At Odds

Avic stood face to face with Zane. Whether they were enemies or allies was completely unknown. However, Avic wasn't intimidated. He stood his ground, refusing to move an inch.

"Zane, wait," interrupted the other male figure.

"What is it, Chaz?" He answered.

"I just think we should think this through before announcing that we're enemies. Only four of us were transported here which probably means that the other students are experiencing something similar elsewhere. That could mean that we're supposed to be a team."

Zane hissed. There was no evidence to prove that they were supposed to be teammates or enemies. The decision was solely up to them.

"Fine. Fighting here would do us no good anyway. But if I decide that you're too weak to be a part of my team then I'll get rid of you."

"Whatever. Honestly, I don't care if you want to team up or not. It's only convenient to have someone else do all the work and critical thinking."

"Heh— If we were anywhere else right now, I'd bash your face in. You better keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you."

"Sigh... Classical Sicarius behavior. Whatever, big guy. Let's just find out what we need to do next."

"I think we should find weapons..." Interrupted the girl timidly.

Everyone then paused to ponder. She had a point. They weren't allowed to bring weapons onto the school campus which left them defenseless. However, weapons were certainly going to be needed for the things that awaited them ahead.

"She has a point, but where are we going to find weapons? Do they expect us to deal with threats using our bare hands?" Questioned Chaz.

"Wait, look over there," pointed Zane.

Everyone then traced where Zane was pointing with their gaze. This was when they saw four weapons that were leaning against the wall to their right. There were two swords, one spear, and one bow with a quiver containing a few arrows.

Calmly, they then walked over to the weapons before inspecting them closely.

"Four weapons... That's enough for each of us. I think that means we're each supposed to pick a weapon," declared Zane as he picked up an iron sword.

Chaz then quickly chose the spear before the girl chose the bow and quiver. This left Avic with no choice but to choose the remaining sword.

"Man, what a pain... I'm not good at using swords," murmured Avic.

"Don't go making up excuses now. I bet you're just saying that because you're awful at using any weapon you're given," mocked Zane.

"Tsk! Man, you're slowly starting to get on my nerves..."

"Zane, we've wasted too much time here already. We should get going," prompted Chaz.

Zane agreed before walking through the open door in front of them. Avic and the others immediately followed. However, as soon as they left the room, the massive door behind them was slammed shut with a bang. This caused the area to shake like an earthquake's aftershock. But this wasn't all.

As soon as the door was slammed shut, a strange noise quickly began approaching them. It almost sounded like a group of people was drowning, releasing tons of air bubbles to the surface.

"W-what is that sound..?" Trembled the girl.

"From the sound of it, it seems to be the Drowned," answered Zane.

"The Drowned? What is that?" Queried Avic.

"Do you seriously not know anything? They're some of the weakest monsters around. Even a puppy could put up a good fight against one of them."

As the sound grew closer, they turned their eyes forward. This was when they saw the first Drowned approaching. It was the size and shape of a small dog. Its body was wrapped in strange brownish bandages and it seemed to be rotting. It was almost like a small dog-like zombie.

"Just one? How pathetic. And here I was thinking I could get a good warm-up in," complained Zane.

"Zane, wait! Look behind it!" Warned Chaz.

Zane then shifted his gaze a few meters behind the Drowned. This was when he saw an army of at least 200 different Drowned running towards them. This immediately left him in shock.

"Wait, why the hell are there so many?!"

"Weren't you the one that said that even a puppy could beat one of those things..?" Muttered Avic.

"Shut up, jackass! Individually, they're far from a major threat, but when they're so many of them, it's an entirely different story!"

"What are we going to do then?!" Panicked the girl.

"Just get ready to fight!!"

Avic hissed as he got his sword ready. It was quite frustrating for him to be forced to use a sword but he didn't have much of a choice. As the army of Drowned approached, they all readied their weapons.

The girl was the first to shoot an arrow, putting it in between the eyes of one of the Drowned. However, many more still pushed forward. Before long, they clashed with the Drowned head-on. Zane swung his sword around in a wide arc, killing the first approaching threats. Chaz then followed up with a jab of his spear, piercing the rotten flesh of a few more. Avic also swung his sword, barely managing to kill a total of four others.

They all fought as hard as they could. Sweat ran down their bodies and the scent of rotten flesh filled the air. Many of the Drowned died easily but their numbers were quickly becoming too much. Before too long, Avic and the others were being pushed back by their overwhelming numbers. They slashed, stabbed, and shot as best as they could. But it wasn't enough.

One by one, the Drowned bypassed their defenses. One of them even managed to bounce the girl to the ground, causing her to drop her bow. And shortly after, Avic followed.