The large doors slowly slid open as the students watched while holding their breaths; an involuntary action on their part.
"Alright, everyone. Follow me." Instructor Horvey stepped forward and they all followed behind him.
Some had anxious expressions while some adopted a stern one; whatever it was, they were all nervous.
Inside the facility, there was nothing much besides the powered barrier in the distance.
That and the giant silhouette of what the students assumed was the void creature behind the translucent barrier.
"T-That thing is huge…"
Someone muttered in a daze and the rest agreed. Even without actually seeing the appearance, they could tell the creature was huge.
It almost reached the ceiling of the facility, which was at least 15 meters high!
It was nothing like what they fought in the VR simulations.
*Gulp*
Some gulped in fear while others remained frozen in place, too scared to push forward. However, the brave ones strode forward with confidence in their steps.
Among them were Alex, Julia, Ross, Henry, Zen and his friends.
Observing their actions, Horvey Doe smiled inwardly, pleased that they weren't like the bunch. Naturally, their actions motivated the others and they soon followed behind.
They were supposed to be the elite students of their year.
If they showed fear just from seeing a dead void creature, then they might as well pack their stuff.
Horvey stopped a few meters from the barrier and then turned to face the students, prompting them to come to a stop.
Behind him and to the sides were bots responsible for operating the barrier.
"As you can already tell, the creature behind me is the void creature and is nothing like what you faced in the competition last year.
"The smallest void creature can be as large as a small building. Some even have the ability to change size. And the one behind me is just a Class F void creature."
He gestured at the silhouette behind him, watching the changing faces of the students and how some of them trembled slightly.
They weren't even exposed to its remnant aura yet and they were already anxious.
'Well, I can understand them. After all, I was no better when I first saw a void creature.'
He gave the students a couple of seconds to regain their composure and once they all appeared ready, he turned to the bots and nodded at them.
The bots understood the signal and first made the barrier transparent, revealing the appearance of a real void creature to the students.
"Ew…!"
"Uggh!"
"Ergggh….!"
"Wow, that is one looking creature."
Like fireworks, Horvey watched as the students followed the scripts.
Some vomited right on the spot, while some felt their bodies shudder just looking at the creature.
Almost all of them moved back several meters.
'Looks like some were able to keep their breakfast in.' He observed Alex and the other brave ones who remained standing in place with straight faces.
Of course, it wasn't a pleasant face to look at. The only one who remained relatively calm was Alex.
'Impressive as always.'
While everyone was puking their guts out and looking away, Alex narrowed his eyes at the creature and carefully took in its features.
The creature didn't appear to have any humanoid or bestial features.
It appeared like a blob monster with numerous tendrils, some of them cut off.
It appeared greyish with what was its blood and pus leaking out of its many wounds.
It was an unpleasant sight.
Strangely, as Alex stared at the creature, he felt his heartbeat gradually increase in tempo. It was not out of fear but from excitement.
He wasn't sure, but that was how it felt to him; almost like his energies were excited.
Julia turned to look at Alex when she noticed how Alex was staring at the creature like he had seen something.
She turned back to look but found nothing out of the ordinary.
Instructor Horvey also did not miss how Alex appeared to be falling into a focused trance, so he too turned but found nothing out of place.
'Let's see how they take the aura.'
He turned to the bots again and they brought down the barrier for the students to feel what the academy had been teaching them for over a year; the aura that hunters had to stomach every day to fight the abominations.
"Hii!"
The remnant aura was finally let loose and instantly, every student dashed backwards with horror-filled eyes.
They looked at the dead creature like it was the monster responsible for taking their loved ones.
"That is horrifying!"
"That is what we're supposed to be fighting?! And it's even a dead one!"
The students couldn't help but yell. He had never felt anything like that before.
Ross and Julia fared better than the rest as they had at least felt a glimpse of that aura before.
But their attention was not on the students crying out with shaky legs. Their eyes were glued on Alex, instructor Horvey included.
"Alex…?"
Horvey called out to Alex softly, looking at his expression that was marred with shock.
Instructor Horvey did not know what to make of his reaction. He wondered if Alex was frozen in fear and couldn't move.
'No…'
He didn't think so.
'There is no way that is an expression of shock stemming from fear. It's something else.'
Gradually, the students noticed Alex remaining in the same place and focused on him, wondering what was happening.
"Tsk!"
Julia would have liked to be by his side, but the remnant aura was just that horrifying!
She watched as their instructor approached Alex and shook him out of his daze.
"Huh? Oh, Instructor…"
Alex quickly regained his composure with an awkward cough and looked away, then noticed none of the others were around him.
He turned back only to see their way in the back, practically glued to the doors.
"Are you alright? Did you not feel the aura at all?"
Instructor Horvey asked with scepticism, carefully gauging his reaction.
"I-I uh... I'm not sure."
Alex stuttered, not sure what to say. He had remained in place for too long and showed no frightened reactions.
Telling his instructor that he felt the aura now would be an obvious lie.
'Fuck…'
He cursed his stupidity, but he also couldn't be blamed. For the first time since he became awakened, Alexander felt something.