Chapter 55: Ice-Yetis [5]

Alex Valor was having a bad day.

Alex was a guy who disliked surprises.

No, scratch that. He hated them.

He was not a spontaneous man, nor was he the kind of person who could look at a situation and instantly know what to do. Quite the opposite, in fact.

It was the reason he liked to paint. It was just him, a canvas, and all the time in the world. No pressure, no danger. No one would die if he hesitated for a second in the Spirit Realm. No one would get hurt if he didn’t know how to act. Sadly, it was just a dream, one that, with every passing day, seemed more and more distant.

Being Elise Valor’s younger brother wasn’t a pleasant experience, after all.

She had excelled at everything since their childhood and continued to do so even now. Alex believed she would continue to surpass him until she became an Overlord or even the first SSS-rank awakener—a Monarch.

It was a rank that no one had achieved yet, but Alex believed his sister could reach it.

After all, she was special.

But that didn’t mean he hated her or anything. It was just that he was under constant pressure from his clan to be as good as his sister.

Sadly, he wasn’t. His potential was only enough to reach S-rank and become a Saint.

That’s why Alex didn’t like surprises. He always liked to prepare himself for any situation.

...But ever since entering Golden Dawn Academy, he had experienced nothing but surprises.

A crazy guy pointing a gun at a student during the entrance ceremony, a crazy professor throwing the entire Class A into Antarctica on their first day.

He wasn’t prepared for any of this.

Alex preferred preparation. He would happily spend years studying an enemy before drawing his sword. His father had once told him that, if permitted, he would research an opponent until the man died of old age.

"I wish," Alex had answered without shame.

Sadly, in a world where monsters were everywhere, that wasn’t an option, as their father had said many times.

"You don’t have the luxury of time or the privilege of choosing your battles. When something happens, you react first and then think about what you could have done better—if you survive."

For that reason, he had spent countless hours training, drilling tactics, reactions, and a thousand other things deep into his bones so that they would come out instinctively. He had made plans in his mind for every single thing that could happen under the sun.

This was all he could do to ensure that he wouldn’t fall behind others.

That’s why, even though they had been thrown into Antarctica, he hadn’t panicked. Instead, he had gathered as many students as he could and prepared a plan to escape with the rest of his classmates.

Now, after four hours of preparation, his plan was ready.

Alex Valor stood in front of the boat and let out a long sigh of relief.

Finally.

After four hours of preparation, he could finally stop worrying about the possibility of being stranded in Antarctica.

The boat was large enough to accommodate at least fifty people, with plenty of room for supplies. Several arrays of runes had been carefully arranged around its hull, concealing its presence from monsters and suppressing the mana signature it emitted.

It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it was the best they could manage with the resources available.

More importantly, the boat belonged to one of the students in their class.

Alex had spent nearly an hour negotiating with the owner before finally convincing him to cooperate.

Of course, the promise of being rewarded by the Valor family had helped considerably.

"Everyone, listen up!"

Alex clapped his hands, drawing the attention of the students gathered around the boat.

"We’ll depart in five minutes. Make sure you’ve checked your equipment and secured your belongings. Once we’re out at sea, I don’t want anyone moving around unnecessarily."

Several students nodded.

Some looked relieved, while others appeared nervous.

It was understandable.

They were about to cross the freezing waters of Antarctica, where dangerous monsters lurked beneath the surface. Even with the concealment runes, there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t encounter something dangerous.

However, remaining on Falcon Mountain was arguably even worse.

Their professor had given them until four in the afternoon to return to class.

Failure to do so would probably result in some sort of punishment.

At least, that was what Alex assumed.

He sincerely hoped that the punishment wouldn’t involve being thrown into another dangerous location.

He had already experienced enough surprises for one day.

At that moment, the ice beneath his feet started to tremble.

An earthquake?

He glanced around but found nothing unusual.

"So, let’s—!"

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

Before he could say anything else, the snow covering the ground began to shake.

"What is going on?"

In the distance, Alex began to make out the silhouettes of several students running toward them.

At first, he couldn’t understand what was happening.

Why were they running?

Toward his boat?

Alex’s expression gradually changed.

"Don’t tell me..."

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The tremors grew stronger.

Snow fell from the branches of nearby trees, and several students turned toward the mountainside in confusion.

Then someone screamed.

"MONSTERS! RUN!"

Alex’s heart sank.

Monsters?

Here?

He had spent the last four hours preparing for precisely this kind of situation. He had examined the terrain, studied the possible routes, negotiated for a boat, and even arranged concealment runes to minimize their chances of encountering monsters at sea.

He had accounted for countless possibilities.

But he hadn’t expected a monster horde to appear behind them just as they were preparing to leave.

’Who the hell jinxed us?!’

Just as he thought that, Lilly and John, who were ahead of everyone else, reached the shore.

"Huff... We have to go!"

"Yeah... There’s not much time left."

Before he could say anything, the other students rushed toward the boat as well.

It was chaotic.

Alex let out a frustrated sigh.

’I’m really having a bad day.’