Chapter 408: It Was Him All Along

"I told you to ru…" Madam Mary's voice was cut short as something heavy slammed into her, sending her flying. Her body crashed into the Head Office Building, making a hole as she flew straight out of bounds.

A couple of seconds later, the four students heard a ringing sound resound, a fact that said something had crashed into the city walls. The three girls were scared shitless, trembling as they fell to the ground.

Fear had overwhelmed them, preventing them from running. They wanted to live, but their bodies failed to obey their command. The boy landed flat on the ground, beginning to cry as his face turned pale, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry for being useless…"

The grass completely wilted and turned into dust that scattered with the heavy winds that broiled around. The yellow light in the surrounding made it seem like their city had long crossed its prime and was now on the path of ruin.

The ground turned barren as it began to heat up, making the four students instinctively get up to avoid the heat as much as possible. It cracked, with the sounds of cracking resounding everywhere, loud and tremendous.

Every crack seemed to possess a lot of weight, judging by how it sounded. A crack grew under them, causing the three girls to scream in fright and jump about. The sounds paused as the girls stopped crying, hiccupping as they looked around while trembling.

The wind carried the dust from the barren ground, flowing around as it veiled their surroundings. Suddenly, they heard the gruntle of a Frenzy Beast they were familiar with.

"No…don't come here!" One of the three girls shouted before the others covered her mouth, cursing her foolishness mentally. The boy was foaming in his mouth at the side, muttering excuses to someone unknown.

Outlined within the dust were four-legged silhouettes that ran helter-skelter. They also noticed some humanoid figures that tussled with the creatures, sometimes killing them, something getting killed.

Among them, one of the four-legged silhouettes exited the dust cloud and sprinted towards them. It was a Spiked Lizard, a Tier 1 Frenzy Beast. Judging by its weak physique, it was an Esper, the weakest of the bunch.

It sprinted at a fast pace but was injured all over. It seemed it had planned to escape the fight to save its skin. But now, it encountered four people that seemed like easy targets. Its regressed eyes spun as it hooted, leaking saliva as it raised its speed, intending to lunge at its prey.

"Stop, don't come here." The girl that was crying before wailed, helpless as she plopped to the ground. The other two girls looked ready to abandon her but were scared to move. They looked around and saw the dust cloud covering them on all sides.

One of them saw the boy that had fainted beside them, foaming at the mouth. The Spiked Lizard made a beeline towards them, arriving before the hole—that had appeared at the start—as it jumped over it.

But suddenly, a hand moved up, grabbed it by the neck, and pulled it into the hole, followed by a welp that was abruptly severed. A second later, a bloody hand slammed on the ground, pulling its body. It was Jyorta, wearing what seemed to be a vine around his shoulders.

He climbed up the hole and dragged himself on the ground, seating as he grunted, pulling out a spiked tooth embedded on his back, "Argh, damn Frenzy Beasts."

He then turned around to see the four people, his eyes widening as he remarked, "What are you idiots doing here? You should run if you wish to survive. Didn't Madam Principal announce it before?"

"But you were with us just now?" One of the girls trembled as she pointed a finger at him.

"What nonsense, that Frenzy Beast swallowed me 10 minutes ago." Jyorta scowled, slowly getting up as he looked around, noticing the numerous silhouettes prancing about with the dust cloud, "Anyway, I have plans to survive. If you wish to live, keep up with me."

"Help us," The crying girl shouted, wailing as she moved forward to grab his legs. Jyorta stepped back, evading her as he said, "Every person for himself. I will only help you if you help yourself in the first place."

"We won't hold you back," The other girl stood up, slapping the head of the wailing girl as she pulled her up. Noticing Jyorta look at the unconscious boy, the remaining girl walked towards him and kicked him as hard as she could.

Air left his lungs as the boy gasped, regaining consciousness as he looked around, soon staring at the bloodied figure of Jyorta, hearing his cold voice, "If you don't wish to become food to them, lift your sorry self and survive."

Jyorta's voice intimidated him, causing him to spring up to his legs. He wasn't even able to think anything, for Jyorta's killing intent caused his mind to turn blank. He automatically followed what Jyorta said without questioning.

