Chapter 29: Chapter 29—High-Ranking Follower

Laden stared at the Phone in his hand with wide eyes, having absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do.

"How do they expect us to handle something like this," Laden thought while he scrolled through the screen.

On the screen that Laden was scrolling was loads and loads of gory images of Summoners who just returned from outside the terminals.

Though there were a few heroic images of Summoners, they were quickly drowned by the hordes of images that were all around.

Laden even found one about a party of Summoners that were totally wiped out, their remains left to be picked up by late rescuers.

"Prime, this stuff is serious, very serious," Laden said while he stumbled back to bed.

He hadn’t completely pictured the situation as he previously had from the last time they made the announcement.

"Prime, if we die there, we really die for real; this isn’t like the spirit world," Laden said in a low voice.

"Yes, we do. But this primordial one fears nothing. I will always battle and win," Prime responded arrogantly.

"How could you have so much confidence after seeing that? I don’t think I will participate in the test," Laden said in a downtrodden tone.

"Are you sure about that?" Prime asked.

But instead of responding, Laden just ignored him and stared out the window, his thoughts wandering very far.

Time passed, and Laden still remained in his position completely unmoved; he had completely forgotten about his plans to head to the Spirit World.

"Are you done?" Prime suddenly said.

"Uhhh?" Laden responded, his voice still low.

"Are you done Moping like a baby? I thought you were a fighter," he said condescendingly.

"I thought you were strong-willed; it turns out you are only brave when you know there’s no real cost, and now that you realized that there’s one."

"You are backing down and turtling over."

"Pathetic,"

Under the brunt of Prime’s extremely harsh words, Laden felt extremely pained. He opened his mouth to say something to defend himself, but no words escaped his mouth.

"Don’t even try defending yourself," Prime continued.

"That day with the Sapphire tree, you were strong and courageous, but now what are you doing?"

"Instead of tucking your tail and saving yourself, think about what was at stake for others," he said.

"What’s at stake for others," Laden muttered under his own breath.

He could remember vividly what his selflessness had brought him previously; he had lost his life once, and though he didn’t regret it, he regretted not being able to see his family and mom again.

"What’s at stake for others," Laden muttered again while picking up his phone.

"Why was the Academy Entrance Test changed from the usual form to a new form?" Laden typed.

He knew that the information he would get wasn’t anything confirmed, but he felt it was going to give him a scope of what was actually happening.

The screen loaded like it usually did until a new screen finally popped up. Laden’s eyes scanned through the page, hoping to find something important, and one particularly caught his eye.

"Ferocity of Evil Beasts and why they should be taken off as much as Possible." the new article seemed to be cooked up by a student like him, interesting the information desperately Laden greatly.

In the news article, Laden saw the images of destroyed terminals. Human settlement left in ruins under the stampede of Evil beast.

As someone who valued Life extremely greatly, Laden felt a deep, seething level of disgust welling up in him.

"They killed so many people, destroyed many lives," he said softly.

"But aren’t summoners killing them too?" he suddenly realized.

To answer his question, Laden suddenly turned his attention back to the news article and scrolled further until it reached a particular area.

That part of the article displayed the statistics of how much damage and destruction Evil beast populations cause if they aren’t kept in check.

"They just randomly attack Human Terminals?" he wondered.

"Animals don’t act like that," he said. As a veterinarian in his previous life, Laden was well informed about animal behavior.

"You are forgetting they aren’t animals; they are Evil beasts Laden."

"They are termed ’Evil’ for a reason," Prime interjected.

Though he didn’t say anything further after that point, Laden’s eyes were slowly growing firm, his mind slowly shifting.

"Are you going to Participate Laden, remember all of the warnings," Prime added again.

With Prime’s words hitting straight on the nail’s head, Laden fell into a dilemma.

"Sleep over it; decide tomorrow, but remember a lot is at stake," Prime said before going quiet.

With no one to interrupt his thoughts, Laden stared at the soft moonlight that had begun pervading the room before sighing and laying down to sleep.

"I hope I really make the right decision," Laden said before he actually fell asleep.

With the room finally quiet, the room was now filled with a gentle whistle of the wind as if hoping to soothe the atmosphere, and like that, the night passed in the blink of an eye, and it was morning again.

With the sun barely peeking out of the horizon, Laden’s eyebrow flickered open while he sighed.

"I have heard you, Mom. I will do it," he said, his mind occupied by the dream he just had.

"I don’t know how much my contribution will change, but I will do my absolute best," he said resolutely before standing up on his feet.

He quickly got prepared, and soon he was heading to the School not daring to be late. In the living room, Laden saw his parents waiting for him, their eyes slightly wet.

"Mom, Dad," Laden said.

His Dad didn’t really respond; instead, he just stared at Laden for a bit before finally opening his mouth.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Laden didn’t hesitate at all; he instantly nodded his head before rushing to give his parents a hug. The hug lasted for a bit until Laden noticed the time and rushed out.

He was heading to the Academy Entrance Test.