Nox watched them take down another small pack of three dog monsters. It was still sloppy, sure, but it was definitely better than their first attempt. They were starting to work together, to anticipate each other's moves.
Emilia's vines were quicker now, snaring a creature before it could even lunge. Vasa managed to make a patch of the floor slick with ice, sending another dog tumbling, which Kendra, with her rock-hard skin, just walked up to and started punching until it stopped moving.
Yeda even managed to bash the head of the vine-snared creature with her pipe, timing it with Kendra, who distracted it.
'They're actually learning,' he thought. It was a grudging admission, but it was true. 'Still weak, but not completely hopeless anymore. At least they're not tripping over their own feet.'
Their levels had gone up a bit more, too. They were all Level Three now. Well, except for Yeda, who was still Level One, but she fought with a surprising amount of grit for someone without active powers.
They continued clearing out sections of the school, mostly sticking to the ground floor. After another hour or so of this search-and-destroy mission, they found themselves near the entrance to the swimming pool area.
The doors were smashed in.
"Should we check it out?" Emilia asked, looking a bit hesitant.
Nox just shrugged and walked in, not wasting time on discussion. The others followed. The place was a total mess, just like everywhere else, but what caught his attention were the bodies.
There were a few dead students, yeah, but there were also a few of those dog creatures, dead in ways he didn't recognize. Some were burned to a crisp, and others looked like they'd been hit with something incredibly strong, completely crushed.
"Looks like other people are fighting back, too," Vasa observed, her expression neutral as ever as she examined a scorched monster.
'So, more awakened,' he thought. 'Makes sense.' He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. More strong people could mean more competition, or maybe just more chaos.
"Where do you think we should go next?" Kendra asked, kicking at a loose tile on the floor. "This floor is pretty much cleared of those dog things, I think."
He thought for a moment. "The teachers' office," he said. "It's relatively central, and if anyone's managed to hold out, it'd be them. They probably barricaded themselves in there." He remembered Ms. Joy. 'She stayed in the classroom. Wonder if these other teachers are as useless.'
"Good idea," Emilia agreed. "Maybe they know what's going on, or have a radio or something."
They started moving again, heading towards the administrative wing of the school. He noticed Yeda was walking a bit closer to him than usual. She wasn't as jumpy as before.
She glanced at him when she thought he wasn't looking. 'So this is Nox,' she thought. He was still kind of scary, and definitely not friendly, but he hadn't let them die. He was even teaching them, in his own weird, insulting way.
'It seems I was stupid for not knowing him better back then. He was always alone. Maybe if someone had just talked to him… well, too late for that.' She firmed her resolve. 'I will make sure I make it up to him, somehow. Even if he is a jerk.'
They reached the hallway leading to the main teachers' office. Just as he had predicted, there were a lot of dead dog monsters piled up outside the door. At least ten of them, torn apart or crushed.
'Yep, someone strong did this. Probably a bunch of teachers working together.'
The office door itself was closed and looked like it had been reinforced from the inside with desks and filing cabinets.
Emilia rushed forward. "Hello? Is anyone in there?" she called out, banging lightly on the door. "It's us! We're students!"
There was a pause, then some muffled sounds from inside. After a few seconds, the door creaked open a sliver, then wider. A man stood there, looking tired and holding a heavy metal ruler like it was a weapon.
It was Sir Owen, their math teacher. He was a fairly young teacher, usually pretty energetic, but now he looked like he hadn't slept in days. His eyes widened when he saw them.
"Emilia? Vasa? Kendra? Yeda?" He looked them up and down, then his gaze landed on Nox, who was standing slightly behind them, his arms crossed. Sir Owen's eyes lingered on him for a moment, a flicker of something unreadable in them. "And… Nox. You're all alive."
"Yeah, somehow," Kendra said. "You guys okay in there?"
He nodded slowly. "We're… managing. Come in, quickly. It's not safe out here." He stepped back to let them file into the office.
Nox watched Yeda as she walked past him. She was still Level One, but her stats had improved. He saw her give him a small, hesitant smile.
'Weird,' he thought, but didn't dwell on it.
He followed the girls inside. The office was crowded. More teachers were huddled in one corner, looking pale and stressed out. And then there were the students. Maybe fifteen or twenty of them, mostly faces he recognized from their grade. A few of them rushed towards Emilia and the girls.
"Emilia! You're okay!" a girl Nox vaguely remembered from their English class exclaimed, pulling Emilia into a hug. "We were so worried!"
"Kendra! Vasa! Yeda! You made it!" another boy said, his voice full of relief.
Then, their eyes found him, standing near the doorway, his expression unreadable. The mood in the room shifted instantly.
"What is he doing here?" a guy named Liam spat out. He was one of Mark's friends, Nox recalled. Always sneering, always ready with a shove or a cruel word.
"Yeah, why is that freak with you?" another girl, Chloe, asked, her voice sharp with distrust. She looked at Emilia and the others like they had just betrayed her. "You know what he did, right?"
Emilia stepped forward, looking uncomfortable. "Look, guys, he helped us. We wouldn't be here if—"
"Helped you?" Liam scoffed, taking a step closer. Nox didn't even flinch. "He's a killer! I saw him! He shot Mark! Just shot him in cold blood right in the classroom!"
A murmur went through the room. The other students who hadn't been in Nox's class looked shocked and scared. The teachers looked confused and alarmed.
"What's this?" Sir Owen asked, his tired face creasing with concern. "Mark? Mark Julike from 9A? What happened to him?"
"He killed him!" Chloe insisted, pointing a shaking finger at Nox. "Right after the earthquake! He just pulled out a gun and shot him!"
"And then he just left us!" another student, who Nox didn't know, chimed in, his voice cracking. "He left us all to die with those… those things! While he ran off!"
'Idiots,' Nox thought, a flicker of amusement passing through him. 'They actually think their opinions matter to me.' He found the whole scene predictable and, honestly, a little boring.
Kendra stepped in front of him, her arms crossed. "Oh, give it a rest. Mark was a first-class asshole, and you all know it. And Nox didn't 'run off'. He jumped out a window, which was smarter than anything you clowns did."
"Kendra!" Emilia hissed, grabbing her arm. "Don't make it worse."
"Why not? They're the ones starting it," she shot back, shrugging off Emilia's hand.
Vasa just watched, her eyes moving from the accusers to Nox, analytical as always. Yeda stood slightly behind Nox, looking at the floor. She seemed small and unsure.
Sir Owen raised his hands. "Everyone, please! We need to stay calm. Accusations like these are very serious." He looked at Nox, his expression grave. "Nox, did you… did you harm Mark?"
Nox met his gaze, his face completely blank. He didn't argue. He didn't deny anything. It was pointless. Explaining himself to these people was a waste of breath.
He just said, "Yeah. I did it."
A collective gasp went through the students. Some of them took a step back. Even the teachers looked stunned into silence.
Chloe's face twisted with outrage. "You admit it? You monster!"
He just shrugged. Then he added, his voice completely flat, "And I'd do it again."
The office became dead silent. You could hear a pin drop. The students who had been shouting looked terrified now. The teachers looked horrified. Liam, who had been so bold a moment ago, now looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.
"Please leave," Sir Owen finally said, his voice quiet but firm. "We can't allow a killer to stay in here. People are already scared enough."
"Thought you'd never ask." Nox turned and began to walk out.