Even though the explosion was deafening, the good thing was that there was no visible destruction in the classroom itself.
"Good," I thought, exhaling softly. "Now I just need to stay put, and whatever is happening out there will sort itself out."
For a brief moment, I felt secure in the confinement of the classroom, as if its four walls and ceiling could protect us from the chaos outside.
But, as they say, good things never last long. As the adrenaline coursing through my veins began to subside, I started noticing my surroundings. My heart sank when my gaze instinctively drifted upwards to the ceiling.
And I froze.
There, running across the ceiling like a jagged scar, was a massive crack. Worse, it wasn't just stationary—it was growing, spreading ominously with the faintest groan of stressed material. A chill ran down my spine. The crack widened with each passing second, and I had a gut-wrenching thought: a single gust of wind could bring the entire ceiling down in an instant.
The room was eerily silent until someone else noticed it.
"Ahhhhhh!" A piercing scream shattered the stillness, drawing everyone's attention to a girl in the middle of the classroom. She was pointing up, her face pale with terror.
"No!" another voice cried, quaking with fear.
"Look at the ceiling!" someone shouted in panic.
But it was already too late. With a deafening crack, the ceiling began to crumble.
A wave of dread washed over me as chunks of concrete started to rain down. My mind spiraled into chaos, and an agonizing question burned through my thoughts: Is this how it ends? Am I going to die, right after being regressed into this new life? Anger flared within me, red-hot and all-consuming.
"If I survive this," I swore silently, "I'm going to find whoever wiped my mind and sucker punch them. I don't care who they are—even if it's a god!"
Just as despair threatened to consume me, a voice cut through the chaos.
"Ice Wall!"
Professor Ivan.
The professor sprang into action, his voice commanding and steady despite the mayhem. He raised his hand and began casting a spell. The temperature in the room plummeted, and the air grew heavy with icy energy.
I held my breath as I watched him work. Despite the gravity of the situation, his movements were precise, his focus unshakable. The very air seemed to hum with power as he conjured a wall of shimmering ice that expanded across the ceiling, catching and holding the falling debris.
BOOM.
The impact shook the room, and for a moment, my ears rang. But the ice held firm, trapping the collapsing ceiling within its crystalline barrier. Dust billowed into the air, obscuring our vision and choking the atmosphere, but at least we were safe—for now.
I exhaled shakily, only then realizing I had been holding my breath. Relief flooded my body, leaving me weak at the knees.
But that relief was short-lived.
The crackling of ice drew my attention back to the ceiling. The professor's ice wall was holding most of the debris in place—but not all of it. I spotted a large chunk of the ceiling hanging precariously from a steel rod, barely attached to the rest of the structure.
And no one else had noticed it.
I started to pray silently, "Please, please don't let it fall. Please let this nightmare end here."
But fate, or whatever cruel force was in charge, didn't heed my prayer. The chunk of ceiling began to shift, sliding free from the steel rod that had held it in place.
My heart stopped.
At first, I thought there was no one below it. But then, as if summoned by my bad luck, someone stepped directly into harm's way—a student oblivious to the danger above them.
"Move!" I shouted, my voice raw with desperation. "Hey! Watch out! The ceiling is falling!"
The student froze. Instead of running or dodging, they stood rooted to the spot, staring up at the looming debris with wide, terrified eyes.
There was no time to think.
My body moved on its own. Before I knew it, I was sprinting toward them, every fiber of my being focused on reaching them in time.
The steel rod groaned and gave way. The chunk of ceiling broke free, hurtling downward.
"NO!"
I screamed, willing my legs to move faster. Somewhere in the chaos, I heard the professor shout another spell, his voice sharp and commanding. A spear of ice shot toward the falling debris, slowing its descent—but it wasn't enough to stop it completely.
I dove.
The world blurred around me as I grabbed the student, wrapping them in my arms. Momentum carried us both forward, and we hit the ground hard, rolling across the dusty floor toward the wall.
The impact left me disoriented, but I didn't stop. I twisted my body, shielding the student as we collided with the wall. The force of the collision rattled my bones, but at least it wasn't as bad as it could've been. The friction from the floor had slowed us down just enough to soften the blow.
I lay there for a moment, gasping for breath. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst.
"Safe," I thought weakly, relief washing over me like a wave. "We're safe."
The student in my arms stirred, and I finally took a good look at them. She was a girl, her amber eyes wide with shock and disbelief. For a moment, I thought I recognized her—those eyes, that face—but before I could place her, something struck the side of my head.
Pain exploded through my skull, sharp and searing. My vision blurred, and I felt something warm and wet trickling down my temple.
Dazed, I reached up to touch my head, my fingers brushing against the sticky liquid. When I pulled my hand away, I saw red.
Blood.
"Is this… my blood?"
The realization hit me like a freight train. My head throbbed, and the world around me started to spin.
Amber eyes stared at me, wide with horror, but her voice sounded distant, like it was coming from the other end of a tunnel.
"Hey! Are you okay? Stay with me!"
Her words barely registered as darkness crept into the edges of my vision. I tried to focus, to stay conscious, but it was no use.
The last thing I saw before everything went black was the girl's face, her expression frozen in a mix of fear and gratitude.
---
When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was the softness of the bed beneath me. The air smelled faintly of antiseptic, and the room was quiet save for the faint hum of magical wards buzzing in the background.
My head throbbed, and when I reached up to touch it, I felt a bandage wrapped around my skull.
"You're awake."
The voice startled me. I turned my head slowly and saw Professor Ivan standing at the foot of the bed, his arms crossed. His usually stern face was softer than usual, though his eyes still held a sharp glint.
"You're lucky to be alive," he said, his tone gruff but not unkind. "That was a reckless stunt you pulled."
I opened my mouth to reply, but my throat felt dry and scratchy. Instead, I nodded weakly.
"The girl you saved has been waiting outside," he added after a moment. "She's been quite worried about you. Seems you made an impression."
Amber eyes flashed in my mind, and I felt a faint smile tug at the corners of my lips.