Cafeteria

Bzzzzzz! Whoosh! A large, blue sphere materialised in front of Ethan. Whoosh! Tiny gusts of wind blew towards it, getting sucked up as they disappeared into it. It was the portal back to Earth. Tap...tap...tap. He stepped through the portal, placing his feet inside the blue warped area. Ethan left Hydragyros as he emerged on the other side. He didn't look behind.

Whoosh! Splash! Ethan's feet landed in the swampy mud as he reached the Infested Swamp. Splotch! Splotch! Noah turned around, studying him for a moment. "Don't tell anybody what happened today." Splotch...splotch...splotch. Ethan stared back into those dark, empty eyes. Who would believe him even if he told them about Noah? They'd just think that he was some Class 10 kid who wanted attention. He'd most likely be punished. By both Noah and KGS.

Splotch! Splotch! Noah started walking away, heading towards the exit. Suddenly, he stopped walking. "Oh, and I forgot to mention. That monster was ranked F-5. It wasn't a mature emerald krait." Splotch! Noah disappeared into the purple mist, leaving Ethan behind.

Ethan took a deep breath. So that monster wasn't a peak E rank creature like he'd thought. Well, it made sense. Noah could probably kill a creature 3 or 4 stages above him. 5 if he tried really hard. "Monster." 'Only' 5 stages above him, huh?

Ethan took a deep breath as he tried to digest everything that had happened today. From killing a lesser python to almost getting killed by an emerald krait. The expedition was much tougher than he'd imagined. But he wasn't satisfied. Today, he'd felt weak. He felt helpless when he was facing the emerald krait. And he hated that feeling from the bottom of his heart.

Noah would be able easily kill a monster at his rank when he reached S rank. And that was if people were watching him. If he was allowed to express his full powers as an augmented awakener, he could even kill a monster two whole stages above him. Which was insane, considering that awakeners at E rank struggled to kill monsters at their own rank. And at S rank most awakeners needed at least two stages of leeway to kill a monster easily.

Tap...tap...tap. The sounds of his footsteps echoed as he stepped into the tunnels connecting the swamp to the entrance. For now, he'd head back. He had to cook up some excuse to explain why he was four hours late. He couldn't exactly say that he was betrayed by almost every member of his group except for Noah. Those people were from Stone and Pebble House.

Ethan clenched his fist in anger. He wouldn't forget this. He'd take care of them, one person at a time, until he'd beat back every single arrogant asshole who'd played with his life. And the first guy on his list was Zack.

What had Misty Gloss told him? Conquer Dust House in three months? Ethan put his hand instinctively on his weapon. After getting decimated by the emerald krait, he wasn't discouraged. No, he felt refreshed. He felt a burning desire to grow stronger, to exceed his limits and become unstoppable. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

It was something that he'd received back when he couldn't use a kusarigama at all. Solid gold letters were printed, forming a single word- 'Rotation'. Ethan knew exactly who had sent this clue to him. Of course he did. It was something that played a quite huge part in 'The Ghost System'. A key to become stronger.

Crumple! He stuffed the paper back into his pocket as he walked through the tunnel. Three months was too long. He'd conquer Dust House soon enough. And he'd do it perfectly. He'd truly 'conquer' it- something that no single student had ever done at KGS. And then, it was Douglas' turn.

Ethan's eyes glowed blue.

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Ethan walked towards an empty table, holding a plate in his hands. Bang! He sat down on a chair, banging the plate against the table. A couple of people turned around, staring at him. Ethan glanced back at them. "It was a mistake! Mind your own business," was what Ethan wanted to say. But he didn't retort. He'd just spent two hours in Obsidian Block, the training room. He was way too tired to pick a fight right now.

Ethan started eating, barely noticing anything around him. The food here was pretty good. Keystone was one of the best schools in the world, after all. If they served stuff that the pampered young masters couldn't handle, they would come under a lot of fire.

