《Evolution (Rewrite)》 Prologue The era of the progress of humanity came to an end without any warning. Many wished for that, but few could consider what happened a good thing. For me, everything ended, or rather; it began on the last day of high school. It was a hot summer Friday, but despite the heat, all my classmates and I were looking forward to the holidays. I had a part-time job, thanks to that, I wouldn''t have as much free time as them, but I was still satisfied with that. I was only eighteen years old, but due to some circumstances, I had to leave my parents'' house and live alone. Usually, this would be very exciting for someone of my age, but things aren''t so easy. I had to get a job and I still to study to finish high school. The best option I found was to work at the training center for Olympic athletes of my city seven days a week. Specifically, I organized and cleaned the materials used by archery athletes. For several times I was invited to observe their training and also for many times, they offered themselves to teach me how to shoot with the bow, but I refused this offer because I was afraid of damaging the equipment. I never had any financial problems, but still, better safe than sorry. Besides, that was a waste of time, since I naively thought that I couldn''t apply that in real life.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Usually, it was dark when I left work and went home. However, to my surprise, the sun was still setting, looking at such a beautiful and natural event. I felt an indescribable inner peace. In that rare moment of tranquility, I began to think of everything that had happened during the last two years. I was forced to leave home and rent another place to live. Although everything was a little troublesome at the beginning, I felt satisfied with my current situation, because unlike before, I wasn''t causing problems to anyone. With a small smile of satisfaction on my face, I stopped walking and began to watch the sunset. "Two years have passed... I wonder how they are. Maybe I can visit them now..." As I smiled and imagined myself returning home, I felt a great chill, and then I heard a sound of a heartbeat echoing through my head. "What was that?" I didn''t have time to think of an answer; because I had the impression of seeing the sun getting a little bigger. Somehow, I felt that those events were connected, but soon I forgot about it because right there, I lost consciousness. I was too naive; I thought that I could go back to the old times, but unfortunately, that wasn''t possible. After that day, everything changed; the world changed and changed forever. Chapter 01 Survivor ¡°Ethan... why did you do this?¡± Soon after hearing these words, I woke. That was my mother¡¯s voice, but she wasn¡¯t nearby. I just heard her voice in a dream. Although it was only a dream, those were precisely the last words she said to me, the words in her voice; I could sense sadness and fear ¡ª since she said that to me, two years had passed. She was still alive, but I couldn¡¯t talk to her or my father. I couldn¡¯t even talk to my little brother and little sister. My father forbade me from doing so, all because of a single and small mistake. Well, maybe it wasn¡¯t so small, after all,I sent ten of my classmates to the hospital. But it wasn¡¯t my fault, I never did anything like that before, but I was too stressed, you see,I wasn¡¯t smart, but I study seriously. However, after I entered high school, I wasn¡¯t making much progress. Work like crazy for something and don¡¯t see results can build up a lot of stress, and then when I heard a joke from an idiot, I went berserk. Even though they beat the crap out of me, I was the only one standing at the end of the fight, with a broken nose, an arm, and leg fractured. Luckily, my father solved everything for me; I didn¡¯t have to go to some police station. It pays off to have a military father, even though the constant discipline is somewhatannoying. However, I had to change schools and rent a place to live by myself, ¡°to become someone responsible and civilized,¡± that was the last thing I heard from my father. For months, I heard those phrases, and I always woke up hoping to see them soon after, but over time, I realized that things wouldn¡¯t be so simple. Maybe I¡¯m exaggerating, but for me who always admired my parents and siblings, spending two years without seeing them wasn¡¯t easy, even more knowing that we were living in the same city. Judging by the position of the sunlight in my room, I could tell that it was six o¡¯clock. But I checked the time on my cellphone, anyway. For some reason, it wasn¡¯t next to my bed; It was still in my pocket. ¡°... No battery.¡± I sighed in disappointment, what a great way to start the day. But a small problem like that wouldn''t ruin the start of a new day. However, after that, I frowned. I was still using the clothes thatI wore yesterday. ¡°Could it be that yesterday I was so tired that I forgot to take out my cell phone... and change my clothes?¡± Something was wrong; I wasn¡¯t tired to the point of going to sleep in the same clothes and without taking a shower. Confused, I tried to remember what I did after I left work the day before, but all I remembered was to admire the sunset as I walked, nothing else. I didn¡¯t even remember how or what time I got home. ¡°I think I¡¯m too young to have amnesia. Maybe I¡¯ll make an appointment with a doctor, just to make sure there¡¯s nothing wrong with me.¡± Since I would need my cellphone, I tried to charge it, but again there was no response. At this point, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a headache. ¡°Great... there¡¯s no better way to start the day! What¡¯s the next problem?¡± Complaining wouldn¡¯t solve anything, so I decided to forget those things for now. To cool my head, I sat on the bed and started watching the sky through my bedroom window, nothing better than a blue sky to calm my mind. However, I couldn¡¯t see the blue sky, thanks to a massive smokescreen. Quickly,I opened the window of my room to verify the origin of all that smoke. However, there wasn¡¯t only a single place; I could see smoke rising from many points. It didn¡¯t take long for me to smell the smoke; It seemed some house nearby was on fire. ¡°What the hell is going on? A terrorist attack?!¡± The most surprising thing was that everything was quiet, which was verystrange since this kind of incident attracted a lot of people. However, at that moment I couldn¡¯t see or heard anyone on the streets; Itseemed thatI was in a ghost town. My first thought was to call the police and ask what was going on, but soon I remembered that my phone wasn¡¯t working. ¡°... Why did my cell phone have to stop working exactly today?¡± I looked from one side to another, but I didn¡¯t see any of my neighbors. Then, I started to hear a bizarre sound, gradually that noise began to become more audible, something was approaching, something vast and massive. Although something strange was happening, at that moment, my curiosity was stronger, and even without knowing if it was safe or not, I opened the window of my room again to see what was approaching. To my surprise, I saw a great shadow crossing the street and approaching, as the shadow approached that strange and disturbing sound increased, I didn¡¯t know what that was, but obviously,wasn¡¯t a good thing. So, immediately, I closed the window of my room and covered it with the curtain, a few seconds later, I also could feel the earth tremble, and when I felt the tremor, I finally recognized that sound. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me this is...¡± To confirm my suspicions, I lifted a little the curtain, and I froze when I realized that my suspicions were correct, that wasn¡¯t a shadow; It was a horde of rats! However, they weren¡¯t common rats; They were one meter tall, and some of them even walked on two legs! For a few seconds, my mind couldn¡¯t process what I was seeing, but somehow, it all made sense when I concluded that it was just a dream. ¡°This is just a dream... yeah, this is a dream! There aren¡¯t rats of this size, and surely terrorists haven¡¯t attacked this city...¡± I tried to calm myself saying those things, but when I looked at my sweaty hands, my mind told me it wasn¡¯t a dream; people don¡¯t sweat inside their dreams. Without having time to think, I heard a loud crash on the door of my house. I hoped that was a person, but only a lunatic would leave his home after seeing that horde. Again, I heard a loud crash, with no other choice. I gathered a little courage and looked through the window for the second time. Several rats were attacking the doors of the houses on the other side of the street, and the rats that could walk on two legs were invading the houses through the windows. ¡°This is just a dream, just a dream... but even in a dream; I don¡¯t want these things near me.¡± Slowly I got up and silently stepped out of my room. I knew that my bedroom¡¯s window would break easily, so I locked the door after I left, this was probably a futile effort, but at that moment, I couldn¡¯t think clearlyto realize it. Since I lived alone, my house was small, so as soon as I left my room, I could see the front door of the house shaking and gradually cracking. ¡°This is just a dream, just a dream...¡± While I said this to convince myself, I grabbed all the chairs thatI saw and used them to block the entrance of my home. However, that didn¡¯t solve anything, because the door was still shaking and cracking.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°I need something bigger and sturdy...¡± I concluded that and looked to all directions. To my surprise, there was a wooden box which seemed very sturdy, but I didn¡¯t remember buying an object like that, besides, the box was in the center of the room, instead of my dinner¡¯s table. ¡°I don¡¯t have time to think about this!¡± At the moment, it didn¡¯t matter the origin of that box or who put that there, all that mattered was that I could use it to block the door. However, when I approached to lift the box, it automatically opened, andthat was strange because I was sure there was no electronic device in that box. In a stupidact, I forgot my purpose, looked inside the box, and saw a wooden bow and an empty quiver. ¡°What the¡­¡± Before I could finishthe question, I heard a loud sound coming from the door; finally, the rats broke part of the door, and now I could see their furry faces, their fangs, and claws more clearly. Now, much more than before they scared me. Even if it were only three rats, I knew it I wouldn¡¯t last long if they bit me or hit me with their claws. With that in mind, I regained my focus and desperately tried to lift the box toward the door; however, even after using all my strength, I couldn¡¯t lift it. ¡°Shit, why doesn¡¯t this fucking box move?¡± I didn¡¯t have time to lose, so I gave up picking up the box and started to push it, but again, I didn¡¯t succeed. ¡°Is this some joke? Is this box stuck on the floor?¡± Annoyed, I punched the box, but only a single time, because I heard another loud crash coming from the door, and I saw another piece of wood flying. At that point, I knew I couldn¡¯t block the door anymore, and since I couldn¡¯t escape because there were thousands of these creatures on the streets, I realized that I had no choice but to fight and kill those things before they kill me. ¡°Okay, calm down... there¡¯s no reason to be scared, they¡¯re just oversized rats, you can deal with them...¡± While trying to calm down, I searched for something that could serve as a weapon. Unfortunately, there weren¡¯t many objects that could help meat that time; All I found were two kitchen knives. ¡°... I don¡¯t have any other option; this will do the job.¡± I felt immense despair when I realized that my life depended on two kitchen knives, but I had no other option, so I tried to convince myself that they would be enough to protect me. At that moment, although I still denied it, I already knew that I wasn¡¯t in a dream; I was in a nightmare, but a real nightmare where my life was at risk. Anyway, I couldn¡¯t face those creatures head-on, so I hid in the bathroom of my home and attack them by surprise. Even as I left the kitchen as fast as I could, I felt a great desire to look at that box again, as I had hoped, nothing had changed, inside the box, there were only the bow and quiver without arrows. I had never shot an arrow, but even so,I would feel a little less defenseless using that bow instead of those kitchen knives, in fact, I preferred it because I could keep a more significant distance from those creatures. However, a bow without arrows was a useless tool. Even knowing this, I still felt a great desire to take that bow, I didn¡¯t know why, but I felt that somehow that bow would help me tosurvive at that moment. And so I made my decision and picked up the bow. To my surprise, I felt a severe headache when I touched the bow; even with my eyes closed because of the pain, I could see a message inside my mind:
Survivor Registered
I certainlydidn¡¯t have time to lose, but that headache was so intense that I couldn¡¯t open my eyes; I had even forgotten that message. Luckily, the pain was over before the rats could destroy the rest of the door when I opened my eyes; the bow was in my left hand, and the quiver somehow was on my back.

Simple Bow and Quiver equipped. Current amount of ammo: 00/25 Do you want to spend 25 MP to create 25 wood arrows? Y/N
¡°What the hell is going on?¡± At that point, I began to question my sanity. I could accept to some degreethe existence of those creatures. Or the fact of my city was being attacked. But I couldn¡¯t accept blue screens suddenly appearing inside my mind, that was just too weird. However, I didn¡¯t have to question every single odd thing happening. Besides, what could I lose in that situation? Without a single second of hesitation, I decided to accept it, but to my surprise, the arrows appeared in the quiver almost immediately. After that, I felt a little dizzy and tired. But that wasn¡¯t nearly enough to make me pass out. ¡°All right, now that¡¯s a little better.¡± Without wasting time, I threw away the knives and picked an arrow. It was at that moment; another weird thing happened.
Passive Skill Crosshair has been activated.
And just like that, I could see a crosshair in my field of vision. ¡°... better not dwell on that.¡± The creatures had already destroyed half of the door, and they were only fifteen meters away from me. I had to make every shot worth it, or I would be doomed. I had never used a bow, but during the two years I worked at the training center, I saw the athletes shoot with bows thousands of times. Therefore, I knew what to do. Without thinking twice, I equipped the arrow and prepared to shoot it. It was at that moment that I realized that I had overestimated myself; I had a weapon that passed me confidence in my hands; I had a clear vision of the enemies and had time to injure them mortally. However, I didn¡¯t have the mental preparation, much less the experience to deal with the situation, while I regulated my aim towards them, I could see my hands shaking. The crosshair was moving around the creatures like crazy. ¡°Today isn¡¯t my day...¡± The crosshair was an excellent tool, but it wouldn¡¯t do all the work for me. Since I was nervous and my body wasn¡¯t steady, there was no way that I would hit any of those creatures. ¡®Pull the string as much as possible, don¡ät tremble... and breathe deeply. Then shot!¡¯ I did as precisely as I toldmyself, thanks to that the crosshair stopped moving around and I killed one rat. The arrow pierced its head with ease. ¡®¡¯Beginner¡¯s luck exist..." A single success made me drop my guard, even in that situation, I smiled instead of preparing myself for another shot. Thanks to that, the remaining rats destroyed the door and furiously jumped at me. ¡°Holy crap! Get away from me, you monsters!¡± Thanks to the adrenaline and thanks to the distance, I also killed the second rat before it could reach me, but the third managed to attack. Clumsily, I jumped to the side, but that thing slashed my right leg with its claws. ¡°FUCK!¡± The burning pain made me curse the creature, but that wouldn¡¯t stop the damn thing. I didn¡¯t have time to get up or create a distancebefore the next attack. I was dead. For a briefmoment, I could see the ecstasy in the creature¡¯s eyes. The expression of a predator, to think thatan oversized rat would kill me. How could I be so unlucky? However, the death never came, instead, the time stopped, and the surrounding spacechanged. I wasn¡¯t in my home anymore; I was in another house very different from mine, and I could see myself stabbing a rat with a combat knife. That was strange; I had nothinglike that. But that didn¡¯t matter; that scene made me understand that I could still fight; that scene made my blood boil. Just like that day, when I fought against those ten guys. In less than a blink of an eye, I returned to my home. I couldn¡¯t use the bow, but I still could use the arrows. The creature slashed its claws toward me, and again, managed towound me, this time on my left arm. But the beast paid for it, since I stabbed its right eye with three arrows. The creature screamed in pain, a bizarre sound that almost made me freeze on the spot, but I didn¡¯t stop. This time I attacked the other eye. Blood fell on me like rain, but that annoying smell wasn¡¯t enough to make me stop. I stabbed and stabbed. The creature screamed and screamed. Until one of my attacks finally reached its brain. I stabbed a few more times after the creature fell on the floor just to make sure, but soon I also fell on the ground. My heart was beating like crazy, and I was breathing with difficulty. It took several minutes for me to recover. But before that happened, another message appeared in my head.
You survived your first battle. You have obtained the skill: Concentration You have obtained Three Evolution Orbs You have obtained Three Evolution Coins
Chapter 02 Mistake When I finally calmed down, I saw myself covered with blood. The beasts¡¯ blood didn¡¯t look different from mine, but that didn¡¯t make me feel any less disgusted. Besides, I had other worries. ¡°Damn it; it hurts like hell! I have to clean up these wounds because if the wound gets infected, then, surely I will die. I don¡¯t want to even think about it!¡± I survived, but my life wasn¡¯t out of danger. In the best-case scenario, those wounds would hinder my movement a little, and if I¡¯m unlucky, I would lose a member or two or even die. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t think about this¡­ I should hope for the best.¡± Since my mother was a doctor, I knew how to clean wounds and even apply first aid. Besides, I had a first aid kit ready to be used at a moment¡¯s notice inside my home. While I was cleaning my wounds, I kept an eye on the door, but fortunately, no other oversized rat came. Many things happened too fast, but I didn¡¯t have the leisure or the interest in them. I only had to focus on the most important thing: avoid my death. Even though the beasts¡¯ claws looked very sharp, none of their attacks managed to reach my muscles and bones. After cleaning the wounds, I covered them with some bandages because that was the only thing I could do. After all, I didn¡¯t have the skill or the nerve to use a needle and close the wounds. ¡°All right, time to form a plan of action.¡± Something weird and dangerous was happening, and that something probably was happening in the entire city. One hour and a half have passed since I woke up, but I didn¡¯t hear anything, not even the police, ambulance, or firefighters. The city was silent like a cemetery. ¡°Something happened last night¡­ but what? Probably, the militaries have an answer. All right, then. Time to reunite with my parents, in this situation, they can¡¯t complain if I suddenly return to my true home.¡± But before that, I had to change clothes and get rid of the smell of blood. Otherwise, some people would think I was a criminal. I intended to take a shower, but no water came. To make matters worse, not a single electronic device in my house was working. ¡°Fantastic! Half of my food went bad¡­¡± I was really in a precarious situation. I was still smelling of blood since I couldn¡¯t clean myself properly and all the food that I could carry was some bread, cookies, and three liters of lemonade. However, I was a little more comfortable because I was wearing my relaxing clothes, which was a blue t-shirt, gray shorts, and my favorite sneakers. Dressed like that, I could move freely and silently. ¡°Well, this should be enough to cross the city. Probably the buses and the subway aren¡¯t working, but I should be able to reach them before the sunset. It¡¯s just twenty kilometers after all. It¡¯ll be easy, right?¡± Even though I said that I wasn¡¯t confident enough, the chances of me encountering that horde of beasts along the way weren¡¯t exactly low. Besides, I almost died fighting only three, if I face more of them, or if I get ambushed. Then there was no doubt that I would die. While I was thinking about that, I noticed something on the left corner of my vision, as I concentrated, that thing became bigger and more visible.
HP: 45/50
MP: 25/50
STA:45/50
Evolution Orbs: 03 Evolution Coins: 03
¡°¡­ It¡¯s like a game screen. Maybe this a dream after all, or maybe I¡¯m hallucinating, or I¡¯m crazy. Better keep quiet about this and casually ask about this to my parents.¡± Since I didn¡¯t know if I would return to this house, I put everything that could be useful inside my backpack: a lantern, some batteries, those two knives, a few clothes, and food. Maybe I had been too rough, but the arrows I used were damaged beyond repair. Besides, the smell of blood on the arrows was even stronger than the scent on me. That would probably attract those beasts, and that was the last thing that I wanted. A confrontation would have to be my last resort; avoid them was the smartest thing that I could do. ¡°All right, time to move on.¡± Sharpening my senses, I tried to hear any noise coming from outside my home, but I didn¡¯t hear anything. For some reason, only a few rats separated themselves from the horde. Probably, I would find some rats inside other houses. But I didn¡¯t have any intention in doing that. Carefully, I opened the half-destroyed door and looked at my surroundings. I couldn¡¯t see any of the beasts on the streets, but now, I could hear the noise of something inside of a house being destroyed. Some rat was busy, and I decided to use that to my advantage and gain some distance, and so I did. With bow and arrow ready to shot, I took short, but fast and silently steps towards downtown. After running for just two hundred meters, I had to stop. Because I saw two rats leaving the garage of a house, as fast as I could, I took cover behind a few trash cans. ¡®That was close; they almost saw me.¡¯ Even though I was on the other side of the street if I were a second slower, a fight would be unavoidable. I was only ten meters away from them. From that distance, I wouldn¡¯t have time to kill both of them. So I decided to stay quiet and wait for them to leave; however, to my frustration, they didn¡¯t move an inch. ¡®Fucking oversized beasts¡­ move already. I don¡¯t have time to waste with you.¡¯ Thanks to some gaps between the trash cans, I could see them. The creatures stood still, moving their noses from one side to another.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡®Holy crap, are they feeling my smell?¡¯ If that was the case, I didn¡¯t have time to lose; I had to act. It was risky, but I had to aim at the beasts, even before I could completely see them. That was the only way. Slowly I began to concentrate. ¡®Remember¡­Pull the string as much as possible, don¡ät tremble, and breathe deeply. Then shot!'' As I said that to myself, I began to create the image of a perfect shot on my head. If I follow those steps, my aim will be steady, and then the crosshair will do the rest of the work. ¡®All right¡­if I slowly got up, they won¡¯t see me immediately. With luck, I¡¯ll have a few seconds to aim.¡¯ Before I got up, I breathed a few times deeply. While steeling my nerves, I got up with the bow, and I aimed at them. Since my movement was slow, they didn¡¯t notice me. Thanks to that, I managed to shot at the head of one of them. Before the beast could fall and the other could understand what happened, I already was picking another arrow. Everything went smoothly on the second time, again I took a few seconds to aim, but since the creature was already jumping towards me, I could hit its stomach. The beast fell on the ground and screamed, but only for a second, since my third arrow pierced its head. Fortunately, the scream wasn¡¯t long enough to reach the ears of the other rats. But even though everything went according to plan. I wasn¡¯t happy, after all, I lost ten minutes, thanks to only two of those creatures.
You have obtained 02 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 02 Evolution Coins.
¡®This is bad; at this rate, it¡¯ll take weeks to reach my parents¡¯ home.¡¯ Since just thinking wouldn¡¯t solve anything, I began to run again. It was safer to avoid fighting those beasts, but that would make me waste too much time. ¡®Guess, I¡¯ll have to take some risks and fight those things, instead of hiding from them.¡¯ The best way to move without wasting time was being ready to shot at any moment. Realizing that, I stopped running and began to walk at my average speed. Always breathing deeply and focusing my intention in all directions. Thanks to that, my aim was almost entirely steady. That made me move at a satisfying speed, but after, twenty minutes, I was exhausted. ¡®Even though I didn¡¯t fight¡­ It¡¯s too difficult and exhausting keeping myself alert at every single moment. I had to relax a little more; all that effort had been wasted since nothing appeared to block my way.¡¯ Before I could think of any solution, I found another rat blocking my path. But it was, strange; the creature was in front of a house which was on fire. The beast seemed to be in a daze while looking at the flames. ¡®That¡¯s weird¡­ maybe the heat attracts these things. That would explain why those three beasts came to my house; they felt my body heat. After all, nothing in my home was on fire, but why only three of them came?¡¯ I could test that theory in another moment; besides, I wouldn¡¯t waste a chance like that not even in a million years. Slowly I repeated those actions, but the crosshair was moving around the creature, and I knew why. ¡®Damn it¡­ my arms are already tired.¡¯ Even though I wasn¡¯t particularly strong, my body was fit enough. However, pulling the bowstring for so much time was a great effort. Thanks to that, I missed the shot, and the creature found me. ¡®Fucking hell!¡¯ That thing was a dangerous creature, but it was still a rat. I didn¡¯t find many beasts, but every single of them attacked using the same pattern, they run, then they jump, and they aim their claws at my head. Because of that, I didn¡¯t miss the second shot; I killed the creature in midair when it was five meters away from me. Without confirming if I hit or not, I jumped to the side. It was the sound of the creature silently rolling on the ground that made me realize that I managed to kill it. Again I was breathing with difficulty, and this time, my body was trembling like hell.
You have obtained 01 Evolution Orb.
You have obtained 01 Evolution Coin.
¡®This is terrible for my heart¡­ I really have to think of something to avoid combat... And these weirds messages again...¡¯ After I got up, I looked at surroundings looking for a solution to all my problems. But I only found more questions than answers. ¡®I left my home half an hour ago, but I didn¡¯t find anyone yet. Come to think of it; I didn¡¯t see any vehicles either, not even bicycles. What the hell happened to this city?¡¯ Maybe this city was evacuated overnight while I was sleeping, but that didn¡¯t make any sense. Such a thing would make a lot of noise and commotion. Besides, I didn¡¯t find any signal of evacuation; the city looked normal but without life. ¡®I wonder if they are still at home¡­ maybe this trip is just a waste of time, and they left the city too, or worse. No, don¡¯t think about it. In situations like this, it¡¯s better to keep moving.¡¯ Putting my fears aside, I began to move again. This time I was looking more carefully at the houses. If I find someone, maybe I would be able to hear some answers, besides, walking in groups was safer than walking alone. If I couldn¡¯t find anyone, at least I could borrow someone¡¯s car for a while, with the city in this state, no would complain. I would only borrow after all. However, to my despair, I didn¡¯t find anything, no people, no vehicles, no bicycles, no skates¡­ just rats and more rats. ¡®How can this be even possible? Is this some joke?¡¯ At that point, I was already questioning if the whole situation wasn¡¯t just a well-elaborated joke. Maybe someone was trying to mess with me, but even for a joke, that was going too far. The pain I was feeling thanks to those wounds wasn¡¯t something to laugh at after all. ¡®Don¡¯t think about it¡­ those questions won¡¯t do me any good, for now at least.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know if I was lucky or not, but until midday, I only found one or two rats at a time. However, I was at my limit. I could barely pull the bow¡¯s string for more than three seconds, not only that. I was also starving; possibly twenty-four hours had passed since my last meal. ¡®I guess it¡¯s time to take a break; I¡¯m almost at that street after all.¡¯ That street name was St Louis Street, even though I was currently living in the southern part of the city, that street would lead me straight to my parents'' house, the only problem was the distance to reach, which was fifteen kilometers. ¡®I won¡¯t arrive there before sunset, after all¡­ anyway, where I can take a break?¡¯ Fortunately, I had a few options, since I was close to one of the most famous streets of the town. At that moment I was near many medium-sized factories. Most of them were protected thanks to three meters tall walls. But others were protected by metal fences, jump over those fences would be hard, but I wouldn¡¯t have to do that. Since I found a hole in one of those fences and one of those big rats was stuck in it. ¡®I already knew that, but those things claws are indeed powerful¡­ but why this beast opened this hole?¡¯ That factory didn¡¯t have any signboards, so I wasn''t able to tell what was produced there. ¡®This will be a mess¡­¡¯ When I was only five meters away, the creature tried to free itself more fiercely, but I wouldn¡¯t give that chance to that damn beast. The rat died instantly thanks to an arrow pierced on the back of its head. But that was just the beginning of my headache. The creature was stuck in the hole, and I would have to put that thing out of my way. Thanks to that, at the end of the job, I was covered with blood again. ¡®The guy who created these creatures¡­ I¡¯ll punch him in the face one of these days.¡¯ Quickly I crossed the fence and looked for an entrance to the building. Fortunately, I found a half-opened window. Without wasting time, I opened the window and jumped inside. ¡°I guess this factory makes shoes.¡± It seemed that I was in a deposit since I could see many boxes and shoes around. But that didn¡¯t matter, the place was clean enough, and I was safe, and I could use that place to rest. However, before I could do anything, I felt something touching my back, and I heard a disturbing click behind me. ¡°Drop your bow and put your hands where I can see them unless you want a new hole in your body. It was a male voice, and I finally understood why that rat was trying to enter in this factory. My day was getting better and better. Chapter 03 Possibilities In an automatic reaction, I dropped the bow and the arrow. For a brief moment, I regretted that decision, but soon afterward, that feeling disappeared. A bow would be useless against a gun. Even though I didn¡¯t see it, that guy had a gun. That click was familiar after all; I heard that sound many times when my father was cleaning his collection of firearms. ¡®¡¯ Please, don¡¯t pull the trigger.¡± ¡°Shut up, go to the wall and don¡¯t move.¡± Slowly, I did as I told and moved to the wall putting myself against it. In these situations, it was better to obey and don¡¯t make the one in command angry. I didn¡¯t think about this, but usually, those kinds of factories have security guards, and my actions couldn¡¯t be any more suspicious. ¡°Let¡¯s not make any mistakes, okay? I¡¯m not a criminal; I am just looking for a place to rest a little. Since my morning has been a bit tiring.¡± I never imagined that I would one day be in this kind of situation, but my father taught me a few things about the things I should do. Always obey readily to stay on the other person good side. ¡°I told you to shut up, didn¡¯t I?¡± I guess that I was failing in doing that, I kept my mouth shut, thanks to that I heard the sound of my bow being picked up. ¡°Where did you get this?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t believe me.¡± ¡°Then, try to convince me.¡± ¡°All right then, I found this bow and the quiver in a strange box that appeared in my home this morning.¡± The next few seconds passed slowly; that person didn¡¯t say anything. But I was aware that my answer was kind of silly. I was already feeling shivers even before I heard his next words. But to my surprise, I heard a voice full of understanding. ¡°So you too, huh.¡± For a brief moment, I was confused, but then I realized the meaning of those words. Probably the things that happened in my home happened with everyone else. ¡°Do you mean that you also found a strange box in your home with a bow?¡± ¡°No, I didn¡¯t find a bow. I found a crossbow.¡± That was a bit surprising, but that was just a small detail. ¡°In that case, you understand my situation, right?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t understand a person covered in blood at all.¡± ¡°Unless you are a super soldier and have a superb aim, you will eventually get hurt with the city full of those monsters. But I got covered in blood thanks to the rat that was stuck on the metal fence. That thing I was probably looking for you, by the way.¡± I heard the sound of a few steps, and then I heard a sigh, he probably looked outside to confirm my words. ¡°I guess that explains a few things, but that didn¡¯t explain why you are moving around when these things can attack you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to reunite with my parents, my father is military, and I¡¯m sure that he can explain what is going on and eventually find a solution.¡± For a few moments, he didn¡¯t say anything. Since my answer was direct and immediate, he would understand that I wasn¡¯t lying. ¡°That¡¯s some faith you have in your father or the army. But, did you see a single cop today?¡± Since it was obvious, I didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°It¡¯s good to believe in your father, but don¡¯t be too na?ve. No one has ever faced a situation like this before. Don¡¯t expect the impossible from the others.¡± He had a point, but I never thought that I was na?ve. My father was well-known in the army; he had many contacts and even participated in many top-secret projects. I was sure that he could solve any problem. Not only that, but my mother was also awesome. Even though she was a doctor, she also had many friends who were researchers, and she often helped then. Give her a sample and a few weeks, and I am sure that she could find a cure for any virus outbreak or bioterrorist attack. However, those were the words of a son who admired his parents too much. That wasn¡¯t enough to convince a skeptical person. ¡°Well, whatever. You can turn around and pick your bow, but don¡¯t do anything stupid, kid. My name is Martin, by the way.¡± It seemed that I was right; that guy was just a worker in that factory, thanks to that, I finally could relax. Martin was tall and looked pretty strong, maybe it was because of his tanned skin, but he seemed to be thirty years old. His hair was a bit long, and it was pretty messy, he looked more like a surfer instead of a security guard. ¡°You are not from here, are you?¡± One would have to travel for five hours to reach the nearest beach, so I concluded that almost immediately. Luckily for me, Martin didn¡¯t take that as an insult, that wasn¡¯t my intention, anyway. ¡°So you can tell, huh. That¡¯s right, I¡¯m on vacation, and I¡¯m visiting my parents who recently moved to this city.¡± That was a little worrisome; he wasn¡¯t from here. But for some reason, he entered the factory with a gun in his hands. It didn¡¯t take much time to him understand what I was thinking. ¡°Don¡¯t worry; this belongs to my father. He works in this factory as a security guard, for obvious reason you can tell why I¡¯m holding this, right?¡± I nodded in agreement; if I had one, I also would carry a gun and use it against those beasts. I was sure that it would be much more practical. After that, Martin fell on the ground and breathed deeply. I guess that situation made him tired too. Thanks to that I could see the crossbow he mentioned, it was against some boxes and at his side. The crossbow looked very simple, just like my bow. ¡°So, are you waiting for him?¡± I picked my bow, and then I sat on the other side of the room, and without waiting for an answer, I picked my backpack, and I ate a bread and drunk half a liter of lemonade. Martin frowned when he saw me drink that much. ¡°Not exactly, I was looking for him here. I woke up this morning, and since my parents weren''t at home, I came to look for him here. But before that, I found the new habitants from this city.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Lemonade always made me feel relaxed, thanks to that, my tension disappeared entirely, and my exhaustion was slowly leaving my body too. ¡°Do you mind if ask you a few questions about the things that you experienced? I want to make sure that my head is working as usual.¡± ¡°I understand what you mean, go ahead, ask what you want.¡± After a weak laugh, Martin said that. Since it was fine, I described everything that happened to me to him. He nodded many times, but there were some problems. ¡°First of all, I don¡¯t see any crosshair when I use my crossbow. Also, I didn¡¯t have visions when I was fighting those monsters.¡± I was happy that my head was ok, but I was worried about the vision. The crosshair was convenient, but I didn¡¯t have any explanation for its existence. It was a skill, but Martin only received one. Why would I have two? Come to think of it; I didn¡¯t know what the skill concentration was able to do. But when I thought about that, the answer appeared in mind.
Skill List: Concentration Lv01 5%: Raises your attack power and range by 1% each hour. The bonus resets when you sleep. Crosshair Lv9 2%: Creates a crosshair in your field of vision to aim at enemies.
Very interesting, the skill concentration is very compatible with me; after all, I used to stay awake for three days straight when I was studying for my exams even though many people said that it was a waste of time. ¡°If I were you, I wouldn¡¯t worry about it. In my experience, those skills are handy, who cares if you have one more?¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s true, by the way, are you hungry? ¡°No thanks, unless you have some meat inside your backpack.¡± ¡°I only have bread, cookies, and lemonade.¡± ¡°How can you stay alive eating only that? Seriously, kids these days...¡± ¡°This was everything that I had in my home that could still be eaten.¡± Martin nodded again; it seemed that the electronics devices in his home stopped working too. ¡°Speaking of home, where do your parents live?¡± ¡°In downtown, why do you ask?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking about looking for my mother at my aunt''s house; she lives in the eastern part of the city. We can team up until the halfway point of the St Louis Street.¡± ¡°That sounds like a good plan.¡± It was too stressful doing everything alone, but with two people, the work would be much more comfortable. The enemies would die two times faster, and we could also face two times more enemies, instead of taking a long detour, besides, that wouldn¡¯t be possible on St Louis Street, after all, it was a long street with few turns. Even though Martin was a stranger, I thought that I could trust him. After all, he was also looking for his parents. Besides, a person who takes suck risks to find his parents could be trusted, at least, that was my opinion. ¡°If you don¡¯t have any problem with that, then it¡¯s settled. However, I must warn you to not hesitate in using your bow. Even against humans.¡± For a few moments, I became speechless. The city was in absolute turmoil, and he wanted me to use my bow against other people, instead of teaming up with them? My evaluation of him dropped considerably. But soon, I understood his reasoning. ¡°As I said, don¡¯t be too na?ve. We lived in a peaceful society, but that doesn¡¯t mean that every single people in the world is a good person. We have jails, after all.¡± ¡°Do you mean that we have to worry about criminals?¡± ¡°Yes, but not only them. Some wolves may be hiding between the sheep, waiting for the right moment to strike.¡± Now that was something that I hadn¡¯t considered; I naively thought that every single person that I would find would be an ally, instead of an enemy. However, he was right, with the city in chaos, anyone can try to seize power to themselves and rule through violence. ¡°Since you understand what I¡¯m saying, I¡¯ll tell one more thing. Before coming here, I went to a police station, but I found only a single police officer. However, I also found ten free dangerous criminals there.¡± I didn''t like the direction of our conversation. But, even though I didn¡¯t ask for it, Martin continued. ¡°The criminals tortured him and then killed him without hesitating. The last time I saw them, they were killing those rats and laughing, like it was the best sport in the entire world.¡± ¡°So, they were in jail, but they also got weapons like ours?¡¯¡¯ ¡°Yes, thanks to their weapons, they managed to free themselves.¡± ¡°Do you know their destination?¡± ¡°Probably they are walking to downtown, or maybe they are in the eastern part of the city. So I guess one of us will find them soon.¡± Even though Martin said that without hesitation, I could see some apprehension in his eyes, my hands were already full thanks to those monsters, and now I had to worry about criminals and backstabs. Human race sure was a pain in the ass. ¡°Did you find any sign of the army?¡± ¡°No, this is just a theory. But I think that a lot of people just vanished overnight, it¡¯ll be hard to find other humans, and it¡¯ll be even harder to find, cops or the army.¡± That was just unbelievable; however, after walking for five hours, I only found a single person. What he said was probably right, but how? And why? It was impossible to think of an explanation. What happened to the people of this city? Are they alive? More importantly, my parents and siblings disappeared too? Those questions made my blood run cold. ¡°If I were you, I wouldn¡¯t worry too much about those questions. Just do what you can, and you won¡¯t regret anything in the end.¡± ¡°I guess you are right.¡± ¡°Well, then. Did you rest enough? We should move as much as possible before the sunset.¡± Martin said after he got up. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°In that case, lead the way. I want to see your skill with the bow; I¡¯ll cover you, but don¡¯t expect much, a crossbow isn¡¯t a machine gun you see. By the way, I won¡¯t use the gun against the monsters. It¡¯ll only attract more of them. Besides, I don''t receive any orbs or coins when I use the gun.¡± "Do you think that these messages are important?" ¡°Who knows, they may come in handy in the future, better safe than sorry.¡± "If you say so." Even though Martin, didn¡¯t look like he had any experience with that crossbow, his words were full of confidence. In any case, since he said that, he probably could give me a few pointers. My hit rate was low, after all. Martin had the keys of that factory, so we used the front door instead of leaving by using that hole in the fence. Soon after we left the factory, we met four rats. I thought I was lucky when I met someone to watch my back, but, oh well. ¡°Guess, I¡¯ll have to help sooner than I thought.¡± While I was raising my bow to shoot, Martin already killed one rat. The bolt pierced deeply in the skull of the creature, the crossbow looked simple, but its firepower was terrific. ¡°Why do you look so jealous? Don¡¯t waste time and kill them already!¡± Even though it was the first time that I faced four enemies, the battle ended fast. Just like Martin said, he had to wait for a few seconds to kill another rat, but I managed to deal with others quickly. I wasn¡¯t tired and tense anymore, thanks to that, I killed the first one with a headshot and the other with two arrows.
You have obtained 02 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 02 Evolution Coins.
¡°Let me guess; you stopped to rest because you could barely pull the bowstring for a few seconds.¡± ¡°Yeah, that was the main reason.¡± Since I was just a newbie, anyone experienced enough could point the things that I was doing wrong and Martin had enough experience. ¡°Try to use the muscles of your back when you pull the bowstring, if you do that, your aim will be more steady, and you¡¯ll be able to shot more times.¡± ¡°I understand, the muscles of my back, huh. Well, maybe I won¡¯t be able to do that since I¡¯m running out of ammo. I hope those arrows will magically appear again.¡± I only had two arrows left in my quiver, and that was making me feel worried. ¡°Don¡¯t worry; you will receive your arrows.¡± ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± Martin didn¡¯t answer my question. Instead, he showed his crossbow, and suddenly, a bolt appeared, ready to be shot. ¡°How about this, since you are more experienced, let me use your crossbow, and you¡¯ll use my bow.¡± ¡°Nice try, kid. Don¡¯t depend too much on simple tools, you have talent, but you can become even better, cutting corners will only do you harm in the long run. Besides, who knows until when this crossbow will be powerful enough?¡± ¡°I don''t think I have any talent; it''s all thanks to the crosshair. But what do you mean by that?¡± Martin¡¯s words made me worry; it was like he was saying that the situation could become worse. How could the entire situation become any worse? ¡°Did you see any animal besides these rats today? These rats are big, but they aren¡¯t aliens, they are animals from this planet. Who can say that the other animals won¡¯t become monsters too?¡± When I heard that, I froze on the spot. I only thought that those creatures were just some kind of bio-organic weapon. I never thought about finding other beasts like that. But maybe instead of a bioterrorist attack, we were currently facing a mutant invasion. Chapter 04 Limits Efficiency sure is a beautiful thing, thanks to Martin, I was now able to move faster than before. Since I didn¡¯t have to watch all directions anymore, I could hit any target twenty meters away from me with ease, obviously, thanks to the crosshair. Besides, in half an hour, I killed more rats than I killed in the entire morning! And I even didn¡¯t sweat! However, I wasn¡¯t happy with that progress. Instead, I was worried, thanks to Martin¡¯s words. In my head, I imagined things like Mutant lions, snakes, gorillas. I was even imagining myself being attacked by a dragon at some point. I was physically ok; my mind was worn out. Since I was a slow learner, It took some time to me accept Martin¡¯s point of view. But he was older, probably smarter too, a bit impulsive but not crazy. Besides, it was better to hope for the best and plan for the worst. Two hours have passed since we arrived at St Louis Street, and once again, my quiver became empty, but that message appeared in my head, and again I choose yes. The arrows appeared, but this time, I felt a massive wave of dizziness. Thanks to that, I almost fell and hit my head on the floor. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, just a little dizzy.¡± ¡°So you too, huh. Let¡¯s take a break.¡± Now that was surprising; I didn¡¯t even notice that he was also feeling dizzy. But after he said, I could see that he was continually closing and opening his eyes. Since there was no cars or anything similar on the street, we decided to take cover behind some trees. We could see a lot of vegetation in that party of the city, the grass wasn¡¯t that tall, but we stayed close to the street anyway. ¡°Do you have any idea why we are feeling dizzy?¡± I doubt that he would have an acceptable answer but still asked anyway. ¡°Well, it is another crazy theory, but I think it¡¯s because we are losing MP.¡± Am I losing MP? What is MP anyway? Come to think of it, every time the quiver became empty, I heard a message about something that I would spend. But I since I didn¡¯t notice any difference, I thought it was nothing. There were the other messages about orbs and coins, but again, I didn¡¯t see any difference. ¡°So you didn¡¯t notice it. You can see the screen in the corner of your vision, right? Tell me exactly what you see.¡± I didn¡¯t have anything better to do, so I just followed his instructions.
HP: 46/50
MP: 04/50
STA: 45/50
Evolution Orbs: 40/50 Evolution Coins: 40
¡°I don¡¯t understand this very well, but I guess I have 4 of 50MP.¡± ¡°As I expected, every time you obtain new arrows you spend some MP, this rule applies to my crossbow bolts too.¡± ¡°No point in being skeptical about everything anymore I guess, so, this MP I spend makes me feel dizzy? If I use all my MP, I¡¯ll pass out or maybe even die?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that bad; probably you¡¯ll only pass out and wake up in a few hours. In games, MP represents magic points or mind points. So, I think that our ammo was created thanks to the energy of our brains.¡± Games, magic, mind energy¡­ all right, I understand. I¡¯m dumb, without a doubt I¡¯m stupid, my IQ is less than average, but that doesn¡¯t mean that I can accept every crazy theory! ¡°So this is a game thing, so that means we are in a videogame? This city looks pretty real to me.¡± ¡°Well, this is a possibility. Maybe we are hallucinating, maybe we died, and someone transferred our consciousness to a computer, or maybe we were transported to a world identical to ours but with game elements.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t accept any of your theories.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to; I don¡¯t accept it either. I just said that because it is the only explanation. In any case, don¡¯t try to ¡®restart¡¯ and don¡¯t think we¡¯ll have another chance if we die.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way in hell that I would do that!¡± ¡°Well, you have a strong mind, that¡¯s for sure,¡± Martin said while frowning. From now on, I¡¯ll stop asking questions that will lead me to only more questions. Until now, every answer I got brought me three more questions, better to focus solely on finding my parents and siblings. Since I didn¡¯t know when we would rest again, I decided to relax as much as possible. And for me, the only way to do that was by drinking my lemonade. This time I drunk one liter in ten minutes, thanks to that, my mind was at ease again. However, for some reason, Martin was looking at me like I was some weird creature. ¡°There¡¯s something on my face?¡± ¡°Kid¡­ how the hell can you drink so much lemonade? After two glasses, I already would feel sick of it.¡± ¡°Because I like it, anyway. Can you stop calling me kid?¡± ¡°Sure, what¡¯s your name then?¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t tell you, did I? My name is Ethan. For the past years, my social skills have been rusting. Thanks to that I forgot to introduce myself, sorry about that." After the fight incident, I became infamous as a violent teenager. Thanks to that, I barely talked with my new classmates after the transference. "Anyway, shouldn¡¯t we start moving again?¡± ¡°No, let¡¯s wait until we have at least half of our MP.¡± ¡°Well, I already recovered half of it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to lie, kid. I mean Ethan.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I¡¯m not lying; those numbers suddenly went up while I was drinking my lemonade.¡± ¡°Oh! Well, in some games, you can recover your energy eating and drinking. In that case, you will take care of the beasts, since my MP is still low.¡± Even though I loved so much lemonade that I hesitate to offer him, I ended up offering, but thank god, he refused. However, my supply was quickly running out; I would have to find my family before that. We walked until the end of the day, and even though we stopped two other times, we managed to walk twelve kilometers. Along the last two kilometers, we faced a lot of enemies, but nothing dangerous happened. I was only a few kilometers away from home when the sun disappeared entirely in the horizon, I wanted to continue, but Martin insisted on finding shelter. He was right, it would be too risky to cross the city in the dark, I had a lantern, but that would make me an easy target. ¡°I think we should stay on high ground, a place that would be difficult to reach, but it has to offer us a good vision of the street.¡± While saying those words, Martin was carefully looking at some buildings. We still could see many trees, but since we were only a few kilometers away from downtown, many buildings could be found close to St Louis Street. Thanks to that, we quickly found a ten meters tall inn. The doors and windows on the lower floors were closed tight, but we managed to climb to the last floor balcony, Martin climbed like he was a spider, he didn¡¯t look much reliable, but he was resourceful. On the other hand, I had to be helped by him. Since we didn¡¯t have any choice, we broke the door. ¡°Did you grew up on a farm something?¡± ¡°You are quite perceptive, that¡¯s right. I grew up on a farm, and I learned many useful things. However, it was a cousin of mine that taught me how to use a bow; she¡¯s quite good. She even trains at this city¡¯s Olympic center, but she never dedicated herself entirely to archery. She enjoys more being a teacher than an athlete.¡± If that is the case, I should have seen her sometimes, but even he described her, I doubted that I would remember. I didn''t even remember the name and faces of those who I saw every week, much less someone who didn''t take archery seriously. Martin looked pretty lonely when he mentioned his cousin, he seemed to care about her, but Martin never said that he would look for her. But I had the impression that she was like a little sister to him. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to look for her?¡± Looking at his expression of sadness, I understood that it was a difficult topic. ¡°I would if I could, but she would hate to see me again, even with the city in this situation. I said some insensitive things to her in the past, and now she hates me with all her heart.¡± ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± ¡°Not really, that memory only makes me feel miserable and pathetic. Anyway, I¡¯m going to sleep; you¡¯ll stay on the first guard duty, is that fine for you?¡± I nodded and then Martin left and threw himself on the bad. On the balcony, I began to watch the street, but soon the night arrived, and I barely could see the things more than fifty meters away from me. Occasionally, a rat or two would appear, and I would use them as my targets to practice. Soon, I would have to walk alone, thanks to that. I had to raise my hit rate as much as possible. The skill concentration would help me gradually more as long as I stay awake, but practice never killed anyone. Thanks to Martin¡¯s tips, I was improving faster. But the process to shot a perfect shot it was difficult and slow, and that wasn¡¯t a thing that I could be, slow. Every single movement had a reason, every muscle being used had a function, and I had to master them and do them instinctively and do that as fast as possible That would undoubtedly take years, but who knows, even a small improvement could save my life at some point. After a few hours, I could hear Martin¡¯s snoring, even though he was a tough guy, he was still a human. That day had been exhausting for him too; on the other hand, I was fine. I could stay awake the whole night easily, and the cold wind would help me to stay alert. Then it happened, after killing the tenth rat, I heard a mechanical and uninterested voice in my head. ¡®Congratulations, you have successfully collected fifty evolution orbs, and now you can break a limit of your body, what limit do you wish to break: Physical limit, mental limit or Sensorial limit?¡¯ ¡°Oh boy, now I hear strange voices in my head¡­¡± Even though I listened to every single word carefully, that annoying voice repeated that message again and again. ¡®Congratulations, you have successfully collected fifty evolution orbs, and now you can break a limit of your body, what limit do you wish to break: Physical limit, mental limit or Sensorial limit?¡¯ ¡°SHUT THE FUCK UP!¡± My angry shout made Martin jump off the bed and immediately aimed his crossbow towards me, it was very dark, but he still could see me with my hands on the air. He sighed annoyed and then put his crossbow on the floor before asking. ¡°What, the hell, happened?¡± ¡°Sorry, I went overboard because there is a weird voice in my head that doesn¡¯t let me think.¡± He looked at me puzzled, but before he could ask anything, I explained what happened. ¡°What are you waiting for? Just choose one option already.¡± ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea?¡± ¡°Dude, you sure like to question every single thing. Alright, you don¡¯t have to choose an option. Instead, you can hear that voice for the entire night.¡± That wasn¡¯t something that I would let happen; noise is one of the few things that I hate. But even so, I couldn''t just suddenly pick an option. According to the voice, one of my limits would break; any of them would be useful if that would really happen. But I had to choose the best one of them, the one which would fit me. Using the bow was easy since I was now using the muscles of my back. Pull the bowstring to its limit was impossible for me, but that wasn¡¯t necessary for me yet. ¡°I guess I don¡¯t need to break my physical limit.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± The impatience in Martin¡¯s voice was evident, but that didn¡¯t make me rush. The mental limit would probably make my mind stronger; maybe I would become smarter, that was certainly something interesting. But intelligence wouldn¡¯t make me defeat the rats more efficiently or faster. No, perhaps it would. I also would be able to create arrows more easily. But that wasn¡¯t a problem, as I long I could drink my lemonade. ¡°I guess I don¡¯t need to break the mental limit either, but what will happen if I break the sensorial limit?¡± ¡°Probably, your five senses will become stronger; I guess that fits you since you prefer to avoid fights after all.¡± He had a point, but his tone annoyed me. It wasn¡¯t like I was a coward; I was a pacifist. ¡°Well, then. Guess I will choose to break the sensorial limit.¡± As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt a shock wave running through my body. More specifically, through the outer layer of my skin. For a moment felt a burning pain like something was eating my skin and then in the next moment I felt refreshed. That process repeated itself dozens of times in a few seconds, and that almost made me pass out. I fell on my knees when the process ended, but instead of relief, I felt terrified. My body seemed ok, but that pain had been much worse than the pain I felt when I got the wounds on my first battle. ¡°Are you ok?¡± ¡°Not so great, that hurt like hell.¡± ¡°I could see that; you trembled a lot. But, do you feel any difference in your body now?¡± The whole break limit thing had vanished from my mind while I was in pain, but now I was interested again. Something had to be different. Otherwise, I would feel very frustrated. At first, I couldn¡¯t see any difference. But after a few seconds, I noticed, I could see Martin a little more clearly now. When I looked outside, my field vision looked more wide and clean. I could hear the sound of the wind a few moments before I could feel it. ¡°I think it¡¯s just like you imagined; my senses got better.¡± ¡°Oh, this is awesome. If we can break the limit more than once, then our chances of survival will increase manifold.¡± Martin sure was excited; I could understand the reason for it. But, I felt a little weird with that. Anyone at some point in time wants to become stronger or smarter. But that strength was different from the strength that I was seeking. ¡°I guess we should grind a little; sleeping can wait. By the way, what happened to your evolution orbs?¡±
HP: 46/50
MP: 33/50
STA: 50/50
Evolution Orbs: 00/60 Evolution Coins: 50
¡°It¡¯s gone; now I have zero evolution orbs. Also, the limit is now sixty.¡± ¡°So, basically, the evolution orbs represents the experience to break the limit. It¡¯s just like a level up, and since that is the case, every time we break the limit, it¡¯ll be harder to break it for the next time.¡± Martin looked pretty sure of that stuff, so I understood that was another game thing. Since he was very close to breaking the limit, I decided to let him handle the next enemies. While he was doing that, I decided to do a little experiment. My senses got better; in that case, if that got better too, I would have another reason to break the sensorial limit again. ¡°AMAZING! It¡¯s even tastier than before!¡± Martin looked at me startled after he saw the bottle of lemonade in my hands, he sighed. ¡°Dude, you are just unbelievable.¡± Chapter 05 Retreating For a few hours, we killed every single rat that appeared near the inn. Martin also broke his limit and decided to increase his mental limit. According to him, that would be more beneficial, since he would be able to shot more times and get rid of his dizziness faster. It was around midnight when I noticed something strange, somehow the sound of the wind became ominous, and I felt that something terrible was about to happen. ¡°I think we should stop killing these things for now.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Martin looked at me puzzled, but that was expected, after all, get rid of these creatures would make the city safer. ¡°I think we went too far; we killed more than fifty of them. The smell of blood is becoming more intense, besides I feel that something is about to happen.¡± Since he was too focused on killing the rats, he didn¡¯t notice immediately, but once Martin stopped, he understood my reasoning. It wasn¡¯t my improved senses alerting me of something; it was evident that something was happening right now in the city. ¡°You are right; let¡¯s stop. The wind will spread the smell of blood for a few kilometers, even a few dozens of rats won¡¯t do anything with us on high ground. But, better safe than sorry.¡± However, it was already too late; the wind became stronger and brought a disturbing sound with it, the sound of screams and wings flapping; both sounds made my blood run cold. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± ¡°Bats! Quickly, let¡¯s use the bed to block the way to the balcony!¡± I didn¡¯t want to believe in it, but a new monster had appeared. The sound was massive, they definitely weren¡¯t ordinary bats, besides, and it was a big group. The bed was big, so it took some time to put in the right place. But only that couldn¡¯t block the way to the balcony. However, we didn¡¯t have time to worry about that; we used every single thing that we could find and put it near the bed, to offer some support. After all, we didn¡¯t know how powerful those bats were. ¡°Get ready; they are coming.¡± As he said that, Martin aimed his crossbow to the space the bed couldn¡¯t fill since it wasn¡¯t tall enough. That space was only half meter tall and one meter wide, but caution never killed anyone. When I aimed my bow in the same direction, the bats had finally arrived, but to my surprise, they didn¡¯t come to us. They stopped in front of the inn, and they began their feast, I could hear the sound of meat being torn apart and blood gushing. ¡°They are eating the rats¡¯ corpses.¡± ¡°Be quiet!¡± In a stupid act, I said those words carelessly, and Martin immediately reprimanded me while whispering. Fortunately, the bats were too busy eating, thanks to that they didn¡¯t hear me. However, they still came to our direction and began fiercely to attack the objects blocking their way. ¡°Kill them all!¡± It was useless to pretend since they somehow managed to find us, we didn¡¯t have any other choice but to fight. Luckily for us, they were pushing one another trying to enter through the breaches. But they were too big for that, unable to force their way or to retreat, they became easy targets for us. I was grateful for that, because after seeing their rat-like face, fangs, pointed ears, and enormous wings, I wouldn¡¯t be able to look at them for more than two seconds, much less appropriately aim at them. The rats looked cute in comparison to those bats. If I were alone, I would have died for sure. I used all twenty-five arrows, but only eight of them killed the bats instantly. The other arrows only pierced their wings or legs. On the other hand, with every shot, Martin killed a bat, and I was thankful for that.
You have obtained 36 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 36 Evolution Coins.
