CHAPTER 26: GATE BREAK

Ella sat inside a classroom, close to a window. Her palm held up her head as she looked outside, lost in thought.

There was no teacher in the class, and the students were doing whatever they wanted. She sat alone. She wasn’t a loner, but she wanted to be alone most times.

’What changed with brother? He has changed ever since that accident. I’m scared he is taking a weight that is far beyond him’ she thought.

BAM!

Suddenly, a hand slammed into her desk. She turned and saw a girl with blonde hair, the same uniform, and a wide grin on her face.

"What’s got you thinking, Ella?" the girl asked.

"I’m not in the mood, Amber," Ella replied.

"Huh?" Amber leaned in close. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she asked.

Ella looked at her with a cold glare. "Go away, Amber," she said.

"And if I don’t?" Amber asked.

Ella didn’t say another word. She looked away and kept watching outside the window. This action pissed Amber off to no end. She gritted her teeth, then grabbed the edge of the table and shook it violently.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Ella’s head snapped, looking at Amber, the anger in her eyes evident. Amber was filled with happiness when she saw that Ella had gotten angry.

But then Ella took a deep breath and calmed down. She looked at Amber with a soft smile and spoke, "Amber, you know it’s not nice to take out your frustration on me. Have you ever thought if this was one of the reasons Noel chose me over you?" Ella asked, the smile on her face growing wider.

Amber fumed. She stared daggers at Ella, and then without hesitation, she grabbed Ella by the hair and pulled it hard.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Ella cried in pain. The whole class turned to see what was happening. It was a fight. Everyone was about to jump in and help, but suddenly—

A roar filled the air. It shook the class. Everyone stopped, even Ella and Amber. They looked outside the windows, and in the distance, they saw goblins and orcs, hundreds of them, headed for the school.

A gate had been broken. During the first time the gates appeared, monsters rushed out of them and killed humans. But when humans started fighting back and pushing against the monsters, the monsters stopped coming out.

That was when humans realized that as long as they went in there and reduced the numbers of monsters inside, the monsters would not come out.

But every once in a very long while, the monsters would still break out and come from the gates. That was called a gate break.

There was a C-ranked gate close to the school, and it was mainly orcs and goblins, with some other races too.

That was the gate that broke, and now the monsters were headed straight for the school.

The students saw this, and fear gripped their hearts. They didn’t know what to do. Most of them hadn’t even awakened an ability, and for those who had, they had little to no training whatsoever.

It seemed like they would be able to run away since the monsters were approaching slowly, but suddenly the goblins started running, and the orcs followed.

And immediately panic followed. The boys dashed for the door, rushing as fast as they could. They crowded the doorway and the struggle began.

While they struggled, a boy picked up a chair and threw it at the window, shattering it. He rushed through into the hallway, glass cutting his skin, but he paid no heed to that, he just started running.

Some others followed suit and used the window. Another boy shattered another window.

Ella watched as her classmates pushed. She knew that if she rushed in there, she would get heavily injured, so she didn’t move yet.

Amber tried to run, but Ella grabbed her hand. Amber turned back. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked.

"Look at them. If you run in there, you’ll get crushed and heavily injured. And then you won’t be able to get out or run," Ella said.

"So you want us to stay here?" Amber asked.

"No," Ella said. "Just believe. I also don’t want to die, but if we rush through like that, we might not make it."

Amber decided to listen. She stayed and watched, and then finally their classmates pushed through. The monsters were already in the school.

Ella and Amber ran out of the door. They looked up at the path that led to the outside, but a goblin rushed out of the corner and attacked a boy that was there. A few others followed, tackling the boy to the ground.

Amber watched in horror, but Ella picked up one of the chairs that had been thrown through the windows and rushed toward them. She swung without hesitation and slammed the goblins away.

Immediately, she grabbed the boy’s hand and pulled him up. "Run," she said and began running toward Amber. The boy ran like his life depended on it, following them closely as they ran in the opposite direction.

The goblins gave chase. The three ran without looking back. The boy spotted a shelf used to keep some awards. He pulled it, and it fell diagonally across the hallway.

But it didn’t do much to block the goblins climbed above it quickly. Ella’s eyes darted around, and then she spotted a fire extinguisher. She grabbed it immediately and pointed it at the goblins.

The extinguisher blasted out, foam covering all the goblins and confusing them. She threw it at one goblin and hit it right in the head before they kept running.

There was a flight of stairs, and they went down fast. They could hear the sounds of monsters all around the school.

Finally, they made it to the ground floor. They just had to keep moving, and they would finally get out of the school.