The change was abrupt and uncalled for. The fighters were also exhausted and in no condition to fight against an existence as powerful and scary as this eagle was. They could only run and hope that things would somehow workout. The eagle was large with a wingspan of over 5 meters, golden eyes that had a hint of intelligence, it was well blended in black and golden feathers. Its talons were sharp and had slightly metallic properties.
This eagle had swooped down to get the humans who radiated with a decent amount of soul essence but to its dismay it only managed to kill five level zero humans. Its body floated midair as it stretched its wings as far as it could manage and with a flap it body disappeared in a flash of light.
When it reappeared it was directly in front of Mr. Ping.
His body immediately operated on autopilot as he flipped forward through the air, directly going over the eagle's wing in a parabolic motion. Seeing its fail, the eagle's movement halted as it spun like a disk and using that momentum it flapped its wings with its strength. The atmospheric pressure vibrated and multiple wind blades shot forward.
'Isn't this too much' Jordan complained internally when he felt the wind blade sharply heading his way with the aim to cut him to pieces. Kicking off the ground gently Jordan crossed both arms in front of his body in an 'X'.
Boom!
His body was sent flying upon impact. He hit the ground and rolled by the time his movements slowed, his arms were numb and trembled despite having the protection from the gauntlets. Fortunately when he stood back up the door of the gymnasium were right in front of him. Ignoring his pain he opened its doors wide when he looked back he could see the survivors running frantically.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
From the distance Veronica was being carried on Conrad's back.
She used her Ice skill to create hundreds of ice bullets
"Go" her soft voice commanded. The ice bullets shot towards the eagle's eyes giving it no choice but to retreat.
Jordan took out the treasure orbs and immediately crushed them. In an explosion of light two treasures one was a ring and the other was a wand.
---
[Earthen ring (Uncommon)- When equipped +10 Mana and +8 Magic. This ring produces spikes made from earth at the user's will. Consumes 10 Mana for every activation and has a cooldown time of 30 seconds.]
[Frost queen's wand (Rare)- When equipped +30 Mana. Wand forged by blacksmiths from Nielfhem has the ability to amplify magical ice attacks by at least five times]
---
Jordan immediately equipped the earthen ring on his finger. A warm sensation flooded his body as he felt his mana go up but he didn't lose himself in the feeling. The students were now filling up the gymnasium but they still held panicked expressions on their faces.
Jordan could see the others coming up from behind.
"Veronica!" Jordan shouted at the top of his lungs/
The ice cold beauty snapped her head in his direction. Surprise formed on her face as she saw on object flying towards her. Hand stretched out she managed to catch the wand. Immediately she felt her drained mana replenish thanks to it and without suspense she pointed it in the direction of the eagle behind her.
"Blizzard!"
A torrent of cold frost blasted towards the eagle. It felt its wings get covered by a layer of frost and it had no choice but to retreat. It decided to stop its hunt as it flew away and perched on top of a building.
Mr. Ping, Conrad and Veronica managed to make it inside the building. They were safe now but for how long?
End of flashback
…
Jordan could only helplessly sit in the corner. One hour had passed since the eagle's attack
What Veronica and the others were saying made a lot of sense. The eagle was still out there and it would probably attack them the moment they left the building. But the thought of leaving his friends behind was just too much to bare.
Huey and Jordan had been friends since kindergarten while Billy had become their friend in the 7th grade of middle school.
'I'm sorry buddy. I've failed you' Jordan clenched his fists tightly to the point of almost crushing his bones.
"Um…excuse me?" a petite girl with flowing black hair and glasses was standing right in front of him. Jordan was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice her approach.
"Mh?"
The petite girl's name was Melody and before the apocalypse she used to be the top of her class in the third year. She was a shy and polite girl.
"The leaders are having a meeting and would like you participate" Melody said while looking down as if afraid of offending him. Jordan didn't comment on this. In fact at this point he didn't even care at all, he only wished he could go out and get his friends out of the infirmary and then they would venture off and rescue their loved ones and maybe one day stand on top of the world just like protagonists in the lightnovels he once read.
Shaking his head. Jordan stood from his position and silently followed Melody towards a table that was quite the distance away from the rest of the crowd. Conrad, Veronica, Mr. Ping and two teachers, both female, sat at the table as they silently waited for Jordan to approach.
When they heard his approaching steps, they looked at him and Veronica even pointed towards the empty seat that was preserved for him in between the two teachers.
Jordan sat down without a word. When Veronica noticed how silent he was she couldn't help but remember they argument they had a few moments ago. She could only sigh as she proceeded to part her delicate pink lips.
"Now that everyone is here lets proceed with the meeting"
"As we all know its been about only 5 hours since the start of the apocalypse as well as the arrival of the Spirit Record. We don't know much about it only that we can learn magical skills as well as earn treasures from the enemies we kill…" she started off by explaining pretty much what Jordan already knew but he didn't say anything else at this point and just continued to listen. "…We also know about the strange eagle that attacked us. We don't have lights, water and food and we also don't know how long we can last in this situation"
Their situation was pretty dire to say the least and no one knew how long it would take for the survivors to start having their very own ideas. Currently the society of the old had collapsed and whether the government could respond on time was another thing as well.
How long would they have to stay here? How were their families doing? Would they live or would they die?
Some even had more sinister thoughts. If the society had crumbled then wouldn't that mean that the world was now a free for all and some would think about doing what they mostly wanted.
Everyone at the table was silent and they had solemn expressions on their faces.
"W-well c-can I suggest something?" Melody the shy girl stuttered for a moment. Before anyone could respond Jordan spoke.
"Sure go ahead"
"W-well I would suggest that we deal with the most important issue at hand" Melody spoke feeling more confident now that she had the support of someone as strong as Jordan she naturally didn't have much to fear. "…First we have to find a way to deal with that bird"
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Conrad asked.
Melody looked down she didn't want to admit it but if they couldn't find a way to get rid of that bird then there wasn't much they could do in the first place other than hole up in the gym until it decided to attack on its own or otherwise