Shadow Author

Shouting the teacher's name, I worried for her health as her condition seemed to get worse with each passing second.

The slight trickle of blood was now pouring down her face as if it was a facet turned up to the max.

When her complexion began to deteriorate, my concern was amplified many times over.

Her skin turned deathly pale, and I could sense that she was in extreme pain.

The worst of all though was that there was nothing I could do to help her.

If I were to disrupt her even by clogging her nose to prevent blood from spilling out it might cost her life.

In such a dire situation, I had no idea what to do.

The thought crossed my mind to get help but I didn't know how long it would take to find someone since it was the weekend and most of the staff were spending their time in the city.

I would be lucky if I managed to come across someone before Miss Smith dried up from blood loss.

Even if I got lucky and did find someone there wasn't any guarantee they would be able to help her.

Most likely they would end up being as useless as I was.

Unsure of what to do I pulled up to watch and scrolled through my contacts in the hopes of coming across someone who might be able to do something.

Unfortunately, I didn't have such a person listed.

Pacing back and forth I racked my mind with ways that I could help her.

The first thought that crossed my mind was that I could spend SP to create a gift that might be able to save her.

But then I started thinking if it would really be worth it. After all, it wasn't like Miss Smith was irreplaceable.

She is indeed a powerful warrior and great teacher but there are others in the school and although losing someone of her standard would hurt the school they would still be able to recover.

Then I remembered the fact that she was somehow connected to a group of immortals. That elevated her status as she could serve as a link connecting me to them.

But in the end, while thinking it through logically I concluded that it wouldn't be worth creating a gift suited to saving her.

The imaginary gift would probably be extremely expensive and be tailored toward Miss Smith's specific issue, meaning that it would be useless to me unless I went through something similar in the future.

The odds of something like that happening were too low and I didn't want to lose out on a percentage of SP to delete it right after using it one time.

That left my emotional attachment to Miss Smith and if I would be willing to sacrifice all that solely to save her.

While thinking it over I leaned in one direction but before I concluded what I was going to do with her a sudden shockwave sent me flying.

Spinning through the air my instincts kicked in and Nightfall materialized before I even touched the ground.

Once I landed, I immediately went into action before I even had time to look around. I activated Null and allowed Aether to swarm around me protectively.

Fortified, I scanned the area looking for any signs of the attacker.

After a few minutes passed and there wasn't so much as a sound or trace of anyone else being in the room I lowered my guard.

I still kept Nightfall in my hands, but I dispelled the Aether as I didn't want to run out of it before the battle even began.

Slowly I crept my way closer to Miss Smith while I continued to look in every direction and scan any place someone could be hiding.

Once I made it to her, I began to question if I was attacked in the first place.

After all, what kind of assassin would go after me with such a weak attack and then leave me be while Miss Smith was sitting there defenseless?

When I finally dropped my sword, I turned my head to look at Miss Smith to check if she was still bleeding, and to my surprise, she was glowing.

Momentarily stunned I stared at the illuminated skin that was shining brightly over her body.

While looking I could have sworn it got brighter but I was still on edge and too preoccupied with trying to figure out what was happening that I didn't think much about it.

However, when her body got so bright that it was getting hard to see I focused all my attention on her as I started to see some smoke rising from her.

Hearing a sizzling sound the next second, I was shocked by what occurred but then my eyes widened and I turned around to sprint away as quickly as I could.

Giving it my all I pushed myself making full use of my improved speed as I dashed toward the steel door before slamming it shut.

Crouching down I rested my back on the cold door and protected my head by covering it with my hands while I waited.

'One.'

'Two.'

'Three.'

'Four.'

'…'

'...'

'...'

'Eighteen.'

'Come on already-'

Suddenly, a deafening explosion ripped through the air, tearing me away from my thoughts.

I flinched as debris pelted against the closed door.

Thankfully it held strong, and nothing broke through to harm me but that didn't mean I was safe.

I remained crouched behind the door, waiting for any sign of danger to pass as I couldn't help but wonder what happened inside.

I didn't have to wait long before my question was answered as a powerful force soon slammed against the door ripping it off its hinges and causing me to dodge to safety.

Quickly turning my head to lock on to the cause of the explosion, my eyes met those of Miss Smith.

A crazed look flashed in her eyes as she seemed to be truly happy with the result.

I gulped as I made a mental note to never do any science experiments with her.

Like a mad scientist after an explosion, her hair stood up on end and her face was blackened with soot.

She looked dazed and disoriented, but her eyes revealed the truth as she examined her body in a frenzy.

"Success!"

My mouth dropped open.

'You call that a success?'

Looking at a bald spot that came about from the strains of her hair being burnt away I wondered what made the crazy teacher so happy.

Clearing my throat, I made my presence known for the second time as I tried to get answers.

"Umm, Miss Smith, what exactly did you succeed in doing?"

Seeing her pupil sprawled out on the ground looking at her with terror the teacher revealed a bright smile.

"I got my powers back! I'm an A-ranker again!"