Chương 29: [LD-1] 28. Plans

XXVIII Plans The prospect…excited me. Cull was basically a black hole full of possibilities. The wave of death I'd released, the visions I was getting during battle—figuring out what was up with all of that made my heart skip. I wanted to get up and start training right away, but it was better to make sure I was in top condition. My right heel pressed into the ground.

'It's healed quite a bit.' I could put pressure on it without grimacing.

'My mana…' I hummed. Wouldn't really need that when training Cull. But the glance at my mana brought me up short. Mana: 150/180 (+ 0; -30 reserved)'reserved…that wasn't there before.'

"Kil, what's the new term besides my mana mean?" The plus sign was for the miasma I absorbed from corpses. It's the mana Char requires to exist in the real world.

'Ah, there's a summoning cost attached to it? You don't take ana mana, though.' Because—'You're special,' I finished. He twirled as if to flaunt his status. That said, it's not really a summoning cost, Master. You'll gain the mana back when you dismiss Char.

'Char…' I wasn't sure if I liked that name. The moment that thought made it out of my head, Kil cried and began to drill me on why I didn't like it. I spent a lot of effort coming up with that, Master, he drawled. Seeing the eyeball cry made me feel bad. I waved him away with a sigh.

'Alright, alright, Char it is.' He cheered and launched into a flurry of appreciation. Shaking my head, I turned toward the exit. The last batch of students entered. Kil perked up when his favourite person walked in.

"Kil!" Emily yelled.

"I missed you!" My summon chuckled.

"You missed me? But of course." His back was turned to her. He rotated slowly and purposefully.

"What are the devout without their master?" I rolled my eyes and let his following spiel pass me by. My eyes found Alexa. The President inclined her head towards me but didn't head my way. With the rest of the students now here, the ones not meditating were occupying the few tables and chairs that weren't broken from our earlier fight with the brute. Alexa on top of one. Light-hearted chatter had picked up between the others, but everyone went quiet when she clapped her hands twice in succession.

Her golden spectacles swept over the gathering, and she cleared her throat.

"Everyone, please gather around. I want to discuss our immediate plans for the future." I glanced at Emily, who shrugged.

"She didn't tell me anything," Emily whispered. I dismissed Char—man… that name would need some getting used to—and headed for one of the tables. Students sat down. Because Alexa was waiting for everyone to gather, students had begun speaking amongst each other again in hushed whispers. A few forced jokes and awkward laughs passed my ears. I rubbed my arms. Group settings were my arch-nemesis. Too many people in one room just made me nervous.

It always felt like eyes drilled into me from every angle, and my name sneakily slipped past the lips of those nearby. … Joy… My eyelids drooped. Some things never—"Jooooy, helloooo?" Emily waved her hands in front of me.

"Huh?" I jerked awake. Kil snuggled in her arms. The eyeball looked worried, but didn't speak.

"You sure you're okay?" she asked.

"Ah…no…yes?" She held my gaze. Her lips parted—"If you'll excuse us." Both of us turned to the third voice. Shota, Douglas and Evans took the seats opposite us. Only then did I notice that our section of the table was pretty much empty. The other students had given Emily and me a wide berth, for some reason. My face soured. I leaned to the side.

"Why's he sitting with us?" Emily shrugged.

"Maybe he doesn't have any other friends?" If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. There…may be some truth to that. Shota was a manipulative bastard. Who'd be friends with that if not forced to? Nerves popped on Shota's forehead. Another two claps made him go quiet before he could speak up.

"Thank you for gathering, everyone," Alexa called out.

"First, I'm glad so many of us made it through recent events!" A half-hearted cheer from the audience. I looked around.

'Kiba's not here.' I bit my lip. Now that everyone had evacuated, he was well and truly outside by himself. Him, and however many enemies were still roaming the floor.

"I know you're all wondering why this has happened," Alexa continued. All the students gave her puppy eyes. Nobody wanted anything more than an explanation. But Alexa sighed.

"Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to that either. But I've come up with a plan for how we're going to survive this. For now—""Can you not treat us like fools?" The voice cutting through her was a familiar one. Roland's uniform was still hanging on by threads. His arms crossed, making his arm muscles bulge. The dark light I'd spotted before had entered his gaze again. The president fixed her glasses.

"'Like fools', you say?"

"You're the principal's daughter," Roland snarled. His tone was firm. A mountain that couldn't be moved, even by the tallest of tsunamis.

"I refuse to believe that neither you nor Lily know what's truly going on." Lily was standing below Alexa, hands behind her back. Gaze snapped towards the two sisters. Roland's rock solid belief drew in those around him, who'd thought the same deep down. Alexa huffed.

"It seems you've already condemned me in your head. Well, it's no matter. You don't have to believe me."

"Huh?" his face contorted.

"You don't have to believe me," she repeated, knowing full well that he'd heard her.

"Whether you do doesn't change our situation. If you think I'm a liar or am in on this, you don't have to listen to anything I say. You can do as you please." She pointed to the entrance.

"The exit is over there, in case you were searching for it." Roland's mouth fell open. For a second. He breathed in deep and rose halfway out of his seat— Alexa raised her hand before his bubbling rage exploded.

"Should anyone else not be able to work with me, please either raise your hand or split from the others so I know who not to address. You can discuss among yourselves what you want to do next." The earth mage's teeth chattered. Around him, the grumbles of the other students died.

"She's good," I mumbled. Not only had she taken the wind out of their sails in one sweep, she'd even spun it so that those who didn't agree with her would need to leave the hall or alienate themselves. Was this really a sixteen-year-old? Shota snorted.

