(Julius Argenti POV)

Despite our attempts, they were slowly gaining ground.

I swung the whips around harder and tried to stop their approach, but it was barely working. At this rate, I would run out of mana and be unable to fight.

'Wait, why am I just using water? They're just insects. They're probably flammable.'

I destroyed the {Water Whips} in a miniature explosion which repulsed the death hornets. This gave me enough time to create the most flammable liquid I could think of C8H18, better known as gasoline.

I sprayed the gasoline on the hornets like a hose.

'Shit! I need a spark.'

The hornets were drenched in gasoline, but their high-frequency flapping was getting rid of the liquid.

I was tempted to create a spark of my own, but I didn't specialise in the heat attribute and it would cost a lot of mana even to create a tiny spark.

But I didn't have to as a flash of purple whizzed by me.

"WAIT!"

*BOOOOOM!*

I barely managed to put up countermeasures before a massive fireball enveloped us. I quickly used my frost attribute to cool down the air to mitigate the rising temperature.

Violet managed to move just in time to solve my problem. She was breathing heavily as beads of sweat rolled down her face.

"Guys! What are we doing?! Aren't we supposed to be class 1A, the best this year has to offer? Then why are we shivering in fear?"

Violet's words along with seeing the impressive fireball that we create managed to shake everyone out of their fear and rouse people into action.

"Oh come on! All it takes is a motivational speech from a pretty girl and you're all good? Amina gives more motivational speeches. Also, Violet, warn me before you set an explosive liquid on fire."

I was exasperated. If that was all it took for people to shake their fear off, then why did we have to work so hard?

But I realised if I tried to do something similar, it wouldn't have the same effect. I can't relate to them anymore.

The current me would do anything I could to survive. Even if I was afraid. I vowed to myself I wouldn't be helpless after the death of my parents.

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Plus I'm too different from the rest of the class. I've got blood on my hands. I'm a killer. Everyone else (but Amina) is probably still innocent. Though they'd probably have to kill someday, but until they did, we wouldn't be able to relate.

And even then, I still wouldn't be able to relate to them. Everyone says that they remember their first kill or have regrets about killing. But not me. I only scarcely remember the first person I killed.

I've killed 10s of people yet I don't feel guilty about their deaths. I didn't take pleasure in their deaths, I just felt nothing. Just like walking or breathing.

I guess that's the difference between me and Violet. She has a natural aura that draws people. She was the same in her previous life. No wonder James fell in love with her.

James was also similarly kind, he just didn't know how to express it. He would always stand up for the little guy. He protected me many times in our previous lives.

James practised taekwondo in our previous lives and was an extremely good fighter. He seems to have implemented the moves he learned into his current fighting style.

In our previous lives, he stopped many of my bullies. I had a frail constitution back then, so I was a perfect target for bullying.

I'm grateful for them but now I know the painful difference between us. Both of them are selfless people. Violet can get along with anyone and motivate people, while James is an outstanding guy.

That is in direct contrast to me and even Amina. We are both inherently selfish and we only care for those close to us. That's probably why we got along so well.

'Haa, never mind. I can think about this later. We've got a swarm of hornets attacking.'

I turn around as smoke from the fireball disappeared into thin air.

Since the octane was created from mana, the carbon dioxide and water that were created from the combustion reaction turned back into oxygen as the source of the mana was cut off.

This meant that the fireball disappeared as if it didn't exist at all and the only evidence of its creation was the heat produced.

The disappearance of the fireball revealed many cooked hornets dead on the ground who seemed even more pissed than before.

'Though it didn't kill as many as I thought. It's just a waste of mana.'

It would be disheartening to see such a result, but for everyone in our class working together, we could hold them off.

***

Many hours later

"Just how many of them are there?!"

Rio exclaimed as cut down another hornet with his {Water Blade}. Most of us were laying down exhausted from attacking.

The swarm seemed to be never-ending and we'd hoped the hornets would give up. Even after killing nearly a million, they seemed as ferocious as ever.

We were all nearly out of mana and it was doubtful that we could hold on any longer. I estimated that we would only be another half hour.

An hour quickly passed in the blink of an eye. I underestimated my classmates' strength and determination as I was only called up to fight only 15 minutes ago.

But my barely recovered mana was steadily dwindling. My eyes were blurring as I swung my greatsword wildly killing as many hornets as possible.

At this point, we realized this wasn't a challenge the teachers set up for us. All of us were on the verge of death from mana exhaustion.

'NO! I can't die like this.'

'Run'

In the midst of this, a dark thought appeared in my mind.

'Run. Forget about them. You could escape if you used your classmates as bait. The hornets would eat them rather than chase you.'

As I was contemplating this a voice interrupted us.

"Thank god you guys are ok. I'm sorry for arriving so late. You did well. Colour me impressed."

I heard a worried, pleasant-sounding voice appear next to us.

"Mrs Rumbles..."

I mumbled as I collapsed onto the floor exhausted. Just before I drifted off to sleep I saw her move her arms before all the death hornets were blown away in a shower of insect blood.

'Seriously...? That's all it took?

Everything went dark after that.