A few days earlier*

The classes just ended, and we can now go back to our dorm. I looked at our teacher. She’s Mrs. Maria. My first impression of her was that she’s harsh, but she’s not. She’s just naturally strict towards me or anyone else. Not only that, but she cares about her students.

When I got into her class, I was at rock bottom without knowing what to do. Although some students helped me, but it was Mrs. Maria who helped me the most. In this past weeks, she helped me by staying after the classes with me. And because of her, I had managed to catch up with the others.

“Julia, you’re unbelievable. To think that you had only joined us recently, yet you had managed to grow this fast. As expected from Leah’s sister.”(Mrs. Maria)

“Hahaha, you’re praising me too much, Mrs. Maria. If it weren’t for you, then I’d still probably struggling. I really am grateful.”(Julia)

“Don’t be too polite. It’s your own talent and dedication. If it weren’t for the Daniel guy you’ve been talking about, I would’ve introduced my grandson to you.”(Mrs. Maria)

Mrs. Maria loved talking about her grandchildren and how energetic they are. She has three grandchildren, two of them are girls, and one is a boy. If I weren’t wrong, he’s still ten years old.

“Ahahaha. He’s still a kid. I’m sure he’ll meet someone for him too.”(Julia). I laughed awkwardly.

“There’s only two of us. Just call me grandma.”(Mrs. Maria). She smiled gently.

“Then, I’ll do just that… Umm. Gran…grandma.”(Julia). This is so embarrassing!

A couple of hours later, after taking extra lessons from magic and about the demonic beasts, she talked to me before I left the room.

“By the way, Julia. You should probably take a mission now. With your strength, it wouldn’t be a problem if you take one of the hard missions.”(Mrs. Maria)

“But, I don’t think I’m good enough for those yet, haha. I’m still weak.”(Julia). I looked at my hand, and I let my blood come out of my fingertips.

I would make them sharp inside my fingers and pierce them out of my flesh. Then, I would be able to control their shapes. But I can only do it for a few minutes before running out of mana from controlling them.

My sister said that once I got a little bit stronger, I would be able to control them with significantly less mana, and finally, someday, I’ll be able to control them without using any mana. My sister couldn’t do it yet, though. But she said that she’s almost there.

“You’re not weak. You only lack experience. That is what a lot of people’s mistake. They do not try to reach their goal because they thought they couldn’t do it. But in reality, they just need to try.”(Mrs. Maria)

The next day, I told Mrs. Maria that I’d be taking her advice and going to the mission board to take a mission. At first, I took the easiest ones, but I managed to finish them pretty quickly. I managed to finished 5 in just an hour.

“Should I just go for it and take a harder one?”(Julia). After thinking about it for a while. I gathered the courage to pick one.

It was a group mission.

In summary, we have to help the police officers that will be pursuing some low-ranking criminals.

Sigh

Luckily we’re only going after individuals that aren’t tied to any syndicate groups but mainly composed of robbers.

I looked at the paper again.

“Okay, the meeting is outside the Academy, in a small café? What’s this? A cat café”(Julia). I smiled and giggled from excitement.

“I’ve never heard of this place before, but it sounds cute and romantic. I’ll invite Daniel next time I have a spare time.”(Julia). Being surrounded by cats while exchanging food together. Ohhhh, I can’t wait.

Oh, the meeting is in an hour? It’s only 9 in the morning. Oh well, I guess I’d better get going then.

I got into the meeting place. It was quiet, and there are only a few people inside.

“Can’t believe such a place doesn’t have a lot of people… Maybe it’s because it’s such in a secluded area.”(Julia)

I went inside and saw an old man standing behind the counter. I bowed my head when I looked at him. Then I saw a woman sitting in a corner. She was a beautiful woman.

“She’s so sexy and pretty…”(Julia). I wonder if I’ll be like that too?

I looked around and saw a group of people. They’re probably the ones for the mission.

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I went towards them.

“Are you here for the mission too?”

It was a soldier that asked me. He was wearing normal clothing on the surface, but I could see his armor inside.

“Yes.”(Julia). I replied and looked towards the others.

Two soldiers are going to be accompanying us. And six other students… huh!? Wait a minute… That's!?

She’s Daniel’s childhood friend! Catherine! Is she also taking the same mission?

We locked eyes, she realized who I was, and her eyes opened bigger. I could see that she looked at my shoulders.

“So, who are you? Name and class.” The soldier asked and readied his paper and pencil.”

“Uh, Julia Galang, A-Class.”(Julia)

“Galang, huh. Leah’s sister?”

“Y-yes.”(Julia)

“Okay, sit on that spot.” He pointed to an empty seat beside Catherine as he wrote my name on the list.

At first, I sat there without moving an inch and ignoring her, but now, I’m talking to her casually without me noticing.

She started asking me how Daniel was and what he was up to these days. I answered her that he’s doing great. Then I asked her about Daniel too, and minutes go by, and now we’re talking like friends.

I thought she doesn’t like Daniel, but all she asked was about his well-being. But, honestly, I couldn’t resist the urge to ask about their childhood and how he was like before being in the Academy.

From what she said, Daniel seems to be a loner, timid, and a scaredy-cat. I couldn’t help but doubt her at first, but she tells them so well, to the point it doesn’t feel like I’m being deceived. So we kept on chatting until we had to go for the mission.

