My eyes glowed pink after recovering a little bit of mana, I led the way until a one way path remained.
"Hey, the second layer is just ahead" I pointed out.
"Huh...Ah right.." she replied absentmindedly.
Emily and I neared the exit, luckily there were no more monsters along the way.
Just as I expected, most of the mobs were already cleared out by the other students while the feralz pack must have also drove them away in the process of their rampage.
I turned my attention towards my ripped uniform and the healed wounds from my chest and my arms.
'..I almost died because I overused my eyes..'
The fight that had ensued was a total failure on my part, I was too reliant on my eyes that led to that dire situation.
I should have balanced out and paced myself more effectively. Compared to the original holder of the gunslinger class, I was still incompetent in utilizing it to it's full potential.
Although I would argue that the crisis was a good oppurtunity to measure myself and my ability to shoot without hesitation.
On the other hand, I could also say that my victory was a fluke due to my possession of overpowered artifacts.
I also couldn't rely on those things since none of them was compatible with my fighting style nor class.
I needed more fundamental strength, my skills and style need to be more polished or else I'm going to die a dog's death.
My hands clenched on a feeling of a newfound resolve, fear and regret.
After a while, we stopped by a heavily vined and mossed up gate. A sense of relief overcame me as I pushed open the gate.
A white light then engulfed both of us, my eyes shutting close.
Right after, once I opened my eyes, a view of our classmates instantly focused on us and then greatly making a fuss once they saw the state we were in.
"S-Stranford what happened to you!?"
"Are you ok Emily!?"
"Hey what happened?"
The whole class gathered around Emily in a flash and ignored the guy who was in the worst state based on appearance.
'These assholes...'
Emily wasn't even entertaining their questions and tried to get out of the restless crowd on clear annoyance.
I slipped out of the mess and quickly turned my attention towards the bastards that had overdone it.
Shivan and Donovan were looking intently at Emily and had no particular reaction whatsoever on the surface but I knew they were just faking it.
'..Donovan you prick!, why did you call so much of the pack!'
I was furious on the inside and wanted to confront him about his stupidity but I knew that I had no evidence to back up any of my accusations even though I knew they were truths.
In the first place, I was partly to blame in setting this all up. I just didn't expect the danger to escalate this bad.
On the other hand, Emily quickly looked around the place for Professor Ulde while still being bothered by our classmates.
I sighed at her worried state. She was breaking down at this moment that she forgot that the professor had already decided to leave us to fend for ourselves.
'Well more likely he was still around. Even if I used my eyes I probably wouldn't be able to find him'
"Seriously this girl.."
I turned my back to the gate because I sensed an influx of mana.
I then unassumingly approached her and tapped her shoulders which got her attention since no one was touching her despite the crowd.
"Wha- ah Ray..Irisville.."
"Just Ray is fine. Anyway you won't find our professor here, remember what he said?"
A look of realization was plastered on her face as she looked even more restless than before.
"What am I supposed to do!?" she looked towards me in a panic.
"Hey calm down. I already said that they were going to be ok allright"
Everyone was now looking at me and Emily, unsure of what was going on. On top of that, they would have probably never imagined that both of us knew each other.
In spite of that, I ignored them like I always did.
I then pointed at the back, Emily followed the direction of my gesture and quickly ran towards the gate as she crashed against three students in a sorry state.
"Guys!?"
""Ahhh"" the three students, Jun, Alice and Lily was embraced by Emily as she sunk her head in Lily's bosom.
A muffled cry could be heard from Emily as all the stress she was experiencing instantly exploded.
"Emily..I'm sorry" said Lily wryly.
"..Sorry we made you worry.." said Jun as he scratched his head in embarassment.
Alice on the other hand could only give a thumbs up with a dumb smile on her face, she was most likely still recovering.
Emily shook her head.
"..I'm just glad you're all ok.." she said with a relieved smile.
It was a heartwarming scene for those that know what was going on but for the rest, only confused expressions came about.
'She's a wreck' I mused in amusement knowing that she places great value in her friendships.
