Chapter 28: Never Ending
# Chapter 28: Never
ending
The heavy growling from the perimeter of the portal grew
louder, shattering the brief moment of quiet. Before the students could even
adjust their positions, a fresh wave of monsters burst through the torn
curtains of the stage, sprinting straight down the flat floor.
More of the heavy, boar-like variants and agile,
panther-like predators flooded the area all at once. Broken stage lights swung
on torn cables overhead, throwing jagged shadows across the cracked
floorboards, and the air reeked of dust, torn canvas, and the sharp copper tang
of old blood soaked into the wood. Deep cracks split the flooring where the
first wave had already fought, and shattered chair legs lay scattered across
the aisle.
„Don’t let them build momentum! Hold the line!“ Rashid
yelled, surging forward into the overlapping chaos to meet the threat head-on.
As he ran, Rashid invoked his talent: **[Sharpness]**. A
bright, silver glow coated the iron tip of his spear. He met a heavy, boar-like
variant in a brutal clash. Thanks to his talent, his spear did not snap or slip
against the beast’s thick bone ridges; instead, the magically sharpened edge
cut cleanly through the monster’s front leg armor, slicing deep into the muscle
and forcing the massive beast to crash sideways onto the floor. Black blood
poured from the wound as it thrashed weakly among the ruined desks, unable to
rise again.
Right next to him, Lukas Brunner stepped into the path of a
fast, panther-like variant that tried to leap past the frontline. The agile
predator lunged, aiming its sharp claws straight at Lukas’s chest. Lukas did
not try to dodge. Instead, he thrust his spear forward, slamming into the
monster’s shoulder mid-air. The moment his weapon touched the beast, Lukas
triggered his talent: **[Weight Manipulation]**.
Instantly, he increased the monster’s body weight by 15%.
The sudden change completely broke the panther-variant’s
balance in mid-air. Its trajectory dropped instantly, and its front legs
buckled under the sudden, unexpected weight. The beast let out a panicked roar
as its chest slammed violently into the hard concrete floor, rolling clumsily
into the shattered desks.
Around them, the entire battlefield exploded into a fast,
violent grind as everyone fought simultaneously. Spears rose and fell, the wet
crack of iron finding bone barely audible over the shrieking monsters and the
recruits' ragged breathing, while blood, both black and red, sprayed across the
tiles and pooled into a dark, sticky sheen underfoot.
Maximilian used his **[Strength Boost]** to block another
charging boar-variant. Right next to him, Jonas Holzer drove his spear over
Maximilian’s shoulder, activating **[Sunder]** to create a glowing, brittle
crack right through the beast’s thick hide. The monster shrieked in pain but before
it could move to retaliate or just to flee, Jakob Wallner struck the exact same
crack. His **[Explosion]** activated, sending a sharp wave of kinetic pressure
into the wound with a dull *thud* and dropping it instantly.
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At the exact same moment on the right side, David Lindner
held out his hand, his **[Gravitational Force]** flaring to pull a rushing
panther-variant straight into the path of another incoming beast. The two
creatures crashed into a roaring pile of legs and fur, claws and teeth snapping
wildly in the confusion, allowing Amir Al-Sayed to use his **[Momentum Burst]**
to blur across the floor and stab his spear rapidly into the tangled monster
before they could get up.
On the left side, the new members of the team struggled to
keep up with the fast pace, forcing the veterans to cover their mistakes. A
stray monster broke through, its sharp claws cutting deeply into Mei-Ling
Zhou’s arm while she was trying to protect a newbie who had overextended. Three
parallel gashes opened from her shoulder to her elbow, deep enough to show the
pale gleam of muscle underneath. Dark red welled up instantly, running down her
arm and dripping off her fingers onto the cracked floor.
Mei-Ling screamed in raw pain, the sudden agony forcing a
sharp cry from her throat. But even as she shrieked, she forced her mind to
focus and used her **[Cellular Regeneration]**. The flesh on her arm began to
knit back together fast, closing the wound completely in mere seconds while she
whimpered from the residual shock. Before the beast could bite her again, she
gritted her teeth, stepped close, and drove her spear up into its head.
Right next to her, Elena Petrova saw Sarah Nowak aiming at a
leaping predator and used her **[Stat Transfer]** instantly, sending her own
stamina into Sarah to make her stance perfectly steady. Sarah’s **[Precision
Focus]** showed a glowing red spot under the throat of the jumping predator. In
front of her, Matteo Rossi’s spear moved fast—*thump, thump, thump*—each block
triggering his **[Rhythmic Thrust]** and making him faster to keep a second
monster away.
The moment the red spot lined up, Sarah’s spear shot out,
piercing the panther’s throat mid-air.
Michael moved through the middle of this madness with
precision. His strengthened will had increased his perception massively and let
him see the whole room nearly in slow motion, tracking most movements, the
mistakes by his fighters, and strikes by the veterans all at once. A huge alpha
hound jumped at him from behind a broken desk. Without a single wasted
movement, Michael stepped to the side. Using a small gap between two fighting
rookies, he drove his iron spear tip straight under the monster’s jaw, killing
it in one fluid motion.
Black blood sprayed from the wound, and the hound’s legs went
still. The heavy hound rolled into the dirt, its jaw hanging open and its
tongue lolling in the dust, and the immediate stage floor finally fell silent.
The only sounds left were the heavy breathing of the group and the dripping of
black blood from their spears.
But the silence did not last long. Deep inside the portal, a
heavy clattering and low growling echoed, growing louder with every passing
second. The shadows rippled once more, red eyes flickering awake in the
darkness, and an even larger pack of monsters began charging straight toward
them.