Chapter 10: Another One Awakened

When they reach the meeting room on the eighth floor, the rest of Jack’s men, who weren’t Awakened, came at them with knives and sticks in their hands.

And at the far end of the meeting room, Riley was in a daze not knowing what to do when there were bubbles that appeared out of nowhere.

Alex frowned when he saw what was happening and he glanced over at Brian and Terry.

"I’ll take care of them while you take care of Riley."

Unlike him, who had gotten his ability which was like a system, both of them went through the Awakening process and they were more experienced to help Riley.

Brian and Terry ran in the direction towards Riley.

But Jack’s men wouldn’t let him.

And it was a fatal mistake for them to be doing so.

Alex lunged at them ignoring the knives and sticks that they brandished at him.

Crack.

When one of the sticks hit onto his arm, it broke into halves.

The guy holding the stick was stunned for a moment.

Alex gave him a frontal kick and it sent him hurling through the air for a few meters until he slammed into the wall at the far end.

The guy coughed out a mouthful of blood and tried to get back onto his feet but couldn’t.

He dropped dead onto the ground in the next moment.

The other men hesitated when they saw what had happened.

However, Alex didn’t give them any chance to react.

He lunged at them and hit one with a jab into his face and followed up on another with a side kick at the waist.

Both of them bled and left a trail of blood on the ground when they tumbled across it.

By now, there were only two left.

They glanced at each other before deciding to give it a last try.

"Die! You son of a bitch!" One of them shouted and raised his knife in the air, and it left an opening for Alex.

Thud.

Alex gave him a left hook and it flung him to the side.

He didn’t stop and he gave the remaining man an uppercut to his chin.

The man flew into the air and slammed into the false ceiling of the meeting room.

His legs dangled and kicked for a few times before they stopped.

Alex held up his fist and glanced at it.

He had a better understanding of how much strength he had against a normal person now. And it wasn’t even a match between them.

Others would be rejoicing at it but it made him more concerned instead.

With the larger rats that he had encountered earlier, it seemed to him that eventually, these mutated beasts would be as powerful as he was.

Or there were also classifications between these mutated beasts like how the Awakened were ranked into different rankings.

There were so many questions to be answered and he gave out a sigh.

But it was not without any progress.

He had at least figured out how the rankings worked.

At SSS Level, his ability was the most powerful with S Level coming right after it.

And below S Level, it was followed by A Level and the subsequent levels.

It wasn’t a huge revelation but it would be helpful for him to gauge whether he should engage when he meets other Awakened in the future.

He would also be able to decide whether to take in any Awakened if they wanted to join his team.

To survive, he wasn’t so naive to think that it would be possible without teamwork.

And so far, his good friends, Brian and Terry didn’t disappoint him.

He glanced over at Brian and Terry and they were trying to coach Riley on how to control his Awakened powers.

"Breathe in deep and clear your mind." Terry said while he tried to dodge the bubbles that came at him.

And it was fortunate that he did.

Boom!

The bubble flew past him and it exploded, ripping the meeting room chair nearby into pieces.

"Holy shit, Riley. Pull yourself together." Brian said and he thought for a moment.

"You are letting them win if you can’t control yourself." He said and Riley’s body began shaking.

It worked.

Riley gritted his teeth and held his hand on his head, "No... I can’t let them do this...."

He dropped to his knees and drew in a few deep breaths.

Slowly, his trembling stopped and the bubbles that were appearing out of nowhere dissipated.

And then, he sat on the ground.

Alex took out a few bottles of mineral water from his storage space and threw them at his friends.

They caught them with their hands and they uncapped the bottles.

Brian and Terry after the physical exhaustion fighting the rats and Awakened earlier, gulped down a few mouthfuls of water.

Riley took a mouthful of the water and he glanced at Alex.

Knowing what he was about to say, Alex rolled his eyes at him, and stopped him.

"Before you start, we have much more important things on our hands." Alex said and Riley frowned at him.

He wanted to ask what level of Awakening Riley’s ability was and also talk about gathering more resources to keep themselves alive.

But he stopped himself when the other students from the school of business, dressed in their fancy wear, glanced at them, not knowing what to do next.

They were still in shock at what had happened earlier.

It was especially so with one of the dead men swaying and dangling from the false ceiling up above.

Finally, Patricia stepped forward and said to them, "Thank you so much for your help."

Terry immediately stood up straight and glanced at her.

But her eyes were on Riley.

He had asked Riley to get her number for him, and it seemed like it was the wrong move to make.

Terry gave out a sigh as he was used to it by now.

Alex shook his head at Terry before he glanced at Patricia and said, "We have to leave now. Things aren’t the same anymore, you better learn to keep yourselves safe."

Patricia nodded her head at him.

However, one of the students standing beside Patricia raised her voice and said, "But you have to help us!"