Leaving the portal at its end was dizzying.
Viktor and his team were the last to cross the portal, mainly because they were in better shape than the other teams. He looked around to see that the entrance, which was once where the portal was, now resembled an improvised hospital.
Some hunters quickly went to look after them. The first one to be examined was Francis, because of his class, he used a lot of his energy to help his friends and the other students fight the corruption that seeped from the monsters.
Rubí, Yu, and Viktor were the next ones because their style was close combat, and finally, Gareth was checked. The results were as expected: they were exhausted and had minor injuries like scratches.
However, everyone seemed to be sad. They didn't want to talk to anyone.
One of their teachers approached their group with the intent of asking why they were missing one of their team, but Ivankov, who was the less affected if not at all, stopped her shaking his head.
"I'll make the report, leave the children, they have had more than enough for the day," Ivankov told her when she was going to ask why he was stopping her.
"In that case, follow me," she went directly to one of the three tents that were of color black, big enough to have specialized equipment inside.
Ivankov looked at the kids and Jin, who was also affected by the sudden news of Sora becoming an enemy.
Then he looked at his little brother who seemed not as affected as the others. That was strange.
"Mister Petrov! We are waiting," the teacher called him from the tent.
Ivankov knew he need to talk with his brother, but he must give his report of what happened and why they are missing a student.
He went to the tent and entered it after being permitted by the teacher.
"…" Ivankov looked at all the monitors that were present showing the places where the portals of the event were placed. Everywhere was filled with improvised hospitals treating the hunters, however, there was a tent that got his attention.
Hunters with strange marks were brought there. Some of them fainted, but others were trying to shove everyone from their sides.
One of the people who were present noticed where his eyes were looking, and approached him.
"We were lucky, non of the hunters who came back were infected with this strange illness, well, we supposed it is an illness," the man patted his shoulder.
Ivankov stayed silent with his thoughts. He had a theory of why they weren't like the others.
"Mr. Petrov, come here please, and give your report," the woman that guided him there, signaled a chair that was in front of a camera.
Next to the camera, was a man in his forties with a serious look.
If they give him a chance to guess who it was, Ivankov would answer that that person is the principal of the Hunter Academy.
He sat in the chair and began his report since they crossed the portal.
At the end of his report, the man was looking at him trying to discern if something he said was a lie.
"So, you are telling us that that boy, Sora Reith, was the o so-called 'Master'!" Principal Vinz said without a change in his expression, but his voice was betraying his surprise.
He knew that kid was hiding something. He remembered the subtle change he saw when looking at Sora's Stat's window. He remembered that he had read the title "The Master", but he thought it was his imagination.
How could a kid get to level 20 at his age?
"Why you didn't kill him the moment his true self was revealed?" The teacher next to the principal asked.
"I…" Ivankov couldn't tell them that Viktor interfered with that, he could imagine them accusing his little brother of treason, so he lied, "… don't know," he finished.
Joakim Vinz, Principal of the Hunters Academy, knew he was lying, but didn't question him.
"How you don't-" the teacher began interrogating him, but Joakim Vinz stopped her.
"I understand, you can go," he motioned, with his hand, towards the tent's entrance.
Ivankov nodded his head, got up, and left.
Some seconds after Ivankov left, the teacher, whose name was Lilian, looked at the principal.
"Why did you let him go like that?" Lilian couldn't understand.
"He was protecting someone he holds dear," was the only answer she was given by the principal.
********************
Viktor knew he owed an explanation of his actions to his brother, but it was going to be difficult. He was trying to find a way to explain his brother everything, or at least what he understood. Then he heard a roar coming from one of the tents that were scattered all over the place.
"We need more hands, quickly!" A yell was heard coming from that same tent.
Some hunters came over and hurried towards the tent. Viktor and his team were dazed by the sudden movement.
"What do you think they got their hands on?" Rubí asked. She was tired and hurt, but she would be fine. Their worry was for Francis, he was completely wasted because of his continuing usage of his purifying ability.
Yu looked toward the tent and made a guess, "Maybe they captured one of the monsters from the dungeon".
