Chapter 15. The Student Council

As soon as the abominations returned to their senses from the effects of Mr. Haley's skill, I knew I messed up. I was on the verge of being devoured by the massive horde that opened its maw to let its prey in. The situation seemed unsalvable. I was surrounding by monsters whose count went over my head but I couldn't give up.

I desperately hung on amidst the horde, taking down one monster after another, waiting for help to arrive. Whenever I found a weak, confused or defenceless creature, I struck. And I struck hard and fast. Taking them down in one blow.

The repetitive use of 'Lightning Steps' was placing a massive burden on my body, but I still had to go on. The end will definitely arrive, if I hold on.

<<Thud. Thud. Thud.>>

I could hear abominations that were dropping dead at the back. Even after all my struggle, I didn't leave far from the art room.

My party seemed to have resumed their attack. At least, I was not alone.

If it were not for the horde that required my continuous attention, I would have turned back to see how they were doing.

A roar resounded through the hallway. Ben wasn't being stingy with his skill anymore. The roar was accompanied with a HEAL spell that was cast on me by Abigail. I struck down a few more monsters as heat slowly approached me from behind, the flames of our class president were getting closer. They were getting closer to me and I still couldn't see the end of the horde in front of me.

My enhanced senses from 'Perception of Death' improved my sense for battle. I was getting better at finding the weak links. All the effort I put before into refining my fighting styles were paying off by helping me barely escape death at the price of few scrapes on several locations of my body. The painting knives that I had were also reaching the end of their durability. I didn't know how long I could last against them but I didn't want to give up.

My body was battered. Blood was dripping over my eyes and flowing down my shoulders. My eyes were getting heavier. New locations of damage were being created on my body.

<<Thud. Thud.>>

A few more monsters reached their end. I was now hearing voices from down the hallway. Or whatever was discernible made me assume them to be voices.

The heat from the flames drew even closer. The HEAL spells still landed on me. My bod was slowly getting heavier but my movements were also becoming more efficient.

That was when an arrow announced the arrival of the student council president to me.

The arrow struck the abomination that seemed infinitely close to taking my life.

<<Thud. Thud. Thud.>>

The noises from in front of me became clearer. Several monsters were slowly landed dead under my sight.

Multiple students emerged from behind the woman with the bow as they continued to attack the monster horde, clearing it at a rapid rate.

There were many students, that I could see, participating in this raid.

"HEAL"

A wave of bliss enveloped me. The scraped part on my body slowly started healing at a visible rate and the pain I was experiencing reduced by many folds. The effect was far stronger than Abigail's HEAL (minor) spell.

'Probably an A-grade version.' I thought after obtaining a first-hand experience with the skill.

The healer seemed to be a timid guy, with glasses who was standing at the far end of the hall way, safely protected by the members of the student council.

That was the identity of the majority of the members that were gathered here. Green Valley High's most prestigious organisation. A gathering of the true elite and most accomplished members of the school. The Student Council.

The Student Council president could be considered one of the leading figures of authority in our school, and the very person was standing in front of me, with a bow in her hand, her silver hair flowing down to her waist, commanding the entire unit of elites.

The members possessed several new and intriguing skills as well. Although I couldn't discern the skills of the council president, everyone was showing a clear display of their skills.

I noticed several combat related skills, like a skill that strengthened one's fists, a destructive version of Mr. Haley's flame skill, a skill that either reduced damage or increased the physique of the user and several others were thrown into the mix.

One of the more prominent skills were held by the vice-president which was 'Poison Touch'. He emitted doses of poison onto the target he touched.

I didn't know the type of poison or the number of poisons that he could use, but if used right, it could be one of the deadliest skills you would have to face.

The other was seen in a third-year female student who seemed to possess some kind of a mental attack. The attack looked to be very effective as several abominations were left defenceless to the attackers and she seemed to be able to target several enemies simultaneously.

They quickly cleaned up the floor as they moved on to help Ben, Abigail and Mr. Haley who were near the art room.

Julianne Romero, the student council president, slowly walked towards me and held out her hand. I seemed to have slumped down in my position as soon as my body relaxed upon the arrival of help.

Taking her hand, I slowly got up and leaned onto the wall as I still was too tired to be making any grand movements,

"Nice fight you put up there." She said, as she moved on to gather all the members in the art room. "Follow me to the room. We'll rest for a while before starting to move."

Everyone was making their way to the art room. I stood still for a few moments to catch my breath before following them inside.

Ben, Abigail and Mr. Haley were in a comparatively better state after the assist provided by the HEAL spell from the timid boy.

Ms. Romero carefully picked a seat as everyone else dragged their chairs closer while forming a circle around her.

Four seats were left open by the newly arrived party, which seemed to be reserved for our party.

Two of them stood guard near the door, while one of them was holding the bow that Ms. Romero previously used with a face hinting of nervousness and slight fear, the other was leaning against the wall in a more relaxed manner.

The vice-president Remley Mitt occupied the seat right beside Ms. Romero and Mr. Haley slowly dragged back the chair beside him to make himself comfortable.

There were no signs of the encounter we just had on his face, as he sat there in his usual nonchalant expression. Occasionally glancing around at the members that have arrived.

"Fancy seeing you here, Ren." Ms. Romero said in a slightly surprised tone. "I thought you preferred being alone. Wasn't that the reason you rejected the student council's invitation?" To which Remley Mitt slightly shifted around in his seat feeling a little uncomfortable as his eyebrows twitched in annoyance.

"Why do you care?" Mr. Haley gave a curt reply before turning his head which seemed to have angered several members of the small gathering but were held back by Ms. Romero. He gave no heed to the change in the atmosphere as he continued to delve deeper into his thoughts.

"As cold as ever, aren't you?" She said with a slightly saddened expression before looking at the rest of us.

Her gaze turned slightly cold as they lingered on Abigail but the coldness disappeared as quickly as it arrived as she finally shifted her gaze onto me.

"That was brave of you back there, throwing yourself into such a big horde. Or maybe foolish, should I say?" She paused to evaluate which one I was, which irritated me for some reason, before continuing. "Anyway, it's a good thing that you made it out alive, due to our timely help, of course, but it was commendable that you held on until help arrived."

Her gaze which seemed to slightly look down on me and the way she spoke, she immediately left a bad impression on me, but considering that everything she said was close to being the truth, I decided to hear her out.

She turned her focus from me to the whole party and continued to talk. "We from the student council are gathering everyone that's alive in the building for the third years. I am gathering people who can fight to take the abominations down. Since you guys seem to have some decent skills and seeing that you are with Ren, here, I will allow you to follow us and be a part of the vanguard in taking down the monsters. Since you already killed a few of them, you know that we gain stats when we level up, right. So, being with a big and talented party will be of great advantage to you." She then turned to Mr. Haley and said, "Of course, if all four of you want to be together, I can help you with that as well but I don't think you will need a healer of such skill in the vanguard. So, what do you say?"

'Healer of such skill?', our faces immediately turned into a frown.

I turned towards Mr. Haley, who had the same frown as he looked at me. With a slight nod, he sent me his intentions as I took the lead.

"We'll meet you there. The four of us together, including our healer."

I got up from my seat, ready to move out, before turning back to face the three and said, "Let's go. We have a lot to do."

The twins nodded while Mr. Haley got up from his seat and we moved forward towards the door.

When we reached the door, Mr. Haley slowed down before saying, "Good Luck playing Boss with your little clowns!" with a tone full of mockery as he exited.

My eyebrows twitched as I heard the sound of wood breaking from the art room. This man wasn't going to make it easy for us. Though that was the thought I had in my head, my mouth slowly spread into a smile filled with satisfaction.