บท 25: Thunderous
Liam was not sure why his Will increased twice in less than an hour, let alone why his Stamina increased straight to [F-] but he didn't even think of rejecting the bountiful gains he made from fighting while being dead-tired.
He was still tired and with every passing second grew more and more exhausted. It was great to see that his suicidal tactic was worth it!
Four stats were now at [F-], his Arcane Power was at [E] while his Vitality was still at [G+]. Liam didn't sustain any wounds which were why he didn't expect his Vitality to improve soon either.
'I don't have to use Arcanium for the time being…' He told himself once again, hoping that he made the right decision by not investing his Arcanium immediately. Rushing things usually led to big mistakes, and Liam wanted to prevent that.
Time passed slowly, yet oddly fast and they ended up sealing three side entrances while fighting hundreds of huge rats in between. The ordinary huge rats were not a problem anymore since there were dozens of people fighting them head-on by now.
Liam and the others pulled several groups of ragged humans inside the gymnasium when they saw them desperately running for their lives, and Felix's group, including the martial artist himself, began to fight soon after.
At first, they thought of the Arcane Apocalypse as a game, a means that had been created for them to become the main protagonists and emerge victorious, but reality forced them back to their senses real quickly.
Monsters were real and even more so the fact that a single mistake could lead to death. That was something some arrogant members in Felix's group realized firsthand as they charged forward in an attempt to defeat a handful of ordinary huge rats all by themselves. Some of the rats were only injured since despite their huge size they were not strong enough to kill a human instantaneously.
They would have to tear apart a human's throat to kill them within seconds. And that was exactly what happened to two young athletes who had been trampled over by a group of ten dog-sized rats that tore them apart while they were still alive and screaming at the top of their lungs.
Everyone witnessed their death and many were petrified due to the terrified and desperate screams that rang in their ears. Only Liam continued to move and retain his sensibility, saving the lives of dozens by killing a dozen rats with quick movement sequences. His action prevented the rats from overwhelming the shell-shocked witnesses of their friend's cruel death.
They regained their senses when they heard Liam's shout that resounded in the surrounding area.
"If you guys want to die, don't pull others down with you, you fucktards!"
Once everyone had regained their senses to a certain extent, fighting hundreds of ordinary huge rats every now and then seemed extremely easy. Nobody overestimated their power anymore and they chose to fight defensively rather than charging forward and dying a stupid death.
They didn't want to be torn apart like their friends whose screams were still ringing in their ears, forcing them to recall what they had witnessed not too long ago.
It was still raining even after a few hours had passed but three out of six side entrances from the outer layer had been sealed properly. However, things changed drastically after the third entrance had been sealed.
A thunderous roar reverberated through the area all of a sudden, forcing everything to a standstill. The walls of the gymnasium began to shake violently, causing trophies and other objects to fall off shelves.
The people around Liam had a hard time breathing as heavy pressure descended onto them. They experienced the pressure accompanied by a higher-ranked monster's berserk roar for the first time that drained all the color from their faces. It was only obvious that they were shocked and unable to move properly.
A memory crossed Liam's mind when he had been unable to breathe for several minutes while he was quite young and forced to stand in front of a high-ranked monster that roared right in his face. At that time he was Circleless and not even five years old and the monster that unleashed its pressure was a Mythical creature, but the situation could still be considered similar…somehow.
Liam rushed outside, ignoring the terrified expressions on the natives behind him as he looked in the direction he presumed the roar to come from.
"I can't see anything…that's good…" He mumbled just to see something else that attracted his attention. His lips twitched and he turned around in an instant before he rushed back inside.
"Go inside, or get trampled to death!" Liam shouted loudly as he returned back inside the fourth entrance they had planned to seal just now. He pushed the shell-shocked people inside, and shoved them all mercilessly without caring if he was manhandling them before he closed the entrance's door. He got hold of a few iron poles that they had also used to seal the other gates before he put them through the handle.
"Felix, bent it!" He ordered and Felix acted immediately, subconsciously following the command he had been given. Currents of blue light burst forth from the martial artist as he moved next to Liam before he grasped the two ends of the iron pole. He pulled the ends together with all his might while Liam had already averted his focus.
"You, you and you, push the carts over!" Liam commanded in an imposing manner that didn't leave any choice for the men whom he had pointed at other than to follow his orders.
They rushed over with the carts that they had used to carry around the sport equipment and mats they had previously used to seal everything including the small glass windows through which one could see the horror that unfolded outside the gymnasium.
Liam could clearly see different monsters fleeing away from the direction from which the thunderous roar seemed to echo as it had been more than enough to shock them to the core.
He averted his attention only when the carts were pushed to the front where Felix used his amplified strength to push the sport equipment down before they all rushed back to the second door of the side entrance. Since there were two entrances, Felix sealed it once more by bending an iron pole around the door handles, binding them together.
This was not a permanent solution to protect the gymnasium since the Arcane Apocalypse would bring far more horrors to Haltan but it was a good way to reassure their survival in the early 'game'.
Everyone sighed in relief when the entrance was more or less sealed, only for Liam to contemplate silently.
"The monsters have been scattered all over the place thanks to the roar…they will start fighting soon…"
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