CH-40 unknown place

—Booom!

Suddenly, The roof decided it was time for a skylight installation, so it went up and disappeared without a trace. Every student was ogling at the vast sky above, mouths agape like a bunch of stunned goldfish.

"Ah, the party's finally starting, eh?" I mumbled loudly, giving my nose a casual scratch while the chaos began around me of whispers.

"Woohoo, is it an unexpected dance floor opening up!" A guy jumped out of nowhere. "Is this party getting taken to the next level or what?"

"I-I have a bad feeling about this, you guys!" Becky fretted, pointing her hands anxiously at chest. "Like, worse than the time I mixed a salad with ranch instead of raspberry vinaigrette!"

"Oh no, it must be those dastardly Eclipse Shadow terrorists!" Larry placed a shaking hand on his forehead. "They're here to kill us all in...shadowy eclipticality!"

In strode Tiffany, puffing out her ample chest with an arrogant hair-flip. "What a bunch of scared little chumps. My sugar daddy's(their principal) probably behind this premium skylight experience. He's just that extra."

The rest of the class was losing their minds, but I was just lost in my own little world, pondering the deeper philosophical disaster of rooflessness.

Those dastardly deadNova rascals were clearly making their move, mast to attack the school and prune a few miserable souls from the student body tree.

But thanks to my 'discipline' Zeno's insider spy people, I was already edited to ride this wild rodeo!

"Hmmm, what… in the cinnamon toast is that?" I eyed at a strange azure beam, Somewhat lengthy barrier, zipping past me.

The other students were too busy gawking at our brand new open-air classroom to notice, yeah, They are a bunch of imbeciles.

But Amelia and a few others definitely caught sight of that enigmatic ray too. Their eyes were wide as frisbees behind those coke-bottle glasses of theirs. Clearly, we were the only few enlightened to this subject.

"Oh shiitake mushrooms!" I realized, feeling an otherworldly tingling sensation wash over me. Was this some kind of mystic force, like superpower, to pressure us all for not to use our… cultivation powers?!

'It going on another level…' A quick focused chakra scan verified the unthinkable - every student had been elevated to the revered Essence Realm, Stage 1.

My mind is a Lamborghini at 290 km/speed on the road…

What sort of fantastical arc had just been activated?

Were we embarking on a journey to destroy the activated ancient artifact?

In which, do all have to protect the school from dark people? Or just say screw it and become our own selfish cultivation mastery? Saving these mouth-breathers was low on my priority list.

This was my chance to finally crunch on that sweet, sweet essence and work on my inner 8th stage to break. Well, this situation just took a hard left turn into the… parking lot!

One second I was thinking about my cultivation prowess, the next second… Everyone becomes statues like renaissance that has fair reenactors.

"... Hey Amelia, are you alright there?" I waved a hand in front of her slack-jawed face... No response, just vacant eyes and a thin line of drool dribbling down from her chin.

Yeesh, not a good look. Feeling a tad concerned, I gave her a friendly shoulder… Slap.

But instead of making contact, my hand passed right through her body like it was formed from half-melted jello!

—Splorp!

"What the fuck is…" I stared at the liquefied remains of my friend in abject bewilderment. Because Amelia's entire form… roleplay into a puddle on the floor, in water shape.

Tentatively poking a few other students yielded the same soggy results. Was this entire situation a mirage?

I gave myself a firm pinch, just to make sure my consciousness hadn't slipped into another plane of reality. Nope, still corporeally present, if the dull twinge was any indicati-

Wait a minute… There were only two possibilities: either I was trapped in an illusion that is crafted by a person or an artifact, or my soul had straight up pulled into this flimsy place after that azure ray zapped me.

"... Fine, you want to play interdimensional games? Then let's play! Just no hitting below the ether belt, ya hear me?"

One minute ago… I'm questioning reality's fabric, the next the ground itself decides it's time for a liquid makeover.

I gave a scientific toe tap, sending ripples outwards in the floor as if I'd just dropped a pebble into a crystalline pond.

Sure enough, the once solid floor had transformed into a perfectly still body of water, mirroring my expression with horrible clarity.

"Ah, crumpets and tea cakes." I pinched the bridge of my chin. "This isn't just some illusion anymore, is it?"

As if in response, the very world around me began dissolving into a glowing red space. Desks, chairs, and even the walls commenced melting away, merging seamlessly with the formed aquatic plane underfoot.

Within moments, I was adrift in a seemingly boundless ocean, not a single landmark in sight.

"Right then." I muttered, squaring my shoulders in determination. "If I'm to police this delightfully damp conundrum, I'd better start examining the laws governing this place!"

Extending an exploratory hand, I dipped my fingers on the surface below my foot, marveling at how the liquid parted with nary a disturbance.

Most importantly… Argh… not at all according to the rules of physics as we know them.

"Well, when in Rome..." I, probably, had an evil grin before plunging bodily into the ocean, striking out with a breaststroke towards…

Well, somewhere at any rate… If I was to escape this soggy prison, I would need to comprehend its innermost workings. One way or another, I would solve this mystery and return to the land of the de-liquified Cannonball!

***

"What happened inside the palace?" Ben Stark, the principal of the campus, loured and looked at the other teachers.

"We don't know, Principal. This barrier is not letting us go inside." A science male teacher, touching the blue barrier set outside the palace. "It is… some kind of teleportation barrier."