Dante considered many things, but he noticed that the dark world around him faded away as he woke up. He was still seated on the prayer mat, but the area around him looked like it had been subjected to an explosion.
The walls of his room were completely destroyed, and so was the majority of the cabin. Dante saw that apart from the mat he was currently on and some remnants of the cabin, there were only Xue Bing and Slyphia standing in front of Slessor and Humphrey while covered by purple and green barriers respectively.
Both barriers had a great number of cracks on them and the two teachers wore solemn expressions as blood leaked from their mouths and noses. Meanwhile, Slessor and Humphrey were frozen where they were seated while glancing at Dante with terror on their faces.
Dante immediately became alarmed and tensed. In this short amount of time, judging from the situation of the area and everyone's reaction towards him, he could easily piece together what happened.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm Slyphia was likely tutoring Humphrey while Xue Bing was probably fulfilling her duty to Slessor when Dante broke through to the E Rank. Due to the power fluctuation of his breakthrough, an explosion likely occurred that destroyed the entire cabin and forced the two teachers to hastily put up defenses.
However, the explosion from his breakthrough had actually even caused cracks in the barriers and caused the two elite teachers to suffer injuries.
Dante had always been somewhat humble, or at least, he thought he was. He did not assume he was the strongest or the most blessed, just that he had been lucky to appear in this universe at the right time to be saved by a passing higher-dimensional being.
He felt he was average, which he realistically was in terms of his genetics or intelligence, but he had foolishly given that attribute to his superpower as well. After hearing about awesome powers like Aerogenesis or Spatial Folding, he had assumed his Quantum Entanglement was passable, only useful for walking between two universes.
However, that was exactly the problem. Folding space as well as generating air where there was none were absolutely amazing superpowers, but the ability to walk between two universes at any time from multiple locations was not measurable by any scale.
Even the ability to travel between galaxies was something that was rated as EX rank by the Eternal Academy's system, as they assumed that Dante's superpower was a much weaker version of this. If superpowers absorbed energy by their potential and released fluctuations, what would the reaction be if a person who could teleport as far as a galaxy broke through compared to someone who could teleport between whole universes?
If you thought about it like this, it rather proved just how powerful Xue Bing and Slyphia were to survive such an event and even protect someone at the same time.
But maybe they were just lucky that this was a breakthrough from the F Rank to the E Rank.
If it had been higher...
Dante considered all this and sucked a deep breath. His joy at breaking through was quickly quelled and replaced by trepidation. On one hand, it was great that he had such a reaction, as it meant his superpower was truly potent and he was worth investing in by the school.
Xue Bing especially would value him like a precious gem.
On the other hand, he had clearly lied about his superpower. Judging by the looks on Xue Bing and Slyphia's faces, and especially Xue Bing, there was no joy at her student being far more talented than she thought.
Rather, it was a sort of wary observation of an anomaly that should not have escaped your observation.
In other words, they cared less about Dante having a greater superpower than he claimed and more about how he was able to deceive them. Because if you thought about it, if Dante could deceive them, then how many thousands of Unique Batch students in the past had been able to pull off the same and they had no idea about it?
The implications were serious. Especially when you considered what Xue Bing said about the alumni of the school gathering together to pressure the school to use the facilities.
If even 10% of those in that group had superpowers other than what they let on...
There was an awkward silence in the area as tension seemed to build. Xue Bing and Slyphia did not takedown their barriers as if they were waiting for something while Dante was also seated patiently, waiting to see their verdict.
If their verdict was dangerous to his survival or freedom, he would simply return to his universe and then enter into this one from another place. If anything, he could test Beatrice out and see whether she was on his side.
If not, he would exist like a shadow in this universe and survive in the dark side. There were definitely those who lived such lives here and with his ability to teleport, it shouldn't be a problem. Heck, if he teleported back from here, he would have a Quantum Marker here meaning that he could return to the Black land whenever he wanted to absorb energy for himself.
Since he already knew that the spatial blockade technology of this universe could not restrain him, and could not even detect him, he could come and go as he wanted. Hence, Dante calmed himself down and remained seated on his mat.
Of course, he had watched enough suspense movies that he was aware that they could be stalling for time to let some intangible poison or tranquilizer work on knocking him out. In fact, they would even be waiting for reinforcements and would subdue him using a mind control superpower or some form of chains that prevented one from using superpowers.
All of these were possible, but he had to see what the outcome was, not out of curiosity, but out of caution. If he disappeared now, not only would that be an admittance of guilt, it would kill his 'innocence' assuming that there was no negative fallout to this event.
This was a risk for sure, but Dante had to take it if he wanted to continue his positive life in this universe. As easy as it was for him to become a fugitive and theoretically survive, it was even easier to just be clean and not wanted by the most powerful institution in this universe.
Dante was startled when he suddenly saw Xue Bing and Slyphia drop their barriers with visible relief on their faces. Humphrey and Slessor still glanced at Dante like he was a 10-headed monster though.
Xue Bing wore her usual smile that was not a smile and walked over confidently. "I say Dante, you scared me for a second there. We almost thought you were a... *cough*, well let's just say you passed a test."
Dante remained where he was with a vigilant expression. He activated his Bionics and Psionics so that he could at least, react in time assuming Xue Bing wanted to make a move.
The moment she entered his room area, he got up and leaped back, creating distance between them. Xue Bing suddenly stopped with a look of surprise and incomprehension, but when she saw Dante's careful demeanor, her expression cramped.
Slyphia, who was watching the ongoings with a calm look, was also surprised by Dante's move. Then her eyes became bloodshot as he grabbed her mouth, her shoulders shaking as she tried to fight back explosive laughter.
Dante saw their reactions and did not feel embarrassed nor did he care if he had done something stupid. He was wondering if this act was intentional to make him lower his guard, so he maintained his vigilance.
Xue Bing's expression changed a few times but she then mustered her nicest smile. "Dante my dear student, why are you behaving like this? Your teacher is happy that your ability is so strong and doesn't want to steal it for herself or anything."
Dante and Slyphia were speechless. Was that how a human being coaxed another person to feel safe in their presence?
"How long did I take?" Dante asked after being quiet for a second or two.
"About 10 seconds? I had only begun talking to Slessor about the stuff I told you when we felt an energy vortex come from your room. We marveled because it meant your superpower was truly potent at definitely at the EX Rank in terms of potential, but then you reached sublimation and we could feel the incoming wave." Xue Bing answered.
Xue Bing pointed a finger at Humphrey and Slessor. "Even F-Rank fellows like them could feel the incoming wave and wanted to run. Luckily we decided to stay here and then defend each of them from the shockwave."
Dante glanced at Humphrey and Slessor who had calmed down somewhat as they nodded silently. He then sighed internally and dropped his guard a little, but became alert when he saw three people approach from afar at great speeds.
The three teachers Leonidas, Infernus, and Undina approached cautiously as Leonidas asked Xue Bing in a deep voice: "What happened here?"