Ch 57:- Rescue

The next day was Sunday morning, and all eight sergeants had gathered inside the portal hall of the military training facility. Four second-year sergeants stood on one side, while four first-year sergeants stood on the opposite side, forming two lines in front of the portal. All eight of them stood at attention, with straightened postures and unwavering focus.

The portal had been pulled out and placed in the center of the room. Although it wasn't green, orange, or red, it was hued in the purity of white, making it look like a blank canvas. The white color indicated that the destination of the portal was Earth, similar to the traveling stations.

The doors to the training hall opened, and each sergeant immediately gave a salute to the four men who had entered the room: Duke, the second-year head; Nathan, the first-year head; Mike, in charge of communications between military bases and highly respected; and the oldest and most respected of them all, the head general, Paul, wearing his usual black and white tailored suit.

"Duke, I hope you already have everything prepared?" Paul asked.

"Yes, everything is proceeding well, and we should reach the quota as usual. All the students will gather in the assembly hall this afternoon. We shall advance towards our objectives right after," Duke replied.

"Good," said Paul, looking at Mike. "How are the preparations for the upcoming event going?"

"Not to worry, we still have a leeway of a month before the event. Students will soon be able to choose which events they want to participate in. I'm sure that we'll come out on top this year. I know we will," Mike said, laughing loudly.

"Nathan, I'm afraid I have some bad news for you," said Paul. "The upcoming portal outing for the first-year students will not be a green portal like we originally planned. It will be an orange portal instead."

Nathan's eyes widened. "Sir, this is crazy! They're only first-year students. Why do we need to push them so fast?"

"There are reports that the Dalki are becoming more aggressive with their exploration. We must compete with them. This decision has been made by all of us, and we must push harder. At the same time, we cannot willingly lose our regular men. Earth is the number one priority, and we must protect it at all costs."

"So they chose to sacrifice the children instead!" Nathan protested, utterly distraught by the news.

"War is around the corner, and the Dalki do not discriminate, whether they are children or not. Age will not matter to them when that time comes. It's better that they gain experience now. I will give you permission to send a couple of sergeants with them for their safeguarding, rather than the regular teachers, but that's it. This is an order, and it's final. I don't want to welcome any opposition."

Usually, green portals would be used for first years as they are the safest and contain basic and intermediate beasts. Once the students reach the second year stage, they will go out on an orange portal expedition, but only once.

Orange portals pose a heightened risk. Although there are shelters on the planet, the entire planet has yet to be explored. When the military arrives on the planet, the goal is to expand and explore the uncharted areas. If they are lucky and finish the exploration, the portal will turn green. If they encounter high-level beasts, the portal will remain orange.

Nathan feels that first-year students are too inexperienced for such a task. The main difference when traveling to an orange portal planet is that they travel as a single unit rather than in teams. Furthermore, the school has yet to enlighten the students about the importance of working together.

The generals stand a few feet away from the circular teleporter. Paul checks the time on his watch; it is currently 8:59.

At 9:00, the portal starts to warp slightly, and three figures appear. In the center is a bald-headed man wearing sunglasses and a suit.

"Jack!" Paul greets him. "It's been a while." He hugs the others.

"That's him?" Fay whispers to Hayley, who is standing next to her. "I can't believe that two of the strongest people on our planet look like shady businessmen."

Although Jack Truedream didn't look impressive by himself, the two men who came out of the portal beside him did. One of them was a large fellow whose height was nearly seven feet. He was completely covered in grey-colored beast equipment, which looked similar to a rhino, while he carried a large two-handed axe on his back. By his side was an individual who was the complete opposite, a small skinny fellow. This person was wearing beast equipment that was dark green in hue and had a mask covering his face. Instead of heavy armor like the other person, he wore light armor.

However, just from gazing at both of their equipment, Fay could tell that they were high-level beast gear, way beyond that of the advanced tier. Jack had truly brought his strongest guards along. It reminded Fay that even though they were allies, they weren't completely trusting of each other. Jack's need to bring these two was to remind them of the power his family had.

Right now, there is an odd balance between the ability users in the world that causes small-scale skirmishes to happen. The military's strongest force is the eight head generals in charge of each of the military bases. The leader of this group is the head general in military base one. In addition to them are the Big Four from the four families. They are the current decision-makers in the world's affairs, and whenever there is a serious matter to be decided, a meeting is called in their midst. Once in a while, though, the families or the military have to show their strength just to make sure the others wouldn't get the idea of rebelling.

"How about some breakfast together? My chiefs have prepared a great meal," Paul asked.

