[Shannon]
Sa aming pagtahak sa kagubatan, kung saan ko huling naramdaman ang aura ng Don na aking nakalaban, tumigil kami nina Senju at South sa tapat ng isang balon na aming nakita sa lugar.
"Wow! May lumang balon sa kagubatan." Mangahang sabi ni Senju agad sa kaniyang nakita.
Don't tell me that this well is an entrance into another place? Perhaps a labyrinth? So the Sarimanok is somewhere in that labyrinth, guarding the compass piece he is keeping.
I won't let that freak Don to get the compass piece. I may die in this battle, but no matter what happens, I'll let him join me in the afterlife.
"May kalaliman din ang balon na ito." Sabi ni South na dumungaw sa balon. "Maybe it's dept is around 60 meters."
"What? That's kind of deep." Reaksyon ni Senju sa sinabi ni South. "Hey, how can you easily measure it?"
"I kind of felt it."
It's true, it's kind of deep for a well, well that's because it's just a decoy to cover the labyrinth. This well was just a passage.
It is problematic right now to go inside because the Don I had face already got inside for a long time now. If the Mutant Lords are no match for the power of a Don, the Sarimanok will surely lose and get killed. The compass piece will be stolen.
"You two, let's go in the well." Inaya ko silang dalawa. Nauna akong tumalon pababa sa balon.
Hindi na sila nagtanong pa sa akin, bagkos ay sumunod na lamang.
Nang narating namin ang ibaba ng balon, nagalak akong walang patibong na sumalubong sa amin. Marahil dahil nauna nang tinanggal ito ng Don na nakalaban ko kanina.
Ilang saglit lang din ang lumipas, nagliwanag ang aming tinatapakan na lupa kalaunan ay ang buong paligid. Napakasakit sa mata ng liwanag, lalo na't may suot akong pares ng magic contact lenses para matakpan ang totoong kulay ng mata mayroon ako.
Nang maging okay na ang lahat, nawala ang liwanag, muli kong idinilat ang aking mga mata. Nakakamangha ang lugar na aming natanaw na tatlo nina Senju at South.
"Wow!!" Sigaw nina Senju at South na sobrang namangha sa paligid namin na kinaroroonan ngayon.
Para kaming nasa isang kweba na sobrang luwag. Too much space that a whole town could fit in.
Sa itaas ng kinaroroonan namin, mayroong mga crystal na nagsisilbing liwanag. Ang dami ding mga cube na tipak ng bato ang lumulutang sa ere. Marami ding mga alitaptap na lumilipad. May maliit ding batis akong nakita. Ang pader ay mayroong mga puno at halaman na nakatanim. Those plants and trees defied the gravity for standing tall sideward. Ang tinatapakan naman naming sahig ay parang mga tiles na may iba-ibang mga disenyo na nakasulat bawat tile.
"Is this what they labyrinth?" Tanong ni Senju na sobrang lapad ng ngite.
"Ang ganda!!" Sigaw naman ni South.
"Don't get too much distracted guys." Paalala ko naman sa kanila. "This place was a mutant lord's lair. Don't get hype so much by the beautiful surroundings, there are definitely lots of traps in here."
"Opo boss." Nawala ang ngite nilang dalawa at sumeryoso ang ekspresyon ng mukha.
Good.
Nakakita ako ng tatlong lagusan. Mukhang kailangan naming mag-hiwalay na tatlo.
"Senju, South. I'll trust your will in this moment. Don't betray my trust... don't get killed without facing the Don we're after in this place." I said to them seriously.
"Boss! We will not shame you for being killed by the possible mutant animals we will encounter in this labyrinth. We will definitely find the Don." Kampante na sabi ni South sa akin.
"Tama si South boss! Bibigyan namin ng matitinding pinsala ang Don at papagurin ng husto para pag linabanan mo na siya ay matalo mo siya boss." Sa sinabi na ito ni Senju ay sinuntok siya ni South. "Anong..." Angal ni Senju na napahawak sa kaniyang ulo.
I don't like the idea he thought of too but that's the only choice he have. Maganda sana kung tatlo kaming makakita sa Don at sabay namin itong lalabanan. I don't mind sharing the fight with these two idiots.
