My Roleplay System
Chapter 134: Hunter and Prey

Chapter 134: Chapter 134: Hunter and Prey

While most people were still confused, Kate walked with a vacant look in her eyes. Lake could tell that she had already accepted her fate, which caused him to smile subconsciously.

"Alright. I believe everyone knows that the end-of-month exam was pushed up, so I won’t beat around the bush. In order to ensure that everyone is ready for the exam, our first practical training would be using Limit Training in the form of a game called ’Hunter and Prey.’"

As Lake spoke, he manipulated the formation to create a barrier around the training ground. The barrier was a light blue force field that outlined a portion of the Mana Gathering Field.

"The principle of limit training is to push an opponent past their mental and physical limits to enhance their combat proficiency. The game of Hunter and Prey serves a similar purpose. There will be two Hunters, Kate and me, and everyone else is the Prey."

"The goal for the Prey is to survive as long as possible under the assault of the two Hunters without leaving the outlined barrier."

"Simple, right?"

Everyone’s expressions froze when they heard Lake’s words. Kate, too, had a pleasantly surprised look, albeit, for a slightly different reason.

’I’m not going to get beaten up? Wait a second, why would I be the one getting beaten up?’

As if she had just realized something wrong with her own thoughts, Kate frowned slightly.

At that point, a few students were talking amongst themselves until one eventually stood out and asked Lake, "Um, so, like, is there any reason why we’re doing this? I mean, I know that Limit Training is an effective means to increase combat strength, but isn’t this just us running away from you two?"

Hearing the students’ questions, Lake replied with a light smile.

"In battle, winning is always the best possible outcome, but what would you do if you were to encounter an opponent many times stronger than you? Would you just stand around and wait to be eaten? Would you try to fight back, only to realize that none of your attacks are working?"

"Or would you make the most logical choice and try to run away, using everything you can to survive?"

Hearing Lake’s words, everyone seemed to understand what he was trying to convey, but they were still puzzled about something.

"Fine, I understand your point, but what does this have to do with the exam? Isn’t it just a team-based hunt? In that scenario, we’re the hunters, so is there any need to practice being the prey?"

Lake paused for a moment with a thoughtful expression.

"Everyone here is already strong enough to hunt low-level monsters, thanks to the academy’s training. However, what everyone lacks is not strength, but experience. No matter how strong you are, if you were to freeze in front of a far stronger opponent, all your strength would become useless, and you’d become easy prey."

"That’s why it’s better to learn the art of surviving as prey first, instead of focusing solely on learning how to kill as a hunter, if that makes sense to you."

Lake only smiled at their understanding. He had already read through the instructors’ fates and knew how helpful this training would be, especially given the changes made to the exam.

"Well then, if there are no more questions, let’s get started, shall we? I’ll give everyone a minute to get ready, and then we’ll begin."

Everyone was still slightly puzzled by this unique training but they still hurried to prepare themselves. Lake took the opportunity to talk to Kate.

With a small smile, he asked, "Are you ready?"

Kate felt her eyelid twitch as she replied sarcastically, "I don’t know, maybe if I had prior notice, I could have prepared myself better."

"Is that so? I’ll keep it in mind for next time."

Seeing how he brushed off her complaint, Kate felt slightly annoyed. She knew that it was pointless to argue with Lake but she still tried anyway.

With a defeated sigh, she explained, "I hope you know my mana capacity still hasn’t increased by much, so I won’t be able to last long in this game of yours."

Lake chuckled, "Don’t count yourself out so quickly. This is also training for you in a way."

"Hmm?" Kate raised an eyebrow at Lake’s words.

Luckily, Lake didn’t keep her in suspense.

"Your body is already as strong as a Mid Rank Martial Apprentice even without mana, so there’s no need to use your mana against the first years. You may run into some trouble with the second years, but I still want you to avoid using your mana and fight them with just your body."

"This would benefit both you and everyone else. The students benefit from fighting an opponent that is stronger than them but not overwhelmingly stronger than them, while you gain experience in fighting without mana."

Hearing Lake’s instructions, Kate thought for a while before reluctantly nodding her head.

"Fine. I guess I’ll give it a try."

