BXBX NOVEL Chapter 216: Sudden Development
Amongst the top 5 only the 1st place; Cassius Nightfall, and the 2nd place; Lyra Moonsteel, reached the Intermediate Stage of Sword Laws - which was the bare minimum requirement to pass this class. According to what Cedric heard, those two have been informed of the other requirements but are taking their time completing them since they weren\'t in a hurry.
Then, all of a sudden, not just those two but all five of them are graduating? How does that make any sense?
Looking at their expressions, Cedric could sense the helplessness and uncertainty. They might look undeterred or indifferent, but Cedric could see right through it.
Their body language also screams nervousness and trepidation. It\'s as if they are facing enormous pressure that nobody else can see or feel.
All of this made Cedric think that there\'s a story here, and he\'d admit that he\'s very curious about it.
**
After the entire class expressed their salutations to the graduating students, they were dismissed and asked to return to their usual work.
Some people didn\'t think much about it and just shrugged it out. Others gossiped about it since they could do so.
Cedric waited, he sat on the bench and immersed himself in the silence for a bit. Then, he felt a presence sitting next to him. He didn\'t need to look to know who it was.
"Curious?" Thirdy asked after sitting down next to him.
"Yeah." Cedric replied, "Things just don\'t add up, I guess. I\'m both confused and curious."
"Yet you patiently waited until I approached you to ask." Thirdy chuckled next to him. "Curious, but not curious enough to outright ask. Good for you."
"..." Cedric chose to remain silent, he patiently waited until Thirdy was ready to tell him about it...only if he wanted to or if he was allowed to. Cedric won\'t force him if he can\'t.
"Well...where should I start, hmm..." Thirdy hummed, "Ah, I don\'t know if you\'ve heard of it, but recently Demons have become really active out of nowhere."
Cedric felt chills running down his spine as he heard him say this.
"When was it...like, about a week or two ago? I\'m not so sure since I personally don\'t pay attention either, but since I\'m with Master most of the time, I am privy to some information on the frontlines."
"This isn\'t just some \'Oh, look! The Demons are migrating over this place, isn\'t that weird?\' type of thing. No, when I say active, I meant that for their entire race."
"The ones roaming the outer world as well as those who are stationed outside...the entire Demon Race as a whole just become active all of a sudden." Thirdy grimly stated, "The last time that happened, it caused us to go to war." enjoy-on-NovelFire
Cedric felt his stomach sinking deeper as he heard the scale of the movement. His mind reeled for a bit and his thoughts turned slightly chaotic.
"There had been three breach attempts to the Purgatory Realm." Thirdy supplied, "All of which happened within a single week. That hasn\'t happened since the past decade or so."
"The True Demons roaming on the Outer World became really active. A lot of the predators came out of their nests to start hunting; both humans and their kind, for sport. Many hordes are forming and migrating everywhere. The Corruption levels at some places in the Outer World were increasing at an alarming rate."
"This level of activity alarmed a lot of people. In response to it, our Planar Travellers and Star Travellers also made their preparations; Headmistress Lysandra and Master Uruk included. Tensions are rising and it\'s not looking good. Nothing concrete happened yet, but given our relationship with demons, it\'s bound to happen sooner or later. It\'s just a matter of who\'s gonna make a move first."
Cedric took a deep breath to calm himself down. Yeah, this all sounds terrible.
"...are those five being called to the frontlines?" Cedric asked.
"That\'s right. Man, this is why I like talking to you. You\'re quick at the uptake!" Thirdy grinned, but that expression didn\'t last though because the situation was really serious.
"Master Uruk tried to stop it. He told them that these five weren\'t ready yet. He tried to reason that, although they may be strong, in front of the real horrors on the frontlines, they\'re still too weak. He didn\'t want them to go there until they passed his class on their own accord first. Cassius was very close and if he pushed it, within a week, he\'d be able to graduate nonetheless."
"Cassius, I understand. But what about Lyra? She just recently got promoted as a Junior Student, wasn\'t she? How come she\'s included in the draft?" Cedric asked.
"She\'s the daughter of a Marshal," Thirdy replied with a helpless smile. "While some parents would do everything in their power to shield their children from harm, not all are like that."
"Lyra\'s father; High Marshal of the Western Army Camp - Leon Moonsteel, is a rather peculiar man. He uses \'tough love\' to raise his children. To him, this might be a disaster but it\'s also an opportunity to make his children stronger. He\'s the one who endorsed the idea, and because of his position, nobody could stop him."
Cedric winced upon hearing those. In the times that he had attended this class, he had a few interactions with Lyra. He\'s aware of her rigidness and coldness, he thought that she was just like that towards strangers but alas, it seems that she was conditioned to act that way.
"...I assume that they\'re not the only ones then?" Cedric tentatively asked.
"Oh yeah, there\'s more." Thirdy responded, "Like five hundred more people, mostly Senior Students."
"...that\'s too little." Cedric frowned.
"Yeah, it is. Given the scale of what this might turn out? Yeah, that\'s nowhere near enough. There are a lot of people in the army, but because many people are ignorant about the real status of the world, most people don\'t see the appeal of joining the army, that\'s why even though we have a lot of soldiers, out situation is still bad because we can\'t easily replenish our numbers like Demons could."
"But this is all we can offer." Thirdy sighed, "Ultimately, a lot of you aren\'t ready yet. But best believe that when push comes to shove, even the Academy won\'t be able to protect you. That\'s why you must spend your time wisely here while you still can."
Thirdy patted Cedric back and continued: "I know that you have a lot of burdens to carry. Sadly, time doesn\'t wait for anybody, and fate\'s a bitch. Even I might not be able to escape this so...good luck to us. Work hard and no matter what happens, prioritizes your safety. You being alive is worth more than you being dead."
After saying his piece, Thirdy got up and left Cedric to simmer in his thoughts.
\'Is this a coincidence...?\' Cedric muttered inwardly. He couldn\'t help but think that all of this was related to him somehow. The time frame just fits a little too perfectly.
And if it does have something to do with him...Cedric suddenly felt horrible, his stomach churned at all the possible deaths that might happen because of his recklessness.
Still, he can\'t focus on that too much right now. Tensions are rising and students are being drafted for a potential war.
Could Humanity even survive another war? Cedric thinks that Humanity is doing good, but was it enough to win? This...he had no idea.
It is also highly possible that if the war really happened, even he wouldn\'t be able to escape it. Cedric wasn\'t all too concerned with that. He can fight, he could even match Planar Travellers in raw strength.
Besides, he thrives on a battlefield, the founder of the House of Light even said that that\'s his real stage. It might be a little too early for this, but he wouldn\'t shy away from responsibilities like this.
But of course, that\'s under the assumption that shit truly hits the fan. For now, there\'s only a very small chance of that happening and he\'s still safe.
Taking a deep breath, Cedric summoned his system interface and began creating a list of things he needed to do before he got drafted.
Sure, he might be overreaching here since nothing\'s certain yet, but if there\'s something he knew, it\'s that; \'if things can go wrong, it will go wrong.\'
He can\'t be caught unprepared, especially in a dangerous event of this scale.
Looking at the list he made, he felt that he put too many things he wanted to do with what seemingly little time he had, but he made no changes to it. He just sighed and said:
"I\'m about to get really busy..."