Leon and Elvis found Lily dragging an unconscious Astarte.
‘So even an Ensnare was beaten by a monster.’
Lily dropped the limp girl, sighing in relief. “Do any of you know what’s happening?”
Elvis shrugged. “We know that the monsters escaped from the Anima studies class, but that just isn’t possible. They were guarded with utmost protection runes.”
Leon turned to Elvis. “Can someone outside unlock the cages?”
“Yeah, but who would do that? They would be trapped as well.”
Turning to his two friends, Leon shared what he had overheard during the field trip to the Province and what Luke had confided in him.
Lily’s face turned concerned. “How big is this whole thing?”
Elvis turned to her. “If a Baron is involved, then it’s way bigger than what we can handle. Let’s just focus on getting out of here first.”
Leon agreed. “Do any of you know a way out of here?”
Lily raised her hand. “There’s a small exit in the Recreation room. It’s locked with runes though.”
Elvis brightened with an idea. “Can’t Astarte unlock runes? I swear that she did that before during class.”
Leon nudged the limp girl with his foot. “I don't think she’s waking up anytime soon. What happened to her anyway?”
Shivering in fear, Lily replied, “It sucked her Core dry. She needs a Mana replenisher.”
Leon turned to her. “Do Elemental Resurgences help?”
She nodded. “Each one has a ton of Mana to help with the pain of absorbing elements. Why?”
Leon replied, smiling. “I ordered some a few days ago. It said that it arrived a couple of hours ago, but I was too lazy to get it.”
“Ooh!” She clapped her hands. “Then let’s go get it. It’s in the Mailroom, right?”
Upon Leon’s nod, she said, “Let’s go. You guys said that there’s a Wendigo? Luckily, it’s time counter is reset every time it's stunned.”
Leon turned to her. “What do you mean by the counter?”
“Wendigos always wait an hour before killing someone. I guess you could say that it keeps them from being too powerful. Since you guys reset it, then we have to get the package, heal Astarte, then get out of here in under an hour.”
They all headed out, letting Elvis guide them. Detouring around monsters, they managed to reach the Mailroom in under 10 minutes.
Surveying the metal boxes, Leon found his name, and upon opening it, found the Elemental Resurgences.
Pulling out an orb, then opening the Astarte's mouth, he force-fed her, shoving it down her throat.
“When will she wake up?”
Elvis peered closer, answering, “In about a minute. I can sense her Mana Core slowly refilling.”
A dim red glow began surrounding Astarte’s body, and her breathing became much more relaxed. Finally, she opened her eyes, wincing at the pain.
She turned to Lily. “What happened?”
Lily pointed towards Leon. “You ran out of Mana, so Leon gave you a Resurgence.”
Nodding, she sat, trying to clear her fuzzy mind.
Leon sat on a chair, looking at her. He hadn’t talked to her since he had humiliated her, but he couldn’t feel any ill-will directed at him.
Elvis approached her. “We need you to break the runes of an exit. Can you do it?”
“Yeah.” She stood up, stretching. “Tell me where to go.”
As they walked, Lily asked, “What kind of rune level can you decipher?”
Astarte shook her head. “Not that high. But Velereth doesn’t place much importance on runes. I should be able to break in easily.”
Arriving at a door labeled ‘Recreation’, they entered, stepping into a room filled with colorful crystals surrounding a place filled with drinks, junk food, and television.
The Ensnare turned to them. “I’ll work on activating the exit. You guys make sure no monsters get in here.”
With Astarte working on the exit, and Elvis using his circles to make sure they were safe, Lily approached Leon.
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“Didn’t I ask you if you wanted to go to this place when I first met you?”
Leon nodded, grinning under his mask. “I didn’t expect to come here like this.”
She sat down, gesturing for Leon to do the same. “I just can’t stop thinking about Luke.”
Leon sighed. “I don’t know… maybe he didn’t cause this? It could be somebody else.”
“Hm.”
Picking up a cookie, she ate it, smiling at the sweetness.
They sat in comfortable silence, when Astarte suddenly raised her head, eyes widening. “This is bad!”
They all gathered around, as she pointed to the glowing white runes on the door. “I broke it, but there’s a timer set to 30 minutes until it opens.”
Elvis spoke first. “How long has it been since we reset the counter?”
“35 minutes.”
A voice came from behind them, as Tariz ducked into the room. “I started a timer. The Wendigo is going to be here in 25 minutes. That means it’ll attack for 5 minutes until the exit will open.”
As Leon grimaced under his mask, Lily spoke up, “If we all work together, won’t that be enough to survive at least 5 minutes?”
Tariz pointed at Leon. “With him, we have a good chance of lasting.”
“Um. About that.”
Backed into a corner, Leon was about to speak, when Elvis spoke over him. “Leon is under restraints. He can’t use his full power because the King wishes to test his perseverance.”
