This was not Rowan's first dungeon break. He had been in this situation more times than he could count.
When the drafting happened, one in every five dungeons broke, so this hellishscape was nothing new to him.
Only designated safe areas were deemed liveable, with hunters available around the clock.
"Another group of civilians..." Rowan cut down another horde of Demi-Saplings, bringing the casualty count to almost 50.
Since it was a poison dungeon that could affect even hunters, ordinary people stood no chance.
And with an abundance of soil and life around, the plants had spread across entire streets in just half an hour after the break.
Rowan closed his eyes to scan the area, doing his best to find civilians.
But there were sadly too many life signatures, and when he reached them they were already humans turned monsters. He had no choice but to put them down again.
Killing humans was not new to him. But it still hurt every time.
After witnessing so much death, he still had not gotten used to it.
He moved building by building, using ceilings and rooftops as his main method of travel.
Since the plants had taken root in the ground, they had not spread as heavily to the upper floors, though they were still growing.
If there were any survivors, they would likely be up here.
He narrowed his search down with that hope in mind.
Then, while traveling, he noticed a life signature that felt familiar. He could not pinpoint exactly who it was, but something about it resonated, like someone he had crossed paths with before.
[Dash]
He leaped from a nearby convenience store onto a school rooftop and ran along it until he reached one of the classrooms below.
"Mama, I'm so sorry."
"Dad, please come pick me up."
The wailing and whimpering of children from below made his heart ache.
He had no way to drop down through the ceiling, but he had another method.
[Spectral Form]
Rowan's body dissolved into soul and reappeared inside the classroom.
The door and windows had been barricaded with cloth, tables, and chairs to completely seal off the hallway. They had essentially trapped themselves in, which was the right call.
His sudden appearance startled everyone in the room.
Rowan looked around, and then his eyes landed on a familiar warmth.
"Lee?" Rowan recognized the face immediately.
Lee, his shoulder still wrapped in bandages from yesterday's injury, was crouched over an elderly man in a gym uniform, presumably a PE teacher, healing a series of deep puncture wounds across his body.
Whatever he had fought, it was not a Demi-Sapling.
Lee's face was full of exhaustion and desperation as he fought to keep the old man alive. But due to his low level, an injury this severe was not easy to treat. It was like pouring water into a cracked glass. No matter how much he refilled it, it just kept leaking out.
Then he heard Rowan's voice.
"Rowan?!" Lee looked up, his expression shifting from despair to relief in an instant.
"Y-you know him?" the gym teacher asked in a breathless voice. He opened his eyes and looked Rowan up and down, taking in the oversized backpack, the gun, and the casual shirt and shorts, then let out a weak laugh. "What a ridiculous setup you got there, buddy."
"Just stay still." Rowan stepped through the group of children and grabbed Lee by the shirt.
Then ripped it off, leaving Lee bare from the waist up, his fragile frame covered in bruises from yesterday's raid.
Lee looked frustrated but said nothing and kept healing. He knew better than to question Rowan.
With practiced efficiency, Rowan tore Lee's shirt into strips of varying sizes and began treating the old man's wounds one by one, using the right size and knot for each type of injury, stopping every wound from bleeding out.
"Are you a doctor or something?" the gym teacher asked.
"Stop talking." With a body that never tired, Rowan had always found ways to be useful outside of combat. Helping doctors and nurses care for the injured was one of them, and he had picked up more than a few tricks along the way.
"Lee, focus your energy on this wound," Rowan said, pointing to one of the small wounds beneath the old man's ribs.
"I'll try. It might hurt, Mr. Kale," Lee, unsure of the technique, affirmed and did his best to concentrate his energy as directed.
He pressed his hand over one of the blood-soaked cloths and closed his eyes. Instead of his usual full-body glow, the light condensed onto a single wound and the bleeding quickly stopped.
But the effort drained him just as much as healing the entire body at once, and his face turned pale.
Kale's breathing, which had been hitching and ragged, slowly evened out. "Damn, aren't you supposed to be the future doctor here?" he asked Lee with a weak, joking smile.
"S-sorry, I didn't think of it," Lee was on the verge of breaking down. His mind was not clear enough to start a proper diagnosis. "I failed again..."
"It's okay. You were doing your best and that is always good enough." Rowan gently reassured him. The boy was clearly still not recovered from the traumatic events of yesterday.
Lee hung his head and sat down to rest.
Rowan wanted to ask why he was here, but there were more pressing questions for someone else first.
"Now that you can talk, can you tell me what happened?" Rowan asked Kale. From his sensing, this man should be an E-rank hunter, and one who had gained a few levels at that.
At the question, exhaustion gave way to fury on Kale's face. "That damn gate had been sitting there for days and no one came!" He shouted with enough force to startle the children, the sudden movement aggravating his wounds further.
"Calm down. Just tell me what you fought and where it is, then we can prepare to evacuate." Rowan's first priority right now was not clearing the dungeon break. This was a D-rank dungeon that had already grown beyond its initial projections.
He was not about to risk that alone.
Kale steadied himself and said, "There's a treant on the first floor. It should have killed all the children and staff by now."