“… Well this sucks.” [Ava]

Ava mumbled under her breath as she looked at her captors. They successfully got in.

“HURRY UP AND SIT!! DO YOU WANT TO DIE!?!” [Intruder]

“YOU DAMN BRATS THINK WE’RE JOKING?! YOU’LL BE NEXT!!” [Intruder]

“Oi, should we get a hostage?” [Intruder]

“Nah, some other teams’ taking care of it.” [Intruder]

Out of nowhere, about fifteen armed men appeared in the hallway and threatened the teachers and students that were gathered there. The teacher that didn’t listen to Ava’s warning was shot in the head with an arrow and died on the spot. His body was left on the floor as an example to anyone that would defy them. For the students who had lived peaceful lives, the sight of a dead man was enough to cause their blood to run cold. Meekly, they did as they were told and swallowed their screams.

Everyone was forced to sit down and to shup up or they’d risked getting killed. Ava, who had been found in the classroom, was no exception and was dragged out of there. Looking at them closely, all of the intruders seemed to be human. Some were wearing hood, so she couldn’t tell for sure if they weren’t hiding a pair of animal ears or a horn. But, the majority of them certainly seemed human.

While she was registering this information in her mind, they were, for some reason, staring at her and talking to each other.

“Is this her?” [Intruder]

“There’s only one half-elf in school. We’ve found her.” [Intruder]

“Then let’s get out of here. Our men can’t last for much longer outside.” [Intruder]

“You! Come here!” [Intruder]

One of them grabbed Ava by the arm and roughly pulled her to her feet, dragging her away from the group.

“Ava!” [Allen]

The trembling Fyr wanted to stop them, but was too afraid to speak while Allen reflexively called out to her. This turned the intruders’ attention towards him and they finally noticed him.

“Oi, is that…?” [Intruder]

“Red hair and grey eyes. It might be him.” [Intruder]

“We actually found our second target. We’ll be getting a bonus, boys.” [Intruder]

They snickered.

“Bad luck, kid. If you had kept your mouth shut, we probably wouldn’t have noticed you. But now…” [Intruder]

The man who was happily grinning under his mask took out his crossbow which caused the teachers and students to freeze up. It wasn’t loaded yet, so he pulled back the string under the eyes of everyone. The target, Allen, was frozen solid by the sight of his imminent death.

“You know…” [Ava]

Then, Ava’s nonchalant voice was heard and broke the tense silence. Both hostages and criminals looked towards her. One of the intruders had his hand on her shoulder to prevent her from escaping.

“If I were to give you an elbow blow from my height, I’d hit you between the legs.” [Ava]

Right after she casually told the man behind her, she hit his crotch with her elbow like she had declared. The moment he accidentally let her go as his face twisted in pain, she ran off.

“The half-breed’s getting away! After her!” [Intruder]

Reacting to her escape attempt, her foes chased her down. The one who was busy loading his crossbow to shoot Allen looked at the red-haired boy, then at the half-elf, unsure if he should let the bonus target go or not. He didn’t fully pull the string back yet, so he reached for his sword to quickly cut down the boy.

“Leave it! She’s our main goal!” [Intruder]

“Tch! I know!” [Intruder]

But, by his friend’s urging, he clicked his tongue and followed after his group. After all, they were on a tight schedule. They were already supposed to be making their escape right about now.

So, leaving behind the pale-faced teachers and students, the situation turned into a game of tag between Ava and the intruders.

“GET BACK HERE!!” [Intruder]

The half-elf ran around the school that had become strangely empty. The teachers and students had been evacuated. Or rather, they were forced to leave by the intruders who executed a person before their eyes to make them comply. If Ava looked outside, she would see that a great number of people flooded the place. They ran away from the middle school building while screaming.

A few teachers told the guards about the situation inside, making them click their tongue or groan in frustration. Some students clung to the armored men for help while most of them focused on putting as much distance between them and the unknown intruders. As such, after leaving through the main entrance, the flood of people split in two as they either ran left or right to avoid the battle that was happening in front of them.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

So, besides a few dead bodies here and there, Ava didn’t meet anyone. Although she trained daily, she couldn’t outrun her pursuers, so she took as much detours as possible to lose them. Her knowledge of the building’s layout was her advantage over them.

“What’s going on here?!” [Intruder]

“It’s the half-breed! She’s escaping!” [Intruder]

“Damn! Are you serious?! Catch her quick! We don’t have time!” [Intruder]

“DON’T LET HER GET OUTSIDE!!” [Intruder]

Her would-be kidnappers were right on her tail, not giving her a chance to get away. They waved their swords around and shouted impatiently for her to stop. Their allies who occupied the lower floors would also join the hunt as a few of them chased after her while the rest stayed behind. They would try to block her path and corner her, but she outmaneuvered them and always slipped from their grasp.

“Haa, haa, I’m glad I trained my cardio…” [Ava]

Jumping in an empty classroom while muttering to herself, Ava quickly went for the closet that was set at the back of the class. She pushed one of its sides, sliding it a bit away from the wall. Grunting, she kept pushing until she made a gap big enough for her hand to pass through. Reaching out into the gap, she pulled out a small kitchen knife that was hidden behind the closet.

That was one of the stashes that she had around school in case of emergencies. She hid different types of objects like weapons, food, water and other miscellaneous items. They were things that she bought, found or stole during her time in Sanctuary Academy. It was a weird behavior for one to stash different items around their school, but Ava felt quite naked without her powers.