Lake didn’t say anything but only smiled at her agreement.

Turning his gaze to the rest of the students, Lake saw that they were mostly prepared and addressed them once more.

"Alright, since everyone’s ready, let us begin. The time is currently 5 PM. Your goal is to survive until 8 PM. If you’re hit and disabled, you’re out. If you run out of the barrier, you’re out. Besides those two rules, do whatever it takes to survive."

"Oh, and one more thing. Don’t worry about any injuries you may sustain; the Mana Gathering Field has a built-in healing effect that boosts your recovery speed."

"However, don’t think that this means you can relax once you’re out. From the moment I sense that you’re even slightly recovered, I’ll start attacking you again."

As Lake finished speaking his last words, an eager light flashed in his eyes, and a wide grin appeared on his face.

"Now... the hunt begins!"

Boom!

As soon as he finished speaking, Lake dashed forward, arriving in front of a student in an instant, catching the student off guard!

With a straight punch, his fist landed directly on the student’s chest, sending him flying into the crowd behind him, knocking down several other students in a row!

Fortunately, this student was one of the unfortunate few who had experienced Lake’s prowess during the one vs. fifty encounter and knew the importance of reinforcing his body before battle.

However, even with his reinforced body, he still struggled to get up as he felt like his ribs had fractured and blood erupted from his mouth.

Lake’s fast actions and intense battle aura caused everyone to tense up as they finally started to move.

Lake didn’t waste time and continued to attack the other students around him.

After seeing Lake’s swift actions, Kate didn’t want to fall behind and also joined the fray.

Ten minutes passed, and the students began to realize the nightmarish challenge they had entered as everyone was already wiped out.

Lake, however, didn’t stop there. He used the mana from the formation to cast a mid-level healing spell.

Just as everyone realized that their bodies had been healed and were about to jump up, Lake started his second round.

This time the students were much more prepared and employed a variety of tactics to survive longer.

Some tried to group up and fight back, but were mercilessly beaten. Others tried to abandon their allies to run further away but were relentlessly chased and beaten. Some adopted the strategy of playing dead and laying on the ground before also being beaten.

As the match progressed, various tactics and strategies were employed by the students but in front of Lake’s overwhelming strength, everything was dismantled piece by piece.

When the last student had been knocked down, twelve minutes had passed.

This process of being beaten and healed was repeated all the way until 8 PM.

At this point, the Mana Gathering Field was quiet, leaving behind only the soft sound of the leaves rustling in the wind.

If someone were to stumble across the Mana Gathering Field at this point, they would be given a fright.

The bloody bodies of unconscious students lay scattered about as a light blue mist floated around under the dim moonlight.

The grass on the field was covered in scarlet red blood as a strong smell of iron permeated the air.

Kate sat a distance away from the piles of bodies.

Blood also covered her body, some of which was her own.

Even with her enhanced physique, she still wasn’t able to endure the retaliation of the ’prey’.

Luckily, the recovery effect of the formation kept her in the fight despite so many injuries stacking up on her.

As she observed the scattered bodies in front of her, she recalled that feeling of being the ’Hunter.’

Chasing after her prey, anticipating their next move, moving ahead of time to counter it, and defending from their desperate retaliation when she cornered them. Everything was still clear in her mind.

However, when she looked at the bodies of the other student scattered about, she felt slightly terrified deep down.

Although she was responsible for a portion of the injured students, Lake was responsible for almost all of the unconscious students!

Kate wasn’t sure if he held back or not, but all of his attacks either left a student unconscious, or groaning in pain.

He would dash into a crowd of them before using a variety of grappling and claw techniques, to brutally disable and beat each student. He moved like a wild beast and the results were apparent from the fearful screams that rang out through the field whenever he chose his next prey.

Regardless of gender, everyone received an equal pounding from Lake.

Kate was grateful that she wasn’t on the side of the prey but did feel somewhat sympathetic for them. She too had experienced the horror of fighting Lake so she knew that this training session wasn’t just a test of physical endurance, but also their mental limits.

Kate could already see it. If everyone was able to overcome Lake’s training, a group of monsters more terrifying and stronger than even the third years were going to be born, and leading them by the helm would be a demon that made even those monsters cry...