(I need to get there fast!) the man thought, clenching his fist as a surge of rage and determination surged within him.
Leaving the two siblings, the man's resolve hardened by three times, adding fuel to the already vibrant flame burning in his soul.
...
After meeting back up with his recruits, the recruits came rushing at the man, impatiently urging him to get the evacuation started.
"We need to get there quickly; the Slette is closing in fast!" One of the recruits frantically told the man, anxious about the incoming disaster.
As the Slette expanded, it felt as if it had gotten quicker, but in actuality, instead of that, it was because the Slette covered more surface area, which gave the illusion that it was growing faster than it actually was.
"Alright then, get ready because I'm going to launch you guys, there first," the man said, flaring up his node in the process.
The entirety of the man's arms glowed light green, and without waiting, the man gestured for his recruits to line up.
*Wwooooccchhh*
One by one, the man waved his fingers and a precise burst of wind appeared as a result of his actions, launching each of his recruits one by one about 4 miles away in the same direction.
It didn't even take a full minute for the man to send his new recruits to the evacuation site and once he was done, the man was about to follow after them, when suddenly, a young voice called out to him.
"WAITTTT..." A familiar teenager with red-orange hair yelled out as he ran, stumbling on each step, trying to stop the man before he left.
...
Right after the man left, Ren stood up and looked around, specifically at where he and his sister came from.
However, when his two dimming pupils laid eyes on it, he instantly took a step back in shock.
In the direction they came from, Ren saw an incomprehensible scene.
More than a hundred thousand people flooded the district below them. Climbing, pushing, and even crushing the people below, desperately tried to squeeze their way to the safe zone.
Whether selfish or not, everyone there was forced to stand their ground; one pushed the other, and then the other pushed another, like a chain reaction.
*SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME, AHHHHH, I CANT DIE HERE*
Though it can't be heard by the siblings, all of these people were screaming, crying, and begging at the same time, causing their voices to combine and compound into a frightening cacophony of noise.
There were even high-grade musicians in the crowd, but because of the chaos around them, they weren't able to use their node to escape, reducing them to normal human beings.
*Huff huff* Letting out large gasps of air as he watched, Ren felt and heard his heart beat loud and violent.
He doesn't know why, but he felt his heart clench, and a sharp pang of pain ran through his body like a shiver. All he knew was that he felt an odd desire anchoring itself into his heart, calling for him to move.
That feeling weighed on Ren, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. His bones were itchy, and he felt a strange strain on his collarbone as if another weight was crushing him.
Feeling the strong tug and pull on his heart, Ren couldn't rest; he glanced in the direction the man in the military uniform went.
(He said he needed more wind musicians, right?....) Ren thought as he remembered what the man said before he left.
At first, Ren only took a step, but then those steps turned into a walk, and gradually, after each step, he got faster and faster until it finally became a sprint.
...
"You?" The man lifted his eyebrows in confusion.
After noticing Ren's presence, the man was shocked and confused as to why the elder brother of the two siblings had come running after him.
The man was concerned, but he also didn't have time to waste, so he quickly ran to Ren, meeting him in the middle instead of waiting for him.
"Do you need hel-" The man spoke out in concern but was stopped before he could finish.
"*Huuf* My name is Ren Spark *Huff* I want to work with you to save people," Ren said frantically in between breaths.
Looking at Ren, the man was conflicted; he instinctively looked at Ren's bruised and bandaged hands.
Inadvertently, when the man was looking over Ren, trying to judge why he came here, he made eye contact with him, but what he saw wasn't confidence or sincerity.
Looking into Ren's eyes, the man saw a face filled with confusion, but yet through his expressions, the man could tell that despite that, there was no hesitance in his movements.
It was the first time the man had seen someone like this, finding himself left speechless by Ren's behavior.
However, upon realizing that he can't spare even a second mire to think through his answer, he bit his lip and answered Ren with hesitance.
"Welcome aboard then, my name is Haze Clover. We can't delay any longer, so we'll have to go now." Haze introduced himself and explained their next actions in rapid succession, emphasizing the word 'now.'
