Four Horsemen of Apocalypse

Chapter 16: A Trip to Disaster IV

Helia — State: Aetheris.

The time was now half past 4 AM. The long arm was past half the lower bottom and was now on the left side of the clock.

It had taken more than three hours, and the whole journey had been smooth without any disturbance on the road.

The training camp was by no means far, though it looked so, considering they had left in the morning and it took about six to seven hours.

In retrospect, it would have taken five hours alone, considering there wasn't any road traffic, nor did they almost spend up to half an hour at stops.

As for what happened at the Aetheris Branch, it was unfortunate, but what had happened had happened.

Celeste had no reason to blame Damian, nor did she have any intention of doing so.

And besides, thanks to Shane, everything has been settled; all that ends well ends well.

"Puu. We're there."

Celeste muttered as she huffed a smoke from her lips, flicking the cigarette midair, and as they did, they ignited into red-like flames, the flames consuming the cigarette.

Currently, they are entering a military-like zone.

This place was not only a training camp for students like them; that was why it was this far from Aetheris City, at the behest of another city called Veston.

Awakened from these two cities, come here for major training and dungeon experience, most especially for newbies Awakened.

The bus soon proceeded to the parking lot under the orange skies, the students groggily stretched, rubbing their eyes and grumbling as they gathered their things. 

No one liked arriving at a training camp at ungodly hours, but hey—what could they do?

And the students filed out in an orderly manner, they were naturally met by the officials that welcomed them.

"Welcome to Aetheris-Veston Camp. We welcome you all, first years of Yosen High."

There was a woman and a man there, though the man looked to be more of a bodyguard.

The woman, clad in a professional black suit, had the kind of practiced, customer-service smile that suggested she had perfected the art of looking approachable while secretly judging everyone.

The man beside her, on the other hand, looked more like a walking threat.

Tall. Stoic. Dressed in dark tactical gear. The kind of guy who had probably survived a mana-beast attack and then punched it for good measure.

Naturally, most students were able to see it; both the woman and the man were anything but ordinary.

At the very least, the man was probably around the ranks of high-tier «Journeyman» Awakened. Which was impressive.

However, compared to most A-class students who could deal with threats of that level, most of the A-class hadn't thought much of it.

Additionally, because people like Tendou and the Beastfallen could deal with monsters of the «Journeyman» rank didn't mean they could necessarily defeat an awakened creature of that level.

There were many factors after all.

Experience, equipment, and skill level—these were important factors. 

Additionally, there are cases whereby a «Journeyman» awakened could be stronger than one of his rank.

Mostly, it involves a temporary boost in strength, which may be because of a skill, modification, or transformation.

Naturally, the Beastfallen spawn was amongst those who modifiers applied to through the use of transformation.

The man behind her was that strong.

As for the woman, on the other hand, while the intensity and fluctuations of her mana weren't that strong compared to the man, was certainly of the «Journeyman» rank too.

In retrospect, one could divide a rank into three stages; for a better example, let's take the «Journeyman» rank.

One could divide the C-rank into three: low-tier, middle-tier, and high-tier. This is but an unofficial ranking in the system laid out by the Association and Entropy.

However, most Awakened used this to judge the level of either their opponent—awakened or monsters.

"Celeste Blackwood, I'm in charge."

The moment Celeste introduced herself, she was met with a blink from the female who looked over at Celeste almost with a judging gaze.

Celeste herself didn't seem to mind, but then, the woman had been silent for a moment that the man behind her had to tap her.

"Ms."

"Ah, pardon my rudeness; we have also prepared your lodgings."

The training camp, well, if it could be called that, in one way, one could also call this another academic city on its own.

After the car parks, there were several buildings that extended to the far distance. Naturally, there were also things like Mini Mart, Mini Parks and the likes.

But though, most were aware that most of the important facilities, like the dungeon rooms, were further at the back of the so-called camp.

Which would mean the buildings that were naturally close were their lodgings, and even then, it looked like a hotel.

With the current technology, it was just a matter of time; a camp of this scale could be rebuilt over and over again as long as the Association incorporated with Entropy wished.

Only then, one has to think, just how rich were these companies?

