With an injured beauty in his arms, Joe made a mad dash through the forest. A distance that would have taken an hour for the teams to traverse was covered in a matter of minutes. With his jacket slowly absorbing the blood that was seeping out of the three deep gashes across Clara's abdomen, Joe put everything he had into his legs.
"Everyone is to return to the staging area immediately. If you encounter a member of Third Squad, drag them with you if need be but get them out of this forest."
As a group, the seventy-three students were still nine beasts short of their quota. Giving the order to have them retreat was essentially ordering nine of his classmates to fail the midterm. Failure on any official test within the Academy meant expulsion.
Despite knowing this fact, every single member moved without question back towards the staging area. A few even spread out and encountered members of Third Squad. Simply by explaining that Joe had given the order to retreat was enough to warrant obedience from the outside members. Even Jared obeyed albeit out of fear.
Together, the class stood awaiting the return of Joe and Clara. Using their maps, they were able to track their movements in real time. What shocked them was the speed at which they were approaching. Even the fastest of the group was left unable to explain how that level of speed was possible.
When the two dots passed the line indicating the edge of the forest on their maps, every student approached the edge of the staging area to try and see the two as they came into view. What came next was a sudden strike of bafflement.
"How is he moving that quickly?"
"I knew he was strong after we faced off during the Mountain Trial but now it looks like he held back against us."
"Are you two idiots or something. Yeah, he's faster than all of us but you're missing a crucial detail. Look at his arms."
John's words drew the attention of the rest of the class and silenced those that were muttering amongst themselves.
It didn't take long for everyone to realize why he thought they were idiots. All of them clearly saw the unconscious girl in Joe's arms. The realization caused all of them to feel as if they were mere ants in the presence of a giant. Yes, Joe is running his fastest in this situation. What happens when he isn't weighed down?
Despite carrying an entire other person, Joe was still able to clear miles in minutes. Before any single person, instructors included, could say a word, Joe crossed the line to the staging area. His legs only stopped once he had reached the trauma shelter. Having turned her care over to the professionals, Joe turned his attention to the onlookers.
"John, Ari, keep every member of your squads here. I won't be held responsible for whatever happens to any student still in those trees after I leave here."
Joe's words left no room for debate. With rage flooding his appearance, he turned back towards the forest. Before he could kick off, a nervous but gentle voice came from behind him.
"What are you going to do now?"
Shianne was nearly trembling at the condition she is witnessing him enter. Her hands clenched behind her back to steady her nerves.
"What am I going to do? Simple, I'm going to kill every Level Two or lower beast in this damned forest. They will all pay for the harm that came to someone I care about."
Without another word, Joe kicked up a wall of dust and began his journey back to the forest. Once the wall had cleared, not a single person uttered a word. For the first time, they were seeing the true strength of Joe.
It was unlikely he could kill every Level Two beast within those trees but what about the Level Ones and Level Zeros? As if to answer their question, a wave of twenty Level One and Level Two beast began to rush out of the forest.
Before the anxious eye watching from the distance, every beast was torn apart within the time it'd have taken them to blink. Joe's body then disappeared as it reentered to forest. Only darkness and corpses filled the empty space between them and the trees.
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After two hours, the year one students had all found a comfortable place to await the return of the madman. Clara's condition wasn't perfect, but she was stable. Every instructor found themselves sat in front of a single, large screen. Depicted on the screen was a satellite view of the forest as well as a single, blue dot.
"Shianne, how far in has he gone already?"
Entering the monitoring area, Alexander's attention was immediately drawn to the screen. The moment he got word of what was happening, he rushed here in the fasted transport he could find on short notice.
"He's nearly fifty miles in."
Shianne's words failed to hide her anxieties. Fifty miles into this forest meant that only Level Two beast would be encountered. For the first time since he had departed, she understood that he fully intended to kill them all.
"That's impossible. Whether he is my nephew or not I can't believe he's made it that far in the time it took me to get here. Why did nobody stop him? This is suicide!"
Alexander was enraged. If it was true, that Joe had made it that far into the forest then why had no instructor gone to stop him?
"For us it may seem impossible but for him.... he's far more amazing than you seem to understand. Someday, he will likely reshape the world. As for why we didn't stop him...we couldn't have even if every one of us tried together."
Shianne's words seemed to send some clarity to the angered uncle. For her to speak this highly of any person, he had never witnessed it. She wouldn't even speak well of the current leader of their nation, and he was revered as the strongest in history. Just what sort of monster was this impulsive nephew of his.