OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 357: Field Trip To Life II

Chapter 357: Field Trip To Life II

?

That was, more or less, the collective reaction of every student in the class. Beyond confusion and shock.

But eventually, they all processed his words, and chaos erupted as a result.

"Field trip?!... This early?"

"You idiot! It's Prof. Emir; you know that it's not going to be a normal field trip."

"He said we're going to learn about life, the hell does that mean?"

"Dunno, probably ruin diving, but yeah, it sounds exciting!"

"I know right?! I didn't leave the sector for so long!"

"Isn't it too early though? It's too dangerous."

"Shuddup! He didn't confirm that, so don't jump to conclusions."

"Yeah, besides, that's what I want!"

"Right. And if we can't handle it, the professor will definitely step in."

This excitement was not only felt by the 'unnamed;' even the 'named' caused a commotion.

After all, the lack of experience outside the sector's safety wasn't a problem reserved only for those without money or privilege.

They, who had too much money and privilege, couldn't go outside either. Their importance mandated that.

It was too dangerous and would be a hotspot for kidnappings to take place.

The four heads might've been a little lenient before, but not now, especially not after what happened with Aria.

"Elijah! Why didn't you tell me about this?!"

"Who told you that I knew?! It surprised me as much as it did you!"

"Don't lie, you cursed piece of shit."

"Yeah, yeah, piss off. What do you think, Sofia?"

"... It sounds good."

"He said life, right? So this is totally my thing. I'm so gonna win this time, Aria!"

"Try your best."

"Let's all do our best!"

"Shut up! You cringy ass bastard!"

Aria, Elijah, Max, Sofia, Ava, and Xavier Jr. talked among themselves, sitting next to each other in the back of the classroom.

Out of the 'named' only Arthur and Quinn remained silent, sitting at each corner of the classroom, their eyes staring daggers at Emir.

Even without hearing their reactions, he knew what they felt, what their thoughts were.

One wanted to prove herself, as she, like the rest, knew what his 'field trip' would entail while the other simply hated him. An emotion sprouted from envy.

The golden-eyed boy was iffy about going to a ruin, feeling slight trauma as he had almost died in one, so he internalized that feeling and combined it with what preexisted.

A life of mediocrity, a childhood cut short, a family estranged, bullies who gave him no break, and a Professor who was the walking and living example of what was promised to him.

The envy, the anger, and the trauma, a recipe for disaster.

With a splash of manipulation from his two trusted 'reincarnates,' what he felt for the Professor turned into hate.

A burning hatred that was fueled each time the Professor even spoke.

It was laughable how easy it was to manipulate his emotions but Emir didn't find it funny.

That dumbass was once the protagonist of his story... he only felt shame.

'It's fine... the past is the past. I'm not the same as I was a week ago, never mind fifteen years.' Taking his attention away from him, he looked back at the students, studying their eyes. 'Hm.'

...They were ready.

Though not sure what was in store for them, they knew that it involved the blood and guts of monsters.

To others, that might've sounded like a nightmare, and to some students, it did, but most of them wanted that nightmare, starved of true combat.

They wanted to test their mettle in the real world, not in a safe environment or against professors who held back all their strength.

And Emir was about to provide that exact need.

But before that, he brought up a reward that the students most likely forgot about in all their hype:

"A few of you might still remember that I promised to teach the top three about my Pathing technique in today's class."

Sofia perked up at that, apparently harboring doubt about it for a while. Elijah, Aria, and Max looked surprised, their eyes widening.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget, but because of this 'slight' change of plans, I'll have the lesson delayed to the next class as it'll be a regular one. Oh, and it won't only be for you four, I'll teach it to all of you, I just said that back then to encourage you."

The room almost instantly buzzed with a mix of anticipation and relief.

"No way! He's actually going to that for free?"

"That's frickin awesome! I can't wait."

"Man, I was worried he'd forgotten."

"Guess it's our lucky day, huh?"

"We're really going to learn 'that' from him? All of us? This is huge."

"You hear that, Arthur? Even you get a chance," a bully teased with a grin.