For someone like Shane, who is able to amass a numerical amount of money for the siblings to use for years, the government, however, can easily procure more than fifty times what Shane earns.

There was no need to worry about inflation as the Great Clans oversaw all these operations with the Associations that invested in other things.

Not to mention, Entropy, who had their hand in each and every part of the world, excluding the "Otherside".

"Alright, my men, do your thing."

Celeste snapped her fingers, since she couldn't take her medications, as though it was a medication; it was forbidden, so on grounds here.

She had lightly patted her stomach, delegating everything to Shane, who didn't complain this time.

"Fine then." Shane said before stepping forward. "Class representatives, student council representatives, and disciplinary council representatives, please work with me."

"Fufu~ Very well then, I guess I shall lend my aid. Since it looks like the Head Instructor isn't feeling well."

A beautiful young woman, with waist-length curly blonde hair and a face that somehow gives someone the feeling that she's an aristocrat.

She had a body that was just perfect, with a slim waist and a chest that no doubt made her mates jealous.

Additionally, she was radiating the energy of someone who had never once been late to a meeting in her life.

The class rep of the B-class, and even though she was at that rank, you can see at a glance that she is extremely formidable.

She gives off the same type of intelligence as a serious Shane would give.

Arianna Rosebell.

Rosebell Family. 

A second upper-rank aristocrat of the Aetheris country. Though aristocrats, they were a big family who also controlled a large amount of awakeneds—In other words, a type of mafia.

And yes, their family is well legalised, both by the Great Clans, as well as the Association too, as they also helped in cracking down on the awakened who had become criminals among many other jobs.

"Though I don't like the idea that the head instructor is leaving everything to a student, sure, I'll cooperate."

The next to speak was a male, obviously the same height as most of his mates, though his uniform was almost arm-less, coupled with his unnatural silver hair, looking like a ruffian.

He looked like the kind of guy who would absolutely fight a vending machine if it stole his change.

Adolf Alfonso. C-class representative.

"Oh my, you say that, but there's no doubt he is the most reliable here, no?"

"Tch. You damn aristocrats always talk like that."

"I'm simply speaking the truth~"

Arianna said as she unfurled her fan, covering her nose down to her mouth with the fan in contrast to the sharp glare Alfonso gave her.

"Uhm. It's best if you guys don't fight."

Lucas Creed of the F-class was now the one to speak, more like trying to defuse the situation, but it seemed to backfire as Alfonso now glared at him.

Now, Lucas regretted ever opening his mouth.

"Stop it, you're inconveniencing him."

From the D-class, their rep was a young girl looking like a warrior, with short brown-like hair tied into a short ponytail. On top of wearing the Yosen uniform, she also wore black fingerless gloves.

Her overall look gave her the close combat fighter type of look.

It was obvious they didn't really care about the hierarchy between them; after all, nothing really was absolute in the world, including hierarchy.

Definitely. Just because the rest were in lower classes didn't mean their combat abilities were that weak; in fact, it was different.

The class representative of the D-class, Ayumu Chitose, could probably overwhelm Arianna in a close combat fight despite their mana difference.

Chitose is a close combat mage who deals with physical enchantment and could triple every aspect over seven to ten times, which would make her faster than normal awakened of her rank.

Even though they were barely adults, they could already give most older awakeners a run for their money.

On that note, considering that Yosen's standards were mostly based on a student's capability, it was only normal, as even though Chitose was that good in enchantment, she had low mana.

And enchantments are known to be like stamina for most brawlers of her type.

Additionally, her grades had only been average at best.

However, regardless of that, she still got admitted to Yosen. 

Despite how they look, Yosen's policy was to train awakeners who could fight monsters and dungeons, so despite placing her in a lower grade, that didn't mean she wasn't valued.

Though, most of the Board of Directors would beg to differ.

"D-girl, you dare talk back at me?"

"This is Yosen; just because you are one class ahead doesn't mean you're stronger."

It had turned into a heated stare-off between both of them.

Arianna had simply sighed and looked over to Shane, who merely tilted his head over to his brothers with a nod.

"Fine then, I've been itching for a fight for some time now; you'll do, Miss D-class."

