Nox walked through the hallways without much purpose, killing any dog monster that got in his way. A punch here, a kick there. Nothing too exciting. His mind kept wandering back to Ava's stupid speech and he hated that it was still bothering him.
Why the hell was he even heading toward his old classroom anyway? It made no sense. He should be hunting down more monsters, getting stronger, leveling up. Not wasting time on whatever was left of those idiots.
He turned the corner and stopped. About fifteen dog monsters were clawing and banging at the door to his classroom. The barricade they had set up was still holding but it looked like it wouldn't last much longer. The wood was splintering and he could see gaps forming.
He just stood there watching. Part of him wanted to see what would happen when the barricade finally gave way. Would they scream? Would they fight back? Would they die like all the others?
But there was this other part of him that felt... annoyed. Not worried. Definitely not worried. Just annoyed that he was even standing here thinking about it.
"Sigh, what the hell is wrong with you Nox," he muttered to himself.
Before he could change his mind, he moved. The first dog didn't even see him coming. His fist went straight through its skull and sent it flying into the wall. The others turned to face him but they were too slow. Way too slow.
He grabbed the nearest one by the throat and crushed it, then kicked another one so hard it split in half. The rest tried to surround him but it was pointless. He was too fast, too strong. Within thirty seconds, all fifteen monsters were dead.
The hallway went quiet. Nox walked up to the barricaded door and banged on it with his fist.
"You fuckers alive in there?"
There was silence for a few seconds, then he heard a voice.
"Nox?" It sounded like Emilia.
"No, it's Santa Claus. Of course it's me."
He could hear them moving around inside, probably trying to figure out if this was real or some kind of trick. Finally, the barricade started coming apart. Desks and chairs being moved aside, the sound of wood scraping against the floor.
The door opened and Emilia peeked out first, her eyes wide. When she saw him standing there covered in monster blood, she looked both pissed off and relieved at the same time.
"You came back," she said.
"Yeah, well, don't get used to it."
The others were behind her. Vasa with her usual cold expression, Kendra glaring at him like he had personally offended her, Yeda staying quiet in the back, and Ms. Joy looking like she had aged ten years in the past hour.
"We thought you were dead," Kendra said, but there was something different in her voice. Less angry than usual.
"Sorry to disappoint you."
He looked past them into the classroom and saw the bodies. At least half the class was dead, maybe more. Some had been torn apart by the monsters, others looked like they had been trampled in the panic.
"What happened to the rest?" he asked.
"Some of them got powers," Emilia said. "Like fire or super speed or other stuff. But most of them panicked and tried to run. They didn't make it very far."
"And you five stayed here because?"
"Because we're not idiots," Kendra snapped. "Running around out there is suicide. At least here we could barricade ourselves in."
Vasa was staring at him with those sharp eyes of hers. "You seem different," she said flatly.
"Different how?"
"Stronger. More..." She paused like she was trying to find the right word. "Present."
Emilia was looking at him too, and he could see her thinking the same thing. Had he always carried himself like this? Had his presence always felt so intense?
The answer was no, obviously. Before today he had been nobody. Invisible. Now he was something else entirely.
"So what powers did you guys get?" he asked, changing the subject.
"I can make plants grow really fast," Emilia said, holding up her hands. "Not super useful against monsters but it's something."
"I can freeze things," Vasa said simply.
"I can make my skin really hard like armor," Kendra added, then glared at him. "Not that it's any of your business."
"What about you?" he asked Yeda.
She just shook her head. "Nothing yet."
Ms. Joy cleared her throat. "I can sense when dangerous creatures are nearby. It's not much but it helped us know when to reinforce the barricade."
"So you've been sitting here doing nothing while monsters roam the school."
"What were we supposed to do?" Kendra shot back. "Go out there and get ourselves killed like everyone else?"
"Fair point."
He turned around and started walking away, but Emilia called after him.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"Back to hunting. There are still a lot of monsters left in this place."
"You're just going to leave us here again?"
He paused but didn't turn around. "You seem to be doing fine on your own."
"Nox," she said, and there was something in her voice that made him stop. "Why did you come back?"
He thought about that for a second. He could lie, make up some excuse about needing supplies or checking for survivors. But the truth was he didn't really know why he had come back. Ava's words were still echoing in his head and it was pissing him off.
"I'm glad at least some of you survived," he said without turning around.
The words surprised him as much as them. He didn't mean that. Not really. Or maybe he did and that was what bothered him about it.
Before anyone could respond, the whole school started shaking. Not like an earthquake this time, but like something massive was moving around. The walls groaned and dust fell from the ceiling.
A blue screen popped up in front of his face.
[Boss Monster has exited the dungeon. ]
[Anomaly detected.]
[Eliminate the anomaly. ]
[Reward: ???]
"Well shit," he said, reading the message. "That's not good."
"What's not good?" Emilia asked.
"Nothing, just stay here."
"Like hell we are. You are not living us behind again."
He was really annoyed but he knew arguing was useless. The look in their eyes said it all. They weren't backing down this time.
"Fine, but do what I say. I'm the leader," he said, crossing his arms.
"Deal," Emilia said quickly before anyone else could object.
Kendra looked like she wanted to argue but Vasa elbowed her in the ribs. "We need him," she said quietly. "Don't be stupid."
"Whatever," Kendra muttered.
They wasted no time getting ready. Emilia grabbed a backpack and started shoving supplies into it. Vasa found a metal pipe that looked sturdy enough to use as a weapon. Kendra was already flexing her fingers, testing her armor power.
That was when a new window appeared. He blinked and read it twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
'The hell?'
[Party Invitation]
[Emilia, Vasa, Kendra, and Yeda wish to join your party]
[Accept? Y/N]
He noticed Ms. Joy wasn't included in the list. That meant she didn't want to join, or maybe the system knew she was planning to stay behind. Either way, it was interesting that Ava hadn't gotten this message. She was planning on leaving him from the start.
"I see," he said out loud.
For the first time since getting these powers, he spoke directly to his system in his head. "What are the benefits of having a party?"
He didn't expect much but the system responded immediately, showing him a bunch of information.
[Party Benefits:]
[Shared EXP (doubled when fighting together)]
[Stat bonuses when near party members]
[Ability to see party member health and status]
[Enhanced communication range]
"Hmm, doesn't seem like a bad deal," he said, still staring at the invisible screen.
The girls were all looking at him like he had lost his mind. He was just standing there quiet, staring at nothing, talking to himself.
'He's just standing there, like that time,' Emilia thought, remembering how he had acted weird right before the earthquake began. 'Just what is he seeing that we don't?'
"Nox?" she said out loud. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He accepted the party invitation and another screen popped up showing all their names with little health bars next to them.
"Are you talking to someone?" Kendra asked. "Because there's nobody there."
"It's complicated." He dismissed the screens and looked at them. "We need to move. There's something big happening and I don't think we want to be stuck in this classroom when it gets here."
Ms. Joy stepped forward. "I'm staying here," she said. "This room is defensible and I'm not a fighter."
"That's probably smart," he said. He didn't really care what she did anyway.
"Be careful," she told the girls. "All of you."
Emilia hugged her quickly. "We'll be back."
"No you won't," Ms. Joy said, but she was smiling sadly. "But that's okay. Go do what you need to do."
They left her there with some supplies and the barricade. Nox led them out into the hallway where the dead dog monsters were still scattered around.