The Author's POV

Chapter 55: Hollberg [1]

"Alright, everyone please enter the bus"

Wearing a loosely fit white T-shirt that was neatly tucked in her jeans, Donna did a quick roll call.

As she was doing the roll call, her every movement attracted the attention of every boy present. Her violet eyes shone slightly causing everyone to fall into a daze.

I too was entranced by her.

After making sure that everyone in class A-25 was present, Donna, taking no notice of the boys' flushed faces, boarded a huge white bus and urged us to follow along.

Right after her figure disappeared inside of the bus, the boys snapped out of their daze and regained their senses.

Seeing the confused look on everyone's faces I couldn't help but lightly shake my head

This scene was too familiar. This was not the first time it happened and it probably wasn't going to be the last time it happened.

Donna, whenever she was in a bad mood, tended to unconsciously release some of her powers causing all the boys in class to suddenly feel extremely infatuated with her.

Sometimes it would get so bad that some of the guys would directly faint.

Only the likes of Kevin and Jin were somewhat able to remain unaffected by her sudden seductive outburst.

Regaining my composure, and looking at the others who were boarding the bus, I couldn't help but stare at the bus which Donna had just entered.

I was in complete awe.

The bus's outer body was painted in white, and its smooth design was slick and modern.

The bus, which was enormous, measuring up to 15 meters in length, could house up to 200 people.

The reason why the bus was able to hold that many people was because it had a second floor which surprisingly had a mini snack bar.

Around the bus, all the windows were tinted in black making it impossible to see through, preventing people from prying inside.

The bus's frame was made from highly durable metal alloys that could withstand the full power of several ranked villains.

It was highly secured and was specifically made for protecting students from sudden ambushes from either villains or beasts.

Looking behind the bus, fifteen more buses lined up in the distance. Next to them, a crowd of students similar to us were all waiting to enter their respective buses.

Because the number of people in the first years was well over 2,000, the students were each divided into different classes.

My class was class A-25.

Each class had its own instructor, and the selection was random. That was if we exclude Jin, Emma, Amanda, Kevin, and Melissa who each could select which class they could be in.

The privilege of the talented…

Entering the bus, I looked left and right, and after spotting my group I made my way towards them.

Along the way, I couldn't help but marvel at the interior of the bus.

The seatings which reminded me of first-class seats on planes were made of fine leather. The seats were separated into two rows with two seats on each side. In front of each seat, there was a nice oak table that had several snacks on top.

Arriving where my group was, a complicated look appeared on my face.

According to what Donna had briefed us beforehand, we had to sit with our group during the whole bus ride which would take approximately five hours. This was so that we could get to know each other better.

…however, looking at my group, I started to doubt whether this was a good idea.

On my right side, Evan and Cassandra were sitting together munching down some chips. Behind them, Melissa was quietly sitting on her seat with her eyes closed. Her whole aura screamed 'Don't disturb me'

On the right side, Donald was sitting next to the window. He was currently busy staring at the scenery outside the window and thus seemed to have not realized that I had just arrived.

Looking around, apart from the seats next to Melissa and Donald, everywhere else was full.

As my eyes alternated between Melissa and Donald for a couple of seconds, I decided to sit next to Donald. Though I disliked the guy, I at least didn't risk the possibility of dying.

"Hmm? What are you doing you bastard?"

Just as I was about to sit next to Donald, he turned around and glared at me.

"…errr I am sitting"

Pausing for a moment, I looked at Donald for a bit before ignoring him and seating on the seat.

As soon as I sat on the seat, a moan almost escaped from my mouth.

It felt as if I was inside of a cloud made of cotton. My back instantly sank into the chair, and the leather coating around the chair which preserved some of the cold from the previous night instantly cooled my body.

…Too comfortable.

Just as I was enjoying my experience, I heard a loud voice on the right side of my ear. Turning my head to the side, I was met with the sight of Donald shouting at me

"You rude bastard! Who gave you permission to sit next to me?"

Frowning, I was about to retort to him, but after thinking for a bit I refrained myself from doing so and decided to ignore him.

I wasn't going to gain anything from arguing with him.

"Are you even listening to me, you rude bastard? How dare the likes of you ign…"

At first, I was able to ignore him without any problems, however, after a couple of minutes of continuous verbal abuse, I couldn't take it anymore and snapped

"Who you calling a bastard you bastard? My name is Ren. Ren Dover, not 'rude bastard'."

Flipping the middle finger at his face I raised my voice

"Leave me alone dammit, I am trying to enjoy this seat, so stop shouting like a parrot and let me have my peace!"

"You son of a…"

Opening his eyes wide, Donald was just about to retort back but before he could do that he heard a cold voice coming from the left side of the bus.

