Chapter 62: Joren Is Back!
Night had not yet fallen, but an unseen gloom already hung over the school.
The wire fencing above the walls had been raised again. Security cameras flashed red every fifty meters, watching every corner of the campus.
Once, this place had seemed heavily guarded.
To Joren now, it might as well have been his own backyard.
Mental Force spread outward like a tide and covered half the campus in an instant.
No one played ball on the field.
No shouting echoed through the corridors.
Instead, unfamiliar waves of Vital Force moved through the grounds.
Patrol teams of Awakened Warriors lingered behind the cafeteria, near the corners of the field, and around every exit of the teaching buildings. They carried no visible firearms, but their waists bulged beneath their clothes. Their eyes were hard, and every student who passed was measured like livestock.
House Hurst had gone to considerable trouble to feed the monster Dace had become.
People could enter.
No one could leave.
News was sealed off. Disappearances became accidents.
Students who still dreamed of the future were penned inside like pigs and sheep, waiting to be eaten one by one.
Even Voidbeasts were not this cruel.
Joren suppressed his presence and walked toward the teaching building.
He did not bother using invisibility.
Black Dragon shifted into an ordinary black hooded sweatshirt.
Heavy footsteps occasionally passed through the corridors as patrols moved from one section to another.
Joren avoided two groups and soon reached the classroom where he had once studied.
At the washbasins nearby, a thin boy in black framed glasses was splashing cold water over his face again and again.
Water ran from his chin and soaked the front of his school uniform.
He looked up at the mirror.
His face was white.
His lips would not stop trembling.
"It is fine..."
"It is fine..."
"I only need to survive tonight."
"As long as I do not try to run..."
The words came out in a nervous murmur.
Then another figure appeared in the mirror.
The boy spun as though struck by electricity and slammed his back against the sink. A strangled cry caught in his throat.
"Who is there?"
The moment he saw the face beneath the hood, his pupils tightened.
His whole body froze.
"Joren?"
"How did you get in?"
Kest forced his voice down to a whisper and glanced toward both ends of the corridor.
He caught Joren’s sleeve. His palm was slick with sweat.
"I came back to take a look."
Joren drew his arm free without comment.
"Take a look?"
"You came back now just to take a look?"
Kest stamped one foot in panic, his eyes already red.
"Do you even know what is happening here?"
"Something is wrong with this place, Joren."
The words rushed out of him.
"Twelve people have disappeared in the last half month."
"Twelve living people."
"They were all top students who were supposed to receive university placements."
Fear filled his eyes.
"Last night, I passed the old teaching building."
"I heard someone screaming inside."
Kest grabbed Joren by both shoulders, desperation and hope tangled together.
"You got in, so you must know a way out."
Maybe Joren knew a hidden passage.
Maybe he had some other method.
"Take me with you."
"Please."
"I want to go home."
"I cannot stay in this place anymore."
His voice shook harder with every word.
Joren placed one hand on his shoulder.
A gentle thread of Mental Force passed through his palm, easing the panic that had pushed Kest close to collapse.
"Do not worry."
"This will be over soon."
Kest blinked.
Warmth spread through his body. The muscles locked by fear slowly loosened.
"What do you mean?"
Bang!
The washroom door flew open beneath a kick.
Kest jolted and ducked behind Joren by instinct.
A middle aged man with a swollen belly stepped inside. His suit fit badly across his thick frame, and heavy flesh crowded his face.
Marr.
The dean of discipline.
Four broad men followed him.
They wore matching black combat vests. Muscle packed their arms like stone, and the look in their eyes belonged to men who had spilled blood before.
"I was wondering what smelled wrong in here."
Marr smiled without warmth and looked past Joren toward Kest.
"Hiding in here instead of attending class?"
"What are you plotting?"
"Trying to escape?"
The color drained from Kest’s face.
His teeth knocked together. He could not force out a full sentence.
"I... my stomach hurts..."
"Your stomach hurts?"
Marr tapped the disciplinary baton against his palm.
"Then cut out your intestines and wash them."
Kest’s knees gave way.
He nearly collapsed where he stood.
Only then did Marr look properly at the hooded boy blocking his view.
Joren had kept his back to the entrance, and the casual clothes made him look like any other student skipping class.
"You."
"What class are you from?"
"Take off the hood."
Marr thrust the baton toward Joren’s face.
The four men behind him stepped closer.
Peak Rank One pressure rolled from their bodies without restraint.
Joren slowly raised his head.
He looked at Marr as though he were already dead.
Marr paused.
That face seemed familiar.
A few seconds later, memory finally caught up.
"Well, well."
Surprise came first.
Then he burst into shrill laughter.
"Is that useless Joren?"
"What happened?"
"Come back to steal from the school?"
Greed spread openly across Marr’s face.
Young Master Dace had personally ordered people to find him.
"Take him."
Marr waved one hand, already imagining the reward Hector Tyren would give him.
"Break his legs and drag him to the old teaching building."
The four men grinned and moved forward.
Kest shut his eyes.
Finished.
Everything was finished.
He could not escape.
Now Joren had been dragged into it too.
Boom!
The entire wall exploded.
Kest flinched and opened his eyes a fraction.
Nothing.
The entrance that had been packed with men a moment ago now stood empty.
The wall leading into the corridor had vanished, leaving a hole two meters wide.
Marr was gone.
So were the four peak Rank One Awakened Warriors who had looked strong enough to crush a man barehanded.
Joren slowly lowered his right leg.
His expression had not changed.
Even the hem of his hooded sweatshirt remained perfectly still.
"Come on."
He glanced at Kest, who was still staring.
"We are going to the field."