The fog had finally lifted.
Not just from the sky, but from their minds.
The message about Scenario 2 starting in seven days had ignited something in them—urgency, fear, ambition. Now, for the first time since the world had ended, the survivors weren't just surviving.
They were preparing.
A makeshift field stretched across what used to be the university's west lawn. It was a graveyard of overgrown sports pitches, shattered goalposts, and discarded gym mats. But today, it was a training ground.
Joey stood at the center, shirt off, arms glinting with sweat and dust, commanding plates of floating metal through the air like orbiting satellites. He was grinning—focused, but relaxed in that way only he could manage.
"Five targets," he called out, twisting a wrist.
The metal launched forward, splitting in mid-air like shrapnel and slamming into wooden boards they'd set up as training dummies. One cracked in half. Two more embedded deep. One missed.
Joey grimaced. "Still drifts on longer throws."
Conner watched from nearby, arms crossed, bone bow slung across his back. "Try less spin. You're forcing the arc."
"You're not my coach."
"You missed."
Joey grinned, tossing him a thumbs up without turning. "Fair."
On the far side, Katie sat cross-legged, her cloak fanned out around her in a shimmering pool of blue frost. She had three sigils floating around her—light blue rings of energy orbiting at different heights, like a spellwork solar system.
Her hand hovered in the air. Slowly, a spike of ice formed at the tip of her finger.
It was thin, needle-sharp, hovering in place.
But her face was tense. Eyes locked. Sweat beading across her forehead.
Neive stood nearby, watching with her arms crossed, horned summon purring at her feet. "She's trying to layer cast points. Mana shaping mid-air."
"She looks like she's about to pass out," Luc muttered from behind, adjusting a makeshift shield strap.
"She usually does," Neive said with a smirk.
Katie let out a slow breath and flicked her finger.
The spike shot forward.
It wobbled mid-air, then shattered inches from its mark.
Katie exhaled, collapsing backward onto the grass. "Damn it."
"That was farther than yesterday," Neive offered, actually sounding impressed.
Katie groaned. "Still can't hold the form past twenty meters."
Conner stepped over and handed her a water bottle.
"Appreciate it," she said, not looking up. "You ever get frustrated with the pace?"
He thought for a second, then nodded. "Yeah. But frustration means you still care."
Nearby, two background survivors—Briggs and Alia—had managed to kill a mutated fox-beast that wandered too close. It wasn't strong, but it bled mana when it died.
Joey, curious, wandered over with them. The corpse shimmered faintly.
And then it happened.
[Skill Scroll Acquired: Flick Step (F-Rank)]
The scroll appeared over the fox's body like mist before vanishing into Joey's inventory.
"Whoa," Alia breathed.
"Monster drops are random?" Briggs asked.
Conner walked over. "No—System rewards effort and observation. You timed your kill when it charged."
"So… technique counts?" Alia asked.
"Always."
Back in the main courtyard, Conner stood alone now.
He stared down at the katana resting in his hands—simple, unadorned, salvaged from an abandoned dojo they'd raided a few days ago. It wasn't enchanted. It wasn't rare. But it felt balanced.
He unsheathed it slowly, testing the weight.
His Scope Eye flared faintly, mapping arcs in the air in thin blue traces.
He followed them—step, swing, step again.
Clumsy.
Controlled.
It wasn't natural, but it was honest.
Katie watched him from the distance, chin resting on her knees. Neive stood beside her, arms crossed, brow furrowed.
"He's adding melee?"
"He has to," Neive murmured. "What happens if something gets too close?"
Katie didn't answer.
Instead, she kept watching him—silent, curious.
Conner moved with the katana again—slower this time. He didn't swing with power. He followed the path his Scope Eye suggested, matching footwork to flow. A step forward. A twist. A diagonal slash from the hip.
Then again.
And again.
[New Skill Acquired: Blade Footwork Lv. 1 (F-Rank)]Your movement becomes more precise while wielding a blade. Agility slightly increased when in motion.
He paused as the window blinked in front of him.
A small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. It wasn't much—but it was a beginning.
Across the field, Neive was training her summons, calling out different creature forms she'd recorded. A smoke-beast. A wasp-lion. A stone-backed hound. Each one flickered into form with slightly more detail than the last.
Her breath came heavier with each cast.
[New Skill Acquired: Mental Drafting Lv. 1 (F-Rank)]Increases precision of summon construction. Reduces MP cost by 3%.
Neive blinked. "Finally."
The cat-like summon beside her hissed once—pleased.
Katie had moved on from spikes. Now she was focused on casting two sigils at once, one above her palm, one floating behind her.
Her hands trembled as she controlled the flow—ice in one, frost mist in the other.
The second sigil cracked. Mana backlashed.
Katie dropped to one knee, teeth clenched—but didn't release.
Her focus narrowed. Breath slowed.
Both sigils stabilized.
[New Skill Acquired: Dual Mana Channeling Lv. 1 (F-Rank)]Allows limited dual spell management. High mana cost. Risk of instability reduced.
She let the spell go and exhaled. "That's progress."
Joey had taken his training to a more chaotic level—lining up scrap metal, melting it partially, and then reshaping it mid-air while walking laps around the perimeter.
"Focus, heat, form," he muttered.
A ring of molten silver floated behind him like a halo.
He twisted his fingers. The ring flattened, spun sideways, and flared red.
[New Skill Acquired: Thermo Sculpting Lv. 1 (F-Rank)]Improves control over molten metals. Reduces shaping time by 10%.
"Hell yeah," Joey said with a grin.
Back at the center of the field, Conner and Joey met eye to eye.
"Want to go a round?" Joey asked, half-joking.
Conner didn't answer. Just drew his katana and stepped onto the mat.
Joey raised an eyebrow. "You know I fight with metal, right?"
"I'm not trying to win," Conner said. "Just to last."
Joey chuckled. "Alright, then."
The sparring match was light, but sharp.
Joey kept to shaping gauntlets around his fists, avoiding lethal shots. He struck in wide arcs—slow but overwhelming.
Conner moved fast. Not fancy. Just efficient. Each dodge was a centimeter short. Each swing of the katana wasn't to hit—just to control space.
Clang. Slide. Step.
Joey struck low. Conner parried with the flat of the blade.
Joey smirked. "You're getting better."
"I'm not dying. That's enough."
[Skill Leveled Up: Blade Footwork Lv. 2]
After ten minutes, they stopped. Sweating. Breathing hard.
The others clapped—not loud, but genuine.
Luc stepped forward, curious. "Where'd you learn that?"
Conner wiped his forehead. "Didn't. I'm just good at watching."
Katie met his eyes. "No. You're good at improving."
That evening, a group returned from a monster sweep just outside the south gate.
They'd brought back three kills and, more importantly—a scroll.
Taz nearly dropped it in his excitement. "It came out of the thing's eye socket! Just—blink—and there it was."
Joey caught it midair.
[Skill Scroll: Mana Skin (F-Rank)]Temporarily reinforces your skin using ambient mana. Minor physical damage reduction.
"That's huge," Katie said. "A lot more useful than Flick Step right now."
"We should rotate who gets what," Neive added. "Keep things balanced."
"I'll pass," Conner said. "My thing is still range. Someone with close-combat should have it."
Luc stepped up quietly. "I'd take it."
They nodded. No drama. Just trust.
The kind that was starting to mean something.
That night, as Conner cleaned his blade, he caught something strange.
A low hum coming from beneath the east wing of the building. Faint. Rhythmic. Like mana pulsing deep underground.
He didn't move toward it. Not yet.
But he noted the direction.
Marked the sound.
Because something was coming.