“Woah, no wonder Naell could roam freely in Lagupa.” Said Note as he ran his hand through his hair, clearly in awe of the battle he and his friends just watched.

At that moment, the protagonist’s party shared similar thoughts with the rest of the onlookers. Naell and Lesjon’s battle was the highlight of the day, thus the rest of the battles would undoubtedly pale in comparison.

Due to this, many had already left the arena, and the protagonist’s party was about to be the same. Afterall, who wouldn’t be satisfied upon witnessing the clash of two powerful mana.

All of them then left for the ladies’ dormitory which housed a lounge situated in its main hall. It was an optimal place to rest and chat there until the evening when it was time for the gentlemen to head back to their own place.

Even as they walked, thoughts of the battle seemed to linger across all of their minds, when finally Namiku in deep thought said out loud,

"It looks like Rizaul was right about that." She said, recalling the half-elf’s words in their time in Lagupa.

"It's not just Owly’s prowess, but also Naell’s."

The rest of them could only smile wryly upon remembering the past. During those times they were still awkward with Naell even when Rizaul had already declared him as his friend.

Yet now they were grateful to be familiar with the young master, as although he was an odd character, he had changed for the better and even accepted them as friends.

Not to mention, Naell that day had proven he was also a formidable ally, causing the protagonist’s party to feel a sense of pride in his victory.

By the time they had arrived at the main hall, none of them wasted any time and rushed to rest upon the fluffy couch.

Together, sighs of relief were released by the party as their pent up fatigue was momentarily being eased.

It was then when Rinca glanced at the clock before reminding the rest of them,

"You guys still have some fights to do so it’d be best to rest earlier than usual."

Rinca said with hints of exhaustion similar to them, but unlike her, they still had battles to partake in the next day.

Aside from the two cousins Rinca and Note, all of them were in need of rest as tomorrow's battles would be much harder.

Their opponents afterall were individuals who managed to win fierce bouts. Yet almost all of these victors had allowed their battles to take a toll on their bodies.

Such was the case for Rizaul, Rinca, and Namiku who had exhausted their body; and Viola and Andrew who forced themselves to fight until their limit in power.

Almost none of the participants were spared from the battles of endurance thus some of the hidden values of the Sport’s festival came to light:

[ Mindfulness, efficiency, and conservation. ]

Or what their headmaster liked to call,

“The fundamentals of an adventurer’s survival."

Nevertheless, many would of course disagree with partaking in the draining battles of the Sport’s festival, that was why it was not mandatory for the other year levels.

“To think we were already pushed in the semis… All of us might pass out in the finals!” Viola exclaimed while replaying the battle in her head.

“Hahahah— if you guys do, it's a good escape from the lectures.” Note said jokingly only to be pinched by the responsible and studious Rinca.

Their laughter echoed throughout the empty halls as the rest of the students were cheering on the remaining battles.

Yet just as they were about to continue chatting, a loud boom interrupted their ease, as piercing yet familiar screeches and growls reached their ears.

Without missing any second, and acting true to their name, the protagonist's party then went on to defend their sanctuary.

*******

In each of the four corners of the school, heavy vibrations and a deep sound scattered across the entire campus. Yet not even a second passed when it swiftly evaded everyone's perception.

Following it was the screams of people and loud sounds of magic and aura clashing outside the dormitory.

Also, by then the entirety of Taglagas’ residents were alerted and frozen in fear. Just that mere second seemed to have paved the way to great terror.

[ What’s happening? ]

A dark hue of smoke began to make its way around the entirety of the school. Quickly it acted as a barrier that not even a sound nor wind could penetrate.

None misunderstood the gravity of the unseen threat inside, as upon the arrival of royal knights and quick acting adventurers from the guild, the barrier still held its ground and allowed none to come through.

Every noble who stood within a few distances of the school, including the King, stared in witness and froze, unsure of what to do.

Going back, inside the school, loud screams of terror soon became all one could hear.

