It wasn’t the voices that made Reinhart pause. It was what he couldn’t hear anymore.
For a second, everything went still.
The leaves became calm, and even the wind itself had seized like it was holding its breath and trying to hide its presence.
This was how tense Reinhart's gaze made the atmosphere.
His eyes remained on the students for a few long seconds, then he exhaled heavily, relaxing his shoulders a little and shaking his head. "I'm getting paranoid..."
“Are you just gonna stand there all day, or are you coming out?” a deep and familiar voice came from the other side of the bush, breaking the silence he had created.
Reinhart recognized it immediately.
Garrion.
He let out another sigh—but this time it wasn't a sign of weariness, or frustration, but relief— and he pushed aside the wildflowers gathered in front of him.
The scent of saltwater was the first thing that greeted him like a welcome from the Island. His eyes followed the sound of waves lapping gently against the shore. From these few details, anyone could easily tell, they were at the island’s edge.
“Oh,” Garrion said, catching sight of him. “It’s you.”
A short laugh escaped him. “This barrier’s messing with my senses so bad, I couldn’t even tell who it was. Thought you were another damn beast for a second.” He gestured lazily toward the sky.
"I'm guessing you've had your fair share of uncomfortable experiences from the Island." Reinhart responded, pocketing his hand.
Behind him, smiles and looks of relief were beginning to return to the students' faces as they spotted some faces they recognized. They quickly rushed forward to reunite with their friends, some hugging each other.
Reinhart remained a few feet back, from Garrion and the students.
He was without a doubt, relieved now, but not completely. His eyes kept scanning the environment like he was looking for something or someone.
“Perplexing situation, isn’t it?” a voice pulled him out of his trance of suspicion.
He turned to Layla was walking toward him, her posture relaxed but eyes sharp as always, her demeanor carrying a sense of authority. Beside her was Riley, silent, matching her pace but not standing out and just blending in like a shadow beside Layla.
Reinhart didn’t answer right away, but Layla didn’t seem to need one.
“I should’ve just called in sick and stayed home today,” Layla muttered, dragging a hand through her blue hair with an exhausted sigh. “All this stress is gonna turn me grey.”
Reinhart barely glanced her way before responding. “Don’t you think it’s about time for a hundred-year-old lady?”
“Shut up,” she scoffed, about to fire back. “I bet this lady has—”
“You two look a lot more energetic now, huh?” Garrion cut in with a lopsided grin, walking past Layla to Reinhart's side.
“You should’ve seen her when you weren’t around." He tapped Reinhart gently on his shoulder. "She looked like someone kicked her puppy.”
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Layla gave him a dry look. “Careful... I’m this close to murdering both of you.”
Garrion just laughed. “Knew you had a soft spot in there somewhere.”
Reinhart ignored the bickering and shifted the conversation. “Jokes aside. Have you figured out anything new?”
Layla stretched her arms above her head and exhaled. “Well… for starters, the island’s crawling with mana beasts.”
“Tell me something I haven't noticed.” Reinhart said. “We ran into a 3B on our first day here.”
"Wait—seriously?”
"Not really the time for me to joke, is it?" Reinhart nodded. "It was a Gorgonix"
"But those things aren't the real problem" Reinhart said, adjusting his glasses with his index finger.
“Exactly,” Layla said. “It’s the guys in those black suits.”
"And worst of all, they're rigged with bombs that go off the second they die."
"I met one immediately I got here."
"Tch," Reinhart scoffed, placing his hand against his chin in contemplation. “And we still don't know the identities of those behind this?”
“Nope.” Layla crossed her arms. “No insignias. No names."
Reinhart shifted his gaze to the sky, pocketing his hands. “And the barrier?”
Layla sighed. “Still up. Still scrambling our senses and blocking every signal. Lian said it’s S-class,"
“I know... I saw it all,” Reinhart muttered. "If it weren't for her, we'd be in a worse situation right now."
“Precisely. It’d be like moving blind” Garrion added, scowling.
It was exactly as Garrion said. For bearers, especially Sentinels, the senses of touch, smell and sight were nothing but basic beginner tools for people in their line of work. Especially when considered that they make encounter entities capable of being invisible to the eye, a basic skill ki users were able to put into play by lowering their ki levels.
What they mostly relied on was the ability to recognize and identify the energy signatures around them and bloodlust. Those who possess high mastery are even able to not just feel the presences but see the area within their range.
If such an ability was cut off for them, it would render them no different from a blind man.
Reinhart’s eyes scanned the coast again, then back at the small clusters of students reuniting with their friends. For him, something still didn’t sit right.
He kept scanning the faces again, then he recalled...
“Where’s Lian?” he asked, finally realizing. She was the first person he had thought he'd set his eyes on immediately he got here, given the essential role she was playing.
"I haven’t seen her since we got here.”
Layla opened her mouth to speak, then paused—her eyes locking onto something behind Reinhart.
“Well, speak of the devil...” she said slowly.
Reinhart turned around to see Lian step out from between the trees, behind him.
He immediately noticed the exhaustion in her eyes, mostly from the slightly dark eye bags beginning to develop beneath her eyes. She was obviously trying to hide it with an illusory technique, but he saw through her facade.
Without saying a word, he reached into his coat and pulled out a slim, silver container with a blue liquid in it. It was no longer than his palm.
“Here,” he said, holding it out. “Should help with your stamina.”
Lian blinked, caught off guard. “Oh… thank you,” she murmured, a bit surprised. She took it without hesitation, uncorked it, and drank it down in one long pull.
“Any progress on the barrier?” Layla asked, eyeing her with concern.
Lian wiped her lips and exhaled, the tension in her shoulders momentarily easing. “It’s… complicated. Definitely S-class. No doubt.”
“So… can you break it?” Layla asked again, more sharply this time.
Lian shook her head. “No. Not fully. But I can make a hole—just for a short window. Enough to reach HQ, maybe give them something to trace.”
“You’ve done more than enough for now. Rest a bit, then we—”
Out of nowhere, the glass bottle slipped from Lian’s hand and shattered upon hitting the rocky ground.
Everyone jolted slightly, startled by this.
Reinhart didn't hesitate to move close to her and grab her shoulders.
Lian’s breathing quickened. Her posture stiffened, eyes wide and darting around the clearing like she had caught whiff of a ghost.
“Lian?” Reinhart called, but she didn’t respond. Her head turned left, then right—twice—like a trapped animal in panic.
“Lian,” he repeated, more firmly this time. “What’s wrong?”
“Lian. Hey—what’s wrong?!”
Her voice finally came, barely a whisper, like she was a child scared to speak.
“I… I was tired,” she said, eyes darting around. “My stamina… I couldn’t— I was dizzy.”
“What are you saying?” Layla stepped closer now, her own voice rising, nervous.
“I couldn’t keep up the focus,” Lian said, barely able to meet Reinhart’s eyes now. “I couldn’t hold my lock on the barrier.”
“I thought it was fine. Just for a minute.”
And then she looked at him fully, slowly turning her gaze toward Layla.
“…The students,” she said.
Reinhart’s chest immediately felt like it was freezing from the inside. Before she said anything, his mind had already gotten a vague sense of the situation
“…Half of them are gone.”