I also didn't fail to see the reactions of shock and dissapointment from Brian's lackeys. As for Brian himself, he had a curious look but had seemed to already come into a general idea of what transpired.
This scene didn't also escape the scrutiny of the class, questions were going to be asked until-
"Allright since everyone is here, class is dismissed~"
The whole class turned their attention towards the ceiling where Ulden had his wings spread and was in a sitting position reading a book in leisure.
'Terrin Ulden, I should'nt get involved with this guy...not yet at least' I mused in caution as I retreated to the back of the class.
He then floated down as he gathered the attention of everyone in the starting area of the second layer.
Emily however was quietly glaring at the professor for his offhandish attitude, specially after experiencing a life and death situation.
"Ok~, I will now use a transportation spell, so do mind not to exit the magic circle"
A red circle then formed beneath our feet as bright red particles came off the ground.
The light intensified until it filled all of our vision. The same nauseating and weightlessness came over me once again.
I opened my eyes to see that we were instanly transported in the same hub that we came from initially.
'A space attribute..that makes sense to put him in charge of the labyrinth exploration class' I mused.
Emily and the rest tried to immediately go to the infirmary but abruptly stopped when they spotted me trying to leave in silence.
"Ray wait a minute!" Jun called out.
"Well shit.." I turned around reluctantly.
-----
[(Emily POV)]
'They're alive..they're alive..'
That was the thought that kept revolving inside my mind after I got reunited with my party members.
A sense of relief and gratitude filled my heart as I saw my party members all alive.
I clenched my staff in self-hatred and disgust towards myself. My incompetence had led to this mess.
I was a failure as a leader, my decisions almost resulted in the deaths of my friends and all I could do was stand at the rear and watch them protect me.
'Even though my class is a saint, the most sought after and coveted class that the Stanford's have in their legacy, I'm still...'
Questions keeps revolving inside my head, if I could have done better, maybe Alice and Jun wouldn't have to get hurt like that.
Maybe Lily wouldn't had to handle a burden like that. I should have died in that place but he....he came along so unexpectedly.
His firm back and decisive demeanor woke me up from a bog of hopelessness and despair.
I never knew he had that kind of power and tools at his possession, all I ever heard of him was his terrible reputation as the failure of the Irisville, Holder of the Magic Eyes.
'I couldn't be more wrong, once again I was mistaken and that not eveything is as it seems at first'
In spite of our situation, he was able to come out as the victor.
'He even put up his life and body on the line and defeated his enemies, even at the brink of death he stayed true to his words'
(Trust me)
His words echoed in my mind. It was an irresponsible thing to say but no stronger-no truer words were ever said to me.
Even Jun dared himself to save Lily and Alice with his condition at that time. His words of reassurance was once again correct and my behavior that I showed him made me really embarrassed for some reason.
I looked towards him. Still having an aloof and casual face as if he didn't do amazing things and save my life at all.
He was too busy talking to Jun who had a face as if the world was going to end. Jun was struggling to give back that peculiar looking sword back to him.
'Ah he smiled..'
It wasn't a normal smile though, it was more like an evil grin of a person who had found gold.
He glanced at me for a second as if he had noticed my blatant staring.
I quickly turned my head and hid myself behind Alice and Lily who were looking at the exchange between Jun and him.
'What...What am I doing?...'
I felt my face heating up for no good reason at all.
"...Ray..." I whispered.
I felt that I really needed to heal myself because I'm really acting weird right now.
-----
"Yup it's a loan Jun, I expect full payment with interest" I explained as Jun's face was filled with despair
"Have it appraised so I can determine the principal payment"
"R-Ray w-why?.."
"Hey treasures don't grow on trees man"
"No..no..." his voice faded into silence as he looked down on the ground.
'I don't want to be mean but why does this make me happy..' I mused.
One more thing that made this day worth it was the LP counter on my status.
=====
Mystic Tier: 2^
Name: Ray Irisville
Profession: Pathfinder- 5 LP
=====
'They're probably going to find out on the party database but that's a problem for tommorrow' I thought.