His plan was simple and methodical: gather more supplies from areas others couldn't safely access, hunt mutant creatures for their cores to gain more experience points, and… find his next "qualified recruit" to expand his power base.
The first on that list was his former crush from before the apocalypse—Gwen Shaw, the acknowledged "flower" of the Literature Department. Beautiful, intelligent, popular.
They'd agreed through messages that she'd come to him today, that she'd make her way to his location. But Elric had changed his mind last night after thinking it through, and sent her a new message: I'll come to you instead.
It was safer that way, more controlled.
If the message had truly been from Gwen, if she was really alive and willing, he'd take her under his wing gladly.
If not… if someone was impersonating her, trying to lure him into a trap, whoever was behind the deception wouldn't live to regret it.
"Honey, don't worry," Grace said softly, her voice carrying genuine concern that surprised even herself. "We'll lock everything down tight. Just come back safe."
Natasha nodded, though her eyes betrayed deeper concern than her composed expression suggested. "We'll hold the place. Nothing will get past us."
Jenna sighed dramatically, trying to mask her own worry with sarcasm. "Fine, but if you die out there, I'm taking your room and all your supplies."
Elric chuckled, a genuine sound of amusement. "You won't get the chance."
He raised his hand and whispered the activation phrase, "ROOM."
Instantly, the space around him warped visibly—reality bending, air shimmering with that distinctive blue glow. And with a flicker of light that made the women blink, Elric vanished completely, reappearing on the first floor of the faculty building several hundred meters away.
He adjusted his jacket with automatic movements, scanned the fog-choked courtyard with enhanced vision, and started walking toward the girls' dormitory complex with purposeful strides.
The mist parted slightly around him as he moved, as if even it recognized something dangerous approaching.
The girls' dorm had become a chaotic fortress, transformed from its original purpose into something resembling a medieval castle under siege.
Hundreds of young women—maybe three hundred, possibly more—had barricaded themselves on the 7th and 8th floors, the highest accessible points in the building. The upper floors offered the best defensive position, furthest from the ground where the tendrils struck.
The hallways below were filled with overturned furniture creating obstacle courses, broken glass that would cut anyone trying to move quickly, and makeshift barricades constructed from desks, bedframes, mattresses, and anything else that could be piled to block passage.
It hadn't always been this way. Just days ago, this had been a normal dormitory where students worried about exams and relationships.
Last night, one of the massive fleshy cocoons outside—different from the main one in the courtyard, a smaller satellite growth—had burst open violently, releasing dozens of whip-like tendrils that smashed through windows on the lower floors with devastating force.
The appendages dragged screaming students into the mist before anyone could react or mount a defense. Some victims were drained of blood and life force before they could even complete their screams, their bodies discovered later as empty husks.
The few survivors who witnessed the attack had seen enough to know—staying on lower floors meant death. Height meant safety.
So now, they'd gathered what remained of their collective strength and blocked the stairwells with everything they could find, cutting off access to the lower floors entirely. Creating a defensive perimeter.
It was desperation—but also, surprisingly, it showed discipline and organization.
And among the survivors, two girls had taken charge, establishing themselves as leaders through a combination of awakened abilities and forceful personalities.
One was Paige Turner, a self-proclaimed "architecture major," though most people on campus knew her better as the loudmouth who'd never shut up in class—and at over 200 pounds, she wasn't exactly the conventional "beauty" she sometimes imagined herself to be in her more delusional moments.
Yet, after awakening her mutation ability, she could transform her entire body into a dense, rolling sphere of muscle and hardened flesh, capable of smashing through concrete walls like a wrecking ball. The ability made her virtually indestructible when activated, a tank in human form.
The other was Jane Myers, a graduate student with a questionable reputation around campus—rumors of affairs with professors, of trading favors for grades, though nothing proven.
Her awakened gift was the ability to materialize and control ropes from thin air—thick, strong cables that appeared from nothing and obeyed her mental commands. Perfect for tying down barricades, creating traps, or, when necessary, restraining or dragging enemies into kill zones.
Before the outbreak, both women had been ignored or ridiculed by their prettier, more popular peers. Paige for her weight and loudness. Jane for her reputation and manipulative nature.
Now, they were the only reason dozens of terrified girls were still alive and organized.
Power dynamics had shifted dramatically in the new world.
As Elric approached the building through the drifting fog, moving like a shadow through the mist, faint cries and muffled voices echoed from the upper floors. He could hear barricades being reinforced, nervous conversations, someone crying.
He looked up at the building, his enhanced eyes piercing through the fog, seeing the makeshift defenses, the boarded windows.
"Gwen Shaw," he muttered to himself. "You'd better actually be up there."
And with that thought, he stepped through the barricaded front door—the defenses meant to keep out monsters and desperate survivors alike proving no obstacle to someone who could simply teleport past them.
Ready to face whatever the dorm—or its new self-proclaimed rulers—had become.
The game was about to get more complicated.
There is 40 chapter Advance with 2 chapters every day, in my patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
patreon.com/B_A_3439