DY GRIMONY's POV
BOOOOGGSH!
"AHHHHHH!"
"Oh my God!! Kira got thrown off!! Are we going to die here?!"
This first task is so hard!
"Youmustreachthefinishlinebeforesunset. Thosewhofail, preparetobidfarewell"-theteachers
Youcouldheargaspsallaround.
What kind of ridiculous instruction?! So unfair, right? If you fail, you get kicked out of ALVAACAD immediately?!
I carefully make my way down the path to avoid the landmines buried underground.
That's right. There are bombs underground. Not the deadly kind, but enough to slow us down.
Bombs are exploding left and right. Everyone's panicking, desperate to pass the task. Seriously, it would be such a waste if we got expelled from the Academy.
The bombs are actually easy to spot—there are clear signs showing where they're buried. The problem is, the path is so narrow between the bombs. One wrong step and BOOM—green smoke releases and sends us flying.
One tiny mistake… KABOOM!!
"AAAAAAAHHH!"
I shut my eyes when I saw a student get blown away. Good thing they didn't land on another bomb or they'd be thrown off again.
"Tala's so slow like a bunch of snails," someone says, followed by laughter—only to choke on their own spit. Serves them right, Karma.
I glanced to my right and saw a guy riding a floating sand, currently recovering from choking.
Wait—riding sand? Is that even allowed?!
It's obvious they're trying to provoke us. Unlucky for us, one of our classmates fell for the trap.
One of my classmates got so annoyed, he tried to confront the taunter, but accidentally stepped on a bomb and got blasted off.
The four taunters had amused smiles. They looked like they were thoroughly enjoying the show.
"Are you guys clowns?" the pale guy with red hair asked, a smirk displayed on his handsome face.
Out of curiosity, we all responded at the same time, "Why?"
He smirks. "Because... y'all are hilarious. Pffft... HAHAHAHAHAHAH!" He laughed like there was no tomorrow, even slapping the person next to him. After laughing, they left.
"Was that a joke?" I rolled my eyes as I adjusted my hair out of my face.
"That was so lame!" Azure hands akimbo with a frown on her cute face.
"Emotionally damaged!" Seth concluded, a disappointing look on his attractive face.
"Hope he chokes again," Ish hopes, his face displayed a poker face.
"Guys! We're running out of time! It's almost dark!" Sol reminded us, a worried expression displayed on his handsome face.
Some students could fly, jump really high, or float. Their ExSkills were super useful now. Even those with "useless" ExSkills somehow managed to shine. If only we could all be like that, right?
"Guys! I have an idea!" Seth suddenly shouted. He was floating.
Wait—floating?!
"You'renotallowedtotargetorattackfellowstudentsusingExSkills. Crystals?"ourridiculouslyhandsomeadviserremindedus.
That reminded me… They never said teamwork was forbidden!
How could I forget? Seth can alter the gravity!
"What's the plan?" Ish asked.
"Okay, listen! My ExSkill is Gravity Change. I can alter the gravity of a target, but I can't do all of you at once, so I'll send you one by one over the second wall… However, I overheard students from another section say the second wall crosses a canyon. So instead of just sending you over the first wall, I'll send you all the way to the third wall. Cool?"
And so, one by one, Seth altered our gravity and flung us north. Thanks to him, we crossed both the first and second walls.
"This is the 3rd Wall?!" - Azure
"….B-beast?!!" - Seth
"Guys! You made it!" Maye ran up to us, but she's not actually running on foot but floating toward us.
"Maye?!" - Sol, Azure, and me
"M-Maye?!" - Seth
"Huh?" - Ish
"Maye, you went ahead? Why did you leave us behind?" Seth asked, clearly upset. "I didn't even notice you were gone! Sorry." He mumbled the last part softly.
"Sorry! I just really didn't want to get kicked out. You guys know how important this is to me... getting a free education here at the academy. Forgive me, guys, I never meant to—"
A loud roar cut off Maye's explanation.
"WHAT ARE THOSE?!" - Azure
"SO SCARY!" - Maye
"DON'T WORRY, I'LL PROTECT YOU!" - Seth
"DINOSAURS?!!" - Ish
"WHY DO THEY LOOK LIKE GORILLAS?!" - me
"ARE YOU BEING SARCASTIC?!" - Ish
"NO, SIR!" - me
"YOU LITTL—" - Ish
"HEY! STOP ARGUING! FOCUS! AND WHY ARE YOU ALL YELLING?!" - Sol
"YOU'RE YELLING TOO!!" we all yelled back—me, Ish, Azure, Maye, and Seth.
"I think they're Earth Beasts!" a random classmate said. The beast attacked her, but thankfully she transformed into a sparrow and flew away, then returned to human form. "Wooopps kiri! That was close!"
That's her ExSkill? Turning into a bird?
"Looks like we have to fight." - Classmate 1
"Wait, wait! We're really going to fight those things?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yes." - Classmate 1
"For real? Us? Against those... monsters?" I raised a brow. Are the teachers serious?!
Classmate 1 sighed. "You saw it, right? The bird girl couldn't get through. Those creatures are blocking the path."
"H-hey! Bird girl?! I'm Lila! Jerk!"
"I think… he's right. We can't move forward unless we do something about those creatures." - Azure
"The question is… can we even beat them?" Seth looked up. There were flying beasts too—lots of them. Even if Seth used Gravity Change, we wouldn't make it through.
I noticed black smoke coming from Ish's hands. He gathered flames and threw them at the earth beast, but nothing happened.
"W-what happened to my flames?!"
"YOUR FIRE POWER DIDN'T WORK!" - shocked classmates yelled.
Azure took off her glasses and tried using her ExSkill on the beast, but nothing happened. "No way! My Stone Eyes didn't work too?!"
"As far as I know, your Stone Eyes only work on living beings who look into your eyes. That's why you're called Medusa." Maye said, reminding us and Azure.
Maye's right. And in Ish's case, rocks are hard to burn—especially with low-temperature flames.
"So… they're not alive? They don't even need oxygen?" - Seth
"Seems like it." - Maye
"In short, they're just puppets." - Sol
We exchanged looks. If they're puppets… Who's controlling them? The teachers?
"Those beasts are made of dirt, mud, rocks, and sand. Ordinary flames won't work. Also, turning stone into stone is pointless." a student from another section commented.
"Excuse me?!" Azure was tempted to use his Stone Eyes on the guy.
"Ordinary?!" - Ish
"Earth Beast? Does that mean… that Gaara guy from earlier made these?!" - Sol
"Huh? Gaara?" The student looked confused. Probably doesn't watch Naruto.
"Gaara… the pale skin, green eyes, red hair… the sand manipulator." I clarified, rolling my eyes. "The one who choked."
"Sand… pale… green… red…? Oh, you mean Fallen?" He surprisingly replied. "Despite being a warfreak, Fallen actually has brains. Rules are rules. He wouldn't risk doing something dumb. In fact, this is the third wall we have to clear."
"Nosebleed…" - Seth hid behind me.
"Ever heard of speaking in plain language, dude?" - Sol
BOOOOGGSH!
"What was that?!" - all of us. Seriously, all of us.
"Sorry…" said a 4'11 girl.
"HOLY—IS SHE FOR REAL?! She kicked an Earth Beast into the air?!" everyone screamed.
Is she related to Superman, Saitama, or Mash? A total monster! You'd never guess from her looks!
—to be continued...