"Stop gawking and move," Kael barked, snapping the students out of their stunned silence. He picked up the Monarch's Dagger from the pile of digital dust.
The group hurried out of the courtyard, sticking close to the shadows of the burning skyscrapers. Seattle was unrecognizable. Cars were overturned and burning, streetlights were bent in half, and the distant roars of mutated beasts echoed through the concrete canyons.
Their destination was the Safe Zone—a designated area that would shield them from the shrinking tutorial barrier. According to Kael's memory, the closest one was the underground subway station five blocks away.
As they crept down 4th Avenue, Kael suddenly raised his fist. The group froze.
Ahead of them, a pack of ten blood-red wolves was tearing into the corpse of a police horse.
[Bloodhound Wolves - Level 6]
"Ten of them," the class president whispered, his legs shaking so badly his iron sword rattled. "We... we have to go around."
"No," Kael said flatly. He looked at Elara and the ten students behind her. "You need to level up. The Safe Zone isn't a paradise; it's a battleground. If you arrive there as Level 1 weaklings, the other survivor groups will use you as human shields."
He pointed the obsidian dagger at the wolves. "I will cripple them. You will kill them. If you refuse to swing your sword, I will leave you behind."
Before anyone could protest, Kael vanished into the shadows using Shadow Step.
He reappeared directly above the pack. With fluid, brutal efficiency, Kael dropped into their center. He didn't aim to kill; he aimed to maim. A precise slash of the Monarch's Dagger severed the tendons in the hind legs of three wolves. A spinning kick shattered the jaw of a fourth.
In less than ten seconds, the terrifying Level 6 wolves were a whining, crippled mess on the pavement.
"Now!" Kael yelled at the students. "Kill them!"
Elara was the first to move. Her eyes were terrified, but her jaw was set. She charged forward, raising her rusty iron sword with both hands, and brought it down on the neck of a crippled wolf.
Blood sprayed across her face.
[Player 'Elara Vance' has leveled up!][Hidden Attribute Awakened: Ice]
A burst of freezing air erupted from Elara's body, frosting the pavement beneath her feet. Kael nodded approvingly. The Ice Empress had taken her first step.
The other students, spurred by her bravery and Kael's terrifying ultimatum, rushed in to finish off the rest of the pack. As they celebrated their level-ups and wiped tears and blood from their faces, Kael swiped the air, opening a translucent blue screen.
[Coins: 10,050]
The 10,000 coins he received from the 'Constellation of the Dark Faction' were a fortune. Most players wouldn't see 10,000 coins until Year 2 of the apocalypse.
"Open the System Shop," Kael commanded in his mind.
A massive catalog of weapons, potions, and skill books appeared. He ignored the low-tier garbage and filtered the search to 'Special Items'. He had one specific goal in mind. If he was going to conquer the Safe Zone altar, he needed a key.
His eyes locked onto a small, unremarkable black key listed at the very bottom.
[Item: Key of the Forgotten Catacombs][Price: 9,999 Coins][Description: Unlocks a sealed door that no longer exists.]
Kael smiled. Most people thought it was a scam item. But Kael knew the truth. That key unlocked the hidden treasury beneath the Safe Zone they were heading to.
"Purchase," Kael muttered. The heavy weight of an iron key materialized in his pocket, draining his balance to 51 coins.
"Alright," Kael said to the blood-soaked students. "Let's go meet our new neighbors."