The ringing in Kael's ears slowly faded, replaced by the frantic, pained chittering of the dozen [Shadow Skitterers] writhing on the floor. In the weak, yellow light from the hallway, their shadowy forms were now clear—rat-like creatures the size of house cats, with slick, black skin and far too many legs.
Rina was the first to recover. Her eyes, narrowed against the lingering spots in her vision, locked onto the disoriented creatures.
"Now!" she commanded, her voice cutting through the stunned silence. "Budi, crush them!"
The big man needed no further encouragement. With a roar, he charged into the storage room, his stop sign club rising and falling with brutal efficiency. Each impact was met with a sickening crunch. Adi, shaking, pulled out a large pipe wrench and hesitantly bashed a nearby skitterer.
Seeing his chance, Kael lunged forward, his rusty blade finding its mark in the head of a creature flailing near the doorway. The kill was clumsy, but it was a kill.
[Party Kill Contribution. EXP +3] [Party Kill Contribution. EXP +3]
A notification he hadn't seen before. Party Kill. The System acknowledged their impromptu teamwork. In less than a minute, the threat was neutralized. The room was silent save for their heavy breathing.
Instantly, the fragile alliance vanished. Rina smoothly positioned herself in the doorway, her bow held loosely but ready. Budi stood behind her, a towering and intimidating presence. Adi stayed back, looking at Kael with a mixture of fear and awe.
"You have ten seconds to explain who you are and how you did that," Rina said, her voice dangerously calm.
Kael's mind, sharpened by adrenaline and his high INT stat, worked furiously. The truth was impossible. My class is an error and I can hack reality's source code. They'd either think he was insane or a threat too valuable and dangerous to be left alive. He needed a lie. A lie that fit the facts.
"My name is Kael," he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking as he held up his empty hands. "I was hiding in here. As for that..." He gestured to the destroyed light fixture. "It's my class."
Rina's eyebrow arched. "What class detonates a light bulb?"
"It's... not a very good one," Kael said, injecting as much pathetic honesty as he could muster into his tone. "The System called it [Lamplighter]. I can't fight. I can't heal. I can manipulate small, simple light sources. Overload them, make them flicker. That's it. It's mostly useless, but I guess it works on things that don't like the light."
He looked down at his junk-quality blade and the dirty backpack. He was the very picture of a lone survivor with a weak, non-combat class.
Budi grunted. "A light trick. Saved us, though."
"You saved me," Adi added, stepping forward slightly. "I was... I was done for. Thank you."
Rina's calculating gaze didn't waver. She scanned him from head to toe. He was scrawny. He had no real gear. His story, as strange as it was, fit the evidence. A combat mage wouldn't be hiding in a convenience store with a rusty shiv.
"A support class," she finally concluded, more to herself than to him. A rare, if weak, asset. "You're alone?"
"My... family was on the other side of town," Kael said, the half-truth tasting bitter. "I'm trying to get to them."
"You won't last a day out there," Rina stated bluntly. "But that trick of yours is useful. So here's the deal, Kael the Lamplighter. We need the supplies in this store. You let us take what we need, and we give you a ride. We offer you protection. In return, you pull that trick again when we need it. Do we have an agreement?"
It was more than he could have hoped for. "Yes," he said immediately. "Yes, absolutely."
"Good." The tension broke. Rina lowered her bow. "Adi, find the coolant and any batteries that fit the angkot. Budi, help me clear the rest of the store. Kael, show us what you gathered."
For the next ten minutes, a new, transactional peace settled over the store. Kael showed them his stash of protein bars and water, which Rina nodded at approvingly. Adi, to his immense relief, found a crate of the exact coolant he needed. They worked together, gathering supplies and piling them near the barricade. Kael felt the strange camaraderie of survivors, a bond forged in shared danger.
Finally, Rina clapped her hands together. "Alright, that's everything we can carry. Let's load up. We need to get back before the bigger things come out to hunt."
As Budi began to dismantle the barricade, Kael asked the question that was burning in his mind. "Back? Back where?"
Rina looked at him, her expression unreadable in the gloom. "Back to base. It's not much, but it's the most fortified position in this sector. The old Universitas Indonesia campus."
Kael's heart hammered against his ribs. The UI campus. The university. The library. It was where Lily was supposed to be. It had to be a sign. He forced his expression to remain neutral, giving a simple, slow nod.
"Okay," he said, his voice betraying none of the violent hope surging through him. "Let's go."