Wonder why?

"So is Moira in my party? No, can't be. I didn't get any EXP from her kills. Unless she's so high level I don't-"

"This is extremely worrying," Moira said, glancing around.

"Why's that? We killed them all didn't we?" John asked, shrugging.

"We did, but any mage capable of forcibly pulling us into a Barrier like this one should've been able to create far more powerful creatures than that. In addition, why did they leave so quickly? They didn't even stick around to watch their creations fight, yet they went to all the trouble of creating them in the first place… I don't like this. We were either being tested or distracted and either way we are not likely to be left alone for long."

"Maybe nobody created it?" John suggested, trying to calm Moira without giving away any of the details of his powers. "I mean, what if it just popped up?"

"Barriers do not just 'pop up'," Moira said. "You really are new to this, aren't you?"

The Paladin gave a sigh as she picked up the chair he had done and sat in it, folding her hands in front of her face as she started to explain.

"Barriers are created by mages using the Abyss as a source of power to essentially create an alternate dimension. Without mages creating Barriers, the Abyss does not physically exist, only as a centralized beacon of power. It's also from the Abyss that these monsters are created. That is why when they are destroyed, they…"

Moira trailed off, her eyes cast to the side. A look that could only be described as pure shock filled her face, and she took a few seconds to complete the sentence.

"…they should disappear."

Where Moira was looking, the arm of the skeleton that John had disappeared… but the blade it carried had not. John cautiously walked over, glancing down at the blade. As he did so, a small window appeared over it, and he did his best to read it without being too obvious.

Crumbling Blade of the Undead
All attacks with this weapon deal -2 Damage and have 10% chance to inflict Tetanus on **** targets.

"Useless," John thought, glancing around. To his surprise some of the other skeletons had left items behind as well. He walked around and picked some of them up, careful not to add them to his inventory while Moira was watching.

Dust of Undeath ~ A dust left behind by fallen undead creatures. It has a faint touch of necromantic energy.
Crafting Material.

Human Fragments ~ Bits of bone. Could be teeth, fingers, toes, hard to tell in this state. Probably not good for much.
Junk

"That's gross," John muttered, avoiding touching those while hoarding some of the dust in his hands. Whenever he thought he was turned away he added some to his inventory, leaving five units in his inventory plus three more in his arms, according to the windows.

"Who are you?"

John turned back to Moira again to find her holding her hammer out accusingly. John raised an eyebrow, uncertain why she suddenly lost trust in him again.

"What are you talking about?" John said, shrugging. He dropped the rest of the dust on the floor, pointing to it. "This stuff seems magical. Should I leave it here?"

"Yes, but that's not the point, that shouldn't be here at all!" Moira shouted, pointing to the pile of dust at his feet, and then to the sword over on the floor. "Abyss creatures are created from nothing, and they return to nothing. Even the most powerful of mages cannot make them any more real than a dream. I've never seen this before, and yet both of us end up pulled into this-"

John heard a faint sound, like glass fracturing. An instant later the world around them crumbled. The dust, the sword, and the chair all disappeared, but everything else remained essentially identical. John took a moment to guess what had happened, but a pop-up explained it for him.

"Encounter resolved. Barrier dissipated.

"Did it do that because I stopped looting?" John wondered, turning back to Moira and hoping she hadn't noticed him staring at the pop-up. To his surprise, she hadn't, but only because she was busy throwing herself against the wall.

"Cursed Barrier, should've known it would dissolve," Moira said, whispering despite the obvious anger in her voice. She was holding her shield with both hands and pushing it into her chest. John was about to ask what she was doing when the shield started to shrink and a chain appeared, wrapping it around her neck as nothing more than a tiny golden necklace with a medallion attached. Her hammer had vanished, probably into her pocket if it shrank like the shield did, and her armor morphed back into a more casual outfit.

"Woah, that's awesome!" John said, glancing at her with a new perspective. In this way she looked just like an ordinary schoolgirl… heck, he had probably passed her a few times in the halls and never realized it.

"Listen, mage," Moira said, pulling him in close and whispering. John could see why now - around them, the sound of classes were distant but ongoing. Any conversation higher than a whisper would be heard if someone opened one of the doors and stepped outside.

"My name is John."

"Listen to me, John," Moira said, not releasing his shoulders. "You're going to come with me. You don't seem powerful enough to do anything like what I just witnessed, but I cannot ignore what I have seen. You will come with me to my house, and we will sort things out from there. If you have deceived me-"

"Why can't we talk here?" John asked, glancing at the clock. His study hall was over in ten minutes. "I don't want to miss class!"

"This is far more important. Meet me in the parking lot in five minutes - if you don't come, I will find you."

John was taken aback by her bluntness. Did she really not trust him at all? She'd only just met him! For someone who apparently knew all about Barriers and magic, she didn't seem to like mages much. His curiosity building, and his mana back to full after leveling (a fact he was extremely happy to see), John cast the newly leveled Observe on her.

Moira Brighton
Level 17 Paladin
<Warden of the Golden Rose>
850 / 850 HP
Relationship: -50

Crap. John didn't know what the scale was or how high/low it could go, but that seemed like… a lot. A lot of bad. And she was high enough level that if she really meant her threat - which John suspected she did - he wasn't going to stand a chance in a fair fight, even if he had all the mana in the world for his elemental powers.

"Alright, I'll be there. Can you at least tell me what it's for?"

"I'll explain on the way."

With that, Moira left him, wandering down the hall quickly. John glanced around, almost wishing someone had just seen everything that had happened. Would've at least given him a reason to avoid Moira, though he doubted anyone here had the power or the authority to stop her…

Well. Looks like he was going to be playing hooky. The first time in his life John didn't want to play something.