"Make sure you follow me. I'll make a path through the dust cloud," Holding the spiked teeth in his hands, Jyorta grunted. Blood dripped from his back, shoulder, and other wounds all over his body. The blood loss caused him to trip, but he still pressed forward.

"Yes," The four barely willed themselves to answer, controlling their hazardous emotions as they followed Jyorta. They had just taken a couple of steps when the grass grew back while the yellowness in the light vanished, replaced by regular sunlight.

The dust cloud and heat disappeared as the scent of the grass wafted to their nostrils. The four students stared at Jyorta's back that was in a pose of carrying the spiked teeth from before, but there wasn't anything in his hands.

Noticing the change in his surroundings, Jyorta relaxed his hands and heaved a sigh of relief, "Thankfully, that was only a hallucination."

"Your performance was alright, not the best considering the conditions, but you expressed your survival instincts." Madam Mary's voice resounded as her figure appeared beside the students, positioned 20 metres away.

When the four students turned to look at her, a pale blue psychic arm seeped into Jyorta—originating from his head. The pale expression, sweat, and fatigue in him disappeared as he expended some psychic energy. Then, like the others, he too looked at Madam Mary, acting none the wiser.

"As for the four of you," Madam Mary gazed at them, shaking her head, "You may be lacking in a lot of areas, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't fight for your survival. What you witnessed now may have been an illusion I created, but that doesn't mean such a situation cannot become reality in the future. The least you could do is fight to survive, right?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The four shouted, saluting as they controlled themselves from showing their weakness.

"That's the spirit." Madam Mary smiled, "I'll be giving surprise tests to you from time to time. I hope you fare better next time. As Cadets about to graduate, your treatment would be different from the other Cadets."

Saying her piece, Madam Mary vanished. The four students wiped off their tears and looked around to see students moving about on the ground as usual. Some of them shot confused gazes their way, wondering why they were behaving as such.

"It wasn't real!" The crying girl broke down in tears while the remaining two too followed suit. The boy kneeled on the ground, muttering, "I didn't do anything. I'm weak."

"It was real," Jyorta's voice resounded, causing them to turn his way, watching him come to a stop before them, "It was an illusion you say? Nope."

His expression was serious, "If such a situation happened in reality, all you would have done is die a pointless death. And, it wasn't as if the cause of death was some Tier 5 powerhouse we cannot hope to match up to. It was a Spiked Lizard, a wounded Line Controller. Even a 12-year-old can kill such a wounded creature."

"But, we are weak. Our Sync Rates are less than 55 percent. How can we even fight?" The crying girl said, "And, weak people like us will only work within the City. Marble City is defended by Ancestor Marble. It will never be breached."

'Right, these types do exist.' Jyorta sighed, speaking with a calm tone, "Do you recall a certain statement Madam Rizenne has quoted many times during our lecture?"

"W-What is it?" The boy stammered, finally raising his head for the first time.

"In the Wilds exist as many Shifters as the population of humanity." Jyorta smiled, "Remember this? It may or may not be your fault for your lower Sync Rates. My Sync Rate isn't all that high either. Your weak strength may or may not be your fault. But…"

His gaze turned stern, "Not willing to fight against an opponent that tries to kill you is plain cowardice. And, I don't like that."

"If you wish to grow stronger, I'll help you. The same as what I said before, I will only help you if you wish to help yourself." Jyorta's voice turned bolder, echoing in their ears, "I can't promise you'll become experts. But in a week, I'll make you capable of protecting yourselves. Are you with me?"

"Yes," The girl at the front involuntarily grabbed hold of his outstretched hand, getting up. Jyorta then stretched his hand to the other two, watching them grab him and get up. He then arrived before the boy, extending his hand towards him, "What about you? Are you onboard?"

"I hope I don't drag you down." The boy grabbed his hand and got up, rubbing his stomach that hurt for some reason.

Jyorta stood before everyone, "Let's head to the White Building and create a plan for our team, alright?"

"Yes!" They nodded and followed him. Turning around, Jyorta controlled a smile from forming on his face. Madam Mary hadn't done anything to test them.

It was him all along!