"No, thanks. I ate before I came here," Jack replied. "I was actually hoping to speak to your sergeants who discovered one of our family members. I believe that when his body was found, it was along with two other students. Is that correct? I wish to investigate this matter before I do anything else. If you don't mind, that is."

"Oh, honestly, I'm not sure of the details myself," Paul replied. "I surmised that Hayley was the one who wrote the report and sent it off to you. Hayley!" Paul called her, and she immediately rushed over, giving a salute to both Paul and Jack.

"Please, if you can, help Jack in any way possible."

"Of course, sir!" Hayley replied.

Inside the medical office, Hayley sat at her computer while Jack stood behind her, peering over her shoulder as she pulled up the report he had requested. "Is this the report you wanted?" she asked.

Jack quickly scanned the document before confirming it was the same report he had received before. He then asked Hayley if she recalled any details about the scene when they recovered Ian's body.

Hayley hesitated before admitting that although the training center was made of glathrium and supposedly impenetrable, the whole place appeared to have been trashed, as if a huge brawl had taken place. She also noted that when they recovered Ian's body, the bottom half was intact while the top half had the same two bite marks on it, indicating that he had likely fought something before he died.

"It sounds like Ian must have fought something while he was in there," Jack said. "Do you have the names of the two boys who were with him? They may have witnessed something."

Hayley explained that the boys had already been interrogated several times, but Jack pressed her for any other details she could recall about the scene. As she described the mangled doors and crumpled chairs, she couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. She had a hunch that a beast had been responsible for the destruction, but she didn't want to share her suspicions with Jack.

Despite her reluctance, Hayley knew that Jack was in a higher position than her and had a reputation for being tough. She had heard rumors of his "bad side" and didn't want to risk crossing him by contradicting his theory about Ian's death.

In the end, Hayley decided to keep her thoughts to herself and simply nodded in agreement as Jack discussed his ideas about what might have happened.

Jack initially appeared to be a pleasant person who was grateful to the military for helping him. However, as he gained more power and support, his demands became unreasonable. If he did not get his way, there were consequences. When Jack reviewed two student files, he quickly dismissed the first one but took an interest in the second one, Vorden Blade, who was an original with an initial score of level 5. Jack recognized the Blade family name from a meeting he had attended with the three strongest families years ago. At the meeting, they warned him never to cross the Blade family. Jack wondered if Vorden was related to that family and if they were behind the deaths of his men.

"This is interesting, but perhaps it's best if I just leave him alone for now," Jack said in his gruff voice. "I could always get some more men."

~Few hours later~

Around 1,000 students could be seen standing in the assembly hall, although it was a Sunday. All the students had been told to gather in the assembly hall for a special occasion. While some were wondering what it was, others were excited and chattering away.

Quinn and his little band of people, which consisted of Vorden, Peter, Layla, and Logan, were experiencing stomach pain, or, to use a more scientific explanation, anxiety. When a person experiences nervousness or anxiety, their body goes into a state of heightened stress, which triggers the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline under the command of the CNS. These hormones prepare the body for a "fight or flight" response, increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate.

One of the effects of these stress hormones is the constriction of blood vessels in certain parts of the body, including the digestive system. This reduction in blood flow can lead to stomach pain, nausea, and even diarrhea in some cases. Additionally, the increased adrenaline levels can cause palpitations, which is a sensation of the heart beating fast, hard, or irregularly. Meanwhile, Rayne was not too worried; he was relaxed and lazy, and Peter was copying his actions.

All of them stood nice and straight, staring in the direction of the stage. On the stage stood Duke, and behind him were the two men who had arrived with Jack.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Logan asked. He had a small earpiece that acted as a microphone, as did the others apart from Peter. It was time for them to put their plan into action.

"Ready," they all replied.

"Yawn," Rayne yawned, and everyone looked his direction. "You don't expect me to say ready, do you? It's too childish, like the Power Rangers."

The assembly hall was split into two equal halves, with all the first-year students standing on the left of the stage and the second-year students standing on the right of the stage. The fact that all the students in the school were told to gather together, and not just a single year, told them it would be a big event.

Then the two sections on each side would be further split up; they were grouped by each homeroom class, which contained about fifty students. Quinn and Vorden were standing relatively close to each other, while Peter was standing a row in front of them so they could keep an eye on him, and as for Rayne, he seemed to be at the very back of the class, sitting comfortably on the floor, while the girls stood directly at the front of the class.

Their section was stationed closest to the stage, while right at the back towards the exit was Logan. To his surprise, it seemed like Fex was in the same homeroom class as him. Logan didn't turn up to homeroom class much, and if it were anyone else, they would have been punished for this. But because Logan was a VIP student from a rich family, he obtained special privileges.

