CH 62

" Ding. Ding. Ding . Ok, time's up! Class dismissed."

The teacher left the door as quickly as she could, not minding the still confused faces she left behind. The rather spacious classroom was undoubtedly filled with tired children who haven't had enough sleep last night. There was one, however, that was already dozing off into a much needed sleep.

A chubby kid who sat in the middle of the class room, not caring about anything else. He wasn't aware of a distinct pair of boys surrounding him from the sides sneakily.

" Shh! " One of the boys had short nut-brown hair and brown skin. The thin kid's flat nose was kept still as he slowed his breathing while getting closer to Zel. He wore the typical white polo and black pants of the school, as was standard, but he possessed two golden rings. One on his right index finger and another on his left ring finger. He was crouching down while gesturing at his friend who was also crouching down.

" Hehe... " His friend was a considerably sturdier boy, even bigger than Zel. His dusky skin and shaved head were invariably his striking features, often being seen without hair for the past two years now. He said he liked being bald, which was strange for his friends but they don't mind it, nonetheless.

"Ready? 1, 2, - " The brown haired boy was just about to shout along with his friend to spook Zel when a dainty hand tapped on his shoulder. He turned around to see a young girl looking at him with an grim face.

"Umm, what is i-"

Just as Carlo was distracted, his loyal friend Von wasn't. So he ended up following through with the plan.

"Wake up Zel!" A deafening shout stirred Zel awake as he flinched back to a sitting position. He instinctively punched forward, hitting Carlo in the shoulder.

"Ow! Dude! I wasn't even the one who shouted!" Carlo was gently caressing his pained shoulder as tears threatened to drop from his eyes. What did he do to deserve this?

"Oh, shit. Sorry." The innocent Zel who didn't know that Carlo was in fact the one who planned to do this in the first place offered an apology. He rubbed his eyes that were still sore due to having little sleep last night. He just keeps on suffering those nightmares. Dying every single time.

"Hey Zel, what's that?" Carlo massaged the back of his head in guilt, knowing fully well that he wasn't actually innocent in all this. So he decided to redirect the conversation. Pointing at the small black sphere that had a spiral white pattern on Zel's desk with an inquisitive gaze.

" Huh? "

Zel gave the sphere a suspicious look, not recalling what it was himself. He felt like it was familiar, so he picked it up. When he did so, however, nothing happened. He elevated it up to scrupulously observe it more closely but other than being aesthetic, it didn't look anything special.

"I don't know, maybe it's my sis- Carlo? Von?" The boy was quick to realize that his friends were unresponsive, as Carlo even had his hand hovering in front of him. Waving his hand in front of his frozen friend's face, he felt like they were messing with him. He didn't call him out so he'll get exhausted due to his raised hand and waited.

But they were suspended for a minute already. In fact, he looked around and saw that everyone promptly stopped moving. The engaged girls chatting merrily at the back were silent, which was never a thing. The cheerful group of boys at the side all had a laughing pose, but they weren't budging an inch either.

Zel looked up to observe his friend Von standing beside him, checking out the inside of his nose with a finger. That was when he knew something was amiss, as this idiot will always rummage around if he does that.

"Hello!? Am I dreaming!?" He then swiftly looked around the room, searching for a person who wasn't here. He remembers now, what this ball looked like. When he did so, he looked down to find that the ball in his hands had already reduced to a size a mere centimeter in diameter.

"Time energy? Ahh! " Tons of selected information severely flooded the young boy's defenceless head, undoubtedly causing an intense mental strain that terribly hurt. A lot. He screamed in agonizing pain, just as the sphere dissipated into nothing.

Then everything went back to normal.

"Is i- Zel! What's wrong?!" Carlo was naturally surprised to hear his dear friend suddenly scream like he was in pain. He held his friend down who kept on twisting his body, hoping to relieve him in any way he can.