The fight didn¡¯t last more than three minutes, but it looked like an eternity. After losing more than thirty of their friends, the other bats decided to leave. Even I would lose appetite if my food had bow and arrows. Their retreat couldn¡¯t have happened at a better time. As soon as their sound disappeared, I heard the sound of Martin falling on the floor. Luckily, he was alive; his theory about MP was correct after all. Thanks to that struggle, I also wanted to just threw myself on the floor and sleep. But I decided to stay awake; after all, those damn things could return. However, no more fights happened that night. It took some time, but the sun finally began to rise. Physically and mentally drained, I began to eat a light breakfast to recover myself. Once again, the lemonade was making my life less miserable. With a jump, Martin got up and again aimed his crossbow at me. ¡°If you don¡¯t kill me, I¡¯ll give you all my lemonade.¡± It was a stupid joke, but Martin laughed until he could barely breathe. Even though he passed out, he still remembered everything, and I didn¡¯t notice any side effects, thanks to that we could still use MP without getting worried. This time, I insisted on sharing my food, but he refused again. I wondered if he would be okay walking alone in a city full of monsters with an empty stomach. But that was his choice, and I couldn¡¯t do anything to change his mind. It took a few minutes, but we managed to clean our exit. The smell of blood was making me sick, and the bats¡¯ faces were making my blood run cold. Without wasting time, we left the inn when our surroundings were bright enough. We walked together for one kilometer, and then we stopped, it was time to split up. ¡°Well, I guess it¡¯s about time.¡± ¡°Thanks, Martin. You taught me a lot and saved my skin many times. I hope one day to return the favor.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. After I said that, I offered a handshake to him. He was older, but he was the first friend that I made since that incident. A bit of gratitude was the only thing that I could offer him at the moment, but surely one day would return the favor. ¡°Don¡¯t exaggerate, Ethan. You made my work a lot easier, you are young, but you are competent. I wish you luck, and I hope that you can find your parents.¡± ¡°You too, good luck.¡± After that, he accepted the handshake showing a content expression, but soon he became serious again. ¡°Be careful, Ethan. Those guys are still around, and I think you will face many more rats if you follow St Louis Street. Something is up ahead, don¡¯t do anything stupid. If the way is blocked, you can always find another route, but you won¡¯t meet your family if you insist on the fastest way and die in the process.¡± When it comes to family, I was a bit impulsive, but even I wasn''t dumb enough to try to do the impossible, right? I wanted to meet them as soon as possible, and nothing would stop me from doing so. But I knew that I would have to learn that in the hard way, instead of just following someone¡¯s advice. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± After I said that, Martin smiled again, and then he turned to the right. He looked like an elite soldier walking with that crossbow ready to shot at a moment¡¯s notice and never putting it down. When he was one hundred meters away, I also began to move. With my bow ready to shot, I moved forward towards downtown, and I even could feel my body becoming full of energy as I approached those huge buildings. But, soon, I had to stop because I found another group of rats. ¡°Already?¡± Martin warned me; something was up ahead. The encounters with the rats were becoming too frequent, and I could see five enemies coming towards me. I took cover behind a power pole while I prepared myself. That was the first time that I would face so many monsters alone, but that couldn¡¯t be helped. Without wasting time and letting them approach, I began to shot. Before the creatures could react, I shot three arrows, only the second killed a rat, while the other two arrows only made they scream in pain. Thanks to that, they wouldn¡¯t attack me immediately, but the others were already running towards me. I waited for one of them to jump to shot again, because of that, the arrow pierced the creature¡¯s head. However, that made me vulnerable to the last attack. I threw myself to the side, but since I wasn¡¯t skillful enough, I felt a piercing pain on my back. ¡®It is just a scratch, don¡¯t stop!¡¯ After convincing myself of that, I retook my shooting stance. The fifth rat was trying to gain speed again, but before the creature could try anything, I killed it. I looked to my back, and I could see the two remaining rats slowly approaching me, the arrows didn¡¯t kill them, but it made them feel a lot of pain. They died before they could even think about attacking me. After the battle, I could feel my back a little wet, but as I thought, it was just a scratch. Since that was the case, I began to move again. However, I stopped because, in the distance, I could see a huge black shadow on the way. ¡°What the fuck is that?¡± I didn¡¯t have any idea about what that thing was, but it wasn¡¯t a good thing, after all, it was blocking my way. I was only four kilometers away from home; I could reunite with my parents even before lunch. But Martin¡¯s words made me hesitate. Something dangerous was up ahead, the smart thing to do was to take a detour, but I wasn¡¯t smart. Like always, I would only learn some things after feeling them in my body. Without thinking, I moved forward, and another group of enemies appeared, eight rats were coming in my direction. ¡°That¡¯s okay; I can get rid of them. I¡¯m getting better with my bow, and those monsters are just too dumb.¡± The rats were dumb, but they still had the upper hand. Besides they were natural fighters, while I was just a civilian with a single day of experience with a bow. The first rat died with an arrow in its forehead, but the others didn¡¯t even flinch. The second and third fell with arrows on their stomachs, they were still alive, but they wouldn¡¯t attack me for the time being. But from that moment onwards, I didn¡¯t fight; I struggled to keep my head in the right place. Like it was planned, three rats jumped towards me. I still could manage hit one of them and avoid the other, but the third would kill me for sure. Instead of trying to kill one of them, I just threw myself on the hot asphalt. The other two were approaching, but I could shot at them. However, only one shot managed to hit the target. The other attacked my left arm and made me drop my bow. ¡®Holy shit.¡¯ The bow fell in the direction of the three rats, and that made me feel shivers. Once again, I had to use the arrows to fight instead of just shooting them. With the bow in my hand, those rats were just targets to me. But without it, I was the prey, and the rats were the hunters. In that situation, I could see those creatures grinning at me. Maybe that was just my imagination, but at least thanks to that, my courage returned. ¡°All right, you damn beasts, if you want a piece of me then come and get it. But it¡¯ll cost you dearly!¡± Again, the tree beasts jumped towards me. But I managed to evade two of them and pierce my arrows in their faces. I didn¡¯t kill them, but at least the blood would blind them for now. However, the time stopped when I saw the third rat claw approaching my neck. I didn¡¯t know how, but I managed to avoid the attack, but I didn¡¯t escape unharmed. I felt a sharp pain at the side of my head, and when I touched, I understood what happened, half of my right ear was gone. ¡°YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!¡± That¡¯s me in a nutshell, dumb and crazily impulsive. In a fit of rage, I forgot about the last and still not wounded rat. And the creature used that chance to attack me from behind. The result was me feeling the agonizing pain of the muscles of my ribcage being cut like butter. ¡°FUCK!¡± Thanks to the adrenaline, I managed to stay conscious and kill the two damned monsters; for some reason, they seemed slower, than the first time, but I didn¡¯t care about that. Even though I was alive, I didn¡¯t have anything to celebrate. Without wasting time, I took my bow back and looked for the other half of my ear. Thank god those beasts¡¯ claws were too sharp, I could easily find the other part, and it wasn¡¯t damaged. ¡°Damn, fucking hell. I hope that I can find a doctor to put this back or, AHHH. DAMMIT.¡± Now that the fight was over, I could easily understand and feel the total damage that I received. I didn¡¯t have any choice but to retreat. Only a lost cause would try to continue in that state, I was almost at that level, but at least I learned my lesson. Just like Martin thought, the rats were coming from the ST Louis Street, probably from that black shadow, it was evident since I didn¡¯t have to fight until I returned to the place where we split up. That place was free from danger, so I decided to change my clothes. Thanks to that, I could see how I was in trouble. The cut was too deep, I wasn¡¯t bleeding a lot, but I had to close that wound as soon as possible. I threw away my dirty clothes and wore the new ones, but soon those also become dirt thanks to the blood. ¡°I have to find a hospital or pharmacy to treat my wounds, and I also need food and water. Damn it; I really need to take a shower.¡± Since I didn¡¯t have any other choice, I began to walk towards the eastern part of the city. Maybe I could even regroup with Martin, after all, he probably knew that part of the city better than me. I quickly found his trail, dozens of rats with crossbow bolts in their bodies. However, even after following his path for the entire day, I didn¡¯t see him. On the other hand, I quickly found more of those rats. Their numbers were fewer, but the encounter rate was annoying. I even managed to break the limit again before lunch. I choose, to break the sensorial limit again and for some reason, the pain I felt in my wounds lessened a bit. But instead of relief, I was angry, very angry. ¡°Who the hell planned this part of the city? For God¡¯s sake, where are the hospitals, the pharmacies and the supermarkets of this area?¡± I didn¡¯t walk a long distance since my wounds were killing me. But it was too strange not to find a single supermarket. I never felt so frustrated like that before; not a single good thing happened in the entire day. I was dirty, in pain, bleeding, feeling like crap, and I couldn¡¯t meet my parents. What could get worse? But then I finally found a supermarket and a hospital on the other side of the street. All my problems wouldn¡¯t disappear, but a few of them would, and that was enough for now. However, luck was never on my side. The hospital and the supermarket looked perfectly fine; nothing was destroyed, everything was in the right place, but, I didn¡¯t find a single remedy in the hospital, and the supermarket¡¯s shelves were empty. It looked like the medicines and the other products just vanished into the air. Chapter 06 Naive I decided not to think about the unbelievable things that were happening in the city, but since I had nothing better to do. I ended up doing that. First of all, not a single electronic device in the city was working. I only could understand that after I checked the entire hospital and the supermarket, nothing was working. So, no electronic devices, no power was circulating through the city. That was a big problem; because it would take weeks, maybe months to restore the city¡¯s energy. Another weird thing, all vehicles, food, remedies, and clean water disappeared. But for some reason, the food in my house didn¡¯t vanish. There was a river crossing the city, but that water probably wasn''t clean enough. But, if I didn¡¯t find a solution, then I guess I would have to drink it. By the way, there¡¯s no way that I will eat the rat''s meat, not even in a trillion years. But who knows, after a week or two starving, my resolve will disappear and then I will end up eating. I don¡¯t want to think about it And then the last and most terrifying problem, the city was almost empty. When I broke my sensorial limit again, I began to feel some stares, but no one tried to approach me. The city wasn¡¯t empty, but those who didn''t dare to leave their homes wouldn¡¯t be of much of a help to me anyway. And let¡¯s not forget about the game elements. ¡°There¡¯s no way in hell this is a game! The pain I feel is real; my thirst is real!¡± My lemonade was long gone, and I only had a few cookies to eat. But those were the least of my worries; I was more worried about my ear. I didn''t hear well, and more than ten hours had passed since it got cut off, I was aware that soon no one would be able to transplant it back. ¡°I guess, there¡¯s nothing I can do about it. I will be a mutilated freak.¡± Even though my parents and siblings were very good looking, I wasn¡¯t in no way handsome; I didn¡¯t even look much like them. But without a part of one of my ears, I would look more than ugly. I was getting depressed; obviously, I was exaggerating. But that didn''t change the fact. Maybe it was thanks to those thoughts. Or thanks to the darkness of the supermarket. Or, perhaps it was thanks to the entire situation. ¡°Ah, fuck.¡± The wounds in my body were making me feel itchy, but that didn¡¯t surprise me, after all, I didn¡¯t have any time to clean them. To make matters worse, the big wound on my side didn¡¯t let me sleep. I was relatively safe in one of the supermarket rooms since I blocked the only way out with a table and some chairs. I would wake up with the noise if something tried to attack the door anyway, but I didn¡¯t manage to get a wink of sleep. When everything was brighter again, I left the supermarket. Even though the sunrise was beautiful, everything looked quite gray to me; I felt like I was at the bottom of the pit. For some reason, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to throw away my ear; it was literally a part of me after all. So it was inside my backpack, but it lost its color. ¡°No, don¡¯t think about it. Keep moving.¡± Depressing thoughts at that moment were even more dangerous than the rats, a few rats wouldn¡¯t make me give up, but those thoughts would. I was na?ve when I thought that I could stay awake for three days straight with the city in this situation. I managed to do that in the past, but I only worked and studied during those days. But now I was fighting for my life and getting cut like a pig. Luckily for me, that exhaustion made those depressing thoughts disappear. I moved forward, and I fought without thinking, but even in that state, I managed to kill the rats before they could approach. With every shot, a rat died. I didn¡¯t care about it, but the skill concentration was saving my life, after all, I didn¡¯t sleep in two days. After a few hours, I found other supermarkets and a hospital, but those were empty too. However, again, I didn¡¯t care about it. After an entire day, without success, I should have given up about catching up Martin. I was slow since I was wounded. But even without thinking, I still followed his trails. Me and my naiveness, like a single person, would solve all my problems. Martin was an odd guy and a survivor with the necessary skills to keep going, but he was no superhero. I only understood that around noon. Even though one of my ears was making me feel weird, the other was working more than well, and thanks to that, I heard a sound that I didn¡¯t hear in two days. I heard the voices of many people laughing. ¡°Finally, a group of survivors!¡± A single person wouldn¡¯t be able to help, but how about a group? But something was off, my mind wasn¡¯t working properly, but I felt something telling me to be careful. Besides, thanks to my imprudence, I was in that miserable state. Unless I had a death wish, I shouldn¡¯t act like a fool again. Slowly, I approached, using trashing cans, energy poles, and fences as a cover. And when I finally arrived at the intersection and looked to my right, I saw a group of ten men. My tension rose, and my mind became a little clearer when I saw those men using drugs, their clothes were dirty with blood, and they looked quite haggard. But that didn¡¯t matter because I instantly recognized what they were wearing. ¡°They are wearing prison uniforms¡­ ah, they are the men who Martin mentioned. Again, my lack of luck is unbelievable!¡± Thank God, I decided to approach silently, or else they would have found me. Those guys couldn¡¯t be trusted in any way, what made me understand that was the fact that they even didn¡¯t clean the blood on their faces. They were equipped with swords, axes, lances, and clubs. Even from afar, I could feel the smell of fresh and coagulated blood in their bodies, and they couldn¡¯t care less about it. ¡°Why are they here?¡± It didn¡¯t look like they were resting nearby, they were close to a house, but the door of that house was destroyed. Besides, they didn¡¯t have anything with them besides their weapons. But what worried me was the fact that some of them had firearms, and a huge bald guy who seemed to be their leader had a machinegun and a very familiar gun. ¡°It¡¯s Martin¡¯s gun!¡± I felt a shiver when I realized that, but then I took a deep breath. It was probably just a coincidence. I found those guys, following Martin¡¯s trail, but there¡¯s no way that they would catch him. Besides, I couldn¡¯t see his body. But I had to make sure; however, I couldn¡¯t approach and ask them. I had to wait until they leave.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Fortunately, that didn¡¯t take long. Since they couldn¡¯t¡¯ find anything that could entertain them, they left. My heart almost stopped when they began to walk in my direction, without any choice, I threw myself in a bush. Thanks to that, my wounds almost made me scream, but I kept my mouth shut. In any other situation, they would feel the smell of blood and sweat on me. But since all of them used drugs, they couldn¡¯t feel it. Since they could turn back, I decided to wait for five minutes. Only after that I got up and walked towards that house. In front of it, I could see a small pool of blood. I also found a trail of blood that led me to the inside of the house. My heart began to race when I got inside the house, because I didn¡¯t find any sign of rats nearby, and then, I saw it. A body tied in a chair, or at least, almost a body. Some parts were missing, the hands didn¡¯t have the fingers, and then one the legs had been chopped off. Immediately, I threw up, but only some water came since I didn¡¯t eat anything in the last twenty-four hours. After that, I lost the strength on my legs and began to tremble, that was the first time that I saw a dead human. I never thought I would see one in such state, for a human do something like that to another human being. But then, I remembered Martin¡¯s words, those criminals already did that to the police officer, but at that time, I didn¡¯t care about it. I naively thought that wasn¡¯t my problem since it didn¡¯t happen to me or to my parents and siblings that was why I soon forgot about it. Since that person had been brutally tortured, I didn¡¯t recognize him. But then I saw it, the tanned skin, the clothes, the hair... That person was Martin. My body trembled when I thought about the first friend I made in years was dead. The person who taught me a lot and helped me had been brutally tortured. I didn¡¯t know him for a long time, but even so, that scene made me feel an agony that I couldn¡¯t describe with words. I felt my very soul freezing and a sensation of emptiness inside me. I screamed and trembled. But strangely, I didn¡¯t cry. "AAAAAAaaaaaaHHHHHH!" While I was screaming, the time around me stopped moving, and again, I saw myself been transported to another place. It looked like I was inside a warehouse, full of boxes of canned food. But that room was painted with blood, and around me, I could see dozens of corpses. That was just a strange vision, but I could see my hands trembling, and I could feel a sensation that I never felt, a rage much more intense than the one I felt on the day of that incident, a rage that made me forget about my parents and siblings. A rage that would only disappear after I got rid of those bastards. Suddenly I was back to that house, and then I knew what I had to do. My mind was saying to me to calm down, but my boiling blood and the rage clouded my judgment. ¡°I¡¯ll avenge you, Martin, I¡¯ll make them pay.¡± I was tired, wounded, and I wasn¡¯t thinking straight. I would probably die like a dog since I would probably attack them without any plan. Every single factor was against me, but I didn¡¯t care, I rushed and left the house only thinking about killing them in the most painful way. But at the moment I left the house, I felt someone kicking my leg. I fell on the ground, and before I could try to get up, something sit on my back. Thanks to the fall and the sudden weight on my back, my wounds began to hurt like hell. Those guys had returned, but that was just perfect. ¡°You son of a bitch, I¡¯ll kill you!¡± ¡°Oh, sorry. I didn¡¯t know that you were so wounded, I¡¯ll let you get up, but first, try to calm down a little.¡± Even though those bastards were the earth¡¯s scum, that guy voice looked very calm, and that only made me feel even angrier. ¡°Get off me, you bastard! I¡¯ll make you pay!¡± I struggled a lot, but I couldn¡¯t move an inch. That guy was tall and heavy. But at the next moment, I became a little less angry and a bit confused. ¡°It¡¯s no use, Harry. Just put him to sleep, he isn¡¯t in a state where he will listen to us.¡± It was a woman¡¯s voice. That was strange; I didn¡¯t see a single woman with those guys. But I didn¡¯t have time to think about it, because I felt a weird pain in the back of my head and then everything became dark. ¡°Sorry. But you didn¡¯t give us much choice.¡± It seemed that I slept for a long time because I felt refreshed. But I was feeling some discomfort because I slept on the floor, I woke up and waited a few moments and blinked my eyes many times, but I still couldn¡¯t see anything. I was in a dark place, or maybe it was night, or perhaps both. Before my eyes could adjust to the darkness, I remembered my last memories. The memory of Martin¡¯s corpse was still fresh in my mind, just like that anger and the agony that I felt. But this time, the blood didn¡¯t rush to my head, instead of acting like a crazy dog, I felt depressed. ¡°You look calm this time, good; we can talk now.¡± That was the voice of the guy who kicked me, it took a few seconds, but I could see him on the other side of the room. Even with everything dark, I could see his appearance; I made a good choice breaking the sensorial limit; after all, few things could be more useful than being able to see in the darkness. Even though he kicked me, I didn¡¯t have any real reason to hate him; he prevented me from doing something stupid. But somehow, just with his voice, I could tell that he was hard to deal with, at least for me. He was 1, 90 meters tall and he looked very fit, he probably was a basketball player. His hair was black and short, and the expression in his face emitted some tranquility and goodwill. Exactly like I felt when I heard his voice from the first time, he looked to be the carefree type. ¡°Yes, my name is Ethan. Thank you for stopping me. Someday, if I have the chance, I will return the favor.¡± Even though I was serious about that, I didn¡¯t have much confidence. I almost died against a bunch of rats, more than once. I wasn¡¯t reliable enough to make such promises; besides, that guy didn¡¯t look much of a survivor maybe he would die before I could return the favor. But who was I to say that? ¡°No problem, we just did the right thing to do. My name is Harry, by the way.¡± Come to think of it; I heard a female¡¯s voice when he knocked me down. But, oh well, whatever. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Pretty good actually, considering my wounds and that I didn¡¯t take a shower in three days.¡± When I said that I noticed, I wasn¡¯t feeling all that dirty anymore; the pain was mostly gone too. But I just only understood what happened when Harry said his next words. ¡°Well, I have a surprise for you. We put your ear back in the right place; we also treated your wounds and bathed you. Unfortunately, you gained some scars, but it¡¯s better than nothing, right?¡± I didn¡¯t believe him, but I still touched my ear, and it was there, my ear was back in one piece. I also touched my other wounds. It hurt a little bit, but all the wounds were now closed and almost healed. ¡°How¡­ how did you?¡± I was speechless; such a thing was impossible. But then, everything that was happening in the city was impossible to believe. A single word appeared in my mind, and then I could understand how that was possible. ¡°A skill!¡± ¡°We have a winner! That¡¯s right; one of my friends can cure wounds. But it took the entire day for her to heal you. By the way, your ear only could be healed because she is a doctor. Well, she is studying to be one. You are lucky if she were just a bit slow¡­¡± I never thought that I was a lucky guy, but at that moment, I was thinking that. But the power to cure people, what an amazing power! ¡°You guys saved me a lot of trouble. I swear it; someday I will return the favor. Where is the person who healed me? I must thank her properly.¡± ¡°She is sleeping now; you can thank her later. But, please keep some distance from her. She doesn¡¯t like to interact with strangers.¡± A person who is studying to be a doctor but doesn¡¯t like to interact with strangers? Then how does she plan to work? ¡°I see, she didn¡¯t look like a shy person when I heard her though.¡± ¡°The person who you heard was her older sister.¡± Harry¡¯s group was bigger than I thought. But that wasn¡¯t important; I had an essential question in mind. ¡°There are some limitations when your friend uses her skill?¡± ¡°Yes, she has to touch the wound.¡± ¡°And she can cure any wound? Then¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I know what you are thinking, but no. She can¡¯t heal any wound. It is indeed an unbelievable power, but it¡¯s still weak, and she can¡¯t use it for a long time. She can¡¯t bring back the dead.¡± Again, my na?ve way of thinking made me feel stupid. Even if the whole world turns upside down, you only live once. Chapter 07 Team I was happy that I wasn¡¯t wounded anymore, but I also felt a little depressed again, after all, I would never be able to return the favor to Martin. ¡°Was he your friend?¡± ¡°I guess I didn¡¯t know much about him, though. We met when the city became weird, and we walked together for a day, but he taught me a lot.¡± ¡°Sorry. We met him before those guys, but we didn¡¯t have time to warn him, and we couldn¡¯t stop them from doing what they did. We didn¡¯t have the numbers the necessary, and they had firearms.¡± For a moment, I thought those were just a bunch of excuses. But Harry made the right decision; besides, it was too stupid to risk his life and his friends¡¯ lives for a stranger. He did what he could by stopping and treating my wounds; he shouldn¡¯t be criticized; besides, he probably spent a lot of water to clean my body. Water which is currently scarce in the city, he was indeed a good person. ¡°I understand.¡± What the hell was I thinking? Besides, even if I¡¯m not wounded anymore, the city still was full of monsters. It only takes a single mistake for me to lose an ear again, I can¡¯t even see myself being able to fight against those giant bats. Little by little, I was improving, but those things can fly, and they were even faster than the rats. ¡°Well, are you hungry? We have some food, though I¡¯m sick of it already.¡± I guess Harry and his friends had a lot of luck, while I only had bread and cookies to eat, he got sick of the food that he had. But soon, I understood why. He gave me a plastic bag full of potato chips and soda. ¡°You guys aren¡¯t going to live much with this kind of food.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware of that, but that was all the food that we managed to find. It was in the vending machine of our apartment building.¡± Since they probably were college students, Harry and his friends didn¡¯t have a lot of time to cook their food; maybe they didn¡¯t like to cook. But that was weird, I found a vending machine in the first hospital, it wasn¡¯t destroyed, but it was empty. Whatever, thinking about it was a waste of time. Like someone like me would find an explanation, instead of worrying about I began to eat. As expected, it was tasty, that kind of food wouldn¡¯t fill my stomach, no matter how much potato chips I could eat. Besides, soda wasn¡¯t in the top of my list of best beverages. ¡°I want a lemonade.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Sorry, I was just talking to myself.¡± That was rude, but Harry understood that my words weren¡¯t intentional. ¡°I see, by the way, why are you crossing the city? You must have a good reason, after all, you continued to walk even when you looked like crap.¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to find my parents and siblings; they live in downtown.¡± ¡°So, you live by yourself, huh? You look pretty young for that.¡± ¡°Mind your own business.¡± Again I was rude, as I thought. I don¡¯t handle very well with people like him, but yet he didn¡¯t take offense; instead, he laughed. ¡°Sorry about that. Anyway, if you are going to downtown, then why are you going in the opposite direction of ST Louis Street. It¡¯s the easiest and fastest way, after all.¡± ¡°Because that street is blocked, there are too many rats, and I even could see a strange shadow from afar. It was there that I got my ear cut off. Come to think of it, I didn¡¯t notice, but that shadow looked quite familiar¡­ ah! Damn it; it was another horde of rats.¡± Since I was angry, I didn¡¯t notice it immediately, but now it was clear. That shadow was another horde of rats; it seemed that they were around something, but what? ¡°Really? Ah man, such bad luck. We wanted to follow that path too, and we wasted three days for that.¡± It seemed that Harry was even more na?ve than me; he didn¡¯t doubt my words even for a second. He would probably have even more difficulties than me to survive. Since they helped me, I owed them a few answers, but I wasn¡¯t interested in their destination. It was time to move on, but I couldn¡¯t do that before I thanked the person who healed me. So I decided to wait in silence, but Harry wouldn¡¯t let me do that. ¡°I guess we will have to follow that path, the monsters are stronger, but they are few. By the way, you fought a lot in the last few days, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°How many times did you break your limits, and what options did you choose?¡± Now that was a troublesome question, why was he interested in that? He wasn¡¯t a bad person, but I still didn¡¯t want to tell him that. After all, that information could be used against me in the future. For example, since I break my sensorial limit, I was weaker in comparison to those who decided to break their physical limit. In close quarters, anyone could easily defeat me. ¡°Do I really have to answer that?" ¡°Oh, you are suspicious of me. I can understand the reason for that, but don¡¯t worry, I only need to know that to convince her. If you broke your limit at least two times, she wouldn¡¯t have any reason not to let you join us. Our families live in the northern part of the city; we can walk together until downtown.¡± ¡°And when did I say that I would join your group?¡± Indeed, I didn¡¯t have any reason to refuse. I was already considering that if they were heading to downtown. But with the city in that state, I had to select more carefully my teammates. Besides, I didn¡¯t want to follow the orders of a carefree person like him. I didn¡¯t have any problems following someone¡¯s orders, but that person had to be smart and capable of considering all situations. ¡°Do you have any reason to refuse?¡± ¡°A few, but first of all, don¡¯t go deciding things for me. By the way, you said something about her not letting me join your group, so you aren¡¯t the leader. That means you can¡¯t make such decisions by yourself.¡± ¡°Sorry about that and yes, you are right. I¡¯m not the leader, but we should team up anyways, the city right now is too dangerous to walk alone or in small groups.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He had a point, even more since he said something about a more powerful monster. It didn¡¯t look like it were the bats since they fly in groups. Come to think of it, the person who healed me probably couldn¡¯t fight well since she had a support skill. Since that was the case, it was normal for Harry to want another member; after all, alone, it was hard to protect his friends. ¡°Well, in that case, you should talk to your leader first.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. I won¡¯t let you join this group.¡± Even though she was beautiful, her sudden appearance almost made my heart stop. With her arms crossed, she approached Harry, and after that, she punched him in the stomach. She didn¡¯t look, but she was quite strong, after all, I saw the pain in Harry¡¯s face. ¡°Don¡¯t go deciding things by yourself!" Rose said. "What did you think when you decided to make a stranger and unstable kid join our group?¡± Was I unstable? I guess I was; the incident proved that. Besides, my last choices also reinforced the fact that she was right. ¡°But Rose," Harry insisted. "He looks pretty calm to me right now, and I think he is skillful enough.¡± Rose had a long straight black hair tied in a long ponytail, she looked to be the kind of woman who would always wear formal clothes, but she was wearing plain and comfortable ones instead. She was a bit tall for a woman; I guess she could work as a model. Her eyes were brown, and I could see some tension in them, she looked to be very smart, since she didn¡¯t immediately trust me as Harry did. ¡°What do you mean by that?" Rose asked. "Did you forget that he was half-dead when we found him? And don¡¯t forget about his actions, he would only bring trouble to us.¡± Even though she was criticizing me, I felt that she was a person smart enough to be my leader. My evaluation of her was high; on the other hand, she didn¡¯t look like she had much charism. Harry seemed to be charismatic, but he was too na?ve, in my opinion. To my surprise, even though I could see well in the darkness, I almost didn¡¯t notice the person behind Rose. She was kind of small, she looked a little bit like Rose, but she was red-haired, and her hair wasn¡¯t that long. Her eyes were also brown, but instead of tension, I felt some fear in her eyes, like she was a bullied child. She was wearing a dress¡­ she looked like she was going to a picnic. ¡°Oh, this one is Sarah." Harry said smiling She was the one who healed you.¡± Since he ignored Rose and acted as nothing had happened, she punched him again. ¡°I¡¯m really thankful for your help; someday I¡¯ll return the favor. I swear it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that," Sarah said nervously, "I just did what any doctor would do in my place.¡± She didn¡¯t look shy, but she wasn¡¯t very friendly either, and she looked afraid to maintain eye contact, even though it still was a little dark. The sun was rising; it was probably because of that those two woke up. Anyway, it was annoying when someone avoids eye contact; it wasn¡¯t like I did something to make her fear me. Or perhaps I did, she probably saw me acting like a mad dog. ¡°Don¡¯t bother;" Rose said." She won¡¯t need your help.¡± The two sisters were a pain the ass, in different ways. That was probably for the best, join them would make things a bit safer, but it would be too tiresome. ¡°Well then, can you guys give my bow and quiver, the sun is rising, and I need to find my parents and siblings.¡± ¡°Come on, don¡¯t be like that. Join us.¡± Harry said. ¡°I told you to not decide things on your own!¡± Rose shouted. Again, Rose reprimanded him, and he got punched. I was wrong; all of them were a pain in the ass. ¡°Rose, don¡¯t be too stubborn," Harry said nervously. "You are aware that we can¡¯t move forward by ourselves, we need at least another person in our group.¡± ¡°No, we don¡¯t need him." Rose crossed her arms. "Besides, you are too na?ve; you didn¡¯t even doubt him when he mentioned that horde of rats.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s true." Harry frowned. "Ok, let¡¯s say that he lied and nothing is blocking St Louis Street, there¡¯s no horde of rats, but those guys went to that direction, and I want to keep you two away from them.¡± Harry had a point, she didn¡¯t believe me, but she knew about the ten criminals. Frustrated, she began to bite her nails. ¡°Fine, let¡¯s turn back and face those things;" Rose said. "We became a little stronger after all. And you can join us, but if you can¡¯t keep up with our pace, I¡¯ll leave you behind.¡± ¡°It¡¯s settled then! Welcome to the group!¡± Harry said smiling. What a weird group, even though most guys would be happy staying alone with two beautiful girls, Harry welcomed me and looked pretty pleased. Rose didn¡¯t trust me, but she didn¡¯t have any reason to do so. Besides, she only wanted to keep the group safe. On the other hand, Sarah didn¡¯t show any reaction with the news. It seemed that she would follow her older sister¡¯s orders without a second thought. After a not so healthy breakfast, Rose decided that it was time to move, and thanks to that I could see their weapons. Harry¡¯s weapon was a short but broad sword. I didn¡¯t know much about medieval weapons, but I knew that one since I saw it in a movie about gladiators. It was a Gladius. But its quality was poor since it was made of iron, it was probably an excellent sword to block attacks. Rose¡¯s weapon was a plain-looking but very sharp knife. ¡°So you fight in the front line.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡± Rose answered To my surprise, Rose dropped her knife; however, that knife stopped midair and then began to fly around her. ¡°Are you serious? Telekinesis!?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right; that¡¯s my skill," Rose said. "By the way, even though you don¡¯t look smart, you didn¡¯t tell Harry what your skill can do. I compliment you for that. However, I need to know your skill to form a good strategy.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense. It''s called concentration; each hour while I¡¯m awake, I obtain a bonus to the range and attack of my shots.¡± ¡°It looks pretty useless if you ask me, how much is the bonus and what¡¯s the level of your skill?¡± Rose asked. I didn¡¯t look at that screen in a while, but that was a good chance.
Skill List: Concentration ¨C Level 01 54% Crosshair ¨C Level 09 3%
¡°1% each hour, the bonus disappears when I sleep, it''s still level 01. Also, I have another skill, Crosshair. It makes me see a crosshair and helps me to aim. This skill has been a lifesaver since I didn¡¯t have much experience with bows before this incident.¡± ¡°You have two skills? Why?¡± Rose asked surprised. ¡°How should I know? It suddenly appeared when I woke up three days ago.¡± All of them became surprised because just like Martin, they only received a single skill. That alone made Rose even more suspicious of me. But I didn¡¯t care, I was only using them to find my parents and siblings as soon as possible, and they also were using me. That was our relationship; we didn¡¯t have to become friends. ¡°By the way, my skill name is Troll¡¯s Life-force. It makes my wounds heal faster when I¡¯m sleeping.¡± Harry explained. ¡°Good for you.¡± I wasn¡¯t interested in his skill since it couldn¡¯t be as impressive as healing wounds or moving objects with the power of the mind. But it looked pretty handy. Sarah¡¯s weapon was a whip; it didn¡¯t fit her image of a quiet girl. Could she even use that properly? After all, it was a weapon difficult to handle. ¡°In that case, you and I will attack the monsters." Rose declared. "As always, Harry will stop their advance, and Sarah will give us support after the battle. We kill them as quickly as possible, but my main job is to keep Sarah safe, understood?¡± That was pretty much obvious, after all, she was her younger sister, and she could heal us, but it would be useless if she dies. ¡°Yes, but can¡¯t she use that whip?¡± ¡°She is still learning, with her actual accuracy, she can¡¯t fight,¡± Rose explained. ¡°I still feel the pain when her whip hit my butt on the first day, hahaha! I thought that I did something bad, and then she punished me for it.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t on purpose; it was an accident!¡± Sarah blushed. Harry looked quite happy with that¡­ what a weirdo. On the other hand, Sarah looked embarrassed. ¡°Anyway, since you use a bow, I can guess that you broke your sensorial limit, right?¡± Rose asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then, can we trust you to track the monsters before they ambush us?¡± Rose asked. ¡°I can try, but I don¡¯t think my senses are at that level.¡± ¡°All right, let¡¯s move on, here¡¯s your bow and quiver." Rose frowned. "Now, what should we do with this?¡± Rose gave me my equipment, but then she showed a weapon that I didn¡¯t hope to see again: Martin¡¯s crossbow. Without hesitation, I decided what to do with that. ¡°Give it to me, it¡¯ll be useful in the future, and its attack it¡¯s terrific. It¡¯ll be my last resort until I find more powerful foes.¡± ¡°Good," Rose said. "Then you¡¯ll use it sooner than you think because we will find an enemy more dangerous than twenty of those rats.¡± That was probably the creature Harry had mentioned before since it was better to know beforehand, I decided to ask what kind of monster we would face. ¡°What kind of monster will we face?¡± ¡°Cats,¡± Rose answered. Chapter 08 Progress Cats, we wouldn¡¯t face those cute animals. Instead, we would fight against his mutated version. But for a single one of them be more dangerous of twenty rats, I doubter Rose¡¯s words, but she didn¡¯t seem to be joking around. Besides, Harry and Sarah looked tense when the creature was mentioned. However, before I first met that creature, we walked a few kilometers in that part of the city. Again, Efficiency sure is a wonderful thing; we almost crossed half of the eastern part of the city in a single day. We only stopped to eat and to let Sarah heal a few scratches. Just like me, all of them already broke their limit twice. Thanks to that, the fight against the rats were easy. First of all, Harry broke his physical limit twice. Because of that, he could block the full body slam of the rats with his sword, and when he attacked, his sword would pierce the monsters¡¯ head like butter. Rose was even more amazing than Harry, using her telekinesis, her knife always pierced the rat¡¯s foreheads. But, it would take some time for her to pull back the knife. Her attacks weren¡¯t as fast as my arrows, but, they were deadly. And finally I could see Sarah¡¯s skill in action, she could heal scratches in seconds, and according to Harry, she could heal broken bones in a few hours. But then she would soon collapse thanks to the exhaustion; it seemed that happened on the first day. Martin tried to block the attack of a "cat," and his arm snapped. Since he was the front line, they barely survived that fight. It was the end of the fourth day that I saw the ¡®¡¯cat¡¯¡¯. The monster indeed looked like a cat, but it was two meters long, had red eyes and a red horn. Also, the creature had sabretooth¡¯s fangs. Forget the name cat, forget about the eyes color, the horn, the claws, and fangs, then the monster would look like a tiger. Luckily, I could see his power before the fight. For some reason, the mutant cat was fighting against a group of rats. But they didn¡¯t offer any resistance; ten rats died in a few seconds. They got split in half when the mutant cat used its claws. ¡°Are we going to fight that?¡± Using a large three as a cover, we watched the mutant cat one hundred meters away from us. That was stupid. If anyone makes a single mistake, all of us will die. Besides, could even Harry block that creature¡¯s attack? He looked pretty strong without considering that he broke his physical limit. All of us also managed to break the limit once again that day, but that didn''t make me feel confident. ¡°We can defeat it;" Harry declared. "I can block that thing attacks. Two or three of them, probably.¡± According to Harry, when he breaks his physical limit, he becomes stronger and sturdier. He said that he could feel it, besides his HP and STA increases by 20% every time he breaks his physical limit. That was insane, my senses got better, but I didn¡¯t believe that it was by that much. ¡°So, we will have three chances to kill that thing when Harry block the monster¡¯s advance," Rose said, "we will approach and attack the head. We don¡¯t know yet if the crossbow bolts or my knife can pierce the head and kill it with a single attack. That¡¯s why we have to aim at its eyes. Sarah, you stay behind and warn us if another monster gets too close.¡± We all nodded, even though she didn¡¯t look much worried, I could see the tension in Rose¡¯s eyes, besides she was sweating a lot. Harry looked calm, but he was too quiet. Sarah was with her whip in hands ready to use, even though she didn¡¯t have any confidence in being useful with it, but she wouldn¡¯t hesitate to save her sister or Harry. That monster only represented one thing to them: a bad memory. Even though Sarah didn¡¯t say it, I knew that I would be the one to attack first. That¡¯s why I put the bow in my back and picked Martin¡¯s crossbow. ¡°Let¡¯s see how much damage I can inflict at this distance.¡± Even though it was a powerful weapon, the crossbow bolt would lose a lot of power at that distance, but that didn¡¯t matter. I just had to hit one of the eyes; easier said than done. Slowly I left behind the safety of the three and walked towards the center of the street, I could see creature¡¯s eyes, but the monster couldn¡¯t see me since it was too busy eating a rat. After a few deep breathes I aimed the crossbow, the aim was steady, since I didn¡¯t have to regulate the angle of the shot. But it wasn¡¯t stable enough; I had to see one of the creature¡¯s eyes in the center of the crosshair. I didn¡¯t know how much time passed, but I began to sweat a lot while slowly focusing my senses on the target. However I took too long, suddenly the creature looked at me. But it didn¡¯t run to attack me, because at the moment the monster looked at me, I pulled the trigger. My senses improved, not only that; it seemed that my reflexes improved as well because at the very moment the creature raised its head, the center of the crosshair was where I wanted, on the creature¡¯s right eye. A perfect shot, I knew that I had succeeded when I pulled the trigger. But it took two seconds for the others notice, they noticed because of the mutant cat¡¯s scream. ¡°I guess I also deserve to be lucky once in a while.¡± After three seconds, a bolt suddenly appeared in the crossbow, and without my help, the crossbow was ready to be used again. The price of that was me getting dizzy for half a second; also at the same time, the mutant cat began to run towards me. Even from afar, I could see that expression of rage. But before the monster could attack, we entered in formation. Harry was in front of us, and Sarah was behind. Harry used his sword to stop the monster advance using both hands; he didn¡¯t even try to attack. He used all his strength to defend. But the monster¡¯s charge had been more powerful than he thought, he got knocked down with the swing of the creature¡¯s left paw. The creature was almost crushing Harry with its weight. But before that could happen, the creature attacked with the other paw. But again the beast screamed, Rose¡¯s knife pierced the paw before it could hit Harry. Rose probably used a lot of power because the knife almost crossed the entire paw. That paw wouldn¡¯t be used anymore, the momentum was in our favor and didn¡¯t waste that chance. The creature was just five meters away from me; at that distance, the crossbow could show its maximum potential. I didn¡¯t miss, my attack hit the mutant cat¡¯s forehead and pierced deeply, and like a doll, the creature fell on Harry.
You have obtained 05 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 05 Evolution Coins.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The fight didn¡¯t last more than ten seconds, but it looked like we fought a lot more, and I was exhausted, thanks to the tension. It took quite, but Harry managed to free himself of the massive weight of the creature¡¯s body. After that, Sarah healed Harry¡¯s wounds, I didn¡¯t see it, but the mutant cat¡¯s claws managed to scratch him, and he also hit his head on the ground. ¡°I guess your crossbow can do the job.¡± Even though he was visibly in pain, Harry managed to say that smiling. ¡°I don¡¯t think we should trust that much in your predictions; you said that you could block three attacks, but a single one managed to knock you down.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ that¡¯s true.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that is the case;" Rose said thoughtfully, "something was different. I guess that your shot enraged the monster and the anger made the creature more powerful, I¡¯m pretty sure of it.¡± I guess that makes sense; some animals become more dangerous when they are wounded. ¡°Well, sorry about that.¡± ¡°No need to apologies," Rose said, "you did whatthat to kill the creature as fast as possible. But since your crossbow is powerful enough to kill this kind of creature at this distance, I guess we should change our strategy.¡± It was a little less effective, but Rose could use her telekinesis to control living beings. Instead of attacking, she would support Harry and slow down the enemies. And I would be the only one attacking. ¡°It¡¯s a very convenient skill, why don¡¯t you just explode the monsters brains or something.¡± ¡°What a scary imagination you have¡­" Rose frowned, "I already tried that, but I¡¯m not powerful enough. Maybe if I break my mental limit a few more times, I¡¯ll be able to do that, only against the rats.¡± It was useful, but that skill wasn¡¯t invincible. ¡°You aren¡¯t totally useless, so don¡¯t disappoint us and don¡¯t hit Harry,¡± Rose said ¡°Hahaha, there¡¯s no way Ethan would do that. Right, Ethan?¡± Harry said, laughing ¡°Who knows, maybe I¡¯ll hit you since you are too big.¡± Harry laughed, but I was serious, he was big after all. Besides, I wasn¡¯t all that proficient using the bow or the crossbow. That was a big responsibility, but it was also the best way for us to fight. But Sarah was right, and her strategy was very effective. The mutant cats that we faced after the first one didn¡¯t manage to knock down Harry, after the creatures¡¯ first attack, Sarah approached Harry from his left side and used her skill to slow down the monster and to keep Harry safe. At the same time, I would move to his right side, and when I was at five meters away from the creature¡¯s I used the crossbow. At that distance, a single crossbow in the head was enough to kill it, and I wouldn¡¯t miss. However, that strategy was only possible because all of those mutant cats walked alone; they were quite the gluttonous, these creatures. Always fighting against many rats and always eating them soon after the battle ended, we even saw one mutant cat attacking another mutant cat because of food. They had more than enough, but they refused to share with their kin. But it was only convenient for us, Rose was smart, but she couldn¡¯t form a plan to fight against two mutant cats, and we all knew that. However, we couldn¡¯t use that strategy for a long time. Soon the night came and soon I was dizzy. The crossbow was powerful, but after using it for fifteen times, I could barely walk. My MP bar was almost empty because to create a single crossbow bolt; I had to spend the same amount enough to create four or my arrows. On that night, we stayed in a hotel that hadn¡¯t been attacked but still was empty. Since the entrance door was made of glass, Harry used many objects to block both the entrance and the secure exit door. We didn¡¯t find any food, but we found some clean clothes and of course, many beds free to be used. The hotel had ten floors, and we stayed on the last one, I ¡®¡¯rented¡¯¡¯ a room for myself and Harry, Rose and Sarah rented another one for them. I already knew that they were friends, possibly childhood friends, but for two young and single woman to sleep with a man in the same room. Probably their relationship was about to reach the next level, but they didn¡¯t anything that night, they just talked before sleeping. And thanks to my heightened senses, I was able to hear their conversation clearly, since I was just dizzy and not tired. That was a good chance because they didn¡¯t talk much that day, we just walked and rested. ¡°What do you think, Rose?¡± Harry asked ¡°It¡¯s as you said," Rose answered, "even though he doesn¡¯t have much experience with his weapons, he is doing a good job. At this rate, we may reach our homes the day after tomorrow.¡± ¡°I think so too," Sarah added, "he rarely drops his guard, not even after the battles, he always keeps an eye open to our surroundings.¡± So Sarah noticed that, huh. I guess that was expected; after all, she is always behind us; thus, she can see all our actions. But she misunderstood my intentions; I was doing that because I didn¡¯t want to be attacked from behind or lose my ear again. I may be dumb, but I don¡¯t make the same mistake twice, not when I¡¯m calm at least. ¡°But something smells fishy," Rose frowned, "why does he have two skills? Besides, sometimes he looks at that crossbow with a strange look on his face. Almost like he didn¡¯t give up about the idea of killing those criminals.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say such a thing; you are probably overthinking,¡± Harry said. Again Harry was wrong, and Rose was right. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t give up about that; I owe Martin that much at least. If I don¡¯t do it, who will? But that wasn¡¯t my priority; first I had to find my parents, only after that I would help the environment and clean my city a little bit. But still, Rose was too smart to understand with just a few actions. Or perhaps I was an easy person to read. I guess I¡¯ll have to train my expressions, I don¡¯t intend to do anything questionable, but my thoughts are mine, and I don¡¯t want anyone knowing about what I¡¯m thinking. After that, they talked about their past, and at that time, I didn¡¯t try to hear them. Instead, I made better use of my time and slept until sunrise. On the fifth day, we walked at a good pace; we only stopped when I couldn¡¯t keep my focus, that means when MP bar was low again. ¡°You should break your mental limit next time," Rose declared, "that way, you will be able to keep shooting for a longer time.¡± ¡°I have an even better idea, give me some lemonade, and I can keep shooting all day nonstop.¡± I said that as a matter of fact, but they only showed expressions of utter confusion. Before they could ask anything, I explained to them what happens when I drink lemonade. And to my surprise, they didn¡¯t doubt my words. In fact, Rose looked quite interested in the subject. ¡°How much did you drink and how much did you recover?¡± Rose asked curiously. ¡°I think I drunk one liter and I recovered 20 MP.¡± ¡°How much time it took for your MP to recover?¡± Rose asked. ¡°As soon as I drunk, my MP went up.¡± ¡°I see, that was quite informative," Rose said. "But as you already know, we don¡¯t have lemons, much less lemonade. By the way, how can you drink so much something so strong and bitter?¡± "I drink because I like it and I don''t think it''s that bitter, plus, I always feel relaxed when I drink." They looked at me as if i was the weirdo of the group. However, Rose had a point, but I still wanted to keep breaking my sensorial limit. Because soon, I would be able to feel the monsters¡¯ presence from afar. In my actual state, even when I closed my eyes, I could feel Harry¡¯s group presence while they were thirty meters away from me. And while they were close, if I concentrate, I could even hear their heartbeats. Soon I would become a human lie detector! ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think he has to change his choice," Harry said. "Our group is well-balanced as it is, besides we have to stop once in a while, or eventually we will make mistakes.¡± Even though Harry wasn¡¯t smart, he wasn¡¯t a fool. He also had a point, thanks to that, Rose, without any problems, acknowledged his argument. ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine, I guess.¡± Rose shrugged I was right, for a change. When I broke the sensorial limit for the fourth time, I began to feel a slight tremor. And I also understood from where that tremor was coming; it was a few hundred meters ahead of us. ¡°You guys know this area, right? What is up ahead?¡± I had a bad feeling about what they would answer, and unfortunately, I didn¡¯t like Rose¡¯s words. ¡°There are a river and a bridge," Rose answered, "after crossing it, we will be in downtown.¡± ¡®¡¯Is there another path?¡± ¡°No, why do you ask?¡± ¡°I think there¡¯s something big up ahead, something massive is close to that bridge.¡± Just after we got used to fighting the mutant cats, another problem appeared. Seriously, how unlucky can a single person be? Chapter 09 Hunted Life sure is funny, one day you hunt, and on the other day, you are hunted. I thought that while I watched a group of mutant cats being torn apart. As I expected, something was up ahead, blocking ou way. That something was a mutant rat, but that one was even bigger than the others. It was five-meter tall, and it was fatter than the others. Thanks to that, the fat rat didn''t look like it could move around that much. It was slow, but it was powerful. The monster, could throw stones and pieces of walls like cannonballs, where did the fat rat get those? From the ground and the walls of the nearby buildings. Since the monster¡¯ claws were powerful enough to destroy walls and the ground, the mutant cats'' bodies became piles of shredded meat. After the massacre, the mutant rat 2.0 began to eat the mutant cats. It was gruesome, but we watched until the end waiting for the monster to leave the area, but instead, as if it knew about us, the beast approached the bridge and began to sleep. It was a difficult enemy, but it wasn¡¯t invincible, the mutant cats managed to wound the giant rat in many places. I could even see the monster¡¯s muscle. However, there¡¯s no way that Harry could block a single attack of the beast and if we tried to kill if from afar we would be bombarded with stones. ¡°What¡¯s the plan now?¡± We didn¡¯t have many options, but I asked Rose anyway. ¡°We have just one option; let ¡¯s swim.¡± She was right; that was our only option. But not a single one us, not even Rose was very confident with that option. After all, every animal we encountered so far had become mutant beasts. In that case, the river would be full of those too, right? And just like we all imagined, the river was full of mutant creatures now. Even from afar we could see some oversized fish swimming in the river, and in the riverbank, we saw some purple and big frogs. Quickly we left that place, and we entered a restaurant, it wasn¡¯t safe to sleep, but we wouldn¡¯t stay for a long time anyway. ¡°Do you have any other plan?¡± Maybe I was annoying, or perhaps I was na?ve while I waited for Rose to have solutions to all of our problems. But that couldn¡¯t be helped. I already accepted her as my temporary leader. She was far smarter than me, and until I find my parents, she was the only person who could choose the less dangerous path to follow. However, Rose was hesitating. Instead, Harry answered my question. ¡°We have to kill that rat; we don¡¯t have any other choice. St Louis Street is blocked, and then there are those criminals, if we keep retreating, eventually we will get stuck somewhere.¡± ¡°I also agree, I don¡¯t think that big rat is the only one who grew too much. I can¡¯t fight like you three, but I¡¯ll do my best to heal your wounds.¡± Now that was surprising, Sarah never gave her opinion until now. But she did the right thing; sometimes it was just too cruel to wait for a single person make the decisions and bear the weight of the consequences. We all have to agree; that way, we all would share the success or the failure. But I had a better idea, it was a bet, and maybe I would die thanks to my new found confidence. However, it was the best plan that I could form. ¡°Before you guys decide that, let me test something.¡± All of them looked at me puzzled, we were in a dangerous situation, and it wasn¡¯t time to do something dangerous or test a half-assed plan. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that; I won¡¯t do anything stupid. I only want to test how fast I can run.¡± ¡°Why do you have to do that right now?¡± Rose looked pretty annoyed, but she was right in questioning me. Even though I did my job properly until that moment, she still didn¡¯t trust me. ¡°Well, I was thinking about instead of fighting, we should make that monster get away from the bridge. I¡¯m not sure, but I think that by breaking my sensorial limit, I also got faster. Think about it, since my senses improved, I can react faster, that¡¯s exactly why I managed to hit the eye of that first mutant cat. Since I can now react faster, my speed should have improved too, right?¡± For a few seconds, they looked at each other, trying to understand my reasoning. But since it was simple, they soon nodded. ¡°You noticed that your reflexes improved, but you didn¡¯t notice the same thing happening to your speed?¡± Rose asked while looking suspiciously at me again, seriously¡­ this woman is a good leader, but a real pain the ass. ¡°I didn¡¯t have many chances to run after I broke my sensorial limit for the first time.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s say that you are right and that you can run faster than any of us," Rose said, "do you plan to lure that monster away from the bridge? Are you sure about that?¡± ¡°Do you think that I¡¯m planning to sacrifice myself? Give me a break; I just don¡¯t want to fight a lost battle. Let¡¯s do the test; if you guys think that I¡¯m not faster enough, then forget about my idea.¡± In the end, Rose agreed to test my speed. Honestly, I didn¡¯t want to lure that thing away from the bridge. But I didn¡¯t want to fight against it either; it was madness, nothing more and nothing less. To avoid any possible problems, we moved away from the bridge, and we begin the test, which was just me running as fast as possible for two hundred meters and then I would return also running to the start point. We didn¡¯t have any clocks, so, Rose would count the time. As soon as she gave the signal, I began to run imagining myself being chased by the fat rat. I moved my legs as fast as I could, and I didn¡¯t even try to breathe. Soon I reached the halfway point, and without any delay, I turned around and began to run again. And sooner than I thought I was with Harry¡¯s group again. Since I was just focused on running, I didn¡¯t notice my speed, but I guessed that I took less than a minute. I was tired, but I still could keep running at that speed for four or five minutes. At least, My STA bar was showing that. ¡°How was I?¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Rose looked at me with a severe expression, while Sarah looked astonished, and Harry looked amazed. I guess that I did well. Then finally Rose answered me. ¡°You ran four hundred meters in forty seconds.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good or bad?¡± ¡°It¡¯s good enough to beat the world record by three seconds," Rose said. "You don¡¯t look like an athlete, so that means that you were right. Your speed improved just like your reflexes.¡± That was more amazing than I thought. However, was I fast enough to keep a distance from the fat rat? In a normal situation, probably I would be. But to make the monster chase me, I would have to enrage the creature, and the beast will likely become faster two. ¡°Well, we can¡¯t test my theory. So It¡¯s all or nothing. You guys hide, and wait for a minute, only cross the bridge when you can¡¯t see the monster anymore. And run as fast as possible, I don¡¯t want to return and see you guys still around.¡± ¡°Are you sure about this, Ethan? We can always find another and safer solution.¡± Harry¡¯s words made me feel itchy; it was uncomfortable to see a man who wasn¡¯t my father worried about me. Rose didn¡¯t care about me, but she didn¡¯t want to feel responsible for my death. Sarah was a bit more concerned, but it was because, in the future, she would be a doctor. Like any doctor, she didn¡¯t want to see any a person die. ¡°I¡¯m sure we can find a better solution. I even have one. We just have to make Rose kill one hundred of those mutant cats by herself. Then she will be powerful enough to blow that monster¡¯s head from this distance. But that would take a long time.¡± ¡°You are right, just don¡¯t anything stupid," Harry said. "You still have to find your parents and siblings.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just me, or this whole situation looks like my farewell? Listen to me, all of you; I¡¯m not going to die! I¡¯m not going to die! Now go hide yourselves already.¡± Just like that, they hid in that restaurant. Seriously, it¡¯s good to have people worried about you, but most of the time that feels like a pain in the ass. After half an hour, I was already totally recovered and decided to put the plan in action. The creature was still near the bridge, and fortunately, it didn¡¯t notice me when I was one hundred meters away. At that distance, the crossbow bolt wouldn¡¯t be enough to pierce the fat rat skin. However, I didn¡¯t have to do that. The monster had already lost a considerable amount of meat thanks to the mutant cats¡¯ attacks. I just had to aim at one of those places where the pink flesh was visible. Unfortunately, the monster¡¯s legs weren¡¯t wounded. If I could hurt one of the legs, my chances of survival would increase by manifold. But whatever, he who doesn¡¯t have a dog hunts like a cat. I only had one chance; I had to make the creature run towards me. So I had to hit one the wounds. If I miss, the beast would probably throw stones at me, and then I would die since the rocks were as big as my head and the stones were faster than my arrows. Besides was nothing nearby that I could use as a cover. I forgot about my surroundings, and I began to focus on the target, there was a wound on the creature¡¯s left side very close to the heart. Who knows, maybe would be lucky again and kill it with a single attack. Those thoughts disappeared when the crosshair appeared in the creature¡¯s head. Instead of trying to lure the damn monster, I should go for the kill. But that was impossible, the creature¡¯s head was big and probably hard as a rock. After a few seconds, everything around me disappeared. Suddenly, the world was just me, the crossbow bolt trajectory, and the fat rat. Thanks to that, I heard the wind that would make me miss the target, and just like that for a single moment, the crosshair became unstable, but soon it returned to normal. That was close; if I had pulled the trigger at that time, I would have missed. Soon I began to sweat, that tension was unbearable. However, that tension only made my senses sharper, thanks to that, my aim stopped right in the wound. Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger and hit the target. Again a perfect shot, even though it takes a lot of time and makes me mentally tired, they are almost worth the trouble. Almost because every single perfect shot only puts me in the worst situations. When the monster got hit, instantly it got up and began to scream. Even from afar, I had to cover my eyes. ¡®If this scream attracts other monsters, then I will, without a doubt, die.¡¯ That was one of my fears, but I didn¡¯t have the time or leisure to see if that would happen. Even before that creature got up, I began to run for my life. However, I didn¡¯t put the crossbow in my back. After all, in the worst-case scenario, I would have to use it again. Before I could notice it, I was three hundred meters away from the monster; the creature began to run towards me only at that moment. From a brief moment, I felt safe; the fat rat wouldn¡¯t be able to get close to me. Since it was fat, the beast couldn¡¯t run in four legs, and the legs were too short. So I just had to run a few hundred meters to give Harry¡¯s group a bit more of time, then I would just have to turn left three times and turn right and run like hell to reach the bridge. And so I did, after two minutes running in a straight line, I decided to look at the monster. ¡®It seems that we have the same speed. They should have already crossed the bridge; it¡¯s time to return.¡¯ In the next intersection, I turned left and began to run, I was lucky to run so much without encountering another monster, but that was because we killed every monster we met. When I would turn left again, I felt that something was wrong. Suddenly everything became quiet, too quiet. I couldn¡¯t hear the fat rat¡¯s scream, and I couldn¡¯t feel the tremor in the ground either. ¡®Don¡¯t tell me, that monster give up on chasing me?¡¯ I stopped running, and I began to worry. If that were the case, then I would be in dire straits. I was alone now, and probably the fat rat wouldn¡¯t chase me anymore. Instead, the damn monster would throw stones at me. However, that wasn¡¯t what happened; the fat rat didn¡¯t give up. The beast appeared on the same street that I was; the creature also turned left in one intersection. ¡®Holy shit¡­ that thing is smart. If I kept running the distance between us now would be only two hundred meters.¡¯ Suddenly, my legs began to tremble. I underestimate that monster¡­ to think such a thing would be able to copy my actions to ambush me. I was in trouble; there¡¯s no way that I would outsmart that thing. All of my actions would just be copied, and eventually, I would be unable to keep running. Since that was the case, I picked the crossbow and prepared to shot. The monster saw my actions and began to run again, without aiming I just shot and began to run, this time I didn¡¯t try any trick I just run towards the bridge. Thanks to my actions, after a minute, I was back to the start point. Only one hundred meters away from the bridge, but the fat rat was now only one hundred meters away from me too. I didn¡¯t have other choices since running around would only tire me, and eventually, I wouldn¡¯t be able to run anymore. I avoided a problem, but now I was facing another, should I cross the bridge? That would be stupid; the monster would only follow me and eventually kill me. I had to do something now. I had to kill it, so I stopped and aimed again. I wouldn¡¯t have many chances, but I would make all of them worthwhile. However, to my surprise, before I could even aim, the fat rat also stopped running and began to attack the ground and picked some stones. ¡®Why the hell this thing is doing that?¡¯ It was strange; the difference in power was evident. The monster only had to get close enough and would be able to kill me with a single blow. But instead, the creature was trying to keep a distance. ¡®Is it afraid of me? No way¡­¡¯ Perhaps my first shot caused more damage than I thought when I thought that, I noticed, I couldn¡¯t see any of the crossbow bolts on the monster''s body. But I could see a lot of blood on the creature¡¯s left side. It seemed that both of my shots hit the mark and pierced the deeply in the creature¡¯s body. The beast was almost dead, I could kill it, but I took too long to notice that. The fat rat threw the stones towards me. ¡°Damn it!¡± Two stones, both big and fast enough to kill me, were heading towards me. I only had one choice, destroy them. I didn¡¯t have even time to think about it; I just did it. The crosshair suddenly moved toward one of the stones and stopped right in front of it. Without wasting time, I pulled the trigger, and then the unbelievable happened. The bolt hit the stone and destroyed it in pieces, and the small pieces changed the trajectory of the other stone. I was saved, now I just had to shot again and kill the fat rat. When I thought about that, for an instant, I saw a fist-size stone flying towards my head. I felt a sharp pain in my head, and then I was engulfed by darkness. Just my luck... Chapter 10 Countdown ¡®Congratulations, you have successfully collected ninety evolution orbs, and now you can break a limit of your body, what limit do you wish to break: physical limit, mental limit or sensorial limit?¡¯ ¡®Congratulations, you have successfully collected ninety evolution orbs, and now you can break a limit of your body, what limit do you wish to break: physical limit, mental limit or sensorial limit?¡¯ That damn fucking voice again, you already know it, damn it! I want to break the sensorial limit! A wave of pain crossed my body, and thanks to it, I was now fully awake. However, I was in a strange place, a very luxurious room, it looked quite old-school. All the objects of the room seemed to be from the nineteenth century. But, before I could understand why I was in that place, that damn voice returned. ¡®Congratulations, you have successfully collected one hundred and twenty evolution orbs, and now you can break a limit of your body, what limit do you wish to break: physical limit, mental limit or sensorial limit?¡¯ ¡°What? Again?¡± That was a pleasant surprise, but that was strange. How I collected so many evolution orbs? Again, I choose to break the sensorial limit, and again, I felt that pain for a few seconds. When that process ended, I felt a sharp pain in my head, and then suddenly, half of my field of vision became red. ¡°What the fuck¡­ blood?¡± Only at that moment, I noticed, I was wounded, and half of my head was covered with bandages. But then it happened again. ¡®Congratulations, you have successfully collected one hundred and forty evolution orbs, and now you can break a limit of your body, what limit do you wish to break: physical limit, mental limit or sensorial limit?¡¯ ¡°What the hell happened?¡± It was time to calm down; I had to remember what happened. The first image that appeared in my head was that fat rat running towards me; then I stopped to kill it when I was near the bridge, then everything became dark. ¡°Did I somehow kill it? That would explain why I was able to break my sensorial limit three times in a row.¡± One question had been answered, and now I just had to know how I arrived at this place when I thought that the door opened and I saw Harry. ¡°Holy shit!¡± Harry said startled. ¡°You are bleeding again! Stop moving you dumbass!¡± It seemed that I was worse than I thought, I was bleeding again after all. I killed the fat rat, but I didn¡¯t escape unharmed, Harry wasn''t skillful, but he managed to change my bandages and clean my face. ¡°What happened? What is this place?¡± ¡°First of all, try to rest a little,¡± Harry said after a long sigh. ¡°We can talk later; we have many things to discuss.¡± Not only worried, but Harry also looked pretty serious and somewhat sad, which was strange, because he was always joking around even after the most dangerous battles. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to rest without those answers.¡± ¡°I guess so,¡± Harry said after sighing again. ¡°You are that type of guy.¡± Why so many sighs, that was already making me feel depressed. ¡°After you lured the fat rat,¡± Harry started. ¡°We safely crossed the bridge. Fortunately, we didn¡¯t find many enemies on the other side. So we decided to wait for you, but you didn¡¯t come. After half an hour we began to look for you, and then we found you inside of a pool of blood and just a few meters away from you we could see the fat rat¡¯s body. Thanks to his words, I remembered everything, that thing was intelligent, so I had to kill it or else we would be chased until we couldn''t run anymore. Thanks to a miracle, all my shots hit the wound, crossed the meat, and possibly hit some vital organs. That was the only explanation. ¡°You big dumbass!¡± Harry shouted. ¡°You said that you wouldn¡¯t fight. I never thought that you were a liar.¡± ¡°Better not judge a book by its cover next time. But I¡¯m not a liar. I didn¡¯t have any choice.¡± Since it was better to share the information, I explained everything that happened to Harry. After all, who can say that we won¡¯t encounter another intelligent monster? ¡°Are you serious? Intelligent monsters?¡± Harry said, while showing a sad expression. ¡°Only bad news one after another.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? By the way, where are those two?¡± ¡°Rose and Sarah are in the next room,¡± Harry hesitated. ¡°They are¡­ grieving.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that? Who died?¡± ¡°Their parents,¡± Harry answered, clenching his fists.¡± Both of them are dead.¡± ¡°How do you know that? For how long I stayed unconscious? Did you guys reached your parents¡¯ home?¡± ¡°You only slept a single day, but let¡¯s go to the lobby, it will better if you see for yourself, but try to keep calm,¡± Harry warned,showing a severe expression. ¡°You may not like what you will see.¡± His warning made me feel tense, Harry was depressed, and since that was so different from his usual self, I began to imagine the reason for it. He was also sad, thanks to Rose¡¯s and Sarah¡¯s parents¡¯ death. But I could tell, that was only one of many reasons. As I thought we were in an old-school hotel, everything looked fancy, well-crafted, and brand new, but I also looked retro, the windows, the carpet, the curtains, the vases, the lamps. Wait a minute. The lights were working! ¡°Why the lamps here are working? Solar energy?¡± ¡°Dunno,¡± Harry answered uninterestedly. ¡°But we didn¡¯t see any solar panels.¡± The lobby of the hotel was like everything else, except for two things: A massive map on the ceiling and a shining silver statue in the middle of the lobby. The statue was weird, it looked to be the statue of a woman, but the curves weren¡¯t exactly feminine, and the face wasn¡¯t all that detailed. On the other hand, the map was quite easy to understand since it had a very familiar blue screen next to it. Besides, the vast map had thousands of red dots, every single dot marking the localization of one thing.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Area 43 Map
Survivor count: 11487/ 25000
I froze, if that blue screen was correct, that means that only eleven thousand people in the entire city was still alive. But something was off about those numbers, the population of the city wasn¡¯t only twenty-five thousand, it was two million and a half. It looked pretty simple and meaningless, soon the seven became six, but I understood the meaning of that, one person in the same situation as I had died. I searched for my parents¡¯ home on the map, and soon I found it, but not a single red dot was there. My legs began to tremble, and I felt a terrible shiver. ¡°¡­ Can show where we are on the map?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Harry answered. ¡°Look at the center of the map; we are on the biggest building half a meter away from the center on the left side.¡± I found the building, and to my surprise, I could see four red dots inside the building. No, that couldn¡¯t be it that was just a coincidence. My father was amazing, he was a special agent of the army, and my mom was smart. Even my siblings were too awesome when compared to me. If I managed to stay alive, of course, they would be able to do that as well. ¡°By your expression, your home is empty, right?¡± Harry said as a matter of fact. ¡°But don¡¯t lose hope yet, there¡¯s another way to confirm if your folks are alive or not. Just touch the statue, and you will understand how.¡± Harry¡¯s indifference was beginning to annoy me, but he just saved my life again, so I didn¡¯t have the right to get angry at him. Besides, I still didn¡¯t know if he lost someone too. Without wasting time, I touched the statue, and another blue screen appeared.
