Chapter 4: Chapter 4 – Back to School?

A figure is seen standing above a hill. With a white sweater and black shorts, Noah stared at a behemoth the size of a skyscraper.

He raised his hand, and a white fire capable of burning the Earth came out. It rose into the sky, then formed into a phoenix figure and flapped its wings. The divine looking beast screeched at the monster before him. In response, the mandibles of the monster moved as a ghastly roar shook the mountains and the broken buildings around them.

Noah then pointed at the behemoth before him, and the white phoenix flew out.

In turn, the monster used his twenty claws to split the fire beast.

When the two attacks met, light consumed all the surroundings, and a tremendous explosion rocked the battlefield.

The light dimmed, revealing a hole around two kilometers in diameter.

Above, Noah levitated in the air. Around him, a layer of viscous white liquid that was alternating between transparent and opaque coated him. Upon closer look, the layer of liquid burnt everything that came close to its cone shape.

Crumble. A humongous figure jumped out of the crater, revealing the monster. Its face riddled with burn marks. Its two claws were broken, while another one had minor cracks. The monster turned its body.

This time, it was the first to attack. A dark liquid came out of its mouth. Freezing the air around it and wilting the surrounding plants. They decomposed so fast that by the time the liquid reached them; they were already gone.

Noah chuckled and pointed at the monster. Soon, white fire enveloped the world and formed into phoenixes. They then attacked the dark liquid that the monster sent.

Sounds of explosion resounded on the battlefield. His phoenixes burnt the liquid, scattered it, evaporated it. The monster watched as its attack disappear and soon, it took on his attacks.

When the attacks ended, the ground was peppered with large holes.

Suddenly, Noah flew far from the ground. Lest he give the monster another chance to attack him first.

On the ground, the monster burst out of the Earth. One of its left hands was dangling almost to the point of coming off. Another one of its right hands had its palm burnt, but only some of its claws were broken. The rest were fine.

The surface it was standing on turned into dust as it bent its legs and flew up.

A smile appeared on Noah’s face. Gotcha! His arm shined silver as he punched out.

The monster suddenly felt itself bump into an invisible wall. It clamped the wall with its claws, trying to tear it off, but it failed.

Suddenly, the invisible wall pushed down, and the monster stamped the ground with its body. It roared to break free from the suppression with its shockwaves. The pressure eased for a moment, but the oppression came back and the monster was slammed to the ground once more. It raised its limb to overcome the wall with physical strength, but the arms and legs easily fell to the ground the moment it came up.

Of course, Noah would not give the monster time to stand. While the monster was trying to recover, he cast a lightning spear and grabbed it. When someone looks from afar, they will see countless lightning from the sky and come together to form a spear. Then, the lightning deity hovering above held the spear with his bare hands.

Noah threw the condensed lightning at the lying monster. As the spear touched it, divine retribution came. Lightning torched the neck of the monster, its flesh disintegrated, and eventually head plopped off to the ground.

But it was not yet finished.

The base of the neck bubbled, and flesh formed. However, lightning kept destroying the monster’s other organs, and prevented it from regenerating a new head.

After the lightning attack disappeared, all that’s left of the monster was its severed head and the claws on its limbs.

Above, in the skies, Noah checked its remaining parts. Good. Extra dead.

He flew down to the monster’s head. He wanted to present it to the survivors of this wretched city, so it could quell their hatred and sorrow.

When suddenly, Noah felt the monster's eye aimed at him. “Hey.” A rough voice came out of nowhere.

I’ve been tricked!

His eyes widened in surprise and he immediately distanced away from the monster. He sent barriers upon barriers on himself, while he focused on another spell. As he stared at the monster, he realized the monster’s eyes were emitting a strange light.

Shit. He thought as he closed his eyes before the light reached him. When he opened them, Noah saw James’ worried face.

“You’re finally awake. Were you having nightmares?” James removed his hands from Noah’s shoulders.

“Ah. Yeah, something like that.” Noah placed a palm on his face and sat on his bed.

“Same, I had a nightmare last night too.” James said.

Noah could feel sadness in his tone. Ah, we’re still here. So, this one isn’t a dream. We literally got sent to the future.

“Anyway, did Javier come?” He said in a higher tone.

“Yeah, he told me to wake you up. We’re going to the Mage Association Tower.”

“Okay.” Noah nodded.

They left their room and headed to the middle of the compound.

In the centre was the headquarters where the squad leaders and higher-ups stay. Noah and James asked the officer in front of the building for Squad Leader Javier. Soon, he came out of the building. He picked one of the unused vehicles and drove to the Mage Tower.

“The Earth Council and the Mage Association usually work in different buildings. However, in times of crises, they will work together to manage their city and plan the mage expeditions.” Javier slowly swung the handle, and the vehicle turned to the left.

Noah and James looked out of the window. Then they saw the seventy-five-story tower in its entirety. With sunlight shining on the blue glass panels it revealed the building with thick formation lines. Massive helipad-like structures can be seen on some floors. At the top, a doughnut-shaped formation glowed as a metal beam stretched from its middle out into the skies.

