Chapter 21 - Abduction

Without wanting to, Freda lowered the dagger with trembling hands. She could do nothing about her fear as the scene of what Ethan had done to Angel passed before her eyes.

"Look out!" Alisa exclaimed with all her might.

Ethan instantly turned around, as the fist of the young man who had decided to use his opportunity plunged into his face.

"Aaaagh!!!!" The young man tried to attack again, but this time Ethan stopped his fist with ease.

"Damn, how did you even get to this point? You idiot..." Ethan uttered, released his grip, and attacked with the same hand. For some reason, he kept his other hand closed.

Crackle.

In one punch, Ethan broke the young man's nose, followed by several more blows until the young man was practically unconscious.

"Time to fix this." Ethan's gaze grew colder as he grabbed the young man by the collar and threw him forward.

At the same moment, the people that were still in the square saw the student fly out of the second-floor window, falling backwards to the ground with a loud pop.

"What was that...?' Freda inwardly muttered in disbelief, 'Ethan is pretty strong, but is it normal for him to so easily single-handedly toss someone who weighs over 60 kilograms...?'

Alisa's and Freda's faces turned pale as they didn't expect Ethan to act so drastically. After that, Freda's every thought of arguing with Ethan disappeared.

"Where should I go...?" Freda muttered with a blank stare.

Click.

Ethan simply opened the door, gestured for Alisa to enter, and loudly slammed it shut.

Freda didn't know what to do, so she just set off wandering the corridors with a sad look. Once again, she couldn't accomplish anything.

"Ethan... Is it okay that we came here...?" Alisa said uncertainly, looking around.

This room was different from all the others. It was much smaller than a classroom or auditorium, but every item here was very expensive.

There was a massive cabinet with a collection of books against the back wall, a wide oak table in the center, and several comfortable chairs for visitors. Off to the side was a single couch on which Ethan was already lying.

"Yeah. I haven't seen the principal in a while, he's probably dead by now. If not, it doesn't change anything either way. This office is mine now." Ethan said quietly, closing his eyes, "Now let's go to sleep."

"Sure..." Alisa nodded and sat down in the massive chair.

It only took Alisa a few minutes to fall asleep, and when Ethan was sure of this he gently opened his fist.

A faint golden light escaped through the gap, reflecting in his deep green eye.

Ethan stared at the small scrap of paper with symbols he didn't recognize, as if it were part of some ancient scroll or magic book.

He had gotten it the moment the table disappeared, it was his reward for being the best participant in the entire Zero Epos.

Ethan didn't know what he had to do, but nothing was really required of him.

Two unusual runes shone brightly on a scrap of paper, different from the others because they were identical and moving. Then, in a heartbeat, the scrap of paper turned into a golden flash, entering Ethan's mind and forcibly plunging him into sleep.

Ethan opened his eyes quickly, but he found himself not in the principal's office, but in his own inner space.

The white sphere, or Warp was still here just like River, a white stream quickly disappearing into the dark fog.

Whoooooosh.

A scrap of paper swept in front of him as two runes separated from it. The runes were a diamond, on top of which a triangle was superimposed with an inverted triangle inside.

[You've performed two Remarkable Scale events! You've gained two Sigils!]

[Your fight with Warden Angel, during Zero Epos was rated as an event of the Historical Scale! As a reward, you receive a Scripture!]

Ethan would have been happy to ask questions, but it was impossible, he was alone in this space.

A scrap of paper had turned into a full page that seemed to have been torn from a very old but important book. Its edges were damaged, but the ink was still clear.

The two Sigils flew off to the side, then an ancient stone pillar appeared out of the darkness. The Sigils headed towards the top, as two runes flashed brightly while remaining on the pillar.

[You can use the Sigils to activate any of your Scriptures!]

That was all the information Ethan had gotten, but it was enough for him for now.

"Hmph... So the fact that I became the best in all of Epos is only Remarkable Scale, right? I only got one Sigil for that." Ethan muttered with a deep gaze, approaching the page, "I had to do a lot to get those two Sigils, so it must be something worthwhile."

Ethan touched the page, then a golden light fell on his face from the brightly glowing symbols. They were sinking into Ethan's mind.

...

By then several hours had passed, and it was deep into the night. Most of the participants were already asleep, some in a small room, some in a classroom, or just in the hallway.

There was danger, but everyone was too tired and just wanted to live until the next day.

However, some had other goals. Ethan wasn't the only one who realized that the information in the report could be put to practical use.

"Hey, is he really there?" The young man whispered, approaching the massive wooden door.

"Yeah... She wouldn't lie about that." The skinny guy said quietly, slowly moving forward, "He definitely should have gotten something as a reward. Moreover, I saw him clenching his fist tightly."

"Wait...? You're going to kill him...?" The young man shuddered in fear. He didn't want to do that.

"No, of course not! We'll just carefully steal what he's got. He's probably asleep by now, he must think no one would dare act so brashly, and that's our advantage." The skinny guy uttered as he approached the door.

They acted as silently as possible, none of their footsteps made a sound, so if Ethan was actually deep in sleep, he couldn't have noticed their presence.

The skinny guy reached for the doorknob, about to open it.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Care to tell me?" Suddenly a sly voice came from behind with a wide grin and narrowed eyes that gave off a dangerous glint.

The skinny guy immediately turned around, but before he could do anything, his mouth and his mate's were tightly closed by two powerful palms. All they could see were the black veins on their opponent's muscular arms.

"Well, let's keep the noise down and keep the two sleepyheads from their nap. You and I are going to have an interesting conversation." Magnus uttered in a cold tone, making them freeze.