Ascension of the Nephilim

The Valley Below the Lake expanded out and had numerous basins of water below. All were divided by the great diamond glass that kept the waters from falling in.

But the entire lake would create walls and mountains and reveal a great geography with lakes, rivers, and waterfalls below it.

But as the Valley held the most number of monsters who have made it their homes, the Vashura class had to move towards the other regions and move deep undergrounds where various monsters constantly thrive and live, forming an ecosystem that leads to practically endless growth of monsters.

The class walked deep underground, and everyone was nervous. A day had passed since their defeat, and their first mission was as harsh as the challenge of fighting Emeros.

The circle managed to heal them up to around eighty percent of their peak form. But the wounds were healed.

Even the swollen features of the girl disappeared and revealed her beauty. Equally breathtaking was the other girl who had black eyes.

But now, their beauty could not be seen as they had looks of terror on them.

Many were trembling with fear.

They were prey ordered to walk into the den of predators.

Everyone had their staves up and was ready. The battle mages had their weapons drawn as they observed the area.

"Fear is the biggest issue that you have to face in life. The fear of stepping forward. And the fear that I am talking about is not necessarily about fighting monsters and stronger enemies... No. The fear of telling yourself, 'I can't do this' even before you try. This is why most of you did not pursue other fields or paths. Be it magic, alchemy, blacksmiths, and so forth. And to be in this school, you should not fear facing any challenge." Emeros explained as he stood at the very center of the class.

"I once had this fear. Unlike those born into greatness, I was born with little to no benefits and only had a ten-point advantage over everyone else. Now, a ten-point advantage would be an amazing thing in the mortal realms. But that is nothing here, in the Floating Continents. Freemen have that. Yet here I am, a teacher who is a master over you. Here I am after defeating Senior Teacher Artes. Can any of you say that you can do what I do?"

The class was silent. Many had difficulty concentrating on what Emeros talked about and were still jolting at every movement of creatures hiding in the dark blue areas in front of them.

"...No. I had a better advantage than a teacher. Yet I ended up a useless student." Mackerel answered. He was one of the few clinging to every word the teacher spoke.

"Exactly. And one of the greatest distinctions between us is that... I had no choice but to make my step forward. You had the luxury of saying, 'I can't do that.' Had you had a different mindset, you would have had the courage to invoke the laws of the school and challenge a student of the higher classes. But none of you thought about that. Even you, Chevik."

"Teacher. If I did that, my life would be over."

"Indeed. Courage and bravery are not enough to help you. I did not reach this place through courage and bravery alone. I needed to be sure that I had to succeed. And so cunning, wit, and charisma are also needed to make a stand. I had to develop both. But still, having the guts to stand before Prince Alistair and even the mortal kingdom's kings and dukes would not be possible unless I dared to do so. And how do we make courage?" Emeros asked.

"Through trials?"

"Very good. But not just any trials. It has to present a high level of threat. Imagine being in constant terror and finding a way to overcome it. What are students of the Cloud Peak Academy compared to being surrounded by hungry beasts with your weapons and staves not ready to shoot magic." Emeros explained.

"But... teacher... we are on guard and ready to fight."

"That's the problem. That's why the monsters lurking are not attacking us. Because they can see we are ready. So, let's remove that hindrance, shall we?"

Emeros used his sword and stabbed the ground beneath him as Serena jumped up as high as she could.

The fire energy of the blade was released and created a huge eruption of fire.

BOOM!

The circle, the student, made to guard all corners disappeared as the explosion threw them all over the place.

Serena landed and could see the student's thumbing around.

"ROAR!"

Howls and shrieks of different beasts were heard as the creatures attacked the fallen students.

Wolves, giant ants, and long-winding millipedes that had the sizes of large pythons all shot forward at once as they saw the chance of a lifetime!

"AHHH!"

The students all began to shout and scream as they saw the hordes of beasts running towards them.

"Calm down. Fight them. It looks scary, but I'm still here to help you. Vivindel... Serena... Let's get to work."

The three moved and observed the battle as the students were all being attacked by various beasts.

Magic and spells were being sent all over the place. But as everyone was still trying to get back on their feet, many were forced to shoot half-charged shots.

Mackerel and Chevik quickly moved to save their companions nearby.

The two girls in class were shouting as large millipedes were trying to gnaw them and sting them as they held it back using their staves.

The fact that they did not faint in fear was already a testament to how brave they were.

Everyone fought with great fear, and Emeros would only save them when they were near death.

The group progressed as they were slowly regrouping and now had formed a circle again as Chevik managed to regroup them.

Yet the battle and the deaths of many beasts had drawn many predators who were now attacking and surrounding them, causing the fight to continue.

"Hold the line! Mages! Concentrate firepower on that large wolf! It has to be the alpha of this pack!" Chevik shouted and pointed at the largest threat.

The mages all began to harness their energy.

"No, no. This won't do. You can't build courage like this." Emeros's sigh was heard, and Mackerel saw an energy gather on the ground beneath them.

"Magic Distortion Circle. Activate!"

VOOSH! VOOSH!

One by one, the magic energies that the mages were gathering all vanished one after the other, and the sudden drain brought the students down.

Everyone felt pain as the magic energy they had suddenly turned wild.

Vivindel had somehow formed a circle beneath them!

"Teacher!" Chevik shouted and pleaded.

"Now fight without magic. This should give you the confidence and courage." Emeros answered.

"You're insane!" Chevik shouted in anger.

"True. But they are hungry. Find out which one you want to shout at now." Emeros pointed as a large wolf emerged from the distant darkness and ran incredibly fast.

The class all saw the monsters charging at them and all tried to get back at their feet and use their staves like clubs.