Looking at my status, I could easily tell that there were some strange things going on. First of all, there were the [???] class, titles, and skills. In all probability, they were connected to the [Sealed] title. Though, I had not the least idea about why, or what had been sealed.

Next was the fact I already had a surprisingly high level. There is, of course, the possibility that this was also related to the [Sealed] title. Though, the possibility is higher that it is directly related to my total stat points. It would make sense that I am considered level 11 if everyone got two stat points per level.

Though there was no need to worry about this as it would be confirmed as soon as my level increased. That, on the other hand, was the bigger question. There was no mention of experience points anywhere, so it would be hard to track what exactly contributed how much to leveling.

And last but not least, there is the slightly strange state of my [SP] and my [fat] skill. Though, different from my [Sealed] title and all the [???] marks, this question got easily answered. As soon as I thought about the skill, it was as if I always knew what it did.

The skill was simple. By eating more than necessary, I could store the extra energy in the form of fat, and whenever I use my [SP] for something, around ten percent of the cost would be supplied from my fat. Not the best skill there is, especially since I couldn't use my fat reserves on their own, but it was still useful.

Shouldering my new ax, I made my way back out of the basement. Only the entrance inside the building was always open, and I didn't want to get stuck down here.

Now that I have a weapon, my short-term survival has been taken care of as well as I could. The next thing would be food, a backpack to carry it, and a safe place.

That step wholly depended on the situation upstairs. If there really were monsters on the loose, I doubted that anyone would care if I cracked a locker or two open. With that, it should be easy to procure a backpack, and maybe even some snacks.

Food and safety, however, were a little more difficult. Either there were a lot of survivors, then the school buildings would be a safe place. But the food in the cafeteria was bound to quickly run out. Also, I'm not much of a group person, even if it might be safer.

On the other hand, if there were too few survivors, the school would be too large to defend properly. And if everything was overrun by monsters, it might even prove difficult to reach the cafeteria in the first place.

And for my very-long-term survival, I need a notebook and a pen. I have to keep track of my stat page precisely until I can figure out exactly what did what.

I could make guesses that the physical stats influenced [HP] and [SP] and the mental ones [MP], but I couldn't be sure about the rates. Other important questions were what the [CONTROL] stat did, by far my highest right now, and what resource regenerated at what speed under which circumstances.

I should also note down all the little pieces of information I may be able to use for trading later down the line.

Right, before I forget it, I should also visit the janitor's office. I know that the old man has some storm lighters lying around. While they run out of gas a bit quicker than normal lighters, they were actually closer to miniature bunsen burners. Their hotter flame would make it a lot easier to light stuff on fire. I wouldn't be able to rely on the comforts of civilization any longer.

Shit, that also meant no hot showers anymore. Actually, if the waterworks stop working, it's going to get harder to find fresh drinking water. And once the stores have all been looted, it would become pretty much impossible to find water in the middle of a city. Maybe I should move towards the river?

Anyways, for now, I have to pay more attention to my surroundings.

Hiding behind the corner, I carefully looked if anything nasty was waiting for me on top of the stairs. As far as I could see, there at least weren't any monsters. But I could clearly see the red liquid dripping down the stairs. I swallowed a bit of bile at the imagination of what sight may await me on the upper floor.

There was a good reason I never watched horror movies and hospital shows. I was never good with gore. I always found it disgusting when they cut open a person and put their hands inside the body. I'm just hoping I will never have to do something like that.

Still wondering whether the blood is of human or monstrous origin, I climb the stairs. Luckily, I didn't have to deal with the sight of corpses just yet. Bloody tracks disappearing towards the left made it clear that whatever had been killed there had its corpse dragged away.

From the same direction, I could hear loud banging on a door. Wherever I went next, that wasn't it.

I continue climbing up the stairs until I reach the small platform in between the floors and look out of the window onto the schoolyard.

What I saw was a group of strange creatures I had no idea what to call. They looked a little like a Diplodocus, the nice, plant-eating dinosaurs with long necks. Just, that they were quite a bit smaller with a shoulder height of barely over a meter. In exchange, their backs were very broad with a strange, bowl-like, dip in the middle, it's red color contrasting the green of the rest of their bodies. That "bowl" was covered in boney protrusions that looked strangely like teeth, almost like a second mouth on its back. That "second mouth" however was surrounded by five, several meters long tentacles on both sides.

The five creatures that were lazily lying around on the schoolyard had their tentacles comfortably resting in big piles on their backs.

That, however, changed when one of them stood up and walked over to the big pile of mangled human corpses. While it was too far away to make out anything specific, that pile probably consisted of most of the students and teachers.

When the creature reached the pile, it's tentacles shot out, grabbing two corpses, placing them on its back. Then the creature made it's way back to the group where it lied down again. This time, its tentacles were lying on the ground around it.

I had expected the thing to start eating the bodies at this point, and that was exactly what happened. Just not the way I expected. Lying on its stomach, its sides started to fold up until the bodies were completely covered. Then, it's whole body began to "chew".

Now it was clear why the corpses in the pile looked the way they did. The creatures had probably dragged them on their backs before crushing them with a single bite.

Then, something strange happened again. Instead of swallowing, the creature opened up its back. Now, it's back really looked like a bowl. A bowl with a serving of pink, mangled, flesh pulp.

Bending its neck around, it starts eating the food on its back in small bites.

Soon, another of the creatures, let's call them "Crunchers", and three small, velociraptor-like creatures I hadn't noticed earlier, gathered around the cruncher in the middle, all eating their share of the meal.

It was a horrible, yet fascinating sight I couldn't tear my eyes away from.

I had to get moving. The little ones were probably the hunters, driving their prey towards the big ones who would then kill it. In that case, they will soon swarm the building.