"I won't do that, but it seems people know your secret?" Jake asked.
"Hehe, they only see me as a powerful woman. They don't actually know my real ability. You are lucky, junior," Ayla said.
"Sure, but shouldn't you deal with them first instead of talking with me?"
Ayla looked at Jake with a mysterious smile. "It seems my intuition is right. You know my ability before I told you. Let's talk later, Junior."
Ayla pulled Jake and carried Misael to the safe spot. After that, she walked toward the last standing senior. However, the gray world suddenly faded, and the time ticked again.
Jake felt slightly worried for her because he knew she could only stop time for ten seconds. After that, she couldn't do it anymore within one minute. However, he knew [Time Stop] wasn't the only thing she had in her arsenal. He activated [Akashic Eyes] and checked her information once more.
[Name: Ayla Harvey
Species: Human
Level: 31
Talent: Time Manipulation (B), Guardian's Vessel (S), Enhanced Agility (A), Consecutive Slashes (A)
Strength: (C) || Endurance: (C)
Agility: (S) || Perception: (B)
Intelligent: (A) || Wisdom: (B)]
[Time Manipulation: allow the user to stop time and slow time.]
[Time Stop: stop time for ten seconds. Cool down: one minute. Can be applied to specific targets.]
[Time Slow: slow time. Can be applied to specific targets.]
Even without the ability to stop time, Ayla still could use the ability to slow time. Not to mention, she had S-grade agility and her other talents. She alone was a powerhouse.
Even her standing posture was elegant, making her opponent wary of her. Especially, when she suddenly teleported to another place without notification.
"Don't think you can take me down easily!" The third senior waved his wand and cast a protective aura around his body. After that, he jumped back and fired several magic blasts at her.
Ayla knitted her eyebrows. She could evade it easily, but her body didn't move from her standing spot. She assumed a fighting stance and waved her sword around.
[Consecutive Slashes] x [Sword Aura] = [Spring Fever]!
A pink-colored aura shrouded her sword as it slashed each of the magic blasts. The aura worked by scraping matter and mana at the cost of the aura's output. When her aura destroyed the magic blasts, they turned into pink petals.
"Beautiful," Jake muttered as pink petals spread in the room. Her technique resembled similarity to Mount Hua's secret technique from the Peridot Continent, which was known to have the most beautiful swordsmanship in the world.
After destroying the senior's spells, Ayla was about to rush toward him. However, she spotted a magic blast coming from her side, so she jumped to evade it.
Ayla looked at the assailant and saw the other two seniors standing again. They immediately assembled with the third senior.
"Do you think a simple attack can knock us out?" the first senior exclaimed as he wiped the blood coming out of his nose. This was the senior who had taken Jake hostage.
Ayla giggled. "Fufufu, it would be better if you stayed unconscious. Now, I can hurt you twice," she said, winking at them provocatively.
"Don't underestimate us, you bitch!" the third senior shouted. He cast protective auras to his friends, and then the other two seniors lunged at her.
The first senior covered his fists with fist aura and threw a barrage of punches at her, but Ayla could dodge them all easily as expected of someone with S-grade agility.
The seniors, however, were not clumsy fighters either. As the first senior kept her busy, the third senior created a few magic circles around her and fired mana chains at her. At the same time, the second senior suddenly charged in and thrust his sword at her.
As all kinds of attacks came at her, Ayla kept her calm. "One minute is over," she said. Suddenly, she vanished from her spot and reappeared in front of the third senior.
"Wh—what? How?" the third senior exclaimed in surprise. He immediately waved his wand, but before he could cast a spell, Ayla was ready to attack him.
Ayla gathered a large amount of aura in her sword and swung it at him. The aura advanced and turned into petals as it hit him, sending him flying.
[Advanced Aura Slash: Cherry Blossom Shower!]
As the third senior fell unconscious, Ayla turned around and said, "One is down. Who is next?"
Jake looked at her with awe. He was amazed by her performance. Even though her strength was average, her technique control and usage was top-tier, allowing her attack to break through the opponent's protective spell and take him down. All of those were done in one attack. She really lived up to her reputation as the greatest genius in the Beryl Academy.
After Ayla defeated their friend, the other two seniors lost their fighting spirit and surrendered. Ayla tied them and waited for the reinforcement to come.
In just a minute, several people rushed into the room. They took the perpetrators with them and questioned Jake. The questions were nothing difficult, so he answered them with ease. After that, they left Jake alone with the unconscious Misael.
