n

n

nThe sound of footsteps and groans of students could be heard echoing through the halls of the building. 100 students all groaning at the same time was a frightening thing to hear.

nThe group continued to run up the stairs without looking back. Their heart was beating fast, their breath was short and two of them had serious injuries but they had no choice if they wanted to live, they needed to ignore their pains and keep moving.

n

"Don't look back, don't look back.

" Kyle kept repeating, but he quickly gave in to his urge and turned around to see the group of 100 students chasing after them.

n

"Why did I look back!

"

n

"Just keep running!

" Slyvia shouted.

nThe stairs allowed the group to create a larger distance between them and the students. the Zom- kids as Kyle nicknamed them, struggled to control their bodies, causing them to fall over each over as they went up the stairs.

nFinally, they had made it to the top and were in the reception area.

n

"Err guys I got more bad news!

" Max said.

nCurrently, there was a row of Dark Guild members standing in front of the exit to the outside. The group had originally planned to head into the city and eventually to Avrion academy. Although they could fight the Dark guild, if they did the Zom-kids would quickly catch up to them.

n

"What do we do?

" Nay asked.

nThen Slyvia pointed at the arena entrance.

n

"We have no choice; we have to head to the arena. Hopefully, the others have dealt with the rest by now and they can help us!

"

nThere was no time to argue, everyone continued running forward towards the arena.

n****

nOn the roof of a tall building just outside Avrion academy. Ray was currently standing looking at the situation. The knights were busy escorting citizens into the academy but they didn't look to be anyone from the Dark Guild attacking.

nWhat worried Ray more was the fact that there was no one coming back out of the academy to help the students at the arena. Ray thought once they had escorted the citizens into the academy, they would at least send a small army to the arena.

nRay jumped down from the building and ran and sneaked past the guards at the Avrion entrance. They were doing stringent checks since many students and knights turned out to be members of the Dark Guild but it was no problem for Ray to get past them with everyone panicking at the entrance, besides Ray was a student anyway but he wanted to get in fast.

nRay had originally planned to head to his room to retrieve the spear and then head straight back to the arena with the help of the other knights but something was worrying him about the whole situation. Nearly all the citizens had been escorted into the academy, yet it didn't seem like they were going to make a move on the arena any time soon.

nUsing the black sash shadow skill Ray was able to hide himself and appear almost invisible. Ray then decided to head to the top floor of the academy were the elders resided and often had their meetings.

nOnce Ray had reached the top floor, he was met with a giant grand door. Ray used his dragon eyes skill and could see that there were 6 people sat down in chairs. While four stood by their side.

nThe six people in chairs were most likely the elders but Ray had no clue who the people standing were.

nRay went up to the door and put his ear as close as possible to hear what they were talking about. Ever since he had evolved, his hearing had improved by tenfold. It took him a while to control when he wanted to use it and didn't but eventually, he was able to perfect it.

n

"We need to go back and rescue the students!

" Wilfred shouted as he slammed his fist on the table.

n

"And if you go, who will stay here to protect the Academy?

" An elder said.

n

"I can go by myself; Delbert, Bernardo and Rose can stay here to protect you if you are that scared.

"

n

"You fool, I'm not talking about us. You dam well know what is underneath this academy. The attack on the arena is most likely a decoy. Once we send a single troop, they will change their destination to this very spot.

"

n

"And you would sacrifice the very lives off the students.

"

n

"Sometimes you must sacrifice the lives of a few to save many.

"

nRay's blood was boiling at what he had just heard. The elders didn't escort the citizens here for safety, that was just an excuse. They wanted to protect whatever secret this academy was hiding and to do so they would happily let the students die.

nRay had heard enough and left to go to his room. Ray felt foolish that he thought for once he could rely on the academy for help. In the end, just like everything else, there was only one person he could rely on and that was himself.

nRay grabbed the spear from underneath his bed and went to the rooms mirror.

n

"Skill Transform.

"

nAs he activated the skill transform, his body started to change and turned into the adventurer man named Nes.

n

"Skill endless void.

"

nRay then equipped the new gauntlets that he had obtained along with the Armadillo chest piece and the spear from Killer in his hand.

nThen a thought came to Ray's mind. If they weren't going to use the knights at the academy to help. Then at least he could use them in some way. Before Ray left the academy, he decided to pay a visit to as many knights as possible.

n*****

nAfter executing his plan on the knights, Ray was finally ready to leave. He went to the roof of his dorms building and could see the arena in the distance. Just above the arena, dark black clouds gathered but they looked unusual, almost unnatural and man-made.

nLightning would continuously strike at the arena. Ray knew what he had sensed a while back had finally arrived. He needed to hurry, he had wasted too much time at the academy and needed to get back to the others as soon as possible.

nIf he didn't, they would all be dead.

nRay then summoned Noir and headed into the direction of the arena hoping he wasn't too late.

n