In the relatively short time frame they were given, James and Dana had sex only once more, mostly to see what they could do to maximise the levels from Satisfactory Gains. But in the end, they just got another two levels each.

Though this was definitely a good thing. For the amount of time they had out into this particular skill, they had gained some decent bonuses.

Satisfactory Gains [4] (skill):

Current bonuses:

• Stamina regen +2%

• VIT +1

• END +1

• Stamina cap +10

Despite the decent gains, the had to stop any further attempts at increasing the level further, as the teacher's wallet only held two condoms.

James would personally make sure that they found more birth control in the future. He promised himself. And Dana.

But as James lay on their cloth pile, smeared with sweat and probably some other liquids, he realised one rather large flaw in the aftermath of their sexual reunion.

They had completely and totally wrecked half their clothes.

His shirt and armour were torn in some way, and the buttons to Dana's shirt were still scattered across the floor.

But this didn't worry him at all. Besides the fact, he had his sewing skill, which meant he had a good idea of how to sew on buttons, but he was too happy right now.

Dana was one of the things that hadn't changed when the world shifted... Well, her appearance had, and the sex was now greater than ever. But who she was hadn't changed. He could rely on her to remain that constant for him. A beacon of solidarity in an otherwise unrelenting sea of change.

Unfortunately, they couldn't just lie there in bliss forever.

"Hey," James spoke softly, waking the beautifully dozing creature next to him. "We gotta get up. I have to fix your clothes and we have to clean up a little."

Dana smiled sleepily and half nodded before sitting up abruptly. This caused her titanic rack to swing then jiggle heartily. Which in turn caused James to stare, open-mouthed.

Dana noticed this and instead of covering herself like he expected her to, she Instead pumped out her chest, giving him a better view.

James laughed and grinned at her. "Careful, or I just might take you again."

Dana joined in the laughing, causing a whole new round of jiggles to occur. This just made James laugh harder, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face deep in her cleavage. He stood up unsteadily in this position and heard Dana giggling breathlessly as she kicked him lightly, trying to get him to put her down.

Which he did. Eventually.

They backed away from each other and only then did they get a little embarrassed. Not only had they had sex in their own college, but their friends knew they were doing it. And in this ridiculous situation no less.

So James did what he did best, and filled in the awkward space. But the best way to do that would be while they were fully dressed.

So he pulled his boxers back on and started to dress himself as best he could with a horribly torn shirt.

Though Dana was hardly in a better position.

She was relatively more dressed but had been struggling to find all of the lost buttons.

James saw a solution though.

"Here, I'll use the buttons from my shirt to replace the ones on yours. In the meantime, um. I guess, let's clear up?"

Dana nodded firmly, then looked uncertainly at the small pile near the cloth heap that consisted only of two used condoms.

James caught her drift and even hesitated before picking them up with no level of confidence, and throwing them out the closest window, which he immediately shut after.

"Problem solved I guess?"

But Dana made a face. "I guess. I could have incinerated them."

"As cool as that would have been, I think we're going to have to incinerate some of this stuff."

James held up a handful of slightly damp cloths of varying colour and threw them into the middle of the room.

With a particularly badly aimed stream of fire, Dana managed to set the pile alight. And taking advantage of the small fire on a hopefully fireproof floor, James threw the rest of the soiled material on too.

While the cloths burned, and any evidence of their lovemaking went with it, James got himself comfortable on the teacher's chair and ushered Dana over.

"I'll do your shirt for you now. It'll only take a minute. Can you just make sure the fire stays under control?"

"Sure." Was the simple reply, but Dana threw him her shirt and picked up her spear. She then crouched near the fire and poked it a little with her spear, watching it heat up.

James couldn't watch her interact with the world half dressed all day though, so he rapidly cut up his shirt further, and sewed on the new buttons to hers. The white scraps he kept and rolled up then stuffed in a pocket.

Though Dana could now be considered fully dressed again, as she shrugged on her armour, he was not.

And without a full set of uniform, would he still get his bonuses?

At least he still had his blazer and buttoned it up before noticing Dana staring at him. Specifically, the triangle of torso still visible under the clothing.

James grinned internally as a rarely seen opportunity raised its head.

"Hey!" He said sharply and loudly enough to make Dana jump. She looked at his face with surprise in her eyes. And he continued with an audible smirk in his voice.

"My eyes are up here."

Dana smiled too and started laughing. James couldn't stop himself from chuckling a little too, and he pulled on his own armour, examining the damage Dana had made as he did so.

Aside from a few slightly torn leather straps that would still hold, there was no issue with it. That was good and spurred another burst of pride for what he had made. If his armour could fend off his horny girlfriend if only for a few seconds, it could save his life.

Once they were both geared up, and held their spears like particularly newbie guards, James made a decision.

"Let's go find the others. I want to try fighting some lizards with a spear and armour. See if we can't get to the canteen huh?"

Dana only nodded in reply. She looked a little scared, and James couldn't blame her. They were hardly just going down the hall to the bathroom. And this room had become a symbol of safety and security even for James. But the others could do it. So they would too.

James didn't give her any more time to think about a worst-case scenario and dragged her out the door.