"Stop"

Opening her eyes, Melissa took her glasses off and glared at both me and Donald

"Cease your immature display at once"

Pointing behind her, where the other students were seated, she said

"Are you planning on killing me from embarrassment? Was this something you had planned beforehand in order to kill me? If so you succeeded. I would rather drown myself in a bowl of water than being subjected to any more of this"

Looking at where Melissa pointed, I soon noticed almost everyone on the bus staring in our direction.

"kheumm…kheumm, sorry everyone."

Awkwardly coughing a couple of times, I apologized to everyone.

It seems like Donald and I were a bit too loud…

Without needing to be told by Melissa, we sat on our seats and stopped talking. Closing my eyes I decided to take a quick nap.

Turning on my mp3, I immediately plugged in my earphones and played a random song.

Seeing both me and Donald sitting quietly like obedient children, Melissa's brows finally relaxed. Soon after, she closed her eyelids and prepared to sleep. However right after she closed her eyes, she said

"You better be quiet while I'm sleeping, because…"

"Ok…"

"…if you as much as speak another word, I'll make sure you drink my newly created potion that can send you straight to heaven"

"…"

"…"

Looking at each other, both me and Donald felt a cold chill.

We immediately shut up and decided to never utter a single word throughout the whole bus ride.

-Vroom!

Soon the bus engine roared loudly and slowly the bus picked up its speed.

Staring at the constantly changing scenery from outside the window, I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the upcoming trip.

…

After the first cataclysm, the world map completely changed.

The whole world became one mass of land and the map that we previously were accustomed to completely changed.

Then, the second cataclysm happened and humanity lost 6/8 of their land.

Countries that somehow managed to survive the first cataclysm ceased to exist, and what replaced them was a new centralized government called the central government.

Despite the fact that countries no longer existed, people couldn't forget their roots.

Hollberg.

A city founded in 2015, by then S ranked Hero Ludwig Hollberg, a German citizen prior to the first cataclysm.

The intent behind the creation of Hollberg was to recreate 'Germany'. Ludwig Hollberg firmly believed that one should never forget one's roots, and thus from then on, Hollberg was considered the new Germany.

Many people of German descent migrated to Hollberg and settled there in hopes of developing the city further. The culture, the language, the people, everything was exactly how it was back in Germany prior to the first cataclysm.

Following the example set by Hollberg, many countries did the same and established cities that were based on their country of origin.

The central government did not stop them nor did it try to stop them. They had too many problems to take care of to care about such insignificant matters.

"Alright guys, we will be arriving in Hollberg in about ten minutes so get prepared."

Waking me up, was Donna's crisp and pleasant voice which traveled through the bus speaker.

"huaaam…"

Yawning loudly, I stretched my body.

Looking around, I could see Donald and the rest waking up. Behind them, several students were already awake playing on their phones or talking to each other.

Rubbing my eyes a couple of times, I rested my head on the headrest of the seat.

To be honest, though I was comfortable throughout the whole trip, I would've preferred if we traveled through dimensional gates.

Sitting for five hours without being active wasn't something I was used to now that I pretty much spent most of my time training.

If it were before I reincarnated, I would've had no qualms with it.

However, now that I have completely changed my routine, I couldn't stand not doing any physical activity for more than five hours unless it was for sleeping.

Sadly, because the academy deemed gates too dangerous we couldn't use them.

Because dimensional gates were still a new technology not much was known regarding their safety. Though tests have shown that it was safe to use dimensional gates, there have been a couple of incidents regarding them causing the whole government to still block them from being commercially available.

Trains were also a no-go since they couldn't carry certain equipment that the instructors had prepared beforehand, and thus in the end the only option we had was to go by bus.

"Stand up"

"…hm?"

Snapping me out of my thoughts was Donald who stood up and was waiting for me to leave my seat.

Standing up, I followed the line of students heading towards the exit of the bus.

As soon as I exited the bus, the light coming from the sun momentarily blinded my eyes. A wave of fresh air swept all over me instantly refreshing my whole body.

Covering my face with my arm I looked around.

"…How nice"

Before me was a large expansive green field. Several houses built using timber framing and stone appeared on the green field, along with several cows that roamed around the field.

In the far distance, an enormous building with thick metal walls covering its perimeter could be seen. Beyond the walls, were several large buildings that released smoke in the air, polluting the clean environment.

After making sure that no one was missing, Donna who seemed to be in a better mood than before spoke

"Alright, everyone. Though we are in Hollberg, we are only in the outskirts. That is because before going into the city we will be making a trip towards the monster processing factory"

"We will first do a tour of the place, and then shortly after you will go with your group and complete your assigned task."

Pausing and making sure that everyone understood what she meant, Donna turned around and made her way toward the large industrial building.

"Alright follow me…"