"..."
"..."
What might seem like a moment of celebration due to the fact that both Jay and the pugilist girl had reached the finish line turned into a moment of silence.
As for the reason for this, it was simple.
It was only when they crossed the finish line that they both realized that... there was already someone on the other side of the line, waiting for them with an expressionless face.
Apparently, while they were competing with each other, the same girl who had stolen everyone's attention a few minutes ago, Faith, did it again, only this time in a different way.
"...How?" the pugilist girl asked, not understanding how it was that Faith had been able to overtake them.
Although most of her attention had been focused on Jay, that didn't mean she had stopped observing her surroundings.
It was for that very reason that she had decided to give herself the luxury of using everything she had against Jay, because there was no one else who presented any real competition.
As a result, she was a bit skeptical, causing her to move towards the crop fields that had been Faith's, other students also following her out of sheer curiosity.
In each of the plots, not only had they been impeccably plowed, but the soil even showed an energizing glow that any other plot of land in the farm fields lacked.
This was to the point where there were even flashes of golden glow coming from various parts of the plot, it was as if every plot Faith had worked on had been revitalized by her!
"...When did that happen?" Said a student who had been a spectator.
"I think... when him and the pugilist were competing?" Someone else added.
It was obvious from the tone of their voice that they were both dubious about such work, though of course it was understandable.
After all, even though they were seeing that the plots seemed to have been affected by Faith's ability, neither student really remembered seeing it in action.
Whether it was because they were entertained by the competition between Jay and the pugilist girl or for some other reason, no one could corroborate that this really was Faith's work.
As for the person in question, Faith, she was just staring at Jay, apparently not interested in what the others thought and just waiting for her prize.
At that moment, someone else's voice then echoed in the surroundings, coming from none other than Vedran, "I saw her, and the reason no one saw her work was because she finished just as the competition had barely begun."
Because he didn't want to stand out too much, Vedran started slow and kept his pace throughout the competition, focusing on not overtaking the other students too much rather than winning.
Because of that and thanks to the fact that Vedran's perception was arguably better than the vast majority of those present, he was the only one who actually managed to see a trace of Faith's work.
Although it was very brief, the transparent figure of Faith wrapped in a golden colored aura plowing swiftly through the plots stuck in his memories.
Wanting to explain further, Vedran continued, "If I'm not mistaken, her not being able to be seen had to do with her ability, probably something like becoming invi-"
Before he could finish, Faith approached them both and said, "My prize."
Again being put in the spotlight, Jay didn't know exactly what to do in this situation.
While he trusted that Vedran would have no reason to lie to him, he couldn't just accept her words as if they were true when there were several people who seemed to be dissatisfied with the outcome, at least not so easily.
However, at that moment, while looking for a way to appease both parties, Jay suddenly sensed a strange scent in the air.
"...?"
"...Hey, don't you guys feel like something smells bad...?" A random student then asked with a curious expression on his face.
Jay was about to turn towards said student, but a message that appeared right in front of him stopped him, confirming what the student had said.
[Warning: A dangerous gaseous substance with unknown effect has been detected in the vicinity, the [Carrier] is advised to move away or neutralize the source as soon as possible.]
"What-?"
*BOOM!*
However, interrupting him abruptly, the sound of a large explosion echoed in the surroundings.
"!"
Immediately, the attention of everyone present focused on where the explosion had sounded from, the boundaries of the cultivation fields, specifically, the part where the fields joined the forests.
Although the crop fields were part of their respective cities, because of how massive those fields had to be, they were usually a good distance from their cities, many times colliding with wooded areas, as was this particular case.
As for what had caused the explosion, it was quite clear to all present.
At the edge of these crop fields, standing on top of several recently uprooted trees, was a monster over 16 feet tall, watching all of the students.
Although its snout resembled that of a wolf, its body was quite the opposite, looking more like an amalgamation of feathers and fur roughly and violently placed on the body of a gorilla.
Normally an average person would have no other way to call this being other than monster, but thanks to the fact that the students were not normal people, but supers, they were able to identify the exact name of this creature in a matter of seconds.
"A-A chimera!!!" Shouted one of the students, on his face an expression of disbelief.
"RAAUUUH!!!"
Not wanting to be left behind, the chimera let out a roar before pouncing on the nearest student, a pugilist who had been spectating Jay's competition.
This move by the chimera had simply been too fast, leaving said student no chance to do anything but watch as it approached.
"ARGH!"
The pugilist then let out a choked scream, a product of having his entire body being crushed by the weight of the chimera's claw.
Although he was tougher than a normal person, in the face of such a monster's strength, it wouldn't take long for the pugilist to be transformed into meat paste.
However, even though there were supers everywhere who had undoubtedly seen monsters and even defeated one or two themselves, no one was moving.
If one were to look more closely at the faces of some of the students, although their pupils reflected the image of the chimera, one could also notice that there was a haze in the eyes of each of the students.