"Then, let's proceed." I announce to them. Hinugot ko ang espada na nasa loob ng kaluban nito. "Dimensioal Slash, Ultimate." Winasiwas ko ang espada ko na mayroong aktibo na magic ko. Alam kong may trap ang mga tiles, their designs are suspicious enough for me. Ginawa ko ito para maglaho ang mga trap spells na nakalagay.
"Boss, what did you just do?"
"I-Isn't your magic, fire magic?"
Oh crap! I forgot. Lumingon ako sa kanila ng may kinakabahan na tingin sa kanila.
I sighed.
There's no point in hiding it to them. I even feel bad for keeping many secret to these two.
"Senju, South. The truth is, I have 10 magic abilities." Inamin ko sa kanila ang totoo. "I got nine magic from seeing the Giftia. I got Dark Energy Manipulation after drinking a demon monster corpse's blood."
"Oh! I see. Another personal information from boss was given to us." Sabi ni South na parang natuwa pa sa sinabi ko.
"We get to know boss better." Sabi naman ni Senju.
Ang babaw naman ng dalawang 'to.
"Anyways, you knew about it but I cannot let you brag about this to the other members. I'm going to personally tell them about it when we establish a good number of gang members and upper rank officials of Havoc Gang." Paliwanag ko sa kanila.
Sumaludo naman sila sa akin.
Naglakad kami papunta sa kinaroroonan ng tatlong mga lagusan.
"Tatahak tayo sa mga landas na pipiliin natin. Ako sa gitna." Sabi ko
"I'll go to the RIGHT." Sabi ni South sa kaniyang pinili na lagusan.
"Then the remaining LEFT path is mine to venture." Sabi ni Senju na wala ng pagpipilian na iba pang lagusan.
"Good luck to you guys." Sabi ko sa kanilang dalawa tsaka ko tuluyang pinasok ang lagusan na aking pinili.
Ang madilim na daan ay biglang nagkaroon ng liwanag sa pagbukas ng mga light torches na nakasabit sa dingding.
Some exaggerated feature used in this labyrinth. I was led by the torches to where this path is headed to.
I ended up entering a more spacious place. This time, it is dark so what it have inside is not visible unless I used my fire magic to make light.
I hate labyrinths.
I took an step, and I immediately regretted doing it without using fire magic to have a light. I fell.
Hindi kaagad ako nakagawa ng pakpak na apoy dahil sa sobrang lakas ng gravity mayroon ang lugar. Mabilis akong nahulog at bumagsak sa tubig. Mukhang isang batis na medyo may kalaliman.
I use my Gravity Magic to alter the gravity near me at nagawa kong makalangoy. I also activated fire magic and made it fly above me to have a light.
Lumangoy ako ng lumangoy para makahanap ng lupa na maahunan. Babatukan ko ang Sarimanok kapag nakita ko ito.
I'm swimming smoothly, nagpo-floating pa nga ako pero naabala ako sa ginagawa ko.
Ang malapit na tubig sa akin ay parang nabulabog. Kalaunan ay tumaas ito at ang alon ay nagtulak sa akin palayo.
Nainis ako na nakita ko ang isang higanteng buwaya na nagpakita.
"Ang kapal ng mukha mong lumitaw!!" Inis na aking sigaw. Inis man, bilib parin ako na nakayanan ng buwaya na ito na isang Mutant Animal na makagalaw kahit na malakas ang gravity sa lugar.
Mabilis na lumangoy ang buyawa patungo sa aking direksyon para lamunin ako. Lumangoy kasi itong nakabuka ang bibig.
Pinalaki ko ang apoy na lumulutang sa itaas ko at pinasugod ito sa buyawa. Pumasok ito sa bibig ng buyawa at sumabog.
It's so nasty that the water became red because of how big the crocodile was, it will also have lots of blood to bleed out.
Gumawa ako ng pakpak na apoy at lumipad sa ere.
*****
[Rialyn]
The battle against the robots have finally ended. Grabe ang pinsala na naidulot ng mga ito sa bayan ng Palkia. I'm sure that this event will put Palkia City in shame lalo na ang emperor.
