At that moment, Nova, who was sleeping, heard screaming sounds. Nova felt his body being shaken roughly, forcing him to wake up.
"Hey, how long are you going to keep sleeping here!" shouted a voice he didn't recognize.
Nova opened his eyes slowly, still half-conscious. His vision was still blurry, and his head felt heavy. "Ah, has the teacher arrived?" he mumbled with a hoarse voice.
"What do you mean has the teacher arrived, huh!" snapped a girl standing in front of him. Her face was red with annoyance.
Nova blinked several times, trying to focus his vision. "Hmm, wait... Who are you?" he asked while rubbing his eyes, still not fully awake.
"Now you're asking?" the girl became even more annoyed. "My name is Ena Selvan from SMMA school, class 11!"
Nova looked at Ena with a flat expression, trying to remember. "Ohhh, I don't know you at all. This seems to be the first time we've met, even though we're from the same school, right?"
"Eh, wait. You said you're from class 11? Isn't class 11 on the second floor and class 12 on the third floor? So why are you in my classroom?"
At SMMA, the class division system was very clear. Class 11 for 17-year-old students occupied the second floor, while class 12 for 18-year-old students was on the third floor.
"Are you still not aware or what!" Ena shouted in frustration, her hand pointing around them. "Look around you!"
Nova followed the direction of Ena's finger and began turning his head. "Ah, wait... where is this? Wasn't I just sleeping in the classroom?"
Nova really observed his surroundings. The two of them were no longer in the familiar classroom. Instead, they were now in the middle of a dense forest that they didn't know at all. Tall trees towered around them, with thick foliage that almost covered the sky.
Nova suddenly straightened his body. His eyes narrowed, staring sharply toward the depths of the forest. Something was wrong.
"What's wrong?" Ena noticed the sudden change in Nova's tense expression. "Why does your face suddenly look like that?"
"It seems like something is coming toward us," Nova answered in a serious tone.
"Huh? Something? What kind of something—"
Ena's sentence was cut off when a rumbling sound was heard from behind her. The ground beneath their feet began to shake. Before Ena could turn around, Nova quickly pulled her hand, pulling her away from their original position.
"Wh—what is that?!" Ena was stunned seeing the giant figure that emerged from behind the trees.
A snake of unimaginable size slithered out from the bushes. Its body length reached dozens of meters with a width almost equivalent to a school bus. Its skin was dark brown with patterns similar to soil texture. Its eyes were red, and when it opened its mouth, sharp fangs were clearly visible.
"Hmm, is this a giant snake? Its face is really ugly."
"I think you're right, but... eh, this isn't the time to talk about that!" Ena screamed in panic.
The giant snake seemed angry at both of them. Its eyes stared sharply at Nova and Ena, its mouth opened wide making a thunderous hissing sound. Without warning, the creature lunged forward with surprising speed for its body size.
Nova didn't look scared at all. He was only slightly surprised, as if this wasn't his first experience facing a dangerous situation. When the giant snake lunged toward them, Nova quickly pulled Ena to stand behind him.
"Stand behind me," he commanded with a calm voice.
In the blink of an eye, Nova spun his body and delivered a perfect free kick. His foot hit the giant snake's head with extraordinary force. The sound of a hard impact echoed throughout the forest, and the snake was thrown far until it crashed into a large tree trunk. The tree it hit even cracked and almost fell.
The snake appeared to be in pain, its body writhing uncontrollably. Ena, who witnessed the incident, was completely stunned. Her mouth opened wide, not believing what she had just witnessed.
"I haven't fought in a long time," Nova mumbled while stretching his body. "Maybe I've become weaker than before."
Nova walked casually toward where the snake was. "Come on, transform!" Suddenly the bracelet on his right hand transformed into a black sword and Nova held it.
Not only that, the white bracelet on his left hand also transformed and formed a white mask that immediately attached to Nova's face. The mask only had two white eye holes.
Ena, seeing this transformation, became even more shocked. *What's happening? Both bracelets on his hands changed shape? Are those man-made weapons?* she thought to herself.
Suddenly, the mask on Nova's face made a sound. The voice sounded like a robot's voice, but only Nova could hear it. Ena was completely unaware of the conversation taking place.
[ It's been a long time since you've worn me, ] said the mask.
"What's wrong, do you miss me?" Nova replied in a joking tone, even though his face was covered by the mask.
[ Unfortunately, I am an artificial intelligence that doesn't have feelings like humans, ] the mask replied in a flat tone.
"I know that, I was just joking," Nova chuckled softly.
[ It seems like it's an Earth Snake, ] the mask explained in an analytical tone.
[ That snake usually lives underground and controls certain territories. It seems like this place is part of its territory. Because you are in its home, it considers you an intruder that must be eliminated. ]
"Is that so," Nova nodded in understanding. "I myself don't know how I ended up here."
When Nova stopped talking, the giant snake began to rise again. The wound created by Nova somehow disappeared from its body. With more aggressive movements, the snake attacked Nova once more.
"Ah, you have courage," Nova said while raising his sword. "But unfortunately, you're fighting the wrong person."
In the blink of an eye, Nova swung his sword only once. The movement was so fast that Ena's eyes could barely follow it. A sharp 'slash' sound was heard when the sword cut through the air.
The giant snake's body was immediately split into two parts and fell to the ground. Black blood flowed out, but strangely, the snake's body couldn't rejoin as Earth Snakes should normally be able to do.
Usually, Earth Snakes had regeneration abilities by utilizing soil elements around them to repair damaged bodies. However, this time, that ability didn't work at all.
The snake looked very confused and desperate. Its eyes, which had been red, began to dim. Slowly, its body crumbled and turned into a pile of ordinary soil.
Ena, who witnessed the entire incident, couldn't say anything. *What was that speed? He cut it so fast, and who was he talking to earlier?* she thought while staring at Nova.
"Alright, finished!"
"Since I was sleeping at that time, I don't know what actually happened, so... Can you explain it? What really happened, how did we end up here?" Nova said while turning to face Ena, who was still silent.