The Discarded Son's Skill Market
Chapter 10: Forest with Portal Attributes

Chapter 10: Forest with Portal Attributes

Robinson jumped down from the tree and landed before them both.

"Earlier, you were asking if there were beasts here... right?"

Zaid didn’t answer.

Alice nodded. "I-I did." She grew a little nervous and took a few steps back so she wouldn’t be so close to Robinson. "Young Master Zaid said these were portals, and portals always come with beasts, so I was wondering if they did."

"Actually, when they first appeared, they were portals. However, for some reason we don’t know, the beasts disappeared after we killed them all the first time, and they never came back. That’s why it’s now a forest used for the academy’s initial tests," he replied.

Alice nodded, feeling more relaxed.

"You’ll have to wait until the others arrive to find out what’s on the test." Robinson glanced at his watch. "And apparently, these idiots don’t know how to listen." He shook his head and walked away.

The first test, in fact, almost went wrong.

If it hadn’t been for one of the other 18 students seeing Alice jump out the window, they surely would have failed the simplest test: getting out of the classroom.

But near the end of the allotted 15 minutes, they all came pouring out and collapsed onto the floor, panting heavily.

They had run at full speed until they were exhausted. This was especially true for the mages and others who weren’t used to running.

"W-w-wait, Professor... don’t say anything yet." Several of them begged to be allowed to rest, even if only for a few minutes.

Robinson looked at them and shook his head; he was disappointed in them. He didn’t say a word, but they all understood what he meant.

He gave them just one minute to catch their breath.

"The test will begin immediately," he said, and immediately pointed behind him. There was a line made of tree roots. It looked like something that had simply been left there, as if by chance. "From that line of roots onward, you’ll find an environment that’s as close to a dungeon as you’ll get inside a portal."

"There are no beasts, but the rest of the environment is the same," he said, pulling a token out of his pocket.

"I’ve hidden 20 of these tokens throughout the forest on the other side of that perimeter line. Your mission will be to go in there and use the survival tactics I taught you to survive and find these tokens, which send out signals every 15 minutes. There must be one per person."

"If you get another one, you’ll have to share it with someone who doesn’t have one. Because if I catch someone with two of them... I’ll make their life miserable for a year."

He looked at all the students, but especially at the most troublesome ones: John and his friends, and Zaid. "Is that clear?" he asked.

"Yes, professor," the students replied.

John turned his head away in annoyance, but he couldn’t object. When it came to academic exams, everyone had to obey.

"All right. In no particular order, go in there and look for the tokens. You have four hours. If you come out before you find a token, it means you failed the test. If you come out with a token, it means you passed. If you help find more tokens, you might receive a bonus." When he finished, Robinson stepped aside and let the students go in.

"Even if you have four hours, you’d be wise to take as much time as you need because I’d like to see the tokens here," Robinson told them in closing.

They ran toward the perimeter when they heard they had only four hours; they barely heard the last thing he said and quickly crossed the line.

They felt a strong wind buffeting their clothes as soon as they entered. That wind made them shiver.

"W-what the hell was that?" one of them exclaimed.

"That felt like corrupted essence..."

"Does this place still have corrupted essence?"

"Damn... I thought this was going to be easy, but it’s going to be tough. Guys, we have to be careful!" exclaimed one of the young men, who came from a prestigious family. He stepped forward to get everyone’s attention. "My name is Jackson Clark. My family, the Clarks, is directly subordinate to the Shawns, so I think I can help you."

Everyone saw him and nodded. They remembered that Jackson Clark.

He was a mage—not very strong, but quite intelligent. He would surely be Class F’s representative in the near future.

"I’ll explain a little bit of what I know about the corrupt essence. It was responsible for the first generation of Hunters succumbing to the Portal of Calamities eight years ago, so we shouldn’t be exposed to it too much."

"We’re weak; absorbing too much of it won’t do us any good. So we’ll take it slow and move together to avoid stepping on any traps," he said.

Many of them looked at each other and nodded. "I think that’s a good idea. Exposure to the cursed essence could drive us crazy. If we stick together, we’ll avoid a lot of trouble."

"You’re right... let’s do what young Mr. Jackson says."

Most of them agreed. Others looked at John to see what he would do, but he didn’t care either way.

"If that’s the case..." Jackson smiled when he saw that everyone accepted his leadership.

"Wait." However, Zaid suddenly stepped in.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"What’s going on, Lord Zachary?" Jackson asked. His words seemed full of respect, but his tone was a little sarcastic.

"I don’t think it’s a good idea for us all to move together. It’s inefficient," Zaid said.

"Inefficient? Why would it be?" Jackson raised an eyebrow, confused.

"The professor said earlier that those tokens send a signal every 15 minutes. But he also said they were all over this forest. Do you know how big this place is? If it came through a portal and is still under the effects of the world it came from, it could be bigger than the city!"

Jackson nodded, frowning. Of course, he knew that...

"So?"

"If it’s that big and we suddenly receive four signals from the tokens, it would be ridiculous to head toward just one and then try, from memory, to find the others. It’s inefficient. It’s better to move in small groups. In case the forest is bigger than it seems, we might find more tokens," Zaid suggested.

A smart suggestion. Even Jackson had to admit it.

The hands on his back tightened, but a smile spread across his face. "It doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me. However, I’m not in a position to say whether we can withstand the corrupting essence in scattered groups. So I’ll let you all decide what to do," he said, looking at all his companions.

"We’re all on the same team here. If it’s one token per person, we have to work together to find as many as possible. Giving up isn’t an option." He concluded and let the others decide.

However, with those last words, his suggestion gained traction. Everyone wanted to be with someone who not only thought of them but was also smart.

And Zaid wasn’t going that way.

So they finally decided: "I think it’s best to wait 15 minutes, and when we sense something, we’ll all head that way and then look for where the others are. We have four hours anyway."

"That’s the best idea. The more we stick together, the less the corrupt essence will affect us."

"That’s our only option," said another.

Jackson then laughed. "All right. If that’s the case, and since I was the one who made this suggestion, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to be your leader for now, right? Young John and his friends will handle the physical work; I’ll just do the thinking. What do you think of that?"

"I vote for Mr. Jackson—I think he’s a good leader!" someone exclaimed almost immediately.

Another person chimed in with the same sentiment, and eventually most of them joined in. Only Zaid said nothing, along with Alice, who stayed by his side for some reason.

’Well, I’ll just have to follow them for now,’ Zaid thought, shaking his head.

The first 15 minutes flew by.

As expected, the Tokens made their presence felt.

They vibrated in several different regions at the same time.

"We have to go after that one," Jackson said, pointing to the closest one.

"I agree! Let’s secure a small victory first!"

"All right." Jackson was glad to be heard, so he immediately set up the equipment. "John and the two of you, be the group’s backbone. Take care of the flanks. The corrupt essence behaves in ways we don’t understand, so just in case, stay alert."