CHAPTER 57: The Truth (2)

Instructor Romguy slowly opened his eyes; his unfeeling and emotionless expression facing down toward the main deck. Moments later, his deep and monotone voice reached the ears of the still and silent students below. "Well, approximately seven hours." 

Alex stared up at the imposing, and apathetic figure calmingly gazing down from the upper deck with a face frozen. He had the look of a stiff and silent corpse, with his rigid body enhancing the atmosphere of a person recently passed. The only sign of life being the visual cue of the pounding pulse in his throat and the slight twitch of a bulging vein.

However, contrary to his shell-shocked and still expression, his mind was nothing if not hectic. 

'What could he mean?' 

Alex shook his head vigorously, dispelling the remnants of his zombie-like state and returning to relative normalcy after the onslaught of crazed thoughts.

'There's no way his words are true.'

'He has to be joking, right?'

'That's what this is; a bad joke.'

"Rom." Instructor Megan suddenly called after several seconds of silence.

"Yes?" Instructor Romguy answered, throwing her a glance from the corner of his eye.

She pinched her brow, shook her head, and sighed before finally angling her head toward the students. "I don't think they're listening to you." 

"Is that so?" Instructor Romguy turned and took in the expressions of the students. Several seconds passed, after which he glanced at Instructor Megan. "It seems you're right."

"DON'T SCREW WITH ME!"

Suddenly, a voice shouted out from the deck below, prompting the instructors to refocus their eyes and attention on the source of the disturbance.

"Oh," Instructor Romguy's already cold eyes narrowed, instantly causing his nonexistent presence to spike, creating a tense and heavy atmosphere. "You have something to share?"

Seemingly not feeling the change in the room, the same student who had last shouted out, questioned Instructor Cross. Ultimately becoming the cause of Instructor Romguy's current cold stare, gazed up at the upper deck; the previously lost fire returned to his eyes. "What do you mean I was only there for seven hours? Do you think I'm an idiot? Can't I tell the passage of time? I know how long I was trapped there, and it was at least one month."

Seconds passed as both the student's and Instructor Romguy's eyes collided. All that was missing from the scene, which would make tense atmosphere complete, was for the figurative sparks between them to manifest with flares of bright lights and sharp, pitched pops into the physical.

If the tense standoff had continued, lord knows what would have happened. However, just as Instructor Romguy's expression became frightfully dangerous, his eyes narrowing to mere slits, a voice sounded out, heavy and authoritative.

"That's enough." Instructor Cross sternly ordered, his face just as dangerous, staring hard at Instructor Romguy's hand which although almost imperceptible, was nonetheless periodically twitching.

Instructor Romguy's hand stilled, his eyes instantly breaking contact before shifting to landing on the arms-crossed figure of Instructor Cross standing a few meters away from the student.

"As you wish sir." Instructor Romguy replied seconds later, nodding his head submissively.

Instructor Cross sighed heavily, bridging the gap that separated him from the unnamed student with several long strides; he periodically clicked his tongue. Reaching him almost instantly, he placed his hand on his shoulder. 

"I can't say that I didn't find this funny number two hundred and fifty-nine." Instructor Cross shook his head, looking down. "However..." His head shot back up, eyes shining menacingly. "Fun's over."

"AHHHH!" Suddenly the student dropped to the ground, clutching his shoulder. Twisted facial features and absolute agony etched across his face made it clear he was experiencing severe pain.

"Now..." Instructor Cross dusted off his hands. Then, heavily yet lightly treading, he walked over the student's writhing body. With a wide, slightly mad smile plastered across his face, he swiveled around. Ignoring the student groaning and convulsing on the wooden planks, he observed the horrified expressions of the students aboard the ship. "It's getting close to daybreak, meaning I don't have a lot of time."

The ship slightly swayed as a variety of different-sized waves crashed against it, foamy sprays splashing onto the deck. Bracing his legs, Instructor Cross widening his stance, adjusting and barely keeping balance. "You all might not have realized, but don't you think some of your fellow students aren't here?"

