BOOOM!
A loud sound, followed by a strong shockwave, came directly at Kael and Liliane.
"WHA—" Kael's feet slid on the ground as he crossed his arms to shield himself.
Looking ahead, he saw smoke pouring out from a canteen window.
"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Kael shouted, his eyes wide and his face tense.
Then, remembering he was with Liliane, he sharply turned to her and asked, "You okay?"
Liliane, wearing her usual neutral expression, looked at the rising smoke—but a faint worry could be seen on her brow.
She didn't reply to Kael, but simply nodded her head in confirmation.
"You wait here I will go and check." Kael said in hurry and started running.
Liliane watched Kael rushing off and mumbled, "Could it be… they are from?"
---
Principal's Office
"What do you mean that's not your job?" A fat man of small stature angrily questioned. He was sitting in the principal's chair.
"Like I said, I don't get paid for recording talents," Jack replied while lazily sitting in the chair in front of him.
Behind them, all the third-year teachers could be seen standing.
"Ahh, it's okay, sir. We'll just have to record it ourselves," the teacher of Class 3-A spoke in an exhausted tone.
"Righ—mnn…" The class teacher of 3-B suddenly stiffened. His eyes snapped toward the door—but his senses weren't just focused there.
They went beyond. He saw a five-meter-tall lifeform with an insane amount of mana.
"What happened, Teacher Doran?" the principal asked. He was only a peak stage 1st-tier climber—not as strong as Doran. The only reason he was even the principal was because of his contributions to the government and a few connections.
"A very strong monster, huh?" Jack, who had seemed lazy a moment ago, suddenly stood up, his expression heavy. He was a 2nd-tier climber plus a support-type magician—his mana senses sharper even than Doran's.
"No way—a monster? Don't tell me it's a red gate, but how can that be—?" The female teacher, Class 3-C's instructor, looked panicked. She was a middle-stage 1st-tier climber, barely twenty years old.
She could be considered a genius among commoners in backward cities.
"Calm down, Teacher Veyra," an old man spoke in a gentle tone. He was the fossil of Everwind School, called Old Ray. Like the principal, he was a peak-stage 1st-tier climber.
A level universally called the 9th Stage of Foundation Building. At this stage, people had already gone through their class awakening, and they began refining their mana into a denser and purer form, with the ultimate goal of forming a mana core.
This was also the reason people preferred to undergo awakening in the Tower—because not only would they awaken to the best possible path, but also to the elemental core they were most suited to form.
"We should go quickly," Jack said, and he vanished from his place.
"Wow! He's fast—for a magician, and a support one at that," Teacher Jon, Class 3-A's instructor, spoke. He was at the 7th stage of 1st-tier climber.
"Mnn, I can see why he's famous," Teacher Doran said, and he too vanished from his place, leaving the others behind.
"Damn, they left us," Jon muttered.
"While we won't be much help anyway, we should focus on student safety, right, Teacher Veyra?" Old Ray looked at Veyra and spoke.
"Ri-right, s-sir," Veyra responded in a stuttered tone.
The principal looked at Veyra with a deep gaze before saying, "I will contact the authorities for help."
---
"What the heck is going on here?" Robert said as he looked at the rising smoke from the school.
"Did someone finally put the school on fire?" Alex spoke in awe.
"No way… you're serious?" Corin looked at Alex with a blank face.
"Well, whatever they do, I swear to God—if my bag with my make-up got burned, I'll give them a taste of my punch," Alina said while flexing her arms.
The students were also staring at the scene, most already taking photos and recording videos.
"YOYO Chat, our school just had a blast and there's smoke coming out!" A boy with blue-dyed hair spoke into his holographic wristwatch. A big screen floated in the air near him with a livestream on.
Stream Chat
'I'm sure it must be an Alla devotee.' — @IamnotRacist[1]
'Wow dude, it's been 1000 years and you're still not over that.' — @MilfHunter
'That's racist. How do people like you still exist?' — @AllaDevotee
'Chill dude, it's a joke 😄😄' — @Warlover
'Joke??? What do you mean.' — @IamnotRacist
'😳 😳 😳' — @MilfHunter
'😳 😳 😳' — @Warlover
@IamnotRacist has been banned from entering this stream.
'Good job bro.' — @AllaDevotee
@AllaDevotee has gifted a Magic Castle.
"Thank you, @AllaDevotee, for the gift. All I want to say is that Aurze is united," the blue-haired boy said, while in the background a few of his friends twerked.
All in all, most of them were unserious.
---
"What the heck is that thing?" Kael said in a wide, disbelieving tone as he stared at the monster in front of him.
It was a slime-like creature, five meters tall, red slime-like substance slowly dripping from its body. The whole canteen was on fire.
And there was a big hole in the ground.
"Don't tell me it came from the garbage storage room," Kael guessed, sweating from the heat.
"Good that everyone is ou—"
"HELPPP!" a shout came. Kael saw a man in a school staff uniform hiding under a table, his face wet with tears.
The slime wasn't far from him and it was slowly moving, leaving behind its dangerous liquid which seemed to have a strong acidic effect.
"Damn." Kael gritted his teeth.
"Shit, where are the teachers? They should have been here by now." Kael rubbed his head in frustration.
What he didn't know was that all the third-year teachers were in the principal's office at the other end of the school. Sure, they could get here instantly — but only if they sensed it from there. Until they actively spread their senses, they wouldn't notice anything.
And, to his bad luck, the first- and second-year teachers weren't even in school; in fact, the students had gone out on a picnic.
"Save me, I don't want to die... someone please... God help me," the man whimpered, pressing his head to the ground.
Kael saw the creature nearing the table. If that thing even touched the man he would surely be burned to death, and if he somehow survived then his life would be worse than dead.
"I don't have a choice."
[1] Sorry if it hurt someone's feeling. But it's a joke ok if you are hurt from this I say please don't read it.