Creation
Search
Transfer
Specials
Those options were strange, but only one interested me: Search. When I touched that option, a list of names appeared in front of me; those were the names of people that I knew, and some people that I barely could remember who they were. I almost fell on the floor when I saw their names.
Jerry: Area 77 - Alive
Naomi: Area 33 ¨C Alive
Ryan: Area 03 ¨C Alive
Elly: Area 82 - Alive
Arthur: Area 22 ¨C KIA
¡­
They were alive, both my parents and siblings were alive. Just by knowing that, all those hellish days disappeared from my mind. They were alive, and that was what it mattered to me. Arthur was my boss, we didn¡¯t talk much, but knowing about his death made me feel sad. I could probably trust in that screen because the last name of the list was Martin and next to his was Area 43 and KIA. ¡°Do you know what those areas are?¡± ¡°While you were resting we did some tests,¡± Harry answered, showing a pained expression. ¡°We aren¡¯t one hundred percent sure, but we think each area represents a copy of our city. If you pay one hundred evolution coins, you can see the localization of any person. I did that to find the localization of my mother and sister. And a map of our city appeared showing their localization. But on the map of the ceiling, there are no red dots on the same place.¡± ¡°So they are in some alternative universe or something? How¡¯s that even possible?¡± ¡°No idea, but if you think about it, it makes sense,¡± Harry explained. ¡°You can see on the map that this city only had twenty-five thousands of persons when everything started. That explains why we didn¡¯t meet many survivors until now.¡± He had a point, considering that, then probably would exist other 99 areas. But why divide the people of this city, to make our odds of survival even more difficult? And exactly, why did this happen? It didn¡¯t look like the work of human beings, was it a natural disaster? It was impossible to answer those questions. ¡°So your parents and siblings are alive, huh?¡± Harry said, showing a weak smile. ¡°Your family is a tough one. If they are all alive, then you have four more reasons to keep fighting.¡± He was right, but something was off. But I didn¡¯t have to ask. ¡°You see, you can bring your family to this area,¡± Harry added. ¡°But it¡¯s a bit pricey. You have to pay ten thousand evolution coins.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good to hear, but right now I only have 553 evolution coins. More than I expected actually, to bring all of them to my side. I guess it¡¯ll take a while.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better than nothing,¡± Harry said. ¡°I¡¯ll bring my sister and my mother to my side too, but I can¡¯t leave Rose and Sarah alone, besides I¡¯m sure that they will help me do that. So it¡¯ll be more efficient to stay here for a day or two, to rest our minds. But knowing you, probably you won¡¯t wait for us, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t wait for you guys, I have to bring them to my side as soon as possible.¡± ¡°I thought that you would say that I wish you good luck then. ¡°Harry said, and began to walk away, but he stopped. ¡°Ah, make sure to look at the specials section. And when you access the creation section then think about this: Vampire Hunter¡¯s Crossbow.¡± I didn¡¯t have any idea about what he was talking about, but he probably suggested me to get a new crossbow, but how? Maybe I could buy one using the statue, I left the search menu and then accessed the menu creation, and two screens appeared: Create and Sell. But what I could sell, my bow and the crossbow? No, I can¡¯t sell Marti¡¯s crossbow, but I could sell my old bow and the quiver. But before that, I had to see if I really could buy another weapon. ¡°Let¡¯s see... Create.¡± ¡®Welcome to the creation system, what do you wish to create?¡¯ Again that annoying voice and why is this thing asking that? At least show me what I can create, damn it. However, if there were no options, then that means that I can create anything? ¡°I want to create one liter of lemonade.¡± Suddenly, a hologram appeared before me; it was the hologram of a one-liter bottle of lemonade, that bottle even had a blue screen attached to it.
Lemonade (01 liters): A refreshing and bitter beverage, it can recover your MP by 25. Price: 10 Evolution Coins.
¡°I thought it would be less pricey, but since it can recover so much MP, then the price is fair enough. I guess I¡¯ll create ten bottles.¡± Suddenly, ten bottles of lemonade appeared in front of me, and I lost one hundred evolution coins. ¡°Now, let¡¯s see I also have to create some food. But before that, I should do what Harry said. What was the name again? Vampire Hunter¡¯s Crossbow? Maybe I will find some vampires; some crazy stuff is happening everywhere, after all.¡± Again, a hologram appeared before me. The crossbow looked pretty awesome like a master craftsman had made it. It was gray and black and made of metal, the crossbow had some weird parts, there was a cylinder in front of the trigger, and it didn¡¯t have any part for me to put the bolts. ¡°This is¡­ a rapid-fire crossbow! Awesome! It¡¯s exactly what I need!¡±
Vampire Hunter¡¯s Crossbow Max Range: 250 meters Effective Range: 150 meters It can create: wooden bolts x 50 (20 MP), iron bolts x 50 (40 MP), steel bolts x50 (60 MP) Price: 400 Evolution Coins
¡°This one here has much more information, probably because it¡¯s a weapon. I don¡¯t even need to think, create!¡± The crossbow appeared in midair and then fell on my hands, it was a bit heavy, but I would be able to carry without any problem. After that, I sold my bow and decided to use my remaining evolution coins to buy some packed lunch. Unfortunately, typical food could only recover 02 HP and 05 STA. Well, lemonade it¡¯s great, so it¡¯s only natural that can do that much. ¡°I can survive with this amount of food for five days I guess, how much evolution coins I should be able to obtain in the meantime?¡± While I was wondering about that, I checked the special menu. There I could found the option of transport, with that option I would be able to bring my parents and siblings to this area. I also found the option Countdown.
7946625 seconds
Something would happen in ninety-two days, but what? I felt nervous about that countdown. However, the other option left me speechless.
Revival: you can revive a dead ally. Cost: 999999 Evolution Coins
I did well in not selling Martin¡¯s crossbow; someday maybe I¡¯ll be able to return it to its rightful owner. Chapter 011 Predator To think that I could bring a person from the dead. The cost was ridiculous, but if the possibility exists. No. I can¡¯t be too greedy; I don¡¯t know even If will be alive next week, how can I plan to obtain so much evolution coins? ¡°Better forget about this¡­ and bring them to my side as soon as possible, who knows what will happen in ninety-two days.¡± When I finished my business with the statue, Harry appeared again. ¡°It seems that you are ready to leave,¡± Harry said, looking at the bottles of lemonade. ¡°I forgot to say this, but you should return here every night.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s safer,¡± Harry answered as a matter of fact. ¡°To enter in this hotel, we have to pay ten evolution coins, but the monsters can¡¯t approach, besides, this place can make you heal faster.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± That was amazing! If it were safer and could heal wounds faster, it would be a perfect base of operations. ¡°Yeah,¡± Harry added. ¡°When we found you, you were already beyond Sarah healing abilities. But fortunately, we found this place. Sarah only stopped your bleeding; this place did the rest of the work. If I had a camera, I would have taken a picture of your almost destroyed head only to show to you now. If you are alive now, it¡¯s thanks to a miracle. Do don¡¯t anything unreasonable again.¡± With a serious face, Harry said those words and then left. He almost seemed an entirely different person. Well, maybe he will return to his usual self once he sees his mother and sister again. I returned to that room and lunched before packing the few things that I had. Before leaving, I thought about saying goodbye to Sarah and Rose, but I dismissed the idea. The last thing they would want was to talk with someone who couldn¡¯t understand their pain. When I left the hotel, the sun was high in the sky, it was noon, and I could see that I was near that bridge. Just like Harry said, there were no monsters nearby. So I used that chance to understand how my new crossbow worked. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ Do I have to think about creating the bolts? I want to create wooden bolts!¡± And just like that, the arrows appeared inside that cylinder, since it was mechanical, I couldn''t understand how it would function only by looking at it. But that crossbow was closer to a rifle than a regular crossbow. After all, what kind of crossbow could shot fifty bolts without the need of being reloaded? The process of creating bolts was simple, but it had a price: a wave of dizziness. Spending that much MP made me felt like I stayed in a roller-coaster for half an hour. But that feeling disappeared after thirty seconds. ¡°Better not do this near any monster.¡± Now, I only had two things to do, test the crossbow in action, and find an excellent place to obtain evolution coins as much as possible. The safest method would be to keep killing the rats in ST Louis Street, but that probably would take a lot of time. And time wasn¡¯t something that I could waste. I had to find some strong monster like that fat rat, it was dangerous, but the reward would be more significant. ¡°Monster like those will be hard to find¡­ come to think of it; we didn¡¯t kill the monsters nearby the river, I have to see if they can give me a decent amount of evolution coins.¡± I didn¡¯t even have to get nearby the river. In that side of the river, the frogs were already everywhere. Maybe we didn¡¯t find a single one before because the fat rat scared or ate them. Before I could even see them, I felt their jumps and their landing. Breaking the sensorial limit so many times it had been a good idea; now I could sense the presences of any living creature in a radius of seventy meters, the chances of me being ambushed had fallen a lot. I could double the effectiveness of my senses if I focused in a single direction, but I would only do that on rare occasions. The frogs weren¡¯t as big as the rats, but they were larger. Probably their weight was more than one hundred kilograms, even though they were that fat, they could easily jump ten meters upwards. Their jump could turn me in meat paste. But what worried was their purple tongue, it was poisonous, there was no mistake. ¡°If I get too close, I¡¯ll be smashed, and frogs have long tongues. So an oversized frog should have an even bigger tongue. I have to kill them from very afar, but will the crossbow be powerful enough? It¡¯s time to find out.¡± The first frog was fifty meters away from me and began to shot as soon as the monster landed, but even so, I wasn¡¯t able to hit them. The creature was quick on its feet and was in midair again, thanks to that; I had been noticed. ¡°Damn it!¡± While the creature was in midair, I pulled the trigger, and the crossbow shot three bolts in a single second. The shooting speed was excellent, but the attack power was lacking. Two bolts had bounced on the frog¡¯s stomach, only one managed to his the monster¡¯s face and pierce, but that wasn¡¯t enough to kill it. I tried to predict the frog¡¯s landing point, but I failed, and again, the bolts hit the ground. When the creature was only thirty meters away from me, instead of its usual vertical jump, the frog launched itself towards me. It was faster than the rats, but with my improved reflexes and speed, I managed to avoid the attack by walking three steps to the right. ¡®Perfect, now I can kill it.¡¯ Predict the landing point in that situation would be easy, besides the frog¡¯s back would be exposed. However, before I could aim, the frog looked at me as soon as I avoided the attack and then launched its purple tongue towards me. ¡®Holy ¡­¡¯ Awkwardly, I crouched down and avoided the attack. The frog landed ten meters away from me, but its tongue was even longer than that. ¡®Tsk, annoying monster. Just give your evolution coins already!¡¯Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Even though I was in an awkward position, I used the crossbow and shot two times. The two bolts managed to hit the frog¡¯s back, and the creature stopped moving even before its tongue could return.
You have obtained 10 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 10 Evolution Coins.
¡°That was close, but always the first battle against a new type of enemy is hard. Without information, any attack can surprise me. Nevertheless, it was pretty obvious, but this creature was less dangerous than the mutant cats, that¡¯s why it gave me only this much. Ugh, this monster tongue it stinks.¡± Since I didn¡¯t know if I could get poisoned by feeling that smell, I decided to get away from that place. It would be a little hard, but I also had to kill one fish of the river. Perhaps they would give me more evolution coins. To my surprise, I received a warm welcome as soon as I was ten meters away from the river. A two-meter long fish jumped from the water, and when it reached ten meters high, the fish spat a head-sized water ball towards me. I already had heard their movements in the water, but even so, that action surprised me. You can¡¯t escape from an attack that you aren¡¯t waiting, so I got hit. Luckily, it was just a water ball; if it were a stone of the same size, I would have died. The water ball hit my left side, I was knocked on the ground, and I rolled a few times. ¡°That hurt like hell and that damn thing aimed to my heart!¡± That attack wasn¡¯t simple; it was almost at the same level as Rose¡¯s telekinesis and Sarah¡¯s healing Prowers. I didn¡¯t like to describe that way, but it was a magic attack. Before I could even get up, again, the left side of my field vision became red, and that damn fish jumped again. ¡°My wound. Ah, fuck!¡± I couldn¡¯t counter-attack in that condition, but I could avoid it. While looking at the mutant fish and analyzing its features, I threw myself to the side. The mouth was big, and the teeth looked sharp, it was almost like a shark. A bite in the wrong place and I would die, but I didn¡¯t have any intentions in swimming in the river. I avoided the blow and waited for the next attack; after five seconds, the mutant fish was back and did the same previous actions. Jumped, it reached the same height and then shot the water ball. ¡°I guess it can only bite and use those water balls.¡± Since it was an aquatic creature, the things the mutant fish could do outside the water were limited. I could counter-attack easily, and so I did. When the mutant fish jumped for the fourth time, I was already aiming at the exact point the creature would stop and shot. The mutant fish opened its mouth, but it didn¡¯t have time to attack. My bolt pierced the inside of its mouth and caused a lot of damage. The mutant fish fell on the river, but soon came to the surface and it wasn¡¯t moving.
You have obtained 10 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 10 Evolution Coins.
¡°The same amount of evolution coins, huh. But, I used only a single bolt. Guess I will hunt some salmon and tuna, from now on. Too bad that I can¡¯t eat them... or maybe I can.¡± After the battle, I cleaned the blood in my face, while I was doing that, I had a really dangerous idea, it would be a little troublesome, but I had to try it. Using some curtains that I found in the nearby buildings, I made a rope and tied in one bolt of Martin¡¯s crossbow. Then I aimed and shot towards the body of the mutant fish. Fortunately, I managed to hit the body, even though the roped changed a little the trajectory of the bolt; after that, I began to pull the rope. ¡°Damn it, so heavy!¡± Since it was big, it took quite a while to pull the body. To make matters worse, some fish and frogs tried to attack me, but they got what they deserved for making my job harder. ¡°Let¡¯s see if that blue screen will appear.¡± I touched the mutant fish¡¯s body, and just like I was hoping, that blue screen appeared. But that was strange; I touched that rat before I met Martin. Why didn¡¯t the screen appeared at that moment? I guess it was because I still didn¡¯t believe in the info those blue screens offered or maybe because I wasn¡¯t curious about the rat¡¯s body info.
Mutant Fish (DEAD): An aquatic mutant creature, it¡¯s able to use aquatic attacks. HP: 0/50 MP: 10/50 STA: 40/50
¡°As I thought, but I already knew that it could use water attacks. Even though this creature has a high attack and can use magic, we have the same amount of HP, MP, and STA. But, since there¡¯s no info about be poisonous or nor, I can¡ät eat it.¡± But when I was about to leave the corpse, I had another idea. I took one of the kitchen knives of my backpack and cut some of the meat.
Mutant Fish¡¯s Meat (2Kg): low-quality meat, it can be safely consumed. After cooked, can restore 05 HP, 02 MP and 10 STA.
¡®Guess that I won¡¯t have to spend evolution coins on some packed lunch anymore, too bad that I don¡¯t have a refrigerator. Maybe, I can also use this meat as a bait to lure some monsters; I have to create a bonfire. But that will probably take some time, besides who knows how many monsters will appear.¡¯ After thinking about those things, I began to cross downtown following the river downstream. Since the river wasn¡¯t vast, I had no choice but do that to find more fish to kill. Their actions were mechanical, but they were excellent targets for me to train my perception and reaction time. I had become faster, but that wasn¡¯t enough, I also had to train my movements, after all, good reflexes wouldn¡¯t do a thing if I trip on stones or put myself in awkward stances. On the other hand, the frogs which I could find near the river were very annoying. Those monsters were also useful to train me, but they made me lose too many bolts. My goal wasn¡¯t to become a super-soldier; it was was to reunite with my parents and siblings. Training would make things more efficient in the long run, but had I the leisure to worry about the long run? No, I had to reunite with my family. Only after that, things would work out, eventually. After stopping two times to rest a little, the night finally came. But, I didn''t have time to return to that hotel. I moved too far away from the hotel while I was focused on killing the fish and the frogs. But all that concentration paid off, in a single afternoon, I managed to recover half of the evolution coins that I had spent. Besides, I also broke the limit again. ¡®If I increase my pace just a little bit I¡¯ll be able to transport one of them to this area. And after that, everything will become easier, after all, two people will do the work. Maybe, in two weeks, we will all be together again.¡¯ I was thinking that while admiring the full moon in the sky. Since I was in downtown, I could use any building as a shelter. But then, I realized that I didn¡¯t have any reason to stop that night. My sight was a lot better than before, and the full moon was illuminating all the city. ¡°Why am I wasting my time here?¡± I had slept for an entire day; I wasn¡¯t tired. I only had to stop do recover my MP. I couldn¡¯t pinpoint the fish localization in the darkness of the water, but there were plenty of frogs jumping around that I could kill. Another mistake that I did, when you focus too much of one thing, you always forget about others. Since was I too focused on reuniting with my family. I forgot about the incident that happened when I killed too many monsters in a small area. After killing ten mutant frogs near a single block, the smell of blood and the frogs¡¯ tongue small had become too strong. The sound of the wind changed and became ominous, something massive but fast was approaching. Those things weren¡¯t the bats, I could hear the sound of enormous wings flapping, but it was only a few. Besides, they didn¡¯t emit the same sound. It was an even more terrifying squeal. And just like the first night, the smell had attracted another predator. In the middle of the night and alone, I was surrounded by three huge birds, their height was the same of the fat rat, but thanks to the massive size of the wings those creatures looked even more dangerous than the fat rat. ¡®I hope that they did come to eat those frogs; otherwise, I¡¯m in trouble.¡¯ Chapter 012 Survivors I should create a notebook in that hotel and write a few useful tips for me and read them every hour. I even already had three valuables tips for writing on it, the first would be: don¡¯t kill too many monsters, but if you do, get away from that place as soon as possible. The second tip would be: If you hear strange noise, run and hide in a place where you can fight without worrying about your back. And the third tip would be: don¡¯t forget about your past mistakes. ¡°I guess that I¡¯m stupid enough to make a mistake twice.¡± Another useful note to write down: you also have to train your mind and make decisions faster. That would be more useful than just stare blankly at some huge creatures flying around you. However, I was lucky the birds didn¡¯t see very well in the dark, and since I didn¡¯t move an inch, two of them didn¡¯t notice me. The only one who landed near me felt my smell. When the creature looked at me, finally I snapped out of it and ran for my life towards the nearest building. The bird, which was probably a hawk, began to chase me, but its strong point was flying not running. I threw myself at the glass door, and without wasting time, I got up and run to the stairs. However, I stopped, I didn¡¯t hear the sound of the mutant hawk running anymore. Instead, I heard the sound of glass shattering. When I looked back, I saw the large hawk trying to enter the building, but it was too tall to be able to enter while standing. That creature also had intelligence, because it attempted to the building while crouching. But it was too slow, thanks to that I shot a barrage of bolts towards the monster face. A few bolts managed to do some damage, but the creature managed to block most of the bolts with its massive wings. ¡°This kind of bolt is useless, damn it!¡± The creature retread, but it didn¡¯t leave me alone. Like the others, it began to devour the frog¡¯s corpses, and even when they finished their meal, they continued to fly around the building. ¡°I guess that they want something less cold¡­ anyway, how did those things managed ate the frog¡¯s tongues?¡± Maybe with luck, they would die thanks to the poison, but I¡¯m not lucky enough to such a thing happen. I had to kill them, I wanted their evolution coins, anyway. Besides, I was in a place that they couldn¡¯t enter, probably. I couldn¡¯t be so sure, those things claws and beaks looked quite powerful. If the fat rat could destroy a few centimeters of ground and walls, those mutant hawks could too. A new tip to write down later: never underestimate your enemies. Those monsters were huge, so almost every bolt that I shot hit them. However, their skin was too thick. While they were flying, I returned to the street to attack them but shooting upwards made the bolts lose a lot of power. ¡°I guess I have to get closer to them and use another kind of bolt.¡± Soon afterward, I used all the wooden bolts, I decided to create the iron bolts, the crossbow became five kilograms heavy, and I fell on the floor. Not because of the crossbow weight, but because of the dizziness. ¡°Maybe I should break the mental limit next time.¡± What an annoying sensation I only recovered after drinking half a bottle of lemonade. After I got rid of the dizziness, it was time to begin my counterattack. It took quite a while because of the darkness of the night, but I found the perfect place to use. The bathroom on the fifth floor. The window in that place was small, but I could use to shot at the damn birds, they would try to attack me, but it would take quite a while for them to destroy the wall. After all, they have didn¡¯t much space in the middle of downtown to gain speed. Since they''re so big, I could hear them flying around the block. ¡°It seems that they are not planning to give up about eating me.¡± Since the birds knew that I couldn¡¯t fly, they kept a low altitude to attack as soon as I appeared. On the fifth floor, we were at the same height, and I could hit them at close range and do a lot of damage. And so I did, I opened the window, and when the first mutant hawk was right in front of me, I began to shoot. Five iron bolts managed to hit the face of the enormous bird; I did more damage than I thought. The creature didn¡¯t even have time to scream; it just died in midair and fell on the ground after a few seconds.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Coins.
¡®Perfect!¡¯ I even managed to break my sensorial limit again, but that could be done later. I had to kill the other two. However, the remaining mutant hawks didn¡¯t drop their guard. I cause some damage, but again their wings and feathers protected them. To make matter worse, they were enraged thanks to the death of their fallen comrade, and they began to attack the bathroom wall fiercely. It was just my imagination, but I felt that their attacks were making the entire building tremble. ¡®Fuck, I can¡¯t aim like this!¡¯ No problem, I just had to retreat and look for another place and repeat the process. Easier said than done; I couldn¡¯t do that anymore. Every time I got close to the extern walls the damn things would attack, not only that, only a single attack was enough to make big cracks on the walls, and I didn¡¯t want to wait to see the result of the second attack. ¡°Great, now what?¡± My only option was to attack from the low ground again, but this time, the mutant hawks¡¯ attacks would be more dangerous. I doubt that they would even care about their well-being, they would try to smash me, even if they have to crash their beaks on the ground. ¡°Wait a minute; how are they tracking me?¡± I wasn¡¯t making much noise while I was moving, while I had sweated a lot that day, my smell wasn''t all that bad. But, I had another scent on my body. ¡°Are they feeling the scent of my blood? I guess that I have to test it.¡± The wound in my head wasn¡¯t healed yet, but I had no other choice but to use the bandages on my head. After all, the bandages had absorbed a lot of blood. I was almost sure that they would be the perfect bait. But how to use it? If I had another person with me, that person could stay with the bandages and lure the birds while I climb a few stairs and attack the birds from above. But I was alone; I had to solve the entire situation by myself. ¡°Maybe I should wrap the bandages in a bolt and shot to the other side of the street, but will they follow the smell?¡± I had to try, but the chances were quite good actually. Hawks usually had excellent sight, but it was night, and two of them didn¡¯t notice me earlier. It was worth a try. As long I stay away at least thirty meters from the walls, those monsters wouldn¡¯t be able to pinpoint where I was. Thanks to that, I decided to risk everything on that plan. If they fall for my bait, I will attack them with everything I had. And to make every attack hit my target, I had to have a clear view and nothing around me to get on my way. So I decided to begin that plan on the terrace of that building. In that place, everything would be an advantage to me, the clear view, the high ground, and the distance between me and the hawks. They only had to take the bait.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡®Here goes nothing.¡¯ As soon as I opened the door of the last floor, I shot the bolt covered with bandages to the other side of the street. For a moment, their wings stopped flapping, but then they began to flap again and slightly, the sound had diminished. ¡°It worked!¡± As soon as possible, I approached the border of the terrace and aimed the crossbow at the mutant hawks. The mutant monsters were attacking the ground with their beaks; their backs were exposed. Without mercy, I made a barrage of arrows hit their backs. The creatures screamed precisely like I had imagined they would; they screamed like their lives were being taken from them. One of them died after five seconds of non-stop attacks, but the other was quite resilient. Even though the creature had fifteen iron bolts in its body, it tried to fly to attack me. I felt my blood run cold when I saw that; however, the hawk fell on the ground and died.
You have obtained 300 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 300 Evolution Coins.
That was what I needed, enemies with a lot of evolution coins. And again, I broke the limit, pretty good progress for a single day. But I knew that I wouldn¡¯t live that long with so much imprudence. Exhausted, I fell on the floor. The creatures didn¡¯t manage even to scratch me, but they exhausted me. ¡°No more hunting tonight, it¡¯s time to sleep.¡± However, I had another surprise. I heard that annoying voice again, but the content of the message had changed. ¡°Congratulations, you broke your sensorial limit ten times. Now you will receive a random sensorial skill¡­ your new skill has been selected; you obtained the skill Radar.¡± When the voice stopped talking, I felt a burning pain in my eyes, and after it ended, I saw a thing very similar to the crosshair on the right side of my field vision.
Skill List: Concentration Lv02 12%: Raises your attack power and range by 2% each hour. The bonus resets when you sleep. Crosshair Lv09 05%: Creates a crosshair in your field vision to aim at enemies. Radar: Creates a radar in your field vision to detect any living creature on your surroundings. Effective Range: Sensorial limit (10) x 10 meters.
¡°Amazing, with this skill, I won¡¯t be ambushed anymore¡­ unless future enemies can run one hundred meters in less than a second. But better not worry about that right now.¡± With that skill, I could pinpoint exactly where the monsters nearby could be found. With my senses, I could do that to some extent, but since I wasn¡¯t used to it, I wasn¡¯t accurate in my predictions. After that, I managed to have a good night¡¯s sleep. At sunrise, I woke up with a fresh mind and began to follow the river downstream again. However, I made a mental note not to go too far. The wound in my head wasn¡¯t healed yet, and it would be more efficient for me to sleep in a safer place. Besides, even I deserved to take a shower once a day, and I only would be able to do that in that hotel. A couple of hours passed after I woke up, and when I was about to turn around, I saw dozens of monsters¡¯ corpses in front of an elementary school. ¡°Holy shit¡­ someone really awesome seems to be around here.¡± Every monster had only a single arrow in their foreheads, one shot, and one kill. In that pile of corpses, I found even monsters that I didn¡¯t fight yet, like a huge fly and an anaconda. Besides, I also saw a mutant hawk in that pile. However, according to my experience, kill so many monsters in a single place wasn¡¯t a smart thing to do. Besides for what reason would a person do that in front of elementary school? That place didn¡¯t look safe, the walls weren¡¯t that tall, and the building only had a single floor. But then a reason came to mind. ¡°Maybe¡­¡± I didn¡¯t have any real reason to approach that place, but something was bugging me, and I was also interested in the person who killed that many monsters. How did I know that a single person did that? Because all the beasts had died in the same way. The person who killed those monster were extremely skillful, that person would be a good ally, but even I knew that place would be a poor hideout. That person was skilled but even dumber than me? That wasn¡¯t impossible, after all. Besides, was that person really an ally? It could be an enemy, instead. Moreover, no one has to help others. ¡°I did most of the things in the past two years by myself; I¡¯m able to continue doing everything by myself, right? I¡¯m getting better with the crossbow after all, but if I get some tips from the guy who did this I¡¯ll probably get even better, and thus I¡¯ll be able to bring them to my side even faster, right?¡± While I was convincing myself, I approached the school, and then I saw something on the radar, I saw eleven dots. One of them was red, and the others were green. No blue dots nearby, so that place had no monsters inside it. ¡°So he isn¡¯t alone, huh. But why the dots have different colors?¡± A group of survivors was possibly a threat, but with my senses, I could hear them from afar and determine if that was indeed the case. However, even with my improved senses, I couldn¡¯t hear all the sounds of the interior of a building. The walls would muffle the sounds, after all. So I had to approach silently. To enter the building, I had to jump the walls and then open the windows of one classroom because the building¡¯s front door was locked with some chains and a padlock. After that, everything went smoothly. I approached without making any sound, and then I finally found their room, but strangely, I didn¡¯t hear any voices. I only heard a few sobs, moanings and the sound of stomachs growling. ¡®What is this?¡¯ I waited for a few minutes, but again, the sounds only repeated. Since I couldn¡¯t determine if those people were possible threats or not, I decided to leave that place. But then I understood all those sounds; someone was hungry inside that room, the stomachs growling was proof of that. Someone was sad or hurt; that was why I heard the sobs. The moanings were a bit harder to understand, but I was sure of it. Someone was moaning because it was suffering a lot. Thanks to that, I saw myself in a dilemma. Those survivors were in trouble, they need help, but did I have to help them? I didn¡¯t have time to waste. I had to fight and bring my parents and siblings to this area as soon as possible. But if I ignore them, wouldn¡¯t that make me a bad person? No, of course not. It would only make me an asshole who only thinks about himself and can¡¯t do anything without his family. Besides, Harry, Rose, and Sarah helped me twice, even though they were also worried about their families. ¡®Maybe I should start thinking about the big picture, bring my family to this area it¡¯ll be troublesome if we were the only ones alive. I had to create a survivors camp and that hotel is big enough to shelter hundreds of people.¡¯ That was the logical thing to do, I knew it. But I still wasn¡¯t sure about that, after all, some of those people could cause problems and make me waste my time. While I thought that, I felt an unpleasant smell. That smell was coming from the room; it looked like something was rotting inside. ¡®Ah, damn it.¡¯ I made my choice; my conscience wouldn¡¯t let me sleep if just turn around and walk away. It was a pain, but it was the right thing to do. ¡°Is someone there?¡± After knocking on the door, I said that. However, they didn¡¯t answer, but they stopped sobbing. I waited for a few seconds, but they refused to answer me. They were smarter than me; after all, intelligent people wouldn¡¯t get themselves involved with strangers with the city in this state. ¡°My name is Ethan, and I heard some sobs coming from here, and I also felt a weird smell. But if you guys don¡¯t have any problems or don¡¯t want to talk to me just say the word and I¡¯ll leave you guys alone.¡± Again no answer, but when I was about to give up and leave the door of the room opened, just a little bit. A boy who seemed to be ten years old appeared and looked at me with a suspicious look on his face. ¡°Are you a bad guy?¡± The boy asked. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think that I am a bad guy.¡± I hesitated, I wasn¡¯t a criminal, but I considered leaving them alone, even though they were in trouble, that isn¡¯t a thing a reasonable person would do, right? ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°No,¡± The boy answered with tears in his eyes. ¡°We are scared, we are hungry, and our teacher is dying.¡± The boy opened the door, and I could see a group of ten kids who were the same age as him. And in the corner of that room, I saw a blond woman sleeping in a table. She looked terrible, and her arm was rooting, and I could even see her arm¡¯s muscles and bones. ¡®Holy shit¡­¡¯ The first members of my survivor¡¯s camp would be a bunch of kids and a heavily wounded woman. I good start if I may say so myself. Chapter 013 Wrestling I almost fainted when I saw that woman¡¯s arm, no wonder the kids looked so scared. However, I didn¡¯t have time to waste. I wasn¡¯t a doctor, I only knew how to apply first aid, but I knew that woman would die soon unless I could do something, but what? The sharp pain in my head made me find the answer. ¡®I have to take her to that hotel. Harry said that place could heal wounds, he said that place healed me who was almost dead after all.¡¯ But would that be enough? That didn¡¯t seem like a normal wound. She didn¡¯t get bit by a monster; it looked like something was eating her flesh at that very moment. ¡°All right, kids. If you want to save your teacher, you will have to give me a few answers.¡± ¡°Can you help her?¡± That boy asked with an anxious expression on his face. ¡°I can try. But don¡¯t blame me if I fail in the process, by the way, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Frank.¡± The boy answered. Frank looked to be a brave kid; he was the only one who had the courage to approach and talk to me even though I wasn¡¯t that scary. Or perhaps I was, after all, I had a scar on my ear, a half-healed wound in my head and a crossbow. ¡°Do you know how your teacher got hurt? Was her arm like that after she fought? She was the one who killed the monsters outside, right?¡± ¡°Yes, she killed them,¡± Frank answered while trembling a little, the monsters obviously scared him.¡± But she wasn¡¯t hurt, but her arm was dirt with something green.¡± ¡°What happened after that?¡± ¡°She began to feel tired, and she was pale,¡± Frank answered while crying. ¡°Yesterday, she didn¡¯t wake up, and her arm began to¡­¡± ¡°All right, I understand. You don¡¯t have to say it.¡± Possibly, she had been poisoned. It didn¡¯t look like the work of frogs. I guess it was that anaconda¡¯s poison, she didn¡¯t get bitten, but she still got poisoned. ¡®A huge snake that can spit poison, and that poison eats human flesh. Fantastic!¡¯ Since it was the work of a mutant creature, regular medicines wouldn¡¯t work. Well, all the remedies of the city disappeared anyway. But I probably could create an antidote in that hotel, one more good reason to return. I hope the antidote isn¡¯t expensive. The problem was: how I would carry a wounded woman and ten kids to that place while the city was infested with monsters? Better solve one problem at a time¡­ ¡°All right, kids. Here are some food and the best beverage of the entire world, fill your bellies as much as possible. Because we have to walk a lot if you want to save your teacher.¡± I gave them my packed lunch and the bottles of lemonade since those packed lunches were the size for adults; it would make them recover some energy. While they were eating, I searched for some objects in the school that could be useful. Carry the wounded woman would be the most difficult thing since I also had to kill the monsters along the way. Luckily I found a warehouse cart near the kitchen of the school, it was pretty big, and with that, I could transport her. ¡°Isn¡¯t this a vehicle? Why didn¡¯t this disappeared too?¡± I thought a lot about it while pushing. It was impractical to use as a vehicle since it couldn¡¯t be faster than a person running, but that was probably the reason that the object didn¡¯t disappear. However, that would do the job. I could put that woman and half of the kids on it, and the other kids would push it while I keep an eye on our surroundings. However, since it was old, the wheels made a lot of noise while moving. ¡®I have to put some oil on the wheels.¡¯ I searched in the entire warehouse of the school, but obviously, I wouldn¡¯t find something so useful. My luck was just that great. When I returned, the expression on the kids¡¯ faces had improved a lot. Although they didn¡¯t like to drink my lemonade, well, it can¡¯t be helped, they were too young to understand the greatness of the best beverage in the world. Slowly, I put the woman in the cart. However, just by moving her arm, she felt a terrible pain. The kids began to cry again when they saw their teacher in pain. They liked her a lot, come to think of it. She probably searched these kids on their houses and brought them to the school. She was quite brave, the city was overflowing with monsters, and instead of getting scared, she fought searched for her students. I, on the other hand, didn¡¯t even think about helping my neighbors. Sure, I barely talked to them, but that didn¡¯t change the fact. I only thought about avoiding the monsters and find my family. ¡®I¡¯m a pathetic guy, I guess.¡¯ Well, no time for a pity party. I had a job to do; I can¡¯t let this woman die. Otherwise, I¡¯ll become responsible for those kids. ¡°Listen to me, kids. I know a place where your teacher can be healed. But it¡¯s far from here, and as you know, there are monsters out there. So if you want to save your teacher, you guys have to keep quiet and don¡¯t move away from me. You will take turns while pushing the cart if you guys are slow she¡¯ll die, but if you guys manage to walk without stopping, she¡¯ll live.¡± I shouldn¡¯t have said that, but it was too late. The kids began to tremble when I mentioned the monsters and trembled, even more, when I talked about the possibility of their teacher¡¯s death. But that was the truth; they had to understand that the city changed. However, even though they were just kids, they didn¡¯t hesitate. The woman¡¯s weapon was a recurve bow, a version much more potent of my first bow. It was in the corner of the room, and I almost left it behind since I was in a hurry. But I picked the bow and the quiver and put it near her on the cart. I doubted that she would wake up and help, but it was her weapon, if she survives, she will need it.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Although I talked about speed, we didn''t move as fast as possible. The sound of the wheels would attract too many monsters, and any sudden movement would make the woman feel tremendous pain. When we left the school, I couldn¡¯t help myself but wonder; she looked familiar. ¡®Where I saw her before? TV, maybe?¡¯ She was a famous teacher or something, but I couldn¡¯t remember. Besides, I didn¡¯t have time to think about such things. Thanks to the radar skill, I could see many frogs around the school, I choose the safest route, but in the end, I still had to kill two of them. ¡®I can¡¯t let those things get too close; the kids may scream and attract even more monsters.¡¯ Since yesterday, I was putting efficiency above all things, even above my safety. But I couldn¡¯t that anymore. I had to kill them as soon as possible, even if I had to lose many of my bolts. But that was fine; I still had two bottles of lemonade. With some, luck those will be enough to make us reach that hotel. But my accuracy had improved since yesterday, after all, I broke my sensorial limit two times. Two kill both of them I just had to shot eight bolts, two bolts didn¡¯t hit, but I couldn¡¯t worry less about it. I killed them before they could approach, and that was more than enough. ¡°Let¡¯s move on, and remember, keep quiet.¡± The kids nodded and began to push the cart carefully, the way to the hotel was almost a straight line, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about giving them directions. I only had to focus and take care of the enemies. Unfortunately, we encountered many frogs on the streets, since we couldn¡¯t walk near the river. The fish attacks were too powerful, and I couldn¡¯t hit every single of them before they could attack. Apparently, the mutant cats were also avoiding it, because I met them again just by moving away a little bit from the river. However, before they could even see me, I was already attacking them, only the most resilient ones managed to get near us. But thanks to my precision, the crossbow power, and the new bonus of the skill concentration, they barely got close enough to scared the kids. Even though our speed was slow, everything was going smoothly. But since the city became crazy, I learned a few things, one of them was: everything unexpected is bound to happen. So I didn¡¯t drop my guard even for a second. At that pace, we would probably reach the hotel before sunrise, of course, if we don¡¯t stop to rest. I really didn¡¯t want to cross downtown at night, but I had no choice, I could see the woman¡¯s arm been slowly eaten. If I stop to rest, she may die. If she dies, I¡¯ll feel responsible for it. And then at some point that will become a heavy burden and then I¡¯ll make a mistake and end up dying. I was sure of it, I wasn¡¯t smart, but I knew myself enough to understand that. ¡°We are almost there, kids. If we continue walking, we will reach the place where your teacher can be treated before sunrise, can you guys continue?¡± The kids nodded, but I saw in Frank¡¯s eyes some annoyance. Well, that was easy to understand. Even though I said that we were almost there, we had to walk much more. But I had no choice; I had to raise their spirits. ¡®If only exist other hotels like that one, I¡¯ll have to search for it when I have some free time.¡¯ It would be strange if that were the only odd place that appeared in the city, after all, the monsters are everywhere, so maybe I¡¯ll be able to find other buildings like that hotel in the different parts of the city. When the sun finally disappeared on the horizon, the most tiring night of my life had begun. I could hear every single thing around me, the kids¡¯ footsteps, the wind, the tree¡¯s branches moving, and the damn wheels of the cart. That unholy sound was slowly making me feel more and more tired, all because I believed the damn noise would attract monsters. Sure, I could see the monsters approaching thanks to the radar, but the radar only showed me the direction, not the kind monster. For each monster, I had to analyze them and change my attack pattern to kill them as soon as possible. Not to mention, I still believed that something very dangerous would appear before we reach the hotel. ¡®When this is over, I¡¯ll destroy this damn cart to pieces. But I wonder if I can create a car or something using the statue. It¡¯s worth a try, but what kind of energy source it will use to move around? Can I change that too?¡¯ Even though I was exhausted, and I was still focused on the job of escorting the kids. That night I had many ideas; I also thought about creating a power suit armor. That would be a lot expensive but would protect my life for almost anything. If I had the chance in the future, I would do it. Of course, only after bringing my family to this area. The only positive point in our walk was the fact the children didn¡¯t look scared, even at night. At first, they would tremble every time they saw a monster. But nothing was scaring them anymore, maybe it was because they saw me killing every monster with some ease, or perhaps they were too na?ve to understand what was going on entirely. However, they still looked apprehensive about the condition of their teacher. On the other hand, every time the intensity of the wind changed, my heart started to beat faster. I was a natural coward. ¡®Poor kids, they only saw small fries until now. Maybe that¡¯s why they are so unfazed by the monsters.¡¯ Although I was almost wet my pants many times during that night, nothing major happened. However, my instincts were right. When we were one kilometer away from the hotel, I began to hear the sound of destruction. Another troublesome enemy had appeared. ¡®Seriously, from now on, do I have to face a new kind of deadly threat every fucking day?¡¯ The chances of that happen was indeed high, after all, there were still many animals that I didn¡¯t see. And to make matters worse, my city had a zoo. It was crazy, but I had already accepted the possibility of someday find a mutant elephant blocking my way. If some cats and frogs were already causing me trouble, what would happen when I see a real predator, like a lion or a tiger? I was lucky in killing the mutant hawks, but I doubt that a few walls would stop a mutant lion. However, that wasn¡¯t the day that I would face those monsters. Instead, I would see something unbelievable. And that was massive monsters wrestling. ¡®No way¡­¡¯ We still had half an hour before sunrise, but I could see clearly two hundred meters away from us a fat rat, a five meter¡¯s tall mutant cat, and a thirty meters long anaconda fighting against each other. The kids could hear the sound of their fight, but luckily, they couldn¡¯t see it. ¡°What is making this noise?¡± Frank asked. ¡°Keep your mouth shut!¡± At the moment, Frank began to question what was happening, the other kids started to feel unease and making noise again. He was too young to understand that, but his actions influenced a lot the other kids. That was a bit troublesome, but it was also helpful, because his mood could affect the other kids¡¯ behavior, and I could use that to keep them calm. But at that moment, all that I could think about was making him shut his mouth. After all, at that moment, I was using all my poor brain to form a plan to avoid the massive monsters¡¯ fight. ¡®Maybe I just should take a detour, walk one or two more kilometers it won¡¯t change anything for us.¡¯ However, like fate was laughing at me, the woman¡¯s breathing weakened a lot, and I could barely hear her heartbeats. She was dying, and only an antidote wouldn¡¯t avoid that, nor the healing properties of that building. I also had to create another medicine using the statue to heal her arm. ¡®Damn it all! This can only be a joke.¡¯ The monsters fight didn¡¯t look like it was about to end, they wounded each other a lot, and the smell of so much blood being spilled was already making me sick. But they looked fine; they could still fight for hours. I had no other choice but to kill them as soon as possible, besides I wanted their evolution coins. ¡®What the hell am I thinking? This is beyond my usual level of reckless.¡¯ The truth was that I had to save that woman. I wasn¡¯t responsible enough to take care of my own life, much less the lives of kids. The best way to solve that situation and to save her life was by putting my own life at risk. Fortunately, our surroundings were safe. It seemed that the weaker monsters had fled or been killed by those three. Since I killed every single monster that we found so far, the kids should be safe if I leave them alone for a few minutes. ¡°You guys stay here and don¡¯t make any sound. I¡¯m going to¡­ make our path a little safer.¡± Chapter 014 Return While I was approaching the monsters, for the first time, I began to question why was I meeting those huge monsters more easily. Nothing came to mind, but the scene of the mutant cats eating the mutant rats made me feel q unease. ¡®No, it can¡¯t be. Those monsters can¡¯t obtain evolution coins and get stronger like humans, right?¡¯ I didn¡¯t want to believe in that possibility, but I had no other explanation. Besides, why only humans would be able to improve themselves? The monsters also had things like HP, MP, and STA. Thus, it was apparent. They were also in the same position as us. ¡®Fuck.¡¯ While monsters fighting against each other was beneficial for humans since their numbers would decrease. New and stronger monsters appearing was a considerable downside. I had decided to kill those three monsters, but do I have to kill all of them? It was a better idea just break the balance of the battle. If I help one of them kill the other two, we will be able to keep moving; after all, the last monster standing would probably eat the others. ¡®I guess this is my best course of action. Since I already killed one before, I should help the fat rat.¡¯ It would be better if I could use one the buildings nearby to my advantage and stay in high ground to attack them, but I didn¡¯t have time for that. The anaconda¡¯s green skin was thicker than the mutant cat, but its gray fur looked quite troublesome. But I still decided to use all my remaining wood bolts on the mutant cat after that I would create the iron bolts. In that situation, the steel bolts would be my best option, but I would faint since I didn¡¯t have enough MP. When I got close enough to hit the monsters, I saw the anaconda using its poison attack. Many liters of a green liquid flew in the air towards the two other monsters, but the attack was quite slow, and it only hit the ground. ¡®As I thought, it was the anaconda who poisoned that woman. I wonder for how long the poison could still work after being spilled. With some luck, I may be able to use it.¡¯ That was a crazy and dangerous idea, but if I could put the poison in my bolts¡­ no, the effect would take much time to do anything. It was deadly, but to slow. I need something faster and more practical. Since the poison didn¡¯t work, the anaconda slashed its tail towards the mutant cat and tried to bite the fat rat at the same time. The mutant cat 2.0 with lightning reflexes avoided the tail attack, and the fat rat didn¡¯t hesitate to use its claws to hit the anaconda¡¯s face. Every single attack of them made me feel the ground trembling under my feet. ¡®I thought this crossbow would do the job, but I guess it¡¯s not enough. Like those creatures, I have to evolve my crossbow. But now I have to do what I can with what I have right now.¡¯ I needed an opening, to kill that mutant cat or at least make the tide of the battle against the creature, one of the other monsters had to hit him. However, the beast was too damn fast. Not even the stones the fat rat threw were quick enough to hit. Thanks to that I noticed, the fat rat was too weak in comparison to the others. If I kill the mutant cat, the snake will go all out to kill the fat rat, it couldn¡¯t do it until now, because it couldn¡¯t drop his guard against the mutant cat. The most dangerous monster was the anaconda, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to kill it with my wood bolts. I didn¡¯t even know if the iron bolts would be able to pierce the damn monster¡¯s skin. ¡®No, it can¡¯t be that strong. Powerful, agile, and sturdy? It can¡¯t be all of those¡­ ah!¡¯ Then I remembered that woman killed the snake with a single arrow in the head. To be able to do that with her first weapon¡­.what a fearsome woman. Maybe I¡¯ll get some tips since after this she will be indebted to me. ¡®If she and I survive, of course. I guess that I¡¯ll have to kill the fat rat and then attack both the mutant cat and the anaconda afterward and weaken then little by little.¡¯ Usually, I would wait for them to get weakened and then deliver the killing blow, and then I would receive all the evolution coins. But I wasn¡¯t in a normal situation, so I had to take some risks. While the monsters were moving around attacking and defending, I aimed the crossbow at them. I waited for the exact moment the fat rat would show his exposed back to me. Fortunately, it didn¡¯t take long. While the fat rat was distracted, attacking the ground to get a few more stones, I pulled the trigger and used all my ten remaining wood bolts to hit the monster¡¯s nape. Eight of the arrows hit the creature''s neck, and the other two pierced its back. The bolts probably damaged the creature¡¯s nervous system, because the fat rat fell on the ground without even screaming.
You have obtained 100 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 100 Evolution Coins.
Without wasting time, I created the iron bolts and drank some lemonade to get rid of the dizziness, but luckily nothing happened. The giant mutant cat and the anaconda didn¡¯t care about the fallen fat rat; for them, the monster could be eaten after the battle. ¡®That¡¯s weird, why are they acting like nothing happened? The fat rat was wounded, but nothing deadly. I thought those two would be smarter than the fat rat.¡¯ Since both of monsters didn¡¯t have to worry about being attacked from behind anymore, the battle became fiercer. The anaconda liked to use its poison attack a lot, probably the poison made its target¡¯s meat tastier, but the poison never hit the giant mutant cat. Also, the anaconda never managed to bit the mutant cat. After a few minutes of battle, only the tail of the enormous snake managed to do some damage. I became speechless when I saw the mutant cat being throw against a building and destroying three walls before it could stop. ¡®Maybe I should get the hell out of downtown and kill the small fries. The monsters in this part of the city are becoming crazily strong.¡¯ On the other hand, almost every single attack of the giant mutant cat hit the anaconda¡¯s body, because the attacks were too fast. However, the damage dealt wasn¡¯t that great. The Anaconda¡¯s skin was getting wounded, but that wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill it ¡®The only weak spot of that snake is the head, while the mutant¡¯s cat weakness is¡­ why I¡¯m thinking about this? I just to have to hit them in the head.¡¯ It was a waste of time to think about that; every living creature would die if their brains get too damaged. I just had to concentrate and hit them; I had to do that with two perfect shots¡­ maybe a few more since both of them were way stronger than the mutant cats and rats. But I never did that against moving target, to make matters worse, those two creatures were faster than me. ¡®If I miss I¡¯ll die since they will identify my localization, thus the kids and the woman will also die. That¡¯s too much responsibility for someone like me.¡¯ But I had to do it. Come to think of it, since the city became crazy; everything became more and more troublesome. It was useless to try to avoid the problems. Sure, I could prevent one or two difficult battles at a time, but eventually, those two monsters that I could kill before will become an army of monsters. Ignoring a problem would only make this same problem harder to solve later on.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡®I guess this is it, from now on, my life will be me putting my life at risk every single day. No point in dwelling on that or hesitating anymore. I just had to kill anything that blocks my way.¡¯ The dark blue of the night was sky was slowly becoming a light blue sky, I didn¡¯t have any more time to waste, so I began to aim. ¡®You¡¯ll be the first, furball.¡¯ The mutant cat didn¡¯t hear me, but that didn¡¯t matter. Instead of aiming at a single point, I began to concentrate on following the monster¡¯s movement. Not even my eyes were fast enough to catch every single move of the giant mutant cat, but I still tried to do that anyway. Eventually, the damn monster would stop for a single moment, I knew it, and I would use that chance to kill it. Just like before, everything in the world disappeared. The wind, the cold of the night, every object, and I even couldn¡¯t hear or feel my heartbeats anymore. The world was just me, the crossbow, and the target. After a few minutes observing almost every movement of the mutant cat, I began to see a shadow around the monster. The shadows weren¡¯t anything; they were just every single possible movement that thing could do at that instant. A jump forward, and a leap backward. A horizontal slash, and a vertical slash. A kick, a bite, a headbutt. I could see those movements before they could even be executed. That was a good insight; I already knew that I could learn about the attack patterns of a monster. But predict their movements in such a degree was only possible after you observe them for hours and hours. However, for some strange reason, after only a few minutes, all those movements were recorded in my mind. I couldn¡¯t see the future, but in an instant, I manage to predict the mutant cat¡¯s next tree attacks: a kick, a jump backward, and a bite. All of them would hit the anaconda and cause some damage, but that didn¡¯t matter. What was important was that I knew where the monster¡¯s head would be in the next three seconds, and so I began to pull the trigger. In three seconds, I shot nine iron bolts; all of them hit the mutant¡¯s head in its right ear. Before the monster could understand what happened or scream, it fell on the ground like a puppet.
You have obtained 300 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 300 Evolution Coins.
¡®Two down, and one to go.¡¯ Sometimes I wonder why I¡¯m so dumb, I do two things right, and then I drop my guard. As I thought, I always have to learn the hard way. Instead of continuing the attack, the success made me drop my guard, and I lost the momentum. That state of mind disappeared, and I saw myself being stared by the anaconda. ¡®Why I also didn¡¯t study the anaconda¡¯s move?¡¯ If only I had done that, my job would be so easier, and I wouldn¡¯t have to suffer. But, no use crying over spilled milk. I said myself those words while the anaconda began to crawl towards me at a terrifying speed. I aimed my crossbow at the anaconda¡¯s head, and dozens of times, I pulled the crossbow¡¯s trigger. Most of the bolts hit the snake in the head, but that didn¡¯t stop the creature. ¡®I am so fucked.¡¯ The anaconda¡¯s speed was way above mine, so I didn¡¯t even try to escape. Even when the monster was only five meters away from me, I didn¡¯t run and continued to shoot. When the damn monster opened its mouth to devour me, my chance finally appeared, the interior of the creature¡¯s body was softer than the creature¡¯s hide. Thanks to that, three of my bolts pierced the interior of the mouth profoundly and reached the anaconda¡¯s brain. I killed it, but I didn¡¯t escape unharmed.
You have obtained 500 Evolution Orbs
You have obtained 500 Evolution Coins.
At the last moment, I tried to evade the anaconda¡¯s attack. And I almost managed but the damn snake chopped off almost my entire left arm. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡± I screamed like hell, the sharp and burning pain in my arm almost made me faint, but somehow I managed to stay conscious. A lot of blood was gushing from the rest of my arm, I had to stop the bleed, or I would die. I had nothing better than a t-shirt to stop the bleeding, and without hesitation, I used it. ¡°AAAAHHH! FUCK! DAMN IT!¡± That hurt like hell, even worse than the snake¡¯s attack. To make things worse, the pain wasn¡¯t diminishing. ¡°I have to¡­ reach the hotel.¡± That was my only choice; I only stopped the bleeding for a moment. With luck, Sarah would help me. But in the worst-case scenario, I would lose an arm¡­ I guess it was better than death. It took me a few seconds a lot of pain, but I managed to recover my chopped off arm of the anaconda¡¯s mouth. Fortunately, there was no green liquid on me or my arm. The anaconda only could spill the poison. The sky was already bright enough for the kids to notice when I approached, and they began to tremble when they saw my sorry state. I was covered with blood and carrying one of my arms on my back since I still had to use the crossbow. ¡°What happened to-to¡­?¡± Frank said while trembling and crying. ¡°No time to explain, ah damn it! This fucking pain¡­ more importantly, what happened here?¡± To my surprise, the blonde woman was unconscious on the ground with her bow in hands, and near the kids, I could see three mutant cats¡¯ corpses. ¡°Miss Claire noticed the presence of the monsters and woke up to protect us,¡± Frank answered. Seriously? She woke up in that state and killed those monsters? How in the hell did she use the bow with her arm in that state? That woman was terrifying¡­ ¡°I see, no time to waste. Put her in the cart again, as you can see, I can¡¯t help you guys with that.¡± It took a few agonizing minutes, but the kids managed to put her back on the cart without making her suffer, and then we began to move towards the hotel. Since those three had died, the streets started to overflow with small fries again. But I sent them all back to hell without wasting time. I didn¡¯t know if it was because I was tired or because of the blood loss, but I was getting dizzy. I shook my head to keep my focus and hurried to the hotel. But when we arrived there, a small but another problem appeared. I entered without a problem and the cart with the woman too. But the kids were blocked by an invisible wall, and soon I understood why.
You have paid 10 Evolution Coins to stay in the Safe zone for 24 hours.
You have brought ten no-survivors to the Safe Zone, but they can¡ät enter unless you pay for them. Do you wish to pay for them? Y/N
I forgot about this, and this also explains why the dots representing them are green instead of red. Since I didn¡¯t have time to worry about that, I selected yes.
You have paid 100 Evolution coins for ten no-survivors enter the Safe zone.
I run towards the statue, touched it, selected the Create section. The first that came to mind was medicine, but since I didn¡¯t specify what kind of medicine nothing appeared. ¡°Ah, damn it¡­ Let¡¯s see, a medicine that can heal any wounds.¡±
Elixir: It can heal any wounds and fully restore your HP, MP, and STA. It also nullifies all kinds of negative status. Price: 50000
A hologram of a bottle with a blue liquid inside of it appeared. It had an impressive effect, but it was too expensive and all-purpose. I need something less expensive and more specific. ¡°I want medicine that can heal chopped off arms.¡±
Fairies¡¯ Salve: It can stop bleeding and reconnect severed limbs. Cost: 1000 Evolution Coins.
A single mistake cost me that much, but I deserved that. After creating the medicine, I connected the two parts of my arm, and even though I did everything carefully, the pain made me sweat and moan a lot. However, after that, everything became easy. I could see clearly the salve reconnecting my flesh and bones. After ten minutes, I could feel and move my entire arm. However, the scar was still there to make me remember that mistake. ¡°Amazing¡­ but how is this statue creating these things?¡± That was an important question, and the answer could lead me to understand what or who made the city go crazy. But I had more important things to do at that moment. ¡°Let¡¯s heal your teacher now.¡± Since the pain disappeared, my mind was clear, and soon I created the things she needed.
