Nero and Isa moved from the hallway to an apartment, after Nero retrieved the Air push that was covered in a thin layer of goo. Although three of the creatures had been defeated, more could come at any time so they could not wait in the hallway. After all, fighting them off had not been a silent affair. While Nero was capable of putting up a fight, it was best to pick and choose their battles.
Nero looked out the window to see if he could determine the situation, but all he saw was a haze that covered the entire building. Either something was blocking their view, or a very heavy fog had covered the city, which was unusual for this time of year.
In that case, it might not be completely safe to exit either. But that was only for now. Nero still had faith that someone would come and rescue them sooner or later.
"I think… I think I can do it," Isa said with surprise in his voice. "I don't know why but it's suddenly so easy. I can block out the emotions for those farther away, and only focus on the ones close to me. But I still can't focus on any individuals specifically. It's still just anyone within a certain range."
Without a stutter in his voice, Isa sounded like a completely different person. Although he still looked deathly afraid - at least from what Nero could tell in the darkness - it was a great improvement already.
"It's not ideal, but we can make it work. Moving through the main stairway is out of the question, it is completely covered by the creeper vine. There's no way I can fight that thing without hurting the students. We'll take the emergency staircase up from the other side and go up by one level. Our aim will be to find stragglers or smaller groups and rescue the students one by one.
Each vine creature we kill, or incapacitate, is another student that we save.
"That's where your ability will come in. You'll have to track their locations through your ability and determine where they are. Do you think you can manage that?"
Isa hesitated for a second. Honestly speaking, he did not want to open himself up back to the frightful emotions that filled this place, but at the same time he found himself wanting to impress Nero.
"Why… why are you doing this? I mean, isn't it safer to just hide until someone comes to find us? What will you do if you get trapped, or captured as well? Aren't you afraid?"
Nero looked at the kids' anxious eyes. How could he tell him that Nero almost didn't go through with this, although for very different reasons.
"They are the ones who came to my house, why should I be the one to hide? Besides, you didn't pay attention to what I said. It's not that I can't fight the creeper vines, or a greater number of enemies, but just that I can't do so without hurting the students who have been trapped. If it really came down to it, I would not hesitate to take more drastic actions.
"Besides, I think you know better than me what the other students are going through. Can you just leave them to suffer such a fate? Knowing that there's something in your power to help them, can you just ignore them?"
Nero was not expressing his true ideals, but he was not worried about Isa seeing through him by reading his emotions. Now that he had decided to fight with everything he had, it was true that this is the way he was feeling inside.
His last contingency, in case he got surrounded, or the creeper captured him, was his mothers innate card. Although her ability seemed very similar to Nero, because there was a difference in how they manifested, there were other key differences in the outcome. While Nero's ability was a flame, her's was in the form of a snowflake.
As it happened, her snowflake was incredibly sharp, and when amplified with the coldness that it carried, he had seen his mother cut through actual steel with her snowflake as well. Although the version Nero had in card form would be much weaker, cutting through the vines should not be a problem.
The only issue was that then it would cut through the students as well, which is why he had avoided using it so far.
"Come one, let's go. My eyes have adjusted to the darkness," said Nero, observing how Isa offered no more protests.
The emergency staircase was on the opposite side of the building, accessed through a window in the hallway. It connected to every floor from the outside of the building, so Nero was hoping that the vine had not covered it yet.
"Let's go. You stay close behind me, but spread your ability out and scout the area ahead."
Isa reluctantly spread out his ability, though he kept the range much shorter than when it was operating previously. Although it was tough to gauge how far his ability extended, he was certain to detect any student or vine creature long before they'd be able to see them in the dark.
The window leading to the emergency staircase was already shattered, no doubt by students who had previously tried to escape the catastrophe. Whether they succeeded or not was uncertain.
Somehow, the visibility outside was even worse as the thick fog made it hard for Nero to even see his own hands let alone anything else. He could only rely on his sense of touch to guide him, and Isa to look out for enemies. He really had the perfect anti-stealth ability!
Slowly they climbed the metallic stairs attached to the building, and reached the next floor.
"Anyone inside?" Nero whispered.
"Yes, a few of them," Isa spoke between clattering teeth. "I can even sense the creeper vine. I think it's covering the other end of the hallway. It's dormant for now, but it might react if you use your ability."
"Let's check its range first," Nero said, as he pulled out Muted self and recast it on himself. He waited a few seconds to see if Isa sensed anything.
"It did not react," he finally said.
"Well, we don't know its range but it's safe to say that it doesn't extend the entire hallway. We'll attract the creatures to this end of the hallway, preferably even out to the stairs, and take them out one at a time from here. Follow me, and warn me if any of them are close. Don't forget to keep an eye out to ensure none of the vines come down the stairs as well."
Isa felt almost overwhelmed by Nero's instructions, but there was nothing for it. This was already the minimum he had to do, as Nero would take care of all the fighting.
"The vine creatures are just standing there," Isa whispered as they gently reentered the building. The closest one is in a room, but the others are further down the hall."
With Isa's guidance, moving around became much easier. Knowing the enemies location reduced the element of uncertainty, which allowed Nero to swiftly approach his target, and only slow down when he was close.
The entire time, Isa kept his attention on the creatures down the hall, worried that they would be sensed.
"Before I attack, we're going to do one more test about their range," Nero informed Isa and pulled out two more cards. They were standing at the entrance to the apartment with the first creature, so if the test failed, and the other creatures were alerted, they could easily retreat.
The first card Nero had pulled out was Ultimate grip, which allowed him to attach something to his body or clothes. The second card was his mother's innate card.
Name: Snowflake
Image: A single snowflake falling
Type: Innate
Star rank: 0
Ability: [A snowflake that grows stronger and sharper as it absorbs heat.]
Flavour text: "I have no enemies, just volunteers who help paint my snowflakes red" - Marilyn Grant
Searching for cards in the midst of battle was a great distraction, so Nero intended on employing a tactic heavily used by all armed forces. He was going to stick the most important card directly to his body, so that he wouldn't need to search for it at a critical moment.
He used Ultimate grip and stuck the card on his lower abdomen, just above his leg. Using the card only required the barest amount of aether, but Nero was still ready to react at a moment's notice should something happen. But after a few seconds, Isa shook his head.
"The ones further down the hall haven't reacted, but the one in the hall is showing some stimulation. Mainly, it's feeling a little more hunger."
Nero nodded. As long as he got them one by one, he could easily take them down. Or, well, he could at least try. He'd see how quietly he could take down a monster. He'd never practised for assassination before, and made a mental note to address that issue once this ordeal was over.