I was standing in the middle of a mess of meat. Literally. Bones, blood, snot, broken teeth.Some of the bullies were still twitching. One of them was even trying to get up despite a broken leg, a dislocated shoulder, and the fact that I’d definitely nailed him in the head with a Chain Punch projection.I really wanted to ask my invisible companion a question.Adam? What’s the situation? Can I relax and breathe now? Or is this exactly when it all kicks off?Silence.I took a few steps towards the door to avoid a pool of blood, but my shoes still left bloody prints behind me, and standing with my back to the door wasn’t exactly the smartest idea.Besides, this wasn’t my floor.“And now what?” I asked.“Go cultivate,” Adam replied.“Don’t think I’m in the right shape for that…”Last time I’d thrown just a couple of projections and ended up with nothing worse than a few teeth knocked out.Nef feehs! Tariq got lucky. This time his teeth seemed intact. Couldn’t say the same for his ribs and possibly his spine.I doubted I’d be able to focus on cultivation until I knew none of these idiots had died. Their deaths wouldn’t have been on me, any more than Harlan’s had been. And I hadn’t exactly lost sleep over her. She’d chosen her own path…Kim!Kim had been useful to me. Without him, that horde of zombies would have buried me.Was he among them? Had they juiced him too?I started scanning the smashed faces, automatically ruling out the wrong skin tone or hairstyle. None of the ones around me matched, so I monkeyed my way back up the stairs, dodging pools of blood.A few cadets who’d been watching the brawl from above quickly scarpered when they saw me. But one stayed.Kim.He was wearing gauntlets too, but the moment he saw me, he raised his hands.His eyes were frightened — a sharp contrast to the drugged-out zombies I’d just floored. (...)