"What?" Percival looked astonished for a second, while Ethan scoffed and shook his head at how crazy that request sounded.
"Hold on, Wilson, how stupid do you think we are?" Percival continued. "Cause it's either you think we are that dumb or you're the one who is. We don't need you."
It was obvious to both Percival and Ethan that Wilson being here and not with Beatrice was definitely with an ulterior motive.
The girls glanced at each other in surprise. Wilson was the top of their class. Why refuse his request? But they said nothing either.
Wilson smiled and said in a mocking tone, "I thought the cuts I gave you back then had healed by now, Percival."
Percival's rage flared. "Let's go right now. See if you get lucky again."
Mr. Kieran noticed the commotion back there and called out, "Wilson, what's going on there?"
Of course he'd choose to ask Wilson first over Percival, who was a natural magnet for trouble.
"Mr. Kieran, Percival won't let me join their team," Wilson said while smiling deviously at Percival's angry face.
In between Anna, who just told him she had a team ready, and Stan Hughes, who also had another team ready, it seemed to Kieran it was just Percival's incomplete team left.
Mr. Kieran looked over to the side to see that no one picked Hoffman, and then he said, "Hoffman and Wilson, you'll join Percival's team."
Percival's eyes widened after hearing that. He quickly turned to protest. "Mr. Kieran, we don't…"
"That's enough from you, Percival. Is it that difficult to go a day without trouble from you?" Kieran said, which instantly kept Percival shut with a deep frown on his face.
There was a pause as the class had gone awkwardly quiet for a second before Kieran added, "Everyone's set now. Let's go."
He left the class, and the others slowly followed behind. Percival then held Wilson by the arm as he tried to leave.
Wilson stopped, and with disgust on his face, he turned to look at the arm holding his.
Percival then said, "Listen to me. We obviously know Beatrice put you up to this, but don't think you can try anything stupid in that breach zone."
Wilson quickly pulled his hand off Percival's grip and walked away without saying anything further.
Hoffman and the girls followed behind without saying anything, as whatever was going on didn't seem to be their business.
"Ethan…" Percival said.
"I know. I'll be careful," Ethan said, and with that, they both left with the others.
Soon after, the final years and Mr. Kieran arrived at the school's dockyard where the airships were kept.
Three airships were already lined up for departure, with Mr. Kintly and Miss Heather each standing aboard one of them as they would be watching over the teams assigned to their ships.
Kieran got on the last one and asked Anna's team to come with him, while he gestured to the other teams, Stan's and Percival's, to join Mr. Kintly and Miss Heather, respectively.
Each team went aboard, and on Percival's side, Lucy looked the most excited. Airship riding was one of her favorite things to do.
Ethan looked around the ship for a moment, recognizing the old model from Stark Industries from when their ship designs were mostly wooden.
These were even donated to the academy by his late father, and since then, management hadn't seen the need to spend its money on getting the newer versions.
The low-classed magi-engineers piloting the ships started the engines, and with that, the ships took off into the air.
They reached a point and parted ways as movement to the designated breach zones began.
———
Not long after, the airship carrying Miss Heather and Team Percival reached an abandoned factory site.
The airship hovered a short distance above the ground as a set of stairs extended from a compartment along its side, reaching the floor so everyone could walk down.
Waiting around the corner for their arrival was a tall, black-haired man in a trench coat layered over a black three-piece suit. He was a representative of the DSB, the Dimensional Security Bureau.
An organization sanctioned by the King to oversee everything involving breaches, guilds, and the members of these guilds.
Part of their duties also involved giving guilds, corporations, or individuals the rights to access these breach zones.
"Belsorth Academy, I believe?" the agent began.
Miss Heather nodded and responded, "Yes."
"
Right this way then," the agent said, gesturing his hand in the direction of a breach zone.
They got to a spot within the factory. Turns out this place only cleared out a few days ago after signals of the breach were discovered.
There was a large portal in front of them that looked like it emitted harmless streaks of lightning while the air around it was distorted.
Several magi-engineers surrounded it, dressed in hazmat suits. Some held Geiger counters toward the portal, while others studied the readings on large Arctablets.
The agent then asked, as if he'd only just realized, "I don't see your students with the right gear for this zone."
Miss Heather then said, "They all came on short notice, but they are final years of Belsorth. They can easily clear E-grade zones."
"Hm. Okay," the agent said. Higher-ups had already given instructions to let the students of Belsorth Academy go into the breach zone, so he had no intention of delaying them any further.
He moved forward towards the "Do not cross" sign tapes and pulled them away before gesturing for them to carry on.
Miss Heather nodded, then turned towards the team and said in a calm, almost motherly voice, "You are grown-ups now, so I will let you guys make your own decisions on how best to proceed."
Then she moved over to the side to give them some space.
Percival immediately took charge at once. "I formed the group, so I'll be taking party lead."
He immediately turned towards Wilson. "Do not go out of my sight for one second. You hear me, Heydrich?"
Wilson rolled his eyes and sighed but did nothing more.
Percival then turned towards Hoffman and asked, "What class are you again?"
"Summoner, B-class," Hoffman said in a calm tone.
Ethan turned towards the blonde-haired human at that point, realizing how good it would actually be to see a summoner and his summon in action.
"Hm…" Percival muttered, then turned towards Lucy and asked, "And you, what can your magi-engineer do again?"
Lucy looked excited to speak as she quickly turned her backpack over. She pulled out an item from it, a metallic orb of sorts that had a green glow on some parts of it.
Then she held it out towards Percival and said, "This was what I was able to come up with on short notice. I was able to make this on our way here."
"And what does that do?" Percival asked with narrowed eyes, looking confused.
"A bomb made from Zaroid and Croton. Let's just say even C-grade monsters will have a hard time shrugging this one off," Lucy said with a grin on her face.
"Uh… okay," Percival said, nodding thoughtfully.
Ethan stared at Lucy for a moment and thought to himself, "She was able to create that in just the little time we traveled to this place?"
He looked almost astonished, and then a smile appeared across his lips as he nodded his head approvingly. Lucy was going to be a great addition to his cause.
Percival already knew what class the rest of the team fell into. Then, without any further questions, he said, "I'll be killing all the monsters myself, but do your best."
Then he raised a thumb with a grin on his face before turning towards the portal.
Everyone was taken aback for a second, with astonished looks on their faces.
They had all assumed that Percival inquired into their classes and whatnot so that he could know what roles and positions to place them in inside the breach zone.
But he did all that just to say this?
"What are you guys waiting for?" Percival called out. "Are you all coming or what?"
Then the werewolf passed through the portal, and soon after the others followed.
Ethan chuckled as he walked through. Of course, what was he expecting? That Percival magically grew any other battle sense outside of his own skills?
One by one, they all passed through.
Breach zones, when they first started appearing, took their world by surprise, but it's been over a century since, and now they were no longer threats humanity could not handle.
If anything, they had become a major source of development and technological advancement for the country, given that mana cores and most special materials were harvested from within these zones.