After that day, we exchanged contacts with each other and decided to take the same mission after a couple of days. I also wanted to surprise Daniel and bring Catherine with me, but not yet.

Catherine and I made a plan to surprise him in the cat café. First, I’ll invite him with me, then Catherine will be waiting for us. But, of course, I had to make sure that it’s only the both of us, as the others might ruin the whole thing. Especially those two idiots. But I could probably tell Cassey and ask for help.

Since I became a star student, I changed my room to the higher floor, and to our surprise, we were just a few rooms away from each other.

So after a couple of days had passed after we decided to take missions together again.

Ring ring ring.

We heard the sound of a phone rang.

It was Mr. Charles's phone. Mr. Charles is one of the UDA soldiers that is responsible for taking us on our mission. And right now, we are heading to a police station before going back to the Academy from the mission.

“Hello? Oh, my babies, how are you guys? Did you miss papa?”(Mr. Charles)

I smiled as I looked at him, acting like a kid while talking to his kids on the phone. He’s a funny and quiet guy and would only usually talk about his kids.

He loves his twins very much and would show their pictures when he talks about them. He’s a great dad, but unfortunately, his wife passed away when giving birth to his twins. But he didn’t give up and raised them up with care.

“Muaahh muaahhh muaahhh, dad, loves the both of you, okay? Be good to your grandma and grandpa. I’m coming back soon.”(Mr. Charles)

Catherine and I would look at each other and giggle when he’s talking to his kids, as he would always act like that. And by often he calls them in a few hours, we knew that he’d probably call them up again. And so, another laugh.

Right now, we are at a police station. Honestly, this police station is so small that it probably only has a few policemen inside. I doubt they have a jail too, but we’re told to come here soo…

“It’s taking so long, don’t you think so?”(Catherine)

“Yeah, maybe they forgot that they still had to bring us back to the Academy.”(Julia)

“I want to take a shower… It’s already this late, and we still have school tomorrow. This sucks.”(Catherine)

“Oh, by the way, tomorrow after school, I’m going to convince Daniel to come with me to the café. You better be waiting there, don’t be late.”(Julia)

“Are you sure? Honestly, I still feel guilty about leaving him by himself. There are times that I want to go to him and watch over him again, but I couldn’t bring myself into doing it. But, it’s really fortunate that he managed to get someone like you, so he’s not lonely.”(Catherine)

“Ehehe, you’re exaggerating. It was me who’s fortunate to find him. And I’m sure he will be happy to talk to you again!”(Julia)

The other soldier who was responsible for guarding us finally came out of the police station, but he brought a few more soldiers with him.

What are they doing in such a remote area? Was there an accident?

“We will have to stay for quite a bit. There seems to be a problem inside.”(Mr. Charles)

“Owww.” The others, including us, replied tiredly.

“I wanted to go back home too, you know.”(Mr. Charles). He barked back at us.

“Mr. Charles, what seems to be the problem?”(Catherine)

“Ms. Magboo, it isn’t that big of a deal. Let’s just wait for a bit.”(Mr. Charles). He opened his pouch and took a cigarette to smoke.

“Hmm, seems like we don’t have much choice. Let’s just sit over there.”(Julia). We went towards a bench.

We talked for a few minutes before we saw a woman with a mask going towards us.

“Hmmm, let’s go back to the others. I smell trouble.”(Catherine)

“Okay.”(Julia)

“Hey, you, who are you? Where are you going?”(Mr. Charles)

The woman didn’t stop and only continued walking towards us. And when she finally got close enough for a clear view. I recognized her.

‘That mask! I know who that is! Density! The same person responsible for killing a lot of students!’(Julia)

My blood boiled, but I have to remain calm and vigilant.

“T-that mask!”(Mr. Charles)

Splat!

Suddenly Mr. Charles disappeared… No, he didn’t disappear. Instead, he was flattened on the ground, flattened enough to become just the puddle of his own flesh and blood.

“Kyaa!”

‘You!!!’(Julia)

How could she kill a person so easily?! Not only that, but Mr. Charles was a good person, with kids still waiting for him!

I readied my weapons, a pistol, and a sword.

The pistol is just a regular gun, but my blade is coated and enchanted with magic. So even if she has a tough fortification Spell or barrier, this will be enough to hurt her!

But as I was about to cast my Spells next, a sudden pressure fell on me. It was pushing me to the ground.

I’m going to die!

Tud!

Hmm? Huh? I didn’t die?

I could only use my knees and arms to keep myself not entirely flattening into the ground. The others, including the soldiers with us, seem to be in a similar situation.

A couple of soldiers who were holding their guns cried from the pain. I looked at them and saw their guns being buried into the ground from the pressure, with their arms still holding them, causing their arms to be folded and ripped in half.

“These soldiers… Good for nothing.”(Catherine). She whispered.

I looked back at what Mr. Charles had become.

Their father is gone…

Not only do they not have a mother, but their father had also disappeared too. I trembled, and I couldn’t help but shed tears.

Null!!!

As if we thought things couldn’t get worse. Another one had shown up—a masked guy with a similar build to ours was making his way towards us while carrying a bow and a knife.

Then Density spoke.

“Let’s get the game started.”