Nakakapagod makipag-laban. Mabuti na lang at makakapag-pahinga na kami ng mga kaklase kong nakasama kong makipaglaban.
Ipinatawag kami ng headmaster pabalik sa Asteromagus Academy, sa Academy Gymnasium. Mukhang mayroong mahalagang anunsyo sa amin ang headmaster.
Grabe ang pagpaypay na ginagawa ni Que kay Moon habang nakaupo kami sa mga upuan na hininda para sa amin.
Ilang minuto kaming naghintay sa headmaster na dumating sa Gymnasium at umakyat sa stage.
The headmaster have a serious look on his face.
I can't see Shannon, Senju and South around. I don't want to think of that this gathering is about the three of them.
"Today, in the most important event in our Academy to have, the city was attacked by robots that are no doubt, subordinates of one of the Dons. These robots are being controlled by Don Nervoz Winter, the leader of Robotic Army, 'Winter Gang'. We don't know what they're after in attacking our city. But one thing is for sure, three heroes stood up to face the Don himself that was somewhere in the forest outside the city. These three students, were surprisingly students that doesn't want to stand out in this academy and wanted to only enjoy their school life. I know some of you treated them outcasts, especially their classmates. But, those outcasts save all of our lives. As of the moment, they are still fighting intense with Don Nervoz, if they fail to win, they're dead. And I have to personally finish the issue up as the headmaster responsible for the sacrifice students of this Academy had made. These heroes gave you the opportunity to save the empire one day from the bad guys. So make used of the chance give to you all by making yourselves strong. Don't forget the honor, Shannon Petrini, Senju Fanah, South Avalo had passed on to you..." The headmaster emotionally said to us.
"What the hell?.." Hindi naman makapaniwala na reaksyon ko sa aking narinig.
Sacrifice? Fighting a Don? Shannon? Senju? South?
"Don't joke around like that!!" Napa-lingon ako sa biglang sumigaw na si Rum. Galit na galit ang ekspresyon niya habang ang luha sa kaniyang magkabilang mata ay tumutulo.
"What an coward you teachers are!! You should've go too to help them!!" Sigaw din ni Zayn.
"Zayn, Rum...stop. It's not like the headmaster wanted what happened. I guess it was inevitable, Shannon Petrini probably thought rationally that the teachers are vital for the empire. I doubt that the Don will go here in this city without bringing his full force. It is probably just a clone of Don Nervoz. It is not imposible since he's known for having advance technology. Clones sometimes cannot be as strong as the original." Paliwanag naman ni Meryl kina Zayn at Rum.
"Still, why didn't the teachers help them? If they join forces they could've won." Katwiran naman ni Devorah.
"What if they didn't win? Then the casualties will all gonna be teachers. Such experienced teachers will be lost, who will Asteromagus Academy hire again if that happens?" Paliwanag naman ni Meryl.
"I understand Meryl. I heard from one of the teachers earlier that the Imperial General and the 3 Wing Commanders finished their mission and are now rushing back here. So basically, what Shannon, Senju and South are doing right now is buying them time. If Shannon and company failed, the headmaster will be the substitute opponent of Don Nervoz's clone to buy more enough time. Indeed Shannon and company made a wise decision, and for me that's heoric and idiotic at the same. Sila lang ang nakaisip na gawin ang bagay na ganito." Maigi na paliwanag naman ni Moon.
"They are sharper in the brain for knowing that a Don was behind this incident. But they are idiot for facing it." Sabi naman ni Devorah.
Natahimik lang ako at umiyak. Saan nakuha ng tatlong 'yon ang tapang nila para hindi matakot sa kamatayan at hindi mag-alangan na isakripisyo ang mga buhay nila.
Itutuloy. ƪ(‾.‾")┐
*****
Author's Note; Reminder lang po baka kasi mayroon sa inyo ang ma-trigger. Yung announcement na ginawa ni headmaster Rodeo ay kasinungalingan niya lang para pagtakpan ang pakikipaglaban ni Shannon kay Don Nervoz. Upang walang maghinala sa mga students at lalo na ang mga teachers kay Shannon Petrini kung sino ba talaga siya at bakit napaka-lakas niya para sa isang 16 years old na studyante sa Asteromagus Academy.