The air around the prison cells was eerily quiet, all the chained students woke up when Carcel and Tray made a ruckus.
At first when they opened their eyes in an unfamiliar place they were shocked and dread clenched their hearts but after spending a few hours inside the prison cells they looked a lot calmer now.
A few injured students were lying on the cold ground. Carcel and Alec both stood while grabbing the metal bars. Their breath hitched when they saw the blue-robed Professor who was chained up in the last cell.
The Professor shook his head with a grim expression. His name was Oliver, he was one of the oldest and most loyal professors working in the academy.
When he was selected to go to the tournament with the Vice Principal he was happy beyond means because he was only (S)-Rank not like those young strong Professors but alas who could have thought something like this would happen.
Oliver pointed at the black-haired youth lying opposite him. He winced slightly because the black chains around his wrists were thicker than the kids.
"Even though he is in my cell I can't touch him because he is too far away and the chains are stopping me from any excess movement. I can sense he is breathing but no matter how much I call he isn't waking up."
Oliver eyed the few youths who were clinging to the metal bars with frustrated expressions. He sighed.
"Kids don't worry I know I am not useful right now but I will do my best to protect you all until the Academy sends reinforcement."
Alec sucked in a cold breath. He gazed at Kyle with narrowed eyes.
"Why isn't he waking up..?"
He said with a slightly agitated voice and looked at the prison cells. Each cell had two people tied up inside with chains.
"Damn it!"
Alec cursed and looked at the system notification. It had been five hours since he woke up in this place and the system wasn't useful at all. He used the system appraisal function on the chains but got nothing.
The chains were made of a special material called 'Lethrial'. They were usually used on dangerous criminals to seal their mana and strength, making them the same as any other normal unawakened human.
Alec took a deep breath and looked at everyone.
"Do any of you have any hidden artifacts that can help us?"
No one replied but then one of the girls wearing the third-year uniform looked at Alec with a frown.
"I only had one Artifact and it was in my storage ring. Just like me, the others would have probably put their Artifacts in the rings as well. No one would carry them around because it's a hassle. The only thing we can do is wait for the person who imprisoned us here. Maybe we can trick them and escape...."
Her sentence was cut short when the boy standing inside the cell opposite to her spoke with an anxious voice.
"Jenny, just how would we trick them? Our mana is sealed. I can't even fight a lower (F-)-Rank monster with my current strength!"
The girl named Jenny gritted her teeth. Her long pink hair was tied up in a ponytail and her olive-colored eyes were fuming with anger.
"So what should we do Linzi? Should we wait for them to kill us all?"
Her loud voice resounded everywhere and Linzi shut his mouth. He was a silent boy who liked peace. In his whole life, he was carefree but after hearing that the famous Principal would give personal training sessions to the ones who fought in the tournament, he worked hard for the first time in his life but now he regrets everything!
Blane who was sitting behind Jenny pinched his nose. His round glasses were nowhere to be found maybe they dropped when the Teleportation Array was broken.
"I don't think we should fight with each other in this situation. The Academy with probably send reinforcement. We are all the top students how can they just leave us all to die here in this dark place?"
He spoke with a calm tone and stood up. Blane looked at Professor Oliver and opened his mouth to say something but a small movement behind the Professor caught his attention.
"Kyle is waking up?"
He mumbled but almost all the chained students heard him. They all turned around and stared at the black-haired youth who was finally moving after so long.
Alec and Carcel looked at each other and sighed with relief. It was fine as long as they were all alive.
Mia stood up and walked to the metal bars while dragging the chains tied to her wrists.
"I hope he is fine. I didn't see Bia...."
She whispered and gazed outside. She wasn't able to see Kyle but her gaze lingered around the long road present between the two rows of prisons.
On the other hand, Kyle opened his eyes with a groan. Everything was foggy but when he moved his hand to rub his eyes he felt the weight around his wrists.
"?"
His expression hardened when the memories of the event that transpired before he disappeared within the Array appeared in his mind.
Kyle's half-opened eyes widened as he dragged his lower body to sit up straight and looked around.
'Bia...? Bia...?'
He forgot to breathe for a second when he saw Professor Oliver chained opposite to him. His emotionless gaze traveled to the metal bars, gazing outside he saw many familiar faces. All of them were chained and from the look of it, he was the last person to wake up.
Seeing Kyle's eyes, Carcel shouted with a tinge of worry in his voice.
"Are you alright? Can you hear me?"
Kyle didn't reply and closed his eyes for a second. He wanted to arrange his thoughts.
When the Teleportation Array was activated, his mind was a little hazy.
He wanted to activate the skill 'Instant teleportation' but he knew his body would have shredded into many pieces the moment he used that skill inside the activated Teleportation Array.
He had been learning about Arrays so he knew very well about the consequences of his actions. Also, even if he succeeded and used the skill to escape what about Bia and the others?
'I can only use the Teleportation skill on myself. Bia would have disappeared within the Array!'
Kyle took a deep breath and stood up, he gazed outside.
"Where are we? Does anyone have any idea?"
With a sigh, Alec shook his head.
"No, but we are underground. It's been five hours but no one come here to check on us."