Mutant Snake¡¯s Antidote: It negates the effect of the Mutant Snake¡¯s Poison. Price: 500 Evolution Coins
Fairies¡¯ Pollen: It can restore half of your HP and heal any non-lethal wounds. Price: 1000 Evolution Coins
Oh boy, it¡¯s so awesome to do the right thing. No worries, she will give me many tips on how to aim correctly. I¡¯ll make sure of it. Chapter 015 Payback time (1) After I healed the kids¡¯ teacher, I took her and the kids to one of the hotel¡¯s free rooms. I¡¯ll never forget the look in the kids¡¯ eyes when they saw that terrible wound disappear in just a few minutes. They celebrated a lot, and all of them thanked me with smiles on their faces even though I was looking even scarier than before. The kids¡¯ teacher total recovery would take some time; after all, she slept for three days without eating and barely drinking water. But she¡¯s a die-hard, and will eventually recover. That job had been hard, and I spent half of my evolution coins to heal the kids¡¯ teacher and me, but I was proud of myself. After buying some food and other useful things for them, I left their room as soon as the tension disappeared and after a hot meal, they fall asleep. I was also exhausted, but I decided to look around to see if anything had changed. The hotel looked pretty much the same, but Henry, Rose, and Sarah weren¡¯t there. ¡°They already recovered from the shock and are helping Henry? Those two sisters are also pretty strong-willed. But that¡¯s strange; they left even before sunrise?¡± After drinking some lemonade, I was already recovered. I could fight against the small fries nearby and then spend the night in the hotel. However, even though I decided that I didn¡¯t leave the building. In just two days, I almost died two times. No, in three days, I almost died three times. ¡°Maybe I should wait for Henry and the sisters and team up with them again; I¡¯m just too unlucky when I¡¯m alone.¡± They were a bit annoying, but fighting alongside them was better than fighting alone. Thanks to the last battle, I managed to break the limit two times. But I didn¡¯t know if it would be wise to keep raising only the sensorial limit. If I had enough MP, I could have used the steel bolts, and maybe I would have killed the anaconda before losing my arm. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll decide after I talk to them. If we team up again, I¡¯ll continue in breaking my sensorial limit. Maybe I should talk with them, to create a base of operations here and then look for more survivors while we obtain more evolution coins.¡± That would be a good start, but even though I waited for them for an entire day in the hotel¡¯s lobby, they didn¡¯t appear. Soon after sunset, I was already tired of waiting for them. Harry said that it was a good idea to sleep in this hotel, but they didn¡¯t appear. Maybe they found a better place, or something happened to them. They were mostly strangers to me, but they could be trusted. Besides, I was indebted to them. If they were in trouble, I would like to offer a hand and repay them. I didn¡¯t want to owe anything to others anyway. After some time, in my boredom, I began to look at the map in the ceiling. The numbers of survivors had decreased by more than one thousand in just two days; things were getting dangerous. Too many powerful monsters were appearing while too many people were dying, I had to do something, or in the long run, we¡¯ll all face some serious problems. In my boredom, I looked at the red dots nearby the hotel; maybe I should bring those people to the hotel. Those red dots represented only eleven people, but it was a start. But then something began to bother me; a red dot was in the middle of a street was barely moving. But it looked to be heading towards the other ten red dots. ¡°I have a bad feeling about this.¡± Even though Harry wasn¡¯t so smart, she wasn¡¯t stupid. Besides, Rose would, without a doubt, return to this hotel every night even if she had to drag Harry and her sister by their necks. All to keep them safe. Since the kids and the teacher were still sleeping, I decided to leave a message with them using the notebook that I created earlier. I wrote a letter on a page and put it under their room¡¯s door. My message was simple, don¡¯t leave the room and only answer if someone says my name. Thanks to the last battle, I was still uneasy in walking alone. Maybe I couldn¡¯t see it in the skill screen, but I was pretty sure that I had the skill to attract even more dangerous monsters when I¡¯m walking alone. Soon after I left the hotel, I began to be attacked by monsters. I killed all of them, but I also found many corpses lying around. As I expected, even the monsters are attacking each other to eat and get stronger. However, everything could still become worse. Until now, those evolved mutants didn¡¯t try to lead the others of its same species. If one monster can command a hundred of small fries, then the survivors will really face some serious problems. Since I ran instead of walking, I soon reached the localization of that red dot, but before that, I found two corpses and their clothes looked pretty familiar. ¡°They are the bastards who killed Martin!¡± My blood began to boil, but I shook my head to calm my nerves. I can¡¯t be impulsive against them; I have to cool my head. One of the corpses had a huge wound on the neck, while the other looked fine, but I could see signs of blood coming out of his eyes, ears, and nose. ¡°This one got cut by a sword and the other¡­ it looks like his brain suffered some damage. Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± Harry and Rose killed those two guys, but why? They had all the reasons to avoid them. No, maybe they got ambushed by them and had to fight for their lives. After that, I looked around me, and I could see the signs of a battle. Blood was everywhere, and a little ahead I could see a trail of blood, someone was heavily wounded but was still moving. After following the trail, I found Harry unconscious and bleeding. All his body was injured, and both of his legs had been broken. I also saw some sign of bites; he fought against monsters, even in that state. ¡°Holy shit¡­ I have to take him to that Hotel.¡± Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t find any sign of Rose and Sarah. But I had an idea about what happened with them, and that idea just made angrier. Since Harry was too big and heavy, it took me three hours to get back to the hotel. Since the smell of blood was too strong, I also had to fight a lot along the way. But that was fine, as long as they are only small fries I can handle them even though I didn¡¯t have time to waste.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. When we arrived at the hotel, I created the same medicine that I used in the kids¡¯ teacher and applied on Harry. But even though most of his wounds disappeared, he was too weak to wake up. ¡°He lost too much blood, guess that I¡¯ll have to create another one.¡± I was spending too much evolution coins, but I had no other choice. After all, Harry prevented my death two times, after this, my debt will be halved. But before I could do that, he woke up and stopped me. ¡°Please, go,¡± Harry said while trembling with tears in his eyes ¡°¡­ and save them.¡± ¡°Calm down; we will save them. Just give me a minute.¡± ¡°No, you have to now!¡± Harry shouted and coughed blood. ¡°I¡¯m not fast enough¡­ I¡¯ll only slow you down.¡± He had a point, alone I would find them faster. Although Harry would help a lot in the fight against those criminals, but then I noticed. I didn¡¯t have to fight them; I only had to kill them. I didn¡¯t have to worry about things like ethics and honor against criminals. I only had to eradicate them. ¡°All right, wait here. I¡¯ll bring them back.¡± Rose and Sarah were probably among those ten red dots, but I decided to confirm that using the statue, I was right and just like I thought, they didn¡¯t kill them. Without wasting time, I left the hotel and began to run towards the criminals¡¯ hideout. I ignored most of the enemies; I only killed the mutant cats because they could run faster than me. Around midnight I found the criminals¡¯ hideout and the place couldn¡¯t be more stupid: it was a mansion. ¡®Bastards, they think they are the kings of the city now because they are free?! No¡­ calm down. I have to keep my focus, no more mistakes. I have to make sure to repay my debt to those two.¡¯ Even though they were the earth¡¯s scum, they were survivors. They probably were stronger now; I had to be careful and kill them before they could do anything or use Rose and Sarah as meat shields. The mansion was huge, but I could see their exact positions thanks to the radar. Two of them was in the mansion¡¯s entrance gate, on guard duty. ¡®They are smarter than I thought. But they are not alert.¡¯ Even though they were holding their weapons, a spear and a sword, I could see they yawning, they would pay the price for their crimes and their stupidity. After resting for a few minutes, I approached using an energy pole as a cover. Finally, I was only thirty meters away from them, at that distance and without the wind against me, I only had to aim for a second, and I pulled the trigger.
You killed a survivor; you have obtained his 622 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; you have obtained his 756 Evolution Coins.
Two bolts and two kills, but this time I didn¡¯t relax, I just kept moving even though those messages impressed me a lot. However, I made a single mistake; I didn¡¯t consider the sound their weapons would make when they would fall on the ground. In the silence of the night, all living beings nearby heard those metallic sounds, even the criminals inside the mansion. Six of the eight remaining red dots inside the mansion began to move, but only three of them were heading towards my direction. Without wasting time, I crossed the small garden and also left an empty pool behind, and I took cover behind one of the cornerstones of the mansion. ¡®I have to wait until all of them leave the house, they probably didn¡¯t break their sensorial limit, so they won¡¯t be able to see the two corpses unless they approach.¡¯ Even before I could see them, I already began to aim towards the door. And then they appeared. ¡°Tsk, those assholes are already sleeping even before the turn change.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be helped; they enjoyed themselves too much this day. Besides, those three gave us a lot of trouble.¡± ¡°Yeah, the small girl was easy, but the tall one even bit me.¡± Thanks to their conversation, I almost pulled the trigger before I could see all of them, but I managed to endure. They would all die anyway; there was no point in losing myself to the rage. When the last one crossed the door, I pulled the trigger and killed him with a bolt in his head, even before he could fall on the ground my third bolt already had hit the third one also in the head. This time, the weapons didn¡¯t make any sound, because those were on their backs.
You killed a survivor; you have obtained his 743 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; you have obtained his 689 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; you have obtained his 555 Evolution Coins.
Slowly and carefully, I entered the mansion. And I searched in the first and then the second floor looking for the others since the radar couldn¡¯t tell me that. However, I found nothing; they were on the last floor of the mansion. Thanks to the radar, I found them in two different rooms. Three red dots in one room e and two in the other, but I couldn¡¯t identify in which one of them Rose and Sarah were. But I didn¡¯t have to take any actions. ¡°Where in the hell are those useless fuckers? Matt, Ivan! Bring those idiots to me right now!¡± ¡°Come on, boss. Can¡¯t you wait for a little bit? It¡¯s finally our turn here.¡± ¡°If you two don¡¯t bring them here in five minutes I¡¯ll kill both of you!¡± Their leader looked pretty serious in his threat; I could understand that because the other two left their room with annoyed and scared expressions on their faces. They left the room at the same time, and they died at the same time. Matt, Ivan had a lot of scars on their faces; they fought a lot in these last few days. But since they obviously only broke their physical limits, they recovered faster.
You killed a survivor; you have obtained his 611 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; you have obtained his 609 Evolution Coins.
However, since they were so close to the last criminal¡¯s room, he heard the sound of them falling on the floor. But for some reason, he didn¡¯t react to it. I approached the room which the two criminals had left and slowly opened the door, and then my mind went blank. The room was dirty and smelling very bad; every object in the room was just laying around on the floor or had been destroyed. Only the bed was fine, and on top of the bed, I saw Sarah, half-naked and dirtied with blood and other human body fluids. I already imagined what they would do to them, but even so, I received a shock when I saw Sarah in that sorry state. She was awake but immobile, she didn¡¯t even react to my presence or when I approached. I decided to talk to her, but I changed my mind. She had the eyes of a doll, without life, as if she didn¡¯t have any reason to live. I couldn¡¯t even begin to understand how she was feeling, but considering that she just lost her parents and then this happened, that was almost expected. I left Sarah in that room and then decided to get rid of the last criminal and then see how Rose was. Since she was really strong-minded, I was worried about her, not to mention the words of those criminals still bothered me. But when I left the room in the corner of my field of vision, I saw a shadow approaching my head. I didn¡¯t know how, but I managed to evade the shadow by a hair¡¯s breadth. The shadow disappeared, and a huge club appeared and then it hit the floor, causing a loud noise. ¡°Oh, a kid! And you even evaded my attack. You broke your limits several times already, haven¡¯t you?¡± A huge bald man asked while smiling. It was that bastard that I saw on the third day, the leader of the scums. I began to feel that hate again, but this time, I didn¡¯t lose my cool. That guy was strong; I couldn¡¯t be careless. Besides, he had three handguns in his waist. But I knew that I could kill him, he just needed to try to pick of the three guns, and I would put a bolt in the middle of his forehead. ¡°Relax,¡± The bald man said with a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s be friends.¡± Chapter 016 Payback Time (2) The bald man had the advantage, when I evaded his attack, I returned to the room, and I didn¡¯t have much space to use in my favor. Evade another attack would be difficult in a confined space. ¡°You don¡¯t have to look at me like that,¡± The bald man said. ¡°Indeed, I tried to kill you. But it was because you killed my men, but I don¡¯t want to do that anymore. Let¡¯s be friends. No, even better, let¡¯s be partners!¡± Even though he was saying some stupid things, he didn¡¯t drop his guard even for a second. His club looked quite heavy, but he was moving around that weapon like it was nothing with a single hand. He would, without a doubt, block most of my attacks. It was too risky to try anything with Sarah behind me. ¡°I¡¯ll consider your offer if you take a few steps back and drop that weapon.¡± ¡°Kid, don¡¯t get smart with me,¡± The bald man said with a serious face. ¡°No one likes a smart mouth.¡± ¡°No one likes to worry about being backstabbed either.¡± I didn¡¯t have much choice; I had to taunt him and make him drop his guard or counter-attack when he tries to attack. One bolt in the head and he will die, but I was confident that I could avoid an attack in the head. After all, that guy couldn¡¯t be faster than the anaconda. ¡°You have a point,¡± The bald man said with a hand on his chin.¡± But I don¡¯t like to feel unprotected either, so what can I do to earn your trust?¡± ¡°Nothing, really. You only have two options: you can die fast with a bolt in your head, or you can die slowly with many bolts in your body.¡± I didn¡¯t have the time, nor did I want to talk with the bastard; my anger was already clouding my judgment, I had to kill him before he could make me lose my cool. While I said those words, I slowly aimed the crossbow towards his hands; his club could protect all his vital points. But he wouldn¡¯t be able to use that weapon for much longer with wounded hands. When I pulled the trigger, he also began his attack. But he was too full of himself, two of my bolts hit his fingers, and that made him lose the grip of his weapon. Before he could even finish his first attack, he was already retreating. With his main hand wounded, his attacks would lose a lot of power, but even so, I didn¡¯t relax. I followed him and to my surprise, and he headed towards the second floor instead of the next room to use Rose as a shield. He wasn¡¯t fast as me, but he probably broke his sensorial limits a few times. I didn¡¯t manage to catch up with him because I also had to be careful, or he would use his handguns. But to my surprise, he didn¡¯t even try. ¡®Is he out of bullets?¡¯ That was possible; most people could kill the small fries with standard weapons. But if he had encountered one of those giant monsters, he would prefer to use firearms; anyone would. Besides, even without bullets, a gun could make people fear him, and that worked on me. When I thought that, I speed up and I didn¡¯t try to take cover anymore. The bastard had to die, when he crossed the door on the first floor, I managed to hit him, but aim and run at the same time was too difficult. The bolt only hit him in the shoulder, he screamed, but that didn¡¯t stop him. After crossing the gate, the fool stopped near it to ambush me. ¡®Stupid bastard, he didn¡¯t even notice his senses improving? Even without the radar, I could still notice it.¡¯ But that was also a good chance for me, if I stop and approach carefully, he would run and make me leave Rose and Sarah behind, and I couldn¡¯t do that. I wanted to avenge Martin, but I wanted even more to repay the debt that I owed to those two. Once again I speed up, with my max speed I threw myself to the other side of the entrance gate, the bald bastard tried to attack, but he was too slow, and his club only hit the ground. Thanks to my speed, I rolled on the ground a few times to stop, but even so, I managed to aim and pull the trigger before the bald criminal could raise his club again. However, I didn¡¯t shot him in the head, I shot him in the stomach, thanks to that the bald criminal had time to feel the pain and to scream. ¡°You are an unlucky bastard, you killed and hurt some people who helped me and then you guys reappear after some stressful days. It¡¯s time to pay the bill.¡± ¡°You will regret this, you little bastard!¡± The bald criminal screamed. ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± First, I shot both of his legs, and then I shot both of his arms, he wouldn¡¯t be able to move anymore. Even though he also broke his physical limit, his improved defense couldn¡¯t protect him from the power of the crossbow at that distance. ¡°Now, how do you feel? I bet it isn¡¯t a great feeling not to be able to move and be beaten to death.¡± ¡°Shut up, you fucker! Go to hell!¡± ¡°You first.¡± I shot, and then the final bolt pierced his head. He deserved to suffer more than that, but I didn¡¯t have the time to lose in something like torture. Finally, I could relax. The job was done, and now I just have to take Rose and Sarah back to the hotel.
You killed a survivor, you have obtained his 1561 Evolution Coins.
However, before I could think about such a thing, the space around me changed, and I saw myself in the center of a small city. It was noon, and in that place, I fought against many people, and many people fought alongside me. That felt strange, there were no monsters nearby, but even so, humans killed humans like it was normal. It didn¡¯t feel like it was me, but I saw my hands killings dozens and dozens of other humans, maybe hundreds. The warm and the smell of blood make me feel disgusted, and then I returned to that mansion¡¯s Entrance gate, and I began to puke and tremble.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± It was just a hallucination, but even so, I felt horrible. I didn¡¯t think much about when I was coming to that place, but I killed eight human beings. I had already made my mind about doing that, but after doing, I felt scared. After all, by doing that, I was the same as then. I was a murderer; I didn¡¯t kill them for no reason. But does that change anything? ¡°No¡­ focus, I can¡¯t think about this now. I had to bring them to the hotel.¡± That feeling was still in the back of my mind, but I managed to concentrate on finishing my mission. I returned to the last floor, and then I checked the last room. Rose was there, but she was barely alive. All her limbs had been broken, her nose was broken, and she lost many of her teeth. ¡°Fucking monsters¡­ dying so fast was too good for all of you.¡± I expected, Rose didn¡¯t let them do that without a fight. And she fought one hell of a fight. But, in that condition, we wouldn¡¯t be able to transport her back to the hotel. ¡°Sarah has to heal her; there¡¯s no other way.¡± I didn¡¯t have any idea about what to do, but I had to wake her from that state. Just like before, Sarah was still in bed. In that kind of situation, I was almost useless; I didn¡¯t have any idea what to say to her. What would she want to hear at that time? I didn¡¯t know much about Sarah; I only talked to her two or three times. She never maintained eye contact and never made any effort to keep a conversation. But she looked pretty lively when she was with her sister, and she always smiled while talking to Harry. ¡°Sarah, your sister needs you. Don¡¯t worry; Harry won¡¯t abandon you two, no matter what.¡± That was a very irresponsible thing to say, but it had an effect, I saw some light in their eyes. I said that again and then Sarag blinked and noticed me. After that, I looked for some clean clothes for her. And when I returned, she was sitting on the bed; obviously, she was still in shock, but she was a lot better than before since she was reacting to my words. ¡°Wear this; you two are safe now. Don¡¯t worry; Harry won¡¯t hate you two because of this incident. I won¡¯t demand the impossible of you, but you had a few things to do.¡± I left the room, and I heard the sound of Sarah changing clothes, she cried a little, but I guess that was better than keeping all her emotions inside her. After some time she left the room. ¡°Thank you, Ethan,¡± Sarah said with her head down. ¡°No need to thank me, I was just repaying the debt.¡± Before, she only avoided eye contact, but now she didn¡¯t even raise her head. But to my surprise, she looked me in the eye and forced a smile. ¡°You are a good guy, Ethan. And a good friend.¡± I wondered if that was the case, whatever. While crying, Sarah healed her sister. To speed up the process, I gave her a bottle of lemonade. ¡°Sorry, Rose¡­ I¡¯m sorry for being dead weight.¡± Sarah said while sobbing. It seemed Sarah¡¯s healing skill had improved. But Rose still needed something more powerful for her to recover fully, so after Sarah healed the most painful broken bones, I decided to give Rose a piggyback. I knew she would refuse, but since she was still unconscious, she didn¡¯t have any other option. Before leaving the mansion, I searched for Rose¡¯s and Sarah¡¯s weapons, and I also decided to collect the criminal¡¯s weapons. Those weapons wouldn¡¯t worth a lot, but it was better than nothing. Even though that night had been very stressful, dangerous, and I received some mental damage. I obtained a lot of evolution coins, and now I had almost eight thousand evolution coins. After one more day or two, I¡¯ll be finally able to meet someone of my family, but who? That question was very troublesome, as the eldest son, I should bring to this area are my little brother or my little sister. ¡®I¡¯ll decide this when the time comes; until then, I have to keep my focus to stay alive.¡¯ The way back to the hotel we didn¡¯t face many problems and that was a good sign. Slowly but surely, the small fries were increasing my evolution coins. We arrived at the hotel at sunrise, and I was feeling like crap again, I had to sleep. Even though I was so close to having what I wanted, I had to rest. Even if only for half an hour, but for many reasons, I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep. Harry was waiting for us on the hotel¡¯s entrance, the guy was still heavily wounded, but he refused to treat his wounds before he could confirm the safety of his friends. Although he was happy, he cried like a child while hugging Sarah and the still unconscious Rose. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry for being weak,¡± Harry said while crying and hugging the two sisters tightly. ¡°I¡¯ll become strong, and I¡¯ll never let that happen again, I swear it.¡± After an almost eternal hug, Harry brought Rose and Sarah to the room they had previously use it. And I threw myself on one of the chairs in the lobby, I was exhausted, but I knew that I wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep any time soon because the scenes of that vision were still vivid in my mind. ¡°What the hell is happening to me? Why only I see those visions?¡± At first, I thought that was just kind of hallucination thanks to the stress. But I was starting to get worried. I began to wonder if it wasn¡¯t a good idea to tell about these visions with another person. But to say something like that, I only could think of my parents. While I was thinking about that, I heard the sound of footsteps and thanks to the radar I saw someone approaching. Soon I saw a beautiful blond woman, her hair was shoulder-length, and she had green eyes. She was wearing glasses, and she had a well-toned body. ¡°Another survivor, huh.¡± That was a good sign; it would be too troublesome to bring every survivor to this hotel by myself. To my surprise, she saw me and didn¡¯t hesitate to come in my direction. She looked kind of familiar¡­ ¡°So, it¡¯s you.¡± The blond woman, her arms crossed and with a serious expression on her face. ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°Your name is Ethan, right? You helped us.¡± The blond woman said. ¡°Did I? I don¡¯t remember meeting you before. But you look a bit familiar.¡± ¡°Are you making fun of me just because you helped us?¡± The blond woman asked visibly, angry. ¡°Am I laughing?¡± ¡°As I thought, you are a difficult person.¡± The blond woman declared. That conversation was getting annoying, she was saying that I helped her, but she still was treating me like a pain in the ass. But then I noticed the bow in their back. ¡°Oh, you are the brats¡¯ teacher. Sorry, I didn¡¯t recognize you, you looked like crap the last time I looked at your face.¡± Oh, boy. Another mistake, I said without thinking, and the blond woman became even angrier. By the way, I didn''t see her glasses in that school. ¡°Don¡¯t call them brats; they have names.¡± The blond woman said while trying to calm herself. ¡°I thought that you were just sulky brat, but you are rude too, huh.¡± ¡°You talk like you know me, but I don¡¯t remember ever talking with someone like you. But the brats said your name once or twice, what it was again? Claud, Claude?¡± ¡°Both of those are men¡¯s names, you insolent brat! My name is Claire!¡± Claire declared with a red face. ¡°Well, too bad Claire. You are a very responsible adult who needed to be helped by an insolent brat.¡± Why was I acting like that? Because I was tired, maybe, or perhaps I was annoyed because she talked like she knew me. Somehow, it was kind of refreshing to make some annoying get angry. Maybe she was also getting angry easy because she was hungry, but soon she forgot my taunts and calmed herself, that¡¯s an adult woman for you. ¡°Anyway, I came here to thank you for helping me and for taking care of my students,¡± Claire said while bowing slightly. Now since she was acting too seriously, I couldn¡¯t make fun of her anymore. So boring. ¡°You talked liked you knew me before this incident, did we meet before?¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t remember¡­ I was one of the top archery athletes of this city Olympic training center." Claire declared. "You worked there, right? Or did you forgot about that too?¡± No wonder she looked familiar, I must have seen her more than twice while I worked there, but wait a minute¡­ a good archery athlete and a kid¡¯s teacher, where I heard that before? Oh! She was Martin¡¯s cousin! Chapter 017 Alone (1) I was astonished, and Claire noticed it, what were the odds of me, the only person who had met Martin find Claire, his cousin? Come to think of it, if all the population was separated in one hundred zones, what was the probability of Henry, Rose, and Sarah end up in the same zone? Pretty low, I guess. But, even so, I had to confirm my suspicions. ¡°Do you have a cousin called Martin?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Claire answered frowning. ¡°Yes, but how did you know?¡± ¡°Here, it belonged to him.¡± I intended to keep his crossbow with me since there was a remote chance of me one day returning the weapon, but instead of me, the crossbow should stay with his family. That¡¯s why I gave the crossbow to Claire. ¡°What?¡± Claire asked astonished. ¡°Did he die?¡± ¡°Yes, I met him on the day this city became crazy. We walked together for some time, but on the third day, he died. I saw with my own eyes. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Claire lost the strength on her legs, and she fell on the floor. That surprised me a little. If I remember well, Martin said that she hated him. Well, maybe she didn¡¯t hate him as much as he thought. ¡°How?¡± Claire asked. ¡°He got ambushed by some criminals while he was looking by his aunt. At least those criminals are already dead and won¡¯t cause any more troubles.¡± That house he died was probably her house or at least the house she spent most of her youth. But she didn¡¯t need to know that. ¡°Thank you for telling me,¡± Claire said and then she left, showing a shocked expression. I probably shouldn¡¯t have told that at least not so soon, after all, she woke up a few hours ago and almost died. I guess that I¡¯m also impulsive with my mouth. I need to train my big mouth too. After a few minutes, I heard steps again, but it was Harry¡¯s steps. He looked a little more relaxed, but I saw a glint of determination in his eyes. ¡°Sorry, Ethan.¡± Said Harry showing a weak smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t even thank you, did I?¡± ¡°No problem, I was just repaying those who helped me once. I still owe you one, when you need some help, just ask, as long as don¡¯t make me lost a lot of time. I¡¯ll lend you a hand.¡± ¡°Then, I have something to ask, and this won¡¯t make you waste your time,¡± Harry said that and then his smile disappeared. ¡°Let¡¯s fight against some monsters; I don¡¯t want to waste time anymore. I want to become stronger, and I want to bring my mother and my little sister to my side as soon as possible. He was different from the last time I saw him, his depression was long gone, but his usual carefree self didn¡¯t return entirely either. ¡°Are you sure this is a good time to leave those two?¡± ¡°Sarah is sleeping,¡± Harry answered, still determined. ¡°And she said that it would talk a while for Rose to wake up. It is a perfect time.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t what I was asking.¡± ¡°They are safe here since no one can use weapons or skills,¡± Harry declared. ¡°Besides, I asked Claire to look after them while I¡¯m gone.¡± That was new information for me, but if that was the case, then I don¡¯t have to worry about the kids and Claire. In my opinion, Harry should stay with them as much as possible, but I could understand why he was so eager to get strong. After all, what happened in this zone can also occur in the others. That was why it was the best choice to hunt the monsters as much as possible, that way this zone will become safer, we would get stronger, and we also would reunite with our families faster. Rose and Sarah would, without a doubt, understand that. ¡°You have a point, in that case, let¡¯s fight until nightfall.¡± ¡°Before that,¡± Harry hesitated. ¡°What happened to them?¡± ¡°They are all dead; they won¡¯t bother anyone anymore.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Harry said with his head down. ¡°Sorry to make you dirty your hands. How are you holding up?¡± ¡°Someone would have to do it, and I¡¯m mostly fine. That won¡¯t make me lose sleep, not much at least.¡± Since I only looked at the eye of the bald criminal before his death, only his last moments were making me feel like a monster. The others didn¡¯t bother me, but my actions bothered me. I killed them without even blink; I didn¡¯t hesitate even for a second. Indeed I was trying to rescue Rose and Sarah, but even so, a reasonable person would hesitate. I was pretty sure Harry was feeling something similar; in his case, he did it in self-defense, he had even fewer motives to feel worse than me. But nothing was so simple; the city changed, maybe it¡¯ll never return to normal. We have to do what we must to survive, even if we also have to change ourselves and become something else. For the rest of the day, we fought all the monsters we could encounter near the hotel. Finding them was pretty easy, thanks to the radar and my senses. To me, the most beneficial enemies to kill were the fish, but Harry couldn¡¯t do anything against them, besides, to find more of them I would have to move away from the hotel. So instead, we fought only against the purple frogs and the mutant cats.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Harry improved a lot in the last few days, now he could fully block the charge of a mutant cat, and he also could kill the purple frogs in a few hits. Our job would have been a lot easier if he had created another weapon, but he didn¡¯t. He said that he only would do that after bringing his mother and sister to this area. Fortunately for us, we didn¡¯t encounter any troublesome monsters. But we managed to obtain a lot of evolution coins, just one thousand more and I would be able to bring one of them. And according to Harry, soon he would be able to do the same because using the statue, Rose and Sarah gave him all their evolution coins. Before sunset, we returned to the hotel, and the lobby was crowded with people. Some people would say the place was lively, but in my opinion, it was just noisy. But I didn¡¯t see any new faces: only Rose, Sarah, Claire, Frank, and the other kids. Rose looked pretty haggard, but she forced a smile after she saw Harry. Before she could even speak, Harry hugged her, and again he made that promise again. Rose smiled, and with a tired face, she looked at me. ¡°Thank you, Ethan,¡± Rose said, ¡°Sarah told me what you did for us.¡± ¡°No need to thank me, now we are even.¡± Rose smiled again like she knew that I would say that. Be friendly was good and all, but that was making me feel itchy. Even Sarah smiled at me and just made me feel uncomfortable, where did go all that fear and distrust they showed to me? Well, I guess by having allies who trust me will make things easy for me. Since the kids were bored, Harry, Rose, and Sarah played with them a little before they went to their room. After that, Claire created some toys to them, but to my surprise, Frank was interested in the toys. He looked to be thinking about something, and he seemed pretty serious for a kid. ¡°Good evening,¡± Claire said, forcing a smile. ¡°It seems that you like a lot to fight against those monsters.¡± When she was with the kids, she looked pretty happy. But I noticed she was sadder than before. She probably discovered some bad news using the statue. ¡°Not really, if I had the choice, I would rather not leave this place even for a second.¡± ¡°Rose and Sarah told me about your objectives,¡± Claire said with her head down.¡± They told me that you want to bring your family to your side. Even though you are a rude brat, you are very loyal. And very lucky.¡± ¡°I guess I¡¯m lucky.¡± I didn¡¯t even have to ask; she probably lost all her relatives. And unlike me, she knew that it was virtually impossible to bring them back. Besides, she also had to take care of the kids. Since she killed so many powerful monsters thanks to her incredible skill with the bow, they will be fine for a while. ¡°What are you going to do from now on?¡± ¡°The only thing that I can do,¡± Claire answered this time with a genuine smile.¡± Look after my students.¡± ¡°Do you best then and don¡¯t make any more mistakes, you caused me a huge headache. Look after some brats it¡¯s too much of a pain.¡± Claire got angry, but soon she smiled again, but this time, she showed a mischievous smile. ¡°Oh yeah? ¡°Claire said with an annoying smile. ¡°Even though you caused such a good impression on the kids and look very worried about them? In fact, Frank now wants to fight too, thanks to you. He said: I want to fight to protect Miss Claire and my classmates like the scare looking brother!¡± After that, Claire laughed very loudly. That damn brat, I¡¯m not his brother, I¡¯m not scary looking either, maybe just a bit. But that conversation was making me feel itchy again since, in my entire life, I rarely got praised for my actions. But that explains why Frank looked so thoughtful and serious. Claire was probably troubled with that idea; eventually, the kids would fight to protect themselves. However, it was too soon, besides it was just too shameful for us to let the kids fight. ¡°Well, maybe he and the other kids can fight without putting his life in danger.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Claire asked, showing a lot of surprise in her face. ¡°How?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know; you are a teacher; you are obviously smarter than me. Just think about something crazy and create it using the statue. Let¡¯s see, how about a drone that can shoot arrows? Create a joystick to control the drone, a screen in the joystick to see what the drone can see, and it¡¯s done.¡± That¡¯s pretty a good idea actually; maybe I should create one for myself. But probably it¡¯ll consume too much MP; if the kids only break their mental limit eventually, it¡¯ll be highly effective. But because I¡¯m focusing on track the enemies with the sensorial limit that probably will be useless to me. ¡°That¡¯s an interesting idea,¡± Claire hesitated. ¡°But I still feel reluctant in letting the kids do this kind of job. Even if they will be safe and if they won¡¯t be able to see the blood.¡± ¡°Well, no need to do this right now. We are shorthanded, but we aren¡¯t that desperate, not much at least. If you can find a better solution, then do it. Anyway, I¡¯m tired. I¡¯m going to sleep.¡± ¡°You are right, thank you,¡± Claire said. Since the kids weren¡¯t tired enough, I decided to sleep in a room on the other side of the building to avoid their noise. At first, I considered about asking Claire to train me or even transfer to me some of her evolution coins as compensation, but I dismissed the idea. She would need the evolution coins to look after the kids, and I shouldn¡¯t take away from the kids the only person who was almost a parent to them. She should use all her time for them. That night, I slept like a rock. As soon I threw myself on the bed, I fell asleep, and I only wake up when the sun was rising. And as soon as I opened the door I saw Harry, he was already ready and waiting for me. ¡°For how long have you been waiting?¡± ¡°Five minutes, I guess,¡± Harry answered. ¡°You creeped me out; next time wait for me in the lobby.¡± Even though I mean it sincerely, Harry just laughed. I was a bit sleepy, but a bottle of lemonade did the job to wake me up and put me on alert. Since Harry already had breakfast, we soon left the hotel. Another day passed smoothly, again we only faced small fries, but around noon, I finally had ten thousand evolution coins. However, Harry still needed more five hundred, so I kept quiet until he also had the necessary amount. As fast as we could, we ran back to the hotel. And inside of it all of them were waiting for us again. That would be a good moment; after all, it was the first sign that we all could survive and resist whatever could happen. However, I still didn¡¯t know who to transport to this area, and I also could see that Harry was conflicted. ¡®I guess I should transport Elly since she is the youngest.¡¯ I wanted to transport equally both of my siblings to this area, but right I couldn¡¯t. So I made that choice and probably no one could criticize me for that, unless the worst happens. But it was fine; I was a member of an incredible family. Just like my parents, my siblings were awesome, smart, and very athletic; they would survive anything. Without wasting time, I touched the statue I opened the menu specials, and then I received a shock: all of them were in area 77. ¡°Amazing! Amazing! If I remember well, Dad was the only one in that area. How did he manage to that in just a few days? No, only the first one would take a while, but then with help, the job would be done faster.¡± I felt relieved when I noticed that they were together and safe; I couldn¡¯t expect any less from them. It would take a while, but they would solve all this chaotic situation. But soon, the feeling of awe disappeared. Instead, I began to feel conflicted, sad, and even angry. What was wrong with me? I was supposed to feel happy for them; it was insane to have those other feelings. But my mind was clouded with a single question. ¡°Why am I still alone?¡± Chapter 018 Alone (2) That question made me freeze on the spot, but after a few seconds, I felt someone touching my left shoulder, and that made me wake up from my trance. ¡°Hey,¡± Claire asked while frowning.¡± Are you alright?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, yes, I¡¯m fine.¡± I didn¡¯t have any reason to do that, but I even forced a smile to her. But my forced smile made me look like weird; I noticed that thanks to Claire reaction, she looked at me like I was the strangest person in the world. ¡°For a moment, ¡°Claire added. ¡°I thought that you had turned into a statue. Are you family, ok?¡± ¡°Yes. They are fine. They are¡­ fine. Don¡¯t worry; I was just thinking about something.¡± Claire frowned again, but she stepped back. I began to think again about what had happened, but this time, I thought more objectively. First of all, my father was right in bringing to his side Elly and Ryan; they were both minors, so that was only obvious. After that, he brought mom to his side, again that was only obvious; she was his wife after all. Since I¡¯m already an adult, even though I¡¯m just eighteen, it was clear that I would be the last one. Instead of those feelings, I should feel proud; after all, he probably thought that I would survive by myself for a little longer. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no need to feel like that. I just need to wait a few days, and they will also transport me. It¡¯s a pity that I can¡¯t transport myself to my dad''s area. I can¡¯t, right?¡±
You can¡¯t transport yourself to other areas.
¡°As I thought, I just have to be patient¡­ but what should I do with my evolution coins?¡± I put those annoying feelings aside and began to think. I looked at my side, and I saw Harry still deciding who he would transport. ''I guess I should give my evolution coins to him, after all, once I leave this area, I won¡¯t be able to repay my debt anymore and with that, we will be even.'' I selected the option transfer, and I gave precisely ten thousand evolution coins to Harry, and before he could notice it, I left the hotel. I was feeling weird, and involuntarily, I was showing those feelings on my face. I couldn¡¯t let other people see me like that; it would be too embarrassing. It was already evening when I left the hotel and crossed the nearby streets. Usually, thanks to my recent experiences, I would avoid doing that even more alone, but I needed something to keep my mind busy. So I decided to hunt some monsters, there was no downside in doing that, besides, to do everything from now on, I would need evolution coins. On that night, I broke my sensorial limit for the fourteenth time, and I also obtained a decent amount of evolution coins. Now that my priority had disappeared I had to decide what would be my next step; unfortunately, since I would leave this area soon, I wouldn¡¯t be able to form a survivor¡¯s camp. But I still could at least kill as many monsters as possible and then create some useful equipment. ¡®What should I create now? Another weapon or something to protect me?¡¯ Against weak opponents, the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow was enough. But for how long would be enough? The monsters also were becoming stronger, and eventually, I had to change weapons or upgrade my crossbow. Besides, more powerful weapons would probably consume more MP, and I lacked in that aspect. But to my surprise, in the middle of the night, I received an unexpected message. ¡°The tenth day is over; in a few moments, all survivor will receive rewards based on their actions.¡±
You killed 212 Mutant Rats ¨C Reward: 05 low-quality HP potions You killed 12 Mutant Bats ¨C Reward: 05 low-quality STA potions You killed 103 Mutant Cats ¨C Reward: 10 low-quality STA potions You killed 69 Mutant Frogs ¨C Reward: 10 low-quality HP potions You killed 97 Mutant fish ¨C Reward: 10 low-quality MP potions You killed 02 Evolved Mutant Rats ¨C Reward: 02 low-quality Earth Stones You killed 03 Evolved Mutant Hawks ¨C Reward: 03 low-quality Wind Stones. You killed 01 Evolved Mutant Cat ¨C Reward: 01 low-quality Wind Stone You killed 01 Evolved Mutant Snake ¨C Reward: 01 low-quality Poison Stone You consumed 00 kilograms of monster meat ¨C Reward: HP increased by 0/ STA increased by 0 You consumed 23 liters of restorative potions ¨C Reward: MP increased by 2
¡°What the hell¡­¡± Now that was surprising, by fighting we already could get stronger and create many things, but all those rewards were even more unbelievable. It was like someone really want to see us fighting as much as possible. Not only that, but we were also capable of becoming stronger by eating monster meat and restorative potions? I don¡¯t remember drinking anything like that.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Maybe lemonade is considered a restorative potion since it can recover MP. One more reason to keep drinking; and thanks to it, I can keep breaking my sensorial limit.¡± At first, I thought everything that was happening was just a cosmic natural disaster. But after that, I began to think that was the work of someone, but who? God? Aliens? Satan? Odin? ¡°Someday I¡¯ll discover the reason why all this happened¡­ but only if I survive.¡± A lot of small bottles and stones appeared in front of me, and since they seemed to be useful, I decided to see their info.
Low-quality HP potion: it can recover 50 points of your HP
Low-quality STA potion: it can recover 50 points of your STA
Low-quality MP potion: it can recover 50 points of your MP
Low-quality Earth Stone: it can make your weapon sturdier and heavy for one hour
Low-quality Wind Stone: It can make your weapon lighter and faster for one hour
Low-quality Poison Stone: It can make your weapon poison enemies for one hour
As I thought, all of those items are very useful. Probably I can make them using the statue. But I would never think about creating those kinds of stones. The poison stone would be particularly very useful against those evolved mutant monsters. Probably by using those stones on my crossbow that effect would be applied to my bolts too. ¡°With the earth stone, the bolts will probably become slower, but it¡¯ll make my attacks more powerful at close distance, it¡¯ll be very useful against slow but sturdy monsters. I guess the wind stone it¡¯s the opposite, by using it, even fast monsters like the mutant cat wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge my bolts.¡± Creativity would be a powerful weapon from now on. If a person has some wild imagination and the necessary amount of evolution coins, anything very crazy useful could be created. That was probably why my father managed to bring all my family to his side so fast. ¡°Well, almost. I¡¯m still here.¡± Even though it was just a matter of time until I could see them, something was bugging me. But I shook my head to forget those annoying thoughts. ¡°Damn it, when did I become such a pathetic person?¡± I managed to survive in a city full of monster for ten days, but now I was whining because I was the last person my father decided to transport to his side. ¡°I have to focus on killing as many monsters as possible. Eventually, I¡¯ll decide what next item I should create and to do that; I¡¯ll need evolution coins. Besides, all of them probably already broke their limit many times more than me. I have to get stronger; I don''t want to be a dead weight for them.¡± Since Harry managed to bring his mother and sister to this zone, and soon, Rose and Sarah would help them. I didn¡¯t have to wait for them anymore; besides, we were even now. So I decided to follow the river and kill as many fish as possible after all the reward for killing them was excellent. Those MP potions weren¡¯t even 100 ml, but they could recover more than twice one liter of lemonade could. The taste wasn¡¯t good like lemonade, but I didn¡¯t care about that. That drink was more efficient, and as long as I kill more fish, I¡¯ll receive them for free. ¡°From now on, I also have to consume their meat. I can¡¯t eat raw meat, but as long as I use the earth stone, I¡¯ll be fine even if the fire attracts another anaconda. Probably.¡± Since I discovered a lot more useful information, I decided to write all of those on my notebook. After all, my mind wasn¡¯t sharp enough to keep track of everything while I was focusing on my surroundings. I had a lot of trouble while fighting against the fish at night because I could see them in the river and I couldn¡¯t see them jumping from the river. I could only attack them after they attacked me, but since their attack pattern was simple, I could evade the water balls with some ease, so it was worth the trouble. Because I ran almost the entire night when the morning came, I saw myself near the kids¡¯ school. That area didn¡¯t change much in the past few days, but since from that point onward was unknown territory to me, I decided to return to the hotel. There was no point in taking risks at that moment, after all, soon I would meet my family. Before sunset, I was back to the hotel, even though I stopped more than a few times to eat the mutant fish meat. I must say, I didn¡¯t taste anything like that before. It was even better than mom¡¯s homemade food. Eating that meat while drinking some lemonade, I felt like I was in the heavens, my dark thoughts almost disappeared from my mind. Almost. The hotel was even lively than before; Harry¡¯s mother and sister presence changed everything for the better. Even Rose and Sarah were already smiling as before. Harry¡¯s mother and sister also had the same dark hair and brown eyes, but his mother looked very tired and skinny. She was in the middle of her forties, but she looked a little older, probably because she had to raise her children alone for some years, or perhaps because fighting for her life made her age. Harry¡¯s sister seemed to be a happy-go-lucky girl; the entire time I saw her, she never left Sarah¡¯s side. She also looked very skinny¡­ I guess both of them didn¡¯t eat a lot in the past few days. After all, even I just recently discovered the fact that the monster¡¯s meat could be consumed without problems. I had a lot of things in mind, and I was tired, so I just ignored them and went to the room I had previously used it. But two annoying guys who weren¡¯t able to read my mood followed me. Harry and Frank. ¡°Hey, Ethan!¡± Harry said. ¡°Are you in a hurry or something? I need to thank you; I never thought that I would be able to see both of them so soon.¡± ¡°No need to thank me, now we are even. And you, What do you want to talk about? If it¡¯s about fighting with me, then forget it.¡± ¡°How did you know?¡± Frank asked, surprised. ¡°Claire told me, don¡¯t disobey your teacher, she almost died protecting you. You guys owe her at least that much. If you want to help, then wait until she decides the best way for you to do it. If that¡¯s all, then I¡¯m going to sleep, tomorrow is an early day.¡± ¡°Ethan, wait a minute,¡± Harry said frowning. ¡°My mom and my sister want to talk to you; it¡¯s just for a second.¡± ¡°I already know what they want to say, and like I said, they also don¡¯t need to thank me. Look, I¡¯m tired, maybe some other time we can talk, alright?¡± After a deep sigh, I said that to him. It was too much of pain to waste time with that kind of conversations. I had to make good use of every single minute, besides, what was the point of me talking to them? Soon I wouldn¡¯t be here anyway. After paying three evolution coins to make use of the damn shower, I threw myself in the bed, and I fell asleep. Since I wasn¡¯t all that much tired and I would be bothered early in the day, I decided to leave the hotel at midnight. And after I restocked my supplies, I left the building. But before that, I could see someone observing me thanks to the radar, and when I left I heard a sigh, it was Claire. But I ignored her since she didn¡¯t have anything useful to say. I didn¡¯t have time to waste; I had to prepare myself because soon I would meet my family. So I repeated my actions for the next days, and I waited for me to be transported. I waited. I waited. I waited¡­ and after an entire week, I was still alone. Chapter 019 Harry (1) For Harry, the end of our civilization meant only one thing: endless worry. His third semester in college was finally over, and since it was Saturday, he was making good use of his well-deserved free time, by sleeping until noon. That was his intention, but unfortunately, someone began to knock on his apartment door at six o¡¯clock fiercely. ¡°Oh, man,¡± Harry sighed. ¡°What kind of person can make so much noise at this hour?¡± With his eyes half-opened, he walked to the door; he was so sleepy that he didn¡¯t even saw the huge box in the middle of the apartment. The knocks on the door became fierce and almost looked like the door was about to be destroyed, but Harry dismissed those thoughts, his sleepy mind was probably making him imagine things. However, he was wrong and noticed that when he unlocked the door. Suddenly the door opened, and he got knocked on the floor, then a strange shadow entered his apartment. ¡°Ouch, why are you¡­¡± Harry said. For a second, Harry froze. Something unbelievable was in front of him; it was an oversized rat dirt with blood. However, he didn¡¯t have time to think or understand what was going on. The monster began his attack aiming its claws at Harry¡¯s face. Since he played basketball from an early age, he dodged that attack, but his cheek got scratched since he wasn¡¯t fully awake yet. ¡°Holy mother of God¡­¡± Harry trembled. The pain in his face made Harry even more cautious; that thing was there to kill him. It was small, even smaller than ten years old kids. But the creature¡¯s claws were dangerously sharp. One single mistake and he would lose his head, slowly he began to walk away from the beast, but something stopped him, a strange wooden box. ¡°What¡­¡± Harry said, confused. ¡°The hell is this?¡± When he touched the box, it opened, and he saw something that would be very useful to keep his head on its rightful place: a sword. He saw that kind of weapon before, but he couldn¡¯t remember where, but that didn¡¯t matter he picked the sword and prepared himself, because the creature was going to attack again. He didn¡¯t have any experience with weapons, but he had another advantage: his long reach. The creature jumped to attack, but it stopped midair because Harry pierced its heart with the sword. A single and precise strike and the beast died, but instead of happy, Harry felt disgusted because the blood of the rat gushed on his body. ¡°What just happened here?¡± Harrys asked while trying to get rid of the blood on his body. Before he could even try to understand what happened, he felt a headache and then he saw some blue screens in his mind.
Survivor Registered.
You survived your first battle.
You have obtained the skill: Troll¡¯s Life Force
You have obtained 01 Evolution Orb.
You have obtained 01 Evolution Coin.
Harry was speechless; something weird was happening, something bizarre. But again, he didn¡¯t have time to try to understand, because he heard Sarah¡¯s voice. ¡°Help me!¡± Sarah screamed. ¡°Oh, shit¡­ they got attacked, too?¡± Harry asked himself while running. Without a single moment of hesitation, he headed towards his friends¡¯ apartment; luckily, they lived on the same floor. Thanks to that, he soon arrived and saw Sarah¡¯s clumsily using a whip to attack a rat. The creature was too focused on Sarah, thanks to that, Harry was able to kill it before he could be noticed. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Harry asked while checking Sarah¡¯s clothes. ¡°Are you wounded?¡± ¡°Thanks, Harry,¡± Sarah answered after she managed to calm herself. ¡°I¡¯m fine, that monster didn¡¯t manage to attack me. But what is going on and where¡¯s Rose?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t she with you?¡± Harry asked, and he began to tremble. ¡°No, when I woke up, she wasn¡¯t here anymore, and then that thing appeared,¡± Sarah answered with tears in her eyes, already imagining the worse. Harry felt a chill run down his spine, Rose was alone, and some monsters had invaded the building, he had to find her before the worst could happen. But to their surprise, she appeared right at that moment, she looked fine, but she was covered with blood. ¡°Where have you been?¡± Harry asked relieved and a bit angry. For Harry, all that blood seemed to be Rose¡¯s blood, but it wasn¡¯t. She wasn¡¯t wounded; she only suffered a few minor scratches. She showed them her knife also covered with blood and said. ¡°I have been fighting for my life,¡± Rose answered and the, she picked up a backpack. ¡°Now let¡¯s clean ourselves and get out of here.¡± As a student of psychology, Rose knew what to do to keep herself, and most importantly, her friends calm. She had to analyze all the situation, ignore all the small problems, and keep moving forward. So without a hint of indecision, she ordered her friends to grab a few light clothes and all the food and put them in some backpacks. However, the only food and water that they found were in the vending machine. And for some reason, they were the only ones in the building. Maybe an evacuation had happened, but they discarded that idea, the city was being destroyed by monsters, but they didn¡¯t find any sign of evacuation. However, before they could leave the building, Harry taught them all about what he knew about those blue screen in their minds and about the game elements. Even though he was good looking, and a good basketball player, Harry didn¡¯t have many friends. Since he was regularly seen with the two most beautiful girls of the college, Rose, and Sarah, all the men on the campus avoided him. This kind of situation also happened in high school, thanks to that, when he wasn¡¯t studying, working, playing basketball, or with Rose and Sarah. He was playing videogames in his apartment.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. That was why he was quite excited about the chance of getting stronger because, with strength, he could protect his little sister, his mother, Rose, and Sarah. He wouldn¡¯t lose anyone precious to him again; he swore it on the day of his father¡¯s funeral. Even though his father died in a car accident, he would never let himself feel that pain again. ¡°So,¡± Rose hesitated after she heard Harry¡¯s explanation.¡± Those weird messages are things that we can see in games?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Harry answered without hesitation. ¡°So,¡± Rose hesitated again.¡± Do you have any idea what is going on?¡± ¡°No, but there are many possibilities,¡± Harry explained. ¡°Maybe we are inside of a video game, or maybe we got transported to a world similar to ours. Or perhaps we died, and this is the after-life. There is only one way to find out we have to survive until the very end. ¡°Fascinating,¡± Rose said while frowning. ¡°But your explanation also smells like bullshit. I refuse to believe in any of those possibilities. But you are right. We have to survive and find as many clues as possible to understand what is happening. But we don¡¯t have to this alone, let¡¯s find some police officers. If we find some of them, I¡¯m sure that they can escort us back to our families, or at least they will take us to a safe place.¡± When they left the building, they had to fight a lot, but the fights against the rats were quite easy thanks to Harry¡¯s natural strength and Rose¡¯s telekinesis, but they had a problem: Sarah wasn''t helping that much in their encounters. She even hit Harry in one of the fights. ¡°Sarah,¡± Rose said with a complicated expression on her face. ¡°I think you should just offer support after the battle and keep an eye on our surroundings while we are fighting. Leave the fighting to Harry and me, okay?¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Sarah said and forced a smile. Sarah felt quite frustrated, but like always, her sister was right. So, she just obeyed. However, she didn¡¯t give up; one day, she would also fight along with her sister and Harry. As proof of that, she began to train with her whip. She trained when they stopped to rest; she trained after waking up and at night before they went to bed. If in a battle she was useless; on the other hand, after the battle, Sarah was amazing. Thanks to her skill she could heal wounds, but since she also had a lot of medical knowledge, she could do a lot faster by controlling her MP. Just by activating the skill, she could heal wounds without even looking, but by concentrating she could repair muscles and broken bones. Although, that would make her pass out soon afterward. At noon of the first day, Rose decided to change their plan. They had visited two police stations, but both of them were empty, they didn¡¯t even find a gun in those places. ¡°I guess the situation is worse than I thought.¡± Rose declared while biting her nails. ¡°We won¡¯t have any help; we have to reach our families by ourselves. ¡°I wonder what happened to everyone¡­¡± Sarah said anxiously. ¡°That¡¯s a good question,¡± Rose declared. ¡°But we shouldn¡¯t waste time thinking about that right now. We don¡ät need to solve the entire situation, we are just civilians, and we should only worry about keeping ourselves alive. Even though no one of them had ever fought in their entire lives, their teamwork was almost perfect. Harry would block the enemies, Rose would kill them, and Sarah would heal their wounds as fast as possible. Thanks to that, they walked a lot on the first day. However, at the end of the first day, they found an obstacle too big for them: a mutant cat. ¡°We should retreat and look for another way.¡± Rose declared without a hint of hesitation after seeing the tiger-like creature. ¡°But this is the fastest route to our homes,¡± Harry said, unconcerned by the creature. ¡°I¡¯m sure that we can handle that monster too.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think this is a good idea,¡± Sarah said with a pale face. All of them had a point, but they were in a race against time. So in the end, they tried to fight the mutant cat. But the fight didn¡¯t last even five seconds. Harry tried to block the monster¡¯s fierce attack, and his left arm broke thanks to it. He didn¡¯t scream, but the pain was visible on his face. The beast was too fast for him to attack and too strong to defend, But Rose managed to cause a lot of damage to one of the mutant cat¡¯s paws using her knife and telekinesis. And that gave them the chance to escape. After escaping, they took shelter in a ten-meter tall house. Sarah healed Harry¡¯s broken bone and then fell asleep thanks to the exhaustion. However, he still had to rest because not only his bones received damage. They were in a dark room only slightly illuminated by the star''s light. But Harry and Rose couldn¡¯t relax enough to sleep. ¡°Harry,¡± Rose asked. ¡°Why do you think we see those weird messages?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Harry answered while looking at the stars. ¡°Maybe someone or something wants us to realize that we have to fight from now on. Fight for our lives and fight to get stronger. Those messages are simple, and I think they imply that.¡± ¡°Are you speaking about one of those game things?¡± Rose asked while frowning. ¡°What was the name of that thing you mentioned? Level up?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Harry answered. ¡°I know this is very strange. But the universe is vast, and humanity is always discovering new things. What is weird now, maybe won¡¯t be odd in fifty years. What we perceive as laws of physics, may or may not be applied in other parts of the universe. I¡¯m sure that you can understand it. ¡°Yeah, but¡­¡± Rose hesitated. ¡°It¡¯s just too weird.¡± ¡°Of course it is,¡± Harry said after a short laugh.¡± But a weird thing is just something that you are not used to it.¡± Harry had a point, Rose knew it. But something was off, it would take time, but she needed the answers to those questions. Why was this happening, and why now? She only knew one thing, worrying wouldn¡¯t help, it would only make they make mistakes. They had to find the clues, but that wasn¡¯t their priority. They had to survive and find their families, and only after that, they would have time to find those answers. On the second day, they decided to take a long detour since they saw many mutant cats ahead of them. Although those monsters didn¡¯t like to walk in groups, one of them was more deadly than twenty mutant rats. ¡°Our best option is to cross downtown using ST Louis Street,¡± Rose said. ¡°Let¡¯s just hope the street has less and weaker monsters,¡± Harry said while scratching his left arm. ¡°I hope so too,¡± Sarah said visibly uneasy. It took half a day for them to reach their start point and they fight a lot, but thanks to that, they confirmed Harry suspicions. They could get stronger, smarter, and faster. Harry was the first one to break the limit, and he decided to break his physical limit because, with that, he would be more resistant and protect Rose and Sarah. After ten long seconds of feeling pain in his bones and muscles, Harry decided to test his endurance against the mutant rats. And just like he thought, the monster¡¯s attacks had become lighter. ¡°It seems to be true,¡± Rose said impressed. ¡°Your body didn¡¯t change, but you look to be stronger. How do you feel?¡± ¡°Very good,¡± Harry said while jumping. ¡°I feel light.¡± Since they didn¡¯t notice any counter effects, Rose and Sarah also did the same, but both of them choose their mental limits to maximize the potential of their skills. But, they didn¡¯t feel pain inside their bones or muscles. They felt pain in their brains; it seemed like someone was electrocuting their heads. But, they also noticed the improvement in their skills. ¡°This is too suspicious¡­¡± Rose said, showing a worried expression. ¡°Too much benefit for just a day and a half of battles.¡± ¡°Well,¡± Harry said frowning. ¡°At least this will make the battles a little easier.¡± ¡°But this progress it feels unnatural,¡± Sarah added. ¡°Human beings can¡¯t improve so fast.¡± All of them were worried, but they couldn¡¯t do anything to stop it. Besides, that voice in their heads would drive them crazy if they don''t choose an option. The second day and night passed without any significant incidents for them. But on the third day, they finally found some survivors ¡ª a group of bad apples, Martin and Ethan. Chapter 020 Harry (2) The first time I saw Ethan, he looked to be a madman, crossing the town alone looking for his family, covered with blood and he didn¡¯t even think twice about avenging his dead friend. Although, when he woke up, he understood that it had been a bad idea. He never gave up on it. According to him, Martin had helped him a lot. Even though they only knew each other for a day, he felt that he should avenge him. That seemed to be a little too radical for me, but who am I to judge other people feelings and decisions? Although he had a crazy side, he also had a praiseworthy side, even alone, he faced many enemies, got wounded and even lost half of his ear. He did all of this to find his family as soon as possible. He only retreated because he didn¡¯t have any other choice. In my opinion, he was a guy to be admired, a bit impulsive perhaps, but still a good guy. However, for some people, such a single-minded determination also could be seen as madness. And thanks to that, at first, Rose didn¡¯t trust Ethan. Probably because she was studying psychology, she saw in Ethan, an unstable person, and since Rose was that kind of person, she didn¡¯t hesitate to say that in from of him. Although her words made me feel shivers, Ethan just accepter her words, like she was right. But that was only because she wanted to keep us safe, in some sense, she was also troublesome On the other hand, Sarah had more personal reasons not to trust him. Even though she wanted to be a doctor, she had difficulty interacting with strangers. You see, eleven years ago, they lived in an orphanage, although the place wasn¡¯t that great it wasn¡¯t terrible either. Then both of them got adopted by a pair of teachers, and so they became my neighbors. Before you could imagine, they became a happy family; after all, their new parents were good people. However, suddenly, a pair of kids appear in a neighborhood; obviously, they would interest the other kids. But sometimes kids can be quite cruel, as soon as they discovered the fact that they were adopted, they bullied Rose and Sarah. Eventually, the bullying ended. But the marks didn¡¯t disappear, Rose distrust almost every stranger, and Sarah fears them. But that was fine; they only needed some time. Eventually, they would be able to trust other people, my little sister Sabrina and I were proof of that. I still remember that time, a week before Rose and Sarah moved to the house on the other side of the street, my father passed away. He was my hero; he was the person who I wanted to be. He was my best friend, but then one day, he suddenly wasn¡¯t alive anymore. For weeks, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to be motivated about anything. I also couldn¡¯t care less about my new neighbors; besides, when I saw them for the first time, I concluded that they were pretty boring. When I remember about those times, I laugh a lot. Sarah rarely left her sister side, and she was afraid of everything. While Rose was too damn serious, she always got angry about every stupid little detail, although neither of them changed much since that time. It was Sabrina who made me get close to them; at some point, my little sister was having trouble with some math problems. And since I wasn¡¯t smart, she decided to ask for help from our new neighbors. After that, Rose and Sarah began to hang out at my house pretty often, and eventually, we became friends. Thanks to Ethan¡¯s addition to our team, our movement speed increased a lot. He could offer a lot of attack power with the crossbow, and he also could sense the presence of nearby enemies. Our group became very balanced, which was great, but our interactions were kind of lacking. Rose and Sarah kept their distances from Ethan, and he seldom spoke and never made any effort to keep our conversations. However, that situation didn¡¯t last for much time. We found a new enemy, a giant mutant rat, and thanks to Ethan¡¯s strategy, we managed to avoid a dangerous fight. But he suffered a lot of damage, even though when we found him he was still breathing, Sarah said that he was a lost cause. If we didn¡¯t have encountered that strange building, he would have died. I knew that part of the city pretty well so that odd-looking building didn¡¯t escape my eyes. Besides, no monsters approached the place, and that was a good sign. Eventually, Ethan woke up and looked fine. But Rose, Sarah, and I weren¡¯t fine at all; for hours we studied that statue and the map, we tested almost every function. And thanks to that, we confirmed the death of Rose¡¯s and Sarah¡¯s parents. Sarah cried until she got exhausted and fell asleep, and Rose became lethargic; she didn¡¯t even have the energy to talk. For more than a day, they cried and kept staring blankly at the ceiling of our room. But they managed to recover themselves to help me, but that had been a mistake. Since Ethan couldn¡¯t wait for us and we were also shocked by the recent new, we didn¡¯t notice those criminals approaching us. We fought, but we lost, and they took Rose and Sarah. I knew what would happen to them, and I couldn¡¯t let that happen, so I forced myself to follow them, even with both of my legs broken. But I was too slow, and the monsters attacked me, little by little they began to take pieces of me until eventually, they defeated me.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. However, I was lucky, I didn¡¯t die, and Ethan helped me. He was indeed a good friend, without second thoughts, he used his evolution coins to heal me, even though by doing so, the meeting with his family would be delayed. And he decided to buy another potion again, but we didn¡¯t have time for that. I was weak, and I recognized that I wouldn¡¯t be able to help Rose and Sarah, but Ethan would. I begged him, and without hesitation, he went to rescue them, and obviously, he succeeded in bringing them back. But even before I could ask him to help them, Rose and Sarah already suffered irreparable damage. When I saw Rose and Sarah, I felt a lot of emotions. They were alive, and I felt happy, but then I saw the unconscious Rose and the low-spirited Sarah, and then I felt shame and rage. I was too damn weak; I couldn¡¯t even protect those who I loved. I loved both of them, and I wanted them by my side forever, but did I deserved that? Such a pathetic person deserved their love? Even though my words had no value anymore, I swore to them that I would protect them, I¡¯ll obtain the strength necessary to do that, or I¡¯ll die trying. From that day onwards I decided to change, I had to become stronger and also bring my mother and little sister to my side. Even I had to stay away from Rose and Sarah for the most part of the days. I felt guilty because of it, but that was necessary, some distance wouldn¡¯t make weak our relationship. Besides, now that they lost their parents, I had to become the new pillar in their life. I couldn¡¯t be lenient anymore; otherwise, the same thing would happen again. Not to mention, Claire was also in the hotel, her skill with the bow was excellent, and she was also a trustworthy person. She said she would look after them, even though she was also suffering because of the loss of her relatives. Fortunately, Ethan didn¡¯t refuse to help me. He had improved a lot in just a few days, and now he could quickly kill a mutant cat even before the creature could get closer to him. Not only that, but he also received a new skill and thanks to it, finding enemies became easy and getting ambushed almost impossible. With Ethan¡¯s help, I managed to break my physical limit four times in a little more than a day and obtain three thousand evolution coins. Now both of us could transport one of our family members to our side, but who I would transport? That question made me feel like needles were piercing my heart. But that feeling disappeared when I received the message.
You have obtained 10000 Evolution Coins.
