Level Up Arcana

First Kill

They weaved through the chaotic hall, dodging panicked students and overturned furniture. Books lay scattered across the floor, making the footing treacherous. Raiden nearly slipped on a fallen scroll but caught himself against a shelf.

The library's main exit was ahead, a set of tall double doors that led out to the academy courtyard.

That was freedom and safety in sight. Maybe.

A zombie staggered into their path.

It was a boy, probably a first-year student judging by his size. His uniform was drenched in blood, and a chunk of flesh was missing from his neck. His mouth hung open, revealing teeth stained red.

He lurched toward Jace with a wet, rattling growl.

Jace's mind went blank for a second. Every instinct screamed at him to run, but his body refused to move. The zombie's hands reached for him, fingers twisted like claws.

"Look out!" Raiden shoved past Jace and swung his arm, knocking the zombie off balance.

The creature stumbled but didn't fall. It twisted toward Kade instead, swiping at him with surprising speed.

Raiden ducked, barely avoiding the clawed hand. His heart hammered in his chest. He'd read enough webnovels to know the rules. Any scratch or any bite from the zombie, and he'd become one of them.

He couldn't let that happen.

The zombie lunged again.

Raiden sidestepped and stuck out his foot. The zombie tripped, crashing face-first onto the marble floor with a sickening crunch.

It immediately started crawling toward him, still growling.

Raiden's stomach turned, but he forced himself to act. There were no weapons around him, no chairs to swing, no heavy books within reach. It was just him and this thing that used to be a student.

He lifted his foot and brought it down hard on the zombie's head.

The skull caved in with a wet, cracking sound. Blood and something darker splattered across the floor.

Raiden stumbled back, bile rising in his throat. He'd just killed someone, a human. No, no—something. It wasn't a person anymore. It couldn't be a human since it had turned into a zombie.

But the memory of its face, looking young, maybe fourteen or fifteen, burned into his mind.

After killing the zombie, a small orb of white light rose from the corpse, glowing softly. Before Raiden could react, it shot toward him like a bullet, slamming into his chest.

He gasped, expecting pain.

Instead, warmth spread through his body. His mana reserves, usually steady and predictable, surged slightly. It was subtle but unmistakable that his cultivation had increased ever so slightly.

The robotic voice of the system came.

[You have killed a Level 1 Spirit Circle Zombie and acquired its mana]

Raiden's eyes widened. "What...?"

The glowing text appeared in his vision just like it had after the map exploded. But this time, it was different. This time, it was giving him information on killing a zombie. Just like a game.

"So that white orb was mana," he muttered, staring at his hands.

"Raiden! Come on!" Jace shouted from ahead.

He snapped out of his daze and ran after them.

They reached the double doors and burst through into the open air.

The courtyard outside was just as chaotic as the library.

Students scattered in every direction, some screaming for help, others running in blind panic.

Zombies shambled between the flowerbeds and statues, chasing down anyone too slow to escape. In the distance, more explosions echoed across the academy grounds.

Smoke rose from several buildings. Fires burned in windows. The once-beautiful campus of Arcana High looked like a war zone.

"What happened to the academy?!" Jace wheezed, doubled over, and gasped for air.

Raiden scanned the courtyard, trying to find a safe path. His mind raced. The explosions had started right after the map was activated. Right after that system message appeared.

It had mentioned something about a trial phase being initiated. This was the trial. A trial to survive.

"We need to get out of here and find somewhere safe," Raiden said, his voice steadier than he felt. "But before that, we need to arm ourselves."

"Where do we go?" Mira asked, her sharp eyes darting around. "The whole academy is under attack."

"Then we go beyond the academy," Kade said. "Into the city and find help or somewhere safe."

"And what if the city is just as bad?" Jace's voice rose in panic. "What if this is happening everywhere in Bluestar?!"

Raiden didn't have an answer for that. Because deep down, he feared Jace was right.

That ripple, the formless bubble that had expanded from the map, couldn't have just affected only the library. It had probably spread across the entire Bluestar World.

Which meant this nightmare wasn't limited to Arcana High.

It was a global cataclysmic event, prelude to an apocalypse.

A scream cut through his thoughts.

Raiden turned and saw a group of zombies closing in on a cluster of young first-year students trapped against a wall. The students were crying, begging for help. But no one was coming.

Raiden clenched his fists. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to ignore them, to save himself. He wasn't a saint. It was enough of a struggle protecting himself and Jace already.

But he couldn't. Not when he could still do something to help.

"Stay here for a sec," he told the others.

"What? Raiden, no—" Jace started to protest.

But Raiden was already running toward the trapped students.

He had no weapon on himself or a plan. Just a glowing system screen in his vision and a desperate hope that maybe, just maybe, he could make a difference.

But as he charged forward, the words in his vision changed.

[Primary Quest Active: Survive the Trial]

[Side Quest Available: Rescue 5 Students]

[Reward: +50 System Coins, Black-grade Treasure Orb]