‘Thanks, Elvis.’
He agreed with what Elvis was saying, adding, “I broke my restraints when I fought Astarte. But it’ll be locked for another week due to the cooldown.”
Accepting this lie, the rest of the students began preparing their weapons, charging up Mana, and readying traps. Leon and Lily, however, began making barricades. Lily, using her wires, made a complex maze around the room, with Leon heating it white-hot with his flames.
Quickly, the 25 minutes passed, with them all stationed in their spots, glancing at each other with resolve.
The thudding sound of feet hitting the floor echoed across, and Leon remembered the facts of Wendigos that Lily had told him while they were working on the defenses.
‘It’s just doing that to intimidate us.’
As the monstrosity appeared outside the door, the knob slowly turned, stepping into the room. Immediately, Luke clicked his watch, a timer for five minutes set.
4:59
Elvis attacked first, shooting beams from the Mana circles he had prepared around the room. As the Wendigo brought its hand up to stop the attack, Lily charged forward, slicing off the hand with her hot wires.
[Flame’s First Step: Crimson Dance]
Astarte leaped forward, khopesh flashing as she plunged her blade into the Wendigo’s flesh. The flames burned through the hide, the smell of burning covering the room.
The Wendigo shrieked, once again a different sound, this time of a male teacher. The screams echoed across the room as the monster grabbed Astarte, tossing her into the wall.
3:34
Tariz reacted, kicking the Wendigo straight across the face. As Leon watched, pale blue energy crackled from the boy’s leg.
‘Is he a spirit user?’
[Cosmos’s First Step: Heat Death]
Activating his Skill Tree, Leon pushed the Wendigo back, away from the recovering Tariz. He turned to Lily. “Now!”
Nodding, she brought her hands up, firing pieces of metal that embedded deeply into the monster’s flash.
1:45
BOOM.
The metal exploded, the Wendigo shrieking from the blast. As Leon and the others were also pushed back, Astarte activated her Skill Tree again.
Flame’s Second Step: Weaving Embers]
Tying together strings of fire, she used it to stabilize the staggering demons, as she dodged a jab from the Wendigo.
0:18
The Wendigo screamed again, but this time it didn’t run straight at them. Instead, metal began overlapping its flesh. Then it propelled itself, moving so fast that Leon couldn’t register its speed, slicing off his arm.
“Uekh!”
Gritting his teeth, Leon pressed his hand against the bloody stump, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.
0:10
“Give me a healing pill!”
At Elvis’s shout, Tariz threw him a brightly colored one, before sidekicking the Wendigo again, just for it to slice off his legs.
As Elvis attempted to rescue the fallen boy, he was thrown against the wall, sounds of bone cracking ensuing.
0:05
As Tariz fell, Lily also tried to pull him out, only for the Wendigo to punch its hand through her stomach. Coughing up blood, she collapsed, blood pooling underneath her.
0:03
Astarte positioned her khopesh, running forward. She leaped over the wreckage, attempting to do some damage.
0:02
[Flame’s Fourth Step: Elemental Burst]
She exploded forward, slamming her body against the monster, as her inner organs exploded from the impact.
0:01
Leon rose, shoving the healing pill into his mouth. Running towards the collapsed monster, he reached into his two Cores, sucking out all the Mana in them.
He fired a blast of fire so strong that it sucked all the oxygen from the room. And as he collapsed he saw with satisfaction that the Wendigo had been pushed back into the wall.
0:00
‘C’mon, Jafir. You better save me.’
***
As Leon woke up, he immediately looked at his arm.
As he saw that it was back, he let out a sigh of relief.
Even thinking about the feeling of losing a limb, he shuddered in fear.
He was inside a room filled with beds. Looking around, he could spot familiar faces lying beside him.
‘Is this a hospital?’
Gingerly crawling out of bed, he steadied his shaking legs, walking over to where Elvis was lying.
Slapping him softly on his cheek, Leon called out, “C’mon, wake up.”
Groaning, he opened his eyes, squinting in the bright light. “What happened?”
“I think we were rescued.”
Elvis shook his head. “This is the afterlife, right? We all had mortal injuries, there was no chance of us surviving.”
Leon shrugged. “I don’t know what happened, but I mean… we’re all fine?”
“What about the girls?”
“I don’t know, the boys and girls are separated.
A groan came from their right. “Can’t you two be quiet?”
Leon stared darkly at Tariz. “Don’t blame me for not having friends.”
“Who wants to be friends with you?”
“Regular people. That’s why I’m not your friend.”
Grumbling, Tariz covered his face with a pillow. “Can you just be quiet and sleep?”
Sighing, Leon shrugged into his covers, thanking whoever for the comfort and heat.
Soon, Leon fell into a dreamless sleep.