Allisson approached Jade slowly. Lowering his rigid posture, he kneeled until he was at eye level with the teacher, who remained curled up near the desks. His gaze held a serene firmness, devoid of the icy edge he had used with João Felipe.
"Jade," Allisson said in a low, grounding voice, cut straight to the point. "I'm not going to force you to come. The choice is entirely yours. But remember: you're a teacher. If there are any surviving students in these hallways or out in the courtyard, they need to see you as a figure of protection and courage, not despair. If you stutter or freeze out there, those monsters will devour us. Swallow that terror and come with us to help protect those who need it."
Jade blinked, startled by Allisson's shift in tone. The shame of having broken down fused with a sudden spark of responsibility. She wiped her face with her forearm, took a deep breath, and nodded, standing up on firmer legs.
"You're right..." Jade whispered, adjusting her posture. "I'm coming."
Paulo leaned against the wall beside the exit, gripping the reinforced iron bar. Allisson unlocked the wooden door and pulled it open softly, conducting a quick visual sweep of the clear hallway. Before taking his first step out, he turned his head and cast a final glance at Jarbas, Clara, and João Felipe in the back of the room.
Allisson didn't lock the door from the outside. He simply let it rest against the jamb, leaving the handle free for the trio to decide their own fate.
Now inside the administrative wing corridor, Allisson motioned for the group to pause for thirty seconds beside an empty classroom. Stepping inside, he kicked apart two iron-and-wood student chairs, separating the sharp metal legs and handing one to Abner and the other to Pierre.
"You can't walk around empty-handed," Allisson explained, testing the balance of his Twin-Blade Spear.
"Teacher, where are we heading? Are we finally leaving the school?" Pierre asked, holding the piece of iron with visible nervousness.
"No, Pierre. I was wounded, and I don't think it's a simple monster bite," Allisson answered, pointing to the blood-soaked fabric on his left arm. "Their claws and teeth might carry toxins and Mana bacteria. If my arm gets infected, the fever and inflammation will tank my stats and kill me in two or three days, regardless of my Level. We need alcohol, gauze, and antiseptic."
Abner swallowed hard, processing the cold, flawless logic of the explanation.
"Furthermore," Allisson continued, reading the subtle vibrations in the walls, "Paulo and I can't carry you on our backs forever. You need Levels."
A few yards from the records room entrance, the squad encountered a Mana Ladybug (Level 1) the size of a motorcycle helmet, gnawing on exposed electrical wires. Before the insect could react, Allisson used the shaft of his spear to pin its carapace flat against the floor, trapping its legs.
"Abner, now! Drive the iron into its eye!" Allisson ordered.
Abner stepped forward trembling, gripping the iron leg with both hands, and brought it down. The pointed end shattered the insect's eye, making it thrash violently before going still.
CRACK!
Immediately after, a Mutant Cat (Level 2) leaped from the top of a supply cabinet straight toward Jade. Paulo swatted the feline out of mid-air with a heavy horizontal strike from his iron bar, slamming it onto the tile floor. Allisson stepped down hard on the beast's hind legs, crushing its joints.
"Pierre, the throat! Finish it!" Allisson commanded.
Pierre stepped forward with clenched teeth and drove the metal rod straight into the feline's jugular. Hot, dark blood sprayed across the floor, staining the boy's arms as the animal suffered its final spasm.
The moment the monsters' life faded, the psychological weight slammed into the support duo. Pierre dropped to his knees, panting heavily, fighting back a sudden wave of nausea from the stench of entrails and the raw sensation of death on his hands. Abner froze, staring at his trembling hands covered in dark fluid, cold sweat dripping down his forehead.
Paulo walked over slowly and placed a heavy hand on Pierre's shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.
"Breathe. The first time tears at your soul, but it passes," Paulo said, his deep voice acting as an anchor.
"That pain and nausea are the cost of staying alive," Allisson reinforced, his tone unyielding. "Look at your interface. It was worth it."
Two golden System notifications materialized in front of the young men:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[SYSTEM: ENEMY ELIMINATED]
Target: Mana Ladybug (Level 1)
Reward: +10 XP
[SYSTEM: LEVEL UP]
Survivor: Abner
Progress: Level 1 ➔ Level 2 (0 / 25 XP)
Updated Stats:
Strength: 7.0 ➔ 7.5
Dexterity: 8.0 ➔ 8.5
Constitution: 8.0 ➔ 8.5
Intelligence: 16.0 ➔ 16.5
Perception: 12.0 ➔ 12.5
Mana: 4.0 ➔ 5.0 (+1.0)
Free Points: +1 (Total: 2)
Active/Passive Skills:
[Brilliant Intellect - Passive]
[Personal Levitation - Lv. 1]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[SYSTEM: ENEMY ELIMINATED]
Target: Mana Cat (Level 2)
Reward: +20 XP
[SYSTEM: LEVEL UP]
Survivor: Pierre
Progress: Level 1 ➔ Level 2 (10 / 25 XP)
Updated Stats:
Strength: 8.0 ➔ 8.5
Dexterity: 9.0 ➔ 9.5
Constitution: 8.0 ➔ 8.5
Intelligence: 12.0 ➔ 12.5
Perception: 10.0 ➔ 10.5
Mana: 5.0 ➔ 6.0 (+1.0)
Free Points: +1 (Total: 2)
Active/Passive Skills:
[Spatial Teleportation - Lv. 1] (Range expanded due to Mana gain)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The physical shock receded, replaced by a sudden surge of vitality. The restored vigor stabilized the shaking in Abner and Pierre's hands, allowing them to stand with renewed posture.
"Let's move. The Infirmary is right around the corner," Allisson declared.
They rounded the medical wing corridor, but before anyone could touch the aluminum door handle, Allisson's 18-point Perception triggered a red-alert ping of imminent danger.
CRASH!
The glass window of the infirmary was completely shattered from the inside. Flying through the shards, a monstrous bird of prey landed heavily atop a overturned desk. It was a Mutant Carcará—boasting a six-foot wingspan, feathers as rigid as steel blades, a serrated bone beak, and curved talons resembling surgical scalpels.
Allisson triggered his Structural Analysis instantly, but the System panel flickered with restrictions across his vision:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[THREAT DETECTED: MUTANT CARCARÁ]
Level: ??? (Superior Threat)
Stats: Strength [???] | Dexterity [???] | Constitution [???]
[SYSTEM WARNING]
Target's Level exceeds User's (Level 5). Detailed stat readout suppressed. Estimated speed and armor penetration rates rated as LETHAL.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Allisson studied the Level ??? beast perched on the desk, his eyes narrowing under the analytical composure of his [Until the End] passive.
"The cafeteria can't hold those monsters anymore..." Allisson muttered quietly to the squad, his voice sharp. "The stronger apex creatures are finally spreading throughout the school blocks."
The beast let out a piercing screech that made the remaining glass panes in the hallway vibrate. Even without numerical readouts, the Carcara's stance and wingspan signaled extreme speed, rendering any attempt at individual flight impossible.
His [Until the End] skill purged any shadow of hesitation from Allisson's mind, accelerating his tactical calculations to absolute precision.
"Nobody run!" Allisson roared, gripping his Twin-Blade Spear with both hands and dropping into a low combat base. "This is a test of synergy! Pierre, use [Teleportation] to clear its line of attack! Paulo, block with me! Abner, strike when you spot an opening, and Jade, take cover and use your skill if you see a window!"