Chapter 31Vanesa's backpack squeaked with every step. She hugged another bag tight against her chest, knuckles white, refusing to let it drag.Owen and Kai kept close behind her, their feet crunching on broken glass."Thank you," she said without looking back. Her voice was small.Owen caught up a little. "For what?""I asked the other awakened." She swallowed. "I begged them."Owen's jaw tightened. "They weren't ready or willing to lead a group of random people."She finally glanced over her shoulder, eyes tired. "No. They said it straight - they weren't willing to risk their lives protecting a group with no awakened."The street was silent except for their breathing."So if there had been an awakened in your group... they would have led you?" Owen asked, watching her. She was barely ten feet ahead, shoulders hunched like she was carrying more than bags.Vanessa stopped and turned fully. She stared at Owen and Kai like they were strange creatures."Wait - you aren't aware? How did

Chapter 33"What do you mean by slave dealers?" Vanessa's voice dropped.Matthew's jaw clenched. He stared at the ground like the words were poison in his mouth."A few minutes after you left to search for food, Steven told us he knew how we could get food without having to rely on you." His voice sounded pained. "We were naive. Hunger had already clouded our sense of reasoning, so we believed him."Vanessa's fingers curled into fists."He opened the gate himself," Matthew continued. "A group of Awakened walked in. They said we should go with them. That's when we realized something was off. But by then..." He shook his head. "It was already too late."Owen folded his arms. "Then what?""We refused. We told them we weren't leaving." Matthew's eyes flashed. "They immediately surrounded us. Weapons out. Under the threat of those damned Awakened, we had no choice. We filed out like cattle."He paused, his teeth grinding audibly."They grouped us with another set of people — people without

Chapter 35Owen drew his sword out of the monster's corpse. The blade slid free with a wet sound, and dark blood dripped from its edge onto the pavement.He flicked the blood off and looked up.Kai's elemental spirit hovered a few feet away, its tiny body crackling with lightning. The last two monsters lay motionless at its feet, their bodies twitching faintly as the remaining electricity fizzled out.Owen's gaze shifted to Vanessa.She stood over a dead creature, a machete clenched in her hand. Her knuckles had turned white around the handle, and blood streaked her forearms. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, but her eyes remained alert, darting between the surrounding buildings.Then he looked at Matthew.The man stood a few steps behind her, his machete hanging loosely in his right hand. His fingers trembled around the handle, and every distant growl made his shoulders jerk. He kept glancing over his shoulder as though expecting something to leap out of the shadows.Owen's eyes linge

Chapter 37In less than the blink of an eye, Owen was already halfway down the stairs.He stormed into one of the rooms at the end of the house and froze at the sight before him.Vanessa was cornered against a wall, surrounded by three zombies.His eyes widened."Help!" Vanessa screamed as she desperately tried to keep the creatures at a distance with a piece of wooden board. Her arms trembled as she swung it at the nearest zombie, forcing it to stumble backward.But the other two were closing in.Without wasting a second, Owen dashed forward, unsheathed the Sword of Vertyx, and swung it in a swift, powerful arc.Three heads flew into the air.The headless bodies collapsed to the floor with heavy thuds as the severed heads rolled away. Black blood splattered across the wall, and some of it landed on Vanessa's face.She stood frozen for a moment before letting out a shaky breath.Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she struggled to catch her breath."Are you okay?" Owen asked, sheathin

Chapter 39Crazy.This was crazy. Especially the last part.He could grant a class ability to people who the universal system had not granted a class. Wasn't this system way too overpowered?Of all the system novels he had read online, he had never read one where the MC could grant a skill or an ability to others.With a system like this, he could gather an army of his own. Especially in a world like this, where martial law was the order of the day."No," Owen said to himself. "I don't need an army. Becoming some leader is not part of my plans right now. Especially not until I've seen my family."He looked up at the dark night sky."Mum, Vivian? Please be okay."---The next morning, everyone was jolted awake by a loud explosion.Owen jerked out of bed immediately. He had retired to the bedroom closer to the balcony the previous night. He made for the balcony but paused.Whatever had caused that explosion, he wasn't the only one who heard it.He looked out the window towards the ten-s