Lets see….. So obviously the people outside heard the gunshots…. So if I go out now, they're probably gonna ask me what happened. Then they will look in here and see all these bodies and I’ll be shit out of luck once again……

I mean I could try killing them all again, but i’m trying to play this smart from now on. I can’t just assume that since they’re weak and pathetic humans without weapons, that they will be easy targets…… If I struggled with Lunch period then I will definitely die to these guys, lunch periods are divided into three groups so I barely even got a third of the student body…. That's also not counting those who skip lunch, or just generally don’t go there so maybe only a fourth in total.

Even worse, that last box said ‘assimilated’ humans…. So they probably have actual ways to defend themselves this time.

I wonder if this equipment room is like my previous schools? It had another set of doors that would lead out to the fields, hopefully them renovating this school the way they did, didn’t cut that option out….

And Bingo! My luck hasn’t run out yet!

For some reason it was heavily barricaded and was probably the oldest wooden door I’d ever seen. That had to have something to do with why these kids were all gathered in here…..

Oh well.

I try for several minutes to get the materials out of the way before giving up. There is a much simpler method of getting through doors, if I could only figure out how to use my new skills.

…..

….

……

Ok so i’ve been staring at door for a while but its not moving so I haven't suddenly gained the force. Trying again on a smaller object yields the same result…. How am I even supposed to use this new power then? When I first used Blood Lust i’m pretty sure it was pure luck with a little bit of amazing Aiyla sprinkled on top so I don’t know if I can replicate that.

Maybe I can do something similar though…..

The feeling of Blood Lust was like a raging fire rushing through my veins. It felt like for the first time ever I had truly felt things. All my senses but more importantly my sense of touch had been enhanced beyond what I think a normal person should be able to feel.

Continuing along this train of thought leads me to the more important realization of… Where did that come from….

Originally, the fire had started in my core and worked its way outwards… So maybe that was the origin?

Focusing inward, I could actually feel my Blood Lust pool pulse…. Like it knew I was looking for it and was responding to my feelings….. So maybe… Just maybe… AHA! I got it!

It looked very different from Blood Lust though….. Where Bloodlust took on its namesake and was a deep red with hints of black running through it, psychic was a lot more…. complex…. It was like looking at the accumulation of my entire life’s worth of thoughts all wrapped tightly in a little metaphysical ball. I couldn’t focus on any of the words yet I completely understood what all of them meant. They were a variety of colors too, which I suppose could mean different states of mind at the time of those thoughts? Either way now that I had found the pool, I just need a way to use it.

Hopefully, like Blood Lust i’ll get something to make this easier. Having to look into myself and find this thing could become a pain.

Willing the ball of thought to do something, i’m not surprised when literally nothing happens….

Haaaa… It's never easy with these things.

This time thinking of removing the blockaded door, I will even more for the thought ball to do something. This time something amazing happens! A gust of wind gently blows throughout the room! I'm psychic holy crap I have amazing powers wow….. What a fucking let down…..

Congratulations! You have unlocked Cognitive Power!

Cognitive Power: (Tier 0)

Base Will, Wisdom, and Intelligence is boosted by 0%

Seriously! This must be one of those mental muscle things that you have to train for a ridiculously long amount of time to achieve even a modicum of success in…

At Least using it made me feel like I had taken a light nap or a cup of coffee. Who would've thought that the solution to every college student’s problem was to become a psychic!

Anyways, I guess that rules out overpowered mental powers so my last option is either Aiyla or I run at it full speed and see what happens….

Well, looks like it's me versus you door.

Getting in the standard charging at things stance, I launch myself forward. Luckily unlike my pools, Fleet Footed responds as soon as I call for it and suddenly I am going at my top speed….

Ok this may have been a mistake!

After I burst through the door, I find that my feet haven’t stopped….

OH NO OH NO OH NO STOP STOP STOP! TOO FAST!

OH GOD I CAN’T STOP WHERE ARE THE BRAKES.

ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS BREAK DOWN THE DOO- OOMPH!

Yea ok that hurt. My entire right side is on fire, it feels like I just ran full force into a concrete pillar…. Oh wait I did….. Thats…. Not concrete though….

Before me stands the largest tree I’ve ever seen. In fact all around me is a variety of vegetation I had never seen before. From large flowers the size of my head, to the grass that reaches to at least my knees. There is so much flora here, it’s almost like I was suddenly dumped in a jungle…. Although thinking about it rationally, why the hell would the school suddenly be in the middle of a jungle? Although… Maybe….

Walking forward for a minute confirms my suspicions…. Concrete! Aha! So we are probably where we were before, but are now surrounded by a jungle? Hey i'm not one to question all this new magic happening but seriously? Who the hell has the power to grow and entire jungle in a residential area in less than a day! Some of these trees look like something you could only see in hundred year old nature preserves, much less downtown…..