"She's a Pedante. They'd be nothing if not good at politics." Roland must've understood this, too. He glanced around…searched for anyone to support his cause. No one stepped up. With a darkened expression, he sat back down. Alexa waited in case anyone else wanted to announce disagreement. When no one did, she continued.

"Almost all of us have made use of the guardian, putting our average level around level six. That's the minimum level required to face the hob goblins." Here, Lily spoke up.

"Per rule of thumb, each member should be within five levels of a monster when hunting it with a group." Staying within five levels of the candidate wouldn't mean shit.

'I didn't get the opportunity to tell Lily or Alexa about the orc lord.' …Perhaps it was for the best. This way, the two sisters didn't have to put up an act while they convinced everyone to follow their lead.

'Whatever happens, our plan should be for every student to get as strong as possible—the candidate being out there doesn't change that.' But if we told everyone about the orc lord, there was a serious chance they'd lose the will to fight. A point someone proved right away.

"We're going to hunt them?" someone asked.

"Isn't it better to defend this position and wait for the teachers to rescue us?"

"They're not coming," Alexa said. …

"How do you know that?" the same student asked.

"You cannot be certai—""More than six hours have passed since we entered this place," Alexa said.

"If the teachers were going to save us, they would've done so by now." The truth of that statement settled in.

"That's a lie," Roland whispered. Despite keeping his voice low, the sound carried through the silence. Shota sighed.

"Morons are always in denial." Roland's brow rose as he spun in our direction.

"Pardon?"

"Morons. Are. Always. In denial." The Sarakawa heir's nose turned up as he was wont to do.

"That clear enough for you?" The earth mage shot from his seat and leapt over his desk. Three other students managed to grab him before he could make it over. That just made Shota chuckle.

"I cannot believe idiots like this are allowed into the school—Morningstar isn't what it used to be." He leaned on his elbow and supported his chin in his palm.

"All of you are so scared that you haven't considered the most obvious scenario." He paused.

"…Which would be?" Alexa bit. The heir smiled.

"That this is a test." Students shuffled in their seats. I discarded the idea. Almost. The orc lord made everything more complicated. For a man-made dungeon to appear exactly on the day the Initiation Ceremony took place was too much of a coincidence. However, how could one explain a shadowlord candidate appearing here? It wasn't as if you could create one at will. Beside me, Emily mumbled under her breath, though not low enough for us not to hear,"Wasn't he against exploring the dungeon earlier?"

"Many things have happened since then, Mrs. Healer," Shota said.

"Only a fool doesn't adjust his opinion when additional facts are revealed." I rolled my eyes.

"A test…?" Lily tasted the idea.

"That's not possible, after all—""Students have died," Shota finished and waggled his finger.

"However, are we certain they've really died? Couldn't it be a well-crafted mirage?" Breaths hitched. Mirth and hope welled up from the deepest pits of everyone's stomachs, rejuvenating their bodies and minds in a way no low-tier spell would be able to. That's why it pained me to snatch the rug from underneath them.

"I wouldn't bet on that," I said. Shota's brow raised. At once, the attention of every student in the cafeteria turned towards me. I cringed and kept my peace. Almost. This was a misconception that would have others lose their lives. My shoulders set.

"It's an effect of my powers."

"They're related to death," Emily offered helpfully. I nodded.

"I can absorb the death energy clinging to corpses. Moreover, while I don't claim to have any real spiritual powers, the souls of those who die here are definitely departing. I can feel it."

"Your senses are far from trained," Shota said.

"That they are. I'm not saying that I cannot be fooled. However, don't assume that losing your life here won't mean anything." A blanket of silence settled over the room. Alexa blew it away.

"Your 'test' theory would hold weight regardless, Shota."

"Oh?" the boy said.

"There are those who'd advocate exactly for a test like this among the factions," she said. Shota frowned.

"The Red Society, you mean?"

"Master Kaiser," Alexa said, "has been a proponent of making the Initiation Ceremonies more…challenging. His faction tried passing a motion earlier this year that would force neophytes to enter low-rank dungeons to awaken. Last I heard, however, it was vetoed." Master Kaiser. The leader of the Red Society. They were in favour of exterminating anything non-human, including the sentient demi-human races on the planet. I'd only heard of him in passing, as one of his station wouldn't appear at our school for no reason.

'How would they even set this up?' High-tiered spatial magic or something? But the anchors would need to be attached to the school without anyone else noticing. Then there was the fact they had to create a dungeon…I shook my head. A headache rocked my brain by merely questioning the situation. Lily cupped her chin.

"Something must've happened, I'm sure. However, faction politics won't get us out of here."

"That's true," Alexa said.

"We're stranded in this place. Which means we need to defeat the Red Skull tribe or destroy the realm core. To that end, we have a plan." It was a simple one. Split up into teams, divide our roles evenly, and scour the floor for enemies to kill. Level up as much as possible, then hunt down whoever led the tribe. I bit my lip but didn't interrupt the sisters as they laid out their plans.

"Please separate into your respective roles," Alexa said.

"Tanks and healers in the middle, melee on the left, ranged on the right." Students got up to flock to their respective positions. Forming teams afterwards was a straightforward process. Our party with the president would stay intact. Not only were our roles complete—we were also the team that'd head to the third floor first and see what was going on down there. If Rhaast was to be believed, there was absolutely nothing going on and we were free to enter and exit.

However, in his own words, you could trust a goblin to always be lying. While the parties were still forming, Alexa walked in my direction. The President smiled at me.

"So, you want to get better at using your weapon?"