"Ugh, I really don't like winter," Jin sneezed.
Jin, who was wearing wool clothes customized with the academy's emblem, walked through the cold weather. These winter uniforms were available for all students to wear in the chilly climate.
He and the other students were heading to the history hall as usual. But Jin and the others noticed something strange: first, the number of teachers was fewer this week, and Saruman's main building had been closed all this time. Second, the students of the S-ranked class had been missing.
"This week has been strange, hasn't it?" Jin said, putting his hand behind his neck as he spoke to Henry.
"Yeah, it's unusual," Henry replied.
Jin, feeling curious, said, "And it's also weird that I haven't heard anyone talk about the fucking royal families for a while."
The students of the B-ranked class always followed news about the S-ranked class, as they were passionate about them. The class was divided into factions that supported certain elite members of the S-ranked class, discussing their news or betting on who would take the top spot next month. For example, many supported Jonathan from the Malakith, while others supported Yumi from the Artavelia. Alucard from Shanzo had support from both sides.
"Hey Jin, did you notice something else?" Henry asked.
"The number of awakened soldiers patrolling Lucaria has decreased," Henry said, looking down and thinking.
"It was my permitted day to leave Lucaria the day before yesterday, and I saw only a few of them guarding the walls that day."
Lucaria students were allowed to leave the academy twice a month to buy what they needed outside Lucaria or to visit their families. Many of Lucaria's students had families within it.
Jin replied, "Maybe there's a nearby portal or something like that."
Henry, who was clearly tense, asked, "Do you think there's a portal that requires a saint like Saruman?"
Jin laughed. "I'm sure that old man is somewhere doing his business. If there were such a dangerous portal , we would have already heard about it, right?"
Henry sighed with some relief. "I hope so."
Jin and the other students went to their daily classes as usual, where the first lecture was with Teacher Ichiki. They sat in their usual seats, waiting for their teacher.
The students were talking about various things while Jin silently looked out the window, bored.
Jin muttered, "Hmph, why don't they teach us how to get the awakening powers?"
Henry was reading what he had written in his notebook, which was about the lessons prepared for that day.
After a few minutes, Teacher Ichiki entered the class, placed his book on his desk, and then looked at the students.
"Ah, students, I have some news for you. Your combat classes with Teacher John will be postponed for a while."
The students showed their displeasure, saying,
"Why were they postponed?"
"The only useful lessons for us now are being delayed!"
"What the hell is going on?"
Teacher Ichiki sighed deeply and said, "Well, although I should keep my mouth shut, I am going to say that there's a somewhat dangerous portal that has appeared. For now, Saruman and some other saints are handling it."
"Oh, and by the way, Teacher Catherine's lecture will also be postponed for a while too. Hmm, you all will have some extra free time for a week or two. So make sure you all enjoy it and take a rest as much as possible."
Everyone in the hall fell silent, their expressions shifting to shock.
Henry, swallowing nervously, said, "What kind of portal requires several saints to close it, for heaven's sake?"
Jin felt a bit anxious. "Well, this was unexpected."
These thoughts were running through everyone's minds until one student raised their hand and asked, "What about the S-ranked students? They've been missing for a while."
The teacher replied, "Oh, you could say they're on vacation for a while."
The students understood that the teacher meant those students had been called by their families due to the portal. It seemed that the portal was truly dangerous, enough to make the royals worry.
One student asked, "Where did the portal appear, teacher?"
The teacher responded, "No more questions about the portal. You'll be informed later with the details. Now, open your books for today's lesson, which I expect you have already prepared for."
After class ended, everyone had a lot of free time. Jin, who sighed, didn't know what to do.
"Hmm, what should I do now?" He placed his hand on his waist, thinking.
Then Henry asked, "Do you want to come with me, Jin? There's a place I want to visit."
"Ah, sure. Where are we going?"
Henry smiled, "Shh, keep this a secret. Just follow me."
Jin went with Henry until they found themselves in front of a forbidden room in the science complex.
Jin looked at Henry. "What are we doing here?"
Henry smiled, "You know this place is forbidden, right, Jin?"
Jin's face twisted into a silly grin. "Ha ha, yeah, don't tell me we're going in there."
A mischievous smile appeared on Henry's face. "Don't tell me you're afraid to go in."
Stubborn as always, Jin replied, "Heeeh, no way, of course I am not. But, um, is this safe?"
Henry assured him, "Don't worry, it's very, very, very safe."
Jin wasn't convinced by Henry's tone. Jin knew Henry to be shy and always gentle. He never expected to see this bold side of Henry, and now he was suggesting Jin enter a forbidden room with him.
Anyway, Jin and Henry sneaked in, making sure no one saw them as they entered the room.
And what a gruesome and disgusting room it was. There were dozens of preserved chaos creatures' corpses, kept in transparent capsules.
Henry said, "Follow me, Jin, I want to show you something."
Jin looked around the room, feeling disgusted. "What a horrible room. Why are we here?"
Jin followed until they both stood before the corpse of a repulsive-looking creature. The creature's body was pinned to the wall, its hands nailed with giant spikes in a crucifix-like manner.
The creature was headless, but its body remained intact, showing its full details. It had long wings with dense feathers resembling those of a raven.
This creature was at least five meters tall. Its color was purple, and it had an enlarged hand with three claws. Its legs were like the body of a massive snake, covered in tough scales that seemed harder than iron itself.
Jin looked at the creature, sweating, and said, "What is this creature? Why is it so huge?"
Henry replied, his gaze serious, "This creature is called the Typhon. It is one of the demonic chaos creatures."
Jin asked, "Why are we here, and why do you want to show me this hideous thing?"
Henry answered, "This is one of the creatures that killed my family and destroyed my village. And there are dozens of them scattered across the continent."
Then he looked at Jin. "I don't see you taking things seriously these days. I see you uninterested in your lessons, slacking off. Especially in Miss Catherine's classes, you keep mocking the appearance of these creatures."
Henry's gaze turned into something Jin had never seen before—a mix of anger and seriousness. "If you're here to underestimate the horrors of these things, then you need to take a good look at them this time."
Jin's tongue was tied, unable to respond, as what Henry said was true. Seeing the corpse of this hideous creature alone sent shivers down Jin's spine. Imagine if this thing were alive in front of him? How would Jin fight it?
Jin clenched his fist and bit his tongue as he looked at the hideous creature.
Then Henry said, "I will leave now, Jin. See you later."
He left Jin in that room alone, staring at that creature and the other creatures in the room...
A week had passed since Jin and Henry entered the forbidden room. Jin was still thinking about Henry's words and what he had seen in that room. As he was moving around the academy, the situation at the academy was extremely chaotic. Everyone was moving, and screams were heard.
"Move quickly!"
"Go from there!"
Jin heard some of the shouting and pleas for help outside the academy walls.
"What the hell is happening?" Jin moved toward the academy gate.
Jin found many students already gathered there.
"Hey, what's going on here?" Jin asked one of the gathered students.
The student replied, "It's a disaster, an absolute disaster."
Jin responded, "What do you mean?"
At that moment, Jin saw many teachers running frantically outside the gate, among them Teacher Ichiki.
The student answered Jin, "It's a level 6 gate!"
"Level 6 gate? Where?" Jin asked.
The student replied, "In Anvil."
Jin heard this from the student, and his expression turned grim, deathly shocked. He knelt down, stunned by the words he had just heard. He listened to the screams of many people outside the walls.
As he looked at the student, he said, "Anvil has been completely wiped out..."