"What the hell are you staring at?! Keep running!" I shouted. Sam stood paralyzed, despair washing over her. The lock on my emotions strained under the onslaught.
My shout jolted her awake, but her face told me, she had given up.
"Sam, we can still esc—"
The worm burst from beneath her, swallowing her whole.
'Fuck!'
No hesitation. I ran at full speed toward the jungle's edge. The end was in sight. 'Null,' I employed my null field, reducing my weight to almost zero—enhancing my speed significantly. My body bolted towards the edge of the forest, but just as it remained a short twenty meters, the bastard burst out beside me, lunging—aiming to drag me underground like the soldier.
I barely managed to flicker sideways avoiding its mouth, but breaking my ankles in the process due to the sheer speed of my momentum. Its body would still hit me—painful, but not lethal. At least, that's what I thought.
I was wrong.
The impact sent me soaring like a broken kite. I crashed outside the jungle, my vision blacking out momentarily. Pain consumed me. Bones snapped from the impact; my body was battered and mangled. My left arm was useless, and the bones in my legs jutted through my skin.
'Fuck.' I grimaced, trying to sit up. My ribs—most, if not all—were shattered. Agony tore through me. If not for the suppression of my emotions, I would have been screaming.
I used my right hand to grab my left and reached for my bracelet, pulling out three healing potions. I uncorked two, downing them immediately, then poured the third onto my leg. A cool sensation spread through my body.
'Of all the decisions past me made, taking a few extra potions after the orientation was the best so far.' I sat down dazed at the fact that I was just a hairsbreadth from meeting my parents. 'Not now mi familia, not now, it's not my time yet' I shook my head.
My smartwatch crackled. "Instructor Cornwell to all cadets: Retreat to base immediately. This planet has been deemed extremely dangerous. We are set to leave in the next few hours."
'Aha. Knew it. Newly discovered planets were dangerous'
Even with the potions, I needed at least ten minutes before I could stand—let alone move. Thirty minutes later, my body stabilized. I took out another potion and drank it.
'God, these taste like shit.' Not that I had tasted shit before, but still.
With only one potion left, I pressed on. Half a kilometer from the base, my body was fully healed. Even the broken bones in my legs and ribs had mended.
'Now that I think about it, that bastard worm was probably the reason we hadn't encountered other beasts.'
Reaching the base, I saw it open, cadets gathered inside. Their faces were filled with uncertainty—they didn't know why we were called back.
I scanned for the instructor. 'There she is.' She was talking to Aurora and Lily, the rank-three girl. No sign of Owen—the annoying guy.
I walked up. "Instructor, I have something to report."
Aurora and the instructor turned toward me.
---
**Aurora's POV**
The boy across from me recounted a nightmarish tale with an unsettlingly straight face.
The first time I saw him was on the first day of class. He entered, eyes widening when he saw me—like every other boy—before quickly looking away and taking a seat in the back.
The second time was in the bloodline specialist class. That's when I realized—he knew.
He knew what my eyes could do.
But how?
No one knew about them except my immediate family. The fact that he did… was alarming.
'Is he part of that organization?' The idea was absurd. He was weak—pathetically so. But a pawn or a sleeper agent? Those types wouldn't be privy to my secret.
'I'll deal with it later. If he turns out to be one of them, I'll personally dispose of him.'
Instructor Cornwell narrowed her eyes at him. "So, from your explanation, you're telling me two of your group mates died. You activated the distress beacon. The soldier sent to retrieve you was killed by the same beast. Then your remaining teammates also perished? Yet you somehow survived?"
"Yes," he replied.
"I don't believe you."
He frowned. "You don't believe there's a gigantic worm?"
"No, I believe that. That's why we're evacuating. A drone detected several hundred of those things heading this way."
I saw a shudder run through him at her words.
"What I don't believe," she continued, "is that all of them died while you managed to survive. You don't look like someone traumatized or someone who barely escaped."
"I had to take four healing potions just to heal completely," he argued.
"No, I don't trust you. Four cadets died just like that—on the first week, no less—and a mid-class noble was among them. It seems you don't understand the kind of trouble you're in," she stated.
