They were already running.

The ground dipped and rose without warning, roots cutting across their path as the forest thickened around them. Branches snapped underfoot, leaves brushing against armor and skin as the group pushed forward.

Breathing grew heavier as Ronan ran.

Elara hadn’t wasted any time, and suggested they immediately go to the statue. They gathered a group of powerful students, not too many, but enough to win a fight, and set off.

Ronan followed without thought, and no one really questioned it.

A statue this early though?

When he read the novel, he only read it through the point of view of class S, and class S hadn’t found their first statue until after the first day had ended.

Then again, they were also a scattered mess.

A lot of the class S students wanted to just kick it back and wait until the other classes claimed their statues, and then fight for the spot afterwards.

The logic may have seemed sound, but it wouldn’t work like that realistically.

The ones who would obtain the statue first would have the advantage, being able to build powerful defenses and traps around the area.

And if they had a powerful runesmith, like class B had, it would be even easier to defend the area.

If I remember correctly, class S has a powerful runesmith as well. Though, the one is class B should be more proficient from what I’ve seen.

He still hadn’t learned the shy girl’s name. Perhaps he would ask later.

They were nonstop running full sprint for around 20 minutes now, and Ronan was feeling the fatigue. This body was pathetically weak.

"If someone else gets there first, we lose it," Elara said from the front, her pace pushing harder than the terrain allowed.

"Don’t break formation," Darius replied immediately.

The others didn’t seem as tired. Ironically, his previous body would have been able to handle this task better. On Earth, he worked out regularly, weightlifting and cardio being part of his daily routine.

The original Ronan obviously didn’t partake in such things.

He would have to work on that. He hadn’t given it much thought earlier, but it was showing now.

The ground grew softer, uneven in a different way, as if recently disturbed. The trees thickened, their spacing tightening just enough to restrict clear lines of sight. The air itself seemed to grow heavier, a faint mist settling low across the ground.

Sound dulled.

The mana in the air grew thick.

As they approached closer, the sight of a massive statue came into view.

It was a tall, nude woman looking upwards. Her expression was solemn, and she looked to be reaching towards the heavens.

But what caught all of their eyes was the fact that there were distinct runes running all along the statue. They were all in intricate designs, and to an amateur runesmith, it may as well have looked like random symbols.

But they didn’t need to know the exact contents of the runes themselves. What mattered was that this clearly meant that they had found the statue.

A few of them slowed first.

Then the rest followed.

Not a full stop, but enough.

Relief hit before anyone said it, and it showed on their faces and body language.

A few students exhaled sharply, shoulders loosening just slightly as the statue came fully into view.

"We made it," someone muttered.

Elara didn’t relax.

But even she paused for half a second, her eyes locking onto the structure.

Darius stepped forward.

"Perimeter first," he said. "Don’t assume it’s uncontested."

The group spread out slightly, slower this time, more controlled. A few moved to the outer edges, scanning the trees, checking sightlines.

Nothing.

"That was quick," Darius said, but he wasn’t that into it, most of his focus was on the statue they had just found.

"We didn’t find anyone. It seems clear, we should be good."

Darius nodded, not paying him any more attention.

Elara turned back toward the center. "If this holds, we anchor here. Defensive layout, layered. No large gaps."

"We’ll need traps," one of the students added. "And elevation control."

"We have both," another said, glancing toward the terrain behind them.

Darius nodded once, already pulling the minor node from his pack.

"We will need at least 20 students situated here. That will be more than enough to defend against attacks and stall long enough to get backup."

"Agreed. We have already set up a base at the River, so we can no longer relocate."

They continued discussing the plans for the future.

Ronan was more concerned about the present.

This situation... It seemed odd.

For one, it still rubbed him the wrong way that they had found a statue this quickly, and one so close to their base as well.

It seemed rather convenient.

Ronan thought back to class A, as they seemed to be the only ones near the base, but he dismissed that thought. There was no time for them to scheme anything.

So what was this?

Was he overthinking?

No, there had never been a statue like this in the novel either.

Or more specifically, the statues in the novel had been described to be very simple in nature.

Birds. Animals. Fish.

This one seemed a little complex, but in design and in symbolism, to be like the statues described in the novel.

He crouched again, slower this time.

The soil gave way easily under his fingers.

