Anomaly

On the great mountain of a Thousand Beasts, the dragon looked furiously up at the people. Five hundred meters from him, a group of people hovered in the air with swords at the head of a white-haired old man.

— All we needed was a small bottle of your blood. We were willing to pay handsomely for it. But you don't accept our good will. So don't blame us.

This dragon lived for over ten thousand years. And of course he knew about beings following the blood path. Should he entrust life to this bunch of people? And what an elder of some second-rate school has to offer.

— Never! - the dragon roared. Blue flashes surrounded the dragon's body.

— Hmm. Behold the power of our school's treasure, Dimension Cage!

A jade tablet flew out of the elder's hands. It lit up and, like a continuation of the rays, golden threads rushed to the dragon.

— Aren't you a too self-confident person? You are just a fool who got hold of an ancient treasure and does not know how to use it correctly. The best thing you can do is tie me up for ten minutes. - came the dragon's roar.

— That's enough to hurt you badly and collect your blood.

This was not the first time Thunder Dragon had been approached for blood. His blood is a valuable ingredient in alchemy and spiritual medicine. Every hundred or two hundred years, a cultivator appeared from the world of people or animals. Almost all were eaten by him. And the rare lucky ones fled in fear and no longer disturbed his measured life on the mountain.

The power of an artifact? The dragon released energy of the inner power from the core. A bright blue sphere emerged from the dragon's body. All living things on the mountain within a radius of one hundred meters turned to ash. The earth began to boil. The golden threads crumbled like sand and disappeared.

— No! - the old man howled sadly. Blood flowed from his nose and eyes. His connection with the treasure was severed. The tablet faded and fell into the boiling lava.

Ten minutes? It didn't work for a second. The dragon flapped its wings and a powerful gust of wind carried the people a hundred meters. Thunder Dragon was not afraid. Although he had severely depleted the core, there was still ten percent of his inner power remaining. Secondly, unlike humans, he possessed a strong body, just overflowing with vitality.

But what is it? The Elder with the humans saw a flickering afterimage of the dragon. And then the dragon disappeared!

***

The ninth level of the training tower is considered the last location. Long iron corridors and cabins made up the bulk of the "Spaceship" location. There were no animals on it, but many robots controlled by artificial intelligence and operators.

Bee slowly walked from one corridor to another. He no longer looked for any passages. He was sick, he wanted to go to the toilet, and sometimes he felt dizzy.

If it were a forest or another natural location, he would have piled on the sly long ago. But there are cameras everywhere, and you don't know who is looking at you on the other side. Even robots could be controlled by the people of the clan. Go to the cabin or utility room? Bee felt like some fellow student was following him. It may be to come out awkward.

If this is a spaceship, is there a toilet here?

— Boaaaa, kha-kha, ugh, - Bi could not resist and vomited.

— Oh Bee, are you okay? You don't look very good, have you been poisoned? - it was a student who first followed Malcolm, and now Bee.

— And this is you. Honestly, I didn't expect to see you here.

— It was just luck. I'm not good as you. Here, take a napkin and drink some water. May be you will take a break and call the staff?

— Thank you bro. You know, I feel better.

— So that's great. You go further, I'll clean up after you.

— Will you clean up? Why ?, - Bee was surprised.

— Well, suddenly, who else will follow the path therefore. As I saw it, I almost added it myself. It's not good if a big puddle forms here.

— Pfft, you know, dude. I think I'll really go.

Watching Bee, the student thought about how lucky he was. "Haha, luck is definitely on my side today. For somebody it is vomit, but for me it is valuable genetic material. Thank you Bee!"

***

Malcolm and the team were breathing heavily. Only rubble and weird dust were left from the ruins in the area. There were also twisted mechs details lying around.

— Don't be sulky guys. The time limit will expire in five minutes. If we're lucky we'll find a tip.

ATTENTION, STUDENTS! URGENTLY READ THE MESSAGE!

— Loudspeaker? Something happened?

— Let's watch.

It was a message marked urgent. All students were to go to the service passages around the perimeter of the location and go up to the tenth floor of the arena. There teachers will be waiting for them.

The exam is canceled.

To help the students, maps of each location will be sent with marked passages.

***

Several teachers with worried faces were already standing in the arena on the tenth floor. The glass roof of the tower opened and everything was ready to receive the transport shuttle.

In the city sounded a siren and volleys of guns. The loudspeaker asked the inhabitants to leave the planet as soon as possible without panic.

Despite the clear sky, from time to time, blue lightning flashed and powerful gusts of wind appeared, like in a hurricane.

A spatial anomaly has been recorded on the planet Alrix. In the city of Shitori.

Also a dragon appeared near the academy.

There have been such cases in the universe before. They look like spatial pulsations. Sometimes in the center of such an anomaly, living creatures appear and disappear. And those who were far from the anomaly were scattered randomly in space.

Most often, these people were found on neighboring planets. Scientists believe this is somehow influenced by the mass of the planets. Luckily for Alrix, the neighboring planets are almost entirely adapted for human life.

But the horror was different. The ripple increases over time, and eventually the planet on which the anomaly occurs disappears. At least so far, not a single disappeared planet has been found.