"What are these things? Mutant rats?"
Someone in the crowd craned their neck, squinting to get a better look, their voice thick with uncertainty.
"I don't think so. I've seen mutant rats before. They're only slightly bigger than normal ones."
"Even the mutant rats up north aren't as big as the regular rats around here were before the Spiritual Energy Awakening."
"And haven't they already strengthened the rat poison? Mutant rats should still die from it."
The person beside them shook their head, unconvinced.
"Maybe these are the prodigies of the rat world. The kind that eat poison and walk away fine."
"If so, honestly impressive."
Under this kind of ridiculous speculation, the looks they were giving the mutant creatures had somehow shifted toward something resembling admiration.
"Is that really what matters right now?"
"What matters is what we're supposed to do!" someone nearby finally snapped, unable to take the discussion any longer.
"The teachers haven't said anything yet, so what are we supposed to do?" the previous speaker shrugged.
"Besides, they're just rats. What are they actually going to do to us?"
Ye Xuan stayed out of the debate. His eyes were fixed on the creatures, a slight furrow settling into his brow. He could feel the dense Spiritual Energy radiating from their bodies, but it felt different from ordinary mutant creatures. Their energy was too refined, too concentrated.
Were they genuinely prodigies among mutant rats? A deeper level of mutation?
But if they were truly dangerous, why did the teachers look so completely calm? There wasn't a trace of tension or alarm on any of their faces.
Even before the Spiritual Energy Awakening, the school would have immediately dealt with a single ordinary rat and warned students not to get bitten. It made no sense that after the Awakening, they would be this unconcerned.
(Unless...)
A suspicion was forming quietly in the back of Ye Xuan's mind.
Right at that moment, a sharp scream tore through the stillness of the field.
"AAAH!"
The creatures suddenly lunged into the crowd at startling speed. Their blue-green forms left blurred afterimages in the sunlight, and their sharp claws gouged deep lines into the surface of the ground.
The students erupted into chaos. Some screamed and bolted. Others stumbled and fell, so gripped by panic they seemed to forget how to stand.
"Stay in line! Don't run everywhere!"
The teachers shouted themselves hoarse trying to maintain order, but no one was listening.
"Run! They're coming!"
"Get out of my way!"
"Help! Somebody help!"
The school field dissolved into complete disorder. Some students sprinted for the classroom buildings, others made straight for the school gate.
Ye Xuan shook his head slowly. Whatever the truth of his suspicion turned out to be, standing here and doing nothing wasn't an option.
He stepped forward, right hand closing around the hilt of the Wangquan sword at his hip. But just as he was about to act, a sudden burst of loud laughter brought him to a halt.
"Hahahaha!"
It rang out with arrogance and wildness, carrying just a hint of something unhinged. Every head turned toward it.
Somehow, without anyone noticing when, a silver-haired student was already standing directly in front of one of the creatures. Both hands were shoved into his pockets, and the corner of his mouth was curled into an imperious smirk. There was no fear in his expression, none at all. He regarded the creatures as though they were beneath his notice entirely.
Strangely, several of the creatures that had been charging into the crowd slowed and stopped when they caught sight of him, as though his laughter had unsettled them, and they stared at him with their wide round eyes.
"It's been too long... I've waited for this day far too long."
"The Dimensional Invasion? Cross-dimensional treasures? In the end, all of it is nothing but things born from human imagination. How could any of it compare to the true power that resides within a person?"
"Supernatural abilities are the greatest gift this era has given to humanity!"
"O restless humans, know ye not that the warning bell has long been tolling in the fury of thunder!"
As his voice rang out, a visible arc of blue electricity erupted from his hands. The current crackled through the air and slowly compressed into a fist-sized ball of lightning. The electric light played across his face, making him look supremely confident, bordering on insufferably arrogant.
"An ability user!"
Someone cried out in surprise. The students who had been fleeing in all directions began to slow. The sudden spectacle drew their attention like a magnet, and for some people, watching a scene like this was clearly more compelling than running away.
Besides, an ability user had already stepped forward. Surely these mutant rats were as good as dead. Why bother running?
Some people actually turned around and jogged back for a better view.
Ye Xuan also saw the ball of lightning in the silver-haired student's hand. But unlike everyone else's amazement, his expression shifted into something complicated. Because to his perception, while this ability user carried a decent amount of Spiritual Energy, compared to the mutant creatures, he was actually slightly weaker.
Judging power purely by Spiritual Energy density might not be perfectly accurate, but given the number of creatures, Ye Xuan quietly assessed that this ability user's odds of losing were higher than winning.
"With lightning, shatter the darkness!"
The silver-haired student, naturally unaware of what Ye Xuan was thinking, let out a loud shout and hurled the ball of lightning straight at the creature in front of him.
The lightning detonated. The blinding flash made everyone flinch and shield their eyes. The air filled with the smell of something scorched, and a shriek from the creature cut through the noise.
But when the light faded and everyone looked again, what they saw was a mutant rat with fur that had gone slightly black in patches. Everything else was completely unaffected.
The creature shook its head, and its round eyes now fixed on the silver-haired student with a sharp, dangerous glint, the reddish pupils gleaming with something that looked very much like intent.
"This... how is this possible?"
The smile on the silver-haired boy's face went rigid, his voice trembling with disbelief.
"He lost! The ability user lost! Run!"
The students who had deliberately moved closer to watch now bolted at twice the speed they had fled before. Those who had already gotten far away found themselves wishing they had four legs instead of two.
"..."
Ye Xuan hadn't expected the gap between this ability user and the mutant creatures to be this significant, but the sight of students watching in silence one moment and screaming as they scattered the next felt almost too on-brand for them.
Had not a single one of them noticed something odd?
The mutant rat, despite having its fur scorched, had only headbutted the boy. There had been no attempt to actually hurt him.
Still, now that the silver-haired ability user had stepped in, Ye Xuan held off on acting. He let his gaze sweep across the field, curious to see if any other ability users or students carrying dimensional treasures would step forward.
After all, these creatures weren't going to seriously harm anyone. There was no harm in using the moment to see who else at this school was hiding something, besides himself.