Now was not the time to be arguing with a disembodied voice! She needed to help, in whatever way she could. Reina forced any thoughts of the voice to the back of her mind. Instinctively, Reina reached for her cloak; she needed something familiar to stabilize her.

Reina’s hand closed around thin air. Her forehead furrowing, Reina swung her head down. Did she lose it? Was Xia’s precious gift gone? Reina’s head pulsated and she grimaced, clutching her temple. That wasn’t it. She’d used it for something. . .Pi!

Reina’s eyes sprung open as she recalled her friend. Reina had wrapped it around Pi! Dropping to her knees, Reina scraped away at the shards of glass next to her.

There wasn’t a sign of Pi anywhere near here. When Reina reached out with her senses, she couldn’t feel the usual tug she got when searching for her cloak. Hmm, the [Moonlight] Xia had put into the cloak was keyed to Reina’s aura, allowing her to know if it was in her immediate vicinity. Reina hoped that meant Pi was safe somewhere out of range, not. . .gone.

{Notice} [Moonlight]: One of the two subcategories of the Element [Void]. Allows the user to grant unique attributes and properties to any objects. Further knowledge requires a higher level.

Reina paused. "Oh, so now you talk. And it's to tell me something I already know. Fantastic. And higher level? This isn't a game, voice!"

Reina shook her head, taking calming breaths. She needed to be reasonable. Ignore the voice, just concentrate. Pi was hopefully safe. Finding her other friends took priority, but Reina didn’t have a clue where any of her other friends were. Felicie, Dawn, Monica, and more. The only chance she had at finding them was to go through everybody, so that’s what she did.

Smashing through piles of bricks and wood, Reina grabbed hold of the many bodies scattered and carried them out to a distance. She was careful to not drag them; doing that with the debris on the ground would ensure their body got ripped against all the jagged fragments of glass and metal.

During the process, Reina only had her mind to keep her company. Her thoughts inevitably drifted towards the explosion. Seconds before it occurred, Reina swore she saw an explosive. Some twisted individual had set off this bomb, right at the precise time to catch thousands of unsuspecting students off guard. But what damned bastard would do such a thing? And why?

Reina had gone back and forth about four times, having brought four people to relative safety. Reina was on her fifth trip when the sound of metal creaking caught her ear.

Reina glanced up in time to spot a huge part of the ceiling giving away, the X-beams no longer being able to sustain it. Reina watched as a flaming piece of metal hurtled down the sky for her. It resembled a comet on fire to her. Reina lifted her fist, prepared to punch it away before it hit, but all of a sudden, she was no longer in the auditorium. She was standing in the deserted streets of New York City, about to be hit by a meteorite.

Reina blinked away the vision but that brief moment of distraction was enough for the metal to get too close to punch. There was no time to dodge; only to shove the body she was hauling away and take the full force of the falling debris.

It slammed into her with the force of a freight train, sending her crashing through solid rock and concrete. The ground gave out and Reina tumbled down until she finally landed on her back, the roof piece hitting the ground next to her. It narrowly avoided her torso. Unfortunately, it landed on her right arm.

Reina howled and cursed at the pain she was feeling. Her right arm was completely broken, the bone shattered into many pieces. Even now, her arm was slowly being crushed into a fine paste. It felt as if her blood was on fire, tendrils of pain snaking through her bloodstream. The flames licking at her sleeves didn’t help either. If she caught on fire, it wouldn’t hurt her but it would be a damn horrible inconvenience.

“Damn it all, damn it!” Reina yelled. “Can anybody hear me?” she asked as loudly as she dared without setting off any more tremors in the building. The sound reverberated, bouncing off the debris before fading away into nothingness.

“Wonderful. Stuck here with a fucking roof on my-ah!” Reina screamed when a slight movement made the wall press down even harder on her arm. Inhaling, Reina ceased her movements and considered her options.

Reina could try to absorb the fire and blast her way out but that would be tantamount to suicide; she was underneath the ground level and the Academy would crumble down on top of her. Besides, who knew how many other people got buried down here?

{Notice} The Skill [Fortitude Rank D] has been activated. Pain has been decreased by 20%.

What? Using the Skill hadn't even occurred to her. Reina considered her arm; it didn't feel better but when she lightly moved it, she didn't react as much. Reina wasn't sure if it was because of this so-called Skill or because she was more prepared this time, but she wasn't going to give up this chance.

Reina grasped the edge of the roof pinning her down with her left hand and groaned as her right arm jostled. Biting her tongue hard enough to draw blood, Reina strained to lift it.

Tears sprang to her eyes but Reina prevailed, pushing back the pain. More than once, she faltered, almost dropping the roof back onto herself but recovered at the last moment. If she failed, she could lose her arm forever.

With a final grunt, Reina shoved the roof aside and watched as it clanged to the ground. Her eyes widened when it toppled over something unseen and toppled out of view. There was a gaping chasm next to her. Meaning one wrong move would mean the end of her.

