"Why is there a G.A.T.E.S in the middle of the track field?!" I was surprised. This might not be my first time seeing a G.A.T.E.S but seeing one in my school is quite shocking. To think I am moving around here during P.E time, I am getting the chills.
"It's quite normal actually, Kazuma. You know that G.A.T.E.S appear during some specific time of the day right and they only show up in places where negative energies are gathered right? Then it would be logical to see one at school!"
"Huh? I don't get your point. Why would negative energy gather in school?"
"Well, since you are somewhat good in your studies, you won't understand but to someone who is not that good in studying, I can easily find the reason why a G.A.T.E.S would spawn here."
"Ah..." I suddenly realized what Godou is trying to say. "Since students always a negative reaction especially if they are faced with a situation where they have to face exams and other extracurricular activities, students are bound to release the negativity in the air. Since there are countless of students here, gathering lots of negative energy is not a big problem, right?"
"Heh, so you do understand Kazuma. As expected of a guy who can ace his exam if he ever studies and get serious. Anyways, that is the main reason why there is a G.A.T.E.S present here."
"But if we are entering this G.A.T.E.S, aren't we going to prepare things to succeed on venturing the G.A.T.E.S?" I asked since I have to properly prepare for my G.A.T.E.S diving during the first time.
"Nah, this is a small scale G.A.T.E.S. But if we left it alone, it will be enough to get strong and will be raised to a higher level of threat instead. Since it is a lower level one, we don't need to be too prepared. Besides, this is going to be a perfect place for us to fight enemies and move our muscles. We can also use this chance to practice magic skills if necessary. Besides, fighting with dummies are boring, real enemies will make our skills better since experience is the best teacher to teach us through life,"
What he said is right. Just practicing alone and using dummies won't help much since you won't see much difference in normal practice than in normal battles. Fighting enemies will allow you to see what is wrong with your battle style or if there is some sort of flaw that will cause you to have problems during a battle.
Since I didn't disagree with entering the G.A.T.E.S, we entered the ominous portal to begin our practice.
Not too far away from the area, the school belle who was tailing them since earlier appeared and frowned as she saw the two guys disappear in the middle of the field.
"So everything that occurred last time was not a dream..."
...
Passing through the portal, we arrived in a labyrinth version of our school. The building looks similar to the main building of our school, with only the difference between the dark atmosphere caused by the miasma surrounding it.
"Heh, they managed to even replicate the whole school building and then warp it badly. This is quite a wonder for a weird and dangerous phenomenon," Godou grinned as he stares into the building.
"You seemed to be familiar with the surroundings of this particular G.A.T.E.S, are did you come here before?" I asked as I wear the gloves and the Skull Knuckles with me.
"Of course. Scouting a G.A.T.E.S is one of the responsibilities of a magician. To make sure the G.A.T.E.S is not on the process of disrupting the real world, the magicians of the nearby vicinity has to make sure that everything is okay and still under control."
"Have you already explored the place yet?"
"Nope, I only scouted the first floor. I can't clear this place alone. Despite being a low tier G.A.T.E.S, the monsters here are not something you have to underestimate. Some magicians in the past underestimated the monsters inside of a low-level G.A.T.E.S, which resulted in their untimely demise. If I wanted to clear the G.A.T.E.S, I would request help from others to help me secure the place itself. Now, enough talking let's get inside before this realm close."
Entering the building, I realized that it only looks the same as our school outside, when you talk about the interior of this phantom school, then everything is different already.
Unlike the time where the mirror world messed up our school by mirroring around the place to create a labyrinth, this time around, it was an actual labyrinth in the looks of our school. Just from looking at the layout of the place using the Insight, it makes me want to rack my head. A maze for a place crawling with monsters.
"Looks like the students are having a hard time in their studies. To see the whole school warped into a confusing maze, this turns out what the students feel," Godou said, as he was amused by the looks of our school's layout.
"How do we split the resources we will be gathering after we left here?" I asked.
"50-50, it is not fair if we would have a 40-60 ratio or any ratio that is not equal. It is a win-win option and we would not be having any trouble dividing it."
"Alright then. But now we have to face the enemies this time around. I have detected 10 enemies coming in our direction," I said before I ignite my hands using the help of the gloves.
"Now we are talking!" Godou excitedly punches the ground and his arms transformed into rock form.
"You guys are money-grubbers aren't you? It was clear as day that you guys don't have to discuss drops and here you two are already counting the profit! I am not sure if you are meant to be a respectable person or not," Blue muttered.
"As long as it is business, then why not? Even though it is not money in the real world, I can use these to make myself stronger!"
"Whatever, just go and do your thing already. The enemies are now on sight."
The enemies slowly appeared from the shadows and gathered towards our location. The enemies all take variations but the most common enemy I see in the group of monsters is a floating book with sticky slime and a long tongue in the middle. I don't need to doubt that they are carnivorous books.
"HA!" I throw a fireball at the nearest book enemy but it managed to dodge without difficulty. But the next enemy who is not expecting the fireball catch the ball of fire and before the monster can react, it turned into ashes.
"Dang, these books are too fast!" Godou said as he started ripping the books he managed to grab and destroying it with his arms. Despite being a book, the monsters started dropping resources left and right so we will be having a haul if we finish our training later.
Not only flying books are moving here, but there are also different kinds of objects that are moving here. Even the cleaning tools like the mop and broom also started to move and attack us.
"Master, should we help with your mission this time? It looks like you two are having some trouble with it," Yuri's voice echoed in my head.
"Nah, I have to practice my skills too. You guys don't need to help me."
"Ah... never mind that master. I change my mind, you can deal with it then," before everything goes to chaos, she stopped talking.
Did she change her mind? Is there something that caused her to stop?
"Ugh... the hell? That looks creepy as f*ck!" Godou said as he steps back away.
Looking at what Godou is talking about, I finally saw what caused him to back off. Maybe this is also the reason Yuri hesitated and changed her mind. The medical model of our science lab has awoken from its slumber and currently walking inch by inch towards our direction.