Chapter 6: Assessing the situation
Chapter 6: Assessing the situation
Although the lecture hall doors were locked and Julian was loud enough to draw attention, the eyes of the three hundred people in the room inevitably drifted back down to the lower tiers. Everyone had watched the chaos unfold. They had seen Michael react before anyone else, standing alone at the front lines and single-handedly killing six of the monsters.
As the initial shock began to wear off, a wave of students started moving down the tiered steps. Some approached him directly, while others called out from a few rows away, their voices a chaotic mix of frantic questions, overflowing gratitude, and desperate requests for advice on what to do next.
Michael, however, was at his limit. His muscles were trembling from the physical strain of one-versus-one fights without a moment of rest, his left arm was throbbing with pain from the bite and scratch wounds, and the heavy adrenaline crash was finally hitting him. He wanted nothing more than to be left entirely alone to bandage his arm and process the situation in peace. He frowned, his posture tightening, but before he had to force himself to speak, someone else intervened.
Julian, who was still standing near the upper benches organizing the defense, saw the crowd swarming the lower desks. He lunged forward, stepping between the approaching students and Michael, and let out a furious roar that echoed off the high ceiling of the auditorium.
„Back off! Every single one of you, get the hell back!“ Julian shouted, his face flushed with anger and exhaustion. „Are you blind? Look at him! We are only breathing right now because he stood down there and held off those things by himself while the rest of you were screaming in the corners! He’s bleeding, he’s exhausted, and he has more than earned his goddamn peace!“
Julian pointed an angry finger toward the upper tiers, his voice cutting through the remaining murmurs. „Instead of crowding around him and making yourselves a nuisance, get back to your rows! Open your systems, figure out how to summon your spears, and get ready to fight! The hallways are crawling with those things, and if you want to make it out of here alive, you need to be ready to use your weapons, not talk!“
Because the horror of the initialization was still incredibly fresh, the psychological weight of the situation crushed any potential argument. The students were still terrified, desperate for direction, and completely intimidated by the reality of the blood and splintered wood around them. No one muttered a single word of protest. Without a second thought, the crowd immediately turned back, quietly dispersing to their seats to nervously interact with their blue system screens and practice pulling their spears from their inventories.
Julian glanced back at Michael, giving him a brief, respectful nod to signal that the perimeter was clear, before turning his attention back to the locked entrance doors. Finally, Michael had the silence he needed.
With the crowd finally backing off, Michael let out a quiet breath and leaned his back against the splintered wood of a lecture desk. His left arm was still throbbing, but for now, he forced himself to ignore the pain. He closed his eyes and mentally focused on the interface, calling up the screen he hadn’t had a proper chance to look at since the chaos began.
A sleek, translucent blue holographic window flickered into reality right in front of his eyes.