Reina surveyed her surroundings, trying her best to ignore the pit of death; she looked to have crashed into the restrooms. There were remnants of plaster and broken toilet seats littering the floor and a steady influx of water was flooding the area. If Reina had to guess, she was on the third or fourth floor. Both of the floors were below the fifth, which housed the auditorium everybody had been in.

“What do I do now?” Reina asked. Pushing past her fatigue and agony, Reina got to her feet. She whimpered when her right arm dangled at her side. At this point, it might be better to cut her arm off. At least that way, there wouldn't be a chance of her hitting something with her right arm. Reina couldn't afford to be crippled with pain for any amount of time.

“No, that’s too much. I need a splint.” Reina reasoned. Scrambling for a plank of wood, Reina discarded a few of them before grabbing one about the length of her forearm.

Reina ripped some of her clothes off, not that there was much left. Her jacket was the only thing completely intact. The bear onesie and the uniform underneath were blistering and fading away, only held together with scraps and luck. Reina tossed it to the side to give herself a little breathing room. She required more maneuverability and it would help her with her splint.

Taking long strands of fabric, Reina pressed the wood against her arm, letting a hiss of air escape her teeth. Securing the wood with the fabric, Reina had made herself a makeshift splint.

“Not going to win any awards but it’ll do in a patch.” Reina glanced upward, trying to find a way back up. She’d only fallen one or two floors but it appeared much more than that thanks to the damage taken. Huge boulders covered the way back to the auditorium.

Only a minuscule sliver of light shone from the crack over her. Reina suspected there was a much larger hole higher up but two walls collided, blocking any chance of escaping through there.

“And I can’t punch my way out either. . .” Reina mused. Even if she could reach it with a broken arm, pushing one of the walls aside to form a large enough gap would be impossible in her current state. Besides, it didn’t erase the problem of causing a collapse of the building.

Reina walked over to the chasm and peered over it. She didn’t understand how the explosion could have brought forth something that seemed more akin to the result of an earthquake. Regardless, it made it difficult to move around. Left was the only direction she could go, and even that was mostly blocked off.

To make matters worse, Reina detected a sparking wire poking out of a crack nearby. A few feet away, oil was seeping through the ground, reflecting what little light from the sun shined through the cracks in the ceiling.

“If any one of the sparks hit the oil, it’s game over for real this time. I need to be smart, find a way out without setting anything off. But first. . .” Reina hauled a slab of rock with her left hand and placed it down in front of the oil, quenching the stream. “There, so it won’t flow.” To make sure, Reina moved the wire away as well, pinning it under a scrap piece of metal.

“Now that that’s done, what do I do? There’s no way I can fit through the tiny space without shaking things up and I’m not sure if I want to risk moving things.” Reina commented.

Where did the chasm go? If it didn't go down too far, maybe she should try to make her way down? The explosion couldn’t have inflicted damage on such a grand scale it would reach under the Academy. This was an institute meant to teach teenagers how to control the elements, it was built to last.

Edging away from the chasm for now, Reina took strides toward the left side. Running her hand along the barricade formed by the fallen structure, Reina searched for a safe way through.

“Come on, it can’t be impenetrable. Where’s the stupid exit!?” Reina asked. Lowering her body, Reina located a small crevice. After taking a peek at it, it appeared to stretch on for a significant length. Maybe long enough to reach the other side of the barricade.

On the other hand, it was going to be a very hard fit. And once inside, she would be rendered all but useless. She couldn’t move and when the Academy came down even more, it would mean the end for Reina Romane.

Still, she needed to do this. Get out of here so she could save others. She’d made a pact to change things, to not be the same as the time before, when she was helpless and couldn’t save the people she loved. This time, Reina would make a difference!

Getting to her knees and elbows (grimacing at the sudden jolt of pain coming from her right arm), Reina squirmed to fit her body inside the crack.

After managing to do so without somehow causing her right arm excruciating pain and her back snapping in two, Reina was inside. Right off the bat, Reina developed uncontrollable claustrophobia.

She was stuck inside a crack that scraped her body left, right, up, and down. The scent of musky dust assaulted her nose and the sweat trickling down her body along with the oil made her want to throw up. She felt nauseous.

“I need to get out of here, quick,” Reina murmured. She dug her hand into some sort of rock and pushed herself forward, wincing as her hair got caught underneath some walls. With a sharp yank of her head, a portion of her hair was ripped out.

The further Reina went, the more injuries were inflicted on her body; scraping against the jagged wall for more than 30 minutes was bound to leave a mark. Reina had the feeling the Academy didn’t want to let her leave unscathed.

‘Come on, come on!’ Reina urged her body forward. The crack was becoming tinier and tinier. Pretty soon, Reina was sure she wouldn’t be able to move at all and then there would be a severe problem.

At the very end, Reina just managed to squeeze her body through, sending wracks of nigh unbearable pain throughout her arm. Reina slithered onto the ground and laid there, trying to get over the fear of being stuck in the crack forever.

“Not something I want to do ever again,” she gasped.