Clang! Suddenly, Ethan was jolted away from his thoughts by a loud noise. He looked to see a pair of brilliant purple eyes looking at him. "Hey Luna!" He shifted slightly on his seat. "Hi Ethan!" Luna smiled cheerfully as she sat down on a seat right next to his.

"What're you doing?" "Uh...I'm eating." Ethan stared at her dumbly. He had been sitting alone for every meal ever since he came to KGS. Luna joining him suddenly was completely unexpected. And the fact that she sat down right next to him so naturally was, to be honest, a bit weird. But not unwanted.

"So, how was your expedition?" Ethan made a wry face. "Don't ask." He dug his spoon into his food. Luna laughed. "I know, right? Mine was terrible as well. I didn't die, unfortunately." Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Unfortunately? Don't you mean fortunately?"

Luna waved her hands dismissively. "Yeah, that's what I meant." Clank! Clank! Sounds of spoons rang through the room. "By the way, did you hear about the expeditions from the other kids?" Ethan stared at her blankly.

"U..Uh, I see. No problem." Clank! Clank! "Well, I asked a couple of people, and I found something pretty interesting. Check this out." Luna place her spoon back down, as if she was going to tell him something very important. "Out of all the students who fought in the F ranked gates, nobody died."

"Cough...cough." Ethan choked on his food suddenly. He looked at her strangely. "Why the hell would you try to find out who died?" Was Luna some kind of a sadist? He recalled some famous lines from his past life. 'Some men just want to watch the world burn'.

Luna frantically waved her arms around. "No, no, that's not what I was trying to tell you." Ethan stared at her suspiciously. "Of course nobody died. If a single kid was killed, their parents wouldn't let the school go so easily." Ethan slowly nodded. "Makes sense."

Clank! Clank! Luna continued speaking. "Most people who were cornered by monsters were saved by the teachers. Our watches send signals when we're in danger. But here's the thing." She lowered her voice, making sure nobody could hear her. "Two of the people in a team almost died."

Clank! Clank! "Their group discovered both of them in an extremely wounded state. One of them almost lost his arm. And their watches never let out a peep." Ethan listened closely. This was pretty interesting. Most watches were triggered when large amounts of oppressive mana were detected. But they weren't tailored to give out alerts when normal, natural mana that most humans used was released. Which meant that they could have been attacked.

Of course, it could have been a malfunction. There could be hundreds of other options that he didn't even know about. But still, considering how he'd been abandoned by his entire group, Ethan wouldn't put it past the Stone and Pebble House people to play dirty tricks.

"Must be one of those young master bastards. They always act like other people are worthless." Ethan spoke bitterly. Luna paused, slightly bewildered by his words. "Ahem! Well, you might not know this, but both of those guys were from Pebble House."

That was strange. Two Pebble House people, left wounded in a gate by mysterious attackers. "Maybe it could have been a faction war?" He glanced at Luna. "Maybe. But to be honest, I don't think so. Ambushing people in a dungeon is just...." Ethan agreed with her. It was strange. Hardly a month had passed since school had begun. Vicious attacks like these weren't common, even when the faction wars peaked.

Clank! His spoon hit an empty plate. He glanced to his left. Luna had finished eating as well. She was a pretty fast eater. Or maybe he was the one who was slow. He stood up. "I've got nothing to do right now. Wanna hit up some gates in the Tower" Luna invited him. Ethan stretched his arms. "I'm really tired right now. Sorry."

Luna smiled back at him. "Alright! No problem!" Ethan pushed his chair back into the table. "Maybe we could go tomorrow." He felt a little bad rejecting her. "Sure! I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye!" She turned around, walking away. Ethan scratched his head as he stared after her. Yep. He could not figure this girl out. Well, he'd find out what she wanted soon enough. His eyes glowed slightly. And he could easily take care of her if he needed to.

Luna felt a slight shiver travelling down her spine.