It was at that moment that Alex suddenly recalled the similar thought he had an hour prior. 'That's right,' Alex realized, a bad feeling overcoming him. 'I had a similar thought earlier.'

Watching as the students frantically glanced around, the realization just dawning on some, Instructor Cross's smile extended. "Why do you think that is?"

"You know what," he raised a hand, putting a stop to any potential hasty answer, "Don't answer that. I doubt any of you will get it, and like I said," his gaze moved briefly the horizon, resting for a brief moment before landing back on the students. "I don't have much time."

Eyes travelling across the deck, taking in the range of expressions on their faces, Instructor Cross began his explanation.

"As was said earlier, The Senseless Coast is actually a First Tier Monster owned, or rather," Instructor Cross rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "kept by Freestone Academy for the purpose of collecting some expensive, and hard-to-acquire materials. So in actuality, it's a resource site."

"Every year, JS 3 students are taken on a field trip to The Pink Sea, and the fastest way to get there is to go through..." Instructor Cross widened his arms, embracing the world. "here. Interestingly enough, there had been a concern that no matter how much students are warned of the dangers of a tier three danger zone, they won't take it to heart and may still play around."

Instructor Cross glanced at the XOC strapped to his wrist. "I won't get into the full story of exactly what happened. All that's necessary for you students to know is for that reason it was decided that every year, just before setting sail on The Pink Sea—a small pause, just long enough for the dropping off of the students in The Senseless Coast—would be made."

"As they were right next to each other, not much time would be wasted, and it would give the students a taste of what to expect in The Pink Sea."

Not giving time to absorb the information, Instructor Cross resumed his hasty info dump. "In theory, that was a good idea, however," Instructor Cross shook his head. "In practice it turned out to be a catastrophic blood bath."

Briefly pausing to take in the gradual facial changes of the students, he smirked before continuing his explanation. "From the first group of students dropped off here, only ten survived."

Instructor Cross paused once again, this time to laugh maniacally at the faintly blue sky. "Hahaha, imagine that. From a class of over four hundred, only ten survived."

"I wonder how the bozo in charge of that trip didn't realize that with how weak the students were, without any boon or cheat they would almost definitely die there. Some days I sit down and wonder what happened to the 'genius' who made such a terrible, straight-out idiotic oversight."

"The trip was going to be cancelled, forever buried in the annals of the academy's history; the incident ignored and never mentioned." Slow shaking his head, he glanced at the screen of his XOC, looking back up moments later, his eyes strangely glinting. "However, although a whole class year was almost completely lost, something interesting happened with the ten survivors."

"They all became drastically stronger — both physically, mentally, and most importantly, tactically." Instructor Cross finished.

"Such a drastic increase in strength among that amount of students had never been seen in all the years of the academy. So the decision was reversed, and it was decided that to increase the general strength of the students the trip would be carried out every year."

Instructor Cross's words broke off, his gaze momentarily shifting to the two instructors on the upper deck; seemingly communicating wordlessly, he passed on a message.

Turning back to the students, he continued speaking. "Of course the death of practically all of the class wasn't acceptable. Therefore, a few limitations were placed on The Senseless Coast. The first restriction prevented the monster from generating physical manifestations of fears stronger than each student's individual level."

"This was done to push the students to their limits, minimizing the risk of death." Instructor Cross sighed deeply. "Ensuring that students can theoretically prevail, the restrictions were designed to push them to their limits, requiring the application of all they've learned while overcoming the fears personally crafted by The Senseless Coast."

"But even then hundred of students still die," he shrugged his shoulders. "However, the benefits outweigh the losses. Survivors emerge either physically and mentally stronger or as future wrecks."

Instructor Cross's eyes swept over the student, noting their confused and shocked expressions.

"It doesn't matter if the reasoning doesn't make sense to you. For Freestone Academy, as long as at least a hundred students survive that is more than enough."