The dormitory hallways slowly returned to silence after the first awakening incident was stabilized. Broken glass, scattered books, and overturned furniture littered the corridor, evidence of how violently the mana surge had erupted only minutes earlier.
The student Cassian had helped was now sitting against the wall, breathing steadily but looking completely exhausted.
Aurora crouched beside him.
"You're not dying," she said bluntly. "So relax."
The student blinked up at her. "I… I thought I was going to explode."
"That's a common concern," Elara said calmly as she finished adjusting the stabilization lattice Cassian had placed earlier.
Cassian stood nearby, observing.
The mana inside the student had finally settled into a steady rhythm.
Then a faint chime echoed in Cassian's mind.
[Awakened Individual Stabilized]
[Contribution Reward Calculated]
[Experience Gained]
[Level Increased]
Cassian's vision briefly flickered as the familiar interface appeared.
[Level 12 → Level 13]
[Stat Points Available: 5]
Aurora leaned against the wall and smirked. "You got stronger again, didn't you?"
Cassian glanced at her.
"You can tell?"
She shrugged. "Your mana pressure spikes every time you level. It's subtle, but noticeable."
Elara stood up and turned toward the stairwell.
"We still have two more unstable awakenings in this building."
Aurora cracked her knuckles.
"Good. Let's keep moving."
Cassian turned back to the student.
"Stay here for now. The mana flow in this building is stabilizing."
The student nodded quickly.
"T-thank you…"
Cassian didn't respond, already walking toward the next hallway.
The deeper they moved into the dormitory complex, the more signs of chaos they found.
Doors blasted open.
Walls cracked from pressure waves.
Mana residue clung to the air like faint glowing mist.
The Mana Wave had pushed dozens of people to awaken simultaneously, and not all of them handled it well.
As they reached the far stairwell, Elara raised a hand.
"Wait."
Cassian stopped immediately.
"What is it?"
Elara looked down at the sensor.
"This one is different."
Aurora tilted her head.
"How different?"
Elara zoomed the reading.
"The mana output is… unusually high."
Cassian extended his perception again.
The moment his senses brushed the third floor, he felt it.
A dense concentration of energy pulsing behind a closed dorm room door.
This awakening wasn't chaotic like the first one.
It was concentrated.
Aurora noticed Cassian's expression.
"That bad?"
Cassian shook his head slightly.
"No."
Then he looked toward the door.
"Potentially powerful."
They climbed the final flight of stairs.
The third floor hallway was completely silent.
One door at the far end glowed faintly with leaking mana.
Aurora walked forward first.
"Well, someone's having a dramatic awakening."
Cassian approached slowly.
The door suddenly burst open.
A young woman stumbled out, surrounded by swirling currents of blue energy. Her eyes glowed faintly, and thin arcs of lightning crackled across her arms.
She looked panicked.
"I can't stop it!"
Aurora stepped forward instinctively, but Cassian held up a hand.
"Wait."
The lightning surges intensified.
The hallway lights shattered one by one.
Elara studied the pattern carefully.
"This isn't instability," she said.
Cassian nodded.
"It's affinity manifestation."
Aurora raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"
"She's not losing control," Cassian said calmly.
"She's awakening an elemental skill."
The young woman staggered as another burst of lightning cracked against the ceiling.
"I don't know how to shut it off!"
Cassian stepped forward slowly.
"Don't fight it."
She looked at him desperately.
"What?!"
"Let the energy circulate," Cassian instructed. "Right now it's building pressure because you're resisting it."
Elara added quietly, "Focus on directing it away from your core."
The woman hesitated, then tried.
The lightning arcs slowly shifted direction.
Instead of exploding outward, they began flowing along her arms like controlled currents.
Aurora watched with interest.
"Huh."
After several seconds, the lightning faded.
The glow in the woman's eyes dimmed.
She collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily.
Aurora walked over and offered her a hand.
"Congrats," she said.
The woman looked confused. "For what?"
"You didn't accidentally destroy the dorm."
Cassian's interface chimed again.
[New Awakened Detected]
[Lightning Affinity User]
[Threat Level: Neutral]
Cassian studied her for a moment.
Strong elemental affinity awakenings were rare.
Potential recruits for the base.
Elara extended a hand to help the woman stand.
"What's your name?"
"Lena," she said weakly.
Aurora smiled slightly.
"Well Lena, welcome to the apocalypse."
Lena blinked. "What?"
Cassian turned toward the hallway window, looking out over the campus.
Even from here he could see faint distortions in the distance beyond the university perimeter.
The world outside was far worse.
"This is just the beginning," he said quietly.
Aurora stretched her shoulders.
"So what's next, boss?"
Cassian looked down at Elara's scanner again.
Three remaining markers still blinked on the map.
Engineering Labs.
Library Basement.
Maintenance Tunnels.
He closed the interface.
"We finish stabilizing the campus."
Aurora grinned.
"Then what?"
Cassian's gaze drifted toward the distant city skyline beyond Ravencrest.
"Then we prepare for what's coming next."
Because if the university had experienced this level of chaos…
The rest of the city was probably drowning in monsters.