"Close to ninety," agent Finnick said.
His face no longer had that amiable smile.
Everyone gasped in shock.
"The damage was mostly spread out though… except for two hoverbuses.
They got wrecked by a Domain realm expert's attack and all the kids in those buses were taken.
When we summed up the number of missing students in each hoverbus, we had eighty-seven kids kidnapped," he added.
"How did they even pull it off?" Mr. Davis asked.
"A domain mage was with them. He deployed his domain and unleashed a shower of attacks which forced the hoverbus convoy to stall.
The teachers with the kids went out to check and they were baited by other Dusk agents who kept them occupied while the others entered the hoverbuses and took the nearest kids.
Your school was one of the lucky ones. All your students are still inside," agent Finnick explained.
Mr. Davis heaved a sigh of relief.
"That doesn't explain why you people were so late in coming," the principal intoned.
"Our branch got attacked too. Seven domain realm agents and tens of grand and advanced agents. We received the distress call quite early but the agents did their best to stall us.
Our boss had to recall all agents.
Same with the police force.
Luckily, one of our Transcendent realm experts who was passing by came over. The Dusk agents were too slippery though. Most of them escaped but we were able to nab seven of them.
Had it not been for that expert, we would still be delayed," agent Finnick said.
"Any reason on why they decided to take such bold actions?" principal Gray asked.
"We're still investigating but it would take time," agent Finnick replied helplessly. The principal nodded and slipped into deep thought with his brows furrowed.
No one knew what he was thinking.
**
"Took you pansies long enough," Mr. Gavin growled in dissatisfaction as he watched government agents and police forces frantically rush to the convoy.
By that time, all the Dusk agents were long gone.
Knowing how slippery they were, any thoughts the AEC had on catching them was merely a pipedream.
After all, they had a head start of five minutes which was like an eternity when it came to higher levels.
They were probably safe and sound on some stealth ship somewhere.
This time, their actions had caught everyone off-guard.
No one expected them to be brash or bold enough to attack a convoy of hoverbuses and kidnap the kids.
What the Dusk organization always did was that they targeted the newly awakened in the one-month period they were at home and not yet in the awakened schools.
They moved about in the dark and were careful not to be open or leave traces.
Today, they had taken a drastic turn from their covert philosophy and brazenly attacked a major convoy of hoverbuses that had newly awakened students.
What was the motive behind it?
No one knew.
Yet.
But it would soon come to light…
**
"Ugh…" groaned Zane as he groggily rose to his feet.
The shaking had finally stopped but most of the kids lay sprawled out on the floor of the hoverbus. It had really been rough.
His buddy Austin also got up.
He wasn't the only one. Around them, those who had not put on their seatbelts had been thrown around due to the shaking of the hoverbus. Those buckled to their seatbelts fared better.
Austin felt like puking.
Being thrown around without solid footing on a hoverbus was not a pleasant experience.
He looked at where Mindy and Brianna sat. They were part of the few who had seatbelts on just in time.
"Is it finally over?" he asked.
Mindy unstrapped the seatbelt and warily opened the window.
"I think so… the AEC and police have arrived," she said.
They heaved sighs of relief. Fortunately, the government agents had come to their rescue.
"Who do you think attacked us?" Brianna asked with a subdued voice.
"Probably the Dusk organization," Mindy sniffed.
"That makes no sense!" argued Austin as he and Zane walked over to the girls.
"It does, Austin. They are the only ones who have cause to do that," Mindy replied.
"But they've never attacked a student convoy before. Why would they do so now? Are they crazy?" Austin asked in bewilderment.
"I dunno," Mindy replied with a shrug.
"Mr. Jameson, is it finally over?" Brianna asked one of the two teachers who were still in the hoverbus. Both were moving about attending to the kids.
Mr. Jameson looked up. He gave her a thumbs up and smile.
"Don't worry kids, the AEC has everything under control," he replied.
The students let out a cheer.
Finally, they were no longer under attack! They were alive and hadn't been kidnapped.
At that moment, an announcement blared from the sound system of the hoverbus.
"HELLO STUDENTS. I AM AGENT CONNOR OF THE AEC. PLEASE CALM DOWN AND TAKE YOUR SEATS. WE WILL ENSURE THAT YOU ARRIVE TO YOUR DESTINATIONS SAFELY.
DON'T PANIC. EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONTROL. YOU ARE SAFE NOW," said the voice.
The students quickly complied and soon everyone was in their seats.
A bedraggled Mr. Gavin entered alone, his face pale and blood trickling from his lower lip. He heavily sat in one of the chairs and closed his eyes, taking in deep breaths.
He was glad everything was over.
The other two teachers had been taken by the government agents and they were given them medical care. Mr. Gavin's injuries weren't that serious as compared to them.
A minute later, the hoverbus began to move again as it continued its journey to deliver the students at their various schools.
Only that this time, it was being followed closely by police and government hovercars and agents.
Throughout the rest of the journey, the bus was insanely quiet.
All the students were sober and deep in thought. The earlier excitement from awakening was long gone. A deep unsettling fear had washed over them.
Due to them awakening, they were now targets.
Being awakened wasn't as rosy as they thought.
A new side of the world had now been opened to them. Being an awakened was dangerous and certainly difficult. It wasn't meant for the weak.
Austin though had taken this experience as a lesson.
If the Dusk organization had been brazen enough to attack them in broad daylight today, who was to say that they wouldn't come after them again?
The only way to avoid that would be to have enough power.
If he was strong, Austin was certain that Dusk agents would think twice before attacking him. That was why he needed to do his best to grow stronger for his own safety.
He didn't want what had happened today to ever happen to him again.
It wasn't pleasant.
The rest of the journey was uneventful but tense. They finally arrived at the school premises where they found the principal already outside and waiting for them.
He gave a short speech but the students were too shaken up to take not of it.
What if the Dusk organization struck again?
What if there was no one around to protect them at that time?
What if the government agents were late in coming to rescue them?
Didn't it mean they would easily be kidnapped and taken away by Dusk agents?
They all shuddered at the thought.
Some of the students became even more disheartened.
Others too saw this as a glimpse of how dangerous their lives would be from now.
If they wanted to avoid such an incident, it meant they had to train hard.
The question was, would they still have the will to do it or not?
The decision was theirs to make.
**
Damien was already in his house.
He sat cross legged on his bed as he looked at the black box before him, deep in thought.
"What I did today was extremely stupid and risky," he thought to himself.
He was quite lucky.
If the fake agents had been in the grand realm, they would have caught up with him in seconds. They had also underestimated Damien's paranoia.
A naïve person would have fallen for their deception and wouldn't have questioned them.
It would have led to dire consequences.
Fortunately, Damien wasn't naïve. He was a rational person who observed his surroundings carefully and thought beyond the box.
He couldn't afford to be lax now that he had awakened.
Today's events had shown him that.
Damien knew that the Dusk organization wasn't the only threat. It could be them, other alien races, even humans! Anyone was susceptible to be a threat to him and his family.
The only way to avoid those things was to have sufficient power.
Power which he now had after awakening.
All that was left was to train.
And train Damien will.
Damien grinned at the black box and opened it. Rows and rows of mana stones greeted his sight. He was going to make the most out of it!
By the time the next month came and it was time for him to go to the awakened school, He had to be at least a mid or peak level Enlightenment realm awakened!
And speaking of schools, it was about time he chose one.
Which one though?