Gareth was thinking and suddenly he got a possible answer. He looked at Viktor and saw that he got the same answer.
"They captured a corrupted monster," Jin told them, he seemed to finally recover a bit from the sudden revelation about Sora.
Heller looked at Jin and noticed what no one else could: Jin was trying to bury his feelings at the moment.
"They need to know what is this new disease and how to fight it," Newt continued the explanation where Jin left it.
They continued to hear the roars of the monster and got curious about what was held there. Then, Viktor noticed that his brother was leaving the tent and coming to them. His face was completely closed. No one could tell what he was thinking at the moment.
"They got their hands in a werewolf, it was slower and got one less leg and arm, so it was easy to catch it," Fredric was typing something in his phone, it was something that got everyone out of their reverie.
"How are you sure?" Yu asked.
"I just hacked the main system of the Hunters' Organization, it is easy if you know what information to look for," Fredric was telling them when a serious and, possibly, murderous gaze landed on him by Heller.
"Don't teach the kids to hack this early," Sam gave him a soft hit on his head.
Heller couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Jin saw the little happy time they got until Ivankov arrived and the mood was crushed by his look. Everyone thought that if Viktor wasn't his little precious brother, he would have just hit him right there without bothering who saw them.
"We are talking, but not here... many ears are present," Ivankov looked at Sam, Fredric, and Newt.
"We need to attend to our own teams, come on everyone," they called to their teams and left behind the 8 people that were looking for answers.
Kaneki and Dolores wanted to stay, but a short nod from Jin told them to leave. It was a team problem and no one, even if they were 'family', could get involved.
"Ivan..." Viktor began but was interrupted.
"Stop!" Ivankov raised his hand stopping any complaints that anyone could have, we are leaving this place now!" He finished and left to a minivan that looked that it was waiting for them.
"Get in everyone!" Ivankov called them.
Jin was a bit suspicious so he sent Rose a message, telling her to call him back in two hours.
Everyone got to the minivan and took a sit. Ivankov closed the door and got in the front seat. After that, Jin felt how a barrier surrounded the minivan.
"Just drive and try to avoid big gatherings," Ivankov told the driver who simply nodded and turned on the car.
"Why are you taking us to a drive?" Jin asked, but he had a guess already.
"Better way to talk about Sora Reith," was the simple answer that Ivankov gave, but Viktor could tell that he was telling him to explain his actions from before.
"Ivan…" Viktor tried again, but was interrupted again by his brother.
"Why!? Why did you stop me!?" Ivankov was truly enraged. He wanted an explanation from his little brother, but he was also hesitant to know the truth behind his brother's reasons.
Everyone looked at Viktor and saw the sad expression in his face.
"You know that no one can see that Status window from other people and that you activate the System once you are 13 years, right?" Viktor asked and so everyone nod, acknowledging this bit of information to be true, "I tried to keep it a secret, but I didn't know that the System gave you 'that' mission, so it was late to explain things before everything happened. I… the System…" it was difficult for Viktor to explain this but knew they needed to know, "The System got online for me after the accident of three years ago, when Sora and I left the portal," Viktor tried to read his brother's body to get a hint what was in his mind, but was unable to.
"You are telling me, you are an early awakener?" Ivankov asked with his cold emotionless voice.
"Wait, so, is it true that there a early awakeners of the System? I thought it was a rumor?" Jin asked incredulously. He heard those rumors after starting his career as a hunter.
"They exist, but are incredibly rare. The majority of this Early Awakeners activate they System one year before they 13th birthday. The strange ones are the ones who activate the System two years before their 13th birthday," Ivankov explained briefly, "Derick here is one of the formers," Ivankov signaled the driver.
All the people inside was shocked with the information, except Viktor, who stopped acting now that everyone new about these existences.
"In that case, let me tell you what happened after I activated the System when I was 10, and the strange title it gave me," Viktor said with a sad expression.
"Title?" Ivankov asked. He turned a bit to see his little brother's face.
"Yes," Viktor smiled.