Green blood flowed like water as Keneric fought the second mutated mouse they'd encountered in the last three hours. The first one was badly injured, already bitten all over, so taking it down had been as easy as swatting a fly. But the second one—well, that was a different story.
Keneric suspected these were the same two cannibalistic mice Joy had seen mutating and chasing each other outside the parking lot before she got trapped over that pool of green water.
"Oh my god," Rune whispered, finally catching sight of Keneric leaping like a grasshopper. The swampland didn't slow him down at all. She and Joy had kept a few meters of distance during both fights—not because they didn't want to help, but because Keneric had strictly forbidden it.
"How did he…? That's not possible," Rune muttered, watching him somersault over the large mouse's body and rip out one of its legs from behind.
"He's on the volleyball team," Joy said with a weird laugh. The fight was already over. A few more punches, and Keneric hadn't even needed his axe. "He's very athletic."
Yeah, Rune wasn't buying it.
From their angle, neither girl saw Keneric siphon the green essence flowing from the now-dead rat's corpse into his palms. Nor did they catch the way his eyes glowed emerald under the bright morning light.
"All clear," Keneric announced.
An uncomfortable silence settled over the trio as they resumed their journey through the marshland. But soon Joy caught up to Keneric, chatting away about random things and munching on chips she had sneakily borrowed from Rune's backpack and later using her usual puppy eyes and glub tongue to compensate.
Rune, however, kept her distance—not too far, not too close—glancing nervously at Keneric's back every so often, as if afraid he might have eyes there and would somehow notice.
Well, previously, he had found her in that hidden cabinet in the central kitchen, hadn't he? Even the Ravager hadn't figured out her location and had resorted to destroying everything it couldn't devour. But Keneric had gone straight for her, like he already knew where she was hiding.
How could that be possible?
She was still lost in thought when she suddenly collided into him and fell backwards. Turns out the two ahead had stopped walking, and Rune hadn't noticed.
"So-rry," she muttered, closing her eyes in panic when she saw Keneric's hand move toward her.
But instead of a grab or shove, Keneric simply flicked her forehead.
"Ouch!" she yelped, opening her watery eyes in protest.
"Watch where you're going," he said flatly, then turned back to Joy.
Devil. Demon. Satan. Rune hurled names at him silently. Out loud, she just muttered, "Yes," in a meek voice, afraid of making him angry again.
Then came Joy's voice, cheerful as ever. "Wanna check out the Engineering building?"
"Yeah, sure, I don't have a problem," Keneric replied, then glanced at Rune.
"There's a resource point there too. We can raid it," Rune agreed after getting up, though the back of her pants was wet from falling into the muck. Her forehead was red too—no thanks to someone. She gave Keneric a sharp look.
Keneric nodded. "Then it's settled."
They walked a few more miles. Keneric dealt with another mutated creature—a fly the size of a washing machine. It had tried to sneak up on them from the sky, but Keneric noticed its shadow. One swift kick to the eye blinded it, and after a few more blows, the fight was over.
But this time, when Keneric knelt down to absorb the fly's essence, Joy and Rune were just close enough to see it.
"The green light? What is that? What did you—" Rune started.
"What green light?" Keneric cut her off, already standing and walking away.
Rune stared at Joy, who was now laughing sheepishly, clearly out of excuses.
They kept moving. After a few more hours, they reached the Engineering building. And just as expected—it was decimated. Not by an earthquake, either. If it were, parts of it would still be standing. No, this looked like the work of something colossal.
Joy watched Keneric's face for a reaction, but he was already moving toward the second cafeteria, more interested in food and supplies than ruins.
Ransacking the place was easy. They didn't encounter much resistance. Joy even cooked some instant noodles and gave Rune a share.
Rune didn't hesitate. Only a few packs were left across the entire campus, and they were now a rare delicacy.
Keneric didn't eat. Again.
They decided to spend the night there after spotting an active golem heading toward the Music, Visual & Performance Arts campus (This is different from the Art's Campus/Building). The thing was three stories tall. None of them wanted to risk moving around and dying a meaningless death.
The night passed peacefully.
Keneric kept watch from the central kitchen counter. He didn't feel like sleeping anymore—not after waking up that morning. He'd even tried napping earlier but had given up. It was the opposite for the two girls. They had used seat foam to make a small bed and were now huddled in the middle of the kitchen, surrounded by counters.
Keneric occasionally heard Rune muttering about going home and missing her family. But Joy hugged her, and before long the two were sound asleep, cuddled together.
By morning, they were rested and ready to move again.
They reached the Arts campus building without much trouble.
But the waves of trouble were indeed brewing.
Just not outside.
It was waiting inside the barricaded shelter.