Before I could understand what had happened, I saw the confused faces of everyone looking at the entrance door, and Ethan also had disappeared. He was the only person with that amount of evolution coins, but why? Did he change his mind? That was improbable; after all, he fought so eager to see them, even though he always felt disgusted while fighting. But I couldn¡¯t let that chance escape; I could talk to him later to understand his motive of doing that. I cried for hours after I transported my mom and Sabrina to this area, I saw them a little more than two weeks ago, but I felt that I hadn¡¯t seen them in months. Both of them looked quite tired and skinny, but soon we solved that. We had a small party to celebrate that reunion. Even though they lost their parents, Rose and Sarah looked genuinely happy. Even Claire, who only knew us for a day or so looked delighted. I guess in situations like that; even the small accomplishments were enough to raise the spirits of the people. After the party, mom and Sabrina soon fell asleep. We all were curious to know about the situation of the other areas, but that could wait. To my surprise, Sabrina¡¯s weapon was also a whip, and my mom¡¯s weapon was a lance. But of them didn¡¯t look much proficient in using those weapons, but they managed to survive, and that was more than enough. At midnight of that day, the last thing that was in my mind was the battles. But then that changed when we all received that message. Except for the kids, we all received some rewards. Those items would be helpful, but I couldn¡¯t help but frown. That was another clue; we decided to keep it in the back of our minds. We didn¡¯t have time to worry about that; it was time to take the next step: make a base of operations. For the past few days, I saw Ethan looking at the map on the ceiling; it seemed that he was also thinking on those same lines. So I decided to consult the others on the following morning. And to my surprise, Ethan didn¡¯t have returned. I thought that we agreed to form a team, but come to think of it, we didn¡¯t explicit said that. I was happy with mom¡¯s and Sabrina¡¯s presence, but I couldn¡¯t keep partying forever, and they understood that. It was time to plan our actions on a large scale seriously. Since it was the best plan of action, everyone agreed about bringing other survivors to the hotel. But we had to be careful because the city didn¡¯t have the government, the police or the army. We had to select our new allies, after all carefully, any individual who managed to break their limits a few times could cause a lot of problems. To do it, we had to analyze and study the map on the ceiling at all times. And we also would need Ethan¡¯s help. Claire also broke her sensorial limit a few times, but she was also breaking her physical limit, so he wasn¡¯t a tracker. Besides, Ethan¡¯s radar skill was what we needed for the job. Fortunately, Ethan returned at the evening of that day. But he looked a bit different; he also looked tired and thoughtful. Everyone but I and Frank understood that for some reason, he needed to be left alone, but I decided to force him to talk a little. However, even though he didn¡¯t wholly ignore us, he seemed very annoyed. In the end, we decided just to give Ethan some space. But nothing changed. After three days, Ethan stopped avoiding us. But he didn¡¯t look very interested in our conversations or our plans. He always answered our questions with a ¡®yes¡¯ or an ¡®alright¡¯ and ¡®fine.¡¯ He always looked thinking seriously about something, and after a week, I understood what he was thinking. He simply just forgot about everything else and was just focusing on killing monsters for the sake of killing them. Chapter 021 Training (1) ¡°I¡¯m worried,¡± Harry declared. ¡°It¡¯s not like he is doing a bad thing, but I¡¯m worried about Ethan¡¯s mental state. A week had passed since Harry¡¯s mom, which name was Sandra, and his sister Sabrina had arrived. During that week, they worked a lot, and they even managed to find a group of five survivors. But that was just the first step; they couldn¡¯t only bring them; they also had to help them to grow stronger to survive. Besides, everyone had to pay to stay in the hotel. So, for the past few days, they studied the map on the ceiling and worked together to become stronger. The progress was good so far; all of them could handle two rats at the same time. But they were still short-handed. Besides, ranged fighters like Ethan, Rose, and Claire were rare. Everyone could change their weapons, but they also had to consider their skills. So it was hard for a person who obtained a melee weapon to change for a ranged one. To discuss those kinds of questions, Harry, Rose, Sarah, Claire, Sandra, and Sabrina would talk in the lobby every night. ¡°Well,¡± Claire said while showing an annoyed expression.¡± He¡¯s just a kid, so he is acting like that because of some stupid reason. As far as I know, he always acted like that. ¡°Come to think of it,¡± Harry said, looking very interested. ¡°You trained where he worked, right? I mean, I know he doesn''t talk much, but to me, he seemed very passionate about reuniting with his family. Why suddenly would he lose the interest? Considering his reactions, it didn¡¯t seem like they died. ¡°Yeah,¡± Claire said after a sigh. ¡°As far as I can remember, he always acted like that. The other members of the archery session always tried to make him join us, just for the fun of it since he was young and unusually quiet. But he refused every single time like our sport was just a waste of time, and like he had something more important in mind.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Harry said with his right hand on his chin. ¡°What do you think, Rose? You are studying psychology, after all. ¡°I¡¯m still studying,¡± Rose said. ¡°Or at least I was, so I¡¯m not a doctor in the area yet. But his actions just prove that he lost interest in this situation and he is just killing monsters because he has nothing better to do. And for many reasons, this is very dangerous.¡± ¡°I was looking at him on the day he transferred his evolution coins to Harry,¡± Sarah declared. ¡°At first, he looked pretty happy and surprised. But then I saw a mix of many emotions on his face. Like happiness, sadness, and anger.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case,¡± Rose said after thinking for a while. ¡°Then, probably his family is alive, and they are all together, that explains why he was happy. As for sadness and anger, he was sad because he was still alone. And angry¡­ probably because he considered that they had abandoned him.¡± Rose¡¯s words put everyone around in an uncomfortable mood; after all, Ethan always praised his parents and siblings. And according to his words, they weren¡¯t the type to abandon another member of the family. But that was a fact, and they didn¡¯t couldn¡¯t think of a good reason for them to do that kind of thing. ¡°They managed to reunite in four days,¡± Harry said. ¡°But one week already passed and Ethan is still here. Something happened in their area, and that made them give up on the idea of bringing him to their side, or they simply didn¡¯t want to do it? Come to think of it, Ethan said that he had been living by himself since he was sixteen. That¡¯s a little abnormal, considering that he always praise them. ¡°Well,¡± Rose said. ¡°In this kind of situations, it¡¯s better if we wait for him until he wants to talk about it. Until then, we have to give him something to do and make sure not to let him alone.¡± ¡°We have many things to do,¡± Harry said thoughtfully. ¡°Look for more survivors, check good hunting grounds to obtain as much evolution coins as possible, and eventually leave the city to see the condition of the nearby cities.¡± ¡°This kind of activity won¡¯t make him interact with other people,¡± Sandra said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell him to protect the new survivors while they are training against the mutant cats? While he does that, you three can look for other survivors in other places. If Sabrina, who is younger than him, go too, I¡¯m sure that he will feel more comfortable. ¡°That¡¯s a good idea, mom,¡± Harry said excitedly. ¡°What do you say, Sabrina?¡± ¡°He is your friend, right?¡± Sabrina said, smiling. ¡°In that case, he should be a good person. I can help him; after all, he helped us too.¡± ¡°Then, it¡¯s settled,¡± Harry said already imagining Ethan saying yes. ¡°When he returns, I¡¯ll tell him.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope that he won¡¯t refuse,¡± Claire said while scratching her head. ¡°Of course he won¡¯t refuse,¡± Harry said while laughing. ¡°He is a guy who won¡¯t refuse to help those who need help. Sandra and Sabrina agreed with Harry, but Rose, Sarah, and Claire didn¡¯t share their opinion. They knew Ethan was somewhat troublesome to handle and things wouldn¡¯t go that smoothly. Like the last few days, Ethan arrived at the hotel when everyone was already sleeping, and he left before sunrise. But Harry already knew that he would do that, so he waited for three hours in the lobby before dawn. However, he almost didn¡¯t saw him, because Harry was sleepy and Ethan moved quietly. In the end, Ethan got caught, and he clicked his tongue in annoyance. Because Harry always appeared to cause him trouble. After Ethan heard Harry¡¯s explanation, he immediately said. ¡°Why should I do this? Just give me one good reason.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. For a moment, Harry didn¡¯t know what to say, but luckily, the perfect answer came to mind. ¡°Because it¡¯s more efficient,¡± Harry explained. ¡°We can train the new survivors and bring new ones to this place. Look, I know that you want to get stronger, but a single stronger person can¡¯t solve all problems. However, how about ten somewhat strong persons? They¡¯ll be more useful, right? Besides, it¡¯s getting harder to break our limits, so it¡¯s best if we raise the overall power of our group.¡± Again Ethan clicked his tongue because that was a good reason. With other strong survivors in the hotel, they will be able to solve many problems, and that would help him in the long run. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like he wanted to be the strongest. He just didn¡¯t have anything better to do. And since in the last years he did everything by himself, he would rather continue in doing all things by himself. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Harry said while tapping his shoulder. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this, every day, once every two days is fine.¡± ¡°What? Hell no! I¡¯ll do it once a week, and nothing will change my mind.¡± In the end, Harry convinced him in helping with the new survivor¡¯s training once three days, although he clicked his tongue again. For Ethan, it was a pain in the ass, but he didn¡¯t have any choice but to wait for three hours for the new survivors'' group. However, to his annoyance, he had to wait for five hours. Sabrina arrived one hour after sunrise, and she barely could muster the courage to give Ethan good morning after seeing his angry face. The other survivors couldn¡¯t even look at him in the eye, even though all of them were older than him. But Ethan was the guy who always appeared in the hotel covered with blood; it would be wise to not mess with him. But even so, he didn¡¯t say a word. He didn¡¯t even lead them; he only followed them from behind. However, Ethan was focused on the job, he saw the apprehensive face of Sandra when her daughter left the hotel, and because of that, he was determined not to let a single one of them die. At first, the survivors didn¡¯t know what to do; after all, Harry and the others always lead them. But even though she was only fifteen years old, Sabrina took the command and guided them to the area where they always fought against the mutant cats. Her brother said that Ethan could be trusted, so she didn¡¯t have to worry about ambushes and the like. She only had to worry about getting stronger and obtaining evolution coins. Sabrina''s skill was inducing fear, with that skill she could paralyze a target for a certain amount of time after attacking it. The duration of the fear would change according to the enemy, and against the mutant cats, she could stop them for a second. However, that skill only could be used against the same opponent every ten seconds. But, it didn¡¯t cost a lot of MP, so she was good at controlling a significant number of enemies. But even with such useful skill, they didn''t fight very well even in a battle of six against one. Maybe it was because Sabrina was the only one who could attack from some distance, or it was because the survivors were too afraid. Because of that, their attacks didn¡¯t have enough power to cause a lot of damage. So their battles always took a long time to end, and they always suffered many wounds. However, Ethan didn¡¯t step in a single time to help them. Thanks to that, the survivors began to glare at him. ¡°Excuse me, Mister Ethan,¡± Sabrina said with a troubled face. ¡°When do you plan to help us?¡± ¡°Who the hell is Mister Ethan? I¡¯m just eighteen¡­ my job isn¡¯t to help you guys, is to keep you safe from ambushes.¡± ¡°But,¡± Sabrina hesitated. ¡°We are having a hard time against these monsters.¡± ¡°So what? Do you guys think that always someone will appear to help when you need?¡± The problem wasn¡¯t their power or anything else, the problem was their lack of resolve, and Ethan knew it. Those five stayed inside their homes and almost starved because they didn¡¯t have the courage to fight. Except for the rats'' meat, all monster meat could be eaten. Anyone could see that just by looking. Not only that, since Harry¡¯s group has helped them, they thought that they would always be supported. Help others with the city in this situation was the right thing to do, but everything has a limit, and anyone would abandon a dead weight. The plan to reunite the survivors wasn¡¯t an act of charity; it was a plan to make the city safer again, and everyone would have to fight to make that reality. ¡°You guys understand that if I help you, all of you will receive fewer evolutions orbs and coins, right? And that will only bring you problems in the long run.¡± Ethan wasn¡¯t good with words, so he just stopped there. There was no point in saying the obvious to those who can¡¯t understand such a simple thing. But to his surprise, they began to fight a little better. After all, no one wanted to be protected forever. That said, they still had a long way ahead of them. Because at the end of that day, all of them had at least one broken bone. When they returned to the hotel, Claire sighed while Harry, Rose, and Sarah became speechless. On the other hand, Sandra looked at Ethan reproachfully. She still felt great gratitude towards him, but that wouldn¡¯t stop her from thinking and saying what she wanted. ¡°What happened?¡± Harry asked. ¡°Absolutely nothing.¡± ¡°How did they get so hurt like that if nothing happened?¡± Sandra asked with her arms crossed. ¡°Probably because I didn¡¯t help them, I only fought when two or more mutant cats appeared.¡± Claire shrugged, while the others covered their faces with their hands. But Sandra still wasn¡¯t done talking. ¡°Why?¡± Sandra said, showing a lot of anger. ¡°A single mistake and they could have died.¡± ¡°They wouldn¡¯t die, most of them broke their physical limits more than twice, and they could endure a hit or two. Besides, what is the purpose of their training if someone has to always look after them? Will they always be protected and helped?¡± ¡°Even so,¡± Sandra stepped forward. ¡°At the beginning, everyone has to be helped. Only after obtaining some combat experience they''ll be able to fight alone.¡± Ethan was beginning to feel annoyed, but he decided to keep calm and answer with the due respect. After all, she was older than him. ¡°And when the beginning will end? We only have met a few kinds of monsters so far, who knows what we will find in the other parts of the city or even outside? All of us have to train to fight any enemy that appears before us. We have to train our bodies and also our minds, to face and defeat any threat.¡± Ethan had a point; everyone acknowledged his words, even the wounded group of survivors. But they also knew that he was too harsh; he had to find a middle ground between efficiency and growth. ¡°But since all of you seem to disagree with me, I guess I¡¯m in the wrong here. Next time, try to be my specific with my function, if you give the order, I¡¯ll try my best to bring them back without even a scratch. Although I think that will be difficult.¡± ¡°Then, why didn¡¯t you do that from the start?¡± Claire asked. ¡°Too many people had already died, and too many are still suffering. There¡¯s no need to shed more blood or tears.¡± ¡°¡­ I guess you are right, I had learned on the hard way, so I thought everyone else would only learn in a hard way. Sorry guys, next time I¡¯ll help more. Now if you excuse me, I¡¯m going to sleep.¡± Sabrina and the survivors suddenly felt very awkward since Ethan didn¡¯t even blink when they got hurt, see him apologizing was very weird for them. Also, Harry and the others felt stranger; at first, it seemed like he left them got hurt to make them stronger. But at some point, it looked like he only did that, for the others feel what he felt when he fought and got hurt alone. And in the end, it looked like he didn¡¯t care anymore. ¡°As I thought,¡± Rose said. ¡°We have to keep an eye on him.¡± Chapter 022 Training (2) What an annoying day, first I had to look after some strangers and they even began to show some hostility only because I wasn¡¯t acting like their babysitter. Not only that, when we returned, I got questioned about the survivors'' wounds. It was a pain in the ass, but they were right. I shouldn¡¯t try to train them if they want to be protected, then that¡¯s fine. Instead of getting experience while fighting the small fries, they should gain experience against the big guns, or die in the process. ¡®Why was I even trying to train a bunch of strangers? Whether they live or die, nothing will change for me.¡¯ Instead of thinking about that kind of thing, I began to prepare myself to hunt some monsters. Since I already broke sensorial limit nineteen times, only a new and fast type of monster would be able to ambush me at night. But even of something like that appears, nothing will change. A new challenge like that would be appreciated because it would give me a lot of evolution coins and also would train me. Since it was still early, everyone was in the lobby. Sabrina was telling in details to Harry and Rose what happened in the entire day, and Sarah was healing the survivors. Sandra seemed to be thinking seriously about something, and to my surprise, Claire and the kids blocked my way to the exit. ¡°Ethan,¡± Claire said with a serious expression on her face. ¡°I have a favor to ask.¡± ¡°I politely refuse.¡± It was probably something troublesome; I don¡¯t have time to waste with them. Since more and more survivors were dying every day. I didn¡¯t mind about lending a hand to the survivors on the hotel once in a while. But I would never do that every single day. ¡°I want to you to help me to look after the kids tomorrow,¡± Claire said, ignoring my words. ¡°We are going to test their weapons tomorrow.¡± ¡°If you have a favor to ask, then say I need your help and don¡¯t say I want your help.¡± Seriously, every single one of them is a pain the ass. But the topic interested me a little, thanks to that, I noticed that every kid was carrying a half-meter long mini-helicopter. I thought those are just toys, but it seemed to be their weapons. I noticed it thanks to the cannon and the arrows under the mini-helicopters. ¡°So you followed my idea, huh. I thought an adult like you wouldn¡¯t follow the suggestion of a brat like me.¡± ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t want to follow your idea because I knew that you say this,¡±Claire said while trying to keep calm. ¡°But, the ideas I had were too expensive to create. While I could create those with only 500 evolution coins.¡± Those were cheaper than I thought, but the kids would be able to use them even without being survivors? Could they even use MP? I guess they could since I also created the arrows before I killed the first rat, and now they want to see them in action. The kids looked at me with a lot of expectation in their eyes, they wanted to leave the hotel, and they also wanted to help us. So that was only natural. ¡°Well, it¡¯s only for a day, then it¡¯s all right. I¡¯ll help you guys.¡± The kids began to jump and celebrate, poor kids; they are so na?ve. If I were in their position, I would gladly spend all my day in the safety of the hotel. But I needed the evolution coins. Besides, that place was too damn boring. Not only that, without anything to keep my mind busy. I would only remember the fact that my family left me in this area, and also would remember the criminals'' faces. ¡°You are wrong,¡± Claire declared with her mischievous smile. ¡°We will need your help every two days if those weapons prove to be useful.¡± I was speechless, but soon I recovered, there¡¯s no way that I would that. I already have my problems and aims; I can¡¯t waste so much time helping others. ¡°You have no choice,¡± Claire declared, smiling.¡± It is for the greater good; besides, you are the only one with the necessary skills for the job. Obviously, I¡¯m going too, but I can¡¯t keep an eye on the kids and at our surroundings at the same time.¡± ¡°Greater good my ass, and of course I have a choice. No one can make me follow your orders.¡± ¡°Mind your language in front of the kids,¡± Claire said. ¡°Of course, I can¡¯t make you follow my orders. But you have to follow the council¡¯s commands.¡± ¡°Council? What council?¡± ¡°While you were playing around with monsters, ¡°Claire said, smiling again. ¡°We decided to form a council, to organize the survivors¡¯ jobs, supplies, look for other survivors, and train the new ones. Harry, Rose, Sarah, Sandra, and I are the members of the council.¡± Playing around with monsters¡­ her words annoyed me, but I decided to keep calm, she was just messing with me. ¡°That¡¯s very funny, the council you created was formed by all the adults around.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s funny or not,¡± Claire said. ¡°For now, since you are a spoiled brat, you¡¯ll have a day off every three days. Your function in this survivor¡¯s camp will be to help me to protect the kids when they leave the hotel and to protect the other survivors when they are hunting.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Those guys¡­ they had decided my functions without even consulting me. When I looked at them, I noticed that they were also looking at me, but as fast as they could, they turned their heads to the other side. But Sandra didn¡¯t; it seemed that she and Claire were the only ones who weren¡¯t fazed by my angry stare. However, they had a point; for both functions, I was the most obvious choice. But I also knew that they were doing that to keep an eye on me. In a way, it was pointless to help them, but it was also necessary. A single person wouldn¡¯t be able to change anything, but many people could do it. Besides, if I refused their ¡®orders,¡¯ I would be what Claire said, a spoiled brat who only cares about himself. ¡°If that is the case, then I want to hear those orders directly from the mouth of the members of the council.¡± ¡°Unfortunately,¡± Claire said while looking at Harry¡¯s group doing absolutely nothing. ¡°They are busy at the moment. Anyway, those are your orders. We¡¯ll leave one hour after sunrise; you are free to do whatever you want until then. Don¡¯t be late.¡± Claire ignored my glare and left¡­ whatever, I just have to do that during the day anyway. I could hunt monsters at night and rest while I keep an eye on them. Without wasting time, I left the hotel to hunt. Soon I would break the sensorial limit for the twentieth time, and I was curious to see if I would receive another skill. But unfortunately, that didn¡¯t happen that night because I didn¡¯t find any evolved monster. When the morning came, I returned to the hotel. And at the appointed time, Claire and the kids were still eating their breakfast. Claire was even taking her sweet time, slowly eating some apples. But I just ignored her pathetic attempt to make me angry, and I waited for them. At the time we left the hotel, Harry¡¯s group was also leaving, but they went in the opposite direction to look for survivors. I didn¡¯t saw them, but it seemed that they managed to bring three survivors yesterday. Because they were still malnourished, Sandra would stay in the hotel to look after them and keep an eye on the place. After a few hours, I fully understood my status as the kids¡¯ watchdog. I only had to give them the direction where they could find mutant rats, and I had to keep an eye on the mutant cats. But even so, I didn¡¯t manage to kill a single monster, all because Claire would readily kill them from a distance of more than one hundred meters with a single shot. Not only that, she always grinned at me after those shots. It looked like we were competing or something. Like I care about such things. However, I had to admit, her experience as a top-tier archery athlete and her breaking her physical limit and sensorial limit several turned times her into a monster. She was still using her first bow, and even though she never used, she always carried around Martin¡¯s crossbow on her back. But the field test had been a success; the kids¡¯ weapons/toys were able to kill mutant rats with just two shots. Their accuracy was almost perfect, but while looking at the kids'' controllers, I noticed the aim in the screen moving around without being controlled. It looked like it was searching for enemies¡­ an auto-aiming function. And that thing only cost 500 evolution coins? However, there were a few downsides. Every minute the controller would consume one MP of the kids, not only that, if the helicopters were more than one hundred meters away from the kids, the MP spent would increase. Also, every mini-helicopter could only carry fifteen arrows. Thanks to all of those downsides, we had to stop more than a few times on that day. But at least they managed to reach the halfway point to break the limits for the first time. A group of ten kids killed 250 mutant rats without even suffering a single wound. That day had been a success for them. Since her job was to only look after the kids if she couldn¡¯t see any monsters around, Claire on the way back was being quite talkative. I guess that was a necessary trait to be a good teacher. ¡°So,¡± Claire said while keeping the kids walking side-by-side.¡± What has been bothering you?¡± ¡°Mind your own business.¡± I was too busy, keep an eye on every direction to waste time with a pointless conversation. Besides, there was no way that I would talk about what bothers me or not to a person who I barely knew. Maybe I was a pathetic and dumb guy, but even that had limits. ¡°You know,¡± Claire said, showing a relaxed expression.¡± You shouldn¡¯t worry too much about small things. They are alive, right? That should be enough for you. Maybe you are still here because something happened to the statue they found, or they are facing another problem.¡± So annoying¡­ for her, it looked like I didn¡¯t think about that possibility. I thought about many possibilities. But none of those were a good enough reason for me. Forget it, thinking about that would only make me upset and make me lose my focus. It was better just ignore her. That said, even though I lost many hours without getting a single evolution coin. I wasn¡¯t feeling that annoyed, Claire showing off and her taunts were undoubtedly annoying. But at least, I did something meaningful that day; I helped the kids to give their first step in amidst the chaos. One day, they would be capable of surviving by themselves, and on that day, I¡¯ll feel proud because I helped them to reach that strength. When we arrived at the hotel, we found Harry¡¯s group and four new faces. Another group of skinny people, but at least all of them had a weapon. ¡°No broken bones today,¡± Sandra said while frowning. ¡°For someone of your age, it seems that you have a soft spot for kids.¡± ¡°Shut¡­ whatever.¡± Even though her comments were annoying, I had to respect the elders. So I changed my words before I could complete my sentence. Thanks to that, I heard some people laughing. ¡°By the look of the kids,¡± Harry said impressed. It seems that the field test was successful, am I right?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Claire said, smiling.¡± Thanks to them, the population of mutant rats in the city decreased by 250.¡± ¡°That¡¯s better than I thought,¡± Harry said. ¡°My idea of auto-aiming paid off, right?¡± So that was his idea, even though he doesn¡¯t look, Harry is pretty creative. ¡°That¡¯s good to know,¡± Rose said while she was making other plans in her head. ¡°That means that we can use this method with those who didn¡¯t kill a single monster yet. Although, we will have to invest a lot of evolution coins on them.¡± ¡°Miss Claire,¡± Frank said with his eyes sparkling. ¡°Since we did well today, why don¡¯t we go tomorrow too?¡± ¡°No,¡± Claire answered with a serious expression on her face. ¡°Tomorrow, all of you will study all day.¡± Oh, boy¡­ the hell broke loose in the city, and those kids still had to study? And I thought that they had been leisurely living in the hotel. It seems Claire had been forcing them to study. In a sense, it was admirable, but it also looked like a waste of time. Since my job was over; I decided to sleep a little. That would be better because tomorrow would be the twentieth day, and rested I would be able to hunt more monsters and receive more rewards. ¡°See you in two days, Ethan,¡± Claire said, showing her small and mischievous smile.¡± Don¡¯t be late, or the council will punish you.¡± That woman¡­ she seriously pisses me off. Chapter 023 Climate change (1) For the past few days, I have been thinking about what kind of equipment I should create; I needed something to increase the things I could do. The small fries didn¡¯t worry me anymore, but I still was having some hardships while fighting against those big evolved monsters, even if I use those special stones. With a simple potion, I could heal almost any wound, but still, getting wounded all the time was annoying and painful. The best way to deal with them was causing as much as damage as possible, so a more powerful version of my current crossbow would suffice. But, to create bolts of a more powerful crossbow, I would need to use more MP, and that wasn¡¯t something I had at the moment. I was drinking those potions and lemonade like a maniac to increase my MP, but that would only help me in the long run. I needed a solution more immediate. And so I thought: ¡®Since I don¡¯t have much MP, there¡¯s a way for me to use the enemies MP?¡¯ And it turns out that I can! But to drain the monster¡¯s HP, MP, and STA to myself, I would have to create a weapon which would cost 50000 evolution coins! And to have all those effects, I would have to pay 150000 evolution coins! Not to mention, I could only drain a small percentage. So, for now, I can¡¯t absorb the monsters¡¯ energy. But I can still use it in my favor, all that I would have to do was to create bolts that can absorb the monster¡¯s MP and instead of sending it to me, the bolt would use the MP to cause damage. But what kind of damage? Only cause damage wasn¡¯t enough, so I decided to create three types of those bolts: explosive, electric, and freezing bolts. With luck, the explosive bolts would be enough to kill those evolved monsters with weak defense, but if that weren¡¯t enough, the other two would do at least give me enough time to finish the monsters. I had to think for more than a week to come up with that idea. But that didn¡¯t bother me because in the end, to create a crossbow which can produce bolts like that, I would have to spend ten thousand evolution coins, and I had to kill monsters for almost ten days to collect so many. There were others downsides too; my new crossbow wouldn¡¯t shot three bolts in a second. And the cost of those new bolts was also high, 10 MP to create a single one. But that was ok, as long as that new crossbow could explode, toast, or freeze an entire arm or leg of those evolved monsters; it would be more than the worth of its cost. The new crossbow was simpler than the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow, but it looked somewhat very high-tech. It was silver and also seemed to be entirely made of steel. Since it was half-meter long, it was also heavy; it seemed to weight around ten kilograms. Maybe this time I won¡¯t be able to avoid, and I¡¯ll have to break my physical limit a few times. Or I can use the crossbow¡¯s weight and train my passively my body. The crossbow name was E.F.E. metal crossbow At the end of the twentieth day, I received the rewards. I received a few more items and potions, but I was more interested in how much my HP, MP, and STA would increase.
You consumed 20 kilograms of monster meat ¨C Reward: HP increased by 4/ STA increased by 4 You consumed 55 Liters of restorative potions ¨C Reward: MP increased by 5
Very little progress, but even so, I was satisfied with that. Although, in the past few days, I almost give up on eating only monster meat and drinking lemonade. But I didn¡¯t stop; because I knew it, it was getting harder to break the limit. Eventually, eating monster meat and drinking those restorative potions would be more effective than killing monsters. Although I progressed a lot in the past ten days, nothing could be compared with the progress I made on the twentieth day. When I also broke my sensorial limit for the twentieth time, I obtained a new skill. ¡°Congratulations, you broke your sensorial limit twenty times. Now you will receive a random sensorial skill¡­ your new skill has been selected; you obtained the skill Analyze.¡±
Skill list: Concentration Lv03 25%: Raises your attack power and range by 3% each hour. The bonus resets when you sleep. Crosshair: Lv09 8%: Creates a crosshair in your field of vision to aim at enemies. Radar: Creates a radar in your field of vision to detect any living creature on your surroundings. Effective Range: Sensorial limit (20) x 10 meters. Analyze Lv01 0%: Analyze and show enemies status and information. Cost: 01 MP
Finally, I obtained a skill that I have to spend some MP to use it. And also it seemed very useful, instead of risking my life to understand the enemies¡¯ attacks and weakness, I could obtain information just by looking at them.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I need to test this immediately.¡± Since I was already returning to the hotel, the enemies around were few. But fortunately, I found a lone mutant rat on my way.
Mutant Rat - HP: 30 Info: a mutant rat.
¡°¡­ It¡¯s less useful than I thought it¡¯s almost useless. Maybe it¡¯s because this skill can also level up¡­ I have to use this skill frequently to see if that is the case.¡± Against small fries, that skill wouldn¡¯t be useful, but against the big guns, I would be able to estimate how much damage the monsters would need to receive to die. Although I didn¡¯t have much MP, that skill would be handy to collect information about new monsters in new areas. ¡°With my current skills, I would be more useful in investigating new places¡­ too bad those guys want to see me playing the watchdog.¡± Well, it didn¡¯t matter much to me anyway. I was doing my part and letting the difficult decisions in their hands, so, I couldn¡¯t complain that much. A little before sunrise, I arrived at the hotel, as I expected the lobby was still empty. In my opinion, those guys should make more good use of sunlight, but whatever, the time they lose is their problem and not mine, so I decided to keep that to myself. Since I had some time before the kids'' next mission, I decided to take a short nap in one of the lobby¡¯s chairs. I was more tired than I thought because as soon as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep, and when I opened them again, I saw Claire and the kids staring at me with great interest. ¡°Seriously, what did I do to deserve this?¡± Since they were just kids and a woman, it didn¡¯t feel that creepy being stared while I was sleeping, but I still felt very uncomfortable. Besides, it was pretty much evident that they ate their breakfast in silence just to scare me. Probably Harry and the other survivors did the same since they were nowhere to be seen¡­ someday I¡¯ll return the favor. ¡°Do you want to sleep more?¡± Claire asked while smiling. ¡°Surprisingly, you almost look like an innocent boy while you sleep.¡± ¡°¡­ Let¡¯s just begin this already, the sooner we begin, the sooner we¡¯ll return.¡± After a long sigh, I said those words, deal with the others was tiring, but Claire surpassed all the others by herself in that aspect. ¡°You hunted monsters like a madman for ten days to create that?¡± Claire asked, surprised.¡± Boys and their toys¡­¡± ¡°Mind your own business.¡± I was pretty excited about testing my new weapon, but everything has a time and a place. I didn¡¯t intend to use that crossbow on my small fries, and that was why I didn¡¯t sell the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow. After leaving the hotel, we hunted the nearby mutant rats until the kids broke for the first time their mental limit. They were getting better at an alarming rate because when that happened, we still had four hours left. Since the kids were easily exterminating the rats, I thought about saying to Claire to change the targets. It would be more efficient to hunt the mutant cats, but I changed my mind. Suddenly the wind became stronger, and I began to feel worried. When I¡¯m around, and the wind grows stronger, something terrible was bound to happen. However, nothing occurred soon afterward, but the wind didn¡¯t lose strength, and I felt the wind getting colder. It wasn¡¯t that time of the year, but it did look like the autumn suddenly had arrived. Besides, the smell of blood had increased. ¡°Do you know what is going on?¡± Claire asked while she looked around with her bow in hands and with her guard raised. ¡°Something similar happened before, for some reason, the wind becomes stronger, and the smell of the monster''s blood spread around the city, and a big monster appears. But this time, it¡¯s different. I can¡¯t feel any monster approaching us.¡± I didn¡¯t see many trees around us, but many three leaves began to pass by us and cross the city. ¡°Something changed¡­ something in the city changed. We have to return immediately, and after that, we should try to see what exactly changed.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s return then.¡± Claire declared. It was a pity for the kids, but they knew that something strange was happening and it wasn¡¯t safe for anyone to stay on the streets. When we arrived at the hotel, we saw Harry¡¯s group in the lobby. But they looked tired, and Harry was wounded and had a lot of blood on his body, it seemed that they didn¡¯t find any survivors and instead they faced a powerful monster. ¡°What happened?¡± Claire asked, worried. ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°More or less,¡± Rose said, showing a pale face. ¡°We got attacked by one of those monsters Ethan had faced before, an evolved mutant hawk. Not only that, the monster attacked us when we were crossing a park.¡± Face those monsters in an open field was almost a death sentence. It seemed that they got powerful to be able to survive against that thing, or perhaps they got lucky. Even if they all managed to obtain their new skills, nothing would change that much. After all, the evolved mutant hawks could attack them from all directions and thanks to its size, the creature was unstoppable. ¡°Did you guys noticed something different before the fight? We returned early because the wind became strangely strong and still didn¡¯t lose strength.¡± ¡°Yeah, we noticed that too,¡± Harry said, showing an expression of pain. ¡°But we didn¡¯t have time to react to it.¡± ¡°We should cancel all of our activities outside this place until we understand what is going on.¡± Sandra declared. ¡°This is the first real change since those monsters appeared. We have to be extremely careful, or we will suffer huge damage like the first day.¡± No one disagreed with Sandra''s words, and until we could pinpoint what changed it would be too risky to leave the hotel. I wanted to test my new crossbow, but even I wouldn¡¯t do something so stupid just to satisfy my curiosity. ¡°We delayed that until now, but I guess we should upgrade our equipment,¡± Sarah said while looking at her whip which she didn''t master yet. ¡°You are right,¡± Rose said. ¡°But we don¡¯t have to decide what we should create now, let¡¯s rest and think carefully about it. Tomorrow we¡¯ll talk about our ideas and share with the others.¡± Since they always fought together, it was a good idea to discuss what kind of equipment they wanted. Although, they all pretty much already knew their respective jobs, debating about it could give them new ideas. As for me, I didn¡¯t have to worry about that. My defense was lacking, but I didn''t have to worry about it as long as I can kill the monsters before they got close enough to attack. It was also a bit hard to be able to defeat every single type of monster at the same speed, but that was precisely why I created my new crossbow, to cover most of my handicaps. Although I was more comfortable in fighting alone, in the next few days, I would probably fight alongside the others. Not only because they would need my sensorial skills, but because from that day onward, I wouldn¡¯t be able to defend myself from all directions. I fully understood that when I looked at the skies, and I saw many black points flying around. ¡°I guess the hunting season is open.¡± Chapter 024 Climate change (2) For the next few hours, we observed the city from the safety of the hotel. We noticed a few differences, but for the most part, only more and new monsters appeared. I could see mutant bees, flies, and even those simple birds which in the past didn¡¯t cause any harm to humans. However, now they looked like predators looking for food. Also, I could see bats everywhere now. But why would these monsters appear only now? Claire killed a few flies, but I didn¡¯t see a single one until that moment. But not everything was bad news, at least the kids could use their toys for hunting monsters without leaving the hotel. Although they looked very bored inside the hotel and also they had to be careful and fast while using it because the helicopters weren¡¯t much sturdy. A single half meter tall bee could quickly destroy their toys. Occasionally, I would see Rose and Sarah using those mini-helicopters since they had a lot of MP. The new survivors would also use the mini-helicopter while the kids were resting. ¡°Such bad luck,¡± Harry said an after a long sigh. ¡°Why did this have to happen now? Our camp was getting bigger and bigger each day.¡± On the past few days, Harry¡¯s group managed to find ten survivors, so now we had a force of twenty-seven survivors. However, only a few of us could try to face those flying mutant monsters. The new survivors would still need some time until they can understand that they don¡¯t have any other choice but to fight from now on. ¡°What do you think caused this Ethan?¡± Harry asked. ¡°How in the hell am I supposed to know?¡± I guess it wasn¡¯t clear to him that I¡¯m not one of the smartest of that group. We had forty-five woman, a teacher, a student of psychology, and a student of medicine on our side. What would make him think that I would have an answer that they didn¡¯t? ¡°He is just asking your opinion,¡± Sandra said a bit annoyed. ¡°You don¡¯t have to talk like that.¡± I thought that she had already noticed it, but to my surprise, Sandra still didn¡¯t know about my short-temper and my rudeness. Anyway, I was probably a bit stressed. Something was happening, and I didn¡¯t know why, and that was making me angry. Recently, every single question without an answer was getting on my nerves. ¡®I have to think about something else to make me relax, let¡¯s see¡­ I wonder if those birds¡¯ meat tastes good.¡¯ ¡°In any case,¡± Harry declared with a serious expression.¡± We¡¯ll have to change our approach for the time being. The kids and the new survivors can kill those flying monsters without getting too far from the hotel.¡± Since we always could see dozens of monsters in the sky and a few less on the streets, that was the best approach until we can diminish their numbers. ¡°In that case,¡± Sabrina opined. ¡°The kids and the new survivors should take turns using the mini-helicopters. While the rest of us will explore the city to understand what happened and look for more survivors.¡± ¡°What do you mean by us?¡± Harry frowned. ¡°You and mom should stay here too.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a sexist!¡± Sabrina yelled. ¡°I can help too!¡± ¡°I''m not a sexist!¡± Harry said angrily.¡± It¡¯s just for the time being until you two can break your limits a few more times.¡± For a few more minutes, they discussed fiercely, and it was very annoying since the discussion as purely based on their emotion. ¡°Enough!¡± Sandra said, angrily.¡± We don¡¯t have time to waste with those pesky discussions, we¡¯ll use everyone who can be used since every one of us has useful skills, but we¡¯ll take turns.¡± Sabrina indeed had a useful skill, but I didn¡¯t know if Sandra also had one. Well, since she looked pretty sure of herself and no one disagreed that was probably the case. ¡°Although I said that,¡± Sandra said after a sigh. ¡°The only ones who can¡¯t stay behind are Harry and Ethan. Harry is our best front line, and we will need Ethan¡¯s tracking skills, can we count on you two?¡± ¡°Leave it to me,¡± Harry said with a face full of pride. ¡°I don¡¯t have another choice, do I?¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s settled. ¡°Sandra declared. ¡°After we create our new weapons, we¡¯ll leave tomorrow morning and also tomorrow I will inform who the other members will be.¡± At first, I thought Sandra was just a regular housewife; maybe I was a bit sexist too. It seemed that she had some experience in leading other people, but that was fine by me. As long as she is smarter and less impulsive than me, I¡¯ll follow her orders. But what happened to the council? Did Claire say that to mess with me? Probably not, Sandra took the command temporarily since the city changed again. Since I only slept a few hours in the last few days, I decided to sleep through the entire night. And at sunrise, everyone in the hotel was already awake. And after half an hour of discussion, they used the statue to create their new weapons. It would be a pain to memorize what those weapons could do, but since that would be useful, I had no other choice. But luckily, everyone weapons were quite simple. Harry created a round shield made of iron that could cover half of his left arm, the shield was very simple, and it didn¡¯t have any effects. On the other hand, his new sword could use his MP to electrocute the enemies. Aside from that, that sword was pretty much the same as his previous sword. He didn¡¯t change his mind; he would do everything to protect those behind him and don¡¯t let a single monster approach them. Those who already obtained their new skills, explained what they now could do, even though I didn¡¯t ask for it. Harry received the skill Rage, with that skill he could amplify his next five attacks by sacrificing a small amount of HP. Rose, instead of creating one, she created three glaives because she now could control three objects with her telekinesis. Those glaives didn¡¯t have any effect. When I asked her why she couldn¡¯t simply explode the monsters¡¯ brains, she said that she could do it. But, she had to use a lot of MP to ignore the enemies¡¯ defense. But that didn¡¯t bother her, because now she could throw weapons at the enemies with a fearsome speed because she had more MP and because her telekinesis was level three. Rose obtained the skill Flash of light, with that skill she could create a small explosion of light and blind the enemies for a few seconds. That skill couldn¡¯t damage the enemies, but it looked pretty useful.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Sarah¡¯s new weapon was another whip. Did she develop a liking to the weapon? Or did she acquire a fetish? She probably liked to hit Harry in the ass, and she wanted to do it again. What a bunch of weird people. The whip had many thorns, but it didn¡¯t have any effects, she probably wanted to spend all her MP healing her allies. Sarah¡¯s new skill was too my surprise water ball. The same thing the mutant fish could use, she probably wished for another support skill, but she didn''t get lucky this time. Claire¡¯s new weapon was another bow, slightly bigger than her old one and all made of steel. It looked pretty heavy, but since she broke her physical limit many times, she would be just fine. Although in a normal situation a recurve bow would be the best option to amplify her attack, her strength was already too big for such a weapon. Since she was already extremely talented with bows, she didn¡¯t put any additional effect or her new weapon, and she probably didn¡¯t have any more evolution coins. Claire didn¡¯t obtain a new skill because she wasn¡¯t focusing on a single parameter. At first, I thought Claire killed those monsters in front of the school solely thanks to her experience and talent, but I was wrong, her first skill helped her lot. Her first skill was called focus, the more she concentrates on a single attack, the more damage she could cause. For how long she had to focus to defeat an anaconda on a single shot? Since Sabrina and Sandra didn¡¯t have much evolution coins, their new weapons were just a long version of their old weapons. And they didn¡¯t have any new skills either, and that also would take some time for them, because they were doing the same as Claire, breaking physical and sensorial limit at the same time. But Sandra¡¯s first skill was called Lion¡¯s Roar; she could paralyze the nearby enemies for two seconds using her scream. But she wouldn¡¯t use that, after all, that skill could attract more monsters and make things more difficult. ¡°It seems that everyone¡¯s ready,¡± Sandra said after she looked around the lobby. ¡°Today we will investigate the new changes in the city while looking for survivors, but to avoid problems, we won¡¯t get too far away from the hotel. The exploration team will be Harry and Ethan like I mentioned yesterday, and Rose, Claire, and I. While Sarah¡¯s healing skill is also crucial, today I think combat-oriented members should form the team.¡± Sabrina pouted, thanks to her mother''s words. Although she looked quite scared when I first saw her, she became a brave girl thanks to the presence of her family and friends. ¡°But that is only for today,¡± Sandra said after looking at her daughter. ¡°The members of the exploration team will take turns, and eventually, all the survivors will have to participate. So, use your time to get strong as much as possible in the safety of this place. But eventually, all of us will share the same risks. Keep that in mind.¡± Even though his mother was saying some scary things, Harry looked quite pleased. He looked up to her. While Claire didn¡¯t mind much about that speech, Rose and Sarah seemed pretty serious, trying to understand Sandra¡¯s reasoning and learn from it. While we were doing the final preparations, I decided to satisfy my curiosity. ¡°Hey, what was your mom¡¯s job before the monsters appeared?¡± ¡°She was a firefighter,¡± Harry answered with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s why she is always so quick to take important decisions.¡± That explained a lot, no wonder he looked up to her. Maybe I¡¯ll be able to learn a thing or two from her while she commands us. ¡°Today we¡¯ll walk around a bit this area to see if we¡¯ll be able to find any more changes besides the unusual number of flying monsters.¡± Sandra declared. ¡°We¡¯ll always stay together, but Harry and I will take care of the non-flying monsters in front of us, Rose and Ethan will eliminate all the flying enemies. Claire will take care of the enemies who will try to attack from behind.¡± It was a good formation; no one will have to over-work as long as we all do our jobs. To avoid any problems, I should use my analyze skill whenever possible and warn them if we find an unexpectedly fierce enemy. ¡°Ethan,¡± Sandra said with a serious look in her eyes. ¡°Inform me immediately if you feel or see any sudden movement of the monsters. Also, if a large number of enemies approach us, tell me their numbers and the direction which they will be coming from.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°All of you,¡± Sandra warned. ¡°Keep quiet and don¡¯t let your guard down.¡± Without wasting time, we left the hotel. As planned, Harry and Sandra begin to walk a few meters ahead of us, but they soon stopped, because the first battle was about to begin.
Mutant Rat - HP: 30
Mutant Bee ¨C HP: 80
Mutant Quail ¨C HP: 150
Mutant Crow ¨C HP: 150
That was stranger; I never saw until now different monsters ignoring each other and joining forces to attack the humans. But we could think about it later. Faster than I imagined, Sandra pierced the rat with her new lance while Harry looked around, waiting for the approach of other monsters. The bee was fast, but I could follow the creature¡¯s movement, and since the beast tried to attack from the front, I killed it with three bolts. Rose killed the quail using her three glaives at the same time, and Claire killed the crow with a single arrow on its head.
You have obtained 09 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 09 Evolution Coins.
It was more than I thought, the bee didn¡¯t look that strong, or it was because we all faced those enemies together, and all the orbs were shared among us? I looked at Harry, and it seemed that he also received the message. That was a piece of useful information; we could use that to make the new survivors stronger at a fast pace, although they wouldn¡¯t obtain any real combat experience. Even before we could walk one hundred meters, we fought more two times. While I was glad that I was obtaining a lot of evolution coins, I was more concerned about the considerable amount of encounters and what exactly happened to the city. But at least I learn a few interesting things. At first, I thought that I had become faster than the others; in some aspect, that was true. But even though they didn¡¯t break their sensorial limits, they also got more quickly. Harry could react, attack, and defend against the monsters at an incredible speed. The same applied to rose, her body didn¡¯t move an inch during the battles, but her mind was working very fast while controlling the glaives. ¡®It seems that the sensorial limit can increase all kinds of speed, but it focuses more on movement speed. But by breaking the physical and mental limits, one can also fight using their body and mind much faster than normal.¡¯ Thanks to that, I noticed that none of those limits was better than the other. They were balanced, and one could cover the weakness of the other, but that could be shared with the others at another time. Although I didn¡¯t hear anything, I could see on the radar a massive number of enemies a few meters ahead of us. ¡°There are at least one hundred monsters ahead of us, and they aren¡¯t moving.¡± We couldn¡¯t see their exact position, but the monsters were on the other side of the block. I passed by that place a few days ago, and I didn¡¯t remember seeing anything there. So I was curious to see what was there, and so were the others. ¡°Let¡¯s investigate,¡± Sandra said, looking a bit uneasy. ¡°But be ready to escape at any moment.¡± The city had changed, and it became even more inhospitable. After walking a hundred of meters, we looked to our left side, and we saw a thirty-meter tall building covered with vines, and in front of it, we found a beehive of the same size. Chapter 025 Climate change (3) After we saw that massive beehive, we slowly retreated. Inside a thing like that, we would probably find a queen-bee and if that thing controls the other bees, then we would, without a doubt, die. No wonder we could see so many bees around the hotel, those monsters were so easy to find like the rats. But they were more dangerous, they could fly and attack from any direction, and they also had stings which were thirty centimeters long. It was almost like a short lance¡­ we retreated, but eventually, we would have to destroy that thing, it was too close to the hotel after all. The beehive was in the path to the northern part of the city, so we decided to investigate the other directions. But it didn¡¯t take long to understand the dire situation we were in. We found dozens of birds¡¯ nests in many roofs and others beehives around the city. Not only that, it wasn¡¯t like magic, but we could see the vegetation growing at an alarming rate in all directions. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Harry asked while showing an uneasy expression. After three hours, we returned to the hotel, but we all were already exhausted. Even though we didn¡¯t cover a lot of ground, we fought a lot. Every time one of those birds in the nests saw us, they would call the others and attack. Luckily, we didn¡¯t find any evolved monsters. But instead of relieved, I felt uneasy. Something was bugging me, but I couldn¡¯t understand what. I used the statue to see if my family was still fine, and I felt relieved when I confirmed their safety. However, everything else was making me feel tense. After the tenth day, the number of persons killed in the city had decreased. For the past ten days, even though it wasn¡¯t that good, only one hundred people died every day. But after a single day of changes, more than one thousand had died, and now the population of our area was a little more than eight thousand. ¡°This is our new reality,¡± Sandra declared with her arms crossed and showing a serious expression. ¡°We have to adapt to this new situation.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Harry said. ¡°But in the worst-case scenario, we can always lock ourselves in this hotel. Although I¡¯ll feel bad for the survivors in the city, it¡¯s not like we can accept every single risk.¡± Even though that was logic, it was also awfully cold considering Harry¡¯s usual attitude. But he was right, even he wasn¡¯t a fool to put himself or the ones he cares about in danger to save strangers. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is an option,¡± Rose said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget about the countdown. Something will happen in 78 days, maybe new monsters will appear, or maybe this hotel will stop protecting us from the monsters, or maybe something even worse will happen. So we have to prepare and eliminate as many monsters as possible while finding other survivors to help us.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Sarah said frowning. ¡°But how? All of us will eventually get tired after fighting non-stop for a few hours.¡± ¡°You are right, in that case, we have to change our approach,¡± Sandra agreed. ¡°Instead of getting new weapons for ourselves, we should create something that can protect us from the small monsters and make us cross the city at a decent speed, any ideas?¡± ¡°How about a truck covered with metal spikes?¡± Sabrina asked with her eyes shining. ¡°Like a hedgehog-truck!¡± I thought that it was a pretty good idea, but everyone seemed speechless. A truck wouldn¡¯t protect us from the evolved monsters, but it would protect us from the small fries. Besides, we wouldn¡¯t get tired of walking or even suffering minor wounds. To help, we could also put some small holes around the truck and use it to fire projectiles and kill the monsters. ¡°What do you think, Ethan?¡± Harry asked while frowning. ¡°About Sabrina¡¯s idea? I think it might work; I saw something similar in a movie in the past.¡± ¡°I think so too, but it will cost a lot to create something so big made of metal. It¡¯ll be even more expensive if we try to make this vehicle move by using MP.¡± ¡°It seems like a crazy idea,¡± Sandra said with a sigh. ¡°But maybe this is what we need right now, some madness. For the next few days, we will only kill the nearby monsters to create our new weapon. Let¡¯s all work hard together.¡± After that, everyone brainstormed to make the truck as useful as possible. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t help in that aspect because I wasn¡¯t a creative person. But since that would be an interesting weapon, I didn¡¯t feel annoyed by the fact that I also would have to help and give my evolution coins. ¡°You are more quiet than usual,¡± Claire said after approaching and looking at Sabrina offering a few more crazy ideas. ¡°Are you worried about the city?¡± ¡°Something is bugging me since we left the hotel, but I can¡¯t understand what.¡± ¡°Everything is bugging all of us.¡± Claire frowned. ¡°But I get what you mean, but not everything is bad news. The air is fresher now, and we didn¡¯t saw many monsters corpses.¡± ¡°AH! That¡¯s it! That was bugging me! The air got fresher, and the corpses disappeared, but why?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± Claire frowned again. ¡°New and more monsters appeared, they probably ate those corpses, and thus the air got fresher.¡± ¡°I think things are not that simple, too many monsters appeared, and we didn¡¯t kill enough monsters to feed all of them. Besides, they ignored each other and attacked only us.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Maybe, this is just for now,¡± Claire said. ¡°When they understand that there¡¯s not enough food for them, they¡¯ll begin to kill each other again. But¡­ yeah, this change in their behavior is worrisome. It¡¯s almost like they don¡¯t care about food anymore like the monsters are attacking us for the sake of attacking us.¡± Since Claire understood my point, she shared our worries with others. But we couldn¡¯t understand why the monsters changed their behavior and decided to team up to attack the humans. It was another problem and another worry, but it was beyond our hands. However, soon, we understood the reason why they ignored each other to attack us. When we decided to kill the monsters without leaving the hotel, the beast began to focus on devouring the corpses of their fallen comrades. Even though they were all monsters, I never thought I would see a rat eating another¡­ cannibalism was disgusting beyond any measure. ¡°Somehow,¡± Rose said hesitating. ¡°The monsters agreed only to eat humans and the corpses of other dead monsters¡­ I can¡¯t think of any explanation.¡± It was crazy, but we didn¡¯t have any other explanation. Although a good answer was welcome in a situation like that, we also felt depressed. Cannibalism was too shocking even for adults, and as expected, the kids began to show the fear they felt when I met them for the first time. But even so, they not stopped. To help us, they continued to use the mini-helicopters and kill as many monsters as possible. It took five days for us to obtain the evolution coins necessary to create the truck, and those were the most unnerving days of my entire life. Unable to walk around the city and focus my mind on something, I began to feel unquiet. Every hour I would use the statue to verify the safety of my family, and when I finally relaxed a little, I began to remember the faces of the criminals that I killed and that vision. ¡°I have to get out of here.¡± I wasn¡¯t good with confinement, so even though it was very dangerous, I left the hotel. Anything would be better than stay in that place and see those damn images, even a few wounds. However, every time I did that, I returned after ten minutes. There were too many monsters around, and I didn¡¯t have that many bolts. I could create more if I drink lemonade, but even I couldn¡¯t drink three liters in ten minutes. So, to make me leave that hotel and to keep my mind busy, I gave all the evolution coins that I earned in those five days to create the truck. Since we could customize the truck as much as we wanted, the vehicle¡¯s proportions were a bit weird. It was fifteen meter¡¯s long, five meters wide, and it was three meters tall. We put dozens of one-meter long metal spikes in all four directions, and we reinforced the wheels since it was the frailest part of the vehicle. With the sole exception of the engine, everything else was armored. There were no seats aside from the driver¡¯s, nor windows that could be opened or anything similar. After all, we wanted to travel around the city in safety; comfortability was the least of our worries. It was weird, but the engine was just a white crystal ball, and the electronic parts of the vehicle were only a single blue cable connecting all the wheels, the engine, and the steering wheel. When the crystal was white, it couldn¡¯t move, but by touching, we could send our MP to the crystal. And it became completely blue when the crystal was at its full capacity. Thanks to the kids, Rose and Sara, we could fill the vehicle¡¯s ¡®¡¯tank¡¯¡¯, and we would be able to move around for four hours at eighty miles per hour. Aside from the armored windshield, which had two holes of the size of a head, we could use four other holes around the vehicle to see and attack the enemies. To enter and leave the vehicle, we had to make a lot of effort to open the only door, which could be found at the back of the truck. But at least the monsters wouldn¡¯t be able to open it while we are moving around. Before searching for other survivors, we did some tests, and to our surprise, when the truck killed some monsters, everyone inside received evolution orbs and coins. But the driver received even more. Thanks to Sabrina¡¯s idea, we created a perfect weapon to kill small fries on a large scale. I thought the mini-helicopters were a good idea, but the truck was much better, although we had to spend fifty thousand evolution coins. ¡°Somewhat it looks plain,¡± Sabrina said showing a disappointed face. ¡°It¡¯s not like I had imagined it would be. ¡°It¡¯ll serve its purpose,¡± Sandra said after she pinched her daughter¡¯s right ear. ¡°Besides, we already lost too much time, every minute a person dies and we need as much as allies as we can found and train.¡± In five days the population in the city decreased by two thousand, we really couldn¡¯t waste a single minute. We could create any weapon, but without numbers, we would all perish. But, fortunately, we weren¡¯t the only ones with a good base of operations. By looking at the ceiling, we could see massive numbers of red dots near each other in the northern part of the city. There was also another significant concentration of survivors in the west; each one of them had more than five hundred survivors. ¡°What should we do now?¡± Harry asked. ¡°Contact the other survivor¡¯s camp or look for small groups of survivors?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a difficult question,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°But I think we should do both. However, we have to investigate the other survivors'' camp before contacting them. To avoid any unpleasant surprises.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easier said than done, if they are in a place like this hotel, they¡¯ll notice our presences just by looking at the map. If they notice that we are observing them, we¡¯ll be treated as enemies.¡± ¡°You have a point,¡± Sandra said. ¡°We have to collect information about them, without getting too close, any ideas?¡± ¡°How about this?¡± Claire said with a mini-helicopter in her hands. ¡°If we create a faster and more silent version of this, it¡¯ll be handy for that job. It¡¯ll consume a lot of MP, but I think Rose and Sarah have more than the necessary.¡± An espionage drone! It would be handy for many other things besides observing other survivors camp. It could even replace me, well, almost. To do what I can do, they would have to use four of those and put them in all four directions. I guess that they will still need me for a while. ¡°That¡¯s an excellent idea,¡± Sandra said, ¡°But since we spent all our evolution coins, today we will just look for small groups of survivors.¡± Even though fifteen people could fit inside the truck, we decided to just move around at max in a group of seven. That way we would be able to bring as much as survivors as we could find, besides we had to keep at least two of our strongest members at the hotel in case something unexpected happens. As soon as we left the hotel, the truck began to create a path of corpses. The monsters which got hit by metal spikes died immediately, the rats got run over it, while the others suffered considerable damage while trying to attack the metal parts of the vehicle. That was a good sign, but it was also a bad sign. Faster than we imagined the wind spread the smell of blood around the city. And after five minutes, I began to hear the familiar sound of massive wings flapping, and I also saw five red dots approaching at high speed. ¡°I guess it¡¯s finally time to test my new crossbow.¡± Chapter 026 Winter (1) Last time I had a hard time against three evolved mutant hawks, but now I wasn¡¯t alone, and this time, I was inside a sturdy vehicle. What could go wrong? Well, many things, I noticed that when the first hawk used its beak to attack the truck. I couldn¡¯t see the outside, but all of us felt a powerful vibration. We were safe inside the truck. However, the hawks still could knock down the truck. So we had to act as fast as possible. Aside from me, only Rose and Claire could attack inside the vehicle. Harry was driving, and Sabrina wouldn¡¯t do much with her whip. They were another two survivors with us, but they didn''t have any ranged skills. Before I could use my new crossbow, Rose already put her two glaives outside the vehicle and began to attack; on the other hand, Claire was having a hard time aiming at the monsters. After all, we only had six holes to make our projectiles run through. But sooner than I expected, a mutant hawk surpassed us and began to fly ahead of the truck. ¡°All right, let¡¯s try the explosive bo¡­ no, it¡¯ll be less risky if I use the electric bolt.¡± The explosive bow would do precisely that, explode, after draining the target¡¯s MP for a few seconds. I couldn¡¯t risk using such a thing so close to us. I tested the crossbow before, but only against small fries. So I had no idea how much damage those monsters would suffer. To outspeed the truck, the mutant hawk had to fly in a straight line and that I gave me a perfect chance. I pulled the trigger, and I hit the monster¡¯s right-wing. To my surprise, it took more than a few seconds to the effect activate. However, the output of the electric discharge had been higher than I thought. I could even see the massive electricity spreading around the huge bird¡¯s body. Like it had hit an invisible wall, the creature stopped in midair and began to scream and soon after it fell on the ground. ¡°I didn¡¯t manage to kill it, but if I hit the head¡­¡± Before I could finish my sentence, Claire killed the fallen mutant hawk with a single arrow in the monster forehead.
You have obtained 50 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 50 Evolution Coins.
¡°Hey!¡± ¡°What?¡± Claire asked with a serious face. ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing¡­¡± Why did I get upset? She did the right thing finishing the monster before it could cause more trouble for us. Involuntarily I thought that she did that to mess with me, but that wasn¡¯t time for that. I looked for the next target, and then I saw a huge hawk falling from the sky, and after a few seconds, I saw the monster head falling too. Soon after that, I saw three red glaives in midair, looking for another monster to kill. ¡®Holy crap¡­ Rose already killed one?¡¯ Telekinesis was really convenient, but Rose was also awesome to reach that level of mastery using her skill. Her glaives could fly around faster than the truck; she didn¡¯t look that awesome a few days ago. She was probably holding back, against small fries she didn¡¯t have to use all her power¡­ and I thought that I was doing well with my crossbows. ¡®No point in getting jealous, focus on the battle.¡¯ Although I was ready to shoot, I couldn¡¯t do much until the monsters gave me the chance to do it. Before I had another opportunity, Rose killed another mutant hawk almost without even seeing the creature.
You have obtained 10 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 10 Evolution Coins.
I welcomed that message, but soon I ignored it because another mutant hawk appeared on our left side. Claire already was aiming at the creature, but she needed a few more time to make her skill genuinely shine. ¡®This time I should try the freezing bolt.¡¯ A bolt with a light blue tip appeared on the crossbow, and I shot, this time I hit the monster¡¯s chest, and this time the bolt worked faster than I thought. After two seconds an ice layer began to form around the creature¡¯s body, only the wings, and the head didn¡¯t get covered with ice and the beast began to fell, but before that, Claire shot another arrow and again she hit the monster¡¯s forehead.
