be counted as one group! The moment you engage, we will move on! So… good luck, and don't screw it up for me! Ya hear?!"
"Y-yes!" Keily answered loudly, the same as the others.
"Good! Now let's speed up and catch that Silly Fox!"
The rest of the year seemed to flash by quickly, and before anyone realized it, it was time for the school's yearly event: The Egg Hunt. The Misfits had already planned everything out, and they signed up in multiple groups, ready to participate and determined to do something nobody has ever managed to do; collect all of the nine eggs. As the event was always something that only the brave or foolish considered, not everyone was paying attention to who signed up. Not even amongst those who wrote their names up. There was only one meeting amongst the Student Council members, all of them questioning Lia why but she just answered because 'Why not?' They had no answer to it, mainly because the Headmaster himself was silent about it.
When the day of the competition came, they arrived in neatly organized groups, shocking many as it was the first time the whole organization was present in full numbers, and more than 100 students gathered around. Only then did they realize something was off and something big would happen. While they were waiting, Lia was looking around constantly as if searching for somebody.
"Are you waiting for someone?" Koa asked, knowing her cousin very well.
"Yep! He should come! I sent him a message a week ago, and he did not say no!"
"To whom?" Keily asked, but his answer came when Lia laughed out loudly, pointing at an arriving figure.
"To him!"
"You kidding me…" Koa groaned while the rest of the leaders also grimaced as it was Simbad who was approaching them leisurely.
"Hello." He said, looking around, watching their distrusting eyes calmly. Only Lia was grinning and jumping up and down before him.
"Yey! Now my party is complete!"
"You did not leave me much choice." Simbad answered, looking down at Lia with a soft smile creeping up on his face, "You signed me up."
"Well, you did not say no!" She countered, sticking out a tongue while Koa and Aurora were facepalming themselves at the same time.
"True." Simbad shrugged, "It will be a good exercise. I never attended one."
"I can guess why." Raufon grumbled, "Nobody would have invited you anyway."
Simbad simply looked at him with the same small smile, leaving his words without any comment and just stepping behind Lia, waiting patiently for the start of the event. After every participant was present, Lucian's voice came through everyone's bracelet, announcing the start and rules of this year's Egg Hunt.
"Seeing the high numbers this year, I decided to change it up a little bit." He announced with a laugh, "There will be nine of me inside the forest this time around. All of me will have a golden egg on hand. The task is easy; Get it from me! You can use any means necessary. After obtaining an Egg, your group will be transported out of the competition! Please note that if you team up with others, you will count as one group when getting the Egg!"
"Hm…" Lia furrowed her brows, meaning that if they regrouped as 'one' inside, the moment they got an Egg, all of them would be ejected. "This means we can't really work together… That Silly Fox is still a fox, eh?"
"No matter." Sion answered, ready to go, "We came prepared." He smiled as all of the Misfits' groups were mixed at the start, having one member from each of the elements.
"Yep." Raufon agreed, grinning, "Don't worry, Boss! We are destined to sweep this one!"
"Good!" Lia laughed, "I expect nothing less!"
"Also," Lucian continued, "There is a time limit! A day!"
"What?!" Many cried out, feeling that was unreasonable. There was never such a short Egg Hunt… ever!
"So move fast if you want results." Lucian laughed, ignoring the sudden outrage and loud exclamations from those who gathered around. "My clones are going to seek you out anyway… and attack you on sight. I won't hold back, so expect… injuries." He added, and his voice sounded vicious. "Worry not; I am limiting my powers to the 4th Tier. But if you think that I am going to be weak? Think again… to me, all of you are nothing but little grunts, ripe for a good old spanking!"
With that, his voice died off, and before anybody could react, they were teleported inside the forest; the different groups scrambled up completely, cut off from each other.
"Map!" Aurora signed to her subordinates, raising her hand and displaying it from her bracelet.
"Captain…" Shishi stepped up, being assigned under her, watching the same image that Aurora was focused on. Their map was covered with a fog of war, obstructed, and only their surroundings were visible. "Even our communications are blocked. I can't reach anyone."
"We are cut off." Aurora wrote, remaining calm, "No matter! Get into formation, and we are going to head south! Hass!" She looked at the one from Raufon's group, one who had the badge of the element of earth on his uniform. "You are going to be responsible for drawing out our map! Keep it updated!
"Yes!" He saluted as they started to move, exploring their surroundings.
At a completely different part of the forest, Sion's group was already facing a problem whose name was Lucian.
"Well… I did not expect you to be the first." The Headmaster smiled, watching Lucian and the group behind him getting ready to fight.
"Me neither." Sion nodded, summoning his pistols, his whole body brimming with energy, taking aim.
"Well… let me see what you learned in the past four years." Lucian smiled, "Take it as part of your graduation~."