"What kind of trouble?" I asked. I had explained everything—how I barely managed to survive—yet I was still being treated like a suspect. Then, a chilling realization struck me. 'Do they think I'm involved in the deaths!?' I thought, baffled.
Before I could voice my thoughts, the sharp wail of alarms shattered the tense atmosphere. "We'll talk about this later," the instructor said curtly before hurrying out. I turned back, expecting to see Aurora, but her chair was empty. She had been silent throughout, and I had refrained from meeting her gaze.
I moved toward the door, intent on finding out what was happening, when an overwhelming aura crashed down on me. My breath hitched, and my limbs locked in place. The weight of the killing intent was suffocating, pressing into my very soul. 'What kind of being could unleash this level of bloodlust?' Even the monstrous worm's aura hadn't been this oppressive. A terrifying thought clawed its way into my mind—'Could it be a Rank 1 worm!?'
"Cadets of Nebula Academy," a deep voice rang out, carrying a chilling authority that sent shivers down my spine. "Be grateful. Your deaths will serve a great purpose to New Eden."
'If the situation was at level one before, it just skyrocketed to level 100,' I thought grimly. Heretics from New Eden—zealots who worshiped the Asuras and sought humanity's destruction. It was said their organization was powerful enough to rival one or even two of the Big Seven.
'I've barely survived since I set foot on this planet a few hours ago—first the worm, and now this.' My body stiffened as another immense aura burst forth, equal to or perhaps even surpassing the first.
---
High above the military base, two figures hovered in midair—a green-haired man draped in black robes and a strikingly beautiful blonde woman.
"Well, if it isn't Lady Evelyn Cornwell," the man sneered.
"Carlton Creme," the woman acknowledged, her voice sharp as a blade. "I thought you were pronounced dead."
"You're right. Even I thought I was dead, but New Eden gave me a purpose I had lost before. And here I am today." He chuckled darkly.
Her eyes narrowed. "I won't let you lay a hand on my cadets."
"Oh? The infamous Blood Maiden calling them 'her' cadets? How touching," he mocked. "But relax, Evelyn. I'm not here to fight you. My job is to keep you occupied while the real slaughter unfolds."
His voice rang out across the battlefield. "Kill them all! Eliminate anyone who stands in your way!"
At his command, figures in black robes erupted from the earth like phantoms, their sudden appearance catching Evelyn off guard. Realization struck—Carlton had never been alone. His forces had been lying in wait, masked by some ability.
"You dare!?" she roared, her aura flaring to life, clashing against his in a dazzling explosion of power. The air trembled under the sheer force of their confrontation.
Carlton grinned. "As expected of the legendary Blood Maiden. You're strong—but the question is, can you defeat me before all your cadets are dead?"
With that, he lunged.
---
Meanwhile, on the ground, the suffocating aura lifted as Instructor Cornwell unleashed her own power. My body slumped forward as I gasped for air. Relief was short-lived, as the voice from earlier barked a final, damning command.
"Kill them all!"
"Shit," I muttered. The door to my room was suddenly thrown open, and in strode a black-garbed figure. His pale skin and sunken eyes gave him a ghostly appearance, but what alarmed me most was the unrestrained bloodlust pouring off him.
But what unnerved me the most—was the baleful aura he was radiating. His aura was ominous and sinister. The trademark of members of New Eden who are filled with Asuras essence.
"You can't just let me go, can you?" I asked, forcing a smirk.
"For New Eden!" he bellowed, lunging at me.
"Thought so." 'Repel' I flicked my hand, and with a deafening crack, he was hurled backward at breakneck speed, slamming into the hallway wall with enough force to leave a human-shaped dent.
From his aura, he was a one-star Rank 3. Unless he had a space-warping ability, he had no chance of getting close to me—not unless I ran out of essence. Judging by his limp form, that wouldn't be an issue.
"Well, that was anticlimactic," I muttered.
A/N:
*********************************************************
#Your gift is the motivation for my creation.
Grace mi hand with them powerstones.
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