"They're here." Sir Royce sighed as he dragged me out of the building. "Meet me on Saturday when this is all over. I'll teach you how to hide your mana better."

After that he jumped away, leaving Brennan speechless and confused.

Brennan quickly regrouped with the rest of his classmates. In contrast to the calm yet frightening expression, Mr. Alex had a look on his face that was complete chaos. There was fear, nervousness, frustration, even guilt. But they were all negative emotions. 

Something was out there, something dangerous enough to make trained professionals tremble. Sir Royce knew, and Mr. Alex knew. As they walked around trying to gather with other classes, Brennan realized that the non-combatant teachers were confused, while the combat teachers were scared. Ms. Jenny was still missing too, which likely had something to do with the rumbling.

"Attention everyone. There is currently a stampede approaching. Please gather at the field at the center of school. The teachers there will address the situation. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."

At this, chaos broke out. There were students complaining, yelling that their parents owned top companies, that they were nobles. The teachers tried to keep everyone calm, saying this was the best to do at this time, but no one was willing to listen. 

Stampedes were big events, but this was much bigger of a tremble than ever before. Stampedes weren't common, but even then the students had witnessed and felt the rumbling from them before. It would be a bit shaky, and maybe 1 or 2 things fall from the shelves, but this was way more. Entire buildings were crumbling, the ground was cracking, and it was hard to stand still. The panic spread, and eventually teachers were dragging back people trying to escape.

Brennan grouped up with his roommates, who were not as panicked as some other students, but still very confused. Nobody knew what to do, so everyone just stood there, waiting. The panic slowly receded as the unsettling truth that there was nothing they could do set in.

Stampedes, or outbreaks, were occurences of beasts grouping together to attack people, usually following an exceptionally strong beast. The number of beasts measured from tens to thousands, although most stampedes were only up to a few hundred. 

The Great Stampede, the largest recorded stampede in history, consisted of about 1,200 beasts, led by a powerful advanced tier demonic beast.

Stampedes were split into 3 parts. The rumbling stage, combat stage, and clean-up stage. During the first stage, the beasts would charge towards the civilization, which alerts officials to give a warning call. They would gather hunters to fight against the beasts, which is the combat stage. Depending on the scale of the stampede, there is a clean-up stage, which involves splitting the hunters into groups to hunt down stray beasts. During The Great Stampede, the clean-up stage lasted for more than 3 days.

Mr. Alex was trying his best to keep calm. He had to act confident for the students, because he knew that the more he panicked, the more they would. Especially if they knew the horrors that awaited. He had been able to act calm, but that was only because they weren't supposed to arrive for at least a few days. The city's reinforcements weren't coming until at least 3 days later! As he kept the students in line, he recalled the events that had happened a few days ago.

"Hello teachers, you all must be very confused as to what is happening." Principal Leonardo said. All the teachers had gathered at his office, and they were currently being led to the outskirts of the city, near where Brennan lived. "Since only combat experienced teachers were called here, I'm sure some of you might already have your suspicions. I will be addressing all your questions, but before that, keep in mind that we have already called in reinforcements from any nearby towns, citys, and villages we possibly could have. Only a few select individuals know what I am about to tell you. I ask that you keep quiet about this and conduct yourself calmly so as not to scare the students."

Just from listening to the amount of danger they must be in to call that much help, many teachers were already realizing this was very bad news.

"There has been an eyewitness of a stampede expected to come around next weekend, just a few days after reinforcements arrive. We have gathered you here to start preparing for the attack, starting with weapons and armor. Unfortunately we will require the services of retired individuals, especially those like Ms. Jenny, who will become a huge asset for the city. To begin, we will have everyone write down the weapons and armor they require, and the officials will procure these." 

He led them to a plaza, where they were greeted by hundreds and thousands of fellow teachers, as well as hunters. Standing on the side, clad in shining armor, were the A, B, and C teams for the 9-Point Hunting team. 

As all the teachers went to fill out their forms, Principal Leonardo and Ms. Jenny greeted their fellow A team members. 

Since Ms. Jenny was retired, some had never seen her fight. The A team, although they had never been in hunts with her, knew of her ferocity in battle that had earned her the position of the 9-Point Hunting teams strongest ever member. Her generation was the most dangerous in history, with beasts stronger than ever, population at an all time low, and advances in technology lacking. To be able to shine through during such a time period required more than talent and hardwork, but luck as well.

As they were talking, a teacher walked up to them.

"Principal Leonardo."

"Oh, hello Alex, what do you need?"

"How many beasts are in this stampede?"

"According to the witness, it's estimated to be...at least 10,000."