498 Chapter 498: Wet Dream (1/2)
”Huff…huff…”
Wiping the perspiration from my face, I turned to look at the huge lake. The creature was still remaining hidden under the surface for now and other than me and Rossetti, no one else seemed to have noticed it. The middle school students were too busily running, and I accompanied both them and the trainers.
Rossetti and the teachers, on the other hand declined the opportunity to join in. I wasn't one to judge, so I just left them to watch by the side while I followed the kids on the track. Of course, I wasn't just there to train. My job was to provide security, after all, and I ensured that I scanned the surroundings for any sign of danger while simultaneously running alongside the middle school students.
Since it was my duty to protect them, I figured that the best way to do that was to stick close to the kids. Obviously there was no way for me to protect every single one of them, so I lingered near those who really mattered.
”Brother Richie!” Adrian panted when he saw me. I nodded at him and noted that Melina was running next to him. Along with their friends, they had congregated in one large group and were running together. The spirit of camaraderie and all that. I was glad that they were taking the whole ”working together to promote teamwork” and cooperation stuff seriously. That was good, I guess? Adrian grinned as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. ”You're running with us too?”
”Yeah. Would be good to have some exercise.” I glanced at the lake. ”After this, we'll have water activities?”
”Yeah,” Adrian confirmed. ”The trainers said they will give us an opportunity to cool off after the run. But they intend to do so by throwing us into the lake.”
”It's like a dream come true!” Melina gushed, clasping her hands as she jogged. ”I always wanted to swim in a lake!”
”There will be more than just swimming. I heard they want to simulate aquatic combat.” This time it was Iris. She dabbed at her damp cheek absent-mindedly. ”I don't know how they intend to conduct the training…”
”Don't worry,” Ivan assured her. ”It'll be fun! The trainers will make sure we won't get into anything too dangerous.”
I wondered if the kids knew there was a gigantic monster hiding beneath the lake. From the shape, I surmised that it was a whale or some gigantic fish (maybe a Megalodon?). Definitely not a crocodile or the Loch Ness Monster. There was no long, almost serpentine neck from what I could see, and I was pretty sure I could make out fins. Even by maximizing the resolution and using the sensors on my glasses, I still couldn't make out what was hiding underwater. It was unfortunate, but my glasses weren't omnipotent.
”All right!” chief trainer, Xun Lian Jia, clapped his hands as he stopped at the front. He spun around and gestured for everyone to stop. Relieved, the middle school kids came to a halt before bending over and heaving, the majority coughing as they struggled to catch their breaths. A few glanced up with trepidation, wondering what other torture Xun Lian Jia had in store for them. He didn't disappoint them. ”All of you, dive into the lake right now!”
”…huh?”
The middle school students gaped at him blankly, and Xun Lian Jia glowered back at them. His hands on his fists, his aura suddenly became fiery and I swore I almost saw a monster materialized behind him. A demon, more like it, the type with horns and stakes.
”Did you not hear me?” he roared. ”I told you to dive into the lake right now!”
All the kids obeyed unquestioningly, unable to resist his fury. A lot of them were just moving on instinct, plunging into the dark waters of the lake just to escape the chief trainer's wrath. Adrian and Melina were calmer, having been trained by me, but even the two of them were swept up by the crushing currents of their peers, and they decided to go along with the flow for now.
Smiling, I joined them. Splashing about in the lake was fun, and besides, with my affinity with ice I wasn't that averse to spending much time next to large bodies of water. I wonder if there was a Gyaragon in this lake.
”This is different from the Lake of Rage,” I mused to myself. ”That gigantic monster swimming below the surface doesn't look like a Gyaragon at all.”
Yeah, it was too bulky and bloated to be the serpentine Gyaragon.
”Gyaragon?” Several of the middle school kids caught part of my words and looked at me nervously. I smiled and shook my head.
”I said there are no Gyaragons in here.”
”Oh.” The kids immediately looked relieved. I hid my smirk, thinking that they relaxed too soon. After all, I only said there were no Gyaragons here. I didn't say there were no other monsters or that it was safe.
Nor did I intend on telling them that.
However, it was precisely because I wasn't sure how safe it would be that I joined them in the lake, diving in and looking for the gigantic lake monster. My glasses had some magical anti-water spell that repelled moisture and formed some sort of air bubble that allowed my lenses to remain dry and my eyes to be comfortable underwater. Basically a pair of makeshift magic goggles. And to think readers were criticizing me for wearing glasses at the beginning of the story. Hah! They had no idea how useful glasses are!
”…”
I drifted to a stop in the water and stared at the enormous white whale that dwelled within its depths. Its baleen mouth was somehow still open and it was surging toward the kids who had just intruded into its territory.
Too late, the students saw the gigantic whale and began to scream. Panicking, they tried to rush toward the shore, but Xun Lian Jia was there, and with a swing of his hand, he blasted them back into the waters.
”Help!”
”There's a monster!”
”We're doomed!”
I frowned and began to summon Black Tortoise. Sensing the mana swirling about me, Xun Lian Jia quickly stepped forward and waved at me.
”It's all right, it's all right! The sensei over there, don't do anything! This is part of the training program!”
”…eh?”
”Just get out of the water and watch.” Xun Lian Jia sighed. Feeling a little sheepish, I jumped out of the lake and landed on the shore, water splashing about. That was fine – with my control over water, I could dry myself out pretty quickly. Xun Lian Jia patted my soulder. ”Don't worry. This is pretty safe. That monster has been…completely neutered. It's huge, but it's harmless.”
He then stepped forward and yelled at the kids.
”What's the matter of you? I know the White Whale is massive, but there's only one of it and over a hundred of you! How can you be afraid of it? You have it outnumbered, so start fighting it!”
The White Whale let out a sad moan, but it lashed out, sending kids flying. Fortunately, this being the water, when they crashed back into the lake, they didn���t really get hurt. In fact a few of them began laughing.
”Let's work together!” Melina shouted, raising her sword. ”It's just one monster, and there's so many of us!”
”Yeah!” Adrian hollered next to her. Their friends were rallying to them, and I watched in satisfaction as they gathered together to start casting spells and coordinating attacks on the White Whale. Fire, ice, lightning, wood, earth, wind and all sorts of different elemental spells coalesced and converged onto the poor monster, striking it. It wailed and thrashed about.
For the next hour or so, I watched as the kids fought and attacked the White Whale in what seemed like a one-sided battle. Of course, its immense bulk meant that the kids were sent flying all over the place, but they seemed to enjoy themselves more than be afraid or get hurt. The White Whale, on the other hand, was pretty resilient. No matter how much the kids bombarded them, it didn't seem to suffer even a scratch. Their attacks were more like minor irritances against its thick hide and enormous size than any real threat.