"You jerk! Fine, bring it on, ruffian!"

"Ruffian!? Damn it!"

By the time the two would lunge at each other, they paused just like that; rather, something stopped them.

For Alfonso, it was golden chains that tightly wrapped around him; the more he struggled to break free, the more the golden chains tightened.

'What the—!? I can't break free!'

He thought, and Chitose, on the other hand, when he looked over to her, didn't seem to be faring better.

"Huh?"

She however, unlike Alfonso, was held by the shoulder by Damian, and even then, she had thought of shaking him off, only to realise it was impossible.

Even without him releasing his «Fighting Spirit» as she knew it and called it, she couldn't move.

'Are you kidding me? Is this a Creed? 'How ridiculous.'

CLAP!

With a clap of his hands, Shane called for everybody's attention.

The instructors knew that they weren't able to do anything; however, it was more of a shock for the officials who simply stood there, stunned speechless by the sudden calmness.

Those three had suppressed the entire student just with that move.

The male, on the other hand, had his mouth open, his glasses slightly imbalanced. He couldn't see how Damian had covered that short distance.

And that chain… those golden chains had appeared from nowhere, and what about the user? Kaiden wasn't even focused.

He had been silent all along, but he had certainly caught Shane's gaze, and he didn't even need to look at them before restraining them.

"Please, decorum. Let's stop acting like uncivilised people; it is unbecoming of us, Yosen students, no?"

Shane smiled, but it was that kind of smile. The 'I will crush you like an insect if you make my job harder' kind of smile.

As Shane said that, Damian had left Chitose and appeared back where he originally stood—beside Shane—after he had been called out.

Same with Alfonso. Kaiden had already released him.

"Now then, each rep, with me, the SC rep and DC rep would oversee the lodgings, so you're expected to follow orders. Curfew is by 8; a rep followed by a class rep would be in charge of roll calls."

"And after that, the rep alongside the class rep is to report back to either Instructor Celeste or the other instructors. Whatever you are going to need, after getting lodgings, make sure to get whatever you want."

"Additionally, you are not to leave the area of the lodgings to other facilities alone. Apparently, there is a strict punishment for that."

Shane buried his head behind a paper as he read the rules given to him by Celeste, and then after doing so, he let out a sigh.

"Well, those are the rules. So I hope we can follow them, naturally; make sure to rest up; tomorrow is on-field training. So, yeah, getting rest is really important."

Shane said that now lazily, after delivering Celeste's intentions to the students.

Arianna smiled. "My, my. How dependable."

"So…? What do you say, kids?"

And it was after Shane had delivered Celeste's intent that she finally came forward, lazily as she then faced the students, addressing them as she faced them.

"YES MA'AM!"

Every student said in unison. 

And surely, Shane really is the best right-hand man. He carried out his job so flawlessly that it even leaves her, an instructor, speechless.

No, rather than that, it is the Creed's maturity, no?

Regardless of that, she had one more assignment.

"Ahh. I have one more update; concerning that, I want to delegate the curfew management to Shane and the Creeds. I hope that's no problem, fellow instructors."

"Hah?"

"Oh boy…"

"It's always Shane; what a troublemaker."

The Creed brothers had naturally complained, each with differing expressions, and even then, while they had said so…. as for the instructors and students, on the other hand.

"I don't mind. I've witnessed the Creed's strength, while I'm yet to see what the third Creed is capable of, considering you like him so much; I'm willing."

Vahn had said so, glancing over at Shane, who suddenly looked like they had put the problems of the world entirely on his shoulders now.

"Sure, I have no complaints; additionally, it will release the burdens on us."

"Burdens? Should you really be saying that?"

Class E and D instructors, a male and female, had said so, respectively, but they didn't argue. Even the instructor of class F had accepted with a nod.

He had seen how strong Lucas was for the F class. And for the remaining four that transcended that same Lucas, they had to be definitely different.

"Tsk. How foul."

The remaining… let's just ignore him.

And with that.

"Once again, I'm counting on you."

"Haha… hahaha, I should have known…. fuck."

Like that, the responsibilities were hung on the shoulders of a young boy, his name, Shane.