Erik and his group had just finished killing the creature. Still, the situation could have been better: without Robyn and Elena, the three remaining students had to spend much more energy; even Anderson was tired. Erik was relatively better thanks to his increased energy and the replenishment he got from the level-ups, but he still had significantly less mana than his comrades, so he wasn't better than them.
He still hadn't used most of his powers, but he couldn't use them unless his friends ran away. The problem was that, if they did, he would be overwhelmed by the thaids, so he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"I'm sorry," Elena said. "I've rested enough to fight..."
"Good!" Erik said. "Because seven monsters are coming our way!"
