Seeing all eyes turn to her, Natalie blushed slightly, especially conscious of Kael's gaze, something little Rose didn't miss, her bright and clear eyes fixed on this new cquaintance of hers.
"I can share senses with small animals. Though, I can only use this ability of mine with insects. But since a great majority of them vanished since the awakening..." The more she spoke, the more her head lowered, as she felt her powers were lackluster compared to the others. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, her voice tapering off into a dejected whisper.
"Wow...your ability will prove invaluable if we want to survive out there." Nathan smiled amicably as he spoke, causing the despondent girl to raise her head, only to quickly lower it once again after seeing his mesmerizing smile.
'Bloody hell!' Kael thought in his mind, his heart itching with irritation at this point, 'Is he the only boy in the room?'
Seeing her chance to speak, young Miss Claire cleared her throat before sharing her own powers.
"I can summon a massive barrier that can withstand a lot of damage. In fact, as long as a certain threshold is not reached, there is no limit to the number of attacks it can receive..."
The eyes of everyone in the room widened slightly, as they never expected such fortitude from the gentle and soft teacher. But Claire wasn't done yet.
"And I can also reflect all the damage the barrier has received, though that causes the barrier to crumble." As she spoke, a flicker of iron-willed resolve crossed Claire's face, momentarily masking her usual soft-spoken nature.
Realization dawned on Kael. Despite Claire having claimed she had survived only because of his sister, he was now certain that without her formidable defenses, there was no way his sister would still be alive.
After all, she had been in the midst of other people, something he had not faced. Legendary or not, there was no way she could have survived that as a mere level one.
A feeling of gratitude welled up within his heart. Once more, he affirmed he really couldn't only protect his little sister at this point. He owed the young teacher too much already. Not to mention Sophia.
Rose tugged at her best friend to speak, but the little girl was too shy to even raise her head, prompting the little minx to handle the situation on her own.
"My name is Rose. I just decided to start with an introduction, after all many of us are just meeting for the first time, something my dear seniors and teacher failed to consider."
The faces of Claire, Nathan, Natalie, and even Alice blushed at that.
"Just continue," said Kael in irritation.
"Hehe," Rose giggled slightly before she continued, "I can manipulate the minds of zombies." She said smugly as she raised her chin up.
This was nothing new to the others, as they could already guess she possessed such an ability. Still, Nathan couldn't help but confirm their thoughts.
"How many undead can you control?"
Rose opened her mouth about to answer, only to smile mischievously.
"Guess."
Nathan had a speechless look on his face while Alice merely shifted her eyes to Kael, her expression unreadable.
"Hmph." Kael harrumphed, yet inside he felt proud of his little sister.
'Nice misdirection, little minx.' He knew the others would now be focused on the number of zombies she could control, yet Kael, knowing his little sister, was certain that could not be all she was capable of. She was his sister after all, not to mention the only legendary class holder he had seen till now.
'I won't be surprised if she could control any sentient being.' He was really curious to know about her class, but he couldn't ask now as they weren't alone. He could only shelve the thought for later.
"This is Sophia." The golden-haired girl, despite being too shy to raise her head and speak herself, offered a tiny, tentative wave, her fingers trembling slightly as she retreated back into Rose's shadow.
But what Rose said next sent the room into stunned silence. Even the girl seated on the far side away from the group, and ignored, widened her eyes in shock.
"She is a healer."
The silence stretched for several seconds before Kael broke it, his voice tinged with excitement.
"Can you help me regrow my arm?"
Despite the question being thrown at Sophia, Rose was the one who answered, a rare look of seriousness flashing on her cute pale face.
"I have already asked her. And yes, she can."
Just as the excitement in Kael was starting to bubble up, Rose's next words calmed him down.
"But it would require an enormous amount of mana."
Kael's eyes fixed on the young girl beside his sister.
[LV. 2 ??? (EPIC)]
"Makes sense." He nodded after a while, his thoughts already spinning. He knew the girl leveling up must have been as a result of his sister's help. After all, even at level one, the exp needed to level up for an epic class holder wasn't little. He considered using the useless mana potion he had on hand, but soon realized it wouldn't make much of a difference.
'I will need to help her grind. Ms. Claire too. The stronger they become, the more helpful they will be. Even her...' his eyes shifted to the still shocked Natalie. The girl, noticing his gaze, fidgeted slightly in surprise and embarrassment.
Kael knew the stronger the young girl got, the more the range of her scouting ability would increase, and that might prove indispensable for their plans.
Seeing he was the only one left, Kael cleared his throat, garnering the attention of every eye in the room.
"I can control fire. And also heal myself with it, though the skill isn't so guaranteed to heal grievous wounds."
Nathan and the others nodded slightly, though they were a bit disappointed to find his abilities were not that special. Still, they didn't show it on their faces.
