However, the argument between Ron and Duncan showed no signs of stopping, even though Sharon had already said they should head to the museum. The terrified and confused survivors huddled together in silence, too afraid to say anything.
Meanwhile, Kael sighed quietly, listening to the two men as their heated argument continued.
"QUIET!!"
Kelvin, losing his patience, slammed the table, causing everyone to jump in surprise.
"We don't have the luxury of arguing. Sharon already said the museum is safer than anywhere else," he shouted, glaring sharply at the two men who had been arguing.
Duncan's face, already red, turned even redder. Ron looked like he wanted to protest, but Kelvin's piercing stare made him close his mouth.
Frustrated, Kelvin stood and declared, "We're getting ready to go to the museum now!"
All the survivors breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the two troublemakers had finally stopped arguing. They began preparing to leave with the few belongings they had left.
When the Awakened finished collecting the mana shards and rat meat, they left the small subway.
Naturally, the Awakened carried the heavier items, as their physical strength was far superior to that of ordinary humans.
Once on the surface, they saw no signs of monsters. Around fifty people traveled together in a single group. The survivors walked in a circle, surrounded by the Awakened, moving at a pace that could hardly be called fast.
Kelvin and the others led at the front, including Sharon and Tracy, while Kael and Thalia stayed at the rear with the other Awakened.
After walking for two hours and covering about three kilometers, they finally reached the museum. The sun was already high when they arrived.
The museum still looked intact, though damaged in places, despite the massive earthquake that followed last week's apocalyptic event.
Kelvin ordered one of his men to check the inside of the museum. The man ran up the stairs, littered with debris and fallen pillars, and entered.
After waiting for some time, he emerged from the entrance and signaled to the group that everything was safe.
Kael watched the group entering the museum, then whispered to Thalia, "You go inside with them. I'll be back shortly."
Thalia turned to him with a shocked expression and asked, "Where are you going?!"
Kael stepped back, replying, "I'll be back." She seemed like she wanted to follow him, but hesitated, then turned back and began climbing the stairs. She had known him for a long time and understood that he typically said things like that when he wanted to be left alone and avoided being disturbed by anyone.
Kelvin, overseeing the group as they entered the museum one by one, saw Kael leave. He asked Thalia as she passed him, "Where is he going?"
Thalia shrugged and continued inside, and Kelvin pressed further.
The museum's interior resembled its exterior, with granite floors, walls, pillars, and stairs, all intricately carved. The thick walls made the place seem secure against monster attacks.
She had visited this place a few times during school, but had never liked it. It had always felt gloomy and uncomfortable. Now, it felt even eerier with the lingering smell of blood everywhere.
***
"I need to go on my own now. Thalia will be safe with them," Kael muttered as he separated himself from the group. He ran away for a few minutes, then climbed a tall building, observing the group as they entered the museum. He didn't want Thalia or anyone else to know what he was about to do.
Once everyone, including his younger sister's friend, had entered, Kael descended from the partially ruined building. Without delay, he ran east toward his original destination.
He reached a residential area and searched for a house with a "For Sale" sign. Before long, he found a neglected house, its walls covered in creeping vines.
The house had a classic design, with white stone walls, a red roof, and a chimney.
Kael walked into the front yard, recognizing the place as the same one he had entered in his past life. Suddenly, he stopped and drew his sword.
From behind the house, six monsters from the first gate emerged and attacked him.
"Trash," Kael cursed, immediately striking at the monsters. He assumed they would be easy to defeat since they were only first-gate monsters.
But to his surprise, even after slicing their necks or stabbing their heads, the monsters didn't die as they had before.
"What's going on?" he cursed again, swinging his sword to the side in an attempt to decapitate one of the monsters now below him, after he had leapt to their height.
However, his sword seemed to hit something that deflected it inside the monster's neck. Confused, Kael flipped backward to distance himself from them.
'Why are they so hard to kill now?' he thought as he watched them chasing him. He noticed something he had only seen before in monsters from gates numbered fifty and above.
Corrupted! These monsters had become corrupted, making them much harder to kill.
"Sh*t!" This shocked him deeply, as it was entirely different from what he had faced in his previous life. This new challenge would make everything far more difficult.
The only way to kill these monsters now was to find the core of their corruption and destroy it. The problem was that Kael didn't yet have the skill to locate their cores, and the place to acquire it was still far away.
As the monsters ran toward him, Kael's mind raced to find a way to see their cores.
In desperation, he tried channeling the mana within his body to his eyes, making his vision clearer. He kept adding mana to his eyes, until he could see all the mana flows in the world around him.
The grass, the bushes, everything appeared vibrant with mana flows, including the monsters. The world became illuminated with the many colors of mana.
Kael focused his attention on the monsters, observing their mana flows, and finally spotted a place within them shaped like a circle, where their mana flows seemed interrupted and the area was dark.
Kael smiled and murmured, "Ha! Found it."