Immediately, the trio ran towards the crowded are in the campus. Each of them split into different directions like the hands of the clock. They dispersed around the campus to avoid any interactions with the anomalies that was entering the real world inside the school through rifts.
Earlier... Before Avery had caught up with Aoife and Mr. Oscar in the most mysterious hallways around the school, the duo were discussing of a specific anomaly that entered the world. The teacher said to Aoife that the astronomers and highly advanced groups were being closer and closer to fully set on foot on the world. Mr. Oscar had been preparing since the very start of the school year knowing that rifts was mainly used to be transported by other anomalies.
However, Aoife was very inexperienced into magic and combat with little knowledge that had been given to her by Kyrie and by her teacher. She still tries to adapt and learn her utilities in mistakes and experiences. She didn't have any hope to herself that she wouldn't get this far into these events occurring into her life. Aoife still questioned herself was she truly meant for this.
Right now, she wants to find that answer by exploring through the vast rifts. But, in the back of her head she still worries about her life and close ones around her. What if she dies...? What if she starts going missing...? That was her problem at the most. Her internal conflicts was going crazy mentally trying to brush off the stress and panic she had.
Aoife told herself before she encountered Avery again in the dark hallway before, she wouldn't be useless anymore... Aoife realized she needed to change her actions, decisions, thinking, mistakes, most of all her morality... Was this the answer to her...? Probably said to her mind...
Meanwhile, that wasn't on her mind anymore. The situation had gone dire currently after being chased by the baffling techy men. Aoife ran and ran across the classrooms until she finally find a hiding spot from the anomalies. She panted and panted, her heart beating each second from the exhausting dashes she's making.
She stopped her sprinting and decelerated her momentum as she slowly approach the abandoned empty classrooms filled with cobwebs, boxes, rusty tables and chairs. She opened the door and shut it with a bang! Aoife cleverly covered the desk she was supposed to hide in with boxes and ducked inside it.
The wind breezes through the window into the dusts of the messy classroom. Her breath was shallow, she bit her fingers trembling. She'd told herself that she wouldn't be useless anymore. That she will change.
But the terror is creeping upon to her bones right now. Her brain shouted a thousand "what-ifs" What if they had caught me...? What if they find me right now...? What happens if I had gone missing today...? What if... I'm not meant for any of this right now...?
Until, it clicked once again to her mind. She remembered it again...
I don't need to be ready. I just have to choose. Every time. Again and again.
Aoife clenched her jaw. She wouldn't run this time. She raises her feet up. Her legs still shook, but this time, Aoife didn't let them stop her. She decided to find the answer-not by being a coward or a weakling, but by taking the situation into her action.
Aoife sneaked to the side of the wall next to the old door.
Thud-Thud-Thud-Thud
She heard the loud footsteps that was rushing close to the classroom. Aoife maintained her calmness, confidence and composure. The loud footsteps finally was next to her until, it was defeated by the utter silence. She noticed the noise was gone, Aoife tried to think critically in this situation to prove her resilience to make herself useful and self-reliant.
Then, the classroom was being shined by the vibrant colors of red and black together. She began to hear whispers against the wall she's leaning toward to.
"Hey, TRICK_512 we must check this classroom, this peculiar place looks suspicious for someone to hide atleast..."
"Sure mate, find what we must find, and once we had seek for what we seek, we destroy what we must destroy."
The crazy men prepared their assault inside the classroom. Aoife wasn't clueless now, she planned something else to trap the careless individuals. As soon as they were about to enter the place, Aoife had already activated her gladius and jumped one of them.
"WHAT THE F-"
Aoife had already pounced over the mysterious looking man that was wearing red goggles with a business suit. The man tried to repel the attack but it was too late. Aoife had already stabbed him deep inside his stomach.
She went in for the kill. She stabbed him every part on his torso with malice, and emotions. After, the final stab to the man's heart, the man coughed up blood into her face blinding her with the nauseous substance into her face. Aoife spat out some blood, but she was distracted.
The man toggled his red goggles and gave himself a weapon. In his hands right now, a dagger was forged with matte-black alloy that absorbs ambient light, giving it a stealthy, ghost-like silhouette when viewed from certain angles. Sleek and aerodynamic, its blade is a seamless fusion of ultralight carbon-titanium weave and a glowing plasma edge, emitting a faint bluish-white shimmer that pulses gently like a heartbeat.
"I'LL GIVE YOU THE SAME TREATMENT...!"
He gripped the dagger steadily and stabbed Aoife in the shoulder and stunned her for a few second making her twitch to the ground. The man gave his final cough of blood and spat to the ground and made a tiny leap to Aoife. Instead, the man was propelled back by the luminescent light from Aoife. She finally controlled her astral magic once in a extreme situation.
The man flung and broke the wall getting knocked out by Aoife. She struggled to coordinate her movements, limping trying to flee the fight she had. Aoife successfully turned to the hallway whilst being injured trying to avoid her own blood trails that can get detected from the other man.
"What happened here...!? No way, TRICK_512 got beaten by an inexperienced creature outside of our rifts..."
Aoife panicked and her the voice of the partner of the strange men going after her. The other man with transparent black goggles tried to find Aoife near the corridor. He was angered by the defeat of his companion and recklessly caused chaos across the hallways that didn't affect the real world yet.
Aoife was tucked into a tight tiny room where no light can reach to find her. She saw the man going crazy and ran going towards the opposite direction. Aoife got lucky that the man in black went past her ensuring her life was still on the line.
She finally gave a hard breath after holding it to be hidden in the room. Aoife looked at her injured shoulder and carefully inspected it. The pain was growing even worse each minute passed by. She moans softly trying to endure the pain.
FUCK... I got myself injured in the first battle.
Aoife had a tough realization about the consequences of fighting in a real battle. She had been gravely injured to her right dominant shoulder. It was stiff like stone, it was stuck like sticking your entire arm to pavement.
The thing is... That man didn't even had any weapon in his hands earlier... What could be his ability...? Was it the goggles that gave those specific powers...?
Aoife thought about goggles giving special abilities to users. However, she hesitated to think about it at first and focused to heal her injury. She checked her uniform's pockets and remembered that Mr. Oscar had also gave her these white bandages.
Oh yeah... I forgot my teacher gave this to me... Better than nothing atleast.
Aoife grabs the bandages from her pocket and gripped it tightly. She stretches the bandage across her arms going towards the shoulder. She placed the bandage in her teeth and gritted aggressively to slice it like a scratch tape. She wrapped the bandage around her right shoulder and tightened with using an overhand.
Aoife felt relief from her doing to her body. She lay on the ground until suddenly she felt something quite not right in her right arm. The wound was instantly healed already from being wrapped around by bandages. It was flexible, sturdy, and was ready to go.
Aoife swings her arm around feeling the fresh shoulder. Then, she looked at the leftover bandages that she used to heal herself. She suddenly, use the bandages and wrap it all over her uniform and body except covering her legs, hands, and face. Aoife was clever, ensuring that the bandages would heal her wounds in an instant no matter the intense damage to her body.
She lifted herself from the ground and leaves the tight room that was keeping her hidden. Aoife checked left and right to see if it was safe to go out. She steps outside of the tight room and sneakily walks in the hallway.
Suddenly, someone was behind her. The large shadow caught Aoife's attention behind her.
"I found her."