Ephurium

Chapter 7

Stella's point of view

It had been a long time since the hijack and kidnap happened in my classroom. But surprisingly, hostages like me weren't even treated like the typical hostages but rather like close family members. So far, no one had been purposely injured or created conflict in my sight - even the shopkeepers gave advice to their customers as if they were advisories instead of their actual job.

I sat up on my bed and pulled the bedsheets over me as the calm moonlight penetrated through my bedroom curtains. I wondered how everyone was since Jace's presence interfered with the escape plan from a week ago disassembled the entire group we created with our classmates and several other mages.

Suddenly, someone knocked on my front door. Clearly indicated from the sound, the guest outside was very anxious and desperate. I immediately scrambled off the bed and put on a thick leather jacket over my casual shirt and shorts. Rushing to the entrance of my house, I opened the door.

Out of the blues, a blast of fireball aimed straight at me, flying in rapid acceleration, but I negated it with a splash of water. Peering outside, I could see a small gathering of three people who I recognised as my classmates from school. They pulled off their hoods and stared at me with sparkling eyes, probably intrigued by my counterspell.

"Stella! I can't believe we've found you!" Aidan exclaimed as he raced towards me for a hug, but someone else wrestled him to the grass lawn before heading towards me as well.

"Lady Stella, I can see that you are well in condition," Jacob announced in his usual deep voice before fixing his glasses, reflecting the beautiful moonlight and making it flash. "Come with us on a journey to reunite with the rest of the low-lives!"

I gave him an awkward face before nodding with consideration. My elbows were still in the healing process after being bombarded by one of the powerful electric bolts Jace casted on that escape night. They lacked adequate toughness when it came to physical combat, where the range was far too close for any spells.

"Where will our base be?" I asked.

No one replied as I looked at each of their faces before they all looked at each other with a sarcastic smile. I knew they were helpless when it came to strategizing through experience back in school, but when it came to combat, they were guaranteed to be the victors over their opponents from past encounters.

"Do any of you live near here?" I questioned, hoping to establish a new base around this area.

"No," Louise stated as he exhaled and shrugged his shoulders with exhaustion. "We've been walking a lon-"

"We do not live nearby, however, the distance was nothing." Jacob cuts in as he kneels down in front of me and looks down at the ground. "I was thinking about establishing a base near this area for your convenience."

"You guys must be tired!" I giggled with uncontrollable tears coming from my eyes as I helped Jacob off his kneeling position before directing him as well as welcoming the other two into my living room. "Help yourselves while I brew some tea."

They immediately saluted. At the corner of my eyes, I saw Jacob elbowing Aidan to straighten his back. I simply laughed it off and went to boil some water and prepare the green tea leaves. It was always convenient to have companions around me to socialise and share my emotions with. Now that we were gathered as a group of four, there were still six more members to find in order to have a full gathering of my school mates.

I was curious about where Ace disappeared since he possessed a base stat and therefore kidnapped with us as well. I never encountered him since the arrival of the residential island. I remembered that Professor Zayne confidently announced there was one time manipulator with the possession of weak mana inside the mage population, as well as one girl with ash-white hair colour possessing time manipulation when we were in Matthew's gang.