Several days had passed since Kaine’s first serious battle with a monster on school grounds. It still felt to him as though reality had turned into a strange, incomprehensible dream. The routine he had grown accustomed to had collapsed in an instant, and now every step felt as though he was walking on thin ice.
"You got lucky, kid," he recalled the words of the senior mentor who approached him right after the fight. "Next time, no one will be holding your hand and telling you how to survive. Remember that."
In the days that followed, Kaine tried to forget what had happened. But it wouldn’t leave him. He felt that something inside him had changed. Not just because his growth system had “awakened” again after killing the monster. There was something else that troubled him, something unseen but palpable.
"Why is this so hard?" he once asked himself, sitting on the rooftop of the school building, gazing up at the starry sky. Of course, there was no answer.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden call from his mentor, Elementum. The voice on the phone was serious, harsher than usual.
"Kaine, we’ve got a problem. Two highly dangerous students have escaped. Your team has been assigned to capture them. Gather up and head to the hall immediately."
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Questions spun in Kaine’s mind, but there was no time to dwell on them. Soon, he was in the hall, where his entire team was waiting: Lux, Velos, Immunis, and Fauna.
"Let’s get this done quickly," Lux commanded, giving each of them a quick glance. "Stay cautious and work together."
For the next few hours, Kaine and his team combed through the school grounds, trying to find traces of the escapees. Amid the overall silence, the only sounds were the distant echoes of footsteps and the rustle of leaves.
Finally, they stumbled upon the first sign—a destroyed entrance to one of the storage rooms. Inside stood two figures—a young man and a woman. Their eyes burned as if they no longer belonged to this world. The young man held a blood-stained sword, and an aura of rage swirled around him.
"That’s them! Let’s get out of here!" Lux shouted, but it was too late. The young man lunged forward and was instantly in front of Kaine, his sword gleaming menacingly.
A strike. Pain surged through Kaine’s entire body. For a moment, his vision blurred, and inside, a strange, barely audible voice flared. Muffled, yet clear at the same time:
"You cannot afford to fall now."
Kaine froze, feeling his wound suddenly begin to heal. His hands trembled, but he took a step forward.
"Don’t... let them escape..." he muttered through gritted teeth, surprised at himself. For the first time in a long while, he felt something stirring within him that was greater than fear or despair.
A system window flashed before his eyes:
[Passive ability "Willpower" activated]
"Let’s move together!" he shouted to his teammates and charged forward.