The vicious heat radiating from the twin sabers—flaming blades drawn straight from Kael's chest—immediately shifted the mood in the room.
Even in a world filled with monsters, it wasn't normal to see someone pull flaming swords out of their own body. Not even in movies. Not like this.
Kael stood tall, twin sabers drawn, their silver-violet flames casting flickering shadows across the walls. The heat rolled off them in waves, causing sweat to bead and drip from the brows of everyone nearby.
"I should actually thank you," Kael said, his voice steady and cold.
"I'm sure some of you had doubts. Wondered if I could back up the things I've said. So, for giving me the opportunity to prove that I belong here... I thank you."
He turned slightly, then drove the sabers back into his chest.
With a hiss of flame, they vanished.
"But let this not be a show of ego—only a testimony to my skill."
His eyes swept across the table.
"Now, as you were saying... yes. I do believe I'm strong enough to get us inside. Strong enough to lead a team."
Kael fell silent after saying his piece.
But inside?
He was thrilled.
He wanted someone to challenge him. Someone to question his place. Because now, there was no doubt. No hesitation. He'd just shown everyone why he was the right man for the job.
And he owed it all to Seraphiel—whose guidance gave him power, insight, and the upper hand in a world gone mad.
The man Kael had intimidated didn't look pleased. His jaw clenched. His pride clearly bruised. He'd come in with swagger, hoping to flex some muscle—but Kael had flattened him without lifting a finger.
Still, he wasn't a complete idiot.
He raised his hands in mock surrender, trying to save face.
"Hey, my bad, man," he said, forcing a laugh. "Didn't realize you weren't just all talk."
He gestured vaguely toward the group.
"But you gotta understand it from our side, right? All we saw was some guy walk in, bleeding out, talking big like he ran the place. I don't want any weaklings calling the shots. That's all."
Kael nodded at the man's words. "Hey man, that's understandable. I get it. But enough about me…"
He turned to face the rest of the group.
"What do you all think of the plan?"
There was a brief pause—then one by one, the others around the table began to nod, glancing at each other in agreement.
"Sounds good to me," said the guy who'd asked the original question.
"I agree too," added the bearded man with the bone axe—the one Kael had saved back on Day One.
One after another, the students gave their assent. No more doubts. No more questions.
They were in.
Seeing everyone agree, Kael allowed himself a rare smile.
"Well then," Lily said, stepping forward, her tone shifting back to business, "since we're all on the same page, let's get the groups organized. I'll let you two decide who you want in your squads."
She turned her gaze between Kael and Ellis.
Kael cracked his neck and pointed across the room.
"Well, that's easy for me. Yo—beard guy with the bone axe," he said, locking eyes with the man. "I'm taking you. And your buddies—the ones I pulled out of the wolf mess earlier."
The man looked surprised that Kael had made his decision so quickly.
"Uh, sure," he said after a moment. "I guess I'll join your team."
"Great. Go grab your friends I saved earlier—we need to figure out who's doing what in the group before we head out tomorrow," Kael said, pleased to have secured his squad so easily.
The reason he chose the ones he had saved was simple: they already had Soulshard weapons when he found them, and they had still been fighting—despite the overwhelming odds of facing the wolves alone.
To Kael, that meant one thing—they had potential. The kind of talent he needed to help carve a path forward.
Breaking Kael from his thoughts was Ellis, who stepped forward, clearly ready to choose his squadmates.
"Well, I guess I don't really care who's in my group. If you're at least level three and willing, you can join me," Ellis said casually. He wasn't one to overthink these things.
Those around the table, presented with the question, came to their own conclusions.
"I'll join you," said the man who had earlier been antagonistic toward Kael, choosing to side with Ellis's squad.
After that, about half of the group chose to join Ellis. Many of them were individuals who had taken charge in their respective areas before arriving—natural leaders in their own right.
"Alright, since we've got everything taken care of, I'll leave you all to yourselves for the rest of the night," Lily said, concluding the meeting. "And like I mentioned earlier, we'll rotate people on watch every two hours to keep an eye on anything happening outside."
The group gave a collective hum of approval, clearly having reached the same conclusion among themselves before the question was even asked.
With the meeting breaking apart, it finally gave Kael a chance to speak privately with Lily and Ellis about what had just happened.
"Hey… about what I did earlier—" Kael started, but Lily cut him off before he could finish.
"What the heck, Kael?!" she blurted, hands thrown up. "You went to bed looking like you got run over by a truck—and now you're walking around like brand new, pulling fire swords out of your chest?!"
"They're sabers," Kael corrected automatically. "And the reason I can use them is…"
He trailed off—mind blanking as he realized he hadn't actually come up with a good lie about where the sabers came from.
His body stiffened. For a split second, the silence was deafening.
Thankfully, Seraphiel's voice echoed calmly in his mind.
"Emberbound Duelist. You unlocked it at level ten. Tell them that."
Kael exhaled quietly through his nose, then nodded.
"Because of my class," he said, trying to keep his tone casual. "I unlocked something new when I hit level ten. It's called Emberbound Duelist. The class specializes in conjuring flame-bound sabers from your soul. That's… basically what you saw."
Mentally, he sent a silent thanks to Seraphiel.
"Wait—you got a class at level 10?" Ellis asked, eyes narrowing. "Because I got an evolution, not a class."
Ellis looked genuinely confused.
Kael shrugged, keeping his tone casual. "Well, you did say Michael saved you, right? Maybe he did something to trigger that instead?"
"Actually, you're spot on," Seraphiel said in his mind. "Normally, you should unlock a class at level 10—not an evolution. Seems Michael did more than just gift him a blade art."
"Maybe he did," Ellis said, frowning as he scratched at his chin. A thinking expression crept onto his face—one that didn't suit him at all.
"Ah, whatever," Ellis said, shaking his head. "Not worth thinking too hard about. If it's Michael's will, then it is what I'll follow."
His voice carried that familiar, unwavering conviction—complete faith in the divine order.
"Not a bad mindset," Kael replied. "Besides—we've only had the System for a day. What we think is true now might not be tomorrow. Let's just take things one step at a time."
He gave a small shrug, then quickly shifted the conversation.
"Speaking of which… I need to check in with my new squad. Make sure everything goes smoothly tomorrow."
He changed the subject deliberately—as to not reveal anything more about himself, especially when it came to his powers.
"Alright then, good talk," Ellis said, yawning. "I'm gonna grab some food, then crash. Been up all day fighting monsters straight out of hell. Kinda wiped."
"See you later, man," Kael said with a nod.
"Good night, Ellis," Lily added with a small smile.
With Ellis gone, it left just Kael and Lily standing there.
Kael gave a half-shrug. "Well, I should get going too. If you ever want to chat later—just you and me—you know where my room is."
He turned and started walking off to find his new squadmates.
In his mind, Seraphiel's voice flickered through.
"Not to butt in, Kael... but in the future, you might want to choose your words a little more carefully around Lily."
Kael blinked, confused. 'What did I say wrong?'
From his perspective, it was just a normal offer. Back before the world fell apart, his roommate was usually off with his girlfriend, which left Kael with the dorm to himself. He'd gotten used to inviting friends over to hang out—it never meant anything more than that.
So he didn't think twice about it.
But behind him, Lily hadn't moved.
She stood frozen, a slight blush creeping across her cheeks.