My Roleplay System
Chapter 168: Preparations (2)

Chapter 168: Chapter 168: Preparations (2)

After another few hours, Lake had completely remodeled the entire shore to the point that it was completely unrecognizable from its previous state.

There were various hills and raised platforms to act as vantage points spread along the coast for as far as a kilometer, with several valleys to funnel any creature that entered into a field of magic traps. He had barely managed to finish his preparation within the time limit he had given himself, and although the preparations weren’t anything fancy, they were more than enough for dealing with the lower-ranked creatures.

’This should at least remove any distractions so that everyone could focus on the real threat...’ Lake’s gaze turned to the group of guardian hunters that had gathered along with the other students while he was modifying the terrain.

After all, no matter how many traps or obstacles he lays in its path, a Rank Three creature could easily bulldoze through it all without suffering so much as a scratch. He would still have to rely on the efforts and strengths of the gathered guardians.

Standing upright on the highest platform he had created, Lake could see that most of the students had arrived after all this time. It was currently early in the morning, only an hour before sunrise.

Throughout the night, many students had set up simple campfires where they all sat around, chatting with each other as they roasted some monster meat on the fire. Some of them talked about their experience during their hunts, while others were questioning reality while looking at Lake’s ’preparations’ on the beach.

Kate and the rest of his team had also returned and were resting around a campfire, ideally chatting among each other while taking the occasional glance his way.

Without hesitation, Lake took a step off the peak as his body naturally floated down towards them. When he landed, they all turned to look at him as Sylph jumped up from her seat before flying over.

Her eyes were sparkling with childlike admiration, making Lake feel slightly amused. She clenched her small hands into fists as she propped them up in front of her chest. Her mouth kept opening and closing, probably at a loss for what to say, which only caused Lake to smile as he reached out to pat her head.

"What’s wrong, Sylph? You seem more excited than usual."

Sylph didn’t dodge Lake’s hand and simply closed her eyes in satisfaction as she shouted out, "That was amazing!"

"Oh? What was so amazing?" Lake asked, deciding to play along with her.

"T-The whoosh! And the rumble! The way you made the ground rise and the earth shift with a look! It was all so awesome and cool! I’ve never seen anything like that before, even back on the continent where I came from!" Sylph started to flutter all around Lake like a hyperactive child, drawing the gazes of the nearby students and guardian hunters alike. Her high-energy aura was truly infectious and made the people around her smile uncontrollably.

Even Lake couldn’t help but smile when he saw her excited state. Maybe it was because he gained the ’Love for All Magic’ trait and considered Sylph to basically be a magical creature—for both the wrong and right reasons—that he gained the ability to genuinely smile at her antics.

The feeling was unique to him and was strangely comforting, so he couldn’t help but indulge in it for a bit.

That causal smile from Lake, however, had an unforeseen effect on the onlookers. Lake was already incredibly handsome, so when he smiled as genuinely as he did just then, it ended up dazzling a few of the students who were watching the two. Because of his usual actions, most of Lake’s good looks had been buried behind by his demonic presence in the hearts of all students. So his sudden gentleness in front of the even more beautiful Sylph really did leave them dazed for a few moments.

However, the two students who were most affected were shocked for two completely different reasons.

’I-it can’t be. I was hoping that maybe Sylph was just misunderstanding her feelings, but looking at the atmosphere between the two, something really is up!’

Iris was panicking internally as she looked at the gentle atmosphere growing between the two. Looking at how Lake casually touched her head and the way Sylph affectionately responded to it, Iris’ felt as if something precious had just been stolen from her.

’This can’t go on! I’ll have to do something to keep Sylph away from Lake! I absolutely cannot let him defile her! I won’t allow it!’

While Iris was falling deeper into her own misunderstandings and sending death glares towards Lake, Kate was also having her own internal turmoil.

’Who the fuck is that?!’ Kate’s eyes were wide open as she stared at the smiling Lake, even cursing subconsciously.

’Where did the ice-cold demon go? Is that really the same man who couldn’t feel emotions and had to put up different faces in front of others? Where is his usual false smile and calm gaze? Did his acting improve? Or could it be...’

Kate felt her worldview collapsing as she stared blankly at that incredibly pure and gentle smile. Her heart was beating like crazy as a deep feeling of dread built up inside her.

’Did he really fall in love?’

Instantly, Kate felt like a bomb had gone off in her mind. Never did she expect that the man commonly referred to by the entire first-year student body as ’The Demon’, would fall in love.

’To think you know someone only to see them completely change after falling in love.’ Kate can’t remember where she heard this phrase, but she felt that it aptly described what she was seeing in front of her.

Kate had never fallen in love before, so she couldn’t have related to such a topic before. Although she loved to hear the romance stories of others and oftentimes enjoyed listening to idle gossip, the emotion called love was completely foreign to her. Seeing the effects that it had on Lake, Kate couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of wonder towards this unknown emotion.

