The group moved into the maintenance yard behind the lab building. It was quiet for now. The walls around them blocked most of the outside noise, and there were no infected in sight.
Some of the students sat down to catch their breath. One of them had a minor cut on his arm and Mira was helping wrap it with torn cloth. Silar stood a few steps away, watching the gates and thinking about their next direction.
Josh leaned against the wall near the back door they had just exited.
The fight had taken more energy than he showed. The creature had been much stronger than a normal infected. Its grip had almost crushed his ribs, and blocking its strike had numbed his arm. Even so, while fighting it, his movements had felt controlled and efficient. He had not panicked, and his reactions had flowed without hesitation.
As his breathing began to steady, something faint flickered at the edge of his vision.
He did not move his head or change his expression.
A thin horizontal shape appeared briefly and then disappeared. A second later it appeared again. This time he focused on it carefully.
It looked like a small loading bar slowly filling from left to right.
He kept his face neutral and asked quietly in his mind, "What is that?"
Aegis responded in a calm tone.
"System update in progress."
Josh kept his posture relaxed so no one would suspect anything.
"What triggered it?" he asked internally.
"Accumulated combat data has reached minimum requirement for Tier advancement."
The bar continued filling. Within a few seconds it reached the end and vanished. A small line of text replaced it.
Tier Advancement Complete.
Current Tier: One.
Josh did not react outwardly.
"Explain Tier One," he thought
.
"Tier One unlocks basic enhancements and minor functional options," Aegis replied.
Another small display appeared.
Total Eliminations Recorded:
Standard Infected: 14
Points per Standard Unit: 0.2
Enhanced Variant: 1
Points Awarded: 2.0
Total Points: 4.8
Josh understood immediately. The stronger creature had been worth far more than the others.
"Why did the stronger one give more?" he asked.
"It demonstrated higher adaptation and threat capacity. Reward allocation scales with threat level."
That matched what he expected.
He looked at the newly unlocked options.
Tier One Access:
Physical Output Stabilization – passive
Cognitive Processing Boost – short duration
Sensory Refinement – limited range
The descriptions were short and simple.
"What changed?" he asked.
"Base physical efficiency increased by five percent. Reaction consistency improved. Energy control stabilized."
Five percent sounded small, but in close combat that difference could prevent mistakes.
"How many points for the next tier?" he asked.
"Fifty total points required."
Josh calculated quickly. At 0.2 points per normal infected, that would require many more kills unless he encountered more enhanced types.
He did not like the idea of seeking those out.
"Disable visible prompts unless I focus on them," he instructed.
"Confirmed," Aegis replied.
The interface faded.
From the outside, nothing about Josh had changed. He was simply standing against the wall, holding his sword and watching the area.
Mira walked over to him.
"You look fine," she said, studying him
carefully. "That thing was strong."
"It was," Josh answered.
"You fought like you expected it."
"I just adjusted," he said.
She nodded slowly but did not push further.
Across the yard, Silar called out, "We move in two minutes. We cannot stay here long."
Josh straightened and stepped away from the wall.
Inside his mind, the information was clear.
The system was tracking everything. Every kill had value. The stronger the enemy, the higher the reward.
He did not know yet whether that was good or dangerous.
But one thing was certain, he just thought
"At the least what could ever go wrong"
But that was where he was wrong.