You have obtained 40 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 40 Evolution Coins.
For some reason, since I began to hunt in earnest with the others, the number of orbs and coins that I obtain are impossible to predict. Even when I kill a monster alone, I earn less if they are close to me. In some aspects that¡¯s good, but in the others it is bad, but I decided to ignore this fact. After all, every single action of them would benefit me at some point.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
You have obtained 10 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 10 Evolution Coins.
Rose killed the last mutant hawk; the battle had been easier than I thought it would be, thanks to Rose and Claire. Although I didn¡¯t help all that much, I was satisfied because of the result of my test. My new crossbow would make the fights against the evolved monsters easier as long as I don¡¯t have to fight against a bunch of them alone. Those bolts were useful, but I could only create a single one of them ten seconds after using the previous one. But that was fine, as long as I hit and the bolt causes enough damage to paralyze the monsters for a few seconds, I can finish the targets with the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow. ¡°Your new weapon surprised me,¡± Rose said while cleaning the glaives. ¡°I don¡¯t think that you made a bad choice, but why didn¡¯t you focus on a single type of attack? Wouldn¡¯t that be more efficient?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I think it¡¯s better to have an all-purpose weapon, even if it¡¯s weaker. That way, I can escape and survive most of the situations.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to do everything by yourself,¡± Rose said while looking me in the eye. ¡°You can rely on us, you know.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± Although I said that, I didn¡¯t intend to rely on them. Who knows until when it¡¯ll be convenient for me to stay with them, also who knows when it¡¯ll be suitable for them to keep me around? I didn¡¯t want to admit it, but my family didn¡¯t transport me to their area because they probably thought that I would slow them down. I wasn¡¯t smart, and I wasn¡¯t athletic, so after a single mistake, they send me away from their home. For two years, I worked and studied hard to deserve being part of that family, but what did I receive? During two years, they never visited me, God, they never even made a call to ask how I was. If my family treated me like this because I wasn¡¯t amazing as them, what would a bunch of strangers do when they notice that I¡¯m no longer necessary for them? The answer was obvious; I would be left to die at the first chance. ¡®Ah, fuck those negative thoughts... Those five days locked in that hotel really depressed me.¡¯ I didn¡¯t even know what to think anymore. I had to keep my mind busy; I had to keep fighting monsters. Otherwise, those thoughts will turn me into an even more pathetic person. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to rely on others, it¡¯s fine,¡± Claire said with her arms crossed and showing anger in her eyes. ¡°But at least don¡¯t lie and treat us like fools.¡± I wondered why she was so upset; it wasn¡¯t like I intended or I offended her directly. Maybe she wanted to hear me say that I would never rely on them, but wouldn¡¯t that make our situation awkward? Even though I wasn¡¯t particularly close to them, I had no reason to say things that would get in the way of our teamwork. Claire was probably one of those people who would rather hear something unpleasant than hear a lie. She was admirable in that aspect but too na?ve. Even if I lied, I didn¡¯t cause trouble to anyone, and I didn¡¯t put in risk our teamwork, so what was the problem? At first, I decided to say that I would keep her words in my mind, but in the end, I changed my mind and decided to ignore her. Since downtown became a nest for mutant birds and insects, many survivors died, and the others fled to other parts of the city, or at least they tried. The survivors who hide since the beginning didn¡¯t have the strength to run away from the monsters. In the next three days, the population of the city decreased by one thousand, and we managed to bring to the hotel twenty survivors. Aside from the monsters and the survivors in the hotel, downtown was now empty. Thanks to the truck, we could cover a lot more ground, and because of it, we found dozens of evolved mutant birds. We killed every single one of them, but the number of fights didn''t decrease. I only understood why when my analyze skill became level two, and I decided to test it.
Mutant Rat ¨C HP: 35 MP: 35
Even though they only could eat the corpses of other monsters, the creatures were becoming stronger and even evolving. When I shared this information with the others, I could see some resignation in their eyes. The new survivors were the most affected by the bad news; they could become stronger almost safely inside the truck. But their battle experience and willpower to try to overcome the bad news were lacking too much. Although their mental state was already weak because most of them lost their entire families, I couldn¡¯t help but frown at them. I mean, Claire lost all her relatives, but she never gave up, and she never let the kids feel uneasy with her actions. The new survivors should learn at least a thing or two from her. Ever since the hell broke loose in the city, I became a person who got depressed easily. I just had to stay idle for a few minutes, and negative thoughts would invade my mind. I became even worse when those birds appeared, and now I was at my limit thanks to the depressed faces of the new survivors. ¡®I can¡¯t stay here any longer; this place will drive me crazy. Time to change my approach.¡¯ I never liked crowded places, to begin with, so I decided to use the hotel only to sleep from that moment onwards. However, I didn¡¯t have the skills or the equipment necessary to stay outside for more than a few minutes, and I couldn¡¯t use the truck, everyone helped every day to fill the vehicle¡¯s tank. So I couldn¡¯t just use it because I wanted to get out of the hotel. ¡®Maybe I should modify the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow, instead of creating bolts using my MP I should create as much as possible using the statue.¡¯ That was a good idea, using the statue, I could make it possible to reload the crossbow manually. I confirmed that I also could reload fifty bolts all at once, but then changed my mind. Every bolt weighed 100 grams; if I try to move around with two hundred bolts, it would be the same as me carrying a load of twenty kilograms. By doing that, I would lose one of my best weapons, my movement speed. ¡®Damn it¡­ I just got a new weapon, but my new crossbow was made to kill the big monsters, I need something else. How about some grenades?¡¯
Grenade: Causes 100 points of damage in a five-meter radius. Price: 10 Evolution Coins.
It was cheaper than I thought, I could probably use to kill a lot of bees inside those beehives. But, it wouldn¡¯t kill all of them. Besides, the noise would attract too many monsters; it was impractical to use it on the streets. ¡®Well, then. I guess I should buy some MP potions.¡¯
Low-quality MP potion: it can recover 50 points of your MP. Price: 200 Evolution Coins.
It was too damn expensive! I couldn¡¯t spend so much evolution coins to buy a potion only because I was tired of being inside that hotel. ¡®Damn it¡­¡¯ My only option was to keep killing the monsters around the block and return after using all my MP. I had no choice but deal with my boredom and my depressing thoughts.
Congratulations, your HP and STA increased by 01 thanks to your recent actions.
¡®At least not everything is trying to annoy me.¡¯ Chapter 027 winter (2) Now, what the hell I did to make my HP and STA increase? Since those were deeply connected with the physical limit, then probably some exercises made those status rise. The problem is: I didn¡¯t do any exercise, I only hunted and rested for the past three days. ¡®It was because I carried around the E.F.E. metal crossbow?¡¯ That was probably the case since the weight of the crossbow was the only thing that made me feel tired. ¡®I should investigate this.¡¯ So, to test that hypothesis, I kept my new crossbow on my back at all times. And after precisely fifty hours I received another message.
Congratulations, your HP and STA increased by 01 thanks to your recent actions.
That was good to know; we could also get stronger by doing some physical exercises. I shared this information with the others, but they soon and even I forget about it, why? Because suddenly, on that morning, it began to snow. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Harry asked astonished. Just yesterday, downtown was green thanks to vegetation that spread around the city in only ten days, and now it was white thanks to the snow. That was very strange since none of us felt the temperature falling along the night. But putting the surprise aside, the small monsters disappeared. Occasionally, I was able to see a mutant hawk or an evolved one in the sky, but nothing more than that. We also couldn¡¯t see the mutant rats or the bees anymore. However, the streets were far from safe.
Mutant Polar Bear ¨C HP: 1500 MP: 500
Mutant Arctic Fox ¨C HP: 500 MP: 900
Mutant Dire Wolf ¨C HP: 1300 MP: 1100
Mutant Snow Leopard ¨C HP 1100 MP: 600
Mutant Arctic Hare ¨C HP: 300 MP: 1200
Mutant Lemming ¨C HP 250 MP: 800
Well, I guess Lemming was a type of rat, so all of them didn¡¯t disappear yet. But that was the least of my worries; the streets had fewer monsters now. However, those new monster were far more powerful. ¡°We shouldn¡¯t try to understand those changes anymore,¡± Rose declared while massaging her forehead. ¡°It¡¯s useless; nothing makes sense.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Sandra said. ¡°At this point, we can only keep fighting against everything that may happen. It''s dangerous only react and not take the initiative. But we don¡¯t have any other choice.¡± The laws of nature as we knew didn¡¯t exist anymore, so we couldn¡¯t even imagine what might happen. We only had one choice, keep fighting. The situation was terrible, but at least I wouldn¡¯t have to stay in that hotel almost twenty-four hours a day anymore. The news monsters were much more dangerous, but like the mutant cats, they didn¡¯t walk in groups. So, I would be fine, probably. It was a pity, but for the time being, I won¡¯t use my freezing bolt. It was evident that those monsters wouldn¡¯t suffer any damage or get slow thanks to the ice. ¡°Guys,¡± Sabrina said with a pale face looking to the map on the ceiling. ¡°We have a problem.¡± All of us looked at the map, and then everyone froze on the spot. Almost every ten seconds a survivor died and those who were still alive weren¡¯t coming to our direction. They were going to the north and west, with some luck they would find the other survivor¡¯s camp. But I wouldn¡¯t bet on their chances of succeeding. Come to think of it, all of those monsters probably have a good sense of smell. Thanks to that fact, all the survivor¡¯s away from the survivors¡¯ camp will, without a doubt, be hunted until no one is left alive. ¡°I guess,¡± Sarah said with a sad face. ¡°That we can¡¯t rescue the other survivors anymore.¡± ¡°We did what we could,¡± Sandra said, patting Sarah¡¯s shoulders. ¡°We are just humans, we tried, but it was impossible to save everyone.¡± It had already become a daily habit, so I checked the status of my family, and I sighed in relief. Just by knowing that they were alive, I received a boost of energy, and that was enough to make me continue to fight for another day. ¡°Mom, what should we do now?¡± Harry asked while frowning and looking outside. ¡°The snow will make it difficult for us to cross the city with the truck.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no other choice,¡± Sandra said after a sigh. ¡°We have to create some snow tires.¡± I wanted to fight against some monsters while they were changing the wheels, but I changed my mind after observing the monster¡¯s furs. The small ones would probably die if I use the electric bolt or the explosive bolt in their heads, but I couldn¡¯t say the same if I use them against the big ones. Besides, I was pretty sure the electricity would be less useful thanks to the fur. ¡®From now on, I¡¯ll have to use only the explosive bolt.¡¯ But it was a pain to use my new crossbow inside the truck, so I honestly thought about putting a mounted machine gun or a mounted rapid-fire crossbow on the top of the truck. But I knew that the others would be against my idea, after all, I would be exposed outside of the truck. ¡®Maybe I should create a slimmer version of that truck; I should put at least two machine guns and control both of them and the car with a remote control. It¡¯s a good idea, but it¡¯ll be a lot expensive.¡¯ I wrote the idea on the notebook, maybe one day I¡¯ll be able to create it, and finally, I¡¯ll be able to move around without so many restrictions. While some of the survivors were working in changing the truck wheels, the others used the statue to create the espionage drone. Since Sandra and the other¡¯s decided to create a very high-tech drone, it took a while for them to obtain the evolution coins. But the result was better than I had expected. The espionage drone was only twenty centimeters long, it could fly at sixty miles per hour, it was pretty sturdy, and obviously had a camera. As long as the user had enough MP, the drone could keep flying even if it was miles away from the user.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. To avoid any problems with the drone, Sandra decided to take Rose and Sarah, both of them had a lot of MP, but better safe than sorry. ¡°Today, we¡¯ll observe the survivors¡¯ camp in the north of the city,¡± Sandra declared. ¡°I think our focus from now on should contact them and eventually join forces; the monsters were getting stronger and even more dangerous monsters are appearing. To avoid more deaths, we should keep all survivors in one place. But, we don¡¯t have many members in comparison with the other survivors¡¯ camp. So, maybe, we¡¯ll have to follow their rules to raise our chances of survival.¡± ¡°As long as they aren¡¯t unreasonable,¡± Harry said. ¡°I don¡¯t see any problems with that.¡± ¡°No one of you should expect too much of them,¡± Sandra said with a grim expression on her face. ¡°Our lives are at risk, and drastic times call for drastic measures.¡± ¡°But what if they demand too much of us?¡± Rose asked. ¡°Well,¡± Sandra answered while frowning. ¡°As I said, as long as they guarantee our safety and our dignity, they¡¯ll be good allies.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hope that will be the case,¡± Sarah added, looking a little bit uneasy. Everyone seemed to be okay with the possibility of facing a few hardships in order to join a safer survivors¡¯ camp, but Sandra felt uncomfortable thanks to the fact, that only her son and the two sisters didn¡¯t like about that prospect. Oh¡­ they didn¡¯t tell her about the criminals¡¯ incident. They probably didn¡¯t have the chance, or they didn¡¯t want to make Sandra hesitating in choosing the best options. Although she always had the last word, she probably discussed with others before deciding anything. Sandra felt that something was wrong with those three, but she didn¡¯t force them to talk. Instead, she gave the order to start the mission. This time only Harry, Sandra, Rose, Sarah, Claire, and I would leave the hotel; we would only approach and observe the survivors¡¯ camp in the north. Well, at least that was our plan. We didn¡¯t know yet if those monsters could be killed. After we got inside the truck, I moved to the front and put my metal crossbow near one of the holes in the windshield. I decided to attack only the monsters who would appear in front of us because the explosive bolt could damage the truck wheels. And it didn¡¯t take long for me to use it, as soon as Harry turned the engine, a mutant polar bear appeared. The monster was slow, but it was massive, and while standing, the creature was seven meters tall. Not only that, the monster¡¯s arms were big enough to make the beast able to hug the entire front of the truck. But it made a mistake by trying that, there¡¯s no way that I would miss such a target. Harry slowed down, and then I shot. The bolt pierced the monster¡¯s face, and after two seconds exploded, since we were only twenty meters away from the creature we felt the shockwave of the explosion
Mutant Polar Bear ¨C HP: 500/1500 MP: 400/500
The monster screamed in pain because it lost half of the flesh on its head. Even though I caused a lot of damage, comparable to a grenade, the monster didn¡¯t die. ¡®What a damn tough monster¡­¡¯ However, the monster died soon after. An arrow pierced the monster¡¯s exposed skull deeply¡­ again Claire finished what I started. But I already got used to that days ago, besides, it was very convenient. Otherwise, I would have to change weapons, and that would take a few precious seconds.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Coins.
More than I had expected, even though we shared the monster¡¯s orbs and coins. Well, whatever. More important than that, the bolt had absorbed more MP from the beast than I had expected. It was because the bolt hit the head? Maybe with luck, I¡¯ll be able to kill with one shot, those powerful monsters which had a lot of MP. ¡®I guess I should test this hypothesis on the mutant dire wolf.¡¯ Since Rose noticed that I was focusing on the monsters ahead of us, she focused her attacks on the flying beasts. And when she wasn¡¯t finishing the monsters I attacked, Claire killed the ones who got too close to the truck. But we were reaching a limit, the monsters¡¯ attacks were too powerful, and I could see some claw marks inside the truck. ¡®Shit, not even metal can fully block the attack of those monsters. We¡¯ll have to reinforce the truck¡¯s armor.¡¯ Luckily that was possible, but it would make us slower. Since there was no other choice, complain was a waste of time. I didn¡¯t notice at first, but those nests and beehives were still in the city. The nests were empty, but thanks to the radar, I noticed the beehives weren¡¯t. That was worrisome¡­ maybe I should explode those beehives while all the bees are inside of it. After a few more battles, we finally found a mutant dire wolf in front of us. But that one would be a bit more complicated to hit, wolves were a lot faster, so it took time and concentration to aim at the target. I hit one of the monster¡¯s paws, and after three seconds, the bolt exploded. The explosion destroyed the monster''s left paw and damaged the other, but again I didn¡¯t kill it.
Mutant Dire Wolf ¨C HP: 500/1300 MP: 1000/1100
However, since the monster was fast, it was already attacking the reinforced windshield when the explosion occurred. Thanks to that, the truck trembled a lot, and after clicking her tongue, Claire finished the monster.
You have obtained 130 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 130 Evolution Coins.
¡°Maybe I shouldn¡¯t use the explosive bolts against fast enemies.¡± Since Claire was glaring at me, I decided to say those words as apologize, but by the look on her face, she didn¡¯t accept it. ¡®There¡¯s no mistake; the bolts can absorb MP faster in places like the monsters¡¯ head and chest.¡¯ That was valuable information because the metal crossbow had a considerable delay after shooting. It was a bit annoying, but I had concentrate, even more, to make good use of the crossbow¡¯s power. Inside the truck we were safe, but I doubt that we could defeat monsters like the mutant polar bear and the mutant dire wolf in a frontal battle. Maybe if I start the fight with a perfect shot every single time, we would be able to do it, but it was madness to hope for that. Even Claire couldn¡¯t do much damage if she were more than fifty meters away from the monsters. ¡®Maybe it¡¯s about time for us to use firearms, aim with those are a lot easier and their effective range it¡¯s also bigger. Although, only a grenade launcher or anything more powerful would be more useful than my metal crossbow.¡¯ It was weird, but it was true. The metal crossbow had a few drawbacks, but every single bolt could save my life in a moment of crisis. But, I was beginning to feel that I was relying too much on my weapons. While all of us had at least one, I was probably the only one who wouldn¡¯t be able to kill a monster without a weapon. Obviously, not one of us would try that, but if something happens and we lose our weapons, I would be most useless of us. I could run fast than the others, but no one has ever solved a problem by running away from it. ¡®Maybe I should create something besides crossbows¡­ something which no one can take from me, and it can help me to fight, but what?¡¯ ¡°I think we are close enough,¡± Sandra said while looking at a map of the city. I¡¯ll think about that later; I have to keep my focus. Our mission was to observe, that said, we couldn¡¯t just stop in the middle of the city, monsters were everywhere after all. So, Sandra took the driver¡¯s seat, and Harry opened the truck¡¯s door. As fast as possible, Sarah made the drone fly. While I was a bit interested in the drone¡¯s vision, I didn¡¯t drop my guard and looked at all directions searching for enemies. But since Sandra was just driving around a block, after a few minutes, we killed every nearby monster. ¡°Sarah, what do you see?¡± Sandra asked while driving. ¡°Their base is a hotel very similar to ours,¡± Sarah answered while frowning. ¡°But something is weird. Their base isn¡¯t being attacked, and they aren¡¯t leaving, but many people are outside of the hotel. However, only a few of them are attacking the monsters with firearms; the others are unarmed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s undoubtedly strange,¡± Harry said. ¡°¡­ Tell me in detail about their positions and actions.¡± Sandra said after thinking for a few seconds. ¡°Those who are killing the monsters are near the hotel,¡± Sarah answered still frowning. ¡°While the unarmed ones are at least fifty meters away from the hotel¡­ it seems those people with firearms aren¡¯t even using their own MP to reload the weapons. Another big group of people inside the hotel was doing it for them.¡± Maybe we jumped to conclusions, but it was pretty much evident that our future allies were using other survivors as a bait to lure the monsters and also made others reload their weapons. We are lucky, aren¡¯t we? Chapter 028 Winter (3) While the others were discussing the things we had learned that day, I decided to take a look at my status.
HP: 64/64
MP: 69/69
STA: 64/64
Evolution Orbs: 111/1960 Evolution Coins: 8214
Little progress, but I was progressing. Since I broke my sensorial limit for the twenty-fifth time, the necessary amount of evolution orbs for me to break the limit again went up by 20%. At that rate, in a few more weeks it¡¯ll take a week or two to break the limit a single time. Maybe a little less, after all, new powerful monsters were appearing. But, our growth in comparison to the strength of the new monsters was a joke. A weapon or two wouldn¡¯t help us; we needed something else. Like I thought before, we needed something far better than weapons, but what? The only things that I could believe it was better than my metal crossbow were Rose and Sarah skills. Telekinesis was too damn convenient, but I couldn¡¯t create skills using the statue, right? ¡®Did someone already try this?¡¯ Although I didn¡¯t talk a lot with them, I was pretty sure that they would tell me if they succeeded in creating a skill using the statue. Since I didn¡¯t have anything better to do, I decided to try. I approached the statue, and I touch it. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ I want to learn the skill telekinesis.¡¯
Skill: Telekinesis Info: it grants the user the ability to move anything with the power of the mind. Price: 500000 Evolution coins.
¡®Holy crap! It¡¯s possible! But it¡¯s also too damn expensive. Rose hit the jackpot when she obtained this skill.¡¯ But I wondered how I would learn. A book will appear and teach me how to learn telekinesis step-by-step? The hologram didn¡¯t show anything other than information about the skill. I don¡¯t think that will be the case; after all, with a single book, many people would learn the skill just by studying it. According to Rose, the knowledge on how to control objects with the power of her mind suddenly appeared in her mind. Besides, she couldn¡¯t explain to any of us how she was able to use it. ¡®Maybe it¡¯ll be the same with the other skills¡­¡¯ ¡°Hey,¡± Claire said after slightly hitting my shoulder. ¡°What are you doing? We have important things to discuss.¡± That annoyed me a little, but she had a point, I was too focused on myself. For now, the persons who were in charge in the north weren''t causing problems for me. But eventually, I would have to face a lot of issues because of them. First, those guys with the firearms are trying to monopolize the evolution orbs and coins to themselves. While the people reloading the guns could receive a part of the reward too, it was too little in comparison to those who used the weapon. I knew that because the one who obtained more orbs and coins thanks to the truck was Harry. But that was intentional since he couldn¡¯t kill the monsters outside the truck. ¡°Did you know that we can also learn skills using the statue?¡± ¡°What? Really?¡± Claire asked, astonished. ¡°Yeah, but the most useful skills will be pretty expensive.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Claire said thoughtfully. ¡°But we can discuss this later; the others want to hear your opinion.¡± ¡°Opinion? About what? And why?¡± ¡°About the survivors in the north,¡± Claire said after sighing. ¡°We have more than eighty survivors now, so we thought that we should increase the numbers of the council, you are our first option.¡± ¡°Thanks, but no thanks. The last thing that I want now is to waste my time thinking about solutions to the problems of other people.¡± Maybe I had been to direct, but Claire was speechless. I left her behind and joined the others. Just by the looking at them, I could understand their opinions about the survivors in the north. They wouldn¡¯t be good allies and possibly in a not so future distant; they will become our enemies. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you guys want to hear my opinion, but I don¡¯t have any good idea to offer. Let¡¯s just ignore them.¡± Half of the survivors agreed with me, while the others, including Harry¡¯s group, didn¡¯t like my opinion. But most of cowards survivors agreed with me, and that bothered me. Was I a coward? I thought I was just practical. ¡°Ethan,¡± Harry said, looking very disappointed. ¡°This isn¡¯t something that we can do. All the survivors have to help each other and fight together. We can¡¯t abandon those in the north.¡± ¡°I agree with you, but do you have any good idea on how to help them? Do they really want to be helped? Sure, they aren¡¯t obtaining a lot of orbs and coins, but I bet no one is forcing them to stay there, yet they don¡¯t leave. I¡¯m sure you understand what that means.¡± ¡°It means that they are afraid,¡± Harry added. ¡°It means that they don¡¯t any other option besides stay there.¡± ¡°In other words, it means that until now, they refused to fight for their lives. And now they are paying the price for their choice. Besides, according to Sarah, they looked pretty healthy. For some people, being alive is enough. So, why bother?¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Because it¡¯s the right thing to do,¡± Claire said. ¡°Of course it is, but what are the chances of you guys succeeding? They have ten times more people on their side; they also have dozens of machine guns. Probably they are breaking their physical and sensorial limits since they are using other survivors to reload the guns. But even if they are not brave enough to fight against monsters without using some baits, I¡¯m sure that they will be brave enough to fight against other humans who are weaker than them.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that, Ethan?¡± Harry asked, showing a surprised face. ¡°Won¡¯t you help us?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll help. With everything else, I¡¯ll help because that will benefit us. But I don¡¯t intend to throw away my life doing something crazy, so don¡¯t count on me in any job related to the survivors in the north. Also, choose another person to join the council. Sorry, but I already have too many problems in my head.¡± That tired me, being politically correct is good, and all, but everything had a limit. Sure, we got stronger, and we obtained some crazy skills. However, that doesn¡¯t mean that we should try to do the impossible. Besides, what did they intend to do with those responsible for that situation? Put in jail? That was another crazy thing, if they really wanted to solve that problem, they will have to kill all the leaders in the north, and I didn¡¯t want to kill another person again even if that person deserved. The bald criminal¡¯s last moments still haunts once in a while before I go to bed. I wondered why they looked so eager to help a bunch of strangers. When the city became filled with small fries, they understood that it would be too dangerous to walk around without protection. Was it because of the truck? That vehicle could protect us from regular bullets, but even the truck couldn¡¯t protect us from dozens of grenades or rocket launchers. If a group was commanding the other survivors in the north, they would do anything to destroy possible threats. Even if they have to use a lot of evolution coins, they will use any weapons to make an example out of us. We couldn¡¯t even deal with the monsters, why would they think that we would be able to deal with the more powerful humans? ¡°For now,¡± Sandra declared showing a conflicted expression. ¡°We should forget about the survivors in the north, and we should observe the survivors¡¯ camp in the west. All of you should rest, we¡¯ll observe them tomorrow.¡± At least Sandra was smart enough that we didn¡¯t have yet the necessary power to change the situation in the north. We couldn¡¯t even fight the monsters outside the truck, how would we help hundreds of strangers who maybe didn¡¯t even want to be helped? When they heard about the situation, the other survivors in the hotel didn¡¯t feel surprised or shocked. I bet a few of them would gladly offer themselves to serve as ¡®¡¯batteries¡¯¡¯ for the persons who are commanding the survivors in the north. Since thinking about that was making me feel tired, I decided to resume my business with the statue. Unfortunately, I had to think about a skill before learning the price and what it could do. So I was having a hard time thinking about a useful but cheap skill. ¡®If only this damn statue could show a skill list¡­¡¯ But the statue couldn¡¯t show that. It was a convenient object, but not all that convenient. I needed a skill that would help me immediately, and in the long run, something that would make protect me and help me to kill the monsters faster. ¡®What kind of thing can stop a monster and cause some damage?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t find an answer for such a question, but when I looked outside, and I saw a mutant polar bear, I had an idea. ¡®A bear trap!¡¯
Skill: Iron trap Info: The user can create an iron trap. It can be automatically put in any place within ten meters around the user. The user can set a new trap every ten seconds. Cost: 05 MP Price: 1000 Evolution Coins.
It was handy, but if one could see it, one could avoid it. Not even monsters would fall for an obvious trap; I had to be more creative. ¡®How about an invisible trap?¡¯
Skill: Invisible Iron trap Info: The user can create an invisible iron trap. It can be automatically put in any place within ten meters around the user. The user can set a new trap every ten seconds. Cost: 20 MP Price: 8000 Evolution Coins.
The cost was too high, and it wasn¡¯t something I could buy at that moment, but I still could change the skill a little bit. It didn¡¯t have to be invisible, as long as it was well hidden, it was good enough. After a few more attempts, I found what I needed. ¡®Seriously, how didn¡¯t I think about this sooner?¡¯
Skill: Land mine Info: The user can create mines under the ground; the mines can be automatically put in any place within ten meters around the user. The user can set new mines every ten seconds. Cost: 15 MP Price: 10000 Evolution coins.
¡®Perfect! I don¡¯t even need to dig holes! It¡¯s a bit expensive, but it will, without a doubt, cause damage and give me a few more seconds to continue my attacks.¡¯ It was a brilliant idea; if I use well my head, I could even kill monsters kilometers away from them. I just had to set the mines in the right places. Not only that, if I put a few of them in the same place, the damage could be enough to kill even the mutant polar bear. Although it¡¯ll take a while to create those mines and I¡¯ll have to lose almost all my MP. ¡®Who cares? I¡¯ll be able to defeat them without even suffering a wound.¡¯ But then I remembered, the land mines would make a lot of noise. Thanks to the sound, new monsters would appear, and I would have to face them with low MP. The land mines would be useful on some occasions, but not in most of them. ¡®Damn it! Why my ideas are so full of flaws?¡¯ The metal crossbow couldn¡¯t be used repeatedly, at least for now, and the land mines were noisy. However, I didn¡¯t give up. I didn¡¯t have anything better to do anyway, at least trying to find a good idea would keep my mind busy. I had many ideas, but all of them had huge flaws. For example, I tried to create an earth trap hidden in the ground, and it could only be activated when some monster step on it. But since it was made of earth, it wasn¡¯t sturdy. It could even break before it could paralyze the target. Ice traps wouldn¡¯t work in those monsters; electric traps would lose a lot of power thanks to the ground. But then I had an epiphany after analyzing my previous ideas. I was too focused on dealing damage; I didn¡¯t have to learn an offensive skill. I had to learn one which could amplify my attack power and protect me. ¡®Can I become invisible?¡¯
Skill: Invisibility Info: It makes the user invisible. Deal or receive damage cancel this effect. Cost: 10 MP per minute Price: 20000 Evolution Coins.
¡®Wow! It¡¯s possible!¡¯ I hoped to keep myself invisible even after attacking, but nothing is perfect. However, it was too expensive. It would take a week at least to obtain so much evolution coins. ¡®Maybe it¡¯ll be less expensive if I create an item with this effect.¡¯
Forest Guardian¡¯s Cape Info: it grants the user the skill to become invisible. Deal or receive damage cancel this effect. Cost: 10 MP per minute Price: 10000 Evolution Coins.
¡®Now that¡¯s more like it. Even if I lose this effect after attacking, I won¡¯t have any problems as long as I explode the monsters nape or the back of their heads.¡¯ After a few minutes analyzing that green cape which could cover almost my entire body, I didn¡¯t notice any flaws or possible problems. That cape would solve most of my problems, and now I just had to obtain the evolution coins necessary to buy it. Chapter 029 The Faceless man (1) Since I was really excited about that cape, I decided to venture myself outside the hotel when I saw some weak monsters passing by. It was freezing outside, thanks to the snow. However, that wouldn¡¯t stop me. But, when I touched the door, I felt a strong grip on my left shoulder. ¡°Where do you think you are going?¡± Claire asked, showing a cold smile. ¡°I¡¯m going to find the seven dragon balls.¡± Although that was the kind of thing, Harry would say, Claire, didn¡¯t think my answer was funny. But she understood my sarcasm and the reference, and that surprised me. ¡°Don¡¯t ask stupid questions; I¡¯m going to kill some monsters.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Claire asked while looking worried. ¡°We are already obtaining a lot of orbs and coins using the truck; there¡¯s no need to put yourself at risk. Besides, we¡¯ll need your help tomorrow. If you get hurt, we¡¯ll have to delay our plans.¡± ¡°I need more evolution coins, and I don¡¯t want to wait until tomorrow. Besides, I¡¯m just going to kill the weak monsters. If I hear some heavy steps or see something on the radar, I¡¯ll return. By the way, are you spying me or something? You reacted pretty fast to stop me, and you are quick to kill the monsters that I attack.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get the wrong idea,¡± Claire said, showing an annoyed face. ¡°Since I still owe you, I don¡¯t want to see you die before I can repay my debt. I don¡¯t like to owe any favors to others either. Besides, your skills are necessary to this group, so I have to keep an eye on you before you do something stupid.¡± ¡°As I thought, anyway, I don¡¯t intend to die anytime soon. So you don¡¯t need to cover me, and if I die, you guys can create a radar, it¡¯ll be less effective than me, but it will do the job. Now, if you excuse me, I have work to do.¡± Although I said that, I only left the hotel when some weak monster appeared in front of the hotel and I couldn¡¯t see or feel the presences of any mutant polar bear, mutant dire wolf or the mutant snow leopard. The others I could kill with a single explosive bolt on their heads, but these three wouldn¡¯t die that easily. But I would be able to do that with the forest guardian¡¯s cape. I wonder if I could change that name, it seemed like a thing an environmentalist would use, and I couldn¡¯t care less about such things. Even though it was a pain for me, Claire kept an eye on me for the rest of the day. It seemed like I was her responsibility like I was one of the kids. Although I didn¡¯t say it, I was thankful for their actions, but it was somewhat unnerving. But she had motives to do that, on my resume, anyone could find at least ten stupid and crazy actions that I made in the last thirty days. Once in a while, I could feel Harry¡¯s group stare. It almost looked like they think I had a death wish or something. In the end, I managed to obtain more one thousand evolution coins. And since I had been patient, no monster managed to hurt me. If I were just a little bit ruder, I would rub that fact in their faces, but fortunately, I wasn¡¯t. On the following morning, I woke up in high spirits, even though it was still snowing, because after observing the survivors¡¯ camp in the east, I probably would be able to create the cape. And finally I would be free from that depressing hotel, I would only use that place to sleep and nothing more, just like before. ¡®Well, maybe not¡­ I don¡¯t have the necessary MP to keep the cape working non-stop. But if I can increase my HP and STA by doing some exercises, I can do the same to increase my MP. But what exactly?¡¯ The kids studied, but I didn¡¯t hear them talking about their MP, suddenly increasing. So, I had to do something else. Maybe read some books would increase my MP, but I didn¡¯t want to spend fifty hours reading books to raise only one point. It would be too inefficient. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ if there are items that can restore MP, there are also probably items which can permanently increase my MP. But that won¡¯t be enough; I want to keep increasing my MP. So, I need a skill.¡¯
Skill: Meditation Info: By putting yourself in the lotus position, you can restore one point of your MP every minute. Your MP can also increase by one point every four consecutive hours of meditation. Moving or receiving damage cancels the skill. Price: 15000 Evolution Coins.
¡®My next aim is already decided, but I wonder if I really can keep myself in the lotus position for eight hours. Well, it¡¯s not like I have any other choice. It¡¯ll take a few more days, but this skill will solve many of my problems against the most dangerous monsters.¡¯ I didn¡¯t want to admit it, but I was feeling that I was beginning to like the whole situation. Since the criminals¡¯ incident, I felt something weird inside me, like something was missing. Slowly, the memory of me taking their lives was getting weaker, and that made me feel even stranger. And since I discovered that my family was together, I noticed that I didn¡¯t have any goals. Without any purposes, how can a person live?This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. I felt the emptiness inside of me, so to get rid of that feeling, I focused myself on killing monsters as much as possible. That would help the city and the other survivors. But I wasn¡¯t worried about the others anymore; I was only worried to make myself stronger. I didn¡¯t want to see any monster blocking my way; I wanted to be free. I fully understood that when I saw Harry¡¯s astonished face. ¡°Why are you grinning?¡± Harry asked. I froze on the spot, and thanks to it, I noticed that I was really grinning. With that new skill, I could imagine myself killing dozens of powerful monsters, and because of it, I felt great. I didn¡¯t want to be stronger to see others bellow me, but I still felt that something was wrong with me. Strength was necessary to survive, not to fulfill the emptiness of a person. ¡°It¡¯s nothing; I was just daydreaming.¡± After I recovered, I shook my head and said those words. But Harry didn¡¯t look convinced. Well, I couldn¡¯t care less about his opinion. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like I was planning something terrible to do. I just didn¡¯t want to stay in that hotel more than the necessary. ¡°Dude, you are spending too much time using the statue,¡± Harry said frowning. ¡°You should spend more time interacting with the other survivors.¡± ¡°Is that all that you wanted to say?¡± ¡°¡­ No,¡± Harry said after a few seconds of silence. ¡°Mom wants to talk to all of us before we leave to investigate the survivors¡¯ camp in the west.¡± She would only repeat the same words from yesterday, but since I already had finished my business with the statue, I joined them. And like I had expected, she didn¡¯t say anything new. But I guess that kind of thing had to be done to keep the survivors working together. To my surprise, Sandra decided to stay in the hotel and let Sabrina and all the kids go with us. It seemed that she intended to raise the power of the group. But that was fine, after all, we didn¡¯t saw on the map any survivor on the aside from the three survivors'' camp. But I wondered if she had any other motive, after all, the kids were our best-ranged attackers after Rose, Claire, and I. She probably was considering a clash with the group in the north, but I couldn¡¯t imagine her giving orders to the kids attack other humans. Probably I was just overthinking; she probably sent all the kids to make them obtain some coins and make them upgrade the mini-helicopters. Their weapons could barely scratch the new monsters, to kill a single mutant lemming, all the kids had to attack at the same time. It was a bit sad seeing them feeling an intense headache after breaking their mental limits, but it was for the best, to make them able to survive. Before we could even get near the survivors¡¯ camp in the west, I already had the necessary amount to create the cape. I could barely wait to create and test it, but I contained my excitement because Claire and Harry would bother me. Their intentions were good, but annoying things were annoying even when those were done with good intentions. Since the survivors¡¯ camp in the west was farther away than the one in the north, we had to kill many monsters. We tried to kill the monsters as fast as possible, but even so, the truck received a lot of damage. Soon, they will have to upgrade the truck or add an auto-repair function. Unfortunately for them, I won¡¯t be able to help. Until I get the meditation skill, I won¡¯t use a single evolution coin. Although we faced a lot of monsters on the way, once we were three miles away from the survivors¡¯ camp, we didn¡¯t encounter many monsters. Something was off, and everyone looked worried. ¡°I think we shouldn¡¯t approach more than this.¡± Harry declared while frowning. Sarah would use a lot of MP to spy the survivors¡¯ camp from that distance, and she wouldn¡¯t be able to do that for a long time, but that couldn¡¯t be helped. While Harry kept driving around a block, Sarah began to use the espionage drone and soon she understood why didn¡¯t find many monsters in that part of the city. ¡°I can see some jeeps moving around, and those are equipped with mounted machine guns,¡± Sarah informed. ¡°There are four of them, one in the north, other in the south, the west and east of the survivors¡¯ camp. They also are in a hotel identical to ours, but something is weird.¡± Even weirder than human beings using other human beings as bait and batteries? I couldn¡¯t imagine what Sarah was seeing. But still, they fought a lot to be able to create four jeeps equipped with machine guns. The persons in the jeeps were probably scouts, and they were responsible for keeping the perimeter around the survivors¡¯ camp safe. ¡°What do you think is strange Sarah?¡± Rose asked. ¡°Each jeep has four persons,¡± Sarah answered while scratching her head. ¡°But I don¡¯t see any women among them.¡± ¡°What is so weird about that?¡± In my opinion, she was the weird one to see something strange in that fact. It wasn¡¯t like all women had useful skills like Sarah, Rose, and Claire. ¡°Sarah, tell us what you can see near and inside the hotel,¡± Harry said. ¡°I can¡¯t get too close, or they will see the drone,¡± Sarah said. ¡°They have four towers around the hotel, there are two men in those towers, and they are equipped with very long rifles. The snow is making it difficult to see from afar, so I¡¯m not sure about the things inside the hotel. Maybe I¡¯m wrong, but I can''t see a single woman outside or inside the hotel.¡± Now that was weird. Those hotels were big, but, what were the odds of us not finding a single woman in the lobby precisely at that time? Two minutes passed, and Claire didn¡¯t say a single word, by her expression, she looked surprised with something. We didn¡¯t have time to waste, and she didn''t tell us what we wanted to hear. ¡°Sara,¡± Claire asked. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Sarah opened her mouth, but no sound came out of it. She did that a few times, and then she breathed deeply to compose herself. ¡°I can see a woman,¡± Sarah answered. ¡°A dozen of good looking guys surround just one, and she, none of them are wearing shirts, and they look to be very muscular.¡± So much useless information, what was she trying to imply with that? We just needed to know if those people would be good allies or not. Since I couldn¡¯t see or feel any monsters nearby, I decided to see what Sarah was seeing; my eyesight was better so I would be able to see more than Sarah was able to see. And just like her, I became speechless. ¡°My God¡­ I fought for my life for more than thirty days, and an unknown woman had time to create a reverse-harem.¡± I saw a woman seated on a throne while being fed and massaged by a group of bodybuilders¡­ nothing would surprise me more than that. Not even if one day I see a mutant dinosaur¡­ please. I don¡¯t want to see one. Chapter 030 The Faceless man (2) The news about the survivors in the east shocked almost everyone in the hotel, although I was also surprised, I felt more depressed. I mean, the people in the north were using fellow humans as baits and batteries, while a woman in the east established a reverse-harem. Not only that, she didn¡¯t let a single woman or child enter that hotel. According to Sarah, not all men in that place were good-looking, but only the handsome ones could stay near her. ¡°Seriously, I¡¯m shocked. How could such a stupid person be alive and command an army of nine hundred men?¡± I didn¡¯t want to ask that out loud, but I asked it. That woman was even worse than the guys in the north. Since I still didn¡¯t have the MP to keep myself invisible for a long time, that situation troubled me. However, I didn¡¯t have any intention to get involved with her. In many ways, she was too troublesome. ¡°Are you serious?¡± Sandra asked astonished. Sandra was even more speechless than I thought she would be. She wasn¡¯t na?ve like the others, but she was a bit idealistic. She was having a hard time trying to believe in our report because she didn¡¯t expect such behavior. But what really troubled me was that woman unknown strength. She was powerful enough to command so many men, and she didn¡¯t even look afraid of being attacked by them. She fought like hell and got immensely strong, or she obtained some crazy skills. But since I didn¡¯t have to worry about her, at least for the time being, I decided to leave the others and create the forest guardian¡¯s cape. The cape looked a bit old, and the green wasn¡¯t like I had seen on the hologram, but after I equipped, I noticed that the cape covered almost my entire body, the lower half of my legs still could be seen. However, it didn¡¯t hinder my movement since it was light. I could easily pick and aim with any of my crossbows. ¡®Well, time to test it.¡¯ When I turned around, I saw Claire, Rose and Sarah looking at me like I was a dubious person. It seemed that I looked like a possible criminal. ¡°You look very shady with this cape,¡± Claire said while frowning. ¡°Are you feeling cold or something?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not. This is my new equipment.¡± ¡°What this cape can do?¡± Sarah asked. Since it was better to show than explain, I activated the cape¡¯s effect, slowly my body disappeared. To my surprise, I could see a red dot disappearing in the map on the ceiling; it was more useful than I thought. ¡°Why in the hell you created such a thing?¡± Claire asked with her face red of anger. That surprised me, why would Claire react like that? Rose was looking at me suspiciously; rather, she was trying to look at me. On the other hand, Sarah hides herself behind Harry, and he seemed very excited. Like he wanted to test it too¡­ oh, I see. ¡°Do you guys really think that I would become invisible to peek on you guys? Don¡¯t get carried away. I created this to give me the chance to attack the monsters from behind. Seriously, who can you guys be so full of yourselves?¡± ¡°Really?¡± Claire asked with suspicion in her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡± ¡°Whatever, I don¡¯t have time to waste with this kind of conversation, and I also don¡¯t owe any of you explanations for my actions.¡± Since it was a good chance, I decided to pass near them very slowly. And like I expected, only Claire noticed and she accompanied my movements, even though she couldn¡¯t see me. ¡°Why are you walking so carefully?¡± Claire asked, showing a questioning face. ¡°Just testing if I can really move without being noticed, I need some training, I guess.¡± Claire still had some few things to say, but I just ignored her, and I left the hotel. Although the monsters couldn¡¯t see me, they could find me by looking at the snow or by the smell. It was snowing non-stop since yesterday, so, I couldn¡¯t run, but I didn¡¯t intend to do it anyway. I was invisible, but I also couldn¡¯t make any noise or make any sudden movements. I had to become one with the environment to surprise the monsters. Although I intended to do that, a cold breeze made me tremble. ¡®So cold!¡¯ While trying to ignore the cold, I began to walk, searching for monsters. Thanks to the radar, I could easily find isolated monsters and follow them from behind. Also, with the skill effective range, I wouldn¡¯t be ambushed. Because of that, I didn¡¯t rush. But my MP was slowly decreasing, so I began to drink some lemonade. The first monster that I found was a mutant arctic fox; the creature was trying to pick up the smell of something, wandering for a side of the streets to the other. Since the wind was coming from the direction of the beast, I could approach without being noticed. But just to be sure, I stopped when I was fifty meters away from the monster. My target was walking slowly, so that distance was good enough for me. ¡®Alright, from now on, I have to always hit the nape, the neck or the back of the head. I have to get used to it.¡¯ Maybe even that wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill monsters like the mutant polar bear, but it was my best option. A few weeks had passed since I had the chance to aim at the monsters carefully, but I never forgot the actions that I should take to shot a perfect shot. The target was small, but after three seconds, my aim was already above the creature¡¯s nape. And without hesitation, I shot.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. For a second, the effect of the cape disappeared, but nothing or no one saw me for that brief moment. The bolt pierced the creature¡¯s neck, but thanks to white fur, the bolt didn¡¯t cause a lot of damage, not even made the beast fell on the ground. But after two seconds, the bolt exploded, and the creature fell, a half-destroyed head flew to a direction and the body to the other.
You have obtained 100 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 100 Evolution Coins.
To my surprise, the wind and the knee-deep snow muffled the sound of the explosion. I doubted that anyone or anything more than three hundred meters away could have heard the noise. But I didn¡¯t move just to be sure and waited for a few seconds to see if any enemy would appear in the radar. Nothing happened, so I began to walk again while recovering my MP. After a few more battles against hares, foxes, and lemmings. I finally found a mutant polar bear; the monster seemed to be moving around with no objectives in mind. It didn¡¯t try to pick the smell of a target, and it wasn¡¯t showing interest in the buildings either. ¡®I wonder for how long these creatures can live without food.¡¯ Well, even though I could find an answer to that question, nothing would change. The monsters had to die, and I needed the evolution coins. So I aimed at the monsters nape with the metal crossbow. But soon, I changed my mind when I saw the creature turning left in the next intersection. The beast wasn¡¯t moving around aimlessly¡­ the mutant polar bear was walking with a clear destination in mind. My curiosity got the better of me, so I began to follow the mutant polar bear. Maybe I was wasting time, but I could obtain a new piece of information by doing that. I could kill any monsters at any moment as long as I had MP. I could obtain many evolution orbs and coins. But that wasn¡¯t enough, to survive, knowledge was also necessary. If I could understand more of the monster¡¯s behavior, I could use it against them. My stomach was almost full of lemonade, so I didn¡¯t have much time left, but the mutant polar bear didn¡¯t walk a long distance. The monster stopped in front of a beehive covered with snow. And to my surprise, the beast didn¡¯t attack. I could see the presence of many mutant bees thanks to the radar, but the monsters inside of it didn¡¯t react with the presence of the mutant polar bear. For a few seconds, nothing happened. But when I was about to give up, I saw something falling behind the beehive, the mutant polar bear picked up and ate. ¡®What the hell¡­¡¯ I couldn¡¯t see from my position, but there was probably a hole behind the beehive. But more importantly than that, the bees were probably feeding all the mutant polar bears. I could wait for years, but even without eating humans, the monsters wouldn¡¯t die from hunger. That surprised me a lot, so I returned to the hotel without even killing the beast. As soon as I opened the hotel¡¯s door, I cancelled the effect of the cape, thanks to it, Claire and Harry noticed that I had returned. Since they were close to the entrance door, it seemed like they were waiting for me. Seriously, why didn¡¯t they try to do something less useless? But to my surprise, they understood that I wasn¡¯t in the mood for talking. ¡®I have to verify if that is really true.¡¯ I headed to the statue and immediately accessed the creation menu. If that really could create anything, then confirm that fact would be easy. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ I want to create the mutant bees¡¯ honey.¡¯ A hologram appeared in front of me, and it showed a brown object and it looked very similar to the one I saw the mutant bear pick up.
Mutant bee¡¯s Honey: a delicious dessert made by the mutant bees. It¡¯s the favorite food of many bears, and it¡¯s highly nutritious. It can restore your HP, MP, and STA by 30 points. Price: 150 Evolution Coins.
That was terrible news, but at least we also could eat the honey. We just have to be brave enough to attack a beehive protected by hundreds of mutant bees. Well, there¡¯s a fine line between bravery and foolishness. ¡®If the mutant bear can eat that kind of food, then the other monsters can also eat it, or they feed themselves with something else. Since the vegetation grew so fast, they are probably are eating some plants.¡¯ It would be hard to find thanks to the snow, but it wouldn¡¯t be impossible to find those plants. I wondered if I could analyze them, maybe it would be useful. ¡®Just fighting isn¡¯t enough; I also have to learn more about the changes in the world. Maybe I won¡¯t find any explanation, but knowledge is power.¡¯ It would be hard for me since I wasn''t smart, but that was the best thing that I could do. At least for now, after all, I still didn¡¯t have the MP necessary to fight and keep myself invisible for hours. ¡°It seems that you made some discoveries,¡± Claire said. ¡°Do you intend to share it with us?¡± I shared that information with Claire and Harry, and like me, they felt worried. But soon they recovered themselves from the surprise; the odds were against us, to begin with, another problem or two wouldn¡¯t change much. Besides, we now had another good reason to explode the beehives. Maybe it was time to equip the truck with a flamethrower or something that would do the trick. ¡°Anyway,¡± Harry said while massaging his forehead. ¡°We already decided what will be our next plan of action.¡± ¡°Really? So, what you guys decided?¡± Honestly, I wasn¡¯t expecting anything good. But I had to rest a little to recover my MP, so I decided to listen. ¡°We decided to negotiate with the survivors in the north,¡± Harry answered. ¡°We won¡¯t negotiate with the survivors in the west, that¡¯s out of the question. But we think we will be able to reach an agreement with the north.¡± I could understand why they didn¡¯t want to ally with the woman leading the survivors¡¯ camp in the west. Because of her actions, probably a lot of children and women died. On the other hand, it looked like a bad idea to negotiate with the north. ¡°What will you guys do if they refuse to negotiate?¡± ¡°We will fight,¡± Harry said, looking very determined. ¡°To save as many persons as possible, we will fight and sacrifice a few to save the majority.¡± Harry didn¡¯t hesitate while saying those words. It seemed that he was ready to kill again. But Claire didn¡¯t look to approve that idea. Was she the only one who disagreed? ¡°Well, good luck with that. I¡¯ll keep hunting the monsters and looking for useful information; I think I¡¯m pretty good at doing that kind of thing. If I discover anything, I¡¯ll share with you guys.¡± Maybe I had been a bit too straight forward because Harry looked speechless. Claire looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn¡¯t say so I just left them behind. I thought that she would get angry, but she looked more conflicted about something. But since it wasn¡¯t my problem, soon I forgot about it. Chapter 031 The Faceless man (3) When I left the hotel for the second time, soon I found a mutant polar bear. But this time I wasn¡¯t interested in following the monster, as soon as I fifty meters away from my target, I shot. The bolt hit the monster¡¯s nape, but the explosion didn¡¯t kill the beast. Just like before, only half of the creature¡¯s head had been destroyed. The beast screamed and looked at me faster than I had anticipated. ¡®Shit! At least stop moving a little, damn it!¡¯ Immediately I picked the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow and began to shot steel arrows on the creature¡¯s face. But to my surprise, the beast didn¡¯t even flinch. I felt a chill run down my spine while shooting and looking at that colossal beast running towards me. Even though the beast was tall and heavy, it managed to run forty meters in three seconds. However, it stopped before it could reach me. Somehow, all my steel bolts pierced the creature¡¯s head. Although I didn¡¯t see it while I was shooting, four of the steel bolts pierced the beast¡¯s eyes. I didn¡¯t move an inch since I began to shot, but I felt exhausted. You have obtained 250 Evolution Orbs. You have obtained 250 Evolution Coins ¡®I naively thought this cape would make the battles incredibly easier; I''m really dumb. But at least the rewards are amazing.¡¯ After a few more hours, I also found nearby the hotel the mutant dire wolf and the mutant snow leopard. Even though they were physically weaker, those beasts were much faster than the mutant polar bear. So they scared the shit out of me every time I found them and didn¡¯t manage to damage them enough with my pre-emptive attacks. Once in a while, I would be able to kill them with a single shot, but it was rare. But the battles against those fast beasts became a little easier when I hit their front paws. With three paws, they would be able to run, but the monsters wouldn¡¯t be able to do it with two legs heavily damaged. Although cause enough damage in both of the front legs was even harder than hit their heads. They could die instantly if an explosive bolt pierces one of their eyes and explode. But, only someone like Claire could do that with every single shot. For the rest of the day, I hunted the monsters safely, thanks to my cape. But I didn¡¯t look only at the radar; I also investigated all plants that I could find above the snow. But the skill analyze didn¡¯t activate when I looked at those plants. But I couldn¡¯t just give up, the mutant bees¡¯ honey was valuable, so if I could find a plant with any healing proprieties, I would be able to sell it and obtain a lot of evolution coins. ¡®All things considered, it would be weird if the vegetation didn¡¯t also mutate. It grew at an alarming rate after all.¡¯ Although I was sure that was the case, I didn¡¯t find anything on that day. Since I was mentally tired because of the battles against the mutant snow leopard and the mutant dire wolf, I decided to sleep earlier than usual. When I returned, I saw many of the survivors discussing their plan of action in the coming days. Harry and the others were the ones who would lead the negotiations with the north, but they welcomed any pieces of advice and listened to the other survivors¡¯ opinions. Since I already declared that I wouldn¡¯t help with that, I just ignored them, and I went directly to my room. And to my surprise, Claire was in front of my room, waiting for me. ¡°We need to talk,¡± Claire said, showing a serious expression. ¡°About what?¡± ¡°About how this whole operation in the north will fail,¡± Claire answered. ¡°I already knew that, but it¡¯s not like you and I can change the opinion of the others.¡± ¡°I think you are misunderstanding me,¡± Claire answered frowning. ¡°If you and I help, we can overthrow the leaders in the north and their henchmen. But even if we didn¡¯t lose a single survivor, we will suffer irreparable damage.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°Even if they succeed,¡± Claire answered with her arms crossed.¡± Their reputation will be stained forever. Even if they free hundreds of people, no one will forget that they had to kill other survivors to do it. On this kind of situation; the people need good leaders. Good and respected leaders, a killer will never be recognized as a good leader.¡± I finally understood why Claire looked troubled and disagreed with the others. While Harry¡¯s group was only concerned about saving as many survivors as possible, Claire was worried about the problems that would cause in the future. I didn¡¯t want to admit it, but I was like the coward survivors. And just like me, they wouldn¡¯t refuse to follow the commands of a good leader, at least until that is convenient for them. ¡°Harry and Sarah already killed one person.¡± ¡°Yes, but they tried to protect themselves from a group bigger than theirs,¡± Claire explained. ¡°It¡¯s very different; in this situation, they will be the attackers. Anyone will understand that they accepted the risks and didn¡¯t hesitate to dirty their hands.¡± ¡°I guess you are right. So, why are you saying this to me?¡± ¡°We can prevent this,¡± Claire declared. ¡°If you lend me your cape for a few days, I can cause enough damage in the north to make them accept anything that Harry¡¯s group can propose.¡± ¡°So, you disappear for a few days, and then miraculously most of the troublemakers in the north die, and then you reappear. I¡¯m sure no one will be suspicious of you.¡± ¡°Maybe some will,¡± Claire said, looking very troubled. ¡°But no one will find any proof to blame me.¡± ¡°I bet if a few dozens of people die with arrows in their foreheads, no one will be suspicious of you. You are too na?ve, many of us already acknowledged you as a member of Harry¡¯s group. If you do that, you will be labeled as a cold blood killer. Even if you do that with good intentions, you will still be a killer. You will damage Harry¡¯s group reputation, not only that, what will the kids think of you if you do that? Eventually, you will be shunned, and the kids will also suffer from the same fate.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.¡°Then, what do you think I should do?¡± Claire shouted. ¡°Do you want me to see this group slowly be destroyed from inside and do nothing? If this happens, the kids will suffer too.¡± ¡°Why are you getting angry at me? I just pointed a few flaws in your plan, besides, don¡¯t ask to a brat what you should do. Anyway, I¡¯m sure that you can find a better solution if you use your head a little more. Now if you excuse me, I¡¯m going to sleep a little. Don¡¯t do anything rash.¡± Just to make sure that I wouldn¡¯t be bothered anymore, I locked the door. However, that action didn¡¯t change anything, because Claire didn¡¯t insist, and my brain didn¡¯t let me sleep. Claire¡¯s worries and words didn¡¯t disappear from my mind, and because of it, I began to think, trying to find a solution. ¡®She is right; the survivors need some good leaders. A single one who could be trusted would be ideal, but since we have a group leading, all of them needed to be viewed as absolutely trustworthy. The survivors shouldn¡¯t doubt and act against them, but that was hard to achieve unless the leaders can solve every single internal fight with dialogue.¡¯ It was absolutely crazy to try to create a single perfect leader, much less a group of them. To keep a place safe, eventually, someone will have to do the dirty job. Some problems can only be solved by strength, and sometimes, as Harry said, a few have to be sacrificed to save the majority. ¡®I guess to create a perfect leader; one has to create a perfect environment. That¡¯s what Claire is trying to do.¡¯ However, Claire was already part of the group. If she tries to leave now to solve that problem, some people may understand that she had been used as a scapegoat. Someone had to that, but not one of them. Someone who can appear and disappear at will, get rid of the troublemakers in the north while making like it had been an accident or rebellion. ¡®¡­ Why in the hell I¡¯m trying to find excuses to do that kind of thing?¡¯ It was madness; why should I do that? Why did I have to dirty my hands to help a bunch of strangers? Besides, everyone knew about my weapons; eventually, someone would blame me. ¡®Unless I create another weapon specifically to this kind of job. Something like a knife, but I had to keep that weapon hidden at all times. It would be my secret weapon to use only against humans.¡¯ Something was really wrong with me; it looked like I had decided that I would do it. But I was the best option. My hands were already dirty with blood, so what would change if again I try to clean the city a little bit? With my cape and a new weapon I would be able to do it, if I disappear for a few days, only Claire and Harry¡¯s group would notice it. Since I didn¡¯t interact much with the kids, they barely looked at me so I would be fine. And if somehow someone may find a proof to blame me, I could say that I wanted their evolution coins. I mean, I was the only one who left the hotel without the car to hunt monsters, so probably the other survivors already thought that I was a crazy and a greed bastard. ¡®Oh, God¡­ I¡¯m not just dumb and impulsive; now I¡¯m insane too.¡¯ I was considering become their executioner, for what? To be necessary for that group? It was just too stupid; I wouldn¡¯t obtain anything by doing that, only the title of a murderer. Kill a few to save the majority my ass, to hell with suck logic! Once the monsters disappear, and the city returns to normal, would I receive a medal? Of course not, I would probably be the first one to be executed. I bet not a single person would protest in my favor. ¡®To hell with everything.¡¯ Even though my mind was in turmoil, I managed to fall asleep after I said that to myself. It was insane to think about those things, but in the end, I embraced my insanity. Soon after midnight, I woke up. The hotel was silent, and without making any sound, I headed toward the lobby. The place was empty, just like I wanted. But just to make sure, I analyzed the radar and confirmed that fact. All the survivors were sleeping in their rooms, and none of them was moving, so, I touched the statue. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ I want to create a knife which no one but I can see it.¡¯ Spiritual Knife: a weapon created by the spiritual energy of its user. It can be safely stored inside the user¡¯s body. 10 MP will be used to summon and to store the weapon. It''s able to ignore the target''s defense. This knife will disappear after being used a single time. Cost: 1500 Evolution Coins. The statue showed me the hologram of a transparent knife, but it didn¡¯t look special aside from that. Without hesitation, I created the weapon and filled my backpack with lots of lemonade bottles from the next few days that would be the only thing which would fill my stomach. After that, I left the hotel and crossed the city in the darkness of the night. My MP was limited, so I only activated the cape when something appeared on the radar. At the beginning of this incident, the darkness of the night scared the shit out of me, but now I was fine with the darkness. I was more worried about the things that I was about to do, but in the end, I didn¡¯t change my mind. What motivated me was the fact that I didn¡¯t want to see the kids suffer. All of them lost their parents, but they still had Claire. So to keep the only light in their lives clean and shiny, I decided to dirty myself again. I didn¡¯t want them to see the light in their lives getting weaker, like the four lights on my life were getting weaker with every passing day. Chapter 032 Domination (1) I didn¡¯t know when Harry¡¯s group would try to negotiate with the survivors¡¯ camp in the north. It would take a few days for them get ready, but even so, I hurried toward the north. Because I avoided all the monsters, I managed to reach their camp at noon on the next day. However, instead of attacking, I decided to observe them for the rest of the day. The northern part of the city didn¡¯t have many tall buildings, so the better place that I found to observe them was a fifteen meters tall warehouse, which was three hundred meters away from their base. But that was good enough for me because when I arrived, many of the survivors were one hundred meters away from the base. I was near a group of one hundred survivors, they didn¡¯t have any weapons, and their clothes were pretty light considering the current weather of the city. ¡®I guess they are being forced to transfer their coins too, that would explain why they didn¡¯t buy appropriate clothes.¡¯ Or maybe they were wearing light clothes to make their smell spread more quickly, either way, thanks to that fact; the survivors looked pretty haggard. Fifty meters behind the survivors, I could see a group of ten men armed with assault rifles and machine guns. They were shooting at the monsters which were attracted by the survivors, and they looked pretty carefree. ¡®I wonder if they are not worried about hitting by accident the survivors¡­¡¯ When I thought that, I heard one of those one hundred survivors screaming, and I also saw blood dripping from his arm. The guy who shot him scratched his head, it seemed to him that he had made only a small mistake. ¡®I wonder if the others would still try to negotiate after seeing this.¡¯ But that scene was just one of many crazy things that I would see. Until that moment, only one monster at a time appeared to attack. But suddenly, two mutant polar bears appeared. Those guys¡¯ firearms could kill the monsters, but it would take a while. And just like I had imagined, five survivors got hit by the rampaging beasts and they flew in the air for dozens of meters. But what surprised me, what the fact that the other survivors didn¡¯t move an inch. They trembled like hell, but they didn¡¯t try to escape. ¡®What the hell¡­¡¯ It was surprising, but since I could become invisible, another person could control other people with magic or some item. It wasn¡¯t that hard to believe, and if that were possible, maybe I wouldn¡¯t have to kill every single of those armed guys. If I discover how they are controlling the survivors, I could do the same with them. ¡®But I probably won¡¯t have enough evolution coins to buy it, and I¡¯ll have at least to get rid of their leader.¡¯ The last time I saw it, this survivor camp had more than six hundred survivors. So, they are probably doing that exact same thing in the other three directions. Which means, there were at least forty armed men. ¡®That will be a pain in the ass; I can¡¯t just attack them because they will lock themselves inside the hotel.¡¯ My explosive bolt could kill at least five of them since they were close to each other, but that wouldn¡¯t change a thing, after all, they split their forces in all directions. Not only that, occasionally, another guy with also armed with a firearm would appear and give them fully loaded guns. Besides, I couldn¡¯t kill them with my crossbows. ¡®Maybe I should follow them when they return to the hotel. If I use the invisibility of my cape and follow exactly the marks they left in the snow, I don¡¯t think they will notice me. But I can¡¯t attack them inside the hotel.¡¯ I was ridiculously outnumbered, and I couldn¡¯t attack them inside the hotel. So I thought of instead of killing all of them, I should kill those who held more power among them and put in my control the others. ¡®If I succeed in doing that, I should forbid them of telling about my actions to anyone. But if it is possible using that power to control other human beings¡­ using that power, can I also control monsters?¡¯ It was a very convenient power, but probably had a few severe restrictions. Once I obtain the knowledge about it, I¡¯ll seriously test it. ¡®Come to think of it; I should test the analyze skill on those guys.¡¯
Survivor A: HP: 240/240 MP:120/120 STA: 240/240
Survivor B: HP: 266/266 MP:82/82 STA: 266/266
Survivor C: HP: 304/304 MP:120/120 STA: 304/304
The analyze skill could tell me their status, but couldn¡¯t tell me their names. That was weird, but their names wouldn¡¯t stay in my mind for a long time. The skill was getting better a lot faster than the concentration skill, probably because it was a non-combat skill. Anyway, those three were the most powerful ones of that ten armed men. The others seemed to be really behind them in terms of status; those three were probably among the group who found the hotel. ¡®As I thought, they are focusing on breaking their physical limits, but they are probably breaking the mental and sensorial limits once in a while too. I guess that is the safest choice.¡¯ It was hard to admit it, but I was only breaking the sensorial limit, because I was obsessed in not suffering any ambushes, and also to increase my movement speed to increase my chances of escaping dangerous situations. In other words, I was a coward, and I wanted to keep some distance from the monsters, at any cost.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡®In any case, they are weaker than I thought. I jumped conclusions when I thought they were stronger than us. It¡¯s probably because they don¡¯t leave the hotel. But they still have the numerical advantage and a lot of firearms, I have no chance but to decrease their numbers and kill the big guns.¡¯ The problem was, I didn¡¯t have much time. Identify their leaders in a group of forty or fifty people would be too troublesome. Not to mention, I had to deal with them without making them aware of my presence. ¡®If only I could find someone inside of that hotel who could help me¡­¡¯ But that was easier said than done, who would fight against armed guys alongside a stranger? Well, I only needed the information. Besides, a person without weapons wouldn¡¯t help much. Luckily, the mutant polar bears created a good situation for me. Their attacks managed to kill two survivors, but I saw three moving a little to take cover in an alley. They suffered a lot of damage, so they probably wouldn¡¯t join the others survivors, at least until the time to return to the hotel. ¡®Maybe I can make one of them talk and give me the necessary information. But I wonder if they will cooperate.¡¯ Instead of trying to cooperate, they could reveal my presence or worse, lie to me and lure me to a trap. After all, they were hostages. Their lives are on the line, and probably the lives of their families too. I analyzed those three wounded survivors carefully while thinking if I really should approach one of them, but then something strange happened.
