27 Cold

<Awiergan's PoV>

Huh? What was happening?

This sequence of events are just too fast paced!

Life has been playing with me ever since I was born but doesn't it seem like it has become too eager after I joined this Academy?

I will refrain from complaining about my eccentric companions since there was already so much else to complain about!

First, I was nearly blasted by a land mine, then pulled into an icy-cold river which threw me off a cliff, I was saved by a teacher but then, one of my companions took us on a visit to some underground secret lair where we had come near death who knows how many times! And I can certainly not forget being bitten by thousands of fish who actually left their teeth in my skin. Or... Never mind... The list will only keep getting longer and longer if I go on...

My body froze when I saw that wormascend like a Chinese dragon with that ugly mouth of it flung wide open but it was only momentary. The feeling was extremely easy to explain. It was just like when you are crossing the road and a car comes running towards you, seconds away from crashing into you.

But you only feel that way for the first time. If you survive, you wouldn't freeze the next time, if there is one.

The worm was smaller in size compared to the rest of its companions but it looked to be no less than five meters in diameter! I could not estimate the length because it's body was still rushing out from the earth. However, its brown teeth were extremely eye-catching as they rotated around the dark opening.

Just when I was about to run to safety, the corners of my eyes caught my teammates who were fixed in place with blank expressions.

I grabbed onto the shoulders of Ivory, who was the closest to me, in hopes to get her moving but my gestures did little to help. My mind went numb by thinking about the next course of actions. I couldn't leave my teammates behind. I couldn't save them all either. I'll just do what I can and hope for the best!

Grabbing onto Ivory's hand, I reached out to grab onto Orbona's which was just within reach and then ran with all my might. I tried to lightly bump into Sproule and Lucy but before I could do so, Lucy snapped out of her daze by herself and got to dragging Sproule.

I glanced at my watch, all this had taken less than three seconds.

By now, the worm had stopped ascending in the air and already started its descent.

We can not make it!

I realized, but when my eyes landed on Lucy's, another thought emerged in my mind. Her eyes were burning, burning with the want to survive.

We must make it!

We could not, but we must.

A new wave of adrenaline burst through my body as I pushed all of my strength into my legs. I felt my right wrist going warm and saw the green light shining brighter than ever before but I was not worried. My instincts told me that it was not the curse acting up.

I had never felt this full of energy before. I stepped a little to the left to appear in front of Lucy who grabbed onto my arm from behind. Dashing forward, I once again realized that with determination alone, we still could not make it.

That was when Blake came into my vision. He was still standing there but his back was no longer facing us. He lightly raised his finger to point at us and Boom!

The sound was not from Blake's side but instead Ivory's. Her shoes suddenly exploded with a burst of energy and with a poof, flung upwards before abruptly accelerating forwards, dragging our poor souls behind.

And thus, we were out of danger. The energy explosion took us tens of meters away in just a second but stopped with its momentum right after. All my muscles suddenly loosened and felt like jelly, and I fell to the ground from exhaustion. The last thing I saw was the figure of Blake being enveloped by a white worm-like creature.

Everything turned into darkness.

<Blake's PoV>

So thrilling!

My teammates are at a safe distance which means that I can finally go all out!

I rechecked once to assure the five were unconscious and except Lucy, everyone was. Doesn't matter, they'll get to know sooner than later.

Darkness enveloped me as the worm swallowed me along with the land beneath my feet. Sharp bones and acidic fluids welcomed me but with such a weak digestion ability, it was nothing given my current physique. This species of worms had a digestive ability that would allow them to survive for hundreds of years just by constantly moving in a looped circle, eating its own waste a million times over.

With a casual grab and pull, I easily tore open the worm from the inside. It was very satisfying to be this strong.

Obviously, tearing it apart was not enough to kill it, I had to extract the beast core out of its body. Normal Blind Mountain Worms usually had beast crystals but I was certain these things had already developed that stuff into a core.

Finding the core was no difficult task either, I just had to keep tearing until I found it. Luckily, it was in my hands just after the third try.

Now, I need to get to more important matters, such as finding out where's Sajjad.

<Lucy's PoV>

What in hell just happened right now?

My mind has already gone numb from all the preceding events and was too exhausted to completely process what was in front of my eyes.

There is so much to digest that it can't be anymore. 'I should not have joined the Academy!' this is not the first, and neither the last, time I'm having such thoughts.

By the way, why am I the only one who retained her consciousness until now? I looked at the blank faces of my companions as they quietly enjoyed their deep slumbers. I could tell about Awiergan since he must have been really exhausted after carrying us all and keeping us from dispersing when Ivory's shoes exploded but how come the rest were unconscious as well?

No time to think more, I saw Blake finishing from what he was doing and walking over with a strange palm-sized blue crystal in his hand. Parts of his clothes had corroded perhaps due to the digestive acids inside the worm but he was perfectly fine and unharmed.

"What's that?" I asked.

"...", he opened his mouth but no words came out so he directly tossed the crystal for me to examine.

I tried to catch but with my muscles still sore and my limbs feeling weak, I could not react in time and the crystal landed in front of my feet without bouncing. I picked it up weakly.

It was weightless and cool with a glassy texture; smooth and shiny. It emitted a faint blue light continuously, cooling my hand to a freaking extent. I dropped it immediately to rub my right palm which had become as solid as ice.

"Really, what is this thing? I know about beast crystals and cores but they are supposed to be either white or black which represent the nature of the beast while a thin string with the color of its element should be apparent inside it. They are only reactive towards energy and certainly do not emit an aura which is as cold as this one is emitting..." I wanted to go on but stopped when Blake raised his hand to stop me.

Ugh! Why was I getting worked up over such trivial matters?!

Getting a hold of myself, I stared curiously at Blake who remained motionless, like a statue, with his hand raised still before his face. I peeked behind the hand to see that his eyes were closed.

"Blake?" I called out his name but he did not respond. Circling around him once, I tried again by poking and tugging but he maintained his unresponsiveness.

I felt my back chill for a moment as immense panic struck me in thoughts of what to do now but right then, I felt a large hand grab my shoulder from behind. It was large but cold.