Clearing the Dorms (Part 1)

There was visible shock on the faces of everyone. No one expected something like this to happen; the thought had not even crossed their mind yet.

The severity of the situation hit them, and panic began to set in.

"What do we do?" Soren asked, his voice shaking.

"There's nothing to worry about; there is a way to break this barrier."

Zayden's voice came, and they calmed down. They looked to him with hope in their eyes, waiting for Zayden's solution.

"What we need to do is very simple," Zayden said

"We need to clear the dorms of all the nulls and save any survivors in the dorms. I was skeptical at first since we were not strong enough, but after this horde attack and our increase in strength, clearing the horde shouldn't pose that much of a problem."

They listened to what Zayden said and had to admit that it was their only hope at the moment. And they couldn't just sit here and wait for their death.

After that, Zayden continued to explain things to them, and they finally entered the gym.

Isara, being the figurehead that everyone recognized, was chosen to explain the situation to everyone. Though they left out the part about being locked in to avoid mass panic, but told them about the need to look for survivors.

She further iterated on why they needed them to fend for themselves and stop leeching off the rest of the team.

Once again, they were unwilling. But they had no choice. Either they follow all the rules and survive, or they stay here and die. There was no other option.

With that, plans for the next day began, centering around the newly evolved members of the team.

They decided to break open the remaining orbs and give them out as rewards to the people who helped when facing off against the null.

Seeing this, some of the skeptical people in the gym decided to change their minds and fight for their survival. After all, leaving their lives in the hands of others wasn't assuring at all.

By the end of Isara's speech, thirty more people decided to join them and power level. Zayden was happy with this outcome, and he accepted everyone.

Later in the night, the rest of the team finished their evolution, and a new set of powerhouses were added to the group.

Everyone decided to rest early, because tomorrow was going to be an important day, a day that would decide their survival path.

****

The night went in a flash, and very early the next morning, most of them were up. Today was day seven of the apocalypse, and it had officially been a week since the start of the apocalypse.

Zayden and the rest of the team sat at the table as Zayden explained his plan to them.

"The main priority is to defeat the dorm boss and look for survivors."

"We need to do this as quickly as possible to avoid another horde. On the way, you can choose to power level the unevolved in your groups, but just be clear of our priorities."

"If possible, we should try and get this done in two days or less."

Zayden's voice resounded as everyone got their objectives.

They headed out, leaving Darian and the silver-headed girl hear in case another sudden quest happened, to avoid unnecessary casualties.

Zayden had some questions for the silver-haired girl, but now wasn't the correct time to ask those questions. He was just confused since she had never appeared in the future, but was very strong now.

He threw the unnecessary thoughts out of his mind as he set out.

Since there were six of them, they decided to form two different groups. There were five dorms, and Zayden tasked his team, which consisted of Amara and Aiden, with dealing with three dorms while Tyrel's group was tasked with the remaining two dorms.

So Zayden and his team of about ten evolved headed towards the female dorms.

Since there were still some people they needed to power level, they slowed their speed a little to kill the null that came towards them and help the rest of the group reach level ten.

Before long, they were in front of the female dorms.

The first dorm was in front of them, and it was eerily quiet. No sound was coming from the dorm, even the monotonous groaning of the nulls couldn't be heard.

From his memories, Zayden recalled that each dorm had a different theme, in the sense that the nulls in said dorm had a different set of abilities, with the boss null having the strongest control of said ability.

He remembered that due to their lack of knowledge, it was only after three weeks that they knew of the requirement for leaving the college.

And by this time, most of the nulls were already monstrously strong, so clearing out one dorm was a life and death battle with multiple casualties.

But thanks to his memories, he didn't allow these nulls to grow stronger, and he was way stronger than before, so killing these nulls should pose no problem.

He dug into his memories and finally remembered the specialty of the nulls of this dorm.

The nulls of this dorm could control plants a little, or to be more specific, to control vines. This, in turn, gave the nulls longer reach and the ability to take life force through their vines.

"Watch out for vines."

Zayden swung open the main door of the dorm, and a hallway appeared in front of him. The lights in the hallway flickered on and off, giving them a feel of being in a horror movie.

It was baffling how there was still electricity after the apocalypse.

Zayden was beyond focused as he started giving out orders.

With his lead, everyone slowly entered the dorm. Multiple doors were on the walls of the hallway, amounting to about twenty.

With caution, Zayden meticulously searched the rooms.

He turned a corner and slowly opened one of the doors when a green vine was shot at him.

Zayden's reaction was pretty fast, with twenty years of fighting experience in his memories and fighting with his life on the line against the umbra serpent, there was no way the vine was going to hit him.

He quickly dodged it and held onto the vine. At the same time, his hand was coated with oblivion flux.

The hand holding the vine pulled, and the null was flying towards Zayden at a fast speed. Without wasting any time, Zayden's fist, coated with oblivion flux, slammed into the head of the null as it crashed into the ground.

He looked around the room for some seconds, and all he could see were a few piles of dust. He shook his head slightly.

And called out to the people behind him.

"One of you should kill this null."

One has to remember that he was still power levelling a group of people.

Without waiting ceremony, one of the girls quickly rushed forward, in her hand was one of the common daggers forged by Zayden.

She closed he eyes and stabbed the dagger into the head of the null a few times, shuddering at the feeling of blood spraying all over her face.

Before long, the null turned into golden particles of light that entered the body of Zayden and the girl, the bulk of it going to the girl.

Golden light covered the girl thrice, and she levelled up. A look of realization appeared on her face. The realization that she had killed a living being.

Even though it was a monster, it was once a living being with hopes and dreams of the future, but she killed it.

The shuddering of the girl's body was stronger, but a firm look appeared on her face.

'I need to do this to survive,' she thought.

She stood up and walked back to the group, still trying to calm her racing heart.

Zayden saw all of this, and a slight smirk appeared on his face.

Everyone needed to do what they could to survive, because they won't be here to help them all the time. The sudden horde could be used as an apt example.

If not for the silver-haired girl's presence, the casualties would have been horrible, all because they decided to do nothing.

The group continued walking until they finally reached the stairs leading to the next floor.

They meticulously searched the first floor, killing multiple null, but they were unable to find any survivors, only multiple piles of dust, the evidence that many lives were lost here.

They finally reached the stairs, and in front was a null with about four vines protruding out of her back.

These vines were not normal as they had a fierce red color, and there was heat around them. It was obvious that the mutation of this null was more than the others.

The students who recently joined the team were scared out of their minds. It was the first time they saw something like this, and they had no idea how to face it.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

It was at this moment that a scream reached their ears, causing everyone to stop in their tracks