The first to make a move was Sion, pulling the triggers and letting his artifacts draw mana from his body. They were condensed, focused, and processed in a fraction of a second, sent through the specially constructed barrels, enhancing them to the limit, before two bullet-like spells flew out, aiming straight at Lucian. As they were flying through the air, faster than any human could react, their glow blinded anyone looking at it directly.
"Not bad." Lucian thought, his body surrounded by a black bubble that sprang up from nowhere. It distorted the space around him, making Sion's attack miss its target.
As the blinding attack was swallowed by an unnatural darkness, a new scenery greeted Lucian. His defensive spell was ebbed away by an intensely burning fire. It was pushing against his element of darkness relentlessly, unafraid of everything. The three brothers from Lia's group were the ones to produce the incredible heat and the blinding light coming from it. Their teamwork was perfect, and they managed to nullify Lucian's defenses at many places, opening him up to the follow-up spells.
They came in the form of water arrows straight from Ash's palm, one of Koa's subordinates. They surrounded and synergized with blue electricity from the Misfits of Metal, aiming directly at Lucian's body. He saw that the remaining of the group was already preparing spells to hinder his escape or counter any spells he may throw out.
"Wonderful…" He murmured, happy to see their teamwork and the fact they performed so well. "I don't need to hold back against you that much, do I?" He added, forming a small smile before simply teleporting, leaving behind purplish smoke as he disappeared with a pop, just to step out of thin air, straight behind Sion.
"No, you don't." He replied, without looking at him, aiming behind himself, right above his shoulder, shooting at Lucian's forehead at point-blank range.
The Headmaster pulled back his hand that was clawing at Sion's back, directing his attack to cut through the appearing vines around his ankle while breathing out red lightning, clashing against Sion's spell. Ultimately, he teleported again, blinking away from the group, appearing on a nearby tree's thick branch.
"Close." Lucian chuckled, looking down at them and then at the Golden Egg fastened to his belt that had a smudged fingertip on it.
"Almost…" A girl moaned, her uniform billowing as she was from the Misfits of Air. All throughout their fight, she was only focusing on the Egg, jumping in a moment ago to grab it while the Headmaster was distracted.
"You are good…" Lucian nodded at them, "Even though you never fought with someone who could slip in and out of No-space and-" He tried to explain, teaching them a little, but that simple slip was all that they needed. "Brilliant…" He murmured, his red eyes looking down at the missing Egg from his belt.
The one who held it was someone from Aurora's group, one of her lieutenants, a boy who went through a crash-course training under Aurora, taught the same way as the 4th Branch soldiers. He was hiding since the start of the battle, merged into the shadows, only watching, doing nothing, and waiting for the ideal moment to strike… and when it came, he did not miss.
"It seems we are quick to adapt, Headmaster," Sion answered, grinning as the others started to exclaim with surprise and with an outburst of happiness.
"I fell into the trap of complacency." Lucian nodded, beaming at them, jumping down with his hands behind his back. "It seems I became rusty in the past century or so! Ahaha! Good job! Never relax on the battlefield, and never miss an opportunity when it presents itself!" He laughed loudly, clapping, and just after a quarter of an hour, the first group was teleported out while the System announced that the Misfits of Light had obtained the first golden Egg, and there were eight remaining.
"Sion works fast!" Lia laughed as she traveled with her own companions, searching for a clone of Lucian.
"Yep!" Keily grinned, following her, "Say, Boss, how are we going to get all nine eggs if there are only eight groups of us?"
"Who said there are only eight of us?" Lia chuckled, flashing her white teeth at them.
"But…" Keily blinked his eyes, looking back at the others who were similarly confused.
"None of you checked the groups' descriptions? The forms that your leader signed and handed over for the competition?" Simbad asked, traveling next to them.
"No. Not really." Keily answered with a bit of embarrassment.
"You are lucky your Boss and I did not appear ad a completely different place." Simbad sighed, shaking his head, making Keily furrow his brows as he was still not liking his presence.
"Keily," Lia continued, looking back over her shoulder with glinting eyes. "When we find that Silly Fox, you are going to lead the group and go get our Egg! Me and Simbad here will go forward and search for another one."
"What? Why?" Keily asked, surprised, just like the rest.
"Because I signed up as a separate group with Simbad. You are the one leading the Misfits of Fire! Duh? You really did not read anything, eh?"
“B-b-b-but!” Keily stuttered, “I thought… you are the Boss and…”
"Ahahaha~!" Lia giggled, "And? Does that mean you must follow and do everything I say?"
"That is a Boss's job!" Keily protested.
"Well, he is right. If we look at it from an army standpoint." Simbad agreed with the bunny boy for a moment before continuing. "Although not reading your orders is another big no-no. So… well, you live and learn."
"Ahahaha~!" Lia nodded repeatedly, "We can't work together, or we will be counted as one group! The moment you engage, we will move on! So… good luck, and don't screw it up for me! Ya hear?!"
"Y-yes!" Keily answered loudly, the same as the others.
"Good! Now let's speed up and catch that Silly Fox!"