Various unidentified beings had been conjured upon the barrier’s completion, with intimidating presences emerging from the shadows.

From the smallest and fiercest to the most grotesque, soon, they began attacking anyone within the school premises.

Varying from the low yet plentiful C ranks to even powerful awakened monsters, somehow, even amid their rage they acted with harmony in their movements.

The first instinct of those who were powerless against the monsters was to escape the school, yet it was already impossible as monsters encircled the institution, with the awakened ones helming their separate territories.

As all of that happened, the swift response of school authorities took place to combat the fearsome monsters.

They were joined by guest adventurers, students and a few of the already present Kingdom's soldiers upon swiftly being deployed across the school.

Yet still, they were few compared to the overwhelming numbers of their foes. To make matters worse, several of the highly intellectual awakened monsters began to take hostages.

[ Awakened beast! ]

Shouted the school guards and some guests who were fighting a powerful monster; a Troll who that very moment it was summoned, awakened itself into a Shaman.

Its ragged clothing shook against its newly awakened mana, and its fingertips emitted the elemental magic of fire.

As it fought, its arsenal began to reveal to be far more vast than most assumed, as it was able to hex beings into frogs, shackle them into a fire-like belt, and the most terrorizing ability, summon snake-like flames that resembled a Hydra.

It was a skill that some were familiar with as they had seen it being used by Lesjon.

However, unlike Lesjon's Flamdra, the Hydra that was summoned by the Troll Shaman attacked anything on sight.

Due to its merciless nature, many soldiers were quickly injured, with some even engulfed in the flames.

As the will of those who fought was about to be of hopelessness, the Troll Shaman who was about to speak, swallowed a grey substance that flew into his mouth.

It then fell to his knees and coughed up blood as the stern yet familiar voice of an old lady reached their ears.

"Are all of you okay?"

As the kind lady knelt to an injured man, the Kraken was undone with the efforts of the soldiers, guests, teachers and students within that vicinity.

"Yes, thank you for saving us Principal!"

They all sighed in relief as the one who managed to kill the awakened monster with ease was none other than Earlteria, the principal of EDSD; the woman deemed to be one of the strongest humans residing in the Autumn Kingdom.

The mere fact that she was stuck inside like them, gave the soldiers, nobles and commoners alike, hope to survive in such a situation.

As she smiled warmly at them, her expression became dark upon looking at the Troll Shaman.

"Principal, we apologize. We knew we should have ended the Shaman with no casualty, yet it was too strong."

Said one of the injured soldiers, who glanced regretfully at a friend lying near him. Scorch marks had covered the lying soldier’s armor and face.

“I’m terribly sorry…” Said a nearby teacher to the now grieving man.

As potions from the school infirmary were distributed to the injured, Earlteria then said to those around her,

"Awakened monsters are truly smart."

All nodded at her sentiment before she then added on,

"Be careful all of you--- This was just a newly awakened monster that was why it was quite arrogant."

From the corpse of the weakened troll emitted a gray vapor that lingered around the dying troll.

Earlteria had used an original spell called [ Mercury ] which upon contact, would poison the enemy with great efficacy.

Yet she only used a small amount to avoid harming the others from its vapors.

The magic was initially developed to measure heat in practical scenarios, yet in battle it proved to be a very destructive skill for both foes and allies.

Nonetheless, a controlled and small amount with the right level of stealth could even easily be used for assasination.

As she was glaring at the Troll Shaman, it then laughed before his dying breath,

"Kekeke…Seems I am freed."

Earlteria couldn’t ignore its words and took note of it, all before she spoke,

"Suna, Mony, escort those who can't fight to the central area of the school, then follow me."

"As you wish, principal."

As both of them instantly took off, Earlteria began instructing the rest of them on what to do.

"Knights, prioritize the safety of all. Guests that can fight, please coordinate with the knights."

Yet her last words made all of them know of her rage,

"Teachers… find the culprit."