Exceptional supers like the pugilist girl, Vedran and even Faith were no exceptions to this strange trance state, their bodies barely able to stand.
*CLANG!*
However, before the chimera could get its snout close to the pugilist, a plowing tool of an unknown metal suddenly slammed into the chimera's face, drawing its attention.
"DON'T STAND STILL, YOU IDIOTS! RUN!" Then shouted the same person who had thrown said tool, namely Jay.
With that shout, everyone present then awoke from the apparent trance they were in, the haze in their eyes gradually disappearing.
Normally, with so many people present, Jay would try to goad them into confronting this monster, but this time, thanks to the system's warning, he knew that no the situation was not as simple as it seemed.
The chimera, although it had identified Jay as the aggressor, did not pounce on him, but just stared at him for a moment before opening its mouth and expelling a huge amount of purple smoke that immediately spread to the surrounding area.
For the students who had barely regained consciousness, this proved fatal, all falling into the strange trance-like state.
"...This is bad." Jay said.
He was still in a state of alarm, but deciding that it would do no good to simply watch as the chimera expelled smoke, he then quickly approached the nearest person in the vicinity, Vedran.
If he couldn't wake them all up, then he would at least try to do it with Vedran.
"...Jay? What...?" Vedran said, his movements being incredibly awkward and a tired expression on his face.
"Come on, we have to move!"
However, before Jay could do anything else, the chimera made its move, rushing towards Jay, a thick curtain of purple smoke surrounding its body.
[Warning: A dangerous gaseous substance with unknown effect has been detected in the vicinity, the [Carrier] is advised to move away or neutralize the source as soon as possible.]
Again, the same system message appeared in front of Jay, and although the content was the same, he could sense that it was more urgent than the previous one.
From this alone, it was already clear that whatever the substance was that the system was talking about, it was not to be taken lightly at all.
Watching as the chimera approached, Jay could see that its speed was no joking matter, if he had to carry Vedran, they would undoubtedly be caught instantly.
Unable to think of anything else for the moment, he had no choice but to throw Vedran away from the chimera's path before he began to run.
The crop fields were huge by default, which coupled with Jay's speed, fortunately gave him enough time to think about the situation.
It had all been too sudden, whether it was the appearance of the chimera or the fall of the other students, both had happened in a mere ten seconds.
And as it had turned out, although those present were supers, none of them could do anything before falling victim to the strange smoke that the quimera was expelling.
But if there was something positive to be mentioned about this situation, it was that also thanks to the suddenness of the situation, Jay's mind was now in a state of alertness, his mind being sharpened to its maximum by necessity.
Quickly, Jay determined the two things he had to worry about right now.
First was the imminent threat, the chimera, a monster whose might normally consisted mainly of its physique that was capable of making a fool of an average (C) ranked pugilist.
However, this quimera was special, as it not only had the average strenght of a quimera, but it also had the ability to expel a purple smoke which apparently had as its main feature the ability to put to sleep any super.
Finally, what undoubtedly made everything more complicated, the students present, which made it impossible for Jay to run away or go for help for fear that some of them would end up hurt or worse... dead.
While they were strangers to Jay, he couldn't just abandon them.
Fortunately, after throwing his plowing tool at it, the chimera's attention had been focused on him, making him not have to worry about the other students for the time being.
*Swoosh!*
At the same time Jay ran, the wind began to build up around him, creating a faint but noticeable wind current over his body.
'I should do my best to keep the smoke away from me.' Jay thought.
Although using so much wind to cover his body had a high energy cost, considering that he was being chased by a monster who was spewing toxic smoke, it was somewhat necessary.
As for the direction Jay was heading in, it was nothing less than towards the city.
He was sure he wouldn't be able to get really far when the chimera was faster than him, but if he managed to get far enough away from the students, then he would manage to run into someone sooner or later.
If he had any luck, that someone would be a teacher and this matter would be resolved.
In a matter of seconds, Jay reached the edge of the farmland, where the land was no longer a plot of land but a road to the city.
To speed up even more, Jay spared no energy and even leapt into the air, using a wind platform to propel himself even more forcefully forward.
*BAM!*
"Ouch!"
However, just as Jay reached the limit, his body came to an abrupt halt in mid-air, but this wasn't a product of the chimera, it was more like he had crashed into something solid.
The problem was... one couldn't see anything in the air.
Puzzled by this, the esper then brought his hand towards the apparent nothingness, and to his surprise, he could feel something solid in front of him.
Although nothing could be seen, there was something in front of him, of an incredibly high hardness, so much in fact, that Jay estimated that even if he used his Overload, he would not be able to break it.
Quickly, an idea came to Jay's mind, and it made his expression turn sour.
"...A barrier..."
At that moment, everything became clear to him.
That the appearance of this monster... had not been random.
Before he could think about it any further, however, the chimera had already reached him, its shadow towering over him Jay.
"Ah, sh*t."
The next moment, the chimera lifted one of its legs and smashed the ground.
*BOOM!!!*
