Silently cursing at the system, Foo felt depressed. How can such bullying be permitted? And the gloomy weather did not make it better.
The rain continued to fall down in torrents, drenching anything stupid enough to still be outside. Although it let up a bit after a while.
After dumping his whole vocabulary of curses at the system, and even made some new ones for good measure, Foo then turned to Abner.
"Alright, use that token thingie to gather the students."
"Are you sure that we should not postpone it?"
"Yes! We better get it over with as quickly as possible."
Still reluctant, but following the instructions, Abner started to fiddle with the token.
After a while, Abner happily exclaimed, "I got it!", and started the procedures for the announcement.
After a while, he kept the token and said, "It is done! It was easier than I thought to use it."
"Alright, then we just have to wait here then."
After just some moments, they could see a man rushing towards their position from cover to cover. Although he tried his best, there was actually no cover to talk about, and as such he was getting as drenched as he would have if he just walked properly.
Upon reaching the trio, he asked, "Is this where the emergency meeting is?"
The man was clearly worried from the earlier announcement.
As Foo questioningly glanced towards Abner, the slightly embarrassed Abner explained, "There was a convenient function to call for an emergency meeting for the students with residences in the section. It seemed perfect for gathering them..."
Although it might seem convenient, it also looked like the students were freaked out by the sudden emergency announcement...
But then again, it might be a good idea. If he was just announcing an tournament all of a sudden, there might be quite some students that would be deterred by the rain.
But if the announcement contained the word `emergency`, then it would be more likely that they would be able to gather everyone.
Looking back towards the worried man, Foo then tried to soothe him, "Ah, yes. The meeting is here. But you do not have to worry! It is actually an opportunity to raise the status of the third section, and to eventually get even with the other sections!"
Upon hearing Foo's explanation, the man's worry instantly turned into excitement.
"You mean that we have an opportunity to get stronger? That even we that have been discarded by the academy still have a chance?"
Chuckling, Foo calmed the man down, "Take it easy there! There is indeed an opportunity here. But for more information you will have to wait for the other students to turn up."
Foo did not want to explain everything again and again. It was not that he was lazy... It was just that he might explain it differently every time, and that would be catastrophic!
After conversing with the man, other students started to show up. It seemed like they were the ones that lived closely.
As time went by, more and more students arrived. Some students had some kind of rain coats, but most did have nothing of the sort.
There was also one student that tried to use his magic to manipulate the water to repel it. But after he set a nearby student on fire, he quickly dropped that idea.
At the sight of that incident, Foo could see how hard time he had before him. How the hell could one set someone on fire when repelling water? It should surely only be water related? Where did the fire come from?
Luckily, the rain quickly put the fire out, and no damage was done. The clothes were already tattered and worn, and as such the new burn damage was barely noticable.
If that incident told something about the talents of the third section, or rather the lack thereof, the simple and worn clothing told something about their financial status.
Even someone as... economical... as Foo would not bear to milk them for money. Just the fact that the majority did not have any kind of raincoats showed their poverty.
And the raincoats that he could see were mostly all leaking, almost none was fulfilling their original purpose of keeping their wearer dry...
And any form of magic scrolls or exquisite tool for water protection was nowhere to be found. There was no one that could afford it, after all.
Luckily there was not more that tried to use their magic to ward of the rain. Was that the case, then there would likely be a couple of casualties... Based on the performance he had observed so far...
As the receptionist and Abner was guiding the arrivals to gather in the field, it was quickly filled. Not all of the field, as it was humongous, but there was loads of students that filled up the area close to Foo.
There was too many to even bother counting. Foo stopped after reaching twenty, but there was at least some thousands times more.
After the influx of students subsided, Abner approached Foo.
"I think that was all. It is quite impressive to see everyone gathered here at once. Oh ,yes. There is a voice amplifier function in the token, so everyone should be able to hear you when you speak."
Clearing his throat, Foo prepared to speak.
"My dear beloved students!"
At the greeting phrase, all students got an collective chill down their spines. Suddenly a potent urge to escape before it was too late came over them. But they utilized their mental strength to force themselves to stay.
The infinite string of hardships and misfortune had hardened their resolve to do anything to improve. Just the fact that they could endure the rain was a clear sign of their firm resolve.
And they all had heard rumors that this was an opportunity to rise the status of the third section and get powerful enough to go against the other two sections.
As such, all students stayed to listen on Foo. Excited over this unique opportunity. However, there was this quiet little voice in the back of their heads that screamed at them to run while they still could.
But unfortunately, the voice was not audible over the excited thumps of their hearts, fueled by the adrenaline in their veins.