Charles: HP: 30/180 MP:50/50 STA: 40/180
¡®Why I see his name but not the others? That name sounds familiar¡­ do I know him?¡¯ I looked at that survivor, and I couldn¡¯t really recognize him, he was covered in blood after all. But he looked young, perhaps we had the same age, and he looked a little bit familiar. ¡®Is he a classmate perhaps?¡¯ I wasn¡¯t really sure about that since I was too busy working and studying. I couldn¡¯t really remember my classmates¡¯ faces. If he were a classmate, probably he would help me. I was trying to get rid of his captors after all. ¡®I wonder if things will go that smoothly.¡¯ I decided to approach him, but something was bugging me, and I couldn¡¯t understand why. Carefully, I left the warehouse and approached while not trying to reveal my position. Since I was walking near the buildings¡¯ walls and the others were too busy, no one noticed me. But my steps still left marks in the snow, so I tried to make those marks as unnoticeable as possible. Fortunately, that guy was still conscious, and the other two weren¡¯t close enough to see my footsteps on the snow or hear me. ¡°Hey, are you alright?¡± ¡°That voice,¡± Charles whispered in pain. ¡°I¡¯m dying, and in my last moments, I have to imagine that fucker¡¯s voice. Fuck you, Ethan.¡± ¡°Do I know you?¡± ¡°Even his voice in my head is annoying,¡± Charles said with a hint of anger in his voice. ¡°You almost killed me two years ago, fucking bastard.¡± How could I be so unlucky? He was one of the guys who I beat two years ago, he wouldn¡¯t help, and he probably would even sell me to his captors. It was clear that he hated me that much. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m the voice inside of your head. But I¡¯ll leave you now, rest and don¡¯t comment about this to the others, or they will think that you are crazy.¡± It was a stupid thing to say, but he was wounded, and he probably would just pass out soon. The next time he wakes up, if he wakes up, he will think that had been just a dream. So, I slowly began to walk away, following the marks I left in the snow. ¡°Wait,¡± Charles said. ¡°You are here, aren¡¯t you? I can see your footsteps.¡± Damn it! Next time, even if it¡¯ll make things more complicated, I¡¯ll do everything by myself. No more asking questions and no more interaction with people who looked familiar. I didn¡¯t move, and I didn¡¯t say anything, maybe he would pass out and forget everything, but that was just me being too naive. ¡°Answer me, you bastard!¡± Charles said, trying without success to shout and scare me. ¡°Sorry, just keep your voice low, I¡¯m not your enemy.¡± ¡°You say this even though you almost killed me in the past?¡± Charles said after coughing a little. ¡°You have got some nerve.¡± Although he couldn¡¯t see me, he didn¡¯t look shocked. I thought those guys who were used as baits were cowards, but Charles looked the type who could adapt very quickly. Maybe my first impression about this place was wrong after all. Another thing to write down on my notebook, I guess. ¡°What the hell are you doing here?¡± Charles asked frowning. ¡°I thought all the other nerds like you died on the first day.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s surprising that you are still alive; after all, you and your friends lost a fight against a single person.¡± ¡°Go to hell, asshole!¡± Charles shouted. This guy was really getting on my nerves. Here was I trying to help him, and he was doing everything possible to reveal my presence. Luckily the other two guys already passed out, and I could hear some gunshots. No one had heard his voice. ¡°Let¡¯s forget about the past for the time being, okay? You and the others are being controlled, right? How¡¯s that work? No, wait. Can you even answer my questions?¡± ¡°How did you know about this?¡± Charles asked, surprised. ¡°I have been observing this place for a few hours. The other survivors didn¡¯t look brave enough not to run away from the monsters, so that was the only explanation.¡± ¡°I see¡­ you obtained a handy skill.¡± Charles said. ¡°Moving around without been seen. It fits a sneaky bastard like you.¡± I wonder if this guy were capable of stop insulting me for a few minutes, he probably would if he could see my crossbows. ¡°I didn¡¯t obtain this skill; I bought it.¡± ¡°What? Can we do that?¡± Charles said, looking surprised and frustrated. ¡°Now I finally understand, those assholes used our evolution coins to obtain new powers. No wonder, they can control so much of us.¡± ¡°I see, so it¡¯s a skill. Explain it in detail.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t give me orders!¡± Charles shouted. ¡°There¡¯s no way in hell I will help an asshole like you!¡± I sighed, I have been trying to learn from my mistakes and forget the past, but I guess I didn¡¯t have any other choice. I equipped the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow, and I made Charles feel the weapon touching his head. Thanks to that, he froze on the spot. ¡°I already said that I¡¯m trying to help, but since you don¡¯t want to be helped, I¡¯ll get rid of you. I can¡¯t let the others know about my presence after all. Too bad, if only you could forget the past, you could have received an opportunity to be free again. Oh well, death is also freedom for some people.¡± I really didn¡¯t want to do that, but what choice did I have? By helping me, he could help the others and stop an inevitable fight between the people in that place and Harry¡¯s group. He didn¡¯t seem like a bad person, but his grudge would cause the death of many people. ¡°Wait,¡± Charles said with a pale face. ¡°Do you really will help us?¡± ¡°Maybe, I intend to clean the city a little bit. Maybe you will obtain some benefit from it, now, what will you do? Continue insulting me and test my patience or help me get rid of the people who used you as bait?¡± ¡°Sorry I¡¯ll help,¡± Charles said after he calmed down a little. ¡°I have to save Theresa and Laura. I had no idea who those two were, but if he had someone who he needed to help, he wouldn¡¯t lure me into a trap. Probably. Chapter 033 Domination (2) After my threat, Charles looked more cooperative than I thought he would be. But it was probably because he really wanted to kill those guys who were using him. I didn¡¯t notice before, but he had a lot of scars around his body. Thanks to the hotel, he could heal a lot faster, but the scars would never disappear. The pain, the anger, and the shame, he will never forget it. ¡°How many people are in control here?¡± ¡°Not many as you think, only ten,¡± Charles answered with a serious expression. ¡°But there are sixty heavy-armed men inside the hotel, although they have weapons and are also willingly using us to lure the monsters, fifty of them are being controlled by those ten.¡± ¡°Ten, huh. After I kill those ten, maybe I can put the others under my control with that skill.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not as simple as you think,¡± Charles explained. ¡°As you already know, skills have limits, but they can get better, more powerful. With that skill at level one, you can only control ten people. Not only that, to control a person, you need that person permission first.¡± ¡°As I expected, there are a few limitations. But what do you mean by permission?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple,¡± Charles explained. ¡°To activate the skill on a person, that person has to be controlled. Those ten guys found that hotel first, and they only let enter the people who accepted to be controlled by them. We didn¡¯t have any choice, we lost many allies, and they were stronger.¡± One more fact to prove that I was wrong, and I was beginning to feel bad because of it. Although my negative thoughts influenced me a lot, it still didn¡¯t change that fact. ¡°If I get rid of those ten guys, what do you think the others will do?¡± ¡°I think they¡¯ll fight among themselves to become the new leader,¡± Charles answered while frowning. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I think if two persons who have the same skill fight against each other, the victorious will obtain the skill¡¯s progress of the defeated. This happened a few times before, an armed guy wanted a girl who was being controlled by another guy, they fought, and all the people under control of the defeated guy began to be controlled by the first guy. Although he recently had obtained that skill.¡± ¡°Maybe I can use that¡­ but that means those armed guys are taking women for themselves, is that true?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Charles said while clenching his fists and teeth. ¡°Ken, that fucker¡­ he is controlling my little sister and my girlfriend.¡± ¡°I see¡­ by the way, that name sounds familiar.¡± ¡°Are you messing with me or did you really forget about us?¡± Charles asked, annoyed. ¡°Ken is the one who started the fight two years ago. He was an idiot, but he wasn¡¯t an asshole back then. But after that fight, he changed, he left the school and created a gang. I heard that he was looking for you, but I guess he never found you. They called themselves the brotherhood, and those gangsters are the ones who are controlling the hotel.¡± Why am I meeting those guys in this kind of situation? And was he implying that the whole situation was my fault? That was just crazy. ¡°It¡¯s not really my problem the choices he made in life. By the way, which restrictions did he put on you?¡± ¡°As long as they have MP, they can order us to do anything,¡± Charles explained. ¡°For the men, they give us the order to stay around the hotel and lure the monsters, they also ordered us not to try to escape, and we can¡¯t attack them. The women and children are responsible for reloading the weapons and everything else.¡± ¡°I see, that may be useful too. But how can I identify the brotherhood members? I need to get rid of them without giving them the chance to escape.¡± ¡°In that case,¡± Charles said after a few seconds. ¡°Our best chance is to attack them while they are in their rooms. They are the only ones who can sleep on the bedrooms, they and the women they took for themselves.¡± ¡°Not us, only me. You can¡¯t attack them, and if you try, they¡¯ll notice. Besides, we can¡¯t fight inside the hotel. Anyway, do you know how much evolution coins are necessary to buy the skill they are using it? By the way, what is the skill name?¡± ¡°I think it is domination,¡± Charles said after thinking for a few seconds. ¡°It was the only strange word Ken said when he was near the statue with the others. The price is five thousand evolution coins; I heard him said that many times.¡± It was cheaper than I thought, probably because the skill would be useless unless you force the others to accept it. Besides, one person could only control those who were weaker. With the city in this situation, if one person tries to blackmail a stronger person, it was pretty much asking for a painful death. But even so that was a problem, I didn¡¯t have evolution coins anymore, and I had to attack them as soon as possible, after all, Harry¡¯s group might arrive tomorrow. I was pretty sure of that; I disappeared without saying anything after all. They were probably thinking that I was plotting something, and if Claire reveals to them what we discussed previously, they will cross the city even in the middle of the night. In a way, there were even more stupid than me. ¡®How I can obtain so much evolution coins as fast as possible?¡¯ Even if I try to kill many mutant polar bears, it wouldn¡¯t be fast enough. But I had an option; it was crazy, it was by far the craziest thing that I ever did. However, I could obtain a lot of evolution coins if I explode the beehives. ¡®Someone, please put a straightjacket on me. I¡¯m no longer a sane person.¡¯ Why would I have to go that far to help strangers? If I got hit by the single sting of those mutant bees in my head I would die, but at least I would die trying to help strangers, that was a good motive, right? Not enough for me, I didn¡¯t have the responsibility of helping every single person in the city.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡®Let¡¯s look on the bright side, if I succeed, the city will have fewer assholes, and Harry¡¯s group will have more allies. That way, they could make them solve other problems instead of me. Not only that, I could obtain a small army of assholes, and I also will obtain the evolution coins of Ken¡¯s gang.¡¯ With some luck, I could even obtain enough evolution coins to learn the meditation skill. Since Ken only made the men broke their physical limits to make them more durable against the monsters, the women and children probably only broke their mental limits to have more MP and reload the guns many times. Even though their strengths and equipment had been neglected, those five hundred people would become a fearsome force. ¡®See? We will obtain many benefits; the only downside was that I could die in the process.¡¯ Whatever, I already had lost an entire night and half of a day to arrive at this place. I had no choice but to risk everything to obtain those benefits. ¡°What time do you guys usually return to the hotel?¡± ¡°Usually, we return one hour before dusk,¡± Charles answered a bit confused. ¡°So, we still have three hours left. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to kill some monsters to obtain those five thousand evolution coins, stay here.¡± Without waiting for an answer, I left Charles behind, and when I was three hundred meters away from that place, I deactivated the cape. I didn¡¯t know if I would be able to obtain those mutant bees¡¯ honey if I explode those beehives, so I had to conserve my MP as much as possible. Luckily, after a few minutes, I already found the first beehive. I could probably kill one bee with a single metal bolt. However, those beehives had one hundred bees inside them. So to avoid any major problems, I had to kill half of them with my explosive bolt, the problem was: could the bolt explode suck the beehive¡¯s MP? That thing even had MP? There was only one way to find out. ¡®Just to make sure, I think I¡¯ll put a bottle of lemonade in my mouth to drink after my first shot.¡¯ Most of the bees were near the center of the beehive, so when I was fifty meters away from it, and I didn¡¯t see any other monsters around I aimed, and I pulled the trigger. After two seconds the bolt exploded, but even before that I already had the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow in my hands. Pieces of the beehive covered in snow flew around and saw dozens of bees being tossed in all directions.
You have obtained 8 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 8 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 8 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 8 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 8 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 8 Evolution Coins.
¡­
Those messages appeared dozens of times inside my mind, but I ignored them all and began to shot at the bees which didn¡¯t have exploded in pieces. I didn¡¯t even aim properly; I just shot in the right direction, hoping that would be enough to kill them. I received those messages soon after most of those shots, but unfortunately, after five seconds, the bees recovered themselves and began to look for me. Since I was far away, could kill more ten of them before the monsters could see me. But in the end, that hadn¡¯t been enough. I still could see twenty of them alive and flying in my direction. ¡®Oh boy, I have no other choice.¡¯ I summoned the spiritual knife and held it tightly with my left hand, ready to use it, while I was still shooting with the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow with my right hand. I managed to kill another five before the first bee could attack me, but even so, I managed to block the sting using the spiritual knife and kill the creature with the crossbow. Another Bee tried to attack me from behind, but my ears picked the beast¡¯s movement, so I took one step to the side, and I managed to avoid it. I was faster than then, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to avert five attacks at the same time, so I didn¡¯t lose a single opportunity to pull the trigger when I saw it. Again, another tried to attack me from behind, and instead of moving from that spot, I just crouched a little bit and I split the bee in two using the spiritual knife. I wasn¡¯t physically stronger, but even though the bees got bigger and faster, they weren''t studier. At the same, I cut the bee I aimed at another, thank God those monsters were too stupid to synchronize and attack at the same time. After more twenty seconds without breathing and only moving around slashing the monsters and piercing them with my bolts. The fight ended, and I fell on the snow. The battle didn¡¯t last even a minute, but I spend twenty percent of my STA. Probably because I was moving around as fast as possible and using all my senses to feel the bees attacks. ¡®Oh shit¡­ do I have to do this more six times?¡¯ I obtained eight hundred evolution coins in a single minute, but there was no way that I could that in sequence. But I put that thought aside and tried to find my spoils, the mutant bees¡¯ honey would help me to recover, and they would also sell for a quite reasonable price. However, just like dozens of bees exploded, the honey had been tossed around in the snow. I only could find three of those pudding-like honey. ¡®I guess it¡¯s better than nothing.¡¯ I began to eat one and put the other two inside my backpack, and without wasting time, I headed toward the next beehive. However, I stopped because I remembered something. ¡®Why I didn¡¯t find a mutant queen bee?¡¯ All beehives had queen bees, but I didn¡¯t see one, and all the messages that I received said the same thing. So, the explosion didn¡¯t kill it. ¡®Well, that works better for me.¡¯ On the second beehive that I found, I decided to change my strategy a little bit. Instead of exploding, I decided to use my electric bolts. Insects were weak to fire, and the electrical discharge would pretty much toast them. Not only that, I could see only one hole in the entire beehive. So, unless they try to destroy their home, only one at a time would be able to leave the beehive and attack me. ¡®It¡¯s worth a shot; it can¡¯t be more dangerous than exploding¡­¡¯ In the end, I hesitated a little bit, but I still used the electric bolt. As I had expected, the electrical discharge passed through the entire beehive for a few seconds, and I could hear the insects¡¯ noises. I didn¡¯t kill a single one of them, but at least the attack paralyzed them for five seconds. When the first bees left the beehive, I had already shot the second electric bolt.
You have obtained 8 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 8 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 8 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 8 Evolution Coins.
¡­
I received that message a few times, but it wasn¡¯t enough to kill all of them. I picked the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow and killed the ones who had left the beehive. However, soon afterward, I insisted on using the electric bolts. After using the forth electric bolt, I noticed that I had killed all of the mutant bees. I had used more MP, but that had been far more efficient and less scary. ¡®I guess this will be my tactic to destroy all the beehives in the city. Why didn¡¯t I thought about this before?¡¯ Satisfied, I approached the beehive to collect my spoils, but I froze on the spot when I saw the pudding-like honey had become a brown like-stone. I couldn¡¯t even analyze it anymore. ¡®The electricity heat hardened the honey¡­ it isn¡¯t honey anymore; it¡¯s a stone. Well, you can¡¯t always get what you want.¡¯ Chapter 034 Domination (3) Sooner than I thought, thanks to the electric bolts, I returned to the survivors¡¯ camp in the north after destroying ten beehives. Charles was still there, and even though he couldn¡¯t see me, he could hear my footsteps. I needed to train my espionage skills. ¡°Already?¡± Charles said, surprised. ¡°Yeah, now just shut up and return when they call you back. I¡¯ll follow your footsteps and don¡¯t try to look back or talk to me.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Charles said full of enthusiasm, even though he was still terribly wounded. ¡°What is your plan once you enter the hotel?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it; just act normally.¡± My plan was pretty simple; I would enter the hotel, use the statue to learn the domination skill, and create dozens of time bombs. Then I would put them on the most powerful armed men since they were probably the members of the brotherhood, and set them to explode at the same time, and that would be a few minutes after they began to use the survivors as a bait. That was why I destroyed a few more beehives than I initially planned. With luck, I would be able to control most of the armed men. I would test that skill and kill those who didn¡¯t obey because that would prove they were under command the other members of the brotherhood who stayed in the hotel. The best scenario would be if I could kill all the brotherhood members at the same time. Since they wanted to obtain more evolution coins and orbs, all of them will probably leave the hotel tomorrow morning. But even if that doesn¡¯t happen, once I have the power to control most of the armed men, I¡¯ll be able to force the remaining members of the brotherhood to leave the hotel. And in the outside, I¡¯ll be able to get rid of them. They could control the survivors inside to cause trouble, but no one can fight inside the hotel. So, in the end, the numbers will solve everything. ¡®I just hope things will go that smoothly.¡¯ I was very close of breaking my sensorial limit for the thirtieth time, so my next skill could be handy and make me feel less uneasy. But I didn¡¯t want to lose the opportunity to enter the hotel with the survivors, I didn¡¯t have time to lose, so I rushed to return. After a few minutes, I heard a shout of someone giving the survivors the order to return. After that I listened to a dozen of others shouts, Charles got up immediately, even though that effort really hurt him. He and the other survivors looked like zombies thanks to those orders, their brains ignored the pain and just made they obey. Slowly, I began to follow them from behind. Since Charles knew that I would follow him from behind, he made a little more effort to walk slowly to be the last to arrive at the hotel. Carefully, I put my feet on the marks he left on the snow. I couldn¡¯t leave a single trace of my presence to be seen, I couldn¡¯t even move a little bit of snow, or my plans would be ruined. Luckily, the armed men looked carefree as always, so they didn¡¯t wait to count the survivors. All of them just entered in the hotel without a care in the world, but at least they let two of them keeping an eye on the entrance door. However, even though those two looked pretty serious on their job, they didn¡¯t notice when I passed by them. That hotel had almost ten times more survivors than the hotel I stayed, so, that place was ten times more depressing. Nearly all the people there looked pretty tired, they looked like they didn¡¯t have a decent meal in days, and I could see even more resignation on their faces than the survivors in the other hotel. The trembling bodies of the young woman being caressed by those armed guys and the fear I could see in the children eyes made me feel that I was in a place devastated by war. No, I was in an area devastated by war. My mother told me when she was still single; she traveled around the world in those humanitarian missions. Because of the corruption of some governments, she saw countries destroyed by civil wars. Many of those civil wars only ended after decades of conflict and after the loss of hundreds of thousands. But after the war, the problems didn¡¯t disappear. After the conflicts, the population had to endure many hardships. They would be treated as objects or worse; they would be looked down by other humans like they were worms. And that was the situation inside that hotel. The women were treated like objects, and the men were treated like worms to lure the monsters. Until that moment, I had been lucky. Somehow, I survived my first battle, and I obtained the power to fight. Most people .after fighting for their lives, obtained a single skill, but I obtained two, and thanks to it, I was alive. I couldn¡¯t even imagine myself crossing the city without the immense help of the crosshair skill. I killed the monsters, and I almost died many times by their hands, but in the process, I began to look down on the others. Because I could feel their stares, but I couldn¡¯t see their courage to fight. And I blamed them for their cowardice, but that wasn¡¯t the normal thing to do? If a person doesn¡¯t have military training, their relatives disappeared, and monsters appeared, most of the people would hide. It wasn¡¯t about being brave or be coward; it was about following your survival instincts. I only left my home not because it was the best thing to do; it was because I wanted to see my parents and siblings. I wanted to see them so damn hard because I was a coward too. I walked for miles while bleeding because I knew that I couldn¡¯t do anything without them.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. After I discovered my parents and siblings weren¡¯t in this area, I kept fighting to bring them to my side, but if they had died or if I didn¡¯t find a single clue about them¡­ I would probably be among the survivors in this hotel. ¡®I think¡­ I should change my perspective a little bit. I can¡¯t blame the others for losing the courage to fight after they see a parent or friend dying in front of their eyes. Family and friends are important pillars of a person¡¯s life if a person loses them, it makes sense to lose the courage to fight at the same time.¡¯ But I could think about those things after doing what I have to do. So, I put those thoughts on the back of my mind. I had to learn that skill and create some time bombs, but I couldn¡¯t do that at that moment. The lobby was crowded, and the statue showed the holograms when it was used, so I only could do that later. However, I couldn¡¯t just wait there with the invisibility; I didn¡¯t have that many bottles of lemonade left after all. So I searched for an appropriate place to wait until the right moment. I decided to hide in the hotel¡¯s kitchen, the armed men were too lazy to cook, and the other survivors were too depressed to cook their food. Besides, even though it was more expensive, the taste of the food created by the statue was top-notch. But even though that place wasn¡¯t used to make food, once in a while someone would appear in that place and make me use the invisibility. Most of the people came in pairs, and they talked about their hardships in the hotel. Thanks to my improved senses, I could hear most of the conversations inside that place. However, I didn¡¯t hear anyone plotting anything; they were being controlled after all. I only heard about the things they suffered every day, and that only made me feel depressed and angry. Just by imagining my parents, siblings, Claire, Harry, and the others in that same situation made me want to kill the brotherhood¡¯s members as soon as possible. But I had to be patient. Otherwise, I could make a mistake, and to solve that situation on the best possible, I couldn¡¯t afford to make a single one. A few hours after midnight, I could feel that everyone in the hotel had stopped moving. I would probably find a few guards, but at that time of the night, they would be probably sleeping while standing. They were just a bunch of assholes, after all. I activated the invisibility, and I headed towards the lobby. There, I found many survivors sleeping on the floor and two guards sleeping while sitting near the door. However, none of them would notice me using the statue, the hologram light was barely noticeable, and it also didn¡¯t make any sound. ¡®There¡¯s no time to waste¡­ skill: domination.¡¯
Skill: Domination Info: It grants the user the ability to command other living beings. To activate the skill, you need their permission. Cost: 05 MP Price: 5000 Evolution Coins.
Without wasting time, I learned the skill, but I had to spend five MP to activate and the same amount to give orders? I will be in trouble if I have to spend that much to control a single person. But there was nothing that I could do about such a thing.
Time bomb: It can cause two hundred points of damage in a five-meter radius. It can be activated at any moment by your will. Price: 100 Evolution coins.
Although the time bomb was less efficient than the grenades, I immediately created twenty of them. Those bombs could be activated whenever I wanted after all, and two of them would be enough to kill a single member of the brotherhood. As fast as possible, I put those bombs inside my backpack. Luckily, the bombs were quite small. But I froze on the spot when I turned around, and I saw a sleepy face of a kid looking at me. ¡®Holy shit¡­¡¯ For a second, the kid closed her eyes while yawning, so I used that chance to activate the cape¡¯s effect. When the kid opened her eyes again, she didn¡¯t see me and fell asleep again. That almost made my heart stop, but soon I left that place and returned to the kitchen. The next few hours passed very slowly, nothing happened, but my apprehension was rising. I couldn¡¯t fail, or I and everyone else would be in trouble. Worry about what might happen, wouldn¡¯t help me, but I still felt worried. However, when the sun rose, I was calm again. I was doing my best to make the city a little better, and even though I wasn¡¯t smart to elaborate a perfect plan, my plan was simple, and I had the necessary skills to deal massive damage to those assholes. I was ready since early in the morning, but those assholes were too lazy, so I had to wait for three hours, only after that, they woke up. They wasted another hour while eating and complaining about useless things to the survivors, but eventually, they began to move. I headed towards the lobby while invisible to join them, and thanks to it, I saw the ten members of the brotherhood, and I also saw the leader of the assholes. ¡®Oh, that is definitely Ken. No doubt about it.¡¯ Their leader looked a bit familiar but other than that; his appearance made me understand that fact. He shaved his head; he had a lot of piercings on his ears, nose, and mouth. And since he wasn¡¯t wearing a shirt, I could see a massive tattoo of a dragon covering almost the entire right side of his body. Every single thing on him screamed the word thug, even his depreciating smile. He was really trying hard to stand out from the crowd. By the way, his nose seemed a bit strange, it was too big, and it looked a bit crooked. Was it me who did that? Honestly, I couldn¡¯t remember much about the day of the fight. I could remember that I punched someone, probably Ken, but after that nothing. My next memory in my mind was me feeling a lot of pain thanks to a few broken bones and a few guys around me on the floor. Well, that really doesn¡¯t matter. Unfortunately, it seemed that he wouldn¡¯t leave the hotel. Before I left, following the others, I saw Ken punching a girl who seemed to have the same age as Sabrina. That was probably Charles little sister, for a second, even though it was crazy, I imagined Elly on that girl position, and that made my blood boil. ¡®There¡¯s no point in getting angry; he is going to die today anyway.¡¯ I never had any talents in my entire life, but I had the skills now to clean the city, so why not embrace that job? Chapter 035 Domination (4) On the outside, I carefully followed the armed men footsteps. But since they were so busy bragging to each other about their ¡°night¡± adventures, they didn¡¯t even notice when I made a few mistakes or when I almost slipped on the snow. After walking fifty meters, the armed men and the survivors split into four groups, and each group went to a different direction. They already did that action many times, so, soon they began to lure and kill the monsters. ¡®I have to put the time-bombs near them while they are shooting.¡¯ And so I did. Fortunately, the members of the brotherhood gang knew each other for a long time. So, on the outside, they always walked in groups of two or three. That gave me the chance of putting four or five bombs near each other, the chances of them escaping the explosion were zero. But even so, I had to be fast. I hid the time bombs in the snow behind them, but if something happens and they take a few steps back, they will notice the bombs. After I put the first group of time bombs near the two most powerful man on the north side of the hotel, I retraced my steps until the midway point. After that, I followed the footprints left in the snow of the group who headed to the east side of the hotel. I repeated those same actions a few more times, and after ten minutes, I was ready to detonate the bombs. ¡®What a tiring job.¡¯ Taking every single step carefully not to make a single sound was hard. But in the end, I succeeded. I moved away a little bit from the last group, and then I activated the time bombs. You killed a survivor, you have obtained his 3541 Evolution Coins. The survivor you killed had the skill: domination. You obtained his skill progress and active effects. You now have ten survivors under your control.
You killed a survivor, you have obtained his 2816 Evolution Coins. The survivor you killed had the skill: domination. You obtained his skill progress and active effects. You now have ten survivors under your control.
...
Along with the explosions, those messages appeared inside my mind a few more times, and the number of evolution coins that I obtained surprised me. But I put those thoughts aside because the work wasn¡¯t over yet. That skill jumped to level three, but I had one hundred and twenty-eight survivors under my control. Surprisingly, I knew where every single one of them was. Thanks to it, I could easily pinpoint the ones who would cause me trouble inside the hotel ¡®I guess the explosions killed a few of the armed men.¡¯ My plan had worked better than I had expected; every single armed man outside the hotel was under my control. In just a second, I obtained an army of thirty-eight assholes and ninety unlucky survivors. I will eventually cancel the effect of the skills on those survivors, so it was fine. The assholes who survived the explosions began to panic, but with a single thought, they stopped moving. Although I lost half of my MP because of my command, that skill was just too damn useful. However, I didn¡¯t have time to waste. The survivors were still luring the monsters, and the assholes stopped attacking, it was time to put them to work again. I canceled the cape¡¯s effect, and they looked astonished at me. ¡°Kill all the monsters which approach this place, at any cost.¡± Because of that order, I lost even more MP, but I drunk some lemonade before I could collapse. While I was trying to recover my MP, almost a hundred survivors appeared, and Charles was leading them. ¡°You did it!¡± Charles said, looking very excited. ¡°I can¡ät believe that you managed to this by yourself.¡± ¡°I was lucky; this skill has too many flaws. That¡¯s the only reason I succeeded. But it¡¯s not over yet; Ken is still inside the hotel. Besides, some survivors are still luring the monsters without moving.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Charles said while glaring at the armed men. ¡°Those who didn¡¯t come with me are under control of them.¡± ¡°Then just give me a minute, I need to recover my MP, after that, I¡¯ll make them bring the others.¡± However, I didn¡¯t have the chance to recover. I felt a chill run down my spine when I heard a slight change in the air; for an instant, I saw something moving at high speed on the radar. That thing was moving toward the center of the radar; it was moving toward me. I threw myself to the side, and I avoided the direct attack, but then I felt my legs being electrocuted. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!¡± For a second, I thought the muscles in my legs had been toasted, but that didn¡¯t happen. My legs were numb, but aside from that, I didn¡¯t suffer that much damage. I looked at the place I was before, and I could see a screen of steam around it. All the survivors around me also suffered damage, but they seemed to be alive. Inside the screen of steam, I could see a shadow with a spear in hands, and I could see that spear emanating electricity. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.¡°What the hell¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m so lucky,¡± The shadow said while grinning. ¡°As I expected, the end of the world isn¡¯t so bad after all. I searched for you for two years, but this situation brought you to me. I¡¯m one hell of a lucky guy.¡±
Ken: HP: 520/520 MP: 440/520 STA: 440/520
Ken stepped out of the screen of steam and showed a big smile. He was a lot stronger than I thought, it seemed that he wasn¡¯t focusing on a single limit, and by the look of it, he broke his limits more than forty times. Involuntarily, I picked the metal crossbow, but soon I discarded the idea of using it. There were too many people around us, a single mistake, and I could explode one of them. Besides, he was too fast. Probably thanks to a skill, but he was a lot faster than me. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t ignore me,¡± Ken said, showing a disappointed expression. ¡°Say something.¡± ¡°Sorry for making your nose look weird.¡± It seemed that I had a natural talent to make people angry, I had to buy some time to solve that situation, but I only made things more difficult. Ken showed a fed-up expression, and for an instant, I saw him tensing his body. My legs were still numb, but I still managed to evade the direct attack. However, again I felt the electricity crossing the lower part of my body, and I also felt a sharp pain on my right leg. When I got up, I saw blood dripping because of a long cut.
Ken: HP: 520/520 MP: 360/520 STA: 360/520
¡®Damn it! As I thought, it was a skill. But at least he can¡¯t use that attack many times.¡¯ I didn¡¯t know the name of the skill, but such powerful and fast charge powered by thunder could, without a doubt, kill a mutant polar bear in an instant. I was in deeper waters, like always, I was just a single mistake from my demise. But in that situation, I wouldn¡¯t lose just my life; I would lose many things. By killing me, Ken would obtain the absolute control of a small army of super assholes. He was already troublesome enough by himself, with an army, he will condemn all the survivors in the city. I could use the armed men to give me some time, but by doing that, the survivors luring the monsters would die. So I decided to play his game. Ken wanted to talk a little after all. ¡°Sorry my bad.¡± ¡°So, do you want to talk now?¡± Ken asked after raising an eyebrow. ¡°Very good, very good. I know that you want to buy some time by talking to me, but it doesn¡¯t matter, you don¡¯t stand a chance against the current me. I didn¡¯t want to spoil the surprise, but I will make you feel the pain and the shame I felt two years ago, but you will feel it ten times more.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t my intention; we all were in the wrong. So, sorry for beating you and your friends. And sorry for killing your new friends.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Ken said showing a small smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t care about them; I was just using them to make me stronger. I can always obtain new lackeys.¡± That was strange. He was indeed strong, but he used them? It was because of that skill? If that was the case, the effects of that skill were just too crazy. But that explained why all his status were too high. Fortunately, for me, his newfound powers made him complacent, and that was why he was talking instead of just finishing me off. Or was he just trying to scare me? ¡°Come on, dude. This city is filled with monsters; it¡¯s not time to act like this. Ninety percent of this area population already died, and you are playing with the remaining survivors, why are you doing all this?¡± I wasn¡¯t really interested in his plans or ideas; I was just avoiding the inevitable. I didn¡¯t have a single idea to make me escape from that situation, and since I was bleeding his next attack would cause a lot more damage. Perhaps it would even kill me. ¡°I¡¯m doing because I can,¡± Ken said after he opened his arms. ¡±I¡¯m doing it because I¡¯ll become the emperor of this new world. Not even the most powerful monsters can stop me now, so, it¡¯s only obvious that I deserve to be this world new ruler. Every single human in this world belongs to me now. I can do whatever I want with their bodies and their lives. Your life is also mine, so, I will take it.¡± I never heard so much bullshit from a single person; he was probably even dumber than me. What is the point of becoming the ruler of a world full of monsters? Every human belongs to him, and he can use them to become strong? For me, it would be boring as hell to sit on a chair and keep seeing those messages appearing in my mind. Besides, I would feel really embarrassed in trying to make others do things they wouldn¡¯t usually do for me. That was just too shameful. I couldn¡¯t remember much about Ken, but he had his share of friends. When we fought, they tried to help him, so why was he acting like that now? Did they abandon him after that incident? That was why he wanted to stand above the other humans? That was possible. ¡°Are you serious? You have parents and relatives, right? What would they think of you if they see you right now?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Ken answered. ¡°They are all dead anyway, and I don¡¯t intend to bring back them. I don¡¯t care about the opinion of the weak or those who abandoned me.¡± He was quite talkative for a thug, but at least that explained why he was acting like that. We had the same age, but he didn¡¯t grow up in the last two years. His mind was of a teenager who thinks that he had never made mistakes and those who oppose him are wrong and his enemies. But I guess we were similar; I also didn¡¯t grow up in those two years. I was still seeking the approval and the attention of my parents, and I wasn¡¯t trying to understand why they left me in this zone. In my own way, I was ignoring the others and putting myself above them. I was always taking the small risks to obtain the best rewards. I only came to that place to satisfy my own selfish desires and to do everything by myself. I still wanted to continue doing everything by myself, so I wasn¡¯t better than him. ¡°I guess that I don¡¯t have the right to judge you.¡± ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± Ken asked. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. So, do you really want to kill me?¡± ¡°It''s not that I want to,¡± Ken answered, smiling again. ¡°I will kill you.¡± ¡°Well, you probably will. But I have a proposal. Let¡¯s fight with our fists; by doing so, you can defeat me, as I defeated you in the past. What do you think?¡± ¡°You are a crazy bastard,¡± Ken said while laughing loudly. ¡°Why should I do that? Do you think that you can make me drop my guard? You are stupid. I¡¯ll crush you with all my power!¡± After saying that, Ken aimed his spear toward me and began to tense his body again. Well, at least I tried. Chapter 036 Domination (5) My plan to use the spiritual knife to surprise Ken in a fistfight had gone downhill, so, I activated the invisibility at the moment Ken aimed his spear. He was stronger than me, but he was only faster while using that skill, or perhaps it was one of the spear¡¯s effects. But it didn¡¯t matter, as long as he doesn¡¯t hit, he won¡¯t be able to kill me. ¡°You coward!¡± Ken shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t hide and face me like a man!¡± Why should I? My intention wasn¡¯t defeating him in a fair fight. My only objective was to make the people in the north become our allies, and to do that; I had to get rid of the assholes like him. I wouldn¡¯t risk myself or my entire plan just because of my pride. I would use any cowardly tactics to succeed. So, I picked the metal crossbow, but even though he couldn¡¯t determine my position, he felt my movements and attacked the same place he had aimed before because I didn¡¯t move from that spot. Again I avoided the attack, but again I felt electricity burning my legs. At least that time, his spear didn¡¯t hit me, thanks to my movements, he could sense where I was, but without seeing my body, he couldn¡¯t aim accurately. Before the screen of steam could dissipate, I got up, and I headed toward a machine gun which had been dropped on the ground. Probably belonged to one of the armed men who died, but I still could use it. That skill was powerful, but he couldn¡¯t use it frequently, and since that skill also consumed STA, he couldn¡¯t move soon after. When the steam dissipated, he was in the same attack stance. I aimed with the machine gun, but before I could pull the trigger, he looked at my direction and jumped. ¡®What the hell¡­¡¯ That was strange, I had some time, so I carefully picked the machine gun and very slowly I moved and aimed at him. But he still noticed it, while I could feel peoples¡¯ presence and movements, even I couldn¡¯t feel such light movements. Something was off; after all, his sensorial limit wasn¡¯t at the same level as mine. ¡®It¡¯s probably another skill. A skill which can alert him of the danger.¡¯ If that was really the case, then how could I attack? It was suicide to try to avoid that attack again. Besides, I was bleeding. Once the blood falls on the ground, it becomes visible, and it reveals my position. ¡®There¡¯s no other choice; I had to counter-attack when he tries to kill me.¡¯ The only way to do that was by using the spiritual knife at the right moment. Even if I evade the attack and successfully counter-attack, I would receive a lot of damage thanks to the electric discharge, but I had no other choice. Ken finally landed, and I threw away the machine gun. He frowned and stopped moving. Even though he was stupid thug, he had his fair share of battles, so he knew that I was plotting something. Thanks to his powerful attacks, all the snow in a fifty-meter radius around us had melted. And because of it, I could move without being seen. However, I didn¡¯t drop my guard; I carefully walked around, waiting for an opportunity to attack. My best chance would be a counter-attack, but I wouldn¡¯t just wait for it. ¡°Show yourself, Ethan!¡± Ken shouted, showing an impatient and angry expression. ¡°If you do it, I will grant you a quick death.¡± No thanks, bro. I was a coward and a stupid guy, but even I wasn¡¯t that stupid. Ken was looking at all directions looking for me, so, I used that opportunity to recover some MP. Carefully, I picked a bottle of lemonade and drank it. After regaining some MP, my mind became clearer, and I had an idea. I threw the empty bottle near Ken, but it only appeared when it hit the ground. The noise surprised Ken, and he jumped ten meters backward, but before he could, I aimed the metal crossbow at him, and I pulled the trigger. When I pulled the trigger, I appeared, and Ken also saw me and the bolt. He could attack me with his skill, I was vulnerable after that shot, but the bolt would also hit him if he tried to activate that skill. His ability was powerful, but the charge only made him advance in a straight line. With unbelievable reflexes, he used his spear to stay in the air for a second more, and the bolt passed under him. ¡®Tsk.¡¯ I had aimed at his legs because I couldn¡¯t risk killing the survivors, thanks to it, the bolt only hit the ground. Before he could attack or even move, I disappeared again. My MP was running out, and Ken didn¡¯t look like he intended to use his skill again. Because of his actions, he melted the snow around us, so, he couldn¡¯t just attack without thinking again. He was stronger, but he wasn¡¯t immortal. And he was aware of all those facts; I had to finish that fight quickly, I needed to cause as much as damage as possible with a single surprise attack. ¡®Oh, I have a very surprising attack.¡¯ I had never tried anything like that before, but my options were limited, so I decided to try. I equipped the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow with my left hand, and I pulled the trigger while my right hand was already preparing the next attack. Ken saw the first bolt when I pulled the trigger for the first time, and immediately understood that attack wasn¡¯t all that powerful, but he still easily dodged it while smiling. He probably thought that I couldn¡¯t stay invisible for much longer and that I hadn¡¯t many options. He was right in some aspects, but that had been a mistake. He understood that when he saw my right hand aimed at him, soon after he felt a sharp pain in his left eye. ¡°AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! You son of a bitch!¡± Ken shouted while trying to alleviate the pain and stop the bleeding using his left hand.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡®I did it!¡¯ An invisible attack, I just threw my spiritual knife, but I only succeed because of the crosshair, and because of the concentration skill. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t succeed in doing a thing that I had never tried before. But even though I caused a lot of damage and narrowed his field of vision, my surprise attack only caused me trouble. Enraged, Ken ran towards me like a mad dog. In a normal situation, he wouldn¡¯t outspeed me, but I had suffered damage on my legs, and I was also tired. Even without using the skill, his attacks were causing damage, and I was barely avoiding then. Like a tornado, Ken moved his spear in all directions trying to attack and kill me with a single blow. He slashed his spear around, aiming at my neck, head, heart, and the son of a bitch was even aiming at my groin. Using all the strength I could muster, I avoided and tried to create some distance between us, but I failed every single time. To make matters worse, the survivors around us were blocking my way, so I didn¡¯t have a lot of space to use. ¡®Get the fuck out of here, damn it! This isn¡¯t a TV show.¡¯ My actions until now really put me in a bad spot; I always tried to keep the monsters away from me. So, because of it, the things I could do in a close fight were close to none. I tried to attack his other eye, but at the moment Ken saw my hands moving suspiciously, he aimed his attacks at my hands. If I survive that fight, I already knew what I would do, create an offensive skill which can be controlled by my mind. After a minute running for my life, I was exhausted and bleeding a lot. I avoided being hit in all vital spots, but by doing so, I suffered many, many small wounds. Suddenly, Ken stopped his attacks; the spiritual knife had disappeared a few seconds after my attack, so, he wasn¡¯t feeling much pain anymore. Instead, he looked quite pleased while seeing me exhausted and bleeding. ¡°It seems that you can¡¯t disappear at will,¡± Ken said. ¡°You need some time to activate the effect, and you can¡¯t disappear while you are being attacked. Well, it doesn¡¯t matter. Your skill is useless now.¡± Being analyzed was really annoying, but he was right. The dripping blood would reveal my position, so, I couldn¡¯t use the cape anymore. To Ken, his victory was clear. And he was right in thinking that, I wasn¡¯t able to dodge his regular attacks anymore and his skill would, without a doubt, kill me. I caused some problems to him, but nothing hard to solve, he would have to pay for it, but he would be able to heal his destroyed eye. And since he was far more powerful than any survivor in that place, he didn¡¯t feel worried about the death of his allies. Because all of this, he was relaxed again. But just winning wasn¡¯t enough for him; he wanted to humiliate me; he wanted to see my despair. ¡°Anyway,¡± Ken said while swinging his spear in a circle. ¡°You cause me a lot of trouble, but I¡¯m feeling quite generous right now. Besides, sometimes, a ruler has to be merciful. So, I will give you the chance to beg for your life. Kneel, kiss my feet and beg for your life while you are at it.¡± He really had some strange tastes¡­ or perhaps he really wanted to kill me slowly while looking at my eyes. Either way, Ken was beyond redemption. I honestly didn¡¯t think that I had to die because of the fight two years ago, not only that, he was cruel in his actions and in his words. He wasn¡¯t a person that we needed in order to rebuild the city. But I didn¡¯t have the power or skills to defeat him, only had a single choice. ¡°I don¡¯t want to beg for my life, instead can I drink some lemonade?¡± Ken became speechless; he didn¡¯t get angry, nor did he laugh. On the other hand, I heard some whispers coming from the survivors. They knew that I came to help them, but after hearing that, they lost all the faith in me. My words indeed were questionable, but I had something in mind when I said them. ¡°You really are a fucking son of a bitch,¡± Ken said while frowning. ¡°Are these your last words?¡± ¡°No, but if you let me drink, I will tell you my last words. How about it? It¡¯s a good deal, right?¡± Even though I was feeling a terrible burning pain all over my body, I forced a smile to make him accept my deal. I really needed to recover my MP, even just a little bit to increase my chances of survival. ¡°My pathetic memories from the past will die alongside you,¡± Ken declared while firmly gripping his spear and after taking his stance. ¡°With your death, I will finally be able to rise as a true ruler of this new world. ¡°Come on, dude. My last words are really flashy.¡± I leisurely said those words, but my heart was beating like crazy, and I was sweating cold. I will die; I will die. That was the only thing in my mind while seeing electricity passing through Ken¡¯s body and spear. But at least I would take him with me. It was the last thing I could do after attacking his base with a half-assed plan. Honestly, why in the hell I only created exactly twenty-time bombs? Why didn¡¯t I create a plan b? I didn¡¯t know the enemy¡¯s weapon and skills, so the obvious thing to do was to prepare for any possible outcome. It was hard to admit it, but my parents probably left me in this area because I was too damn stupid. Anyway, I would probably die because of it, but I knew one thing. ¡®At some point, I will die, maybe will be today, maybe tomorrow. But I won¡¯t die without a fight. I want to hear from my parents why they did that, and I will do everything in my power to hear it.¡¯ I breathed deeply, and then I used all my remaining energy to observe Ken¡¯s movement. I didn¡¯t saw his three previous attacks completely, but I understood a few things. First, his charge was based only on speed and power. So, he couldn¡¯t control nor change the direction of his attack after activating his skill. I also understood that skill had a specific effective range; it doesn¡¯t matter if he hit something or not; Ken would only stop thirty meters away from the point he had been before. Thanks to those facts, I could counter-attack. He would cross those thirty meters in less than 0.1 seconds, but I knew where he would stop and what part of my body his spear would pierce. So, I did the only thing I could do. I clenched my teeth and waited for the inevitable. I aimed the metal crossbow toward Ken¡¯s right eye and created the spiritual knife with my left hand. Soon after that, I saw Ken¡¯s legs tensing to their utmost limits, and then I saw it, in the blink of an eye, he released all the tension on his body and disappeared. I couldn¡¯t jump, I couldn¡¯t run to escape from the attack, but I could move. Just a little but I could move. I moved three centimeters to the right, and I also began to swing the spiritual knife in front of me. And then I felt it, the pain of something slowly piercing the left side of my body all the way through to my back. But I knew that I would feel that pain and that pain would also be the signal to make me pull the metal crossbow trigger. Ken was right in front of me, so the explosive bolt easily pierced his right eye, his physical defense was strong, thanks to it the bolt didn¡¯t reach his brains. But my counter-attack wasn''t over yet, the swing of my left arm finally hit something: the center of Ken¡¯s right ear. That was the only thing that I could do to damage him directly, but I also had my last trump card. That was I needed more MP. But in the end, I failed in using my remaining MP, the last thing that I saw had been the bolt and the spiritual knife piercing his head. Chapter 037 Lending a hand (1) Suddenly, I saw myself running in the middle of a forest. Even though my legs were stiff and heavy, I felt good thanks to the green around me and the fresh air. It seemed that I was in the middle of a tropical forest because I could see many animals and weird plants around me. I heard something coming from above me, and then I saw a small yellow monkey looking at me with interest. I heard the sound of leaves moving near my feet, and when I looked down, I saw a yellow snake ready to bit my legs. However, I heard the sound of something crossing the air at high speed, and then a knife pierced the snake¡¯s head. A young and familiar man appeared and tapped my shoulder while laughing because of my surprised face. He was dressed and carrying a backpack like a soldier, I looked at my body, and I understood that was also a soldier. After not so much time, he began to run and gave me the signal to follow him. After a few minutes running, we arrived at a camp in the middle of that forest. There, I found dozens of men dresses like us, and a group of doctors. All of them looked pretty familiar, but I also felt that I had never seen any of them before, and those feelings mixed were pretty annoying. For the next few hours, I stayed in that place with those people. Laughing, eating, and exercising with them, but I was unable to say a word to them. All things considered, I didn¡¯t feel all that bad. The other visions showed me disturbing things, and it also made me feel too angry, but I couldn¡¯t blame the visions, I was also prone to do violent actions. Anyway, I welcomed that vision. I already could see too much blood while I was awake, I didn¡¯t have to see more blood while sleeping. A pain in my head made that dream slowly crumble away, the entire forest disappeared, and in the end, I was surrounded by darkness. However, soon, the darkness vanished as I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar map on the ceiling of the hotel, but I couldn¡¯t see anything with my left eye. ¡®What the fuck¡­¡¯ A touched my head, and I felt a lot of bandages around it, and that gave me the hint that I had screwed up again. I looked around me, and I saw the unfamiliar faces of a few survivors in the north. Soon, they began to whisper among themselves, and because of it, a lot more survivors appeared. Charles was among them. ¡°Wow, you managed to wake up,¡± Charles said, showing a surprised face. ¡°Sorry to say this, but you need to act right now.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± My head was hurting a lot, and I felt that my left eye was burning. I made some mistakes that at least was obvious, but I didn¡¯t remember what. My last memory was me setting the time bombs near the members of the brotherhood. ¡°You killed Ken,¡± Charles answered. ¡°But the other survivors are still outside and the men under your control too. They will soon die if you don¡¯t do something, they have been there for more than two days already.¡± Slowly, I began to remember. I killed all the brotherhood members, and after that, I fought against Ken. At least I tried to fight; he was stronger than me. So, I had no other choice, but to attack at the very last moment. The burning pain on the left side of my body made me understand that I had suffered the maximum amount of damage Ken could cause. As long as my heart didn¡¯t suffer damage, I knew that I could heal myself with items. So, I moved as much as I could to the side when he activated his skill. Ken¡¯s spear didn¡¯t destroy my heart. But the electricity and the damage of the attack made me lose my consciousness before I could give the order to the most powerful armed men to bring me to the hotel and create some item to heal me. That had been my plan: evade a mortal wound. Inflict as much as damage as possible with a counter-attack and give the order to the armed men to heal me. I failed on the last part of the plan. ¡°All right, let¡¯s go.¡± According to Charles, he and the other survivors brought me to the hotel and used their evolution coins to heal me. But they didn¡¯t have much, so, they couldn¡¯t create the necessary medicine. That was why I stayed unconscious for more than two days. But what really worried me was the fact Charles didn¡¯t mention Harry¡¯s group. It took a while and a lot of MP, but I managed to bring everyone who was outside of the hotel. All of them collapsed on the floor. Luckily all of them broke their physical limit many times; otherwise they would have died because of the cold and exhaustion. The armed assholes seemed very angry while looking at me, but on the first day I obtained the power to control them, I forbade them of trying to attack me, so, I didn¡¯t have anything to worry about. However, the job wasn¡¯t over. I had to test that skill to see what it could do. ¡°You come over here.¡± I called a random survivor under my command to approach me, he was a teenager, and thanks to my sudden actions, Charles and the other survivors looked at me showing interest. It was annoying being watched by so many people, but I ignored them. The survivor approached and looked at me, showing a confused expression. ¡°My name is Ethan, and I want you to forget everything you know about me.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Suddenly, I felt a powerful wave of dizziness, and when that disappeared, I noticed that I had used fifty MP. The skill was convenient and cheap, but the more absurd the order was, the more MP I would have to use. However, by losing that amount, my order had been received. I could see that just by looking at the survivor¡¯s eyes. He seemed a bit happy when he approached me, but now he didn¡¯t show any interest while looking at me. ¡°Now, do you my name?¡± ¡°No, sir.¡± My test had been a success; I just had to do that five hundred more times! I felt happy, but I also felt depressed because that would take a long time. First, I ordered the armed men to make the survivors under their control forget about me, and after that, I also ordered them to cancel the control they had under the other survivors. Since even they had more MP and fewer people under their control than me, they finished pretty quickly. Meanwhile, I decided to check my status.
HP: 14/67
MP: 19/69
STA: 44/67
Evolution Orbs: 2802/3200 Evolution Coins: 45125
¡®Wow, with this much, I can learn the skill meditation and still create something amazing!¡¯ Ken and his lackeys had a lot of coins, probably because they didn¡¯t feel the need to create any weapons aside from firearms. Even though I had almost died, I couldn¡¯t ask for more. But soon I got rid of those thoughts; after all, those coins will be useless if I die. Besides, even though I felt that I deserved it, I couldn''t keep all those evolution coins to myself. I had to share with the survivors here, or they will be close to useless. ¡®Well, at least I deserve fifteen thousand evolution coins.¡¯ Before I could change my mind, I learned the skill. Thanks to it, the speed of the process of making the survivors forget about me increased a lot. ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± Charles asked while showing a worried expression. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the only way to avoid problems in the long run.¡± ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll also forget about our fight in the past, right?¡± Charles asked. ¡°I guess that¡¯s for the best since you helped us.¡± ¡°No, I won¡¯t make you forget about me. And I won¡¯t change their memories either.¡± Charles became surprised with the fact I wouldn¡¯t change his and the armed men memories. But that was also necessary. ¡°You will become the new leader of the people here, that¡¯s why I¡¯m not going to make you forget about me. Ken¡¯s spear will be yours from now on; you will have to lead them from the front lines. In a few days, another group will come, and I want you to ally yourself with them, if you see me, pretend that you don¡¯t know me. If you don¡¯t follow these¡­ advice, I¡¯ll deal with you on the same way I dealt with Ken. All of us have to become allies to fight for our survival. So, don¡¯t even think about becoming the new king of this place.¡± I didn¡¯t know much about Charles, so I decided to warn him. I didn¡¯t help them because I wanted to be a hero or because it was the right thing to do. I did it for my own benefit, the more allies, the better. As long as all people stand united, we will be able to overcome all hardships and the weight on everyone shoulders will be lessened. But that was easier said than done; just talk wasn¡¯t enough to gain more allies, someone will have to force them. That was why I was forcing Charles to obey my orders. Besides, not me, nor Harry¡¯s group will demand anything unreasonable from him. ¡°I understand,¡± Charles said with a serious expression. ¡°As for you guys, every single one of you deserves to die. But that would be a waste since I can¡¯t obtain your evolution orbs. So, I¡¯ll let you live, but you won¡¯t attack or cause any trouble to any human being anymore unless I give the order and you can¡¯t backstab me. Also, every day, you will transfer thirty percent of the evolution coins and orbs that you obtain to me. You guys will also transfer thirty percent your coins to Charles, and he will share those with the other survivors. From now on, you guys will help actively in keeping the city safe; this will be the compensation for your crimes. Disobey those commands and death will be the punishment.¡± According to Charles, to obtain the coins and orbs from the people under my command, they also had to agree with it. So I forced them. Besides, I had been pretty lenient, their growth will be slower, but it was better than dying. Also, according to Charles, they would explode from inside thanks to the MP I used to give those orders. At first, the armed men looked like their fate had been sealed, and even though they didn¡¯t like my terms, they didn''t dare to complain. So they just accepted my actions like something inevitable. I also forced them to give me their current amount of evolution coins, but all of them only had half of Ken, and his lackeys had. But, in the end, all the coins that obtained disappeared because I created many weapons and shields to the people of that base. Even after using more fifty thousand evolution coins I couldn¡¯t equip all of those five hundred survivors, but that didn¡¯t matter, as long as they work together; eventually, they become a decent force. It was a pity, but even though I wanted for the sake of efficiency and security, I couldn¡¯t just suddenly appear with an army to my disposal. So I decided to left those thirty-eight assholes with the people in the north, for the time being. After a few hours, the night finally arrived, and I finished my work. Charles was talking to survivors and giving them some excuse about Ken and his lackeys, he also was telling them about how things would change, a few of them didn¡¯t like the idea about someone like him giving orders, but no one caused problems after seeing that spear in his hands. So, I decided to create an item to heal myself and return to the other hotel. That cost quite a bit because I was more wounded than I thought. I almost died after all, but I only fully understood that after seeing the huge yellow wound on the left side of my body and not seeing my left eye. ¡®That electric attack probably burned a lot of my flesh, that¡¯s why I¡¯m still so wounded after two days inside this place. As for the eye¡­ it couldn¡¯t heal probably the explosive dart damaged my head too.¡¯ Ken defeated me because he was stronger and because I didn¡¯t have the necessary means to attack without using my hands. I needed an offensive skill which could be activated solely by my mind; it was the thing that I most needed right at that moment¡­ and I also needed a better brain to plan better my actions. I created the medicine to heal the wound parts of my body, but I had to wait a few hours to give the medicine time to do its magic. And without any warning, I left the hotel at midnight. Chapter 038 Lending a hand (2) On the way back, I didn¡¯t avoid the fights against the monsters. Even though I obtained the skill that I wanted, I didn¡¯t get much evolution orbs. I decided to fight them because I was also close to break my sensorial limit for the thirtieth time. So, I killed every single monster that I saw on the radar. Thanks to it, soon, I heard that annoying voice again. ¡®Congratulations, you broke your sensorial limit thirty times. Now you will receive a random sensorial skill¡­ your new skill has been selected; you obtained the skill: Search.¡¯
Skill list: Concentration Lv04 18%: Raises your attack power and range by 3% each hour. The bonus resets when you sleep. Crosshair: Lv09 12%: Creates a crosshair in your field of vision to aim at enemies. Radar: Creates a radar in your field of vision to detect any living creature on your surroundings. Effective Range: Sensorial limit (30) x 10 meters. Analyze Lv03 22%: Analyze and show enemies status and information. Cost: 01 MP Spiritual Knife Lv01 20%: a weapon created by the spiritual energy of its user. It can be safely stored inside the user¡¯s body. 10 MP will be used to summon and to store the weapon. It''s able to ignore the target''s defense. This knife will disappear after being used a single time. Domination Lv 03 25%: It grants the user the ability to command other living beings. To activate the skill, you need their permission. Survivors currently under your control: 39 Meditation Lv 01 00%: By putting yourself in the lotus position, you can restore one point of MP every minute. Your MP can also increase by one point every four consecutive hours of meditation. Moving or receiving damage cancels the skill Search Lv01 0%: By activating the skill, the user can search for specific items, monsters, or survivors in a particular range around him. Effective Range: Sensorial Limit (30) x 5 meters. Cost: 10 MP.
