No Fear

Dan and Laura then went downstairs and walked to the cafeteria. On their way, Laura was summoned by Kai for a talk. So, Dan had to continue on his own. While walking slowly, he met Nate. Dan stopped and greeted him with a smile. "Hey, Nate. How's it going?"

"I'm fine." Nate replied, carrying a blank face

"Oh, that's great. I'm fine myself." Dan said grinning

"What happened the other day?" Nate asks in a melancholic tone

"What? Nothing. I'm fine." Dan said, lying

Nate stayed silent. He knew Dan was lying. Dan would've felt weird if he didn't say anything.

"Okay, maybe something did happened. But, I'm not lying that I'm fine now." Dan said as his smile fades slowly

"Shujin again, right?" Nate assumed

"How'd you know?" Dan asks

"I did research. He has no record as a person. No history, nothing. Looking into him is a dead end." Nate replied

"What about the thing with him?" Dan asks.

The two started walking towards the cafeteria.

"That? According to the cameras, I think that's a living corpse. He was a sorcerer 150 years ago. Killed by the Crescent family. How's he alive?" Nate replied and asks

"Some spell from a blue book." Dan said

"Blue book? A grimoire?" Nate presumed

"Yeah, sure." Dan shrugged his shoulder

"Hmm..." Nate thinks deeply

"Who knows more about magic stuff like this?" Dan asks

"I'm not sure. I think Heath would." Nate replied

"Why would he?" Dan asks

"Just a guess, but his style of sorcery is very specific. Cards. To do that, you'd need years of practice for that. He's arguably the second-best student here. So, he should have some idea." Nate answered

"First being?" Dan wondered

"Me." He said confidently

Dan then was surprised and shook his head in disagreement.

And they made it to the cafeteria. Again, they all shared two tables except Heath. Dan and Nate decided to sit with Heath this time. The two sat down on the opposite end. Heath looked up from his food with a mean glare. He continued eating while glaring at them.

"Uhh... Hey, Heath. I'm Dan." He introduced himself

"And I'm Nate."

"What do you two want?" Heath asks

"Know anything about... A blue book?" Dan asks

"Grimoire. A blue grimoire." Nate states

Heath pauses for a moment. Then asks "Why?"

"The guy that gave me a hard time has it." Dan replied, his voice shook

"A guy with a half-and-half mask?" Heath assumed

"Yeah. Wait, how'd you know?" Dan grows a suspicion

Heath pauses for a few seconds and looks down at his food. "No reason." He said

"Well... Can you tell us anything about the book? According to Dan, he revived a corpse." Nate asks

"It's a grimoire that contains a vast amount of spells that go beyond the four elements of sorcery. One of them is a revival spell. Combine three compatible souls and have it become the corpse's soul." Heath explains

"What else can it do?" Dan asks

"It mostly contains incantations. Revival, possession, soul spells, etcetera. All of them need long-term casting. Months-long shortest. The revival spell he did was probably planned for a long time. Scouting for three people that have strong bonds. Deciphering the runes. Finding the corpse he's reviving..." As Heath explains, Dan glances to his left to see Laura joining in on the other table. He locked his eyes on her.

"He revived King Corruptor." Nate stated

"The beast sorcerer?"

"Wait, who is he exactly?" Dan reverts his eyes back to the conversation

"A sorcerer turned beast, now he can control beasts that have lower power levels than him. In his case, all of them can be under his command." Heath answered

"We should tell Kai and Cathy, right?" Dan said

"Chances are, they already know." Nate replied

"We need to stop him then, right?" Dan shrugged his shoulders

"I doubt it'd be that simple. Shujin is different. His mask is something else." Heath said as he taps his face

"His mask? Wait have you met him before?" Dan's suspicion grew

"Yeah, our paths crossed before. And now it seems like it's crossing again." Heath said nonchalantly

"How did you cro-"

Before Nate could finish his sentence, the three of them were teleported away. Laura then noticed that they disappeared all of a sudden. Before she herself did. Then one by one, all ten students disappeared.

They reappeared in some weird cave. Not all of them are in the same place.

Cave 1

Dan looked around and realized they were no longer in the cafeteria. "Where the fuck are we?"

"WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED? I WAS EATING." Hiro started having a breakdown

"We've been teleported, Hiro." Vic stated

"For fuck's sake... Could you for once, leave me the fuck alone!!" Dan screamed angrily. His scream echoed around the cave

Cave 2

"Woah, what the hell just happened?"

"Teleported, apparently."

"By who?"

"No clue."

"Where are the others? Are they back at the cafeteria?"

"I dunno. Come on, let's go find the exit."

Cave 3

"Tch. Little shit." Heath slurred quietly

"Uh... Wh-where are we?" Laura shakes

"No clue, but this was definitely Shujin."

"S-Shujin?"

Cave 4

"Volta, did you see what happened?" Sam asks

"Almost didn't." She said

"What the shit? Who the hell abducted us?" Sam asks angrily

"I think it's the same guy that fucked over Dan the other day." Nate strongly assumed

"Why the hell did he abduct all of us?" Sam asks

"No clue."

"GOOOOOOD MOORNIIING, EVERYONE!!" A voice echoes to all

"Shujin?" Nate uttered

"Yes, that's my name." Shujin said

"What the hell do you want from us?" Dan yelled

"You like toys, don't you? I just wanted to test out our new toys. Ri's playing these toys. I merely help develop them. Skillful that as it may, imperfect still." Shujin answered with a calm tone

"What the fuck do you mean by toys?" Dan asks aloud

"Well, I have three toys in stock. But having you guys gang up on them might not be as fun. So, I split you into 3-2-2-3 people per group. The group with three will be fighting my comrades instead of our toys." Shujin explains trivially

"Comrades?"

"In Cave number 1, Mid-rank grade 2, Core-user, William!!!" Shujin yells

"What is he pretending to be an announcer?" Dan muttered in irritation

"Against, Daniel Fash, Victoria Lau, and Hiro Kiota!!!" Shujin yelled, again

"He knows our names?" Vic mumbled, questioning

"In Cave number 4, High-rank grade 1, Anomaly class, Terror!!!" Shujin announces

"High-rank?" Sam panics

"Against, Nathan Varr, Volta, and Sam Merrickson!!" Shujin announces, again

A man with an orange cloth face mask stood behind Shujin asks "There's a Varr in there?"

"Yes, just one." Shujin said

"Phew, Laura's not fighting a sorcerer." Dan sighed in relief

"That's what you're about? You're girlfriend?" Hiro said, completely freaking out

"She's not... Focus on the enemy ahead, Hiro!" Dan yelled

"Don't change the subject!" Hiro yelled back

"And the ones in doubles, have fun with our new toys! Fight, kill, runaway, die, it's all yours for the choosing. Good luck." Shujin said his last message