While Kayden was busy in the simulation, another student was busy with his own work that he didn't even show up for any of the classes today despite knowing the consequences of his action. Shawn was in his underground laboratory running some tests on the strange blue liquid, and a bunch of readings began to show on a large screen in front of him.
"This is quite interesting," he said, taking a sip of a drink before placing it down on the table. Feeling satisfied with today's results, he decided to head back into the academy and join the other with the other classes. That is, if the instructors decided to pardon him.
Shawn was more invested in his research than in the academy. He felt like he could take on whatever punishment awaited him in the Arena, thus he quickly got ready and headed down to the abilities class without showing much fear.
The moment he entered, he caught the attention of a few of the instructors, who stopped what they were doing and walked towards him. Of course, for coming late and missing a few classes, he was ordered to head towards the Arena to serve punishment. He didn't care. Whatever was going on in his lab would take at least two weeks to reach the next stage, anyway. So he had a lot more time to spare from now on.
Once he was escorted in to the Arena, he was left into another room where he could see a horrid sight before him. The pungent smell of blood wafted through his nose. The sight of students heavily bathered and bruised, laying before the feet of this large man, caused his legs to move back in response. However, the instructor standing behind him noticed this, pushing him further into the room before walking out and shutting the door behind him.
Turning his head, the man gave a little smile, before rushing towards the new comer and grabbing him by the throat. Despite his size and weight, the man was able to lift up Shawn from the floor like he weighed nothing.
"It seems like a lot of you think you can break the rules simply because you are strong. Must I always remind you that every staff in this academy is stronger?!" he yelled, drawing Shawn's head in, headbutting him with force, causing his head to swing backwards from the impact. A cracking sound could be heard as he yelled out in pain. The force was strong enough to crack his skull. Moreover, it seemed as though the man wasn't finished yet.
'Why did I have to be so impatient?!' he yelled internally, gritting his teeth through the pain. This could have all been avoided if he had simply just waited one more day. But instead, he chose to take the risk, and this is where it had landed him.
Increasing the pressure against his throat, Shawn began to gasp for air. He felt like he was being suffocated by a python, as the man's fingers had even pierced through his skin, causing blood to travel down his fingers and stain his clothes, but he didn't care. Right now, he was more focused on doing his job than anything else.
Not long after, and the large teenager had lost consiousness. Tossing his body in the air, the man ordered the student with the lightning ability to do his thing, and Shawn was electrocuted awake midair. Screaming in pain as his body plummeted to the floor, the man lept into air, delivering a kick to the stomach that changed the direction his body was moving in, sending him crashing straight into the ceiling, his body producing a loud banging sound as it made impact.
The instructor slowed his body to hit the floor, before flipping him over, and pressing his foot against the latter's Adam's apple, proceeding to crush it with force, as the student puked out large amounts of blood.
Everyone else, including Marcus and Dan, walked in horror as the man dealt mercilessly with this new student. Despite his size and demeanor when coming in, it seemed as though he was ultimately nothing against the authorities. The man had the upper hand in this situation.
"Shock him again!" he ordered, and the student did as told, forcing Shawn awake once again. Grabbing on to his hair, he lifted the student's body up from the floor. His face was covered in his own blood, and his eyes were bloodshot from the pain and agony. Still, the rage in his eyes remained, causing a smile to break out on the man's face.
"It appears that you may require a bit more enlightenment to learn your place here," the man said, and what followed after were the sounds of heavy blows and electricity that persisted for quite a long time, and since his throat had been severely damaged, Shawn had lost his ability to speak.
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Back in the simulation, Kayden was hoping that these adventurers don't end up finding him. Right now, all he wanted was a way to grow stronger, and he couldn't see how he could achieve that with the help of these strangers. Who knows, maybe they might end up taking advantage of him if he wasn't careful. He couldn't afford to be too cautious if he wanted to learn how to survive.
The group of people had all walked passed the rock he was hiding behind, heading further into the forest, in the direction where the Arachnymphs reside. Seeing this, Kayden decided to wait patiently until they were all well away from him. However, a few moments later, he began to hear the sound of loud, ground shaking footsteps coming from far away. He couldn't see what was coming since his view was blocked by large boulders and trees in-between. Still, he didn't wish to stay and find out what that was.
Running through the barren jungle, Kayden was quick to make it back into the desert area before whatever was coming his way even got a hint of his presence. Right now, it was either travelling through the treacherous desert, or staying back and hiding someplace where the creature wouldn't find him.
Suddenly, he could hear a massive roar coming from behind him, louder than anything he had ever heard before. He wasn't sure whether or not he was imagining it, but he could see the very ground beginning to crack open from the vibrations produced by the loud noise.
He was already in his werewolf form as he began to sprint through the sandy terrain, not caring about whether or not he was spotted by other beasts. Not long after, and what was making that noise had revealed itself from the thicker parts of a jungle, raising its head up high and releasing another loud roar.
While he was running away, he could notice from his side view that a couple of the beasts in the area were chasing after him. They were running as fast as they could, quickly trying to close the distance. Seeing this, his heart rate began to speed up. There were ten Scorpanions chasing after him, and he could feel the sand underneath his paws vibrating as well.
'I hate this life?!' he yelled in his mind, leaping up in the air. At the same time, a large red serpent like creature shot out from the side, its mouth wide open, ready to consume its prey. Luckily, Kayden was able to leap high enough to just barely avoid the mouth of the beast, landing back into the sand before immediately continuing his sprint.
'I hope I'm able to make it back!' Kayden yelled, feeling the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Back then, he wasn't even able to absorb the Mana potions he had earned due to the interference of both the Colossal Arachnymph and that red-haired adventurer. At least his Mana wasn't running low since he hadn't been in a serious fight since he had gotten back here. He was just hoping that one of these beasts didn't get too close to him.
After a while if running, Kayden could finally see the small town in sight after climbing the massive sand dune a little away from the town. Jumping into the air, he was able to cover quite a distance from the jump, and now he was about to make his way into the town. However, there was a massive problem.
Although he was finally back at the town, he had brought along a horde or dangerous beasts as well, putting the town and the people who were living there in danger. Upon realizing this, Kayden began to think frantically of a possible solution, while still running as fast as he could through the town to avoid the rampaging beasts.
'What do I do know?' he thought to himself. Meanwhile, as the beasts had made it towards the entrance to the town, coming out from the Adventurer's Guild, were at least thirty adventurers who stared intently at the incoming beasts. Quickly, they began to activate their abilities, using them to defend the town by slaying the incoming beasts, making sure that not a single one makes it into the town.
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