An hour after the passing of the Cosmic Mana Wave.
After the spaceship docked on the Alpha Orbital Ring on Mars, the rescue ops went ahead to guide everyone out, sending them to the medical bay.
Those who remained after the passing of the Cosmic Mana Wave were in no sort of danger. However, as kids, they were bound to be traumatised.
This was evident when they arrived. Some of the students were heavily shaken and required care before the situation escalated into a significant issue.
Even with these students having dreams of becoming hunters themselves, no one had the desire to die. The remaining instructors were taken care of and briefed on the number of students displaced.
Normally, when a Cosmic Mana Wave displaced a person, they reappeared somewhere else, if a veiled space did not swallow them. But that in itself was not good news, as those people end up dying shortly after.
Even until now, they had no idea why the veiled spaces killed those they swallowed. Even when wearing space suits, these offered little protection against death.
While the students were looked after, the teachers submitted a list of the missing students. Thankfully, as they all had their smartwatches with them, their locations could be pinpointed anywhere in the empire.
The only thing left to do was wait for their locations to pop back up and, at the very least, retrieve their bodies.
Ross was one of the students placed in a room being overseen by a medic. He showed no signs of responding to their questions, as his attention was on his missing friend.
'This is bad… I should have held his hands!' Ross's mind was all over the place, playing the blame game. He understood the chances of the Cosmic Mana Wave taking anyone, but he had hoped with all his heart that he and Alex would survive.
Even if he were found later, the chances of him living were zero to none, as there had never been any record of anyone surviving a Cosmic Mana Wave.
"Just leave me alone!" He finally had enough when the medic wouldn't stop talking. Taken aback by the outburst of the teenager before him, the medic simply shook his head and made his way out.
The checks had already confirmed that there was nothing wrong with him. The medic understood the fear that had overtaken the boy, which might have caused him to act out.
Ross watched as the medic made his way to the exit. Shortly after, he broke down in tears. The loss of his best friend had shaken him more than he thought possible.
He was a strong-willed person at heart. Although bluntly honest, he cared deeply for his friend, the only one who had not seen him as a tall nuisance but as a friend like any other.
Memories of all the enjoyable activities they had shared played in his mind. This only made it harder to stop the tears from falling.
....
Cosmic Mana Wave Monitoring Centre
The director, along with some of the instructors, including Sha'ang Yuruff, patiently waited for the signals from the missing persons to reappear.
And as luck would have it, they did not have to wait long; even better, they were close by.
"Sir, I'm picking up the signals of the missing students and instructors. They are on the planet!" As soon as an operator exclaimed, the director's shocked voice followed,
"What?! How are they on the planet?!"
Although the displaced students were nearby and did not require the dispatch of rescue operations far away, the news had a much bigger implication.
The Orbital Ring's barrier was still up! That meant the displaced students and the others should not have ended up on the planet.
'But how?!' The director quietly thought to himself. However, now was not the time to analyse the reasons behind the strange situation.
Quickly regaining his composure, he instructed, "Bring up their precise locations."
"Yes, director!" The operator did as told."They seem to be on the Central continent and in the southern forest, close to Academic City!"
Director Dirgg and the instructors looked up and noticed the blinking dots.
Wasting no time, the instructors made their way out. The director followed up with further commands, "Send out the rescue ops ASAP. I'm joining them. Collins, you're in charge."
...
In the southern forest of the central continent on Mars, close to Academy City and the Hunters Academy, the displaced students and persons lay, the majority unconscious.
The few who were conscious were confused about the situation. The smart ones, having realised what happened, had saddened and dreadful looks on their faces.
Right now, they looked normal with no wounds or ailments, but they knew they were on their last leg.
"Urgh..." Alex groaned as he slowly stirred awake. Still in his spacesuit and helmet, he slowly sat up and looked around, noticing the forest area he was in with the other students.
He took off his helm and asked no one in particular.
"Where am I?" A response still came in from his smartwatch.
[You're currently on Mars, Alexander. The Cosmic Mana Wave seemed to have displaced everyone to this region.
[My readings suggest you and everyone else are in the southern forest on the Central continent.]
Alex ceased to listen when Xex informed him of how he arrived here. Memories of where he had been before the Cosmic Mana Wave struck rushed back like vivid flashes of scenes.
He immediately knew the fate that awaited him and everyone around.
'Looks like this is it, huh? I didn't even get to awaken my ability. Mom and Dad are going to be heartbroken, not to mention sis and bro, and of course, Ross,' he sighed tirelessly and lay back down.
"How long do I have?"
[…]
"Come on, tell me at least that much." His AI assistant finally gave him the estimated time before he slept forever.
[At most three minutes. I'm sorry, Alexander. There is nothing I can do.] Xex apologised.
"Why are you even apologising? It is what it is." His eyelids were slowly growing heavy.
He expected to feel fear, but he felt nothing. 'Maybe it's because I have accepted my fate? Not that it matters.' From the corner of his eyes, he saw approaching ships but paid no attention.
Before his eyes closed for what he assumed to be the last time, the sclera of his eyes turned dark for a moment before disappearing.