After saying that, Haze looked at Ren, ready to launch him to their destination. Haze had even started to move his fingers until Ren began to notice it and spoke up before Haze really did launch him.
"I need to take care of my sister first, so I need to bring her along," Ren said definitively.
Stopping his finger movements, Haze turned away from Ren in a rush and started his finger movements again, but this time aimed at himself.
"Alright then, meet us at Onium Street later." Haze quickly answered right before his departure.
*Weeeeeeekkkk* a sharp sting sounded as Haze shot into the air.
Halfway in the air, Haze briefly glanced back at Ren for a moment, showing a shaky but grateful smile, as a trail of displaced air followed behind.
....
*Wuuuu wuuuu wuuu* cyclones of wind broke Haze's fall before impacted and destroyed
the ground.
"How many musicians do we have?" Haze demanded as soon as he landed.
The recruits who heard him were shocked by Haze's sudden appearance and demand, but within a second after his landing, a man in a similar uniform to Haze immediately answered.
"We have 10 earth musicians and 7 wind musicians."
"Alright, Vice Commander, you guide the earth musicians, and I'll take the wind musicians as planned." Haze immediately instructed after hearing his vice commander's report.
Instantly, Haze took center stage, and in the next moment he raised his right hand, formed it into a snapping motion, and released it.
*Weeeeeeoung*
Instead of the expected sound of a normal snap, a sound more akin to a whistle vibrated the air, causing every sound in the area to warp and change.
Haze's appearance changed as well; half of his honeydew colored hair now glowed green, looking ethereal, as flicks of particles periodically departed from the clump of energy that blended with the remainder of his normal hair
His body changed as well; his arms stopped glowing, and what replaced it, are glowing green cracks that matched the color of his hair appearing all around his body, like a cracking pane of glass.
The newly recruited musicians were all shocked by Haze. For a moment, they couldn't even move, paralyzed by the grandeur of Haze's power.
It is only when Haze, with a now audibly altered voice, yelled out, Did they come to their senses" Until an audibly altered voice reached their ears
"GET READY!"
In the next moment, the wind musicians in the affected radius felt something strange about their node manipulation. It felt like they were free, like they could do anything as long as they could think it.
Haze waved his hands, and with just a thought, all the musicians were lifted into the air, including his vice commander.
"4 of you, go help the vice commander and make sure nobody gets hurt when they destroy those buildings." Haze looked at the 7 wind musicians they have.
Since the buildings will be swallowed by the Slette, there's no meaning in keeping them around, especially when the exchange could be tens of thousands of lives.
For a bit, the musicians were a bit tripped up by their sudden ability to fly, but not very long after, they began to instinctually understand how to control their flight and quickly flew into their positions, abiding their leader's command.
...
"BREAK THE BUILDING FROM TOP TO BOTTOM AND LAUNCH THE RUBBLE INTO THE SLETTE." Haze's vice commander yelled his commands out loud, trying his best to get his command out to his new subordinates through all the screams and yells below them.
At first, they started off slow, taking more than 1 minute to destroy only one floor of a building because they were afraid of hurting the people below them.
Because of how compact the crowd was, there wasn't any room for the people below them to dodge. It is a miracle in and of itself that they could even breathe in there.
...
Meanwhile, on Haze's side, Haze directed his wind musicians to several locations, splitting them far apart, so Haze could evacuate more people at once with the limited amount of wind musicians.
In position, Haze waved his right hand upward, and simultaneously, hundreds of people flew out of the crowd and were secured by the wind musicians afterwards.
Unfortunately, when the chunk of people was taken out of the crowd, the people around them were tripped and got trampled on by the crowd as it collapsed on itself to fill in the empty spot.
Sights like this weren't uncommon during this disaster. People were being trampled left and right, to the point that almost the entirety of the ground the crowd stood on was covered in bodies and blood.
(No... I didn't mean to—) All of the wind musicians thought simultaneously, terrified by the consequences of their actions or, in this case, inaction.
