In the end, they spent most of the day perfecting their armours. In his relentless pursuit of perfectionism, Greg insisted on the armours being perfect to the smallest curves and obscure. Though it was most annoying, everyone could understand where the old man came from.

He made sure of that by demonstrating any weaknesses he found, which usually involved the armour cracking and breaking, or simply bending beyond recognition. The screeching sounds that caused were certainly not easy on anyone’s ears.

Fortunately, John fared relatively well due to his extensive experience with forming more delicate pieces of metal. He was still far, far away from the level of skill required for guns, of course, but he thought he was getting closer. Definitely… somewhat. Perhaps only a teensy tiny bit.

Despite his abysmal progress in churning out guns like a factory of mass destruction, the difference in skill meant that he was finished around noon. Finding nothing to do whilst he waited for his classmates, he asked Franziska to keep an eye on him and cultivated.

Like every time since Greg had made his ominous warning, he was jittery at first, but he soon sunk into the pure focus that was maximising his gains from the tedious task. There were a few close calls where he almost let himself get swept away, but fortunately Franziska was there to break him out of it.

Hours flew by like that. Lunch was eaten, and dinner was approaching by the time the last child finished. Ronnie, who happened to be that last child, visibly sagged in relief once Greg passed him with only a tiny bit of exasperation. The fact that the other children had to keep waiting for him made him the focus of their hangry gazes, and the boy was glad to be finally rid of that.

After giving their creations another inspection, the old man drew their attention to himself with a clap. “Good. Whilst this might be slightly later than planned, I am sure that we can squeeze one more hunt in before-“ Greg’s head blurred to the side without any warning, silencing any questions with a raised finger.

The ensuing silence caused John to notice that the entire base had gone silent. No footsteps, voices or other indications of life could be heard. The children exchanged uneasy glances.

This was the first time such a thing had happened. Not even when Camp Verdant was attacked did the atmosphere seem so oppressive. Franziska, too, had become as rigid as a statue that glared at them when they made noise. The fact that these two authority figures had suddenly flipped their attitudes didn’t help the ominous sense of foreboding that settled over the entire outpost.

John thought of the one thing that could explain the current situation to him.

‘What the hell is going on,’ he questioned the marble.

It didn’t respond, causing him to repeat his question multiple times.

‘Oh come on, don’t tell me you are angry at being ignored?’

“…”

‘It’s not like this is the first time I’ve been ignoring you for longer periods of time.’

“…”

‘Please, this is not the time for this?’

The marble stayed silent. John sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He knew what he had to do. ‘Look, I…’ He breathed in deeply, more out of habit than any real need to. Apologising to it was never easy, even if the words never had to actually leave his lips. ‘I – I’m sorry, okay? I’ll do my best to talk to you more, partner. We’re in this together, after all.’

He felt a presence in the back of his mind stir. “It’s faint, but I think a massive aether signature has just entered the rough vicinity of our region. It seems stronger than the ‘dragon’ your teacher has slain.”

‘That doesn’t sound good? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?’

“Honestly? If I warned you every time a significant aether signature passed by you wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. Out here in the wild, you humans are a long way from becoming the dominant species.”

‘This doesn’t seem to be a normal creature passing, though.’

“Indeed, from what I gather it’s slowly but surely approaching your position. There’s a…nonzero chance it might be here for us. Stick to your teacher as much as possible and don’t take unnecessary risks, John.”

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‘You talk like we ever leave the supervision of our caretakers for more than a few minutes?’

There was a low chuckle in his mind. “You’re right. Still, you know what I mean.”

John felt a warm and coarse hand worm inside his own and instinctively tried to shake it off. Very much unused to physical contact that didn’t involve violence, John looked up.

Right into a pair of sky-blue eyes. “What the hell are you doing,” John whispered.

Ronnie shook his head and lifted an intertwined hand – not his, it held Lydia’s – pointing towards the rest of their class. They had huddled together, taking each other’s hand. It dawned on John that if even he was frightened, how was a group of children who were essentially defenceless against anything more powerful than a starved wolf going to react?

A second hand clasped his before John could do much else than blink. This time, it belonged to Logan, whose complexion resembled paper. Feeling almost alien to himself from the concern he felt for the normally annoying boy, John smiled and squeezed the other boy’s hand reassuringly.

