Having said everything that needed to be said, Kael slowly sat up in the bed, his body still heavy with fatigue.
"Alright… that clears things up," he muttered, his tone dry but sincere.
"Now I at least know we're on the same page. We just need to figure out what the next step is."
"Well," she replied, folding her arms, "I'd say your next step is handling the basics. You've got shelter thanks to the dorm—but it still needs reinforcement. Make sure it can't be destroyed."
She took a breath, then added, "You also need food, water… and toiletries."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"You might think it's funny I'm bringing up toiletries," she continued, completely unfazed, "but your infrastructure's going to break down. Plumbing's going to fail. Toilets won't flush. No running water. You'll have to sort that out yourself."
She gestured toward the floor.
"Thankfully, it shouldn't be too hard. Head down to the lobby and check what the Soulshards left behind. There might be something useful waiting."
Kael nodded slowly. "Alright. Good idea. I'll get changed first, then head down."
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood with a grunt, wincing as his sore muscles protested the movement. Every bruise reminded him of the last few battles.
Grabbing a fresh set of clothes, he chose a red shirt that allowed for easy movement and a pair of shorts layered over compression pants. Practical. Light. Easy to move in.
He exhaled, rolling his shoulders.
"Let's see what the morning has for me."
Grabbing his armguard and spear, Kael made his way down the stairwell toward the lobby.
As he descended, the sound of voices grew louder—rising in volume with each step.
It was like walking into a convention hall—everyone talking at once, threads of conversation overlapping in a low, chaotic hum.
Peering into the lobby, Kael spotted an assortment of chairs and tables pushed together at the center of the room. People were gathered around them, seated or standing, deep in discussion. It looked almost like a makeshift council.
"I'm telling you—we need to head to Chanterelle Hall," a girl said urgently, standing up from her seat. Her voice was sharp, frantic. "My boyfriend is there, and I need to know if he's okay! His cell isn't picking up!"
Her distress was written across her face, her words laced with desperation.
Lily, the one being addressed, didn't flinch under the pressure.
"And I told you already," she replied, firm and unshaken, "we can't go there. It's blocked off. There's a horde of Beastkin in the area—even Ellis doesn't think he can take them on right now."
She folded her arms, her tone colder now.
"Besides, we need to secure food, water, and supplies first. Otherwise, we'll die of starvation or dehydration long before the Beastkin get to us."
The girl Lily was addressing, however, wasn't having any of it. Her blonde hair whipped as she jerked her head, her anger visibly growing.
"I don't care about any of that right now," she snapped. "I need to know if he's okay!"
Fed up, Lily rose from her seat, her expression sharp.
"Okay then. You want to see your boyfriend so badly?" she said, stepping forward. "Why don't you go save him yourself? Why should we risk everything for you? Oh, wait—I know. Because you're weak. You're scared. You don't want to go out there, so you're using your selfish reasons to justify putting the entire group at risk."
Her voice dropped low, laced with venom.
"Get the fuck out of my face."
The girl recoiled, stunned by Lily's bluntness.
"Do you know who I am?" she hissed, stomping her foot. "Do you know who my father is? He's the department head of nuclear engineering here! He could get you expelled!"
Lily froze, then slowly raised her hands in mock disbelief.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure he'll expel me—from the college that's currently being destroyed while God abandons the world."
She shook her head with a bitter laugh.
"Go ahead. Crawl back to mommy and daddy. Have me expelled. See if I care."
Then her tone hardened again.
"But as long as I'm still here, we are not risking our lives over one person's selfish tantrum when the rest of the group is trying to survive."
The room fell silent.
Even Ellis, who had been watching from the sidelines, was finally forced to step in.
He approached calmly, his voice steady and composed.
"Alright, that's enough," he said. "I understand that you're scared. I understand your pain. But now is not the time to fight each other."
He looked directly at the girl, his gaze cool and firm.
"So I'm going to have to ask you to leave and take a moment to calm down. Please."
The way he said it wasn't a request.
It was a warning.
The girl bristled under his stare, her defiance fading as her gaze dropped. She gritted her teeth.
"Fine," she muttered in annoyance, backing off. She knew better than to challenge the man who had taken on an entire horde of zombies alone.
"But don't think this is over."
The girl stormed off to a corner of the lobby, her footsteps heavy with frustration.
Lily watched her go, then sighed and rubbed her temples.
"Thanks, Ellis," she muttered.
"No problem," Ellis replied. Then his gaze swept across the room.
"And let me say this one more time—if anyone else is planning to derail this meeting, I strongly suggest you leave now."
His tone had cooled—calm, but commanding. The weight of his presence settled over the room like a blade hanging just above the neck. The crowd of students quieted instantly, still and tense, unwilling to challenge the man who'd faced a horde alone.
Kael, having just stepped into the edge of the lobby, arched a brow at the tension in the air.
He slid along the wall, staying out of the center of attention as he made his way toward Lily and Ellis.
"I'm not interrupting anything… am I?" Kael asked, his tone casual as he stepped into view beside them.
Lily turned, her eyes widening slightly in surprise—then softening.
"Kael." A breath of relief slipped from her lips. "Good to see you upright."
Ellis gave a nod of approval. "Didn't think you'd be moving around this fast. Thought you'd be out cold till morning."
"The health potion did a lot more than I thought," Kael said, rolling his shoulder with a faint grimace. "I'm not a hundred percent, but I can walk—and I can help. So, what'd I miss?"
Lily motioned toward the tables, scattered with chairs and surrounded by students.
"We're holding a meeting—trying to figure out what to do next, especially after what Ellis found out."
"Found out?" Kael asked, glancing over at Ellis.
