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. Amidst 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 hesitate, nor to search for shelter. The sight of the girl's weakness, and the imminent danger, reminded him of his cold certainty that his family might be in a similar situation. The Power he had gained was nothing but a means to find and protect them, and this battle was his first chance to test his new Power, to make sure he would be ready when the time came.