Place was blinded, but other other than that, nothing seemed to have happened.
As he recovered his vision, he saw that the book had been impaled, and seemed to have lost all of its energy.
He let out a sigh of relief, then turned around to check on the others.
They were all trying to blink away the light, their recovery from the bright flash much slower than Place's.
"Everyone all right?" He asked, and received positive answers all around, something was off about the situation.
The worst one was Agne, his enhanced eyes really did not like that.
Place turned to Zandre.
"You haven't answered my question, what are you doing here?"
"I couldn't find you, so I asked the teachers, and when they told me, I thought you needed all the help you could get, so I came here."
Agne let out a groan of discomfort as Emilia patted his shoulder in support.
"That's thoughtful of you." Place nodded.
Then suddenly, his left arm slapped his thigh, producing a clanging sound.
The sound drew everyone's attention, but Place's mind was a bit too busy to notice that.
He immediately sunk into thought, running the past few moments through his mind.
"Is something wrong?" Emilia asked, trying to sense their surroundings.
Place held up a finger, and everyone fell silent.
Something was quite wrong, and he had good reason to believe his feelings.
"The teacher gave you directions to us?" Place asked, and Zandre nodded.
"What exactly did he tell you?"
"The star tower on the south-west, in the big opening."
Agne and Emilia both slightly tensed at that.
Zandre was bad with directions, and for him to get here with such vague ones... It was not normal.
"I see..." Place frowned as his left hand moved to rub the top part of his chestplate.
"Your necklace." Place stared at Zandre's chest. "Where did you get it from?"
Zandre lifted the irregular rock with a strange inscription carved into it strung around his neck by a thin metal chain.
"This?" He removed it from his neck. "Supposedly, it was given to me by my parents."
"May I have a look?"
"Go ahead."
Place examined the 'rock' in his hand slowly.
He could feel it, and it was rejecting him.
'But what are you?' He wondered.
The metal was simple, the rock was not.
He handed it back to Zandre.
"Thank you, Agne, are you fine?"
Agne had stopped scowling, and seemed to have fully recovered his eyesight.
"Fully recovered." He stated as he gave a glance at the book. "What are we doing about that?"
"We're leaving it, grab that idiot and let's get moving."
Something was wrong, whatever was to be summoned had not put up a fight.
As Agne moved over to pick up the unconscious one, Place turned to the other three.
"Now remember, that guy, whatever his name is, was the most violent and irrational one, when you get questioned, say that he was very insistent and very violent, both are true."
They nodded.
"Do not say that he forced you, because he didn't, and do not try to lie or push blame on others, once a lie is picked up, it will get much, much harder for you, understand?"
Another series of nods.
"Good, I will walk in front with Agne, you three will be in the middle, then Emilia, then Zandre, let's get going."
Place withdrew a sword and tossed it to Zandre before starting to descend down the stairs.
The walk down the tower was quiet, with Zandre trying to ask Emilia questions, an Emilia shutting him down.
As they exited the tower, Place was gritting his teeth and continuously scanning the area.
Agne noticed.
"What's wrong?" He asked quietly as he walked beside.
"I don't know," Place gripped his spear forcefully. "But something is, and it is a lot."
Agne nodded and started looking around as well as they moved away from the tower used for rituals.
A few moments passed as they moved away at a brisk pace.
Then a wave of energy erupted from behind them, sending a furious gale in all directions.
Some of them stumbled as the sudden wind caught them off-guard.
They all turned to see the a purple light shining into the night from the towers top.
"Emilia!" Place shouted as Agne tossed the dead weight on him to the side.
"Spacial waves!" Emilia shouted back. "Something's ripping open space!"
Spacial rapture.
For something to be able to do that, it would have be at least a Tier 6 creature.
"It used the ritual to get a location!" Place realized.
Something this powerful, there was no way that any of them could do anything against it.
"RUN!" He shouted as he started sprinting away.
Everyone was quick to follow.
A great roar sounded, followed by an even greater wave of energy.
Place was lifted off of his feet and blown forward by the violent winds.
"Ugh!" He rolled to his feet and looked around.
The shining light had turned into a pillar, and staring into it was blinding.
"GET UP!" He pulled up Emilia, and pulled her along as he ran.
Agne's much better body had kept him balanced, and so he was much father along, but he was stopped and looking back at them.
"DON'T STOP!" Place shouted.
He understood Agne's reasons for stopping, but that didn't mean he approved them.
Another roar, another wave of energy.
Zandre slammed into him, and they rolled along the ground.
A titan had appeared where the tower was, and it was looking at them.
It raised it's building sized hand, and an orb of energy formed.
"SHIT! HUDDLE UP!" Place brought a bunch of different of defensive artifacts, desperately hoping that they would protect them against the incoming attack.
The titan threw the orb at them, and Place draped himself over Zandre and held up the artifacts towards the flying orb, bracing for the blow.
A sudden loud crack drew all of their attention.
Something tiny had slammed into the orb, and space had fractured at the impact.
And the next moment, the floor beneath Place disappeared.
***
A splash of water slamming into face make Zandre shoot up.
"Ugh! Wha-!"
He sputtered and rolled.
"Good, you're up."
Place's voice made him open his eyes, only to slam them back closed as the sun's harsh glare stabbed into them.
"Ugh... Why is it so bright?" He asked, trying to remember what had happened.
"We have bigger problems." Place's voice was calm.
"What do you..."
Zandre opened his eyes slowly.
"...mean..."
This wasn't the academy.
They were somewhere high, maybe a hill or mountain, with some trees here and there.
"Place? Where are we?"
"If I'm correct, across the world."
...
"What?"