10. Decisions

The rest of Mr. Vankay's class flew by without a hitch.

After agreeing to help Charlotte I went back to using Mana Breath until it was time for the second period.

Once the bell rang signaling the end of class I waited for Charlotte to pack up before we left hand in hand.

While walking toward the door to leave I had a short stare-off with Mr. Vankay. It was only for a couple of seconds before I then turned my head to leave.

'Your reckoning is coming.'

In the hallway, Charlotte and I made our way back to Miss Smith's class.

We made some quick small talk but it was nothing too relevant.

When we entered her room a couple of minutes later it was deadly silent. A few students managed to beat us there but rather than the usual commotion it was too quiet.

'They're afraid.'

It was a fair deduction to make since nearly all of them were hospitalized.

There would now be a constant innate fear within the students whenever anything was associated with Miss Smith.

It would make teaching a bit harder but it might serve as a good wake-up call. I was more than sure that some of the students believed that they were untouchable.

But when a simple mind attack hit them and they couldn't even remain standing up, that had to spark something in them.

Whether it was good or bad will only be determined in the future.

They will either grow to become stronger from the event or drown in pitiful fear of the unknown.

Nonetheless, I knew my path.

Having Charlotte follow behind me the two of us took a seat on the floor up against one of the walls. We sat in a different place from yesterday due to it already being occupied.

Not wanting to interrupt the space I decided to follow the others and not make any noise as I immediately went back to using Mana Breath.

Five or so minutes passed like this as the last of the students arrived.

Once the bell rang signaling the start of class Miss Smith came out of her office which was hidden away in a corner.

As soon as her presence was made known a tremor ran through everyone's bodies.

While I was seated minding my own business I suddenly felt Charlotte take hold of my hand.

Knowing that time was up I canceled Mana Breath and waited for how Miss Smith was going to handle the situation.

"Listen up everyone."

Of course, everyone's focus was already on Miss Smith and with it being so quiet her voice echoed throughout the room.

"What happened yesterday was not something I am proud of, and for that, I'd like to apologize."

From what I could tell she seemed to be sincere in her apology but none of the kids appeared to be willing to forgive her.

"That being said, it should serve as a reminder that the world is vast and full of dangerous things. There won't always be adults around to protect you."

Seeing that everyone was still giving her their full attention Miss Smith continued:

"Griffin was created to nurture the youths and being a faculty member I swore to uphold that responsibility. Which is why from this point forward duals will no longer be staged artificially."

Now, this caused an uproar!

"You can't be serious!"

"That's too dangerous, there are safety mechanisms for a reason!"

"You don't expect us to actually go at each other?!"

"What if someone gets hurt? What if someone dies?!!"

"Yeah!"

"This is unfair!"

"There's no way the administration agreed to this!"

As minutes passed while the children voiced out their complaints, Miss Smith stood silently.

It seemed that she wasn't going to do the same thing as last time to calm everyone down.

Yet she did.

"Stop."

That's all it took, and this time it was a whisper!

Thankfully she only went halfway. It only took one word for everyone to shut up and there was no release of killing intent.

Some of them prepared for the worst and dropped to the ground covering their heads. Others got flashbacks of reliving that fear which caused them all sorts of problems.

It was more than clear there was some deep-rooted trauma.

Meanwhile, I remained seated as I didn't even react to Miss Smith's words. In fact, I was far from registering anything that was coming out of her mouth.

I decided to make use of 3rd Person POV.

Since the first time I used it, I learned quite a lot about it.

First of all, there was around a 24-hour cooldown due to the ability pressing a lot of stress on my mind.

Second, after using the ability I was instantly transferred all the information from that hour. There was no time spent sorting through it or taking time to learn it, just straight comprehension.

Third — and I couldn't confirm this yet — it seemed that what I saw within the glimpse couldn't be altered. However, this was only my second time using it so I would have to test my hypothesis.

Anyway with the ability ending not even after a second passed I knew everything that would happen for the next 60 minutes.

Unfortunately what I saw was not very fun.

I let out a deep sigh.

Once everyone calmed down Miss Smith went on to clear up any confusion and provide answers to any of the questions the students asked.

Apparently, the administration was the one who pushed for the students to fight without the simulation.

Also, it was made clear that any injuries received in battle were the fault of the ones harmed.

This was a very strict point that was made aware so that the poorer and lower class students wouldn't face any problems if they harmed someone of higher status.

However, Miss Smith didn't fail to mention that killing was to remain prohibited and that there would be new staff members coming to watch over the battles if something got out of hand.

But even then if someone really wanted and could get away with it, death might follow.

Because of this many students weren't willing to endanger their lives for some practice. Therefore Miss Smith announced that since it was still early enough in the year and due to unforeseen circumstances anyone who wanted could drop the class without facing any punishments.

Yet Miss Smith warned that each person thinks their decision over carefully because after today the punishment would be reinstated and those who quit will not be able to join back.

Silence once again befell the room yet this time it wasn't out of fear but rather the students needing to decide the path they wanted to take.

Those who stayed would without a doubt grow stronger due to being in real combat but that could come at a price. Thus everyone had to choose how much they were willing to pay.

"There's no way I'd take such a risk when my family will provide constant resources to develop my growth, I'm out."

"Me too."

"Yeah, it's just not worth it."

Those who began going through the pros and cons started splitting into two groups.

"I don't care what the risk is so long as I can get stronger I'll do it!"

"I don't have anyone to support me, if I don't get stronger I'll be left behind, I'm not leaving."

Each person came up with their conclusion and those who wanted to leave were free to do so as they exited the classroom not bothering to turn back.

As more and more people left some decided to follow as they were sheeped into chasing after the crowd.

By the end of it, the thousand students were reduced to a minuscule one hundred eighty.

'So this is all?'

Still seated on the floor I glanced over all the characters who didn't give up.

Looking to my side Charlotte was still next to me.

Elijah stood proudly in the center.

Willow stood beside him.

Evelyn was alone yet she remained.

Mia, Noah, Liam, and even Billy from the first trio match were scattered around the classroom.

Of the others, there were still a few named characters while the others were mostly high-rankers.

Miss Smith finalized the headcount and nodded satisfied:

"Those of you who remain have made your decision. I hope you won't come to regret it."