step
step
step
A rhythmic set of footsteps could be heard, echoing as Cale was walking around Gardenia High School aimlessly, realizing that there were no immediate threat.
'To beat your enemy you first have to understand it'
Gardenia High School as a whole was a completely different structure than his school after all
'I need to learn the layout of this school, I might also stumble upon something that could help me in the future by doing this as well'
It wasn't a terrible plan. Cale was confident this was what most people would do
'I have to make sure I memorize every classroom number too'
Memorizing every Classroom number in Gardenia High School was a must for him.
'My next class is supposed to be in classroom 3'
It was on the first floor of the building somewhat close to the cafeteria.
"The structure resembles more of a European school now"
Previously, the school building looked shockingly similar to a Japanese high school
Though it looked unmaintained and wrecked
"Perhaps it was what Gardenia originally looked like?"
There were no peole that said they couldn't renovate and make the building more modern after all
If that were to be the case
"Just how old is Gardenia?"
It couldn't just have suddenly been created out of thin air
It must have existed in the world for a very long time. A shame that Cale was limited by the lack of information
'I'm pretty curious about it'
As a teenager. Cale obviously held many interests in his life, one of them being mystery novels
Matter of fact, the movie that he was going to watch was originally adapted from a mystery novel
In other words, he had a flexible mind when it came to mystery....But a flexible mind didn't always mean unbendable. Nor did it mean unbreakable
'Well let's not overthink it more than it should be needed to'
Cale kept such curiosities locked deep away in his mind, until the moment when there would be a time in the future to confirm them all
'The cafeteria was also pretty surprising, maybe even the most shocking one in the whole building'
The cafeteria was not like any ordinary cafeteria at a school.
There were three different cafeteria on each floor of the building selling different food and snacks. The School did also have a basement but
'That place was just a giant restroom'
There were in total of three floors In the School building and a basement
'I know there are a lot of us...but three different cafeterias? Isn't that a little too much'
About three minutes have passed since the bell first rang and classes ended
'I have about....two minutes left'
"You know, it wouldn't be too bad if I had a companion or a friend"
Cale camped and sat curled up and close to classroom 3 not wanting to risk anything after he had a general idea of where everything was.
'The pitch black lines grew thicker but they aren't reacting to anything or pulsing'
"The Sludges seemed to move around aimlessly ignoring me"
Of course Cale also ignored them and just walked past them, surprisingly not a single conflict was caused between Cale and the strange creatures
'Well most of them were slumped over the floor curled up in a defensive position'
"What I'm really worried about however ever since coming here, must after all be"
'Those humanoid like creatures'
Their body structure were basically Identical and the same as a human's
'Just what are those things?'
"The pitch black lines were particularly thick around them, but after classes ended I couldn't find a single one of them anywhere no matter how hard I looked around"
He stared out the window and looked at the setting sun
"...."
Time also seemed to flow slightly differently in Gardenia
Or at least that is what it seemed like at first, but in reality. The setting sun was likely an illusion, from Cale's perspective it wouldn't make sense if Gardenia could suddenly manipulate the flow of time
He was also curious about it, motionlessly analyzing and observing it
Blinking his eyes, he stuck to his previous thoughts
"Well I also just didn't have enough time"
'Should I try finding one of them?'
He quickly dismissed the thought
"Too reckless"
Cale wouldn't be gaining anything from the interaction itself after all
'I would just be putting myself in harm's way for no reason '
'It wasn't worth the risk, not by a mile. Of course I could accidentally come across them but trying to intentionally find them seemed like the worst thing I should be doing right now'
Trrrr~
Trrrr~
Ringing of a school bell echoed throughout the entire School at that moment.
Closing his eyes, knowing what came after. Cale waited until the darkness consumed him whole and spat him out again
When he opened his eyes again.
'I'm back'
Cale returned back to the world he was familiar with, sitting in classroom 3 as if he had always been there.
"Hmmm...."
Usually he would have to go in the classroom itself and while it was at first a surprise, he had quickly composed himself
Cale thought and contemplated hard on what this could mean.