“Why are they even separate if they could work together? Can they just form into one organization?” James said as he faced the old captain.

Javier shrugged. “The Earth Council manages humanity itself, while the Mage Association plans anything magic related. For example, the council does city planning, food distribution, basically anything from cities to countries or even continents. While the Association does extermination missions on known monster habitats or the city's magic formations. In short, the Earth Council does the internal part, while the Mage Association does the external affairs. They only work together for an important event such as this city, getting attacked by a monster horde and doing recovery missions.”

“One focuses on internal affairs, and the other external.” Noah said with a smile.

“Maybe someday you will become a pillar of humanity and do those things.” Javier smiled. Powerful individuals sit at the peak, and a Transported definitely has the capabilities to reach that height.

“I wish.” Noah laughed. As if. I’m going to learn magic and kill monsters all day and night!

They parked the vehicle when they reach the tower and went to the entrance. One receptionist asked about their purpose for visiting.

“I am the twenty-third Patrol Squad leader, Javier. We have a meeting with Mr. Garcia today.” Javier said.

The lady nodded and checked the register. She then picked up the phone and dialed the person’s address. Afterwards, she talked to who Noah assumed was Mr. Garcia.

Doing another nod, she lowered the phone. “Mr. Garcia is waiting for you on the fortieth floor in room 40F1.”

They left the reception area and headed for the elevator. Along the way, they would see people streaming in and out of the building. Some would even skitter past them and just run up the stairs. Mages have enhanced bodies so they wouldn’t even sweat when going up thirty floors of a building.

Moreover, Noah noticed thousands of people currently on the first floor. He wondered how many are on the upper floors. Seventy five thousand? Maybe a hundred?

Javier and the other two rode the elevator and headed to the meeting room. Knocking on the door, the three heard an energetic but low voice call out from the room. “Come in.”

When they entered, they saw a bronze-skinned man. His height matched Javier's as they came face to face. He placed his tea on the table beside him, then stretched out his arms and hugged Javier. “It’s been a while!”

“Rome, it has been a while.” Javier hugged him back. Turning around, he swung his palm to the front and introduced the two.

“This is Noah and James. They were the two Transported I talked about last night.”

“Yes. Hi, I am TRIS Superintendent Rome Garcia. Nice to meet you.” Rome extended each of his hands to Noah and James.

Both shook his hands and introduced themselves.

“What is TRIS?” Noah asked.

“About that." He paused. "Ever since the birth of the magic, the Earth Council has been preparing for your arrival. Then about a hundred years ago, the council activated the initiative. That meant the creation of another bureau to rescue them and have them adjusted to their new home, which was the Transported Search and Rescue Initiative or TRIS for short…”

“They have informed me of your identities. Welcome to the future Earth.” Rome spread his arms to do a welcoming signature. He placed his hands on the few folders on the table, letting out a long exhale before speaking.

“In here is the information of your families as well their wills. Your friends are also included in the other folder. You may choose to open the files right now, or you can wait to open them in a more private space."

He paused and said to the two with a solemn expression. "I know it has been hard on you ever since coming here, but we are here to help and do whatever you need.” He pushed it closer to the two.

With trembling hands, James lifted it off the table.

-

Noah raised his hand, only for it to come back down. Eventually, he grabbed it.

Despite thinking for a long time, he still didn't want to open the folder. He didn’t want to know what happened to his family. His father, mother, sister, and two brothers. His friends. He couldn’t bear to see the deceased word beside their names.

Anybody wouldn't.

He trembled, and clenched his hand.

...

However, even if he opened it later, the result will still not change for him. So, there's only one choice.

He held his breath and opened it.

..

Deceased…

Deceased…

Deceased… Deceased… Deceased…

…

Tears stained the printed paper. Noah’s red eyes stared at the other section of the folder.

His friends…

…

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Deceased…

…

Deceased…

“Haah.” He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to believe the information, but reality can be absurd sometimes.

Rome’s hand touched his shoulders. Noah looked up with his scrunched, pained face. “It’s okay to let it out.” Rome rested Noah’s head on his shoulders. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you.”

Noah's shoulder slumped as he leaned on Rome's stature. The latter's clothes became wet.

 

---

 

Meanwhile, James was already being consoled by Javier. When Noah was hesitating, James opened his folder.

He wanted to know about his family, his friends, and his girlfriend.

His family… Deceased.

His friends… Deceased.

His girlfriend… Married someone… Deceased.

He looked at Noah. He could see his red eyes staring at his own files. He could see from those eyes that Noah’s experiencing the same thing. Pain. An excruciating pain of someone had their loved ones stolen.

James couldn’t bear it, so he abruptly stood up and left the room the get some air. Javier noticed and followed him.

“It’s fine to weep. We're here for you.” Javier passed some water to him, who accepted it. He drank it and hugged Javier.

He too wept.

 

…

 

Time passed; Noah calmed down. James and Javier also went back to the room.

