The orc froze mid-lunge, its yellow eyes twitching toward the dark window behind the teacher’s podium.
A blast of fractured frame and pane exploded inward, showering the classroom in debris.
Fin burst through the third-floor window like a projectile, dust flying from his sneakers as he struck the floor.
His right fist drove straight into the orc’s jaw, tearing the green monster clean off its feet.
The beast flew across two rows of desks, splintering the chairs before slamming into the chalkboard.
"Goooh!" The creature wheezed, its skull cracking against the wall beneath the board.
[ Monster killed: orc (E-Rank) ]
[ Kill count: 27/10 ]
[ Stamina: 3/100 ]
He landed in a low crouch in the center of the debris, breathing hard while his vision swam.
The sprint, climb, and final strike consumed almost every remaining point of stamina.
Jolly sat among the scattered papers, staring at him with wide eyes behind her smudged glasses.
"Fin?" She whispered, her voice cracking in pure disbelief. "You... you came through the window?"
"The door was crowded," he replied with a ragged laugh, pulling her into his chest with both arms.
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she buried her face in his jacket, sobbing against his bruised ribs.
He checked her arms twice, hating every tiny scrape, every red mark on her skin.
"Are you hurt anywhere else?" He asked gently, brushing dust from her bangs with trembling fingers. "Tell me the truth, kiddo."
"My shoulder hurts... but I’m okay," she sniffed, wiping her nose on his sleeve. "How did you jump three floors? Humans can’t do that."
"Later... I’ll explain everything later... I promise," he said firmly, setting her carefully behind the bookshelf. "Stay right here until I clear the hallway."
He stood up, looking toward the shattered classroom doorway where two more orcs pushed through the gap.
His pipe broke in the alley, leaving him without a weapon for the approaching orcs.
He reached down, ripping a solid leg straight off a broken student desk.
He weighed the club in his grip, stepping out into the center of the hallway.
The first monster lunged forward, swinging its rusted cleaver toward his neck.
He ducked beneath the blade, driving the point of the club straight into the creature’s throat.
"Khhk!" The beast choked, black blood spraying across the hallway lockers.
[ Monster killed: orc (E-Rank) ]
[ Kill count: 28/10 ]
[ Stamina: 2/100 ]
The second orc charged with its head lowered, attempting to tackle him through the wall.
He stepped to the side, driving his knee upward into its exposed snout with tremendous force.
The monster stumbled onto its hands and knees, its cleaver skittering across the floor tiles.
He brought the club down across the back of its neck, crushing the bone beneath the blow.
[ Monster killed: orc (E-Rank) ]
[ Kill count: 29/10 ]
[ Stamina: 1/100 ]
The numbers flashed in crimson at the edge of his vision, warning of impending muscle failure.
A third monster stepped into the hallway from the stairwell, its shoulders scraping against the doorframe on both sides.
It was another dock-brute build, with the same thick frame as the creature in the alley.
For one stupid half-second, his exhausted brain wondered if the dead monster somehow returned for round two.
"You have to be kidding me," he groaned, leaning his back against the lockers to stay upright.
The brute swung the flat side of its cleaver like a club, catching him across the upper chest.
He flew backward into the wall, plaster crumbling around his shoulders as his breath vanished.
[ Stamina: 1/100 ]
The monster took a deliberate stride forward, lifting its cleaver to finish the defenseless human.
Its left foot stepped directly onto the rolling desk leg that he dropped during the impact.
The cylinder rolled across the smooth floor, throwing the giant beast off balance.
The brute slipped backward, its arms flailing wide to catch the wall.
He used the last spark of adrenaline in his heart, driving his fist upward in an uppercut beneath its jaw.
The blow snapped the creature’s neck backward with a sharp crack, its eyes rolling white immediately.
The giant corpse crashed flat onto the hallway floor, shaking the entire third floor of the school.
[ Monster killed: orc brute (E-Rank) ]
[ Kill count: 30/10 ]
[ Stamina: 1/100 ]
He fell to his knees beside the dead beast, gasping for air as his muscles locked in pain.
He slammed his open palm against the monster’s chest plate before darkness could claim him.
[ Absorb? ]
[ Target: orc brute (E-Rank) - deceased ]
[ Available: ]
[ > strength ]
[ > speed ]
[ > endurance ]
[ > skills / abilities ]
’Endurance... take the endurance,’ he gasped internally, refusing to die on a school corridor floor.
The golden light flared through his fingers, draining the brute’s flesh into a shriveled gray husk.
[ Permanent attribute gained: endurance +5 ]
[ Vitality influx: +37 current stamina restored ]
[ Current stamina: 1/100 → 38/100 ]
[ Daily vessel saturation: 4/4 : limit reached for rank E ]
’Endurance permanently strengthens the engine, while the absorbed vitality acts like an emergency fuel injection for my tank,’ he thought, his breathing steadying as the fresh energy kept his heart from giving out.
The advancing orcs left him no chance to absorb the earlier corpses. This brute’s marrow reached him just before his body gave out.
The warmth flowed through his limbs, soothing the fire in his muscles and restoring his breathing.
"Dying standing up wasn’t on tonight’s list," he muttered, pushing himself up from the floor.
He walked back into classroom 3B, wiping sweat and black grime from his brow.
"All clear," he called softly to the room. "Let’s get everyone moving before more wander in."
Mr. Sefu stood up with the help of two older students, clutching his bandaged side while counting heads.
"Twelve children... all twelve accounted for," the teacher whispered, his voice trembling with gratitude. "Young man... you saved every child in this room."
"Just doing what needed doing," he replied, kneeling down so his little sister could climb onto his back. "Hold tight, Jolly."
"I’m holding," she murmured, wrapping her small arms around his neck and resting her chin on his collar.
He checked the corridor one final time to ensure no stragglers lurked in the shadows. The entire upper floor lay silent, save for the hum of distant sirens outside.
He led the line of survivors down the damaged staircase, stepping over fallen masonry and broken furniture.
They emerged into the schoolyard beneath the glare of thirty floodlights mounted on emergency response trucks.
Buses lined the perimeter gates, surrounded by dozens of armed hunters, medical personnel, and evacuation staff.
He carried his sister across the tarmac, his dirt-streaked face drawing immediate stares from the armed guards.
"Over here, survivors!" A medic shouted, waving two flashlights toward an open ambulance tent.
A young man carrying a civilian out of a cleared hot zone with zero hunter badges on his jacket was unusual.
A hunter stepped toward them with a clipboard, raising a brass communication radio to his mouth.
Before the guard could speak, a woman in white tactical armor walked out from behind the command vehicle.
She held a round shield in her left hand, a spear resting against her shoulder.
A blue crest shone on her breastplate, marking her rank as C-rank outbreak response.
Vega-6 stopped three paces away, staring at him with sharp eyes as she lowered her spear. "You move remarkably fast for a civilian who was bleeding out in an alley ten minutes ago."
He stopped in the center of the floodlights, shifting the weight on his shoulders with a tired sigh.
"...well," he muttered under his breath, meeting her gaze across the yard. "I had somewhere important to be."