’To have the ability to turn Lake into ’that’, is love really so magical?’

While the two of them were lost in their own thoughts, Bramble, who was watching everything from the perspective of a spectator, was greatly admiring the amazing misunderstanding that was forming before his eyes.

Speaking in his native tongue, Bramble’s gaze shifted towards the beautiful stars in the night sky as an intoxicated smile appeared on his face. "Ah, there really is such beauty in this world. Thank you, oh great Spirit of Charm, for granting me your blessing, allowing me to truly understand and appreciate the beauty of this world."

After playing along with Sylph for a few minutes, Lake finally managed to calm her down somewhat and returned back to the main objective. Although he wanted to explore this newfound joy a little more, he didn’t have much time left before the creature woke up, so he had to focus.

Seeing that Sylph had separated from him, Iris abruptly jumped up and dragged Sylph to sit next to her, leaving him slightly confused, but he didn’t bother to question her actions. Since his momentary amusement had disappeared, he also returned to his usual demeanor.

Waving his hand, he called for a small team of students before giving them a few orders. The coming fight was going to be extremely dangerous, so he wanted to have some ’insurance’ before things got too out of hand.

The small team quickly left after receiving his orders as Lake turned to face the rest of the students and guardians in front of him. To one side, he could also see that the pack of green wolves who were obediently awaiting further orders.

After asking Sylph to convey some commands to the pack, he turned to face the rest of the students and hunters. While Lake was observing everyone, they too also noticed his gaze and immediately felt a shiver travel down their spines as they saw the corner of his lips slowly creep up.

The contrast between the gentle smile they had seen moments ago and the trauma-inducing one before them made the students unable to ignore what was about to come.

Silent curses and whispers immediately erupted among the students.

"The demon has returned!"

"I knew that the kindness he showed Sylph was too good to be true!"

"Fuck, I sense trouble approaching..."

"We’re doomed."

"What do I do? I still haven’t mentally recovered from the late-night hunt yesterday."

"Damn, that smile was really attractive. To think I almost fell for him! It’s a good thing I was able to see through his true nature so quickly! I won’t be so easily deceived next time!"

"Wait, hold up. Babe, I think there was something wrong with your words just now—"

"You must be imagining things, Conner."

"No, you really did just say something that made me really concerned. Did you just say you almost fell—"

"Shu! Look, Lake looks like he is ready to talk. Let’s focus so we won’t have to suffer as much later on."

Listening to everyone’s chatter, Lake felt that it was time and immediately employed his King’s Aura, enveloping the entire area and causing everyone to immediately quiet down. The moon had vanished from the night sky at this point as the warm glow of the sun continued to rise in the distant horizon.

"My fellow hunters and students! I hope that everyone was able to get some rest, because you’re going to need it!"

Suddenly, the loud sound of people swallowing their saliva rang out throughout the area. It seems that all the students felt a bit of fear when they heard ’Lake’ say that they needed ’rest’.

Some of them were even wiping the sweat that was dripping off their foreheads, feeling relief that they had decided to come earlier to rest instead of going out to hunt.

Lake continued to smile, seeing their nervous reactions as he continued his speech.

"I’m sure you all are curious as to what I called you out here for, so I shall waste no time explaining. Today, we stand on the edge of a great battle. Behind me is the battlefield I’ve prepared for you."

"This time, the battle will be like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. You will all be facing off against a formidable foe, the likes of which some of you probably haven’t even seen before, but this is one battle that you must overcome. Not for me, not for the Academy, and not for any greater goal, but for yourself."

"If you all are able to come out of this battle without running away or cowering in fear, you will rise through the tribulations to become stronger than ever before. Your potential will rise, your fame will increase, and most importantly, your mentality as a hunter will solidify!"

"This is one test that you must pass if you wish to succeed in the future. I will accept no failures, so do not disappoint me."

Lake’s cold eyes swept through the crowd as he spoke, sending shivers up each student’s spine. They couldn’t help but feel a little scared hearing the gravity of Lake’s tone, but an even more powerful feeling of anticipation was also building up inside of them.

They didn’t know what was to come, but they all knew one thing. During all of the hell-like and nightmarish training Lake had put them through, he had never once exaggerated its effectiveness. If he said that they would grow stronger, then they would grow stronger.

That was the kind of firm belief that the students had subtly developed toward Lake. So even if Lake said they were going to go through hell itself, as long as he said it was for their growth, most of them were willing to put up with it.

Seeing the building excitement on everyone’s face, Lake felt that his previous training sessions were starting to pay off.

’Once my ’insurance’ arrives, I can start the raid.’ As this thought ran through Lake’s head, he began to organize the students along with the guardian hunters into their optimized positions. He didn’t have much time left, so he was going to have to be as efficient as possible.