Shouting interrupts my thinking as I turn towards the source…. They sound like they are in trouble.

Heading towards the disturbance, like any normal person would, I find a clearing full of rat-wolves! Even an enormous albino one that easily towers over the others, probably around seven to eight feet! It's even standing on two legs and seems to be commanding the other rat-wolves. They seem to have surrounded a student who had been trying to sneak out of the school, unfortunate.

….

…..

….

I can barely restrain my laughter as they tore him apart! At one point, a rat had found its way into his chest cavity and forced its way out of the kids front recreating the famous chestburster moment! One rat even managed to claw out the kid’s left eye which was still attached to the other one, and managed to rip the right eye into the socket and through the left one!

I didn’t even know that was possible! I could definitely learn a thing or two from these guys….

That actually gives me an idea! I think as a hideous smile contorts onto my face…..

The principle and other faculty tried to keep the students calm, but the gunshots in the equipment room had been too much to handle. As far as they knew, their only safety came from the white haired beauty who had sudden shown up with a black and green spear, as well as her entourage.

Although they had also been granted ‘The Gift’, as well as access to the Free Market as that particular box had put it, none were able to amass the powers the others had achieved. They were repeatedly told in order to gain power they had to fight, but only those following their protector had stepped up to the challenge. The students believed they would be fine though. They thought they wouldn’t have to fight as long as others did it for them.

So the ‘volunteers’ had positioned themselves between the only entrance the rats could get into as the door wasn’t reinforced per state mandate.

The school had put off replacing it for years, and since no one ever complained, it was never fixed.

Now everyone was regretting that decision as it could easily be broken by the enormous rats currently plaguing them. In fact the door had already been broken down once, luckily the rat had been disposed of quickly, if it had been allowed to roam among the students, there is no telling how many people would have died.

While the students were all thinking the worst the door suddenly started creaking open and everyone released a sigh of relief. They had only caught it for a second but they spotted the familiar white hair on the other side….

But why wasn’t she coming out? Was she hiding or something?

…

…..

…….

That's when all hell broke loose.

…

….

…

The largest rat-wolf they had even seen forced its way through the doorway. Some guessed it could easily be seven or even eight feet tall. It stood on two legs and its eyes seemed to possess intelligence that no animal should have.

Its albino fur was already stained a dark red around its maw and paws which lead the students’ minds on wild fantasies of where that blood came from. The sheer animosity in the animal’s eyes made many students freeze on the spot. The rest continued pushing for the exits to the hallways where they thought they would be safe.

As the first student pushed open the door, they were proven wrong.

A group of rats that had previously not been there, was now pacing around the front doors as if they were waiting for someone, and as they spotted the other students exiting the gym, rushed them.

For the next few hours, all that could be heard from Sincaster High would be the tortured screams of the damned.

No discrimination, monsters cared little for gender or race. All they saw were prey, and they were starving.

Their system enhanced evolutions had strained their previously tiny bodies to the limits, and in order to ease their stress, eating was the only thing their instincts seemed to tell them.

The larger of their kin knew different though. In fact he had already by passed the stage the semi-evolved rats were going through in order to become a true were-rat. Being the progenitor as well as the only pioneer of his species had granted him his current rare evolution as well as an insane boost to intelligence. The glorious system had also provided him information which no rat had a right to have. That’s when it contacted him.

…

….

…...

A puny human had thrown a rock at him, and responding to the provocation, the enormous beast chased after him. Some child believed they could provoke me and survive! NEVER!

That was until the human had separated him from the rest of his pack and spoke.

“Can you hear me?” His voice not holding a bit of fear. This had caught me off guard and halted my pursuit in its tracks. My astonishment lasted long enough for the child to smile knowing I could in fact understand him.

“Good, I have a proposition for you. There are alot of humans in the gymnasium, I would not be opposed to teaming up with you and yours to…. Exterminate them…” After he said that, he smiled. I felt as if I was staring at death incarnate. That face does not belong to a human. I had once been a normal rat, and on many occasions barely escaped from humans with my life, but never had I been more afraid then at that moment. This wasn’t a child. This was a monster. I knew at that moment, this was a fellow Scourge.

The 2̶̖͕̯̹͇͕̱̯͙͑̔͗͋͝1̶̡̼̻͖̻͎̹̓ş̴̛̙̞̮̺͔̺͈̯̅͌͗͑͐͋̚͘t̴̝̥̔̓̅̎̑͆͠͝ Scourge has petitioned you to work together

Accept / Decline

That shouldn’t be possible though.

There should only be 20 of us. This came directly from the system, and also the information that none of us were human. We couldn’t be human.

So what was this creature wearing human flesh?

A deep baritone voice emanated from the depths of the creature’s throat as he spoke what would eventually change the fate of everything.

“I accept.”