Arthur remained silent, but he couldn't hide the flicker of interest that passed through his

eyes.

His system had no such technique in its achievement section.

Quinn, on the other hand, maintained her icy glare, unwilling to show any sign of excitement.

But again, with Sofia as an exception, they were the only two who kept to themselves.

Elijah leaned back in his chair, a smirk playing on his lips.

"As expected, guess I didn't need to work so hard," he said, nudging Aria.

"What do you think?"

Aria, her eyes sparkling with barely concealed excitement, crossed her arms and huffed.

"It's not like I need to learn this stuff or anything..."

She looked away and muttered:

"But, I guess learning how he does it with unlocked abilities might be... interesting, or

whatever."

Ava clapped her hands together, practically bouncing in her seat.

"This is gonna be sooo amazing! Pathing for healers like us is, like, super important, you

know? And the field trip? Omg, it's gonna be perfect!"

She was one of the rare and unfortunate students who somehow believed their field trip

would be considered fun.

"It's a massive opportunity; we won't learn this from anywhere else."

Xavier Jr, gave a thoughtful nod, trying his best to act mature and composed even though he

was burning with happiness deep inside.

"We need to stay focused and take this seriously. If we do, our entire batch will grow into

something more."

His 'sophistication' only sounded cringeworthy to his classmates, however, as they began to

boo him.

"'...'

Sofia, unlike them, remained silent, her expression unreadable. Her eyes, though, betrayed obvious resentment.

She wasn't thrilled about being grouped with everyone else for the lesson.

She recognized the value in what was being offered, more so than the others. Believing that

only worthy people like her deserved to be taught that technique.

But she knew that there was nothing she could do about it.

'I'll prove myself, even if it means playing along with this.' Meanwhile, Emir studied their reactions, his Temporal Perception active, noting their mental

states.

He planned to compare these observations to their post-dive conditions after returning to the academy, while also checking their physical changes and pain tolerance.

This 'pop quiz' wasn't going to be just that; it would also include measuring their Aether control and purity levels, setting a benchmark for them to pass the next time they were

tested.

The purity of their Aether would indicate how much they had cultivated or, more precisely, circulated their Aether. Control, on the other hand, would measure how quickly a Celestial could conjure their abilities.

It would also have acted as a prerequisite for learning how he could optimize and change the

pathing of his abilities.

As of now, he believed that none of the students had obtained that 'prerequisite,' so they had

better hope that this dive would awaken them.

...

'...And that's the last one. It's time to move.'

Once he finished his assessments, he calmed them down and gathered them outside the

Academy, right beside the shopping district.

There, three APCs awaited them, specially provided by the principal himself.

The students entered in a uniform line and acted as if they were actually going on a field trip,

their mood merry.

That gave Emir nostalgia as his fake memories resurfaced, but he ignored that and continued

to usher them in.

When they all took their seats, he entered the driver seat of the first APC and drove forward

with the others trailing behind, using the AI ingrained within them to precisely follow him.

It didn't take long for them to reach the Northern Border and take a brief stop as Emir pulled the vehicles over to the side, just behind the shops.

Half a minute later, five cruisers drove up to them and parked to their left, leaving one light-

armored vehicle at the front.

The LAV's hatch opened with a mechanical whir, lowering to reveal two fully equipped

women, their beauty unmatched by many.

Lyra, with her white hair and red eyes, exuded an aura of a femme fatal even through her augmented suit, which was designed as a black dress that covered her from the tip of her nails to the top of her head with a vest hugging her chest, ending in a cape on her back.

Her dark clothing made her pale face and white hair stand out even more, accentuated by the

blade gauntlets protruding from each hand, which absorbed the surrounding light with their dark, ominous sheen.

Kiera, with her glowing blue eyes, was as focused as a blade, clutching her assault rifle.

She, unlike the one next to her, had the default appearance of the augmented suit on display,

a black overall that had a mechanical spine on the back and joints.

Taking a saluting position, they bellowed:

"Awaiting orders Sir!"