However, some things always went beyond expectations. With a loud bang, a huge surge of water suddenly burst up from the ground in front of Evan Bailey and splashed directly onto his face. "Pfft. Damn it, who blew up the sewer?!"
The ground suddenly shook hard, and more than a dozen streams of water burst up from underground. Evan Bailey looked confused and said, "Is this an earthquake?" It was obvious right away that it was not.
A roar came from beneath the ground, and the earth in front of the gates of Emblem Academy began to swell. With a thunderous crash, a huge head pushed out from below, followed by a second massive head, while the rest of the body kept crawling upward. Evan Bailey stared blankly at the enormous body breaking free from the ground.
"Mon... Monster? This is bad, a Monster has entered the city!" Evan Bailey turned to run, but suddenly stopped in place. "Wait, something's off. I'm Ultraman. Why am I running?"
"Right now you can't transform, and even if you could, you'd only be a juvenile Ultraman. I suggest you run anyway, you can't win," System said calmly. "Makes sense. I'm out," Evan Bailey replied, nodding as he lifted his short legs and sprinted away.
Such a huge Monster appearing at the front gate of Emblem Academy was impossible to miss, and alarms rang out across the city at once. The moment it burst from the ground, the creature swung its massive claw at the academy gate. A layer of Barrier Shield appeared and blocked the attack.
With a loud bang, the claw struck the Barrier Shield. The shield trembled briefly, then returned to calm without even a ripple. "Nice, the enemy failed to break my Barrier Shield," Evan Bailey shouted from far away.
Drawn by his voice, the Monster glanced in his direction. Evan Bailey quickly shut his mouth, hunched his neck, and kept running. Luckily, the monster ignored him and continued struggling against the Barrier Shield.
Evan Bailey knew about this layer of Barrier Shield. It had always been there, and without permission, no one could pass through it to enter the academy from outside. Otherwise, he would not have spent so much effort thinking about sneaking in through the front gate, since climbing walls or digging tunnels would not work.
As for why he wanted to enter the academy, the reason was simple. He wanted to grab eggs. The Egg Detector showed that both the quantity and quality of Reward Egg inside the academy were far higher than those outside.
Inside Emblem Academy, atop a tall tower, several figures stood in a top floor room and frowned as they watched the Monster at the gate. Suddenly, the door was pushed open from outside. A woman walked in with a half-burned cigarette in her mouth.
She was the same woman Evan Bailey had met at the gate, and the cigarette was the one she had taken from him. "Academy Head!" "Academy Head, you're here!" The people in the room bowed respectfully.
When they noticed the cigarette at the corner of her mouth, a trace of surprise appeared in their eyes. This was not the brand that Academy Head usually smoked. She walked to the desk, took the cigarette from her mouth, tapped ash into the ashtray, and asked, "What's the situation?"
"Reporting to Academy Head, the monster is a subterranean rock turtle, elite level. The exact reason for its appearance is unknown, and it is currently attacking the gate," said a middle-aged man with glasses as he stepped forward. A tag on his chest read Vice Dean of Instruction.
An elite subterranean rock turtle was not a big problem for people of Emblem Academy. The real issue was how it had slipped past the city's warning system and entered the city at all. If it could appear at the academy gate today, could it show up in your toilet tomorrow while you were using it?
The woman nodded and walked to the window, looking down at the rock turtle still attacking the gate. "Send the fifth-year students. Have the instructors follow them and treat it as a test, with scores based on performance. After it's over, send a summoner instructor to check whether this is someone's contracted beast."
"Yes," the Vice Dean replied, then turned and left to make arrangements. In Cloud City, Emblem Academy was one of the top academies, and an elite Monster was nothing more than practice for students.
Before long, countless figures rushed out from the teaching buildings. Shouts echoed across the campus, full of embarrassing slogans and exaggerated bravado. The woman twitched her lips as she listened.
"It looks like I need the Vice Dean to have a talk with the fifth-year grade head about how they're teaching students," she muttered. Despite the shouting, the fifth-year students did not disappoint her. After just over ten minutes, the subterranean rock turtle let out an unwilling cry and collapsed, covered in wounds.
A summoner instructor stepped forward to check whether the creature was someone else's contracted beast. None of this had anything to do with Evan Bailey. At this moment, he was facing a difficult choice.
On the rock turtle's rear, a Reward Egg had refreshed into existence. A silver Reward Egg. In a life where he could only touch Black Iron Egg every day and occasionally get a Bronze Egg, seeing a silver Reward Egg so close was an overwhelming temptation.
Evan Bailey swallowed. "If I go over now, it shouldn't draw attention, right?" "Bro, go for it. You'll be fine. You're still a kid," System cheered.
Evan Bailey took a step forward. A surprise like this could lead to two outcomes, and this one clearly belonged to the kind that made your heart sink. He finally entered Emblem Academy, but now he could only kneel obediently in the middle of a huge room.
Evan Bailey felt truly foolish. The academy people were not blind, so how could they not notice him. He must have been led astray by System.
System protested that it would not take the blame. "Shut up, shameless old thief," Evan Bailey shot back in his mind.
Around him stood a group of elders who, judging by appearance alone, he could call grandparents. They kept examining him, clicking their tongues now and then. Evan Bailey could tell that their gazes lingered most on the emblem on his left hand.
Was there something wrong with his emblem? He was confused but did not act rashly. He had already tested it, and he could not beat a single one of these old men or women.
"Don't be afraid, we mean no harm," an old man with a white beard said as he squatted in front of Evan Bailey and forced a smile. "Come on, call me big brother." The others fell silent, and even the woman present looked speechless.
Feeling awkward under everyone's stares, the old man stood up and continued circling Evan Bailey. The woman whose chest Evan Bailey had grabbed earlier crossed her arms and watched him with open amusement. Before long, the Vice Dean walked in.
"How did the investigation go?" one of the elders asked. "Well, there is no record of Evan Bailey's identity," the Vice Dean said, casting a complicated look at the child. "That means," the woman continued, "Evan Bailey has no legal identity and no faction affiliation. He is a free individual."
"What an unexpected gain," someone said softly. Everyone turned their eyes to Evan Bailey at once, and their looks made him feel as if green Light Energy were shining from them. His body trembled, and he could not help clenching tightly.
The people surrounding Evan Bailey slowly moved closer, tightening the circle around him. He hugged his body and scooted backward on the floor, eyes darting from face to face. His thoughts were in chaos, and he felt a sharp sense of danger even though nothing had touched him yet.
"W-what are you doing? I'm going to scream!" Evan Bailey said as he shrank back.
"Go ahead and scream. Everyone here is on our side, and even if you shout until your throat breaks, no one will come save you," an old man said with a wide grin, clearly pleased with himself.