In Free City, at Wisdom Academy, almost all the instructors had gathered in the conference room. Once everyone had arrived, the Dean said, "All right, everyone is here. Let's begin. I'm sure you all know the main purpose of this meeting: the student training expedition in three days. This expedition will be different from previous ones. Demon beasts have been attacking human city walls repeatedly lately, and with alarming frequency. Here are the records of attacks over the past month. Take a look."
At a gesture from the Dean, his assistant distributed the documents to the instructors. They began reading, and the Dean left them undisturbed to review the material.
Once they had nearly finished, the Dean continued, "These records show that demon beast attacks on human cities have steadily increased in frequency over the past three months, from once every three days to three or four times a day now. This makes one thing abundantly clear: a beast tide is coming. To guard against the threat it poses, I have reached an agreement with several nearby cities and the Three Great Empires. We will hunt the demon beasts before it begins."
Some instructors gasped at his words. Hunting demon beasts was no simple matter. Demon beasts were far stronger than humans of the same rank, and many could even fight opponents above their rank.
Demon beasts were fiercely territorial. Although most higher-ranked beasts occupied vast territories alone or in pairs, allowing humans to gang up on them, the risks remained considerable. Any beast strong enough to claim a territory was at least sixth rank. They were immensely powerful: a sixth-rank demon beast was already comparable to a seventh-rank human Magic Mentor, beyond what ordinary strength in numbers could defeat.
Lower-ranked demon beasts, meanwhile, traveled in packs and could be