The eight students stood in a single line within the meeting chamber, backs straight but nerves trembling beneath their uniforms. Each of them silently wondered why they had been chosen to meet Jack Truedream himself.
Erin tried to maintain her composure, though her hands refused to stay still. To her right, Quinn stood firm — his eyes sharp, his jaw set. Despite the tension, there was still fight in him. He'd faced his share of trials, and this was just another one.
Erin, however, couldn't stop scanning the room. Every corner, every door — she was searching for a way out.
Meanwhile, Fex and Layla trailed them from a safe distance. Fex, with his sharpened hearing, whispered that danger was near.
Before Quinn had left, Fex had made a small cut on Quinn's wrist, claiming it was a "good luck ritual." In truth, it was so he could track Quinn by scent. Quinn, clueless to that, had just assumed it was another strange vampire custom.
"It looks like they're heading for one of the meeting rooms on the second floor — west wing," Quinn relayed in a voice message to Layla.
Once Layla reached the corridor Quinn described, she messaged Fex, who had slipped away to stage a distraction. She crouched by the corner, eyes fixed ahead — waiting for both Vorden and Fex to arrive.
Peeking carefully, she spotted the two guards glued to Jack's side.
Jack entered the meeting room, the eight students filing in behind him one by one. One guard followed inside; the other remained outside, sealing off their only exit.
Behind each student stood a single chair. They didn't sit — not yet — but the message was clear: they eventually would.
The room was small and sterile, meant for private meetings. Jack stood behind a desk, his presence filling the confined space, while the green-armored guard lingered by his side — silent, watchful.
For Erin, the main problem wasn't inside the room — it was the sentry stationed outside. She knew the others were planning something, but how could a handful of first-year students possibly challenge one of the Big Four? Still, when she glanced at Quinn, he gave her a subtle nod — stay calm. His trembling hands betrayed him, but his eyes didn't.
"Now, you must be wondering," Jack began, his voice calm but heavy, "why you've been summoned before me today."
He paused, studying their faces. "It seems you've been suspected of a dangerous crime. Perhaps involvement with a terrorist faction — or plotting against the military. I don't concern myself with the reasons. My role is only to carry out the sentence."
Jack's hand slammed onto the table, the sound echoing like a gunshot.
"The punishment," he said coldly, "is to have your abilities… removed."
A few students fell to their knees, pleading, "We didn't do anything! This isn't fair!"
One student bolted for the door — but before he reached it, a sharp pain struck his neck. His vision blurred, his legs buckled, and he collapsed.
Gasps filled the room.
Erin and Quinn had seen it clearly — the green-armored guard had flicked something from his mouth, a needle tipped with glowing green fluid.
"I trust no one else will try that again," Jack said, his tone even. "Now, sit. The process will be quick and painless — assuming no more 'accidents.'"
The students obeyed, trembling as the unconscious body was lifted into a chair.
Erin's heartbeat thundered in her chest. If she did nothing, her ability — everything she'd fought for — would be gone.
"But we didn't do anything!" Erin cried. "If you do this, people will find out! We'll tell everyone the truth!"
Jack's smile was razor-thin. "Oh, I doubt that. Once your abilities are gone, you'll be sent to the dungeon. The school will claim you were spies — members of Pure, perhaps. The lie will spread, and your names will fade into obscurity."
The green-armored guard approached the line, holding a vial filled with viscous green liquid. He dabbed his finger into it, then pressed it between each student's eyebrows. Each time, the result was the same — their eyes fluttered shut, their bodies slumped.
"A sleeping ability?" Erin whispered.
Jack's smirk deepened. "Correct. See? I'm not a monster. By the time you wake up, you'll already be in the dungeon."
When it came to Erin's turn, she had been quietly fumbling with something behind her back — a shard of ice forming in her palm to aim at Jack but he never got close always maintaing a safe distance. As the guard reached out, she struck, thrusting the blade toward his temple.
But the guard didn't even flinch. He simply caught the dagger midair — and crushed it to dust. His speed was inhuman.
Erin froze. Two abilities? Impossible — unless his gear was enhancing him beyond normal limits.
Before she could think further, his finger touched her forehead. Darkness took her.
Then finally, it was Quinn's turn.
He'd watched everything carefully, memorizing the guard's movements. Resistance seemed pointless — and there was n other way than just accepting his fate, yet when the green liquid touched his skin, a familiar system message appeared before his eyes:
[Host has been subjected to a sleeping agent]
[Resistance being developed.]
[+1 Resistance… ]
[+1 Resistance…"]
The world tilted around him. His eyelids grew heavy, but the notification continued flashing. The system had helped his body to adapt but the toxin slowly took hold that made him almost dizzy.
He didnt wanted to show any resistance, fearing he will be only subjected to more sleping agent then his body could handle.
So he just faked it , he slowed down his breathing, but a faint, defiant smile crossed his lips before he let himself fall backward into the chair — pretending to be unconscious.
Outside, the two guards exchanged words as the green-armored one stepped out.
"Did he make you leave again?" the larger one asked.
"Yeah," the green guard replied with a huff. "He's got his ways. We both know how his ability works."