"Get off me!"
Lina then noticed that she was in a narrow space and the beautiful guy was glaring at her.
"Can you move? I'm going to die if you don't move away from me!"
There's not so much she could take even if the guy was handsome. She tried to move and realized she was stuck. They were stuck in the opening like the two stubborn popcorn kernels that fell, and you can't retrieve them below the sofa.
"I can't move!" She grinned at him.
The guy glared at her, "You can teleport away as you teleported in here!"
Lina's lips twitched. If only she could teleport! She didn't know if she was at the right place.
"I can't teleport now!"
The guy glared at her again and then sighed. She couldn't see, but he formed some seals, and the rock structure that imprisoned them was blown away. The impact disoriented Lina, but when she found the guy, he was looking sadly at the rubble.
Conveniently, the rocks that fell away were now squishing a plant. The plant was luminous, and Lina was sure it would fetch sly high prices. So, she understands the guy's reaction. He turned and gave her a really angry glare.
"Um, sorry, I didn't know!"
There were not many things that embarrassed her, but this was one of them.
"Didn't know? Didn't know? If you didn't know, how could you teleport here?"
What could she say?
"Sorry!"
The guy carefully removed the debris, picked up the fallen luminous grass, and then opened his book. Lina watched the grass disappear and almost went mad. What was this sorcery?
The guy left with a huff, and Lina followed him out. She needed to know what he was doing!
"Don't follow me!"
"The way out is the same." She answered slowly!
He didn't answer, but she kept following him. That's when she found that the place was a clearing and the way out was again walking through narrow stone passages. Walking for so long, it was tiring, but she walked faster so as not to lose him in the crisscrossing passages.
Lina didn't have time to observe the shimmering stones that dotted the roof of the cave passage; she took a glance and kept walking. After what seemed like fifteen minutes, she finally saw the opening. Light spilled in, and she walked out to find a spectacular scene.
Swaying multicolored flowers, trees with multiple kinds of fruits, and a bee the size of a dog.
Lina blinked, and blinked.
Where was she?
The guy ducked and opened his book. Lina was shocked. She watched as he wrote something, and a water curtain formed before him.
"Come here!"
She ran towards him.
"Walk behind me slowly, don't touch the flowers!"
She nodded in her mind.
But because she was not aware enough, she stumbled, and her feet touched a blue-flowered plant. The surroundings became still and then, chaos!
"You don't listen!"
The bee buzzed towards them, and Lina didn't want to imagine the consequences. Why did she touch the blue flower plant? God, why?
_________
"They are done for! Color Bees hate when their flowers are touched by others."
"Yeah, I never thought I'd see Aster fighting a bee, haha! Serves him right!"
"That girl, who is she?"
Voices talked, and on the screen, Aster was fighting the bee while Lina was trying not to get in his way.
"This year's Trial has so many unforeseen factors," A bearded guy stroked his beard and hummed a tune.
"Of course, trials are always great. Observing students in a fight is the best way to hone their skills."
The bearded guy was talking with a lady in red. She wore a veil that added mystery to her presence.
They sat among a group of people on a platform, carefully watching the scenes on the screen. The screen showed multiple students fighting with plants and animals.
"Oh, what's that girl doing?"
________
Lina was hitting the bee on the head with her book! What else could she do? She understood that she couldn't pick anything to hit the bee because she had tried. She had used a stick on the ground, and when it hit the black bee, the bee became powerful.
"Are you stupid? You can't use anything from here to touch it, otherwise it will become more powerful!"
Lina had a pitiful number of possessions in her backpack, and she couldn't very well use her spare clothes to fight. So, she directly used her book. At least her book was heavy, and it could hurt when used for hitting.
The bee was hit, and it gave Aster a moment of reprieve.
Lina sighed. This was just crazy.
The bee looked at her, and somehow Lina saw tears in its eyes. Lina felt guilty.
"Don't stop, keep hitting, "the guy kept telling her.
Lina hesitated; the bee looked so sad and pitiful.
"How about it? You let us go, and I won't hit you?" She asked the bee. The bee nodded, and Lina was bewildered.
"Are you crazy? The bee will attack us!"
The people watching the screen also laughed.
"She is so naive. She thinks the bee will allow them to leave?"
"Yes, everyone knows Color Bees like to act."
The crowd gave Lina a stupid person tag, and the ones on the platform shook their heads.
"It's a pity, if Aster hadn't found her, he would have advanced easily!" The bearded guy spoke.
"You idiot, can't you see, the bee is crying!" The lady in red yelled at him.
"So what?"
"Only when the bee feels the other person is powerful, it cries, Why don't you read more books?"
The bearded guy slapped his thigh.
"This girl, I want her. She is my apprentice. No one is allowed to snatch!"
The others gave him exasperated glances, but Lina didn't know she was going to get a master.
She was now watching the bee bring fruits and flowers and dripping before her.
Aster looked at her with surprise.
"What's your magic level? Are you a Cover Weilder?"
Magic level? Cover weilder? What was that?
And what was that sound? Faint restless everywhere.
Aster turned back.
"Oh no, Grass centipede is here!"
Lina looked back, and she felt her soul leaving her. The one before her was a centipede that looked bigger than a car. Was it going to kill her by its looks alone?
She was going to faint now!
"Stand back!"
She didn't need any prompting. The centipede crawled near, and Aster opened his book again. This time, he took out a mirror. The mirror reflected light, and the centipede squirmed. It moved back precariously, and when she thought it was going to go back, the centipede performed a sneak attack.
It attacked her.