Duke was currently standing on stage giving the students a speech, telling them about all the achievements that the base had made so far, and what the upcoming schedule for the first-year and second-year students would look like for the rest of the year.

"Other than an update about the schedule for you all, we also have a special guest here today. He visited us last year, and he is here to visit us again."

Duke pointed at one of the men who sat at the leader's table and was actually the leader of one of the big four. "Please clap for Mr. Truedream," Duke said as he walked off the stage.

Mr. Truedream then got up from his seat at the table and came up from the side of the stage. As he stepped forward, so did the two guards next to him. The students looked up and stared at them in awe. They had never seen such impressive beast gear in their life and couldn't imagine just how much it would cost to own them.

"So that's a high-tier beast armor," Rayne thought as he looked at the armor, observing its energy signature.

"Many of you should know who I am, but just in case, my name is Jack Truedream, leader of the Truedream family, and also the owner of Dreamland City. I have a close relationship with the military, and I visit every base each year. But I have to say, out of all the military bases, this is my favorite one. I also seem to get the most and the best gifts delivered directly to my doorstep here," Jack said with a smile.

And then the students started gossiping about him. While the speech continued, from the bottom of Logan's sleeve, one of the small mechanical spiders crawled down his shirt and hopped off his shoe. It was the same size as a regular small spider and made next to no noise as it moved about.

It continued to crawl across the floor until it had eventually reached the stage.

"Alright, guys, it's all set," Logan whispered.

Jack then spoke his final words. "In a month's time, I will be coming to watch all of you at the inter-military base event. Perform well, and those that impress me will be given an extended invitation."

With that, the speech was over, and Jack walked offstage with his two guards behind him, heading off to a location out of sight from all the students. While doing this, the mechanical spider quickly followed along.

As Jack left the stage, Duke returned. He had one last thing to say to everyone. "You heard the man. Work hard so you can achieve a great future for yourselves. I expect our school to come out on top at the inter-military base event. Before I dismiss you all to enjoy the rest of your day off, I would like these eight students to stay behind: Ray Dem, Howard Hubby, Wilfred Green, Sarah Beeswax, Michael Brisko, Amy Yellop, Peter Chuck, and finally Erin Heyley. These students, please stay behind and come to the front of the stage. The rest of you may leave."

As soon as the name was uttered, the air became thick, it felt heavy, cold, and it sent goosebumps all over their bodies. But as soon as it came, it also vanished. Almost instinctively, Quinn, Vorden, Layla, and Erin turned around, only to see Rayne's eyes glowing. But as soon as he saw them all, it vanished, and he only gave a smile. Soon, the students started to leave the assembly hall; they didn't want to hang in there as it was a weekend. "Hey, would you move?" A student said as he accidentally bumped into Rayne on his way out.

"What was wrong with that guy? Weirdo," another student said. As he said this, Rayne looked at both of them, and they experienced something they never felt before. It was death; they felt their bodies get exploded, vaporized. It was something that they would never be able to explain, but it was just in their head. They quickly scrambled out of the room.

At that moment, he took out a talisman, activated it, and vanished into nothingness while using the crowd as a cover as the crowd rushed out of the room. Rayne was not the only one who was shocked, but the whole group was frozen in place because they had not expected Erin's name to be called. But they were woken up from their stupor by the thunderous cackling of thunders.

"Guys, come on, we need to start our plan straight away. I know this is a shock, but that doesn't stop us from the original plan. Instead of saving one, now we just need to save two, and where is Rayne?" asked Logan, confused.

At first glance from the window, they could see that a swirling black mass of cloud had gathered, and soon it started to rain heavily. But it didn't stop them from proceeding with their plan as they exited and prepared themselves. Meanwhile, Rayne could be seen following Jack from behind with his nail extended with full intent to kill him. As he rushed forward for a sneak kill, he was stopped by his system.

[Stop, don't kill him.]

"Why? I don't think he is of any importance. Even without him, humanity would do just fine," Rayne almost yelled but held himself back.

[You don't understand, killing him will only lead to more death. It will start a civil war between humans.]

Rayne stood there, understanding the full weight of the situation. While he could sacrifice 1000 life for one life but the long term consequences could be great so he decided to cancel his hunt for now.

"If I can't hunt Jack then it's Duke fault that Erin was chosen ssoit wouldn't be bad if I just kill him like an assassin," Rayne tried to rationalize as a creepy smile crept on his face.

