Encircled

“Are we going in?”

Erich squatted behind a half-man-tall bush, staring at the small wooden cabin a hundred meters away. Calling it a cabin wasn't entirely accurate; it looked more like a miniature fortress, complete with several embrasures on the roof designed for casting spells.

“No shit!” Balin stood beside Erich, his tone dripping with impatience.

Actually, there wasn't much point in the four of them hiding. The four pillars of light enveloping them had grown absurdly thick after being boosted by thirty school badges. Rather than a stealthy infiltration, it was more like they were taking a leisurely stroll in broad daylight.

Not that it mattered. They hadn't planned on hiding from the start anyway.

To the first-years, the 【Hunting Festival】 was a game of hide-and-seek, but to the second-years, it was a battle for resources. Snatching a school badge from a first-year wasn't hard; the hard part was holding onto it throughout the long night ahead.

This made student societies natural sanctuaries. Smaller societies chose to band together and wage guerrilla warfare, while large societies like the Silver Circle Society and the Sparkfire Association established bases directly.

The wooden cabin before them was clearly not a temporary structure. It looked like something passed down through generations.

As they drew closer, Yser struck without hesitation. A wind blade howled through the air, slamming hard against the cabin's outer wall.

The wind blade tore a half-man-tall hole in the wall, sending wood chips, debris, and dust flying everywhere.

From Erich's semi-layman perspective, Yser's magic was a cut above the vast majority of the second-years. This made sense, though. Out of the four roommates, Erich, Balin, and Ragg were the same age, but only Yser refused to reveal his age. To this day, no one knew how old the elf actually was.

Behind the hole, a neat formation of second-year students had already lined up, the tips of over a dozen wands lighting up simultaneously.

“Scatter!”

Just as Erich called out, over a dozen spells shot forth at once, raining down on them in a sweeping deluge.

Erich, Yser, and Balin each intercepted an attack, while the rest pelted Ragg.

The beastkin's frame was simply too large. The spells seemed magnetically drawn to him. While he was indeed tough and thick-skinned, even the thickest hide had its limits. The damage accumulated over most of the night erupted all at once, and he finally collapsed to the ground, powerless.

“Ragg!”

There was no response. Ragg lay prone in the dirt. He was still breathing, but he couldn't get back up.

This was the first casualty the four of them had suffered tonight.

The remaining three had no time to think. After finishing their first round of spells, the second-years were already readjusting their positions and beginning their second chants.

But Erich didn't need to chant. Two fireballs materialized at the tip of his wand simultaneously.

This was Erich's greatest gain from tonight's battles. Having used the skill so many times, his Fireball spell had leveled up from Level 1 to Level 3. While the increase in power wasn't particularly striking, his control over the fireballs had reached a whole new level.

In Erich's understanding, the Fireball spell was nothing more than packing fire mana into a containment field, compressing it to critical density, giving it directional kinetic energy, and throwing it. After reaching Level 3, his comprehension of this process had deepened significantly.

Thus, while maintaining the overall shape of the fireball, he condensed a batch of incompletely combusted fire element particles inside it. Drawing inspiration from the dust explosion principle of his past life, these unburnt residual particles would disperse after the initial explosion and trigger a secondary blast.

He couldn't say for sure how powerful it would be, but the area of effect would definitely be massive.

As the two fireballs shot out, the second-years were already prepared. They had studied Erich's fighting style tonight—chantless fireballs coupled with close-quarters suppression. The moment they saw the fireballs flying toward them, they skillfully scattered, letting the spheres pass between them to strike the ground.

However, Erich's modified fireballs then detonated in the middle of the crowd. The neatly formed second-years were blown off their feet, and several even lost their grip on their wands.

This was the exact moment Erich had been waiting for, and he prepared to close in and charge into the crowd.

Yet, before he could break through, a transparent barrier blocked his path. He immediately followed up with a point-blank fireball, but the barrier remained steadfast.

Erich took a step back, a bad premonition washing over him for the first time tonight. He was about to call out to Balin and Yser to flank them, only to realize there was no need.

Behind them, a crowd of people had appeared out of nowhere.

At least twenty people had silently surrounded them. From the sheer presence of the two standing at the front of the group, it was clear they were no ordinary small fry.

Cecily and Dominic.

The joint suppression by the Silver Circle Society and the Sparkfire Association had begun.