Chapter 84: Double the guards

Having been woken twice already, Syno had decided to move back to his room, not wanting to be interrupted again.

Even then he felt like he had felt something weird earlier, just when he woke up, as if there was something familiar.

But he wasn’t able to grasp it, and even then, the presence instantly disappeared, leaving no trace behind.

Maybe he had just imagined all of it; he had been pretty tired, and there were so many magical presences on the boat it was hard to tell them apart.

He also felt bad for probably waking Steven when he was kidnapped towards this place.

Such a powerful student surely had noticed someone enter their room even if they weren’t there for him.

Overall he wasn’t sure how to think about his roommate at all.

For the first few weeks he had hated him, blaming him for his former roommates’ death.

But getting to know Steven closer, he had realized something was not adding up; he didn’t seem like the kind of person letting anyone die for no reason.

He was also a battle maniac, so it was most unlikely Steven would’ve been unwilling to fight the intruder of the last event.

He was almost sure Ms. Trellen had chosen Steven as the black sheep to take all the blame on himself or something close to it.

The only thing nagging him was why Steven would ever agree to a humiliation like this, taking him weeks to barely restore some of his honor.

He was sure Steven actually liked it up at the diamond dorms, from just how he spoke about the people there.

He wasn’t able to compare to them at all, being just a lonely commoner in the Sapphire class, not even having enough friends to talk about relationship problems.

Even if Stevens’s views were sometimes a bit strange, he had never failed to tell him advice meant from the heart.

Without him he would’ve never dared to approach Ami at all, even when his efforts had failed until now.

Maybe he won’t wake him the next time to be harsh when almost this is over and try to get a coffee with Ami.

Suddenly a guard hurried past him, whispering something. "Really an intruder again?"

As Syno span his head towards the guard already down the hallway, Syno was lost in thought.

He should probably return to his room; the guards will handle it easily.

But even when trying to convince himself his legs were already moving, he followed the guard quickly.

The remaining awake students on the main deck were quickly signalled to move away towards their rooms.

"Everyone go to your rooms!" One guard yelled towards a group of students who only laughed.

"We were told we are allowed to be here by Professor Alem." One of the students tried debating.

With a flash, the guards stood beside them, holding a short sword in their hands. "I said in your room now, this isn’t a drill."

Scaring the student who turned confused towards his group as each of them slowly stepped out of the way.

Watching them return to their rooms, Syno still followed the guard, who gave him an irritated gaze but didn’t say anything.

As more and more guards gathered in front of a random room, Syno stayed a few steps back, watching them blowing it open.

"Surrender yourself and everything will be fine," one guard yelled while entering as the first person.

As the ground slowly followed him inside, Syno was able to get a quick gaze inside.

The room was destroyed, and the bed shattered into pieces, with a giant cut stretching over a whole wall.

"It’s empty; the target has escaped. " One guard announced while stepping outside the room.

A sudden small quavk made Syno turn around, as behind him stood the giant of diamonds.

Wait, why was Qwenz here? Syno jumped back combat-ready. Was he the intruder?

But his calm demeanor and the lacking reaction of the guards made him overthink the situation.

"Told you he would be gone before you people arrive." Qwenz spoke, his voice deep as the ocean below them.

"Who did you say had entered your room and attacked you, Mr. Qwenz?" One guard spoke while controlling the rooms beside the initial target.

"No idea he was wearing a mask and speaking weird things." Qwenz had taken a long time to answer, as if he had been thinking about it beforehand.

The giant finally spared him a glance as Syno took an unconscious step back. "What’s he doing here? Isn’t he a normal participant?"

As the guards followed Qwenz’s gaze onto him, Syno wanted to explain, but someone cut him off.

A masked guard spoke with an unnatural voice, "He’s just here to be able to tell the other students everything is fine." The guard defended him.

As the glance slowly moved away, Syno felt like a boulder had been lifted from his shoulders. "Yeah, we don’t want a panic with the students, right?"

He asked, but nobody was paying him any attention anymore, only continuing their search.

"The window is open." One of the guards spoke as another moved next to him. "Yeah, he most likely climbed outside."

"Then let’s split up; we can’t risk trying to fool us." Another guard added as they quickly moved away.

Leaving only him and Qwenz behind, who just waited for everyone to get away before grabbing Syno by the throat.

"You’re part of this, aren’t you?" The giant whispered into his face as Syno was trying to breath.

"I have... No idea what you’re talking about..." He tried to speak, but his voice came only out in pieces.

As Qwenz’s grip tightened, Syno’s vision started to blur into the darkness.

Where was everyone? Why is nobody stopping the maniac? Syno could only pray for help, standing no chance in combat.

Suddenly a singular masked guard returned through the corridor, staring their way.

But Qwenz didn’t stop; he was still trying to gain information from Syno, who could barely think anymore.

As the guard flash stepped forward directly beside Qwenz, who looked slightly confused, and with a strike to the giant’s arm, he dropped Syno to the ground.

Grasping for air, Syno crawled forward towards the room, trying to gain distance from Qwenz.

But the giant had already lost his focus on him completely; instead, he was inspecting the guard standing between the two.

As with a thunder strike, both of their fists connected, sending them stumbling backwards.

Qwenz let out a Titanic laugh. "I knew I had felt this presence before, Professor Alem."

Syno stared at them in shock as the guard lowered his shoulder, pulling off his mask.

Revealing his defensive magic teacher below. "You’re a good kid if you were just a little nicer." The teacher scolded the giant.

But Qwenz didn’t seem to care too much about it at all. "You’re just too nice to your students, Professor. How will they ever become strong?"

But Alem shook his head in disappointment while he turned towards Syno, tending towards him. "Are you fine, Syno? Looked like he got you pretty hard."

He had a genuine sympathetic glance while inspecting Syno’s throat for any real damage. "How did you even know it was me?" The professors asked casually while casting a healing spell on Syno.

The giant stared at them, only answering after a bit of thinking. "Earlier you had already helped this guy out once and then returned a second time? Who else would do that?"

But Alems’ gaze quickly changed to something more serious. "What do you mean earlier I had been in my room until now getting ready?"

Syno slowly grew pale. What were they talking about, and what was the professor preparing for?

"Wait, I am not following. What is going on?" He finally dared to ask, but Alems avoided his glance.

"Nothing for the likes of you to worry about." The teacher finally answered, pulling something from his pockets.

"Want some water?" Alem quickly added, holding a bottle towards Syno. "It will be good for your throat."

Quickly accepting the kind gesture, he greedily drank a big sip, still staring at the serious people in front of him.

"That should knock him out for now; get him back to his room... softly." Alem suddenly spoke, rising to his legs.

As he turned away from Syno, whose world had already begun to spin. "What... What is happening?" He tried to speak, but it had become impossible.

Only seeing Qwenz grab him by his side, carrying him like a sandbag, but his grip wasn’t as extreme as before.

His consciousness slowly faded away, not even able to understand the conversation between Alem and Qwenz.

Slowly drifting to sleep.

He had already forgotten why he had been here.

No, he had been inside the room the entire time.

As the cold sleep finally caught on to him.

He could feel himself land on a hard bed mattress.