Will of Vienna

During the fight, each of the 10 volunteers participated in the killings and therefore leveled-up.

For Konstantin, Valerie, Tobi, and the other recruits, the warm light felt good. It was a big change from the cold fear they felt just a minute ago. Their small cuts and all other previous wounds closed up instantly. Their tired muscles became strong again, and their stamina was fully refilled. They had survived the hard fight at the door. The system rewarded them by pushing them to Level 3.

Michael stood among the dead bodies of the large foxes. He looked calm and cold. His 16 points in **Willpower** kept him from panicking. His mind processed the battle with cold, clear precision. He did not feel relieved. He only thought about the next step of the fight.

He looked into the dark Audimax. The grand lecture hall used to hold over three hundred students for macroeconomics classes, but now it was totally destroyed. The heavy wooden doors were wide open. Inside, it was very dark, and the rows of wooden desks were smashed into pieces.

"Sophie," Michael said flatly. "Scan the room."

Sophie Dupont stepped forward. She pressed two fingers to her head, and her magic started to hum. She used her **[Environmental Radar]** to send silent sound waves into the huge room. She frowned deeply as the signals came back to her mind.

"There are too many of them," Sophie whispered, and her voice shook a little. "The sounds are overlapping. Everything is moving too fast through the broken desks. I can't get a clear reading on how many monsters are down there. It is just a massive, moving swarm."

The students in the squad started to whisper nervously. A huge pack of dangerous monsters inside a dark room felt like a death trap.

"We are going in blind," Maximilian said. He gripped his heavy spear tighter and braced his legs. "If that pack hits us all at once on flat ground, they will crush us easily."

"Then we won't fight them on flat ground," Michael answered immediately. He looked at the shape of the room. "The Audimax is not flat. It is an amphitheater. The rows of desks create a steep hill. If the monsters try to run *up* the stairs to hit us, gravity will slow them down."

He looked back at the ten new Level 3 fighters. His eyes were sharp.

"You have 5 free stat points and your first talent," Michael ordered, his voice hard and commanding. "Put every single point into **Strength** or **Agility** right now. If you lose your footing on these stairs, you will die."

The recruits nodded frantically, their fingers flickering through their invisible screens as they allocated their stats. Michael could see the subtle shift in their postures as the new strength settled into their bodies, their muscles tightening and eyes focusing.

"Here's the plan," Michael said, his spear pointing into the dark rows. "Rashid, Maximilian, and the main line will take the middle aisle. We will walk down the main steps in a tight V. The ten new fighters will split into two teams of five. You will take the left and right side stairs."

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He paused, ensuring every recruit met his eyes.

"Do not run down ahead of us. Stay in a straight line with the middle team to protect our sides. And for your new talents—use them carefully if you can. Do not waste your mana or lose control in the panic. Lukas, when a heavy monster tries to charge up the stairs, use your **[Weight Manipulation]** to make it lose its balance. David, use your **[Gravitational Force]** to pull their back legs down if they try to jump at us. If we trip them on the stairs, they will fall down."

Michael raised his iron-tipped spear. The metal gleamed in the dim light.

"We are taking our university back," Michael said coldly. "Let’s go."

The squad crossed the threshold, stepping into the ruined auditorium. The smell of dust and old blood was thick. Almost instantly, the shadows at the bottom of the amphitheater shifted. Wild, glowing eyes locked onto them, and a chorus of deep, low growls echoed from the stage. The swarm had noticed them.

With a collective roar, the first wave of monsters launched themselves up the steep staircases. They were heavily built, wolf-like creatures and massive beasts with bone-like ridges running down their backs, charging forward with raw, brutal power.

"Brace!" Maximilian shouted, bracing his stance in the center aisle as the front line formed a wall.

The first wolf-variant slammed into Maximilian who augmented his strength and used his shaft to defend. The beast couldn't get full leverage, its front paws slipping slightly on the stairs. Rashid lunged forward, his magically sharpened spear piercing through its throat.

On the left flank, a large, boar-sized monster charged up the side steps toward Konstantin and Valerie.

"Lukas, now!" Michael barked.

Lukas, moving in parallel along the rows, thrust his spear forward, striking the massive beast's shoulder. **[Weight Manipulation]** activated instantly. The sudden 15% increase in weight on the steep incline broke the monster's forward momentum. Its heavy front legs buckled under its own mass, and it stumbled blindly forward.

Konstantin didn't wait. Remembering Michael's warning, he carefully activated his newly unlocked talent: **[Delay]**. He focused his mind on the falling monster, forcing its front paws to freeze completely for a fraction of a second. This brief freeze on the steep steps completely ruined the beast's attempt to catch its balance. As it flipped awkwardly forward, Konstantin drove his standard wooden spear straight into the beast's open eye slit. Valerie followed right beside him, pinning its neck down against the shattered remains of a wooden desk.

On the right flank, the situation grew chaotic. Three smaller variants tried to leap across the rows of seats to bypass the side staircase entirely.

"David, pin them!" Michael called out without looking back, his focus locked on the rest of the room.

David raised his hand from the rear. **[Gravitational Force]** slammed down onto the jumping predators mid-air. The invisible weight dragged them violently out of the sky, sending them crashing down onto the sharp corners of the smashed wooden rows. Tobi and Alina surged forward along the flank line, their spears moving in tandem to finish the trapped, thrashing targets before they could recover their footing.

Michael moved like a machine through the middle of the group. A large wolf-variant broke past the initial line, snapping its massive jaws inches from his chest. Thanks to his high Agility and Willpower, the entire world seemed to slow down. He sidestepped the heavy bite effortlessly, the rough fur brushing past his coat. Using the narrow space of the aisle to his advantage, he drove his iron tip straight under the beast's lower jaw, severing its vital nerves in a single, fluid motion.

The monster rolled down the steps, crashing into the variants charging up behind it and disrupting their formation.

"Keep the line straight!" Michael’s cold voice echoed across the lecture hall. "Push them down the incline!"

The squad pressed forward step by step, their spears moving in a tight, rhythmic line. The stairs turned the monsters' greatest advantage—their massive weight and speed—into a deadly hindrance, transforming the grand auditorium into a calculated killing zone.

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