Chapter 3: Mana's Awakening and Escalating Chaos
Kaelen's hand still tingled faintly after the first Intruder vanished, as if the echo of its mysterious power still resonated within it. He looked at the hovering System screen, then at his hands. "Mana," that strange word, was beginning to acquire a far greater meaning than just a term in a video game. It was real, and it flowed in his veins.
There was no time for deep thought. The panicked screams of students still tore through the air, and the sound of falling objects from the sky grew more frequent. More rifts were widening, and other entities began to emerge, larger and more terrifying than the first Intruder. Kaelen saw a massive creature, resembling an octopus but with stony skin and multiple limbs, slowly descending towards the administrative buildings, causing immense destruction simply by touching surfaces.
"I need to move," Kaelen muttered, feeling his survival instinct push him. The new objective, "survive," was clear, but how? The back corridors leading to the underground labs still seemed like a better option than the main gate, which was choked with terror and chaos.
With quicker, more cautious steps, Kaelen navigated through the scattered debris. His senses were sharper now. Sounds were no longer mere noise; he could distinguish distant footsteps, muffled screams, and even strange scraping sounds from the celestial beings. His vision became clearer, as if he could see a faint glowing layer of air around some objects, though he didn't yet understand its meaning. Perhaps this was the "Dimensional Vision" the System mentioned.
As he crossed a small, almost empty courtyard, he heard a faint moan. He turned to find a young girl, perhaps a first-year student, slumped behind a cracked stone bench. She was weeping silently, clutching her arm which looked painfully twisted. She was desperate, terrified, and isolated from the stampeding crowds.
Kaelen hesitated for a moment. Should he continue his path to perceived safety? Or try to help? He didn't know this girl, nor was he a hero by nature. But seeing her vulnerability and despair awakened something else within him—a sense of responsibility, or perhaps just a simple realization that he was no longer alone in this changing world.
Kaelen's hesitation didn't last long. In the midst of the chaos, he couldn't just leave her. He rushed towards the girl. "Are you badly hurt?" he asked, his voice sounding strange, barely audible even to himself amidst the roar of chaos.
The girl looked up, her eyes swollen from crying and glowing with absolute terror. "My arm... it hurts!" she mumbled, her words barely audible.
Kaelen nodded. Her arm looked broken. This wouldn't help her move quickly. He remembered the "Mana Manipulation (Dormant)" notification from the System. Could he do something?
At that moment, a red flash appeared at the edge of Kaelen's vision, followed by a low, unsettling hum. He spun around quickly. From behind the library building, a new creature began to advance. It was larger than the first Intruder, with four articulated legs ending in sharp claws, and a body covered in thick, rust-colored glowing scales. Above its head, a power gauge appeared:
[Threat: Armored Crawler (Second Wave)] [HP: 200/200] [Strength: Medium] [Speed: Medium]
It was faster and stronger. Between them and the lab area, the path was cut off by rubble. There was no easy escape. This creature wouldn't give him another chance.
There was no time to think. The Armored Crawler advanced with slow but steady steps, causing faint vibrations with each movement of its articulated legs. A feeling of warmth began to gather in Kaelen's right palm, as if the energy he gained from the "First Blood" achievement was flowing and concentrating.
"Use Mana..." an instinct he didn't know he possessed whispered to him. This was the first time he consciously tried to "control Mana." He focused on the sensation of warmth in his palm, imagining it intensifying. In that moment, a new text box appeared in his vision:
[Mana Control (Basic) Skill Activated!] [Mana Cost: 5/s]
His hand glowed with a faint blue light, and then a small beam of blue energy shot out from it. It wasn't powerful—more like a small squirt from a water pistol—but it was energy. He fired the beam towards the Armored Crawler, which was still a few steps away. The beam hit the creature's thick armor without causing significant damage, but it made a sharp metallic clang and fully drew its attention.
"Get back!" Kaelen yelled at the girl. The Armored Crawler shifted its focus to them and began to quicken its pace. The girl was too terrified to move.
Kaelen realized a direct attack wouldn't work. There had to be another way. He quickly looked around, using his heightened vision. He saw something directly above the Armored Crawler: a massive metal rod dangerously hanging from the roof of a cracked building. It looked unstable.
"Can I...?" An idea sparked in his mind. He looked at the rod, then at the Intruder. He needed to gather enough Mana.