"Hey, buddy, are you alright?" Von had already attempted his thing, gently slapping Zel's expressive face with his left hand while resolutely keeping him still with his other hand on his shoulder. He looked on as the boy gradually quieted down, but the rest of the room already turned their attention towards them.

"Are you alright?" The young girl who intruded earlier was also quite worried as she placed her gentle hand against his burning forehead. Although Zel would have normally been flustered from the touch, he was so out of it that he wasn't even aware of where he was.

"The apocalypse? Emilia? System? Who? What am I?" The listless boy muttered to himself while holding on to his throbbing head. He saw them, but who were they?

Monsters flying in the air, wreaking havoc in the sea and terrorizing the land. Countless millions of suffering people getting crushed or devoured, like ants being preyed on by those more powerful than them.

"Let's get him to the clinic. He looks sick." A good-looking young boy stealthily approached them, displaying a concerned expression on his kindly face while looking at Zel. He extended his well-kept hand to try and snatch the boy up and accompany him to the clinic when he felt a hearty slap on his wrist.

"I'll do it." Carlo wasn't going to let this schmuck handle his beloved friend. He knew that the two of them weren't exactly good friends. Jared Linton had always been jealous of his friend's achievements, often trying to undermine him and subtly bullying him. He wasn't about to deliver his troubled friend over to him on a plate.

" Yawn ! Class is done? I didn't hear the bell." A graceful boy sleeping comfortably on the back of the room woke up due to all the commotion. His pale blonde hair and deep blue eyes were staring thoughtfully at his friend who was being carried by the arm by another one of his friends. "What's up with you two?"

"Jed! Help me get Zel to the clinic. Von, fix his stuff up and bring it with you to the clinic." Carlo handed one arm to his friend, so the two of them could lug him together. He wasn't aware of Jared's harsh stare that was directed at the still listless Zel.

'Is he talking about me?' Meanwhile, the young girl was still processing what Zel had spoken a while ago. She couldn't even read his mind, as his overwhelming thoughts were veiled behind ominous clouds that she cannot see through. Like he was obscuring them from her.

Another one of Zel's friends, Von, picked up his notebook from the floor and placed it inside Zel's back pack when he discovered a bundle of papers. Taking it out, he found the manuscript that Zel worked on last summer. The front displayed the words 'Pantheon Arms' transcribed on it.

They've talked about having an amateur film series made by the four of them. Directing, acting, producing, they would perform all of it. But for them to start, they needed a script, so Zel offered to produce a novel that they could adapt. He guesses that this was it. It looked like it. There was even a cover, making it look quite interesting. He looked at his friend's drawing and couldn't help but be amazed.

"Dude! That's Spiderhero right? I watched the movie last week with my dad! It was so cool!"

"Oh! I see it now. That's the scene where he punches that green centaur right? I loved that scene."

The passing Jed saw the illustrated cover and saw it strikingly resembling a scene he saw in the past. It is possible Zel derived inspiration from that so while they proceeded to arrange his things before heading down to the clinic, they chatted about it. It's only recess so they won't be tardy if they left right away, though Zel would most likely have to skip class for today. They still don't comprehend what happened to him.

"Hey, what's wrong with him?" Ms. Jessica was just about to eat when she found the boys walking around with a boy looking sick in their middle. From the looks of it, they were heading to the clinic as that was the only notable destination from their direction.

"Ms. Jessica! Zel's sick. We're getting him to the clinic." Von, who was relatively light on baggage, replied with haste. He wasn't completely certain what happened to Zel but the faster he receives attention, the faster he could recover.

"Oh my, let me carry him for you. You guys tell the nurse in advance, so we can lay him down quickly."

"Yes, mam."

Carefully picking the darling boy up and offering him a piggyback ride, the attractive woman promptly ordered the three to go on ahead. She watched as the three headed out first, only moving when they were far enough that she couldn't detect them anymore.

She then held out a syringe, extracted a bit of blood from the boy, before heading to their direction. Not a single soul witnessed her do it.