The wind musicians know they can't go back now, especially with this heavy guilt that they'll be forced to take with them if they quit. So, they swallowed their guilt for now and forcibly replaced it with responsibility.
Determined, all 3 of the wind musicians quickly gathered the floating evacuees and directed their flight toward a predetermined evacuation zone.
...
As they continued to topple buildings and evacuate people, a familiar boy with red-orange hair came up behind Haze.
"*Haaah, hafff.* I'm ready now. What can I do?" Exhausted from running, Ren frantically asked Haze as soon as he arrived.
Not wanting to leave his sister behind, Ren carried Rekka's unconscious body all the way here on his back.
However, that was not the only notable thing about Ren's arrival. Looking at his face, it looked like he had nothing else in his mind other than an odd determination to help the victims of the Slette that still can't piece together where it came from.
(I need to save them), Ren said to himself, ambiguous as to if the 'them' he mentioned were the civilians that were stuck or... his departed parents.
"Glad you can join us!" Haze greeted without losing focus.
"Go join my vice commander over there, and follow his instructions." Haze didn't bother with any more pleasantries and instantly told Ren where to go by pointing with his left hand.
Looking at the direction Haze pointed to, he saw a man dressed in similar clothing to Haze, which he assumed was the vice commander Haze mentioned.
Without saying anything, Ren just nodded to Haze's command before quickly finding a soft patch of grass nearby to place his sister while he goes out to save people with reasons even he doesn't know.
After laying Rekka on a soft patch of grass, Ren quickly flared up his Node, but as he did so, he felt something odd about his ability; he felt a huge difference in his control, almost like he skipped a few grades, giving him the feeling that he is now able to control wind with much more precision and intricacy.
"Your position is in front of the guy in the middle, so get there quickly. I'm about to levitate another batch of evacuees soon." Haze gave an order to a wind musician who just arrived to help, just like
By the time Ren had gotten here, the efficiency of their evacuation had increased significantly. That's because their team expanded from 7 wind musicians to 10. Raising the amount of their evacuation to more than a thousand people every minute
"Mr. Haze Clover, Can you help me get there? I can't fly on my own," Ren asked Haze after he saw the earth musicians in the direction he'll be heading toward, flying without using the wind resonance path.
"Alright, but you'll need to learn to fly on your own after I activate it," Haze replied without looking at Ren.
In the next instance, Haze directed a tiny amount of attention at Ren for a second, marking him.
Because Haze had to constantly activate and deactivate flight on the evacuees, he had to add a mental mark onto those who were aiding with evacuations so that he wouldn't accidentally deactivate their flight and cause them to plummet.
Without stopping his routine movements, Haze activated flight on Ren, making him float in the air but nothing more.
"Ah!" Ren let out a squeak in surprise.
Floating in the air, Ren was surprised at how stable it was. He didn't dangle or flop around, and even if he flapped his legs, it somehow felt more stable than walking on the ground.
"Just imagine flying in the direction you want; my power will do the rest," Haze told Ren, without losing his concentration.
Looking at Ren's face, Haze's face suddenly turned in acknowledgment of something he just remembered.
"Also, take this Node canister and use it as soon as you can," Haze added as he ripped a small, glowing, light green cylinder off of his belt and threw it at Ren.
After Ren heard Haze's instruction on how to fly, he was understandably confused, but before he could even think about it, a Node canister was thrown at him, causing him to stumble a bit before catching it in his arms successfully.
"Haaa..." Ren let out a stressed sigh.
Not wanting to disturb Haze more, Ren decided to try doing what Haze told him before asking more questions.
Thinking about the direction, Ren unconsciously directed his Node into the same direction, allowing Haze's power to sense it, causing him to move in the same direction until he willed it to stop.
It didn't take long for Ren to realize how to move in the air, and as soon as he did, he wasted no time quickly flying toward the vice commander.
(Please don't get hurt), Haze thought as he looked at Ren's departing figure.