Too easily.

There. A mark.

Not deep, but wrong.

It wasn’t theirs. The direction didn’t match the approach path.

He took another step to the side–

More.

Faint impressions, half-erased. Someone had tried to cover them. Drag marks. Overlapping paths. A turn that didn’t make sense unless–

He paused.

A blue screen appeared in front of him.

Ronan’s gaze lifted in shock, maybe at the sudden involvement of the system, or the recent revelation it just made.

[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]

[Main Quest: Escape Artist]

Status: Ongoing

Description: You are surrounded, and have fallen into an elaborate trap. Class S, unified under the rule of Grace Light, have you in their claws.

Goal: Break encirclement and retreat without any member of Class B being captured by Class S.

Conditions:

- At least 70% of participating Class B members must successfully disengage

- No member of Class B may be taken hostage

- The Minor Node must not fall into enemy possession

Penalty: None

Reward: Unknown Skill

The screen vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Ronan didn’t move.

For a fraction of a second, everything else faded.

Grace Light.

...What?

His thoughts stalled. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Not slowed.

Stopped.

Grace Light?

The Saintess candidate?

That didn’t make sense.

It didn’t fit.

In the novel, she wasn’t here.

Not like this.

Not leading. Not unifying anything.

Ronan’s breath hitched slightly as he tried to pull the memory forward. Everything he knew about her.

She was the saintess candidate of course. Suppressed by the church, and the one who would follow the hero chosen by the goddess of light herself.

She hated that reality, wanting to change with her own hands, and Luca helped her escape it.

That was her character arc.

That was her fate.

Was the system lying to him?

No, that didn’t seem likely. So what was going on?

His gaze snapped up.

Class S.

Unified.

That was wrong.

That was completely wrong.

They weren’t supposed to be like this.

They were supposed to fracture early, waste time, clash internally before stabilizing later. That was the entire reason they fell behind in the early phase.

If what the system was saying held any truth, they were somehow unified – under the rule of Grace of all people – and they had trapped them.

The foundation of his plan.

Right there it shattered.

Ronan’s thoughts spiraled, trying to reconstruct something – anything – that made sense.

His mind snapped to the only variable that could explain it.

Him.

The moment the thought surfaced, it didn’t go away.

Everything started lining up in ways he didn’t like.

He had already interfered.

Freya.

Had she done something? Or perhaps Aura? He remembered that she mentioned Grace Light approaching her in the beginning of the year, but he had written that off knowing Grace’s amicable personality.

Ronan’s thoughts were moving uncontrollably, enough so that he didn’t see Darius already approaching the statue, the node in hand.

Darius stepped forward, placing the node into the circular hole, and the node slipped in seamlessly.

The node entered the statue, disappearing into it completely.

The runes along the statue dimmed slightly.

Stabilizing.

A few students let out quiet breaths.

"It worked," someone said, relief slipping through their voice.

Elara didn’t relax.

But even she didn’t interrupt.

Darius straightened slightly, one hand still resting near the base of the statue, watching for any reaction.

There wasn’t one.

Not immediately.

Ronan didn’t see any of it.

His thoughts were still unraveling.

A faint hum filled the air.

Darius frowned.

"You hear that?"

No one answered.

The runes flickered.

Once.

Twice.

Then they ignited.

Violently.

Light surged across the statue in a cascading pattern, each rune flaring in sequence as the entire structure came alive in a way that stone shouldn’t.

"What–"

Darius didn’t finish.

The statue moved.

It snapped downward with a force that cracked the air itself, the stone arm closing around Darius before anyone could react.

The impact echoed.

Students flinched back instinctively.

"Elara–!"

Too late.

The grip tightened.

Darius’ body jerked as the runes flared brighter, the light shifting from passive glow to something active.

Ronan felt it before he saw it.

The sudden mana pulse snapped him out of his thoughts, and he cursed under his breath.

He had gotten careless. He was so busy thinking about what the system message meant, he forgot the current situation at hand.

Class S didn’t reveal themselves carelessly.

They revealed themselves with almost practiced efficiency, emerging from behind trees, from within the mist, from angles that had been hidden too cleanly to notice before.

Ronan counted their numbers without thinking.

Almost double.

Elara let out a choked sound.

"We are surrounded."