Ellis stepped forward, arms crossed.
"Those beastkin you told me about? I found their cohort," he said grimly. "At least fifty of them, all camped out around the student union. That's just the ones I saw outside."
He paused, expression darkening.
"I'm assuming there are even more inside. They've claimed the whole area. Moving through that zone? It's suicide right now."
Kael frowned as the weight of the news sank in.
"That's not good," he muttered. "Most of the food we could've scavenged is stored over there… and I'm assuming we only have enough around here for, what? A day or two at most?"
He exhaled sharply through his nose. "Shit. Yeah—that's a problem."
"Exactly my thoughts," Lily said with a nod. "We were just starting to discuss other options when… well, we got sidetracked by a certain someone."
Her eyes flicked toward the corner of the room where the blonde girl still sat, arms crossed and scowling.
"Well, enough about that. Let's get back on track," Lily said, turning her attention back to the group. "So—like we were before… any ideas?"
Most of the people seated around the table just shook their heads, the silence heavy.
Nearly every option they had was either too far away—or blocked off by enemies too dangerous to face.
Everyone around the table sat quiet, not saying a word. Their thoughts churned, each person lost in their own head, trying to come up with a solution.
Breaking the silence, Kael leaned forward.
"If we can't go to the Student Union, it just means we're not strong enough—right now," he said.
"We might not be ready yet, but if we keep growing at the same rate we did today, we'll get there."
He glanced between Lily and Ellis, then addressed the whole group.
"So here's what I'm proposing: we split into teams. I'll lead one group. Ellis will lead another. Each of us takes a nearby building, clears it out the best we can."
He gestured to the students around them.
"Once those buildings are secured, we send scavenger teams—people who didn't join the initial sweep—to collect anything useful. Food. Water. Supplies. Whatever they can carry, they bring it back here."
"That way we can get enough supplies to last a couple days and once were strong enough maybe we take a chance to take on the beastkin." Kael proposes.
"What do you guys think?" Kael asks.
Around the table, everyone exchanged glances, silently gauging each other's reactions. A few had that look—the kind that said, you know what, maybe this could work.
"Say we do it," a man spoke up—different from the one before. "What buildings are we even supposed to ransack? Most of the halls around here are probably locked down with everything that's going on. So how are we even getting in?"
Kael leaned forward, voice calm but steady.
"If locked doors are the issue, Ellis and I can handle it. Doesn't matter if they're locked—we're strong enough to break through if necessary."
That earned a few raised eyebrows around the table—some impressed, others skeptical.
While everyone at the table knew Kael was someone both Ellis and Lily trusted, there was still a limit to how far that trust extended—especially when it came to letting him speak like a leader.
To most of them, he was just the guy who showed up late and came back wounded.
While everyone around the table knew Kael was—someone both Ellis and Lily trusted—there was still a limit to how far that trust extended. They allowed him a place at the table, sure… but just barely. Especially since, in most of their eyes, all he'd done was come back wounded.
One guy, in particular, wasn't buying the hype.
Short hair. Fairly muscular. Resting bitch face.
"I get it," the man said, voicings out. "Ellis can break down doors if needed. No one's doubting that. But you? Why are you lumping yourself in with him?"
He leaned forward; tone openly antagonistic.
"What makes you think you're on the same level as the guy who took on a horde by himself? Far as I've seen, you stumbled back here bloody, took one of our only health potions, and then passed out."
The man spread his arms, mocking.
"And now you come down here barking orders? Throwing around ideas like you're in charge? What makes you think you even get a voice at this table? What are you even—level one?"
Kael didn't flinch. His tone stayed calm.
"You ask why I'm standing next to Ellis?" he said. "I never said I was his equal."
He took a step forward.
"Ellis is twice the fighter I am."
The man hearing this scoff. "OK and what else Mr. Hero?"
Then Kael tilted his head slightly, eyes locked on the man.
"But I'm ten times the fighter you'll ever be."
The man scoffed. "Oh really? And what have you done to back that up?"
He leaned back in his chair, smug.
"Before I got here, I killed fifteen zombies and a Wolfspawn on my own. What did you do—take out one zombie in a stairwell?"
Kael's smile was faint. Cold.
"Fifteen zombies and a little wolf? Cute."
His voice dropped a notch, laced with steel.
"Maybe one day you'll take on a Beastkin. Or the leader of a horde. Maybe you'll survive bleeding out in an alley, barely breathing, and still come out on top."
He stepped closer, lifting his hands to his chest—palms facing inward, fingers curling like they gripped invisible hilts.
"But you wouldn't believe me even if I told you."
Then—he pulled.
Fire bloomed.
Twin sabers erupted from his chest, forged from silver-grey flame edged in violet. The air warped with heat as the weapons solidified, humming with restrained fury. Silence dropped over the room like a blade.
Kael didn't raise his voice.
Didn't need to.
He just stood there—sabers drawn, eyes steady.
The vicious heat radiating from the twin sabers—flaming blades drawn straight from Kael's chest—immediately shifted the mood in the room.
Even in a world filled with monsters, it wasn't normal to see someone pull flaming swords out of their own body. Not even in movies. Not like this.
Kael stood tall, twin sabers drawn, their silver-violet flames casting flickering shadows across the walls. The heat rolled off them in waves, causing sweat to bead and drip from the brows of everyone nearby.
"I should actually thank you," Kael said, his voice steady and cold.
"I'm sure some of you had doubts. Wondered if I could back up the things I've said. So, for giving me the opportunity to prove that I belong here... I thank you."
He turned slightly, then drove the sabers back into his chest.
With a hiss of flame, they vanished.
"But let this not be a show of ego—only a testimony to my skill."