The silence inside Lecture Hall B was heavier than the darkness outside.
Five minutes had passed since Kaelen reinforced the doors. The scratching on the other side had stopped, but no one dared to speak. The only sounds were the ragged breathing of twenty terrified students and the low, pained groans of Mark.
The linebacker was slumped against the podium at the front of the room. His leg was a mess. The Imp's bite had torn through his jeans and into the calf muscle. The blood looked black in the dim light of the cell phones.
"It burns," Mark hissed, his teeth gritted. "It feels like... like ice."
Dr. Halloway was kneeling beside him, using his tie as a tourniquet. The professor's hands were shaking. "We need an ambulance. We need to call someone."
"Phones are dead, Prof," a girl said from the back. She was curled into a ball on top of a desk, hugging her knees. "Everything is dead."
Kaelen wasn't looking at Mark. He was looking at the door.
A timer hovered over the wood in his vision.
[ REINFORCEMENT: 180 SECONDS REMAINING ]
"We don't have time to panic," Kaelen said. His voice sounded calm, but his heart was hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. He walked over to the first row of seating—those long, curved tables bolted to the floor.
He placed his hand on the laminated wood.
"We need barricades," Kaelen said. "When that silver light fades, those doors turn back to regular oak. And regular oak won't stop a second wave."
"How?" a student asked. "These desks are bolted down."
Kaelen looked at the bolt. To anyone else, it was a rusted piece of steel. To him, it was a stress point.
[ Object: Lecture Desk (Row 1) ]
[ Material: Particle Board / Steel ]
[ Integrity: 100% ]
[ Structural Flaw Detected: Anchor Bolt 3 is corroded. ]
"I can break them," Kaelen said.
He didn't pull. He didn't smash. He simply applied pressure to the exact spot the System highlighted in glowing red. He struck the base of the desk with the heel of his palm.
CRACK.
The metal sheared. The desk wobbled.
Kaelen felt a strange sensation in his chest—a tiny ping of satisfaction, like a register drawer opening.
[ SYSTEM MESSAGE: ]
[ SKILL UNLOCKED: Salvage (Lvl 1) ]
[ You have identified the most efficient method of destruction. ]
[ Deconstructing non-magical items yields Mana Resources. ]
Kaelen blinked. Resources?
He grabbed the desk with both hands and wrenched it free from the remaining bolts. As the wood separated from the frame, the desk didn't just break—it dissolved slightly at the edges. A tiny wisp of blue light flowed from the wreckage and into Kaelen's chest.
[ +2 Mana Coins ]
Kaelen stared at his hands.
"Move," he commanded the students sitting nearby. "Get up. Now."
They scrambled away.
Kaelen went down the row. Strike. Crack. Salvage. Strike. Crack. Salvage.
He moved with the rhythm of a machine. With every desk he dismantled, he gained a few coins. It wasn't much—Imps gave more XP—but it was steady.
"Help him!" Lena's voice cut through the room. Wait, not Lena—she wasn't here yet. It was Sarah, a physics major Kaelen recognized. She grabbed a detached tabletop. "Drag these to the door! Stack them up!"
The students mobilized. Fear was paralyzing, but work was an antidote. They began hauling the debris Kaelen created, piling it against the double doors.
"Kaelen," Dr. Halloway called out. "Mark is... he's turning grey."
Kaelen stopped. He wiped sweat from his forehead. He had dismantled three rows of desks. His Mana bar was up to [ 92/100 ]. He had 40 Coins in his "inventory."
He walked over to Mark.
The athlete looked bad. The veins around the bite wound were turning a dark, frostbitten blue. The infection was spreading visibly, crawling up his leg.
[ Status Analysis: ]
[ Target: Mark ]
[ Affliction: Void Rot (Tier 1 Infection) ]
[ Prognosis: Amputation or Death in 2 hours. ]
"He needs a Healer," Halloway said. "Do we have a Cleric? Anyone?"
Silence.
"I got 'Ranger'," a guy said.
"I got 'Bard'," another whispered, looking embarrassed.
Kaelen looked at Mark's stats. Then he looked at the blue air in front of him.
"System Store," Kaelen said aloud.
A holographic menu expanded. It was a grid of icons, most of them greyed out.
[ MARKETPLACE - FLOOR 1 (BASIC) ]
[ Current Balance: 40 Mana Coins ]
Clean Water (1 Liter): 5 Coins
Ration Bar (Nutrient Paste): 10 Coins
Basic Bandage: 20 Coins
Minor Antidote: 50 Coins
Heat Crystal (Small): 50 Coins
"I need an antidote," Kaelen muttered. "It's fifty coins."
"I have... I have 10," Sarah said. "I killed a rat outside before I ran in."
"Transfer them," Kaelen ordered. "Focus on my name. Say 'Transfer'."
Sarah closed her eyes. "Transfer 10 coins to Kaelen."
A ding sounded in Kaelen's head. [ Balance: 50 Coins ].
He navigated the menu. He selected the Minor Antidote.
A flash of light. A small glass vial containing a bubbling green liquid materialized in his hand.
"Drink," Kaelen said, uncorking it and pressing it to Mark's lips.
Mark sputtered, swallowing the vile liquid. Almost instantly, the blue veins on his leg stopped spreading. The black color of the wound faded to a bruised purple. Mark let out a long, shuddering breath and passed out.
"Stabilized," Kaelen said. He looked at Halloway. "He'll live. But he won't be walking for a while."
"You bought that?" Halloway looked at Kaelen with new eyes. "With points?"
"Mana," Kaelen corrected. "It's money. We earn it, we live. We don't, we die."
CREAAAK.
The silver sheen on the doors faded. The Minor Reinforce had worn off.
The pile of desks and chairs they had stacked against it held firm. But Kaelen knew it was a temporary fix.
He sat down on the floor, leaning against the podium. He was exhausted. Using Reinforce took Mana, but using Salvage took physical stamina.
He noticed something else.
He could see his breath.
"Is it getting colder?" Sarah asked, hugging her arms.
Kaelen looked at the floating System Clock.
[ Time to Nightfall: N/A ]
[ Ambient Temperature: 45°F (7°C) ]
[ Trend: Dropping ]
"The insulation is gone," Kaelen realized. "The stone ceiling... it's cold. It's sucking the heat right out of the atmosphere."
He looked at the menu again.
Heat Crystal (Small): 50 Coins.
He was back to zero.
"We need more furniture," Kaelen said, standing up and gripping a heavy metal chair leg he'd snapped off. "And we need to block the windows. If we don't seal this room, we're going to freeze to death before the monsters even get back in."
He looked at the scared students.
"Class is in session," Kaelen said grimly. "Everyone grab a hammer.