Class B didn’t stop.

They couldn’t.

Branches snapped under their feet as they sprinted through the forest, the group of 10 or so class B members. The formation they once had under Darius was now gone.

"Are you insane?" someone shouted from behind. "We just got out!"

"What’s the difference between that and just surrendering?"

"We lost Darius there!"

Their questions overlapped. No one waited for actual answers, they were just putting out their concerns. Right now, the goal was to escape towards the base.

Elara stayed at the front, her pace steady despite the terrain. She exhaled sharply, forcing her breathing back under control.

"We have to get back to base. And then we stabilize with class A. We regroup, negotiate, and move forward from there."

A few of them latched onto that immediately, voicing their agreement.

"That’s better than this."

"At least we’ll have backup."

"We can’t fight S-class like this."

Ronan cut through it.

"No."

Elara glanced at him, and irritation flashed.. "Then say something useful."

"They want Darius," Ronan said, voice even. "That’s the only reason they didn’t chase."

"If we go to Class A," he continued, "they’ll ask about him. They’ll want to meet him. And when they find out we lost him – and the node – everything will shift. The negotiation won’t go nearly as smoothly as it should."

Elara wanted to say anything, but she couldn’t think of an immediate rebuttal.

He didn’t let her.

"Who has stealth training?" he asked.

There was hesitation, but then two hands raised.

A girl near the middle, breathing hard but steady, and a boy just behind her, quieter, watching instead of speaking.

"Basic," the girl said. "Nothing advanced."

"Same," the boy added.

Ronan nodded once.

"You’re with me," he said.

Elara slowed slightly. "For what?"

"We’re going back."

Silence.

"Are you insane?! You just said–" she started.

"I said we don’t go to Class A," Ronan interrupted. "Not like this, at least."

"And going back is better?" she snapped. "We barely got out!"

"That’s exactly why it will work."

The group did not seem convinced.

Ronan continued.

"If we wait," he said instead, "whatever gap we created closes. We just escaped, they obviously don’t expect us to come back. Their guards are likely down at the moment, which means if we want to capitalize, we will have to go back."

"Whatever you have planned... you’re sure it will work?"

The one who asked that was the girl who raised her hand.

"No."

The response shocked them.

"...You’re taking two people and going back into S-class territory," Elara said. "With no confirmed plan."

"Yes."

"That’s fucking stupid."

"Do you have a better idea? Class A won’t ally with us if they know we lost so much. This war will be lost."

Elara stopped her running completely, and so did the rest of the class. She bit her lip.

"Fine. You get one chance," she said. "If this goes wrong, we won’t come back for you. You two, are you okay with this?"

Elara turned to the two students who raised their hands. The girl looked nervous, and the boy looked more than ready.

"I’m more than okay with this! Let’s save Darius!"

"Y-yeah, me too."

Save Darius?

Ronan scoffed internally. That wasn’t the plan, but he didn’t tell them that.

Ronan opened the system interface and looked at the mission.

[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]

[Main Quest: Escape Artist]

Status: Ongoing

Description: You are surrounded, and have fallen into an elaborate trap. Class S, unified under the rule of Grace Light, have you in their claws.

Goal: Break encirclement and retreat without any member of Class B being captured by Class S.

Conditions:

- At least 70% of participating Class B members must successfully disengage

- No member of Class B may be taken hostage

- The Minor Node must not fall into enemy possession

Penalty: None

Reward: Unknown Skill

The Minor Node must not fall into enemy possession

All he wanted right now was the node. He couldn’t care less about Darius.

In fact, even getting the mana node in this situation was tedious. There were a multitude of ways they could get class A to ally with them. Right now, going for the mana node was stupid.

But he needed to complete the mission assigned by the system.

There was no penalty, so his hand wasn’t forced, but this was a risk he was willing to take.

Control was slipping, and he needed to grasp it once more.

And he needed that skill.

"Ronan?"

The girl with stealth training was looking at him now, still nervous, but keeping her voice low. Her breathing had steadied faster than he expected.

The boy beside her looked far more eager. Too eager.

"What are your names?" Ronan asked.

The girl blinked, caught off guard. "Mira."

"Cole," the boy answered immediately.

Ronan nodded once.

"Mira. Cole. Listen carefully. We are not going back to fight."

Cole frowned. "But Darius is still there."

"Yes."

"We’re saving him, right?"

Ronan looked at him.

Cole’s enthusiasm dimmed slightly under the stare.

"No," Ronan said. "We are not."

Mira’s face paled a little, but she didn’t speak.

Cole did.

"What? We can’t just leave him."

"We can," Ronan replied. "And we will."

Cole stepped forward, anger flashing across his face. "He’s our leader."

"He’s also being held by a trap that we don’t understand, surrounded by S-class students who have already prepared for our first escape attempt," Ronan said. "If you try to save him, you will fail. If I try to save him, I will fail. If all three of us try to save him, all three of us get captured."

Cole’s jaw clenched.

"You don’t know that. If we have a chance to save Darius, I will. I don’t care what you say."

Ronan didn’t soften his voice.

"Our objective is the node."

"I don’t care," Cole said. "You’re not changing my mind."

Ronan didn’t argue. His personal opinion didn’t matter, and he could get himself captured if he wanted. As long as he followed the plan, that’s all that mattered.

Mira swallowed and looked between them. "Then what exactly are we doing?"

Ronan turned back toward the direction of the clearing.

"We’re taking advantage of their priorities. More specifically, what they actually want. And I have a hunch its not the node"