Logan didn’t smile back, but at least he didn’t burst into tears or anything similar. In fact, the entirety of John’s class remained stoic. There were no tears, only fear in their eyes and a resolve to live that betrayed the fact that none of them had become orphans peacefully.

The old man inside John found that remarkable indeed, considering that they were but children. Young ones, at that. He felt a tug on both his arms as the circle they had formed tightened.

John briefly wondered why they didn’t simply group-hug instead of forming some awkward circle, but dismissed the thought as soon as it came. It was probably due to a different culture, and perhaps some social customs he wasn’t quite aware of.

The group stayed in that position for a while, so John turned his attention inwards again.

‘Seriously though, could it be that this beast is after us? In fact, hasn’t it become much worse? I don’t recall ever being assaulted by invisible animals until recently.’

“I think they’re catching a whiff of our trail, though I doubt that the fat bastard passing is after us. This much is pretty much an automatic reaction to our intrusion. We won’t be anything but minor pests for a long time, so our current situation will most likely not turn any worse. Be glad it is just invisible animals and not the ground under our feet ripping itself apart to assault us.”

‘Wait, that’s actually possible?’

“You better believe it is. That would be a rather extreme case, though, and if everything goes according to plan it won’t come to that.”

‘And what’s that plan,’ John thought as he shot another reassuring smile at the children around him. Some smiled back, but those were weak smiles at best. He could feel them becoming more restless as time passed.

“Live as long as possible, then die a graceful death without being discovered. We don’t really have the lifespan for anything else,” the marble replied. It sounded quite resigned.

John noted that information, as well as the uncommon forthrightness of the marble, and turned his focus back to the situation at hand. Whatever had been shrouding the base in a blanket of silence had vanished, and he could see more and more soldiers, warriors and civilians pour out from seemingly every hole and crevice. The sounds of metallic boots and chatter filled the air as the outpost became increasingly crowded.

Greg clapped again, drawing the scatter-brained attention of his charges. John’s blood ran cold when he realised that the old man had become significantly paler. “There has been a change of plans. You will continue staying in the outpost under the lead of Franziska. I…will be needed elsewhere.”

The old man sighed, then puffed his chest out in one smooth motion. He stared at the frightened children in front of him with determination in his eyes. His mouth cracked open, perhaps to give them assurances. “Stay safe, my children,” was the only thing he said in the end. Soon after that, he nodded towards Franziska and marched in the direction of the gate.

The entire thing happened so quickly that John didn’t quite know how to react. Fortunately, the moment of confusion was dispelled as soon as Franziska stepped forward and inspected their formation with a critical eye. She shook her head with a smile.

“Don’t worry children,” the robust middle-aged woman said as she kneeled to look them in the eye. “We’ve got it all under control. It’s just that the beasts outside have unexpectedly become rowdy. By tomorrow, everything should become normal again.”

“Franziska,” Jessica said. She had, like most other children, become quite pale in the last few minutes. There was no sign of her usual energy, only a vague sense of dread. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Franziska’s smile turned motherly. She spread her arms and gently broke their formation, inviting them for a hug. The children, perhaps unsure how to react to such sudden emotion on her side, stood stock-still.

“Oh, don’t you worry,” she said cooed. The stout woman scooped Jessica and the few girls around her into an embrace, whispering, “Everything’s going to be alright. Your teacher is gone to scout out the situation, it’s nothing too serious. We’re going to deal with this, you’ll see.”

The girls in her embrace melted into the older woman, who beckoned for the rest of them to join her.

They didn’t need another cue to form a group-hug. The children gathered around Franziska, forming a pile of warm bodies with her at the centre. Though John certainly didn’t want to join, he was still swept up by the irresistible force of desperate children. In the end, he was stuck somewhere in the middle, surrounded by his surprisingly comfortable classmates.

There was no pushing in their pile, only hands upon hands that hugged them. John let his mind go as he listened to Franziska’s empty platitudes. He put his worries to the side for a moment and simply relaxed. Hugs, even tight and wet ones from tears and snot, were an enjoyable affair, after all.

The boy sighed in contentment. Soon, he would have to face the world and its problems again.

But for this moment, even if it was just a few minutes, he could let go and almost believe the reassurances that everything was going to be alright.