"The stairs," I said, my voice tight. "The elevator is a metal coffin if the power flickers. We take the stairs, we control the pace."
We moved to the stairwell door. The moment Grayson cracked it open, the smell hit us—stale air, copper, and the distinct, low growl of a dozen throats.
"It's a horde," Nicholas whispered, his knuckles white on the grip of his bat.
"It's an opportunity," I countered, though my head throbbed from the **[Empathic Shield]** absorbing their sudden spike of adrenaline. "Nicholas, you and Grayson create a funnel. Don't let them surround you. Neveah, keep the saline ready for any splashes."
The fight was a blur of rhythmic violence. Nicholas used his [Line Drive] to clear the landings, sending bodies tumbling down into the ones below like bowling pins. Grayson's "Whirlwind" buffer screamed as it met flesh, the spray of data and blood coating the walls. I stayed in the center, using my reinforced thesis to deliver heavy, stunning blows to any creature that got too close to Neveah.
[EXP GAINED]
[EXP GAINED]
By the time we reached the heavy steel door to the roof, my lungs were burning. We burst through the exit, slamming the door shut and locking it behind us.
The roof was wide, flat, and flooded with blinding morning light. But we weren't alone.
Sitting on the edge of the cooling tower, silhouetted against the sun, was a guy wearing a dark, oversized hoodie and cargo pants. He didn't jump or look startled by our sudden, bloody entrance. He was calmly wrapping a length of black athletic tape around his knuckles.
Leaning against the wall next to him was a long, tapered staff made of industrial carbon fiber—it looked like a piece of high-end sports equipment modified for war.
[SURVIVOR DETECTED: YOSEF ROCKWELL]
[CLASS: KINETIC STRIKER]
[LEVEL: 4]
[MAJOR: ARCHITECTURE]
He looked over his shoulder. His eyes were dark, steady, and held a level of calm that felt almost eerie compared to the chaos below. He didn't say a word at first, just finished the last wrap on his hand and tucked the end of the tape in.
"You're loud," he said. His voice was low, smooth, and lacked any trace of panic.
"We're alive," I shot back, stepping forward. I felt a strange flicker in my chest—not the heavy weight of the Guardian skill, but something else. Something quiet. "That's more than most can say today."
Yosef stood up, moving with a fluid, predatory grace that suggested years of training. He picked up his staff, spinning it once with a effortless flick of his wrist.
"The Bell Tower is three blocks east," he said, looking past us toward the horizon where the massive Level 10 Overseer was rumored to be. "The stairs you just came up are about to be overrun by the ones you didn't kill. If you want to reach the Harvest, you can't go back down."
Nicholas looked at Yosef's level. "Level four? How did you get that high alone?"
Yosef didn't answer. He just looked at me, his gaze lingering for a fraction of a second longer than necessary. "Architecture is about understanding structures. Most things—even systems—have a breaking point if you know where to strike."
Party Member Detected: Yosef Rockwell
Class: Kinetic Striker (High Agility/Precision)
Major: Architecture (Allows him to "read" the environment for tactical advantages)
Weapon: Carbon-Fiber Bo Staff
I narrowed my eyes, centering my focus on Yosef. My head gave a sharp, dull throb as my [Pattern Recognition] and [Guardian] skills worked in tandem.
He wasn't like the "Iron Junkyard" guys. His heart rate, visible in the steady pulse at his neck, was incredibly low. He wasn't fueled by aggression; he was fueled by calculations. He viewed the world like a blueprint, looking for the load-bearing walls and the weak joints.
But beneath that "cool" exterior, I felt a heavy, focused anxiety through my [Empathic Shield]. It wasn't fear for himself—it was a tether. He was anchored to something nearby.
"You're not just waiting for the 'Harvest,' are you?" I said, stepping closer. "You're waiting for an opening."
Yosef's expression didn't change, but his grip on the staff tightened slightly. "I'm waiting for a team that isn't going to get themselves killed in the first five minutes."
"We're 'The Alumni,'" I said, gesturing to my group. "We have a healer, an engineer, and a slugger. We're Rank thirty-five and climbing. We need your precision, Yosef. Join us."
Yosef looked at Nicholas, then at the serrated edges of my thesis book. He seemed to weigh our structural integrity.
"I don't work for free," Yosef said, his voice dropping an octave. "And I don't work alone. My sister, Yuna, is barricaded in the University Library. She's on the archery team, she can hit a shambler's eye from fifty yards, but she's surrounded."
He stepped off the cooling tower, his boots landing silently on the gravel. "She's a P.E. major. Same as your boy with the bat over there. If we go to the library and get her out, I'm yours. If not... I have no use for a party."
Nicholas perked up. "A P.E. major? Wait, is she the one who broke the regional record for the recurve bow last spring?"
"That's her," Yosef said.
I looked at the map in my head. The Library was a massive, glass-walled building. It would be a nightmare to clear, but a long-range attacker was exactly what we were missing.
[NEW QUEST: THE LIBRARIAN'S VOLLEY]
[OBJECTIVE: RESCUE YUNA ROCKWELL]
[REWARD: PARTY EXP + NEW ARCHER MEMBER]
A small, knowing smile tugging at my lips. "We don't leave anyone behind. We're going to the library."
Yosef nodded once, a brief flash of respect crossing his dark eyes. He spun his staff and pointed it toward the edge of the roof. "Then we move now. The library's main hall is a kill zone, but there's a maintenance bridge on the third floor."
The Alumni: Updated Party Goal
Current Rank: #35
Destination: The University Library (The glass fortress)
New Ally (Temporary): Yosef Rockwell (Kinetic Striker)
Objective: Rescue Yuna Rockwell