Rescue

(Around 9 am)

*Knock Knock*

"Come in," Natasha responded tiredly. From behind the door, a man entered the room holding several folders.

"Excuse me, ma'am," The man said. He then handed the reports to her. Natasha felt a headache coming on from the number of papers. Though she deligating most of the tasks, there were several things that she had to look over.

But just as the teacher was about to leave, he stopped in his tracks. Noticing this, Natasha looked up at him.

"Oh, that reminds me, there are several students missing."

"Who are they?"

"I believe it's the entirety of Diamond 17, first years."

'Isn't that Alexia's group?' Natasha thought to herself. 'That's nothing surprising.'

"They were never seen leaving and haven't returned." The man continued. "The entire group hasn't been seen since last night."

After giving that report, the man left the room, leaving the headmistress to ponder in silence.

'The entire group? I believe only three of them were troublemakers. That's weird.'

Natasha found it a bit strange but shook it off. They were known to break the rules. It wouldn't be the first time break curfew and not returning. 

And the fact they were missing bugged her. But she knew she had other capable teachers searching for them at the very moment. So she discarded those thoughts and focused on her work.

Before looking at the folders, Natasha opened up her computer and looked at the daily report from the Hollow Forest.

It was essential for her to know everything that was happening inside the forest. It was the only reason she was principal and not the front lines. If an outbreak happened, she could suppress it immediately.

The report showed two minor changes happening back to back, with the barrier being adjusted and the dark mana's lowered concentration in that area.

These occurrences had happened once in a while and didn't mean anything. However, Natasha had a bad feeling. Her gut was telling her something was wrong.

'It's been a while since I have checked up on the forest. I'll see what's going on.'

With that decision made, she left the files in her office and headed off to the forest. She didn't require any vehicle and purely enhanced herself with mana.

In a few minutes, she arrived at the entrance. Upon seeing her, all the soldiers saluted. They didn't ask for her identity or question her arrival.

All mages on guard recognised her mana and presence. It was impossible to fake and was unique to her. It was the absolute power of a champion.

Natasha asked to enter the Hollow Forest, which the soldiers immediately obliged. After entering the forest, she didn't immediately feel anything off about the area.

She ran towards the area in which the dark mana concentration had decreased. When she reached there, she noticed some traces of battle.

It wasn't anything uncommon as aberrants often fought each other for food and territory. However, these conflicts would result in the dark mana concentration rising, not falling.

Natasha started extending her mana in the fog, trying to get a good look at her surroundings. With the help of her gift, she got a nearly perfect 3D view of the entire area.

"—!?" Natasha nearly doubted her capabilities when she noticed two distinct mana signatures in the forest. Based on the fluctuations, they were severely weakened.

Within a couple of seconds, she arrived at their location. The two jumped back in fear when they saw her appear.

Natasha recognised two people. They were Alexia's group members Arlo and Chloe.

"Principal!" Arlo spoke as soon as she recognised her.

"What are you two doing—" Natasha began to speak.

"—You need to help them!" But was immediately cut off by Chloe.

Though Natasha found it extremely disrespectful to be cut off like that, given their difference in status, she immediately forgave her upon seeing her desperation. She had been in her fair share of battles and knew it wasn't the time for questions. She could scold them later.

Extending her senses again, so focused on the gaps in fog. It took a second, but she found a mana signature that was similar to her own. It was extremely faint. Her mana was a small flame about to be extinguished.

"Alexia!" She immediately recognised her granddaughter's mana. Before she was able to dash to her, a voice from behind stopped her.

"Bring me with you! I can stabilise her."

All it took was a split second for Natasha to make a decision. She couldn't leave two weakened students in a forest and Chloe's gift may be able to help Alexia. Natasha herself didn't have anything that go help her others, so she had to rely on the two students.

"Brace yourself."

Barely a second after her warning, the earth beneath them rose and a protective bubble of mana formed around them. She immediately dashed to Alexia with the two students behind her.

But unlike what she was expecting, there were two students instead of one. When she noticed that one of them was not emitting any mana, her first thought was that he was dead.

But after seeing him breathe, she understood he entered mana overdraft. Seeing him experience dark mana poisoning, Natasha expelled the fog nearby, replacing it with her own mana.

Chloe was let out of her bubble and rushed towards Alexia, activating her gift on her. When she saw Alexia's condition, her motherly instincts kicked in, looking for the aberrant that did to her.

She dug her nails deep into her palms to stop her from lashing out. She was a Champion and the principal. She had to control herself in front of the students lest they accidentally be caught in her wrath.

Natasha looked around for the culprit and saw the body of the Bhalvach. Knowing that it was grade 2 aberrant, she was surprised to find it dead. 

'They killed a grade 2? At their age? How?'

Natasha quickly suppressed those questions as there was currently an acute threat she had to face. A noticed powerful aberrant was clashing against her mana.

She left the students and went to face the aberrant alone.

"A grade 1..." Those were the first words Natasha said when she confronted the aberrant. The aberrant in front of her was a grade 1, mutated Bhalvach.

Almost all grade 1 and above aberrants were mutants and they tended to be rulers of large territories. The aberrant she was facing currently was the ruler of the Hollow Forest.

"You're getting pretty strong. Good thing I found you now before you become a threat."

The aberrant didn't respond.

"I can think of only one reason you came this close to the barrier. That Bhalvach killed was one of your children. I'm sorry, but I have my family to protect. I'll end it instantly."

With those words, the mutant Bhalvach started charging its laser horn. It was much bigger and more powerful than a regular Bhalvach.

But before it could fire, several spikes made of earth crashed into the aberrant. It was sent flying over a hundred metres away, hitting many trees before stopping.

Appearing before it, Natasha landed a kick on the aberrant's head, shattering its horn, and knocking it down again. She quickly killed it with several spikes from the ground.

Natasha immediately returned to the students, bringing the four out of the forest as soon as possible. On the way, she contacted the school doctors, stating it was an emergency.

With the help of the doctors, the lives of two student were able to be saved.