Everyone in the room frowned, then stared coldly at Seth after his interruption.
Vice Principal Cromwell glanced at him, musing to himself as recognition dawned. It's the Duskreaver bastard… the cunning brat who kept trying to sabotage himself into failure.
Roderick, the vice captain of Class 12B, snorted disdainfully. "I think you forget yourself, Extra. On what grounds do you dismiss the Vice Principal's plans?"
Everyone remained silent, clearly waiting for a reply.
Uriel and Elaine glanced at Seth, a subtle shade of worry flashing in their eyes.
Seth finally stood, ignoring the rest and staring straight at the Vice Principal, who met his gaze silently, expression deadpan. Seth began.
"Reality as we know it has changed. Creatures around the globe are either corrupted or awakened. The same goes for the land." Placing both hands on the table, leaning forward slightly, his tone grew grim.
"Corruption zones… these are vile stretches of land that spawn creatures of corruption. From what I've come to know, one can only destroy a Corruption zone by destroying the vile Corruption seed that anchors it.
But these seeds are guarded by horrors — abominations of unprincipled power. What we've seen so far is merely a prelude compared to what lies ahead."
This time it was Mr. Harold who spoke, voicing everyone's impatience. "What's your point?"
What Seth seemed to be saying sounded no different from the wild conjectures of earlier students — unhelpful and doubtful.
Seth continued. "I was getting there. My point is that unfortunately for us, we ended up in what I assume to be a forming Corruption zone!
And if we know what's good for us, we should run as far as we can from this area. Trust me — regardless of the casualties we suffer during escape, facing a Corruption zone will be a thousand times more dire!"
The atmosphere grew tense as everyone's hearts skipped a beat. One had to give it to Seth — unlike the previous students, he spoke with such certainty and belief that one subconsciously believed him.
But these weren't normal people. They weren't swayed by words. They worked with truths and hard facts.
The Vice Principal finally spoke, stroking his greying beard. His calm voice echoed a single question.
"If what you say is true, you must have gotten this information from somewhere. Can you share your source with us so we can confirm?"
Seth went silent. He glanced at the gene skill crystal tight in the Vice Principal's grasp.
It was obvious he wasn't going to get it back. That was fine — he didn't need it. But to him, this proved these people couldn't be trusted.
Handing over the Oracle Crystal would be foolish. They would definitely make excuses that it should be used for the benefit of everyone, not selfishly.
And that was the problem. Seth hardly cared for everyone. Though he wouldn't be pleased if they all died, he wouldn't risk his neck to save them either.
Nor would he risk his priceless treasures earned from gambling with life and death. Never.
His eyes glinted as he remained silent. He couldn't tell them about the crystal, and lying wouldn't be wise.
Roderick, ever the annoying prick, saw an opportunity to poke at Seth while he was down. Why would he miss it?
"What, Extra? Cat got your tongue?" he sneered sinisterly.
Everyone frowned. Seth speaking so grimly meant he truly believed what he said. But the fact that he couldn't provide proof meant either he was reluctant to expose his source… or he simply couldn't prove it.
Elaine and Uriel stared at Seth, their minds connecting the dots.
Now it was obvious Seth had something special. No wonder he had so much info to share.
Unlike the others, they were allies to Seth and more inclined to believe him. But unfortunately, unless Seth could bring proof, their hands were tied in convincing everyone else.
The Vice Principal sighed helplessly. "Young man, if you can't provide a source for your information, I have no choice but to dismiss your conjecture."
Seth's eyes glinted. Good thing he had prepared for this scenario.
He pointed at Uriel. "But you believed him when he spoke about gene lineages. Why?"
"Well, because he's a more reliable person than you, duh!" a student spouted, annoyed by the obvious question.
Uriel's gaze flashed, understanding dawning. He shook his head, sighing.
Earlier, when Seth had given him permission to relay the information, he hadn't thought much of it.
But now it was obvious he had been used. Yet he wasn't offended — rather, his respect for Seth deepened.
I wonder… did this guy start planning all of this the moment he shared the information yesterday? he thought curiously.
Unknown to him, that wasn't how it happened. Seth had gotten information about Corruption zones after relaying the earlier details.
Meanwhile, Seth sneered at the rest of the room. "But what if I said I was the one who gave him this information? Not only about gene lineages, but about everything.
Seeing that I was carrying the gene skill crystal in my inventory, I thought it would be obvious."
Expressions stiffened. The Vice Principal went silent, no one able to muster a rebuttal.
Striking while the iron was hot, Seth pressed. "We need to take the others and leave before it's too late."
The way the Oracle Crystal spoke of Charm beasts and the Defiled yesterday made him apprehensive.
He could come back and attempt this when he was stronger and more confident. But for now, he had to get himself out of here.
The Vice Principal shook his head. "Leaving the school premises is too risky. And to answer your question — the previous information on gene lineages wasn't called out because it didn't affect our decision that much.
But yours is different. We are sticking with what I said. We will mobilize students to clear the school of the corrupted.
Our main goal is to get stronger, stack resources, and stay alive until the rescue arrives. And that's final!"
Seth frowned helplessly.
Suddenly, the atmosphere went cold. The very air became a shade of violet.
Then a blaring red flashing prompt appeared in the vision of everyone in the school premises, in unison.
[Formation of Corruption Zone is complete!]
[Corruption seed is taking root!]
[Warning! Warning! Warning! High-grade Corruption seed detected!]
[Quest event issued: Clear Corruption Zone before full maturity!]
[Warning!: Once mature, Corruption seed has a high probability of spawning a Charm beast!]
[Time till maturity: 36h: 12m: 02s]
[Rewards:]
- Gene evolution crystals (5)
- Level 1 essence crystals (100)
- Legendary Class quest chain
- Leader-class item of the Awakened rank (1)
[Note: Rewards will be distributed only to top contributors accordingly!]
Everyone froze for a second, then turned their gazes to Seth.