'Shouldn't you people take the injured person, at least?' Jake thought as he put on a dumbfounded expression.
"You are not injured, right, Junior? I will help you carry your friend to the infirmary," Ayla said. For some reason, she was still in the room.
"You aren't going?" Jake asked.
"Hehe, how could I do that when my juniors are having difficulty. Besides, I can answer your questions in the student council's place. Aren't you curious why there are sudden movements from the Anti-demon Faction?"
Ayla smiled at him as she put Misael's arm on her shoulder. For a genius, she sounded humble, and her action was honorable too. Jake couldn't help but respect her.
Jake helped her by putting Misael's other arm to his shoulder. Together, they went to the infirmary.
As they arrived at the infirmary, they put Misael down on the bed. After that, they could relax too.
Ayla sat on the chair near the bed, leaned her back, and sighed. "Good work for us. I can't believe those seniors were foolish enough to obey a random terrorist group's order."
"Do you know anything about this terrorist group?" Jake asked.
"As you are the victim of this incident, there are people who will explain to you later, but as promised, I will tell you. This terrorist group is called the Democrats. They are an anti-demon group, but don't be mistaken. Their true purpose is to dethrone the Empress."
"That's such a foolish purpose," Jake said. His aunt was one of the strongest people in the world. He wondered if this terrorist group was filled with stupid people.
"Right? But this group exists solely as a distraction. They have a powerful backing behind them."
Ayla extended her hand and signaled Jake to shake her hand. He understood her intention and shook her hand. After that, her body emanated invisible waves, and everything turned gray.
"Arcanline Troupe," she simply said. After that, she released his hand, and the time ticked again.
Jake widened his eyes when he heard the name. Arcanline Troupe was the most infamous terrorist organization in the world. Everywhere they were involved, they always caused destruction. In fact, the rampage of the Demonic Nine-tailed Fox one year ago and the Holy War twenty years ago were orchestrated by them. Even the disappearance of his father, his older brother, and Marilyn's father had something to do with this terrorist group.
If the Arcanline Troupe really backed the Democrats, it explained why the little terrorist group dared to challenge Aunt Mercedes because the core members of the Arcanline Troupe were world class. However, it made the Democrats look ridiculous because most members of the Arcanline Troupe were non-human. It was weird for a pro-human group to be backed by them. As expected, everything could happen if there were benefits involved.
"These bastards again...."
Ayla stood up and patted Jake's shoulder. "You may be scared because you are suddenly targeted by the largest terrorist group, but don't worry. The Academy is the safest place. Even if they are bothering you, I won't let them do it as long as I am here, so don't be scared."
Jake wasn't scared. He has been involved with them a few times, and his family had an ill-fated relationship with them, so this group didn't scare him a bit. However, he still nodded. "Thanks."
"Anyway, their real target this time was you. They caught your friend as a bonus. If they didn't meet you, they would find you, even if they had to barge into the first year's dormitory and hurt your friends, so I say good job revealing yourself to them."
Looking at her innocent face, Jake didn't think she meant it as a sarcasm, yet he still smiled bitterly. If they could harm him today, there was no guarantee that they wouldn't do it next time. He felt troubled by them, but the only solution was to get strong. "One day, I shall destroy them."
Ayla looked at the door as footsteps were approaching the infirmary. "I want us to talk more, but it seems this is not an appropriate time. Let's talk again when we have a chance, Jake Butler."
"Senior know me?" Jake asked. Even though they only met for the first time, she seemed to be familiar with him.
"Haha, of course. You are famous in the academy, you know? Well, but I already know about you since the Empress recommended you to attend this academy. It's because you are one of the special grades like me."
Jake frowned. He was not familiar with the terms. "What do you mean?"
Ayla smiled. "Let's meet again next Monday at the library after the school is over."
After saying that, she suddenly vanished from her spot, and his classmates entered the infirmary.
Reina rushed at him and immediately bowed her head. "I am sorry for running away. I had to report the teachers because that's the only logical solution I could think of. I didn't mean to abandon my friend."
Jake patted her head and smiled. "It's okay. My injury isn't that bad, but Misael is not okay. Please treat him well when he wakes up," he said as he looked at everyone's faces.
If there was one good thing about this incident, he could use this situation to make people close with Misael. He wished everyone to get along. Misael with the other classmates. Cody with Reina. The Foster Siblings as well. Lastly, the most antisocial person in the class who was the only one to not be present, Titan Mayo.