As they rested for a while, Gabriel stood up slowly, stretching his body as the new strength settled more naturally within him.
The bones in his injured hand had healed, only the flesh was still slowly patching up. His energy points were now down to [100/150] from the constant activation of his regeneration skill.
He grabbed the mountain bag, tightening the strap across his shoulders, then glanced at Grim who had just finished eating, blood still staining its jaws.
"Grim, let's go!" Gabriel said as they walked toward the exit, stopping briefly beside the security guard's body. "May you rest in peace," he muttered quietly, though his thoughts were harsher—to be killed by your own dogs… that's fucked up.
He sighed and continued forward. Although they didn't talk much, whenever Gabriel brought food for the dogs they would exchange a few words, and the man had been kind. The shattered glass doors creaked as he pushed them open and stepped outside.
The sky was still torn open, streaks of purple and blue energy spreading across it like cracks in reality itself. The ground was littered with corpses of students, some of them pinned down by thick, writhing vines near the small field beside the dormitory.
"Vines?" Gabriel muttered under his breath, his eyes tracing them back until they landed on a large tree standing in the middle of the field. His expression froze.
It was the banyan tree planted by the school, the same one students used to sit under and relax—but now it towered over the dormitory building, its size unnatural, its presence suffocating. Its vines had spread everywhere, creeping along walls and wrapping around structures like living things.
"How didn't I see that… when did it get this big…" he whispered, his gaze fixed on it.
Then the answer revealed itself. The vines embedded in the corpses suddenly tightened and began dragging the bodies across the ground toward the tree.
The bark split open slowly, revealing a hollow core, and the bodies were pulled inside before the opening sealed shut again. The tree trembled slightly, and new vines sprouted from its surface, thicker than before.
Gabriel's eyes narrowed as realization settled in. 'Not just animals… even plants mutated too'. The thought had barely formed when a scream cut through the air.
He turned instantly. Three girls were running toward him, their faces filled with panic, while four massive insects the size of footballs chased them at terrifying speed, their wings buzzing violently and their stingers gleaming.
Within seconds, the insects caught one of the girls and swarmed her, knocking her to the ground. Her eyes filled with terror as a stinger rose, aiming straight for her chest—but just before it struck, everything froze for a split second before a giant hand made of energy slammed down from above, crushing all four insects instantly.
The impact cracked the ground slightly, and when the hand lifted, only mangled flesh and four glowing cores remained.
The girl lay there frozen, staring at Gabriel, relief flashing across her face—until her eyes moved past him and landed on Grim. The relief shattered instantly. Fear returned, stronger than before. Without hesitation, the other two girls turned and ran, abandoning her.
"Hey! It's okay, he's with me—he won't hurt you!" Gabriel shouted, but they didn't listen. They ran straight toward the field. "Stop! Don't go there—!" he shouted again, but it was too late. The vines reacted instantly, shooting out and wrapping around their legs before dragging them back toward the tree.
Their screams filled the air, desperate and raw, until they were pulled into the trunk and silenced completely.
Gabriel exhaled slowly, looking away. "…Damn it." He turned back to the girl still on the ground. "Stand up. Let's leave before that thing notices us." As she struggled to her feet, system notifications appeared in his vision.
[Killed mutated wasps (Lower-Iron) ×4 — gained 400 EXP]
[Your beast has consumed a mutated wasp (Lower-Iron) core — gained 100 EXP]
Gabriel turned immediately to see Grim about to eat another core. "Don't you dare eat that!" he snapped, rushing forward and snatching the remaining cores.
Grim growled in protest, staring at him as if wronged. "Don't look at me like that. You already ate three—and I killed them, so they're mine." Grim nudged him with its head stubbornly. "…Alright, alright. You can have one more," Gabriel sighed, tossing one core toward it. Grim caught it instantly.
[Your beast has consumed a mutated wasp (Lower-Iron) core — gained 100 EXP]
Grim licked his face again, and Gabriel wiped it off with a grimace. "Enough… bad wolf." He looked down at the remaining cores in his hand, studying them. They were about the size of ping-pong balls, filled with swirling purple energy.
[Energy core detected! Absorb energy to awaken soul weapon]
'A soul weapon…?' he thought, frowning slightly. While he was distracted by the system, the girl watched him in silence, still shaken.
The way he interacted with the wolf left her confused and uneasy. 'Is he insane…?' she thought, her eyes drifting to Grim. The wolf slowly turned its head toward her, and she instinctively stepped back.
"Alright, let's move," Gabriel said, closing the panel.
[Awakening percentage… 50% — absorb more cores to complete]
He glanced briefly at Grim. 'If I had the other two…' he thought, then shook his head. 'Never mind. We'll get more'.
They began moving across the campus toward the gymnasium. It was the only place Gabriel could think of that might be safe, with fewer openings for creatures to get in.
Although he wanted to go find his family immediately, he knew rushing blindly without strength or understanding would only get him killed. Along the way, he saved a few students being chased by mutated beasts, but Grim handled most of the kills—and most of the cores—leaving Gabriel with nothing, which made him sigh more than once.
Soon, they came across a group of six students moving together. At the front was a guy using a hammer to crush zombies as they pushed toward the gym. After clearing a few, his movements slowed slightly from exhaustion. Gabriel walked up to him—and smacked him on the head.
"HEY!! Why did—" the guy turned angrily, but froze the moment he saw Gabriel. "Yo—Gabriel? You're alive!" he said, pulling him into a quick hug. "I was about to come look for you!"
"…Yeah, sure you were," Gabriel replied dryly. "After you left without me last night."
"Oh come on," the guy laughed awkwardly, scratching his head. "You're not the type to party late, so I didn't want to bother you."
Gabriel stared at him. He knew he was lying. This was Matthew—his only friend in school, the type who partied constantly and never took things seriously. Then Matthew's gaze shifted behind him. "Hey… is that yours?" he asked, raising his hammer slightly.
Gabriel's eyes moved to the weapon. It wasn't normal—it was made of glowing blue energy.
"Hey, man," Matthew nudged him. "You zoning out again?"
"…Yeah. He's mine," Gabriel replied. "What's with the hammer?"
"Oh, this?" Matthew grinned proudly. "My soul weapon. I just awakened it. You can call me Thor now."
Gabriel looked at him.
"…No."
Matthew laughed. "But seriously… how did you tame that thing?"
"I just did," Gabriel said, already losing interest.
Matthew shook his head, smiling. "Let's get to the gym first. Then you can go back to your silent thinking mode."
Gabriel didn't argue. Together, they moved forward toward the gymnasium, the tension in the air growing heavier with every step.