36. We were saved?

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Harold POV:

?!!

"NOOO!"

Hm???

What happened? Where is that ranker and why can I talk now???

" you scared the living out of me. Still.....It is good to see that you woke up"

Isn't that first rank? What was her name again? Livia Roman?

' Taking a look at my surroundings I found my teammates sleeping peacefully'

Thank goodness... wait... WHAT ABOUT JOHN?!

"J-John... what happened to him?!!"

Livia seemed to be taking a glance at the students before she answered my question.

" Sighe... everyone should be fine.. I gave them some health potions, so you don't have to worry"

Potions?...but that's not enough-!

" It i---

"Don't worry it was a high grade one "

High grade.....isn't it very expensive? Wait I think her sister owns that famous merchant group, so she must also be rich... that should be fine then.

" Thank you for saving us.... can you please tell me what exactly happened when I was unconscious?"

"....."

Hmm? Why is she silent? 

" Ahemm... yeah the ranker you guys encountered. He suddenly ran away for some reason..."

"....."

ran away? But he was so adamant about killing us... No way..Is she hiding somethin--

---'Rustle' 'Rustle'

"??"

" Huh? What the hell? Rank first and second? GUYS COME OVER HERE!!"

he seems to be with the attackers...shit is there more of them?

" Sighe.... Hey, Harold.. can you still fight?"

[ Terrorists Elemenation ] [ Mission Difficulty E ]

[ Current progress 4/10 ]

'staring back at Livia' I replied 

" Yes "

The quest still seems to be active...

" Good..."

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Outside the gate,

 Two S ranking individuals were fighting against the officers from the association, prior to the attack a huge explosion took place which resulted in the killing of many staff members of association and the academy as well. However, high ranking heroes who happened to be there, since they were teachers from the academy, they didn't sit idle without doing anything. They immediately took action to put down the fire and save as many lives as possible. One of such heroes was Mr. Mike.

" Tch... who would do such a stupid thing...."

currently, the fire was stopped and the injured were secured. Professor Mike was guarding the area where the injured were being taken care off.

"PROFESSOR MIKE!!"

"Hmm?"

an injured staff member who just received his treatment was limping while trying to approach the professor in hurry..

" Calm down.. what's going on? "

barely catching his breath, the staff member finally relayed his report.

" Hff!...Hff!... T-the students!! They might be in danger! As soon as the explosion went off, all signals from their bracelets were cut off... we don't know whether they are fine or not!!"

"!!!!!WHAT?!"

without any hesitation, Professor Mike dashed towards the dungeon right after notifying his colleagues....

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Back inside the dungeon,

as soon as Mr. Mike entered the dungeon he spread his mana and noticed the invaders presence.

In less than an hour, he swept through all of the invaders and crushed them all without a speck of hesitation. He saw the gruesome scene of many killed children and that added fuel to his killing spree.

the dungeon wasn't that huge. For an S ranker like Mike he can travel from one end to another in less than 5 minutes. It took him 27 minutes to kill all invaders, of course other professors followed shortly after he entered thus saving many children's lives.

The only other noteworthy thing was the reaction of the top ranked students. Not only did they save their teammates, but also defeated many of the invaders, specially the first and second ranked students, Harold Light and Livia Roman. They found them surrounded with many defeated criminals and they were protecting some of the unconscious students.

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Zen POV:

" What is the meaning of this? Father?"

I received a call to return back to the mansion, I even missed my first practical dungeon class for this sudden summon.

" Zen....Have you heard about your mother?"

my mother? That's weird...father never mentions anything about mother.... as a matter of fact he kept avoiding the topic....

" No... All I know is that she was a good person "

".....indeed, son"

Son? Since when was my father this sentimental?...what exactly has gotten into him?

" Son... today I will tell you the truth... behind your mothe...no...Victoria's death"

"!!"

Her death?...but why now all of a sudden?

" What do you mean? Why now all of a sudden?...."

"...Follow me"

hmm? Why? Wasn't he going to tell me here?

...

..

.

in an underground stairway, a pair of a father and his son were walking downstairs in this dimly lit space....

" Zen... How exactly do you feel about your mother?"

My mother.... I never had the chance to meet her.. she died when I was like 2. I don't remember a thing about her.

" I have no idea what to say about her"

"....."

I never had the chance to live or talk to her, maybe I have some vivid memories about her. However, to me she was like any dead woman.

"Sighe....Son.... this is a secret that no one other than me and your mother knew"

Secret?

" Have you heard about ' Blocked Mana Vessels ' ?"

hmm? Mana clogs? Isn't that a condition where one can't use mana?

" Yes, it's a condition that prevents someone from using mana "

"Correct, now answer this. Do you think that it is a treatable condition?"

Treatment? For Clogged mana vessels? I never heard of that...

"No?"

"Wrong"

???

" But why are you even telling me this? "

" You see...son... I didn't want to tell you...but.. you actually had been born with congenital clogged mana vessels..."

?!

"what?!"

Me?! Then why am I fine? No how did I get treated?

" The only treatment for this condition is to find a person who matches you genetically and to transfer the clogs to them while sacrificing their own opened mana vessels to open another...."

.....someone?....Hold on! does that mean!! Mo-

" Yes, your mother sacrificed her mana vessels to awaken yours"

"Why? Why did she do such a stupid th-"

" Because she loved you "

"..."

" son, your mother was like that of an angel... even at the moment of her death... she hid you from danger... she valued your life more than her own"

.....

"...T-then, why is it that she is dead?"

"....it was because of me....."

"...'

What?.... what does he mean by that? 

"....you? "

" I will show you with your own eyes you will see the filthy ant who dared to lay his hands on her "

!!!!

"Here.....

* Creeeek *

'opening one of the cells at the bottom of the stairway'

" Here...take a look at the pathetic ant that dared to touch our family...."

"Uhhh...iwasn me....eh.."

" this worm was the one who killed your mother..."

...

" Why?"

"...."

"Why is it that you tell me this now? Isn't she already dead?!"

"...I know that this will never bring her back....I needed to avenge her. not only for her sake, but also for my own"

"....."

" Son, the reason why I showed you this is for you to know about her care for you.... and to warn you..."

Warn? 

" Never... and when I say never I mean not even for a moment... don't you make the same mistake as mine... here take this"

' Taking out an item from his spatial ring ' father handed me something that looked like a book

" This will help you become stronger..."

" This is!!!??"

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