It's was quiet in the hallway. Cold too. The temperature had dropped severely, most likely due to no sunlight reaching this far into the buildings. Many of the rooms with closed blinds were likely this cold too, but James was thinking too far ahead. All he had to do. Right now. Was come up with a plan.

Looking around, he saw evidence of fights in both directions. But this was most likely due to Callum an Annie going raiding. Unfortunately, the gore obscured any signs of where the latest raid had gone.

Realising how long they had been standing there doing nothing, James just whispered the first thing he came up with, hoping to reassure Dana, who was likely just as on edge as he was.

"So I'll assume they went to the cafeteria. If so, we need to catch up. But it's on the other side of the building. So here are our options. One, we go clockwise around the building and see what the principal's office is like. Two, we follow the hallway anti-clockwise and go past the student office. We can get our phones if we do this. Or there's option three. We go downstairs and out through the courtyard and garden."

James was actually impressed with himself.

Sure, he had rambled more than he wanted to, but the plan that had formulated in his mind was solid, to say the least.

"I want to get my phone and call my family. But that will take a while. How about we take the garden route. That's fastest right?"

Dana made a good point. If they wanted to catch up with the rest of the survivors, they would need to get to the other side of the building as soon as possible.

"Good call. We can meet up with the others, and go to the office altogether."

Dana nodded again in response to This, by instead if an uncertain fear, she seemed more determined than anything. It was good that she responded well to a plan. She would listen in a crisis.

James nodded too, to himself more than anything and headed down the hall, towards the nearest set of stairs.

The stairs were further away than James remembered. They had been walking for five minutes already and not reached them. Though they had to walk slowly, as the pair of them were not confident in fighting techniques at all. James had Comforting active but it was doing little to ease his uneasiness. Every little sound sent a bolt of fear through his spine, dashing any bravado he thought he had.

But the fear reminded him of the skills he ha gained earlier in the day.

Keeping one eye on the path ahead, he half focused on his status as he crept forwards.

He didn't have time to read through the entire thing to see for any changes, so he just thought about the new skills in turn.

Aurora Lens [1] (skill):

A lens of concentrated aura covers an eye, allowing the presence of foreign auras to be seen with greater ease.

Fear Factor [3] (skill):

Reduced feeling of fear, and reduced negative effects from fear.

Annoyingly enough, neither of these skills gave any numerical indication of their impact, but the second one would likely be very useful in the long run. He hoped the others got this skill, or at least one with a similar effect so that he wouldn't have to be the steady cornerpiece of the group.

But he was distracted. And they had to remain focused. They hadn't encountered anything with a pulse... yet, and it was making James nervous.

They finally reached the staircase, a distinct lack of gore splashed around it. The trail of death continued down the hall, so the question of where the others had gone had been answered. So a silent look of confirmation sent between the two sent them down both flights of stairs with as much silence as they could manage.

The signs of fights were far less evident on the lower floors, but James was still more than reluctant to try and analyse anything. A lack of lizard parts suggested it was mostly human, and he didn't want to know any more about it than that.

They reached the ground floor, only a few meters from a door that led to the courtyard, but a lizard patrol blocked their way. It was composed of a bunch of lizards James hadn't seen before, but he could at least guess which ones were the corrosive lizards and dark lizards. But there was a third kind in the midst of the small group that resembled the Komodo lizard more. It was dark, but lighter than the dark lizards, and was lower to the ground. It looked way faster than them too.

For the moment, the patrol was looking away from them, slowly sliding their respective tails and claws closer to their target door.

James ushered Dana back up the last few steps, so he only need look around the corner to see them.

While he had the opportunity, he analysed one of each of the species, surprised at how accurate the group's naming system had been. And even more surprised at the information he was given. The sudden jump in skill level showed him more than enough information to plan out a worst-case scenario.

Dark Lizard:

Level: 6

HP: 48/48

MP: 11/11

"A lizard strengthened by the dark aura of the sub-terrain. Able to confuse and curse with its magically enhanced venom."

Acidic Gecko:

Level: 5

HP: 50/50

MP: 6/6

"A soft skinned gecko that has developed a corrosive mucous on its skin to compensate for a lack of magic ability."

Komodo Lizard:

Level: 9

HP: 70/70

MP: 42/42

"A faster lizard with stealth capabilities and a powerful toxic bite."

There were five lizards in total, the larger Komodo lizard flanked by one of each of the smaller ones on either side.

James' plan was simple, but it had to be. He had no experience with fighting more than one monster at a time, let alone ones that were of a much higher level than him.

He would take out the centre one as fast as possible with a sharp stab or two, then swing his spear to keep the others back while Dana used fire stream to kill them.

Explaining this to her was easier said than done as he had to give wild guesses about what to do if the lizards reacted poorly to being set on fire. The long and short of it was, if it won't die, set it on fire. Then stab it.

One final look around confirmed there would be no surprise reinforcements for either group.

James took a deal breath and let it out slowly. He could hear Dana fidgeting on the stairs behind him, eager to get this show on the road.

So he swallowed any doubts he may have had about his plan, and silently stepped into the centre of the hallway, his spear raised.