They inspected the folder once more. Their families left their will. Noah got a house, and some cash, while James received a massive amount of cash.

Other than that, there was also information about their living relatives albeit distant ones.

At this moment, Rome spoke up. “There are also video recordings given by your close ones. Follow me.” The two grabbed their folders, and they went into another room in the building.

It was a massive room on the corner of the floor. Mini rooms populated the entire area. It seems they used the room for video calling, or maybe some kind of recreation area.

“Pick the two rooms at the end of the hall, so that no one would bother you,” Rome said as he shooed away anyone close to the two rooms.

Before going inside, he gave the two their own registered accounts that are bound to their identities. The two were surprised, seeing their old accounts hadn’t been deleted since they disappeared.

Then the two picked their rooms and opened their computers. The first thing Noah saw was the date.

August 26, 3018. About 973 years, huh? His mind became blank. A sense of dreadfulness spread once more on his body. His body became sluggish, as his chest heaved up slowly. Then it came back down, with his already battered mind.

He sighed. There's nothing I can really do, right? Heh..

He opened the file storage. There comprises several videos he recorded with his family and friends. He played one of them.

The video player showed himself smiling at the screen. “Hey, Isabelle. Look, it's Alex Miller!” He turned the camera to the stage. “Sucks to be you, stuck at home. HAHAHAHA!”

Noah closed the player.

He looked for the Transported folder Rome mentioned. Hovering at it, he couldn’t help but hesitate again. He knew his family must be distressed when he was taken. Even he would have the same feelings if, by any chance, one of his siblings disappeared.

He took in a deep breath. Click.

Twenty-four videos can be seen. He opened the first one.

His whole family faced him. Their clothes are wet as they smiled at the camera. His mother was the first to speak. “Hello, Noah. They said you would receive this after a thousand years, so we’re recording this for you… sob.” He knew her mother had more things to say, but maybe it overwhelmed her at the thought of losing her child.

His dad wiped her crying face with his hand. While his younger sister spoke next and clenched her fists, “I hope you’re doing fine there. Alex Miller said that he regretted sending people first without letting them know…” She was keeping a cute smile, but Noah knew was grieving too.

“But he said that in the future, the world may fall into the hands of monsters, so he sent groups of people to defend humanity. I think it’s bullshit…”

“Anyway, good luck, brother.” She smiled, but her face didn’t look happy.

Next was his father, who had already calmed down his weeping mom. “They said what I wanted to say. Well, even if I’m not there to remind you, remember to stay safe. I love you, son.”

Despite his father not showing emotions, he knew he must also be conflicted and confused about the current situation. After all, his father would always come up with a way to console him when he had problems. They bonded so much; they instantly knew each other’s thoughts.

Next were his brothers Henry and Henri. Both are kids who are in the prime age of eighth-grade syndrome. All they were saying was that big brother is going to become a hero like S*perm*n.

Noah smiled. At least they lifted everyone’s spirits as they all laughed.

He closed the file and opened the next one.

“Brother, don’t go around offending people. They could be a young master and might beat you up.” The smirking Isabelle warned him.

“Bullshit!”

Next!

Some videos were his family checking in. So, Noah would not feel lonely.

A few times it is Isabelle and his two brothers getting fed by their elder sister’s antics like generic cultivation stuff and no touching women because he’ll get a harem. What?

He also found two videos of his friends consoling him and playing jokes with each other.

However, there were videos where his siblings told him about their parent’s death.

It damped his mood; however, he already expected it.

He closed the folder and looked at his past videos. He and his family going to the beach. Partying with his friends. Attending a cousin’s wedding.

..

At some point in time, he went out of the room and saw the other three waiting for him.

He noticed James silently staring outside. Noah knew he needed to give him some space, so he just kept quiet.

They met up and got some food first before continuing their business.

Just eat all these sad things away, they said.

 

…

 

Noah and James sat in front of Rome, while Javier lay on the couch playing some magic tricks.

“Well then. Next, you will attend an academy for the Transported.” Rome handed them another folder.

“What kind of academy?” James had to ask.

“Magic, of course. I know that look that a Transported make when they see magic. You can't hide it well.” Noah wanted to slap that smug off his face. But he was quarter right, so he didn’t. Maybe three-fourths right. Okay, a hundred.

Soon, smiles bloom across their faces.

Ah, magic. Hehehe.

Rome, noticing the ‘I can’t wait’ face, continued. “In there, you will learn about history when you were gone, some changes in standard of living, and of course, learning magic.”

“… But, you will have to fly to the United States since that’s where the academy resides. So, you better say goodbye to the people you met in this city.” He picked up his lukewarm tea on the table.

Then his right hand turned red. Soon, the tea started boiling, then calmed down. He smiled at the two, before drinking in.

This motherfucker!

Looking at the blatant use of magic to tease them. Both wanted to smack that grin off Rome’s face.

 

…

 

They talked for a few moments, clarifying anything to know about the flight. Afterward, they went down the tower. And headed to the squad barracks.

It is time to say goodbye to his newfound friends.

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