Soon after he reached a meeting room along with Jack and his two goons, and the eight students following just behind them. But as he was about to enter, the door got closed by one of the goons that was outside, making him unable to enter it.

"What should I do? I can just knock him down, or maybe even kill him," Rayne thought, but soon a buzzing sound appeared from his earpiece, which drew a reaction from the guard as he looked straight at him. He moved around a little bit until he was away from his reach, then he moved several steps back before activating his earpiece.

"What is it, Logan?" Rayne said, frustrated.

"I was just going to warn you not to do anything stupid. I could see what you are doing. Remember that," Logan said.

"Fine, what do you want me to do?" Rayne said.

"Nothing, just stay behind and help them," Logan said.

"You know that I could just blast through them," Rayne asked.

"Yes, I know that. That's why I'm asking you not to engage," Logan said.

"Okay," Rayne said, as he sat down outside the door, still invisible.

"Why did you sit down? They are going to spot you easily like this," Logan said.

"You know I am..." Rayne hesitated to say it and instead dismissed the context. He walked towards the end of the hallway and sat on the window sill of the open window, looking outside to see the rain falling. He moved his hand in a swirling manner and chanted softly, infusing his blood energy with the raining water, making it turn crimson red and fall under his domain. He then went forward and controlled the water, which was quite difficult, so he infused more of his aura, making them turn a dark red color. He then controlled them, and within a moment, thousands of small bats made of it formed, and all of it started to hang upside down from the window sill or just ascending upwards and swirling above the rooftop. He was so concentrated that he momentarily forgot about his worries and was unable to see the commotion that was happening, but he soon noticed it. Feeling that it was his opportunity to shine, he directed all the swarm of 1000 blood bats to enter the hallway, and like some horror movie, the sky darkened more, and a huge lightning bolt fell upon a tree, creating a stake, but he ignored it and directed all of them at the two guards, one of whom had recently exited. Like horror movies, they burst through the window with their chirping sound and started to assault the guards, giving the group enough time to barge in, but he didn't wait for them. Instead, he destroyed the camera on his collar and blitzed to the door, kicking it off its hinges. What he saw nearly made him want to murder Jack for real - he was kissing her, causing the suppressed rage to bubble up and run right at him and kick him away. "What kind of sicko is he assaulting a maiden who is asleep? Why hasn't someone reported him?" Rayne thought as he grabbed Erin, but before he could make a dash, the guard appeared and started to throw jabs at where he assumed he was due to him holding onto Erin. At that moment, both Vorden and Quinn appeared for backup, a shadow rose blocking the guard's path. As Vorden also entered the scene, he looked around himself, taking in his surroundings.

( He is still invisible and none of the other characters knows that he is also in the room.)

At that moment, Logan spoke through the comms, "Guys, the other guard will enter any moment. He has destroyed nearly all of Rayne's bats."

Hearing this, they immediately got into action, and Rayne said through the comms, "Set this whole room on fire. It will give us enough time to flee from here."

At that moment, the guard who was looking at Quinn in his night demon armor said, "Who are you? And why are you attacking us?"

Quinn spoke into the mask, which gave him an altered deep electronic voice. "We know what you have been doing. We, from Pure, have been following your actions for a while now. We're here to save those kids from you!" Quinn said.

"I want to die out of cringe. Who even says something so cringe?" Rayne thought.

At that moment, Vorden set the whole place on fire, which activated the fire emergency, sprinkling water on both of their invisible silhouettes. Without ado, Peter grabbed onto Erin and dashed in the direction of Logan's room while carefully hiding from the cameras. As Peter exited, Rayne also exited before informing both Vorden and Quinn that the extraction was complete and vanished from the place, not wanting to waste any time, Rayne used a teleport talisman to appear in his room directly over his scroll. After that, he changed into a new uniform to avoid suspicion, as his previous one was wet and charred in some places from the students. Once he was dressed, he exited the room, but soon realized that he was still invisible and that it looked like his clothes were floating. "Did I mistakenly use the long-duration talisman?" Rayne thought, and at that moment, his system answered.

[You only had one invisibility talisman, and the one you used was a 12-hour one, which means there is still over 11 hours left before its effect diminishes.]

Rayne's eyes widened in surprise and he immediately entered his room , and he dejectedly removed his clothing and changed back into his previous outfit which was also invisible. He then made his way towards Logan's room. As he neared the door, he saw both Vorden and Quinn opening it, but not wanting to explain his strange appearance, he blitzed past them and entered the room.

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Please give me some of your power stones. I am begging you it will keep me motivated. Also, please let me know how many of you are still following this by dropping your power stones.