Blood Assimilation

"What do you mean that the radio communication didn\'t get through, Instructor Liu?" 

"Like I said just now, there seems to be something blocking the communication signal with the military. I also have no idea what\'s going on, but it seems like this occurrence was most likely deliberate."

"Are you saying that someone was targeting our students or perhaps us instructors? How is that possible? And who would dare do something so outrageous without knowing their own place?"

"Maybe someone who had a grudge against our academy or…"

"Or what?"

"I\'m just saying that maybe one of the instructors amongst us might\'ve made an enemy with someone high up, and they\'re targeting them during this trip?"

"Are you crazy? Why would someone target a group of innocent students just to get to one person amongst us? Isn\'t that too unreasonable?"

"Well, then what do you think could be the reason for this unknown creature\'s attack? It couldn\'t have been a coincidence, right? Considering the fact it attacked our school bus and then the communication to the military being jammed right after... It is without a doubt an orchestrated attack by someone."

"That…"

While the other instructors were engaged in their discussion, instructor Ava who had somewhat of an idea of what was going on looked on with a concerned gaze. 

Although this time none of the students were killed like the multiple times when she had encountered the unknown creatures back in the western district, one of the instructors died in this incident.

At this moment, she could not help but feel like she could be the reason for all of this, even though she does not remember making an enemy with anyone in her entire life.

As both students and instructors were expressing their concern, all of a sudden, everyone closed their mouths and instantly became silent when they heard a loud noise coming from the other side of the road.

\'What is that sound? It sounded something, or someone is dragging something on the ground towards our direction.\' Instructor Ava wondered with a frown on her face, and she instantly stood up with a sharp gaze. 

She had no idea what the origin of the sound could be, but there was a possibility that it belonged to the unknown creature that suddenly disappeared somewhere. 

"Everyone, stay alert! It could be that unknown creature again. If we don\'t manage to kill it here, then it will kill us all!" Instructor Ava announced to everyone. But in reality, she was actually talking to the instructors behind her.

"W-W-What do you mean, instructor Ava? Are you saying that the monster that attacked us before is coming back to attack us once again? Why would it do that?" One of the instructors said in a trembling voice, clearly terrified. 

He was a C-Rank awakened and so, he was not very confident in surviving this situation if that terrifying creature from before attacked them again. He was sure that he would definitely die this time if that were to happen.

After hearing this from the instructor, the students who were quiet all this time suddenly opened their mouths and also expressed their disbelief.

"Y-Yeah, teacher Ava. You\'re not lying to us, right? Didn\'t that monster run away somewhere because it wasn\'t interested in us? Why would it suddenly come back to attack us?"

"T-T-That\'s right… if it comes back then we\'re all dead. Shit! I don\'t want to die… We have to leave here right now."

"Why are we still here? We should\'ve left this place a long time ago."

"Everybody should get in the school bus, we have to leave this place, or else we\'ll all die here too."

"Fuck! I don\'t want to die in this place when I haven\'t even dated any girl yet!"

"…"

"What? Is it wrong to not have a girlfriend? Just because you guys have one doesn\'t mean you can look down on me. I\'m still young, you know."

"To think that\'s what you\'re thinking of in this situation. Let\'s ignore him and get back into the school bus."

"Fuck! What\'s wrong with what I said, huh?! Tsk!"

Listening to these words from both the students and that instructor that spoke first, instructor Ava clicked her tongue in annoyance. 

She could understand the students\' anxiety, but why would an instructor also display fear in front of the students? What kind of role model is he setting here if not instigating the students to become more afraid of their current situation and then lead to more people dying because of wrong choices afterward. 

She did not have time to say anything to that instructor that spoke just now, because the source of the loud noise from before had quickly approached them from the distance and was now slowly appearing in front of them.

"It\'s here! It\'s here!"

"Eeek!"

"Fuck! We\'re dead!"

The next moment, a figure of someone slowly appeared from the darkness while holding on to something behind them.

And they suddenly spoke once they came into view: "Oh, looks like I made it. Hm? Why is everyone on guard? There\'s no need for that. I only came here to deliver this."

Seeing the appearance of the other party, instructor Ava raised her eyebrows in surprise due to how unexpected what she was seeing right in front of her was. 

\'What? A human boy? And that red hair, is he perhaps a foreigner? But there shouldn\'t be anyone with that kind of red hair even in the western district.\' Instructor Ava silently thought to herself with a cautious gaze.

But the next moment, she opened her mouth and questioned: "What do you mean by words just now? What did you come here to deliver?"

"Ah, I guess you can\'t see it since the light from the vehicle isn\'t reflecting on it. Here…"

Boom!

After saying those words, the figure threw something in front of the cautious woman in the distance, which caused a loud dull noise to resound from the impact on the ground shortly after.

Instructor Ava quickly retreated backward to evade the other party\'s attack as she cast a barrier around herself. 

Afterward, she frowned deeply and then said: "What is the meaning of this?" 

But when she observed in front of her, she was immediately shocked when realized what was thrown towards her.

"Eh? Isn\'t that… How is that possible…?" She muttered in a daze, seemingly in disbelief of what she was seeing in front of her.

"What the— Isn\'t that the monster from before? Why is it already dead?"

"Did that guy kill it by himself?"

"H-Holy fuck! To kill something that the teachers couldn\'t, how strong is that guy? But why do I feel like he\'s a little familiar?"

"Now that you mention it. Isn\'t he that guy from that recently popular Virtual Battle against that Sword Fool?"

"Ooooh! Yeah, it\'s him. What is he doing here? Was he someone from our academy?"

"Don\'t be stupid. How could we not know someone like that was in our academy after all this time."

"I guess that makes sense. With that appearance, he would\'ve been quite famous if he was in our academy. But still, why is he here? And why did he defeat that terrifying creature? And more importantly, why would he toss it to us like that when he could just take it for himself?"

"Ah, that\'s a good question. It really doesn\'t make sense."

As he heard his classmates\' words outside, Jeremiah who was amongst the students who quickly made it into the school bus earlier and was still inside it up until now decided to look out the window as he analyzed the young man who had red hair with scrutinizing gaze.

\'Who is that bastard? Why haven\'t I seen him before?\' He wondered with a frown on his face.