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 cosmic mana wave passed were in no sort of danger. However, as kids as they were, they were bound to be traumatized. And this was seen when they arrived.
Some of the students were heavily shaken and needed care before it became a major issue.
Even with these students having dreams of becoming hunters themselves, no one had the desire to die. The remaining teachers were also taken care of and briefed about the number of students displayed. Normally, when one is displayed by a cosmic mana wave, they reappear somewhere else if they were not swallowed by a veiled space.
But that in itself was not good news, as they ended up dying shortly after. Even till this point, they had no idea why the veiled spaces ended up killing people. Even if they were in space suits, they did little to prevent their deaths.
While the students were being taken care of, the teachers submitted a list of the missing students. Thankfully, since they all had their smartwatches with them, they could have their location pinpointed anywhere in the empire. The only 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. However, his attention was not on what the medic was doing or even saying. '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 survived.
Even if he was found later, the chances of him dying were absolute as there had never been any record of anyone surviving the 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. His checks had already confirmed there was nothing wrong with him. He also understood the fear that had overtaken the kids which might have caused him to act out.
Ross watched as the medic made his way to the exit. Shortly after, he broke into tears. The loss of his best friend had really shaken him. 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 fun things they had done together played in his head.
This only made it more difficult to stop the tears from flowing.
...…..
Cosmic Mana Wave Monitoring Centre
The director, along with some of the teachers, including Sha'ang Yuruff, waited patiently for the signals of the missing persons to pop back up. As luck would have it, they did not have to wait long, even better, they were very close by.
"Sir, I'm picking up the signals of the missing students. They are on the planet!" As soon as an operator exclaimed the director's shocked voice followed, "What?! How are they on the planet?!" Though the displaced students were close by and did not require the send-out of rescue ops far away, the news presented 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. But now was not the time to analyze the reason why. Quickly regaining his composure, he instructed, "Bring up their precise locations."
"They seem to be on the central continent and in the south forest, close to Academic City!" Director Dirgg and the teachers looked up and noticed their blinking dots. Wasting no time, the teachers made their way out. The director followed up with his commands, "Send out the rescue ops ASAP. I'm joining them. Collins, you're in charge."
...
In the south 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 realized what happened had saddened looks. Right now, they looked normal with no wounds or ailments but knew they were on their last leg.
'Mm.' Alex slowly stirred awake. Still, in his spacesuit and helm, he slowly sat up and looked around noticing the forest area he was in and 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 are currently on Mars. 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 stopped listening when Xex informed him of how he got here. Memories of where he was before the cosmic mana wave hit rushed back in. He knew immediately the fate that waited for him and everyone else. 'Looks like this is it, huh? I didn't even get to awaken my gift. Mom and Dad are going to be heartbroken, not to mention sis and bro, and of course Ross.' he sighed tirelessly and laid 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 apologized. "Why are you even apologizing? 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.