Chapter 57: Escape & Rescue Operation V

At the state college, inside the basketball court that had its entrances padded with several pieces of furniture, a group of five young men and women slept in various positions. Of the group, only a young man with short black hair and a handsome appearance was awake, sitting pensively by the entrance as he stared in front of him, looking at his private channel—

[Private Chat]

I think you guys should just escape from there if you make it out; it’s too dangerous to come here.

Sister: Shut up. We are almost there, and you’ve already given us all the information we needed.

Sister: We’ll make our way to the basketball court, draw some attention, so find a way to meet us where we talked about. And remember, we only have room in the car for one; sadly, you can’t bring any of your friends along

Okay, got it.

Tristan had been keeping something from his sister. Though he did awaken to a warrior group class, nothing much has changed after the trial began for him. He was still being bullied by the same group of people, and none inside the basketball court even knew that he was awakened.

They had been in there for a training session prior to the weekend games; then it all went to hell, and those bolder had put an end to the group of students who mutated amongst them; while the rest, including him, hid cowardly.

It just so happens that the stronger and bolder group, which consisted of awakeners, happened to be the same people who had been bullying him in college. As someone with a small stature, it wasn’t anything new to Tristen; he was bullied through high school as well and had never learned to step up for himself.

Of course, he hid all this from his sister, who would have certainly put those guys in their place, but it would just cost her unnecessary trouble. It’s just been the two of them ever since their parents passed; so Tristan thought it best not to compound his sister’s concerns, as she already had a lot on her plate.

The survivors in the basketball court have a method for hunting mutants and gaining origin crystals; and that is by using targets such as them as bait to lure the mutants and then a combined assault. A lot of the regular surviving students had died this way, but Tristan had managed to survive only because he was a secret awakened. At least they spare some bread and water once in a while. But that’s not how Tristan has been able to hold on; it was thanks to his sister, who has been sending him two to three crystals for a while now, even though she does not know the truth of his situation, thinking he was thriving with some dependable group.

She was that selfless. And it scares Tristan that she would be risking her life to come to his rescue because of his weakness. If he were stronger, he would have gone to her.

[AWAKENER STATUS]

[TRISTAN BLOOM]

ALIAS: TRISTAN74

RACE: AWAKENED HUMAN

TIER: 0

MENTALITY: 5

PHYSIQUE: 8

CLASS: WARRIOR (HIGH)

[CLASS SKILL 0: WEAPON ENHANCEMENT (ACTIVE) ]

[CLASS SKILL 1: LOCKED ]

[CLASS SKILL 2: LOCKED ]

[CLASS SKILL 3: LOCKED ]

[CLASS SKILL 4: LOCKED ]

[CLASS SKILL 5: LOCKED ]

[??? ] ]

Tristan looked at his status, feeling even more gloomy. He had one of the most basic initial skills for a high-grade warrior group class awakener. And unlike others, he had still been unable to improve his stats. Considering the situation, if things get complicated, he knows he wouldn’t be able to help much. So he has to sneak out of this place as carefully as possible.

"What is trash like you doing there?"

Tristan was jolted by a familiar voice behind him; he turned to see Marcus, the leader of this group of survivors, the strongest of the bunch who awakened as a Top Grade warrior, and also the person who has been bullying Tristan since he entered this college.

"I....I was just making sure the barricades are properly set." Tristan responded nervously, doing his best to appear as neutral as possible. From the beginning, his escape route had never been through these barricaded doors.

Marcus or the others must never find out that he was about to escape tonight.

"Hmm.... I guess that’s the least you can do for being such a waste, keke"

Marcus remarked, snickering as he slapped a hand to the back of Tristan’s skull, and Tristan winced in pain but forced a smile. Marcus didn’t just awaken a strong class; he also had a ridiculously large physique, probably the biggest person in the school.

Saying this, Marcus walked away from Tristan, but as he moved, the snicker on his face disappeared, his eyes panning to the side and looking in Tristan’s direction suspiciously before walking up to one of the young men sleeping differently from the rest. These people slept on a futon with a heater as well as a pillow. Clearly, these were the leading members of this crew.

Reading this young man with spiky purple hair, Marcus gently kicked him awake as he instructed—

"Hey, spike. Keep an eye on that trash tonight. He’s acting strangely."

Spike looked displeased at being woken up so rudely, but he still glanced in the direction Marcus was gesturing and nodded in understanding. Marcus was, after all, the leader of their survivor group, and contrary to his incredible size, his intelligence was just as scary

Marcus retreated into the coche’s office, which was his own personal living space, while Spike pretended to go back to sleep; his attention was secretly focused on someone.

A few minutes later, a commotion ensued outside of the school’s sports complex; an SUV glided inside with roaring engines, jolting everyone in that area of the college awake; everyone in the school basketball courts was in an uproar, either screaming, thinking help had come, or curious to find a way to see outside. This uproar always brought along with it roars of mutants and muffled sounds that felt like a gun being fired, but through the screams all around the school from all those witnessing this scene, one could barely tell what was going on without being able to see directly. Because of the way the basketball court was made, there was no way to easily see outside—

But the situation had caused enough distracting uproar for someone to sneakily retreat into the restroom area, carrying along with them two stools.

Tristan mustered his courage as he thought—

’It’s now or never.’