Aeren spent the entire night on the moon. He was disappointed by the creatures he found there, as they lacked the powerful, intelligent nature he had hoped for. He was, however, intrigued by another discovery.
The moon's "Mark," which gave him information about the moon, was fundamentally similar to the academy's "System." Aeren began to suspect that the creator of the System and the Mark were one and the same person.
The mana on the moon was far denser than on the 'Pearl' planet, which helped Aeren absorb it at a much faster rate. This rapid absorption caused all of his internal organs to be blasted to nothing, and Aeren briefly went unconscious.
Yet, due to his research and experiments on the monsters and his unique skills, he was able to adjust to the new environment and survive.
When Aeren returned to the academy for his next lecture, he was shocked to find that half of the campus was destroyed and some students had died from a distant shockwave.
The students did not die within the academy's main buildings. Those inside were protected by Principal Valerius Vale's barrier, but anyone outside was not saved by either Valerius or the System.
Top classes like B, A, and S had been given rooms inside the academy, so they were all protected by the Principal. However, from classes C and D, half of the student population was gone.
From C-class, Lyra Vex and Fred Dess were gone. Aeren had met them before and had been in the same class. They did not go to Aeren's café, but to one nearby, and disappeared in an instant. Kael had just wanted to meet Aeren, but he died before he got the chance.
The whispers told of students spending time at a café close to Aeren's who all vanished without a trace. The total number of people who died was still unknown. The academy had now provided rooms for the remaining students in classes D and C, as seeing the destruction, they had no other choice. News also began to spread that there would be new admissions soon.
Valerius Vale arrived at the place of destruction with a royal guard and his daughter, Serenya. He looked around and said to the head guard,
"What happened here? The mana feels unstable, as if a new type of mana was born here." Valerius waved his hand in the thin air to check the mana wavelength, but he found nothing.
The guard looked around and saw the empty land. Nothing remained in a range of fifty kilometers. The guard then looked at the center of the ground, where a destroyed hole lay. The hole was even more desolate than the surrounding area.
"It's hard to describe what happened here," the guard said, taking measurements. "This hole looks like there's no life at all."
"Father, how many people survived here?" Serenya asked curiously.
"Not a single person was able to survive here," Valerius said with a voice full of regret. "Those who did survive were too far away to have seen anything." He wished he had given those students rooms inside the academy so he could have saved them.
Serenya looked at her father and asked another question. "How many people survived who lived here?" Serenya had heard that there were a few survivors from the area.
"There are a few," Valerius said with interest. "The most shocking thing is that the owner of this very spot is still alive. No one knows if it's due to luck or something else."
"Who is the owner of this place?" the guard asked, his tone both curious and serious.
"Hmm, he's a student at my academy. We'll speak to them later. First, we need to find evidence from this place," Valerius said with annoyance. He couldn't understand how someone could have fought here without him sensing a single thing, especially since it was so close to the academy and to him.
"But Father, there's nothing to be found here," Serenya said helplessly. "It's empty, and the unstable mana surrounding this place and the mana shockwave has destroyed your mana barrier of academy."
The guard looked at the father and daughter with a knowing smile. The power shown here was something that even the three strongest beings in the Verdias kingdom couldn't sense. It was far more serious than the royal family had initially thought.
"Let's find the people from this zone," the guard said politely to Valerius and Serenya.
"Yes, we don't have anything here to begin with, so let's find those students and ask them about this place," Valerius said with an irritated tone.
Serenya looked at her father, unsure of how to help him. She then asked another question in a curious tone, "Father, do you know any student from this place?"
"Hmm, yes. There's Zenc's house's daughter, Adelind. And one more person I know, but I can't remember," Valerius said. He then thought for a moment and said, "Oh, yes. Uria, who also lived here for a while. She was lucky enough to be allocated a room inside the academy."
"Who is Uria?" the guard asked with curiosity.
Valerius looked back at the guard and said,
"She's not that important. She's in B-Class, and her performance was good enough to get a rank in the top 100. That's why she survived; otherwise, she might have died here." Valerius said this without a serious tone.
The guard and Serenya both nodded. They had heard of Adelind, who was a genius among geniuses.
If not for Lira, Adelind would have had a chance to compete for first place. They had both heard of Adelind, but they had never heard the name Uria before and didn't think she would be important.