However, three people reacted differently. Nathan had an uncertain look on his face as he looked at Kael, after all, he could still remember how the other had saved him last night.
Alice merely watched him with her usual impassive eyes.
Kael ignored both of their gazes and instead locked eyes with the last person, both of their dark-as-night eyes shining with a glow only they could notice.
The siblings smirked internally, as they patted themselves on the shoulders in spirit.
Now that they all had an idea of each of their abilities, they started to plan how they would move from henceforth.
The discussion took over an hour, and soon after, it was already eight in the morning, the sun casting long, slanted shadows as it crawled higher into the sky.
The group ate some food, still not touching what the system had given them.
Claire and Nathan clearly felt uncomfortable when they noticed Alice didn't share food with the pale-looking girl sitting on one side of the room. They already were curious about why she was being ignored, but seeing how she was now being blatantly alienated rubbed them the wrong way.
Nathan was about to speak up, when he lowered his head once more, shaking his head slightly.
He knew this was no longer the same world. He couldn't have the same mindset as before. Still, he could only hope it wasn't because the girl was only a common class holder and a level 1 that she was being shunned. If not, he didn't know how he would feel.
After filling their stomachs, the girls went to the bathroom to freshen up, only to end up returning with rueful smiles.
"There is no running water." Claire said, as she sighed, already expecting such a thing
Nathan moved to the side of the room, and clicked on the light switch, yet no light flashed within the room. The same was for the large ceiling fan.
"As expected..." Kael mumbled, earning the focus of the others. "Technology is no longer working properly. I don't know if everything has been rendered useless, but that would explain why we are yet to hear anything from the government."
He had more conjectures. He felt this was probably the effect of mana interference or simply an action of the cosmic system to make the apocalypse more difficult to survive in, but he didn't share his thoughts.
Having no means to refresh themselves, the group could only accept their fate and launch their plan.
After all, what was hygiene compared to surviving?
Also, Kael assured them he might find enough water for them to use later, when he heads to the boys' dorm later, specifically to the canteen.
---
At around 9 in the morning, the group stood in a formation in the bloodstained hallway with Kael as the spearhead, and Alice and Nathan at his side.
Directly behind them were seven zombies controlled by Rose. Further back was Ms. Claire, a massive translucent blue barrier already conjured before her, while Natalie, Rose, and Sophia stood guarded at her back. The shimmering blue wall cast a ghostly light over their faces, reflecting the grim determination etched into their features.
Finishing at the rear of the group were another three undead to guard against unexpected surprises.
Kael was just about to command them to act. He was an introvert, yet the situation had turned him into a leader, and he had spoken more words this past day than he did normally for a week.
But he had to rise to the occasion. For his sister and for all of their survival.
Just when he was about to speak, Ms. Claire, who had been hesitating, finally sighed before voicing her thoughts.
"What about that girl in the room? We can't just leave her alone." Her voice sounded soft, as she knew she was in no position to make demands. After all, she wasn't at the forefront of danger. The younger kids were, something that made her feel slightly ashamed. Alas, there was nothing she could do, with the class she had been handed.
Kael only paused for a moment before his voice resounded in the silent hallway, deeper than usual.
"Forget about her."
After a moment, he added.
"If anything, she should be safer there."
Claire sighed once again as she quietly nodded her head.
"Natalie, how is it?"
The young girl hidden behind the barrier had her eyes closed as she spoke softly, her voice tinged with anxiousness.
"The situation is still the same."
Kael nodded before looking at Nathan.
The handsome senior's face hardened as he tightened his grip on the two swords Alice had formed for him. With Kael's reserve of mana potions, she had been able to restore her mana soon after.
Nathan controlled his shadow, and his quiet helper soon slid away from under his feet before gliding towards the stairwell, not before sending Nathan and Kael a middle finger.
Natalie watched from the view of the housefly she could control as the shadow reached the second floor. At this distance, Nathan couldn't directly shadow jump, but he could still send his shadow away.
The shadow suddenly materialized, garnering the attention of the undead that had been lounging at the entrance of the stairwell, before quickly returning back to its shadow form, and moving swiftly back to the group.
The undead growled lowly, but after a moment, it moved and climbed the stairs to the third floor, prompting Natalie to call out.
"It is coming! The level 21 common zombie will soon be here."
A heavy, dragging sound echoed from the stairwell—the slow, deliberate footsteps of a predator that didn't need to hurry.
That was right!
Kael and the others' first fight would be against such a high-leveled undead, despite the highest leveled among them being only level 5.
Yet, what could they do?
After all, the undead on its way was one of the weakest on the campus.
Focusing on the footsteps approaching, Kael felt the familiar surge of adrenaline, his thumb tracing the pommel of his mana sword as the air grew cold with the approaching rot, while the others visibly wore their tense hearts.
"Get ready!"
*****
AN: Thank you for reading. Vote power stones if you enjoyed the chapter😁.