'It's different from the trial, It also doesn't seem like I will need to walk to my classes anymore since I'm teleporting to my class every time the bell rings'
That's the only thing he could comment on, though slightly mad about it
'I thought I made a discovery, but in the end it meant nothing'
Just a few days ago Cale had been running like a maniac through the ruined hallways of a ruined school, trying desperately to reach some safe zone only to now experience that there isn't any need to run like crazy when you just teleport to it
'It didn't just renovate I guess'
This made him wonder even more on why the trial was necessary in the first place when the school itself was completely different from the one in the trial. The two structures were fundamentally different as well as their rules
'How annoying, why can't someone just dump all the info in one sitting?
If that did in fact happen, no one would actually pay attention and listen
What Cale asked for was ridiculousness itself
But he didn't know that, lightly. He leaned on his chair
"This isn't going to flow without anything happening right?"
Cale had prepared himself for anything that might occur but he hadn't anticipated that nothing would.
'It isn't necessarily a bad thing I guess, having nothing happen does mean that my life isn't in danger, but the feeling of nothing happening when something should be happening is more frightening than anything'
It was like a bear going inside a cave and a person following it inside of the cave expecting something to happen to you, but nothing happened to you when you should have been in danger after walking back out the cave.
Cale grew only even more restless when nothing was happening even after 5 hours of waiting, expecting something to happen.
"..."
_____
Standing outside of the classroom Cale stood there for what felt like forever.
'Something is going to happen'
"Six hours, Six hours have passed without anything happening. I had also checked on the Sludges during that time but they were strangely timid, same as the first hour"
Creaaaak~
The door creaked the more Cale tugged and pulled it, stepping outside of the building.
When four hours of nothing happening had first passed. Cale couldn't take it and went to the courtyard, but even then nothing had happened and was just sent to class like before
The same happening similarly with the next hour as well
He still walked around aimlessly, waiting for recess to end and for him to go home.
Cale was the only one walking outside in the courtyard of the school, the other Sludges were all Inside
'Can they not go outside?'
Thinking back to the trial, realizing that the sludges there also never went outside until Cale opened the door. But even when he now opened the door. None of them had left
'Why was that?'
He didn't know, no matter how many times Cale kept racking his head for theories.
The only credible one was that they just couldn't leave the building unless all classes ended, this was his best guess.
Clenching his jaw, he had difficulty holding himself back from punching the brick wall with his fist, clearly frustrated from the lack of information
"Hmm"
His body drew closer towards the other end of the School building. Cale made an honest comment about it.
'I didn't notice it before but this place Is actually kind of huge'
Reaching for the door and opening it with seemingly no fear in his eyes, even Cale's body stopped trembling as he walked towards the stairs with no goal in mind
Cale tilted his head to the right, trying to see if there was anything noteworth-
"?!"
Immediately, Cale felt bile welling up from his throat, almost jumping at the sight of sludge-like corpses littering the once clean floor with bright red blood.
"..."
Cale didn't look twice
Hsi feet moved on their own and up the stairs not wanting to have anything to do with the situation
Grasp
"!!!"
Something cold yet warm grabbed his shoulders with Intense force and its nails started to dig into the flesh at the same time.
Cale tried to desperately break free from its grasp but-
"Kugh!"
It only gripped him even harder and even more than before, almost as if telling that his efforts to escape its grasp were futile.
A searing pain coursed and vividly felt throughout the shoulders shoulders making Cale's body move even more erratically than before, desperate to escape,knowing that his life was In danger.
"Grd!!!"
Cale held a scream in, red fluid flowed from his lips
He bit down on his lip so hard not wanting to let out a scream that blood started flowing out of it
'Damn it! Damn it! Shit!'
Curses flung to the air, reaching to no one's ears, Cale started trembling and his very heart started beating louder and louder by the second Increasing In Intensity but, he also saw the pitch black lines were dead silent at the situation.
'Damn it! Why isn't my ability working?!'
Cale didn't have any time to worry why his ability to sense Imminent threat aiming to take his life wasn't working
The only thing he knew for sure was that he had done the one thing the letter told not to do and blindly believed his ability would sense the danger and allow to avoid it ahead of time
[...]
The strange sludge kept looking at Cale with a curious expression.
Until it opened its mouth and said something that made Cale's brain stop working for a little while and stay in a dazed like state.
[Friend?]
It said to Cale whilst tilting its head with curiosity in Its hoarse but bleeding voice