Before coming to Atticus' island, the recruits had gone through this exact experience before. Thrust suddenly into an uninhabited island, they had been forced to create shelters and seek food for themselves.
However, their situation couldn't be compared to now. Somehow, many had wide smiles on their faces as they built their shelters. The current environment, compared to the hell they had endured before, was like night and day.
The air was clean, the water even cleaner. The forest wasn't trying to kill them, and the ground wasn't trying to swallow them whole.
To many, it was heaven.
Within minutes, shelters were built, and many scattered across the forest in search of food, only to regret it the next instant.
A series of bloodcurdling screams suddenly erupted from multiple directions—
"RUUUUUUN!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
"IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO MOVE THAT FAST!"
"I—I SWEAR IT WAS JUST A TREE A SECOND AGO!"
"WE PICKED THE WRONG TEAM!"
From all corners of the island, recruits bolted back toward camp, their expressions filled with pure terror.
Behind them, deep, guttural roars filled the air as beasts of varying sizes and horrors emerged from the forests, snarling in fury at the intruders who dared trespass on their territory.
The forest trembled as different creatures charged forward, some breaking through trees, others leaping across the terrain with unnatural speed.
Back at camp, many recruits who had yet to leave froze in place, their bodies going rigid with fear as they watched their comrades flee in absolute panic.
Many of the people who had gone to hunt had been their best. If they were fleeing and screaming like this… no one could imagine what they had encountered.
Even some of the Ravensteins stood unnervingly still, their faces pale as the monstrous roars rumbled through the island.
Then—
Nate burst into camp, drenched in sweat, panting heavily.
His hair was a mess, his face flushed, and his entire body trembled as he pointed toward the forest.
"WHO THE HELL ARE THESE MONSTERS HERE FOR?!" he yelled, exasperated.
Many recruits turned to look at him, some struggling not to laugh. The island had been designed for Atticus, and thus, most of the beasts that inhabited it were at the Grandmaster+ rank.
Just one of these beasts was enough to cause carnage through their ranks.
"THOSE BEASTS WERE BORN TO KILL!"
Lucas, standing nearby, rolled his eyes. "Stop exaggerating."
Nate snapped his head toward him, his expression filled with outrage.
"Exaggerating? EXAGGERATING?! Did you see those beasts?! It looked as if—"
He paused, shaking his head.
"If not for my quick feet, I'd have become beast food! OR WORSE, BEAST FECES!"
A few recruits choked on laughter, but most were far too shaken to react.
Nate, however, was not finished.
He placed a hand on Lucas' shoulder, lowering his voice like a man delivering his final words.
"You would have burst into tears, mourning your only bro."
Lucas gave him an unamused stare.
"If you're gone, at least it'll be quieter."
Lucas turned away casually, as if dismissing the entire conversation.
Nate's jaw dropped.
"YOU DON'T MEAN THAT!"
Lucas, still walking away, gave a small shrug.
Lucas walked across the camp and approached Aurora.
"How do we get food?"
Aurora, who had her arms crossed while surveying the whole camp, responded without hesitation.
"I'll hunt with the other human leaders."
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "According to the others, the forest is filled with Grandmaster-rank beasts."
The highest rank they had was Master-rank. Lucas couldn't imagine what kind of miracle they planned to pull off.
"I know. But look, who amongst us could survive an encounter with a Grandmaster-rank beast?" Aurora asked.
Lucas' eyes widened before nodding, having understood her point. "He's watching."
Aurora nodded. "He is. I know that bastard. Even if I inform him of our situation, he won't do anything and would probably ask me to get a man." The last words made her clench her fist, the air around her heating up.
"This is probably his way of helping. He's stopping the Grandmaster beasts from attacking us. As long as we don't enter their territory, we should be fine."
As Aurora spoke, she turned and approached Kael and Zoey, who had been watching the situation unfold from a distance.
As she reached them, she explained her observations before giving an order.
"We'll be foraging for food."
Zoey and Kael gave her a firm nod. Although they were higher ranked than Aurora, Atticus had put her in charge. Which meant she was in charge.
And Aurora, being Aurora, wasn't shy when it came to ordering people around, even if they outranked her.
They gathered more human division leaders before setting out to hunt. Aurora's assumption had been correct. The group ran into multiple Grandmaster-rank beasts, but as long as they avoided their territory, none of the beasts attacked them.
Instead, they hunted the lower-rank beasts in the forest, and after a few hours, they had been able to capture quite a number before deciding to call it a day and head back to camp.
By the time they returned, the human camp had already been built.
A staggering number of buildings littered the once lush forest, the trees having been cleared.
Aurora had gone far, making sure their camp was nothing short of perfect.
Paved roads, sturdy buildings, supply depots, training grounds, watchtowers, medical buildings, and much more.
The humans had gathered together to form one massive camp.
Many of the other races across the trench threw envious glances in their direction. The Ravensteins were elementalists, which made construction, especially for Earth-elementalists, very easy.
Just like the humans, the divisions of the other races also joined together to build camps with their respective races.
Aside from the humans, only the dwarves, whose entire race was centered around construction, could compare. In fact, many would argue that their camp was even better than the humans'.
Aurora had also informed the other race division leaders of her assumptions, enabling them to go hunting for themselves.
Luckily, Atticus wasn't heartless enough to offer protection only to the humans.
By nightfall, the camp was ready, and many of the recruits sat around massive campfires, roasting the meats of the beasts they had captured earlier.