Chapter 54: Hallucinations.

[Narrator]: After a month, the A class have all become mindless zombies. They lost all sense of self and have become pure soldiers of war. Not a trace of humanity remains in them as they only live to kill and consume. Every one of them a ghoul of their former self. A soulless stare emits from their eyes and drool out the side of their mouth as they shuffle down the corridors.

A student walks up and smacks the narrator who was a B class student.

[Lawks]: Stop spreading stupid rumors about us!

It’s been a month since Crule started teaching A class. They have made significant progress. When they started, not a single student can afford to lose concentration, using all of their focus on withstanding the powerful aura. After the first week, about half the class stop losing consciousness and could endure the thirty minutes.

By the second week, the entire class stop losing consciousness and some students could even start dividing their focus on other things. Noticing this, Crule actually started teaching the class on their upcoming illusion training.

The third week was nothing short of a miracle as the entire class could now withstand the aura and focus on Crule’s lecture. A few were still completely fatigued by the end, but some could almost ignore the aura completely.

[Crule]: Now the hallucination training, you will fight an effigy of your attribute in a dream. If you should lose…well, let’s just say having memory loss would be the least of your worries.

The students listened carefully about various methods they could use to combat their own attribute.

[Crule]: If you’re lucky, this technique may allow you to form up to two gates. At the very least, it guarantees one gate. All of you who pass would become Elites or Experts.

The students were very eager. Those who have established a second gate at their age could be considered a genius. Of course this doesn’t count the insanity that is Crule and Ming.

[Crule]: Understanding what each and every one of your attributes’ weakness is a must. Not only does it help you during your hallucination training but also allows you to come up to counters against it in case you ever find yourself in such a situation.

The students nods.

[Crule]: Now then, for the last week, let’s double the aura intensity as one last heavy training.

The students looked melancholy upon hearing that. Crule doubled the density of the aura and some students could no longer focus on his lectures and once again have to divert their entire focus on withstanding the aura.

[Crule]: Ahaha, good luck in a week.

______

On the day of the scheduled hallucination training. The students were all tense as they wait in the classroom for the person to come. They had to find a virtuoso in the illusion attribute in order to do this training. Crule was waiting in the front with his eyes closed. He sense that the erosion formation has already eaten twenty percent of the statue.

Grisly suddenly entered the room.

[Grisly]: Now then, let’s start the hallucination training.

[Crule]: Ah…I see now. Headmaster Grisly’s attribute is illusion.

[Grisly]: Ha-ha, it sure is.

[Crule]: Now then students, get ready.

Grisly started to emit a pink mist into the classroom. Slowly, the students fell asleep one by one.

Crule wasn’t affected by it one bit thought.

[Grisly]: My job here is done, let’s hope they wake up soon.

He turned around to face Crule.

[Grisly]: Oh right, about your proposition from the letter…I will see what I can do. Expect an answer by next week.

[Crule]: Good good, these students needs a change of scenery.

The students all looked like they were having nightmares. Their auras were wavering over them.

Thirty minutes have passed, no one has woke up yet. One hour, two hours, three hours, and by the fourth hour, people started waking up. Ms. Lawks woke up first.

[Lawks]: That was…incredibly difficult. If not for the mental and physical training I would have become a vegetable by now…

She was sweating profusely and looked like she had a high fever. Her attribute was earth. A health yellow glow now emitted from her aura.

[Lawks]: This…I understand now.

She immediately closed her eyes and opened them only a few minutes later.

[Lawks]: I-I did it. I established the first and second gate in one go!

During her fight, she had to fight a Golem Titan. It was a large earthen beast made of dirt and stone and plant life. It moved slowly but had incredibly powerful vitality. She had to fight the beast for days upon days in her head, but in reality it has only been a few hours. She had so many breakthroughs just to survive. Fighting one’s own element with the same element was already difficult. One would have to come up with better techniques and skills to use to conquer what they currently know.

She stood up in excitement but collapsed back onto her table in fatigue.

[Crule]: Looks like they are going to need to sleep a while to recover.

The other students one by one woke up, made their gates, and collapsed as well.

[Crule]: Eh, looks like I should bring them to the infirmary.

Crule took a wheel barrel and just started piling the collapsed students on their and wheeled them out the door.

All the other students were looking at it in shock and awe.

[C class Student1]: What happened to the A class?

[C class Student2]: They look like they have turned into zombies…so pale and lifeless.

The pile of students in the wheel barrel didn’t even move a tiny bit as Crule wheeled them into the infirmary. The nurse on standby there just stared at the pile and sighed.

[Nurse]: Looks like they have been through a lot.

[Crule]: The usual, do we have enough space for the whole class?

[Nurse]: Don’t worry, we are equipped to house half the school here.

Lines upon lines of white linen clothed beds was revealed as the nurse opened the door.

Crule and the Nurse took a student and plopped them on a bed one by one, then Crule went back to the class room to get more students. Several trips of lifeless looking A class students in a wheel barrel sprouted the most insane of rumors.

Ming walked over to the infirmary.

[Ming]: How did they do?

[Crule]: Not bad. At least all of them succeeded.

[Ming]: Looks like our training paid off.

[Crule]: It was just an experiment to see if we can repeat what we did on other people.

[Ming]: Yea…I remember my first hallucination training. It was literally hell on earth.

[Crule]: You took a full three days for yours. But afterwards, you made significant progress on the gates.

[Ming]: Yea, good thing we did them before in the old world. I don’t think my current self can handle another hallucination training.

[Crule]: No kidding, we did them back when we were adults and well trained.

[Ming]: I think it’s because our attributes are too brutal compare to these kids.

[Crule]: Mhm, but one or two kids here also have difficult attributes.

[Ming]: Which one?

[Crule]: That kid Lawks thinks her attribute is earth, but it’s really Gaian with specialization in automatons. She would become a great doll maker in the future.

[Ming]: Eh, I hate combat dolls…I really don’t want to remember them.

[Crule]: Who knows, those annoying dolls may work for us this time around.

[Ming]: God, I hope so.

They look at the field of white beds, covered in passed out students.

[Crule]: Looks like the usual war zone.