As a fragment, she didn’t have any of the powers that her original self possessed and one of them was the ability to store objects at will. With it, she could carry a huge amount of weapons, money, food or anything else she wanted. She was basically used to having a portable armory, treasury and storehouse in one. Hiding various objects in different parts of the school was her way to make up for not having that convenient ability.

Also, her weak body made her paranoid.

“(Wish I had a Heaven’s Blade right about now.)” [Ava]

Before the intruders entered the room, she went and squatted right next to the entrance and silently waited. One man barged in with bloodshot eyes, looking left and right to find her. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice her in time and she slashed at his leg.

“Ugh!” [Intruder]

The cut wasn’t too deep, but pain was transmitted to his brain which made him crouch down and cover the wound with his hand.

Jumping at this opportunity, Ava swiftly got up and stretched her hand out, slashing his throat with the kitchen knife. Then, not waiting for him to die as blood spilled from his lips, she pushed the soon-to-be dead man to the side and tried to escape. Since there was an entire group that was chasing after her, another enemy was blocking the doorway.

He was still stunned from seeing his friend get his throat slit by the half-breed, so his reaction was a tad too slow. Ava lowered her stance and ran towards him, stabbing her knife into the important organ between his legs. His face twisted in agony and a soundless scream was leaking from his mouth along with blood that was staining his pants.

Ignoring the second victim, the half-elf escaped the place before the rest of the intruders caught her. She ran in the opposite direction of the pursuing group with her bloody knife in her hand. There was no way she could win in a straight fight against them. So, she kept running. The faster ones were right behind her while the slower ones trailed at the end of the bunch.

She led them in circles and tried to lose them, but her stamina wasn’t going to last forever. On the other hand, her pursuers looked like they could keep going for a while longer. Moreover, they seemed pissed off at having two of their own done in by a fourteen year old girl.

“AFTER HER, DAMN IT!” [Intruder]

“HURRY!!” [Intruder]

“That half-breed…! Before we deliver her, I’LL BEAT HER FACE IN!!!” [Intruder]

The masked men furiously went down a flight of stairs and dashed down the hallway as they searched for the half-breed that disappeared from their sights. They didn’t know that their target was hiding behind the stairs, drinking water from a glass bottle that she hid there. After running so much for one’s life, it was important to rehydrate.

“(Their invasion’s really riding on the momentum.)” [Ava]

After drinking another mouthful, Ava spilled the contents on the stairs as she went up to the third floor again.

“She’s not here!” [Intruder]

“Let’s double back! You guys keep looking for her on this floor!” [Intruder]

Eight men returned to the staircase, believing that she had somehow evaded them and was hiding on the upper floor.

“GUAAH!” [Intruder]

“UBUH!” [Intruder]

Two of them wonderfully slipped on the wet steps and fell. One hit his forehead while the other knocked his front teeth out. They were getting more and more enraged.

“(The men engaging the security outside are a distraction. Confirmed. Pursuers are to accomplish their main goal in this building. Goal appears to be me. Allen is a secondary target. Reason? Shelve for later. I’m the primary target. Reason? Redeeming quality is elven power. Highest possibility.)” [Ava]

“Hell, that’s the only reason I can think of.” [Ava]

The perpetrator to their anger was currently sprinting as fast as she could while thinking about the enemy’s objective. At the same time, she was making her way to a good spot from which she could see the fight between the intruders and the guards outside.

“(Highly valued. Luceran clan wishes to keep it secret. Yet, leak of information. How?)” [Ava]

The half-elf thought about Allen. When he fought, she had used her power on him. Besides in the elven kingdom, that was the only time she had used her power.

“(The leak was from there?)” [Ava]

There was Allen and the three bullies who had seen it and any one of them could have let it slipped. Most likely, it was from that point that her ability might have been discovered by an unknown party. Then, they sent these raiders to retrieve her.

“Well, not like I have any proof anyway.” [Ava]

Stopping her speculations, Ava muttered to herself casually as she arrived at her destination. One side of the hallway had classrooms while the other was lined with windows. She approached that wall and glanced outside. From there, she could see the battle that had reached a standstill.

The guards that were engaged in combat were now keeping their distance from the intruders that they had encircled. As for the ones that were standing protectively in front of the school in an orderly line, they were now facing it with their shields and swords raised.

“WE’LL KILL THESE BRATS! DON’T MOVE!!” [Intruder]

“I’LL CHOP THIS DEFORMED DOG INTO PIECES! I’LL DO IT!” [Intruder]

“GET BACK OR I’LL SLICE HER NECK!!!” [Intruder]

When the half-elf tried to open the window, she could hear various threats being thrown around. She couldn’t see them, but the masked men were probably blocking the entrance and were using hostages to keep the guards in check. They had plenty to choose from after infiltrating the middle school building. The men from the security force all had bitter expressions on their faces.

“(It’s a standstill. Great…)” [Ava]

Right after she confirmed how things were going outside, multiple footsteps were approaching her.

“There she is!” [Intruder]

“YOU’RE DEAD, YOU HEAR!!?” [Intruder]

Her pursuers had finally caught up and were noisily rushing up to her.

“Oh crap.” [Ava]

Thus, the game of tag began anew.