Ch 5: You are trouble [pt3]

"Your offer? There is no way in hell I am accepting it. I do not want to take part in anything you are offering. You and your kind can go to hell."

Emily yelled, and Lea only laughed at her choice of words. Emily had made her stance clear, but her body will soon betray her.

The power of the rift left one with few choices. People have fought it in the past but have yet to succeed. Emily would succumb to the rift's power soon.

"Struggle all you want, Emily Forger. But the power inside you is a monster trying to consume you. If you do not control it, you will be the one your loved ones will have to put down."

Once the rift consumed your soul, there was no turning back. You lost your humanity and became an entity of the rift. You were no longer an individual but a part of an entity.

It was a sad existence. But it was also the fate of the world during the apocalypse. No one could withstand the power of the apocalypse. And humanity was no exception.

But still, it was admirable how they were willing to fight back. And that admiration was what made Lea extend her hand to them.

[It's all foolish. We shall devour it all. Soon, this world will become a part of my system.]

The rift was coming closer by each second. After about two hundred years, the beginning of the end was fast approaching.

"Excuse me! Where do you think you are going? You have not bonded with Lady Emily yet. Hey, you cannot leave like this! H-How preposterous of you!"

The elderly doctor continued to yell at Lea. But it did not phase Lea. She had done her part of the job, and now the decision was up to Emily.

"Eh! Why are you blaming me? I offered to help your 'Miss Emily', but I can't force her if she refuses. If you want to blame someone, then blame her."

Lea forced a whine into her voice. Lea's words took the doctor aback, and she quickly returned to Emily's room.

That allowed Lea enough time to make her escape. 

Who knew when the doctor would come back to annoy Lea. She wanted a quiet academic life, but her plan was not working correctly.

'I wonder what we will have for lunch. I should try to find Sara during lunch. She might be a senior, but she will also listen to me complain without interrupting me.'

Lea knew about Sara's crush on her. The cat-girl was not very subtle in hiding her emotions. Sara's eyes and her ears betrayed her feelings. 

Her crush on Lea was quite evident as well.

"Ah well, I am not nice, so I don't feel bad about using Sara's feelings against her. She will have to deal with it."

......

"Looks like our special student finally decided to join us. I was worried about my class's average academic score. After all, you did make history by having the lowest entrance score in the academy's history."

The teacher welcomed Lea into her class with sarcasm. The teacher's impression had worsened since Lea had missed a class. 

Lea smiled back at the teacher, not letting these words get to her. This made her teacher enraged. Everyone could see how the teacher held herself back.

"Sorry, teacher, but an emergency came, and I had to attend to it. I will make it up to you later. Would you mind giving me private lessons?"

Lea teased the teacher, causing the teacher to go red-faced and stuttering over her words. The students looked shocked at Lea's carefree nature as well.

The academy was prestigious, and every student wanted to attend it. It was the best place to make future connections and impress their teachers.

"Lea, hold yourself back. I know you are bored and want to cause trouble, but you should not pick a fight with our teacher."

Sara whispered while standing behind Lea. She looked at the engraved teacher and took a step back. Their teacher's energy spread everywhere, causing the students to breathe heavily.

Even Sara was feeling the aftereffects of their teacher's loss of control.

The only one who looked unaffected was Lea and her smiling face. Lea stood still and tall, her eyes filled with laughter and her back straight.

"Let me have my fun, Sara. Besides, our teacher would not lose control over being teased like this. They are all professionals in their fields."

Lea spoke out loud for everyone to hear. Their teacher quickly controlled her aura once she was called out and looked at her class.

"Since today is your first day in class, I will not hold your lack of respect against you. Slowly, you all will understand whom you should be close to."

The teacher looked at her students cautiously, warning them not to get on her nerves. Most of the students in the academy belonged to the provided class and knew the importance of connections. They paid their respect to their teacher.

"We shall work with the simulated environment feature for our first lesson. As you all know, the rift controls the world outside the dome. We will experience how that environment feels artificially."

"If you feel sick, tell me immediately. You might be allergic to the outside dust."

Their teacher warned before leading the class into the artificial stimulation chamber. The place was arid and sooty. Dust flew all over the area, and monsters roamed the area.

The students had seen the outside world in documentaries and movies. But it was the first time they got to experience it. 

"Wow, so this is the outside world? It looks…quite normal. I thought the apocalypse must have made this place uninhabitable…"

One of Lea's classmates commented just as a huge shadow fell over their group. A gigantic monster roared while looking at the group. The class looked spooked out and immediately took a step back.

"W-What the hell is that thing? Teacher, what should we do now?"

The students asked their teacher, but their teacher was in a bad mood. She remembered how Lea had made fun of her and now proved the best opportunity to get revenge.

"It's a low-level right monster. I was not planning on having you face one today, but it's okay. You can fight against it and gain some experience."

The teacher informed her students and quickly stepped back. The students would be unable to take care of this monster alone.

They could soon call for help, and the teacher would show them her real power. It would teach these students that they should not mess with a professional.

"W-Wait, teacher! You are not seriously asking us to fight that thing. Wise won't be able to win, even if we tried our best. Please, help us out."

The students were beginning to panic already.  It made their teacher satisfied to see. But the real problem she wanted to take revenge against had not looked at her yet.

"You all can take care of the monster. The teacher believes in you. Good luck!"

The teacher did not believe in her students. But she pretended to be a good teacher and watched from the sidelines. Some of the students who came from privileged families were quick to take up weapons and defend themselves. 

The others were quick to get out of the way and defend themselves. The monster was busy choosing his target. 

The teacher wanted to probe the monster into choosing Lea as its target. So, she used her power to mark Lea. The beast instantly looked at the marked person, and the teacher knew she had achieved her goal.

'Now ask me for help. I can feel how nervous you are right now. The monster is looking at you, ready to devour you. Let me see the fear in your eyes.'

The teacher waited eagerly for what would happen next. The monster took a step toward Lea before he backed away. It ignored other students and walked out of the area.

Everyone looked shocked to see this happen. The teacher had never seen a monster run away this fast. She had no answer about what happened.

"Teacher, what happened?  The monster walked away from us. Does this happen often?"

One of the classmates asked as he watched the monster walk away from their group. The teacher was also stunned to see this, her mouth hanging open. She tried her best to get herself under control.

"A-Ah, this can happen sometimes when the monster is too complete to go after its prey. Looks like we all got lucky. But next time, you must pay attention to your surroundings and ensure you have enough strength and resources to take that monster down."

The teacher pretended she was happy for the students but was burning from the inside. Her plan to make these children fear her and look up to her had been tarnished.

She would have to find another way to establish her authority.