It was a pretty useful skill, but I already had the radar, and with my improved senses, I didn¡¯t have to search for any living beings, I already could feel them far away from me. So, for the time being, that skill would only be useful for one thing: to find the mutant plants. I didn¡¯t confirm the existence of those plants, but I was pretty sure that I was right. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ I want to find a plant which can permanently increase my MP.¡¯ I felt the energy leaving my body, and I also saw a light crossing half of the effective range of the radar. For a second, the radar became a sonar, but I didn¡¯t find anything and nothing appeared in the radar. ¡®I guess this kind of plant is scarce; I should look for something less formidable. I want to find a plant which can recover MP.¡¯ Again the radar became a submarine sonar, but this time I saw something flashing on the radar and I also felt the presence and energy of a strange object. That had been a new experience; I had never felt the energy of anything. I could find living beings because they had a presence, and because of their movements, but I couldn¡¯t feel their energy. Probably because energy wasn¡¯t something which I could see or touch. As expected, the plant was under the snow, but it was also hidden under a fallen tree. It took a while to get rid of the snow and move the tree, but eventually, I found a strange blue, glowing plant. It looked very frail, and it had a single leaf on it.
Blue Spiritual Plant: By eating it, you can recover 50 MP. While alive, this plant can produce every ten days a leaf which can recover 10 MP.
It was more useful than I thought, I could probably receive at least twenty evolution coins by selling it. But, the other effect of the plant picked my interest. While it would take a while to produce a single leaf, the leaf was terrific. I could probably eat ten of those quickly to recover a lot of MP. But, first I had to obtain ten of those before eating so many. ¡®I can probably create more of those using the statue and create a garden, as weird as this may sound, it will be convenient to have it. But how can I keep this alive? Just putting inside a vase with sand?¡¯ It was weird, the city was full of monsters and troublesome persons, and I was thinking about gardening. Although it was strange, we had to use everything useful in our favor to raise our chances of survival. While it may sound like a waste of time, we could create hundreds of those and make the survivors who don¡¯t want to fight to take care of the plants. It wasn¡¯t like we had to force all women, children, and elders to fight on the front lines. ¡®Well, I¡¯ll keep this with me for the time being.¡¯ The cost of the skill was high, so I couldn¡¯t just use anything that I could find anyway. Because I took my time fighting the monsters, I only arrived at the hotel after dusk, and like always a depressing atmosphere welcomed me. I sighed because of it, monsters were dangerous, but they were far less annoying. To my surprise, even Harry, Claire, and the others looked depressed. The first to notice my arrival was Claire, at first, she looked relieved, but then she showed an angry expression. The others noticed Claire expressions and also looked at the entrance door and saw me. Although only Harry looked relieved, all the others seemed pretty pissed. ¡®I¡¯ll just ignore them and began my training.¡¯ That was my intention, so to avoid any problems, I touched the statue for a second, and then I left after confirming the safety of my family, but they blocked the way to the second floor. Again, with the sole exception of Harry, all the others looked at me with their arms crossed and questioning faces even Sabrina looked at me like that. It was kind of annoying being looked like that by a teenager, I guess an impulsive and stupid person like me doesn¡¯t deserve much respect. ¡°We need to talk.¡± Sandra declared. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s talk. But please be quick, I need to use every minute in this place to increase my MP.¡± I finally learned the meditation skill; it would be a waste not use it every single moment inside of that place. Although I had a point, they looked even more pissed.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Sit down,¡± Sandra said, showing a lot of anger in her voice and eyes. ¡°It seems this is going to take a while, let¡¯s grab some chairs then.¡± ¡°No, you will sit on the floor.¡± Sandra declared. ¡°So, sit down, right now.¡± Geez, why was she acting like she were my mother? She already had a son and a daughter, and she also had to look after more than eighty survivors. She didn¡¯t have to waste so much energy on a single person. But for the time being, the best thing I should do was follow her commands, or things would get a bit noisy. However, I really didn¡¯t have time to waste, so I sit down and put myself in the lotus position. ¡°Are you trying to make fun of me, boy?¡± Sandra asked. Her anger was reaching a whole new level; seriously, she really had to get so upset because I disappeared for a few days? I don¡¯t think that was the cause; something happened while I was in the north. Although they didn¡¯t look wounded or tired. Anyway, I knew that she was older, and she deserved respect, and I also knew that I was prone to annoy other people. But even so, it was hard to keep my composure in that kind of situation. She was one of the leaders here, but that didn¡¯t mean that I had to explain or report to her all of my actions. Also, I didn¡¯t have to obey her like a machine. Cooperation was fundamental, but to some degree, we all need to have some freedom. Or eventually, the survivors will become unable to make decisions for themselves. ¡°This is my new skill; if I stay like this for a few hours, I can increase my MP.¡± That skill was handy, as long as I don¡¯t move suddenly, I could even sleep while the skill was active, although I will have to practice a little bit to be able to do that. But it seemed that I also didn¡¯t have much credibility among them, most of them looked at me suspiciously, like I was trying to make fun of them. ¡°It seems like I¡¯m about to be lectured, why don¡¯t you start, Claire? You are a teacher, after all.¡± ¡°Oh, yes,¡± Claire said, showing a cold smile. ¡°This is going to be one hell of a lecture. Where have you been for the past five days?¡± ¡°Hunting monsters, what else I would do outside? Also, I guess I was doing some research; I found an interesting plant. It¡¯s in my backpack; I will show it to you guys in four hours.¡± Claire looked at me, suspiciously, but she didn¡¯t continue. It seemed that she didn¡¯t reveal about our secret talk to the others. ¡°Really?¡± Sandra sarcastically asked. ¡°For five entire days and nights, you hunted monsters?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m getting the hang of it. Also, I learned the best way to destroy those beehives, just use some lightning, and the bees will become paralyzed and slowly die. However, that also will make their honey turn into stones.¡± They looked pleased with the news, but only for a second, they wouldn¡¯t let me go with just that. ¡°Your clothes look pretty clean, considering the fact that you fought against monsters for five days straight,¡± Sandra said. ¡°I created those before leaving; I wouldn¡¯t have time to take a shower after all.¡± The truth was, my clothes were almost destroyed and were dirty with blood, thanks to Ken. So I created a brand new set of my clothes while I was in that hotel. ¡°Ethan, please tell us the truth,¡± Harry asked with a serious expression. ¡°You didn¡¯t do something crazy outside, right?¡± ¡°Do you really think, I, from all people, would do something crazy? I¡¯m almost the pinnacle of prudence and caution; I would never do something irresponsible.¡± Harry laughed a little bit, the others seemed a bit less angry, but my sarcasm made me return to the start point. The first ones to give up on that were Rose and Sarah. Rose sighed deeply, and Sarah looked at me, showing a worried expression. ¡°Ethan, we all know that you aren¡¯t the type to stay idle for a long time,¡± Rose said. ¡°But, there are other ways to keep your mind busy. You don¡¯t have to put yourself in danger, and you don¡¯t have to do everything by yourself. I already told you this before, but you didn¡¯t believe me. In that case, I won¡¯t prove that with my words, but with my actions. I will wait patiently for the day you will be able to trust on us.¡± The two sisters were really a fantastic combo. Sarah could transmit her feelings just by showing her pure and sweet smile, Rose was rough, but she didn¡¯t hesitate in saying those words. She would always express her feelings without holding them back. For a second, I considered changing a little bit, try to rely even a little bit on others. I thought about sharing my actions, my motives, and feelings with them. But soon I put those thoughts on the back of my mind. That wasn¡¯t a thing that I wanted to do; besides, if I really wanted to keep solving the problems from the shadows, I had to keep some distance from them. Even I wasn¡¯t such asshole to say something sarcastically at Rose¡¯s sincere words, so, I just kept my mouth shut while the two sisters were leaving. Harry looked quite pleased, thanks to Rose and Sarah actions, but his mother, sister, and Claire still looked upset. ¡°It seems this one hell of a lecture is already over, so, what happened while I was away?¡± Claire glared at me, but I ignored her. Sandra and Sabrina, on the other hand, looked more tired and annoyed, but they didn¡¯t look at me, they looked at the map on the ceiling. ¡°Well, you see,¡± Harry said while carefully choosing his words. ¡°Two days ago, the woman in the west came here with her men.¡± That surprised me a lot, but what surprised, even more, was the fact that they didn¡¯t fight. I mean, I didn¡¯t saw any sign of battles outside the hotel. ¡°She didn¡¯t come to fight,¡± Harry added. ¡°She came to warn us, and she demanded tribute.¡± ¡°Tribute?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Harry answered while looking very uncomfortable. ¡°She warned us to not mess with her, and she chose five men of this hotel, and she demanded us to offer her those men. She gave us ten days to send those to her.¡± I was speechless; I couldn¡¯t believe such a thing happened. That woman was even crazier than I thought. She understood that we weren¡¯t a threat to her, so she came here only to say that. How could such a nonsensical woman obtain so much power to control almost one thousand survivors? No matter how much time I would waste thinking about such a question, I would never find an answer. ¡°Let me guess you are among those five men and she looked very interested in you.¡± ¡°How did you know?¡± Harry asked, astonished. Claire facepalmed, and Sandra¡¯s and Sabrina¡¯s face were red thanks to the anger. They couldn¡¯t tolerate the fact that woman was treating Harry like an object. I finally could understand why they were so upset, Sandra was just using me to relieve her stress. I guess that was for the best, or else she would do something crazy when he sees that woman again. ¡°Anyway, what¡¯s the plan? Sacrifice a few to save the majority? What the chosen ones said about the fact?¡± ¡°We won¡¯t negotiate with the crazy bitch,¡± Sandra declared. ¡°And we won¡¯t sacrifice anyone.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I don¡¯t think their treatment would be that bad.¡± I mean, what would be the worst thing she could force them to do? Massage her? Lick her feet? Or they would join in her night adventures? I don¡¯t think she would use them as bait to lure the monsters, but even if that were the case, anyone would try to keep some distance from a woman who let hundreds of women and children die. ¡°Not a single one of the five wished to join her side,¡± Sandra said. ¡°So, we will fight. She is dead wrong if she thinks that she can do whatever she wants because the city is full of monsters.¡± I guess this time I won¡¯t have to do the dirty job on the shadows. I honestly felt good because of it; even though I preferred that way, I wasn¡¯t smart enough to solve big problems on my own. ¡°So, we will make contact tomorrow with the survivors¡¯ camp in the north and negotiate with them.¡± Sandra declared. ¡°I see, then I¡¯ll rest as much as possible to go with you guys.¡± ¡°No, you won¡¯t go with us,¡± Sandra said while shaking her head. ¡°What?¡± ¡°We have been too lenient with you,¡± Sandra said with her arms crossed. ¡°You have to grow up and understand this city isn¡¯t now a place where you can do whatever you want and when you want. So, to make sure that you won¡¯t do anything irresponsible again, we selected a few individuals to keep an eye on you. They will follow wherever you go.¡± ¡°I think you are getting ahead of yourself; there¡¯s no one here who can follow me if I use my invisibility. Besides, I won¡¯t disappear anymore. So, you can rest assured.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Sandra said. ¡°Claire will be responsible for keeping an eye on from now on; recently, she obtained the necessary skill to do it. So, she will follow you twenty-four hours a day, and since the kids are always with her, they will follow you too. You can hunt as much as you want on this hotel surroundings, but keep in mind the kids will be in danger if you act without thinking. From now on, you two and the kids will be responsible for keeping our surroundings peaceful.¡± I became speechless with that news. That would be way too troublesome, to make matters worse, I felt a chill when I saw Claire¡¯s mischievous smile. Chapter 039 Lending a hand (3)
Congratulations, your MP increased by one point.
Four hours had passed since the end of my talk with Sandra and the others. Finally, I could get up and stretch my muscles a little. Keeping myself in that position was harder than I thought it would be. But since my MP had increased, I felt satisfied, besides, as long as I use that skill, eventually the amount of MP increased will grow too. However, even though that was good news, I felt troubled. The lobby was almost empty, all the survivors went to bed, but I could see ten survivors sleeping and a bored teacher around me. ¡°Finally,¡± Claire said. ¡°Help me put the kids on their beds.¡± My God¡­ what the hell was going on? Do I have to that from now on? What kind of situation was that? I didn¡¯t have time to waste with that. My time was better spent killing monsters and collecting information. Although I didn¡¯t want to do it, I ended up helping Claire. After all, the kids did the job Sandra had given to them, which was not to leave me alone. I never expected that from Sandra, she was using my own conscience against me. Until I discover what Claire¡¯s new skill can do and think of a way of counter it, I will have to endure that kind of situation. However, if I put myself in Sandra¡¯s position, it was pretty much obvious that was the only thing she could to make sure that I wouldn¡¯t suddenly disappear again. I promised to her that I wouldn¡¯t do it again, but she didn¡¯t listen to me. While I was busy with my own problems, Claire and the kids moved to a larger room, and they turned that room into a dormitory. Strangely, that room had twelve beds, a lot of books, closets, and tables which the kids could use to study and clean their toys/weapons. After putting the last one in the bed, I decided to head to my room. ¡°If you leave this room,¡± Claire warned me. ¡°I will have to wake up the kids and make them follow you. We have an extra bed, so just use it.¡± ¡°You are enjoying this, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Not as much as you think,¡± Claire answered. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you understand the reason why we did this.¡± ¡°I understand, but I can¡¯t stay in this hotel for more than a few hours. It¡¯s too depressing.¡± ¡°In that case, try to help us and make this place less depressed. ¡°Claire said, showing a serious expression. ¡°We have to fight every single day from now on, but not everything can be solved just by fighting.¡± Claire was right, instead of running away from it, I should work to make this place better. I began to seriously think about this while I sat in front of the door and began to meditate. The problem was that I didn¡¯t have the means to do it, I wasn¡¯t smart like Claire, Rose, and Sarah. I hadn¡¯t Harry charisma, and I also didn¡¯t have Sandra¡¯s leadership skills. What could I do? Only work in the shadows and do the dirty work, or collect information. ¡°What happened in the north?¡± Claire asked. I hesitated in discussing that with Claire, but she already knew that I went there, it was evident. Besides, the kids were sleeping, and I couldn''t feel any presence nearby, so, told her everything that happened. ¡°So, it was that bad, huh,¡± Claire said while looking at Martin¡¯s crossbow on the wall. ¡°At least, everything went well, and you learned a few lessons.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I thought I was learning from my mistakes, but I still had a long way to go. ¡°I shared that idea with you hoping that you would offer to go with me,¡± Claire said, showing a disappointed face.¡± But then you went alone, thanks to it, I also learned a lesson: I shouldn¡¯t share my ideas with someone crazy.¡± If she were there with me, I probably wouldn¡¯t have faced so many problems. But, the whole reason for me going there was because I didn¡¯t want to see her and the others dirtying their hands. ¡°I solved the problem, so there¡¯s no point in complaining about that. Instead, you should focus on solving the problem with the woman in the west.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even mention her,¡± Claire said after sighing. ¡°Every time I think about her, I feel a headache.¡± She was probably even worse than I had imagined. Her actions were already crazy enough, but her attitude and her personality must be even worse. I was beginning to feel worried, but a message suddenly made me feel a little better.
The survivors under your command transferred to you 2452 Evolution Orbs.
The survivors under your command transferred to you 2452 Evolution Coins.
¡®They worked until pretty late, but it was less than I thought I would receive. It was probably because they shared and helped the other survivors.¡¯ The assholes under my command would help a lot now that I would have to stay near this hotel. It was time to seriously thinking about learning a useful offensive skill. I was about to ask Claire about her opinion, but to my surprise, she was already sleeping soundly.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡®Well, no need to rush. It wasn¡¯t like we will have to fight against the woman in the west tomorrow.¡¯ As I expected, I didn¡¯t sleep well that night. I managed to keep myself in the lotus position until morning, but my muscles and joints were stiff. Or maybe it was because I slept in a place with other people, and I wasn¡¯t used to that. Although I didn¡¯t interact with them much in a while, when they woke up, the brats looked pretty happy with my presence. Maybe it was because they saw in me an adult who was dumb like them. I was probably wrong, kids aren¡¯t dumb, and they were just inexperienced. They were courteous enough to say good morning, but like always, only Frank tried to talk and ask questions frequently. He was really noisy. ¡°Hey, big bro. What have you been doing these days?¡± Frank asked while he was cleaning his new mini-helicopter, which could shoot three arrows at the same time. ¡°The big sisters looked pretty worried about you, Miss Claire too.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me big bro, brat A. Call me by my name.¡± ¡°Who the hell are you calling brat A?¡± Claire asked after stepping on my foot. ¡°It¡¯s his fault for not using my name; I bet Harry made them call everyone else big bro and big sister. By the way, you sure have a lot of time in your hands to waste while thinking about my safety.¡± ¡°I was worried because I gave you the idea of doing that. ¡°Claire explained. ¡°Anyway, Frank, it¡¯s just trying to be friendly. Don¡¯t make such a fuss because of small things.¡± ¡°Whatever¡­ I was searching for useful things around the city. That reminds me, I should see how much I have to pay to create one of those plants. I will wait for you guys in the lobby.¡± It would take a while for them to come; after all, Claire was making sure that the kids would adequately brush their teeth and take long enough baths. The lobby was still pretty empty, but Harry and the others were already there. He seemed that he had something to say, but by looking at his teasing smile, I knew that it was something useless. So, I just ignored him and used the statue.
Blue Spiritual Plant: By eating it, you can recover 50 MP. While alive, this plant can produce every ten days a leaf which can recover 10 MP. Price: 250 Evolution Coins.
It wasn¡¯t expensive, but it wasn¡¯t that cheap either. I wondered if I could use those leaves to cultivate another blue spiritual plant; if that were really possible, it would be a good investment. ¡®Come to think of it; a plant is made of organic matter, and so it''s food. Can I create something more complex?¡¯ If I could revive someone, I could probably create animals or even monsters. But could I control them? ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ I want to create a mutant rat.¡¯
Mutant Rat ¨C HP: 30 MP: 30 STA: 30 Physical Limit Lv 02, Mental Limit Lv 02, Sensorial Limit Lv 02 The weakest species of mutated beasts, this creature obeys every command of its creator. This creature can also get stronger; the creator can decide what limit it will be broke. All evolution coins obtained by this creature will be automatically transferred to its creator. Price: 100 Evolution coins.
¡®Wow, it is possible. But it is also expensive considering this monster is weak. I wonder how much I have to use to create a mutant dire wolf.¡¯
Mutant Dire Wolf ¨C HP: 1300 MP: 1100 STA: 600 Physical Limit Lv 09, Mental Limit Lv 08, Sensorial Limit Lv 13 A ferocious predator of the coldest regions, this creature obeys every command of its creator. This creature can also get stronger; the creator can decide what limit it will be broke. All evolution coins obtained by this creature will be automatically transferred to its creator. Price: 20000 Evolution coins.
¡®Very expensive, but it would also be very useful. Besides, eventually, this creature would make me recover the evolution coins that I would spend to create it.¡¯ It was amazing, even if we don¡¯t find more allies, we could create monsters to increase our numbers. However, that worried me a little, it was a monster, but it was also a living being. How could be so cheap to create a living creature? Harry and the others noticed my concern and approached. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Harry asked. I explained to them my discoveries, and they look pretty interested in this plant. But they also shared my worries. ¡°I understand how you feel,¡± Sarah said. ¡°But, even though this is unsettling, this is what living beings are: massive amounts of information. It isn¡¯t something impossible to reproduce, although I don¡¯t understand how this statue can create such things so fast.¡± Sarah had a point, but it was still hard to accept it. For me, it would take a while to get used to that. But, I will use that to my heart¡¯s content. So many things to do, so many discoveries. Just a little more than a month had passed since this weird event happened, at first, I thought the only thing we could do was to fight. But as usual, I was wrong. ¡°You are pretty good at finding interesting information,¡± Sandra said while frowning. ¡°Or perhaps is it luck?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, but since that is the case, then I should¡­¡± ¡°No,¡± Sandra interrupted me. ¡°You will keep the surroundings of this place safe, along with Claire. We already decided that, and for the time being, nothing will change this decision.¡± It was annoying, but I didn¡¯t have to rush. Eventually, I would find a good reason and convince them to let me do some exploration. Besides, I have been doing everything I wanted for the past weeks. So, I had to listen to them, for now at least. There was no point in causing problems or discord in the group. After an hour, Harry, Sandra, Sabrina, Rose, Sarah and a group ten survivors left the hotel and headed toward the survivors¡¯ camp in the north. After some time, many people began to fill the lobby. Although the survivors could eat in their rooms, they preferred to eat in the lobby in the company of the other survivors. Only a small group of survivors had a relative or two in the hotel, but they still felt better while accompanied by the others. The survivors didn¡¯t have many things to do inside the hotel, so, after eating, they began to clean their weapons and change the bandages on their bodies. It seemed that some of the survivors decided to venture themselves outside without the protection of the truck. The result hadn''t been good; many of them had a lot of scars. While I was observing them, Claire and kids finally arrived. ¡°We have eighty survivors, how many of them can heal wounds?¡± ¡°One,¡± Claire answered. ¡°Only Sarah can heal wounds.¡± That was terrible, although the hotel could heal wounds, it was a slow process since that place didn¡¯t focus on healing a single part. Not only that, but the hotel could also make us recover our MP and STA. So, even though the process could save our lives, it couldn¡¯t protect us from brain damage or similar things. Sarah was the only one who could completely heal a survivor since he had medical knowledge, but even she couldn¡¯t heal old wounds. ¡°I guess there¡¯s at least one thing I can do in this place.¡± ¡°And what would that be?¡± Claire asked. ¡°I can diminish the damage the survivors may suffer, and I can alert them from ambushes.¡± Chapter 040 Lending a hand (4) Thanks to my small army of assholes on the north, I didn¡¯t have hunt monsters so much anymore. So, I decided to raise the strength of the survivors in the hotel. If I try to focus on only finding the monsters, I could tell them the direction and what kind of monsters they would encounter. So I decided to do it first, with the kids and a group of other ten survivors. With Claire¡¯s help, I could kill almost every monster before the creature could even think about attacking us, but better safe than sorry. Besides, I could also use that chance to think about the offensive skill that I wanted to learn. Observing others would probably give me some insight about the skill. ¡°Since you are already familiar with them, select ten of those survivors. I will help them to hunt monsters.¡± ¡°That¡¯s unexpectedly kind of you,¡± Claire said while frowning. ¡°Or perhaps you are more sensitive than I thought.¡± ¡°Shut up; it¡¯s better than do nothing inside of this place all day. Besides, I have my motives. I want to search around this place for more of those plants, might as well use my time more efficiently while I am at it.¡± Claire already knew that I would obtain evolution orbs and coins every day without doing anything, but she was troublesome like Harry, she was always trying to tease me just because I couldn¡¯t openly say it many times why I would help them. Anyway, Claire selected ten survivors who focused on breaking their physical limits. As expected of her, we didn¡¯t need ranged attackers, me, her and the kids were more than enough to do that kind of job. Although the survivors followed Claire without hesitation, they frowned while looking at me. My reputation as a troublesome guy had spread among them, or perhaps they didn¡¯t really know me enough. Even though I frequently talked with Harry and the others. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan?¡± Claire asked. ¡°I will just give the position of the monsters around us, you and kids should offer them support with ranged attacks. I won¡¯t attack, I will use all my MP to look for more of those plants.¡± That was my idea, but if a mutant polar bear or a mutant dire wolf suddenly appear, I will have to help to avoid a disaster. The survivors already tried many times to fight these creatures, but they still didn¡¯t have the strength or the experience to prevent major wounds, so, they were pretty cautious when we left the hotel. ¡®Today I guess I should look for plants which can heal wounds. If I find a plant which can do the same thing as that blue spiritual plant, we may create a passive method of healing wounds.¡¯ It would take a while to create a daily supply to heal so many survivors, but it was necessary, after all, the price of Sarah¡¯s heal skill was astronomic. But I could think about it later. ¡°There are two mutant lemmings one hundred meters away at eleven o¡¯clock and a mutant fox at three o¡¯clock one hundred and fifty meters away.¡± ¡°So you can identify the enemies without even seeing them, huh,¡± Claire said thoughtfully. ¡°It¡¯s easy; you just have to focus on the noise of their steps.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Claire said. ¡°First, we will deal with the lemmings. After that, the kids will eliminate the fox.¡± The mutant lemmings were small like the mutant rats, but they were far more powerful and fast. So, it took a while for the survivors to kill both. But at least, they managed to do it without suffering wounds. Their formation was pretty good, five of them had shields and short swords, and those focused on blocking the monsters attacks. The other five survivors had lances like the one Sandra had, and they concentrated on attacking as much as possible while the monsters tried to destroy the shields.
You have obtained 5 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 5 Evolution Coins.
It wasn¡¯t my intention, but since I helped them by giving the monsters¡¯ localization, I received part of the reward. Anyway, instead of lances, in my opinion, those five survivors responsible for attacking should use bows or crossbows. With those weapons, they could attack the monsters anytime, instead of just waiting for the chance. However, ranged weapons required some experience and natural skill to be used. I didn¡¯t have any of those, but I managed to survive thanks to the crosshair.
You have obtained 11 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 11 Evolution Coins.
The kids killed the fox faster than I thought. But it was only natural, I guess. Most of them had already obtained new skills, and now their mini-helicopters were different from each other. For example, Frank received the skill: electric enchantment. With that skill, he could put electricity in many objects, including in his mini-helicopters'' arrows. It wasn¡¯t strong, but the monsters received an electric discharge when the arrows pierced their bodies. The other kids didn¡¯t fall behind Frank; they became more useful than I had imagined.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Amazing, right?¡± Claire said, boastfully. ¡°They are my pride and joy.¡± ¡°¡­ There is a snow leopard two hundred meters away at six hours; you should kill it.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to help?¡± Claire asked. ¡°I will conserve my MP to look for the plants.¡± Because Claire was a monster in human form, she could kill most of the monsters without breaking a sweat. According to her, Rose was almost at her level, but Harry still couldn¡¯t block the attack of a mutant polar bear of a mutant dire wolf without being knocked down. But it wouldn¡¯t take long until they would be able to cross the city on foot. At least that was the theory, that day was the tenth day since it began to snow, and according to our experience, it was probably the last day we would be able to see those monsters. On the next day, we would probably find new monsters in the city. While the survivors and the kids were fighting against the monsters, and when I didn¡¯t felt the presence of the most powerful monsters, I used the search skill to find more plants. But, the plants were rare to find. In the entire morning, I helped two more groups of ten survivors, but I only found a single plant.
Red Spiritual Plant: By eating it, you can recover 50 HP. While alive, this plant can produce every ten days a leaf which can recover 10 HP.
It was exactly like the blue spiritual plant, but like the name said it was red, even the price to create it was the same. Although I lost the entire morning to find a single plant, I didn¡¯t feel that depressed. The lobby of the hotel was less depressive than usual, probably because those thirty survivors managed to break their limits a few times without suffering much damage. ¡°Pretty good for half a day of progress,¡± Claire said while she and the kids were having lunch. ¡°At this rate, you won¡¯t have any reason to stay away from this place.¡± ¡°As long as they eventually obtain the necessary strength, this will benefit all of us, so, I don¡¯t care about helping them for the time being. But I still prefer to explore the city and find new things which can help us.¡± ¡°Why are you always trying to keep a distance from the others?¡± Clair asked after sighing. ¡°Are you trying to look cool or something?¡± ¡°Of course, I walk around the city fighting monsters and getting wounded for the sole purpose of making myself cooler.¡± My sarcasm really needed some work, but luckily, Harry and others returned, and that prevented Claire from trying to ask any more questions. ¡°This place looks strangely lively,¡± Sandra said while frowning. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Ethan¡¯s presence would improve the mood so much. Did you tell the survivors some joke?¡± ¡°Believe it or not, Ethan helped the survivors. ¡°Clair explained while smiling mischievously. ¡°Thanks to him, thirty survivors broke their limits at least two times. He is a really hard-working guy.¡± ¡°Hard work? I just told them the position of the monsters and avoided ambushes. Obviously, you guys suck at training the others and finding monsters. Just create a radar already.¡± ¡°We already created one and put it on the truck,¡± Claire said. ¡°But that radar¡¯s effective range is quite small and can¡¯t tell us what kind of enemies are near us.¡± ¡°Then, try to create a better one. Seriously, we have only one tracker and one healer. Can¡¯t you guys learn a few things aside killing monsters?¡± ¡°Anyway, you guys returned faster than I thought,¡± Claire said while faking her surprise. ¡°What happened?¡± So, was she going to ignore my question? Or perhaps Claire and others already agreed that they didn¡¯t need another person who can do what I can do. For a group of eighty survivors, that was probably enough, but that was too troublesome for me. ¡°Well, the situation in the north improved a lot,¡± Sandra answered while suspiciously looking at me. ¡°The leader of that place accepted all of our offers. He even said that he could move all the survivors there to this place. He even accepted being just a normal member of our council. He was strangely cooperative. Do you have anything to say about that, Ethan?¡± ¡°Good job, you have excellent diplomatic skills.¡± ¡°¡­ Anyway,¡± Sandra after sighing.¡± They will come to this place in the next few days, so we should prepare ourselves. But I don¡¯t think we will face many problems, even those who looked to be very troublesome were quite cooperative.¡± I guess she was referring to my army of assholes. In any case, she was right. The survivors didn¡¯t forget about the assholes previous actions, but Charles, with his new spear, was strong enough to convince the other survivors in the north not to cause problems. And making them moving from that hotel to this one was also the best course of action. After all, we were almost in the center of the city. At least for the time being, this hotel was the best place to create a big base of operations. ¡°To avoid any problems,¡± Sandra added. ¡°We will use the truck to offer support while they are moving.¡± ¡°In that case,¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to offer your help,¡± Sandra interrupted me. ¡°They have plenty of weapons, and our presence there will be only to guide them. You stay here and continue helping the other survivors; you are doing a good job.¡± ¡°Tsk.¡± Although the hotel was big, we had to make some adaptations to accommodate so many survivors. So, for the rest of the day, Harry, Sandra, Sabrina, Rose, and Sarah organized the unused rooms. On the other hand, Claire, the kids, and I helped the other survivors to hunt the monsters. Since they didn¡¯t fight from the beginning, they broke their limits quite fast, but it would take a few days for them to reach the same level as the survivors in the north. When the survivors in the north arrive at the hotel, we would have to change a few things. We will have to create specialized teams instead of just dividing the survivors between the front line and backline. Besides, it was too much of waste using survivors just as batteries, while it was fine if they didn¡¯t want to fight, we couldn¡¯t just let half of the survivors do that kind of thing. That was just too inefficient. ¡®I guess my days of wandering in the city alone were about to end.¡¯ Until someone obtains some skills like mine, I won¡¯t be able to walk freely. If I do, slowly those survivors will die in ambushes. Until they obtain the necessary strength to survive even the most dangerous ambushes, I will have to help them every day. Just thinking about that was making me feel tired, so I decided to meditate. ¡°You look tired,¡± Claire said. ¡°But also look a bit relaxed. Are you proud of your recent good actions?¡± ¡°More or less, you should hurry up and learn some sensorial skills. It¡¯s too bothersome to be the only one who can do an important thing.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I will,¡± Claire said while smiling. ¡°If I do it, you will start to disappear again; I will make understand that you are very necessary here. Even if I have to cause some trouble for you.¡± Claire was a good conversation partner, but her usual mischievous smile and teasing were annoying. I guess she was trying to act like a big sister. Her intentions were good, but it was troublesome. Although I didn¡¯t hate that part of her. Chapter 041 Organization (1) As we had expected, soon after we received our rewards at the midnight of the fortieth day, it stopped snowing. The clouds disappeared, and we finally could see the blue sky again on the next morning. All the survivors welcomed that change, even though I didn¡¯t think the same, to some people, rain and snow were quite depressing. We could see the snow melting at a fast pace, and soon we saw the entire city again. Well, almost. Even that cold weather didn¡¯t stop the growth of the vegetation. It would be easier to find those plants now, but not everything was good news. The snow-white monsters disappeared, but the old ones returned, and they had a surprise for us.
Mutant Rat (Poison) ¨C HP: 60 MP: 60: STA: 60
Mutant Cat (Thunder) ¨C HP: 300 MP: 250 STA: 400
Mutant Crow (Wind) ¨C HP: 150 MP: 300 STA: 200
I shared what I saw with others, and their conclusion was pretty much the same: the monsters got stronger and now had more attacks, probably they could even use magic. While I already saw the mutant fish and anaconda using magic, their attacks were quite simple. But, it would be even more troublesome to collect information about the way these monsters could use their new powers. Not mention, the mutant fish and anaconda probably also got stronger. Their attacks would be many times more powerful, so, I had to be even more careful. My experiences with these monsters could cause some problem. ¡°So, what should we do now?¡± Claire asked. The truck could still kill most of those enemies, but they still had to be careful and collect info before they could go to the camp in the north. ¡°I think you, Rose and I should walk outside a little and see what these monsters can do. After this, we can use the information to make the necessaries changes on the truck.¡± ¡°I guess this is the best we can do,¡± Harry said. ¡°You three are our best ranger fighters, but I¡¯m going too. To avoid any problems, I will create a larger version of my shield.¡± We didn¡¯t know how fast the monsters attacks had become, so Harry was right in going with us, he would offer the defense that we might need. His round shield disappeared, and now he had a rectangular shield which could protect almost his entire body. However, the part where he would put his arm wasn¡¯t made of metal anymore; it was made of rubber. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Harry said after opening the entrance door. As soon as we left the hotel and closed the door, three mutant rats welcomed us. However, we were already expecting that, so we killed all of them in just a second. Claire killed one with a single arrow in the head, Rose impaled another with her glaives, and I put two metal bolts in the last one.
You have obtained 04 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 04 Evolution Coins.
¡°This was easier than I thought it would be,¡± Harry said while frowning. ¡°Don¡¯t relax yet,¡± Rose warned. ¡°We should observe their attacks too.¡± That was our intention, but the monsters wouldn¡¯t let us do our job progressively. A mutant crow appeared, but when it was twenty meters away from us, the creature stopped midair and vigorously flapped its wings. That move had been so powerful that I saw the wind become blades while it headed toward us. Harry put himself in front of us and raised the shield. The attack hadn¡¯t been powerful enough to knock down Harry, but I saw the shield trembling every time he blocked the wind blades. ¡°This had been tougher than I thought it would be,¡± Harry said, showing an expression of discomfort. Another crow appeared, but this time the creature flew toward us in high-speed. Harry stopped the monster¡¯s advance, but this time, the attack made him stagger a little. On the other hand, the beast fell on the floor with its beak destroyed. What a dumb bird. We got enough info with those birds for the time being, so we killed them before they could attack again.
You have obtained 10 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 10 Evolution Coins.
The monsters had become stronger, but now they also gave us more orbs and coins. It was good for us who were strong enough to deal with the small fries, but it was hard for the other survivors who didn¡¯t have enough experience. If every ten days the city changes, it would be hard to train the new survivors. It was almost like the whole situation was telling us not to get too comfortable. New ones would eventually appear, and the old ones would reappear and cause much more problems. Another mutant rat appeared, but instead of approaching the creature spat a purple hand-size ball toward us. All of us knew that was poison, so we get ready to dodge it, but Harry blocked with the shield. The attack didn¡¯t have any power behind it; however, we heard, and we felt the smell of the poison slowly corroding the metal shield. It would take a few more for shots for that poison surpass the shield¡¯s defense. But, just a small ball of poison like that would make any of us scream in agony.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Ethan,¡± Rose said with a very serious expression. ¡°I want you to tell me every single new word these monsters has on their names.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± To our surprise, we found other monsters which had this kind of skill, but most monsters which could do that were the rats and bees. The same pattern applied to the other monsters, for example, most of the mutant birds could use wind attacks, but a few of them could also use electric attacks. ¡°I guess we will have to close the holes in the truck,¡± Rose said. She was right in doing that; after all, those electric and wind attacks could pass through those holes and cause a lot of damage. But that was only the beginning of our discoveries; things got really messy when we had to fight a mutant cat which tried to attack us using its tail covered with electricity. The attack surprised all of us, and Harry almost got hit. But the creature didn¡¯t have a second chance, Rose, Claire and I destroyed the monster¡¯s head. But that was just the start.
Evolved Mutant Anaconda (Ice) ¨C HP: 750 MP: 900 STA: 1200
The green thirty meters long snake looked more colorful; now the monster had blue scales. The creature didn¡¯t only obtain ice skills; it also gained a massive amount of defense. ¡°What should we do?¡± Harry asked, showing an expression that he was ready to fight and run at the same time. ¡°This thing is near the hotel,¡± Rose declared. ¡°We have to kill it, or the survivors wouldn¡¯t be able to strengthen themselves.¡± As soon as Rose said that, Claire shot and the arrow pierced the monster¡¯s head. But thanks to the scales, she didn¡¯t cause much damage. While Claire was ready to shot again, the beast noticed us and began to crawl toward us. ¡®Scales made of ice, huh. I guess I will use the electric bolt.¡¯ A bolt with a green tip appeared, and without ceremony, I shot when my aim was right above the monsters heard. The bolt pierced the monster¡¯s nose, but before it could do anything, Harry had to block the monster¡¯s advance. He tried, but even though he didn¡¯t get knocked down, the monster made him take several steps backward. Claire shot another arrow on the monster¡¯s face, but again, the scales protected the creature. Rose¡¯s glaives also didn¡¯t penetrate the monster¡¯s skin as much as she wanted. But soon they received the chances they wanted. A massive wave of electricity crossed the anaconda¡¯s head, the beast squirmed in pain and suffered even more because the scales melted and that made the power of the attack even more powerful. Half of the scales of beasts¡¯ head had melted, and since the creature stopped its advance, we had the perfect chance. ¡°Now!¡± Claire and Rose attacked the unprotected part of the beasts¡¯ body, and as soon as I picked the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow, I did the same. The creature died very fast because it received so many attacks in the head from a short distance.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Coins.
We all sighed in relief, but Claire kicked the monster¡¯s head and snorted. It seemed that she had developed a grudge against snakes, but that was understandable. ¡®With this, I will finally obtain an ice stone. It will be very useful if I use it on the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow. It¡¯s a pity those are so much expensive.¡¯ The price of those elemental stones were five hundred evolution coins, even the low-quality ones. Although they could be very useful on the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow, it wasn¡¯t efficient enough to make me spend five hundred evolution coins. That was why I created the metal crossbow. But maybe I wouldn¡¯t receive, I didn¡¯t kill alone after all. ¡°Let¡¯s return,¡± Rose declared. ¡°This is good enough, for now.¡± The survivors in the hotel saw some of our battles, but we still gave a report rich in details for them. Sandra listened to everything with an eyebrow raised, but at that point in time, few things could really surprise her. ¡°The monsters changed again, huh,¡± Sandra said, showing a grim expression. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter; we won¡¯t change our plans. Let¡¯s act like always, but be extra careful outside.¡± ¡°Are you sure this is enough?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not enough,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°But it¡¯s the best we can do, with the information you collected, we will modify the truck. However, we won¡¯t change our plans. So, you, Claire, and the kids will stay here keeping this place safe while strengthening the other survivors. The rest of us will escort the survivors in the north to this place. Don¡¯t worry; we will manage.¡± While it was a bit unnerving, she was right. I was the best choice to keep an eye on the hotel and to raise the strength of the survivors while making sure they wouldn¡¯t suffer too much damage. Besides, I still could collect more information about the monsters near the hotel. So, in the end, I decided not to protest. After modifying the truck enough to resist most of those elemental attacks and buying a few dozen grenades, Harry and the others left to the north. If they really hurry, they will return before nightfall, but I wasn¡¯t counting with that. Many of the survivors in the north didn¡¯t look healthy enough to keep a fast pace while walking, much less for an entire day. So they will probably find a place to stop and rest at night. ¡°Are you worried?¡± Claire asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry; they are more than enough for the job. You should trust more on Harry and the others.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not worried, I just think it would be very annoying if a few die along the way, I almost died to make them our allies after all.¡± ¡°Anyway, we have better things to do than keeping worrying endlessly about what might happen or not,¡± Claire said while scratching her head. ¡°Are you going to help the survivors while they hunt?¡± ¡°I guess I will; I don¡¯t have anything better to do anyway.¡± Although many of the survivors looked pretty uneasy, a few of them volunteered themselves to be the first group to go with us. The kids looked scared, but they wouldn¡¯t hesitate as long as Claire was with them. Thanks to it, many of survivors felt ashamed and then decided to accept the risks. Yesterday I leisurely gave the position of the monsters to them, but this time I decided to be more careful and keep the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow ready to be used. It was a pain in the ass, but I would feel terrible if one of them die in front of me. Although I wanted to help them, Claire and I wouldn¡¯t be able to protect them from every single monster. We didn¡¯t have enough information, after all. In the end, even with the help of Claire¡¯s incredible precision and the kids¡¯ non-stop support. I only managed to protect the survivors from the wounds, which would hinder the movement and their attacks. But we didn¡¯t hear a single complaint, even when they were bleeding. They knew it we were doing our best, so they decided to do their best to endure the pain and the hardships. That was the only thing we all could do to become true survivors: endure the pain. Chapter 042 Organization (2) ¡®So tired¡­¡¯ The tension and fatigue of fighting against three mutant polar bears at the same time it couldn¡¯t be compared to what I was feeling. To avoid any major incidents, I used my senses as much as I could for the entire day. It wasn¡¯t enough just give the monsters¡¯ position to the survivors; I had to keep an eye on all of them to be able to offer the necessary support as soon as possible. I failed many times, but Claire and the kids did the job when I failed. My mind and body were exhausted; for a second, I even considered just sleeping instead of meditating. But I got rid of that laziness, my lack of MP already caused enough problems when I fought against Ken. And I decided to make sure not to repeat the same mistakes. Although it was hard to believe that one day I would be smart enough to defeat an enemy with just my brain, but I could at least make sure that I would have enough MP when the time comes. ¡°You look tired,¡± Claire said, showing her usual mischievous smile. ¡°Do you want a massage? I think you deserve a reward since you have been an obedient kid as of late.¡± ¡°Ha-ha, very funny Claire.¡± I was wrong when I thought that I would have time to think about what would be my next steps while helping the survivors in the hotel. I still didn¡¯t have any idea about what my next skill would be, and since it had already become a habit, I broke the sensorial limit without even thinking. I was beginning to think that I should break my physical and mental strength too, but my reflexes got the better of me. It couldn¡¯t be helped; I was too focused on keeping an eye on the survivors. But at least every single survivor in the hotel finally obtained their news skill, and that would make my life easier. ¡°Harry and the others won¡¯t arrive today,¡± Claire said that while looking at the starry sky through the room¡¯s window. ¡°I hope that crazy woman doesn¡¯t do anything if she sees their movement on the map.¡± There was a chance of the woman in the west would see our new allies as a threat. Or as an obvious act of rebellion against her. Although I didn¡¯t saw any suspicious movement on her camp, it was better not to drop our guards. The last time I looked at the map on the ceiling, I saw a massive amount of red dots coming from the north toward us. But they were slow; it seemed Harry and the others decided to walk slowly while keeping their focus on the monsters which may attack. The numbers and the caution were their best weapons against the monsters. I decided to forget about the others and focus on my problems, I already spent the day helping others, so it was time to think seriously about my new skill. My MP was increasing every day, so I could learn a skill which would use vast amounts of MP. As long as the skill could be useful in every situation, I wouldn¡¯t be stingy. However, as always, creativity wasn¡¯t my strong point. So, not a single good idea came to mind. I needed something easy to control, powerful and fast enough to surprise any enemies. ¡°You are frowning a lot,¡± Claire said. ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to imagine my next skill. Because, unfortunately, sensorial skills doesn¡¯t cause much damage.¡± ¡°I think you are worrying too much about small things,¡± Claire said while showing a bored expression. ¡°You can detect all monsters nearby, collect information about them instantly, and find useful plants. You are already invaluable with your current skills, why do you want offensive skills?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Claire said, looking even more bored. ¡°You want to feel independent, and you think doing everything by yourself will make you feel that.¡± I guess she was more or less right; I just wanted to be able to move without the help of the others. I did everything by myself for the past two years, so, that habit won¡¯t just disappear overnight. Not until I find a good motive to make this habit disappear. ¡°Is there a problem with that?¡± ¡°No,¡± Claire answered.¡± There¡¯s nothing wrong with that if you want to become an island. In human society, all humans have their jobs, a person can be a cook and an architect, but it¡¯s almost impossible for a person to become outstanding in those two areas. If you want to reach your true potential, you have to focus on the most important thing you want to do. And about everything else, you have to rely on the others.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really care about that crap about potential.¡± ¡°Mind your language in front of the kids¡­¡± Claire warned, showing an annoyed face. ¡°But if I have to choose one thing to do, then I would like to collect information around the city. Being stuck in a place like this doesn¡¯t suit my style.¡± ¡°What style?¡± Claire asked while frowning. ¡°If you really want to do that, then go ahead. But are you sure that isn¡¯t just an excuse for you to avoid us? Let¡¯s say that you didn¡¯t separate from your family, if they were still here and they would every day help the survivors, would you still go explore the city and search for more information?¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. I would, but for another reason. Claire was right, and because of it, was beginning to feel uncomfortable, it was a pain when the others could read you so well. But it couldn¡¯t be helped; I was a simple guy. I only cared about my family and only wanted to survive, aside from that, I was willing to do even the most annoying jobs to avoid any feeling of guilt. That was why I was helping the survivors because I didn¡¯t want to feel guilty if they die. The more I talked with others about my motives, the more I understood that I was a selfish, coward, and dumb brat. I could deny those facts with all the fibers in my body, but my daily actions proved that. Did I want to change? Not really, at least not until I hear from my parents why they left me in that area. Maybe their words will change my perspective, perhaps not. ¡°Well, I think the answer is pretty obvious,¡± Claire said. ¡°It¡¯s up to you to decide what you will do, run away from your fears, or will you face them?¡± Honestly, I didn¡¯t want to choose; I was too coward for that. So, I decided to create a new option, ignore my fears. My fears will always be there to remind me of what kind of person I was. At least, Claire¡¯s words gave me a hint of what I should do. I should focus only on the thing that I wanted; I just wanted to kill the monsters as fast as possible without suffering much damage. So, I just had to increase the amount of damage that I could cause. The obvious choice would be using two rapid-fire crossbows, but in a close fight, I wouldn¡¯t be able to use them. ¡®I have to create powerful arrows which can be used without a bow or a crossbow.¡¯ But only that wasn¡¯t enough; those arrows had to be like my metal crossbow bolts and possess many properties and to make them even more useful, I had to freely control the amount of MP used to create every single arrow. ¡®That will be very, very expensive, but will, without a doubt, become my most powerful and efficient skill.¡¯ It would be great if I could be able to create those arrows using the excess of MP that I obtain while meditating. Everything was possible using the statue, but where would I store those arrows created by magic? I couldn¡¯t walk around with those arrows flying around me; I had to keep them hidden to surprise the enemies¡­ maybe I can create a backpack which can distort space and make its interior much larger. That was a great idea. ¡°Thanks, Claire, you gave me a lot of ideas. Now I know what my next skill and item will be.¡± ¡°¡­ So you are just going to ignore the problem, huh.¡± Claire said after sighing. ¡°I guess I will have to wait, too; maybe one day will be able to believe in us.¡± I could respect Claire and the others for waiting for the day I would be able to trust them, but I wouldn¡¯t recommend that to anyone. After all, we could die at any moment. Claire didn¡¯t have anything more to say, so, the night slowly passed while I was meditating. Fortunately, I was also slowly getting used to that position. I managed to even sleep for two hours, it wasn¡¯t enough, but I could endure that situation for a few more days. After meditating for more than twelve hours straight, I headed toward the lobby while the kids and the others were still sleeping and touched the statue.
Elemental Magic Arrow: The user can create an arrow made of magic possessing one or more of the existing properties in the universe. The arrows won¡¯t move or disappear until the user selects a target. One arrow can be created every ten seconds. Cost: 20 MP Price: 50000 Evolution Coins.
Dimensional Storage Backpack Lv 01: The user can safely store all kinds of things in this backpack. Time doesn¡¯t pass inside this backpack. Capacity: 100Kg Price: 10000 Evolution Coins
¡®The skill is even more expensive than I thought it would be, on the other hand, the backpack is very cheap, considering the effects. Since it is a magic item, I won¡¯t feel the weight of anything that I may put inside of it. But what was the weight of one of those arrows?¡¯ I had no idea, but in any case, I could always create a better version of that backpack. Since I already had the evolution coins to create the backpack, I created it and put my personal belongings inside. I felt much lighter thanks to it. But I decided to still carry around the metal crossbow to raise my HP and STA. ¡®I guess I should use this to store the bolts of the improved version of the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow.¡¯ Faster than I thought, new objectives appeared. I had to learn the elemental magic arrow, think and eventually create a monster to help me, and improve my main weapon, maybe create a garden of useful plants. I really wanted to reach all these objectives before the woman in the west could try anything, but that was too unrealistic. ¡®I guess I should leave the monster for later and focus on the skill and in improving my main weapon.¡¯ I already had enough MP to create metal bolts easily while meditating; I could recover MP really fast. So, it was time to change the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow. I will make it fire two times more quickly, and I also will make it possible for me to take and put the cartridge of bolts at any moment. At night I will create those cartridges of bolts and the eventual elemental magic arrows, and during the day, I would use my MP only to find new plants and to reload the mental crossbow. ¡®Now that I already know what I will do, I just have to obtain the necessary amount of evolution coins.¡¯ Just like when I thought that I wouldn¡¯t need to hunt monsters like a maniac anymore, new objectives and necessities appeared. I always tried to improve and get rid of my na?ve way of thinking, but that wouldn¡¯t just happen overnight, it was a gradual process. I had a feeling that I wouldn¡¯t need other skills about learning and evolving the elemental magic arrow, but I couldn¡¯t be so sure of that. More than forty days had passed since the monsters appeared, and every single of those days reminded me that I needed to keep improving. Those days told me that I couldn¡¯t feel satisfied with my strength. ¡®The monsters are getting stronger, so it¡¯s only obvious that I won¡¯t have a single day off from now on.¡¯ While that was a bit scary and tiring, I felt a wave of excitement crossing my body. I would fight for my life every day, but I would also keeping evolving, receiving more rewards and unbelievable skills. Unfortunately, that sense of progress was the only thing which could make me forget about my doubts and fears. Chapter 043 Organization (3) After purchasing the dimensional storage backpack and organizing my thoughts, I waited for Claire and the kids in the lobby. We repeated the same actions of the previous day, but I tried to be even more active, I needed those extra evolution coins, after all. After another entire day helping the survivors, I obtained the amount of evolution coins necessary to customize the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow. Now I could create those cartridges of bolts and put them inside the dimensional storage backpack. The crossbow was also now capable of shooting six crossbows per second. I tried to improve a little more, but I didn¡¯t have the evolution coins to add the options to create more powerful bolts. Fortunately, soon after that, Harry and the others arrived. Although they were a bunch of strangers, the survivors in the hotel welcomed our new allies. Luckily, with that reunion, a few people recognized families and friends among the survivors in the north. That had been heartwarming, and I also felt jealous, but soon I got rid of those feelings. I saw Charles looking around, and for a brief instant, he recognized me near the statue, but soon he seemed away disinterested. ¡®Good, he is doing his part well.¡¯ I also saw my army of assholes, and they didn¡¯t change much, and they also decided to avoid eye-contact. Harry and Sandra with others approached us, and they looked very proud of themselves. I guess they didn¡¯t suffer any losses along the way. ¡°I presume you guys succeeded,¡± Claire said. ¡°Nothing happened along the way, right?¡± ¡°We faced a few minor problems, thanks to the monsters,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°But we managed as I said we would.¡± Although Claire asked that question, Sandra answered while looking at me. It wasn¡¯t like I had underestimated then, she misunderstood my reasons. I just wanted to go because I wanted to keep my body moving. ¡°Anyway,¡± Harry said. ¡°This is the council¡¯s new member; his name is Charles, let¡¯s all get along, okay?¡± Charles stepped forward, and then he greeted Claire and me, just like before he only maintained eye contact for a moment. To my surprise, his little sister was talking with Sabrina like they knew each other. Small world, huh. She and Charles'' girlfriend still had some bruises on her bodies, but they looked to be recovering at a fast pace. Not only their bodies but also their minds. ¡°We can talk later,¡± Sandra declared. ¡°First, we should accommodate our new allies. In three hours the council members will decide our future objectives and missions, I will wait for all of here, don¡¯t be late. Ethan, you will also participate.¡± ¡°Why? I¡¯m not a member.¡± ¡°Because I want to hear your opinions,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°Besides, we may give you more tasks.¡± I didn''t like that conversation, but I didn¡¯t have much choice. I couldn¡¯t put myself above six hundred people, at least not for now; I had to be patient. Faster than I thought, our new allies accommodate themselves on their new rooms. But Sandra didn¡¯t start the meeting after that job had been finished. Instead, she dined with Charles, his little sister, his girlfriend, and another group of survivors. While they were busy socializing, I created three cartridges of metal bolts and put them inside my backpack. My max MP also increased, so I was grinning. Even though I knew I would receive more troublesome jobs. We didn¡¯t have a particular place to discuss important things, so we just grabbed a few chairs and put them in the middle of the lobby. It wasn¡¯t like we wanted to keep the content of that conversation as a secret anyways. First, Sandra introduced all of us to Charles again, but then he frowned when he heard I wasn¡¯t a member of the council, he also frowned because I was sitting in the lotus position. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him,¡± Sandra explained. ¡°He is still at that age, so, he refuses to become an official member of this group. But he is very resourceful.¡± She was probably just saying that to mess with me; after all, Charles also was only eighteen years old. While she was good at accepting young people on the council based on their contributions, I didn¡¯t think that she should seriously consider their opinions. All of us may have obtained unbelievable powers overnight, but experience and wisdom wasn¡¯t something that we would also get that fast. ¡°Let¡¯s start with our most immediate concern,¡± Sandra said with a serious expression. ¡°In four days, maybe less than that, the survivors in the west will attack this place. We should prepare for it, but first, we must organize our forces. I talked with just a few survivors, but I¡¯m fairly certain most of us don¡¯t want to fight against monsters, much less against humans. So, I think we should initially divide the survivors into two groups: fighters and non-fighters. Anyone disagree with this?¡± Although it was a bit unnerving, I already knew that we couldn¡¯t force every single person to fight. Besides, if we tried to force them, it would only cause trouble down the road, and those who didn¡¯t want to fight wouldn¡¯t help much anyway. So, I didn¡¯t say anything. No one disagreed either.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Then, it¡¯s decided,¡± Sandra said. ¡°After this meeting ends, I will write down the names of those who don¡¯t want to fight and those who are willing to fight. That said, we still should create some rules and tasks for the non-fighters to contribute. Claire, do you have an idea how much evolution coins the survivors who fought alongside you and Ethan obtained?¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t an exact number,¡± Claire answered. ¡°But in an hour, most of them obtained at least five hundred evolution coins.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Sandra said, looking a bit surprised. ¡°But that only happened because you, Ethan, and the kids offered support. So, probably they would obtain half of that amount by themselves.¡± ¡°Why do you want to know about this?¡± Charles asked. ¡°Because I think we should establish a tax to all survivors,¡± Sandra explained. ¡°We couldn¡¯t just use all the evolution coins of the fighters, all of us should contribute. And those coins will be used to fortify our defenses.¡± ¡°In that case,¡± Charles said. ¡°I think all survivors should contribute with one hundred evolution coins daily. I¡¯m not proud of that, but in the north, our previous leader made us give him two hundred coins every day. If we use the non-fighters to create ammo and other kinds of projectiles I¡¯m sure they will obtain that much. Besides, it isn¡¯t like we have to spend much evolution coins to create food and other necessary things.¡± ¡°Are you sure this is a reasonable amount?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°If the tax is too higher, we will face serious problems later on.¡± ¡°Yes, I think it is,¡± Charles answered without a hint of hesitation. ¡°And I¡¯m pretty sure no one will complain about using their MP to create projectiles either. At least for now, this is the only thing they can do to keep their minds busy.¡± I was also pretty sure of that, with the city full of monsters, the best thing we all could do was to stay in the hotel. Eventually, they could obtain new skills and do other jobs, but that was the best option they had at that moment. ¡°In that case, is anyone against this?¡± Sandra asked. Again, no one opposed that idea. Although the numbers would make the battles easier, it was too inefficient. For example, Claire and I could do a lot more with a steady supply of projectiles. We would still need to reload our weapons, but we would be able to fight for long periods without getting tired. Besides, if a person wasn¡¯t able to kill an enemy with a single arrow, it still could damage the enemies from a safe location. Eventually, those who decided to break their physical limits would have to face enemies, but their chances of survival would increase manifold if they could cause damage at long distance. ¡°Then, it¡¯s decided,¡± Sandra said. ¡°But, I will personally hear all the survivors after this meeting, I still want to hear their opinions.¡± Sandra decided to play it safe, but she couldn¡¯t help it. A single mistake while managing this place we someone may start a rebellion. It wasn¡¯t like us wouldn¡¯t be able to stop a rebellion, but we would lose too much if we fight against each other. ¡°The next topic,¡± Sandra declared. ¡°We should decide how we will divide the fighters. While we have many survivors with surprising and powerful skills, we don¡¯t have many people who can heal wounds or feel the approach of monsters or enemies. So, I thought if we should divide or forces on small groups and determine a leader for that group, or if we should just create an army of similarly trained and equipped soldiers.¡± ¡°I think we will need both options,¡± Rose said. ¡°A few small teams to carry out specific missions will be necessary. But on a battle of massive scale, an army would be more efficient. While the soldiers keep formation, the casualties will be minimal.¡± ¡°In that case, we should also talk about this with survivors,¡± Sarah added. ¡°It will be more easy and efficient to find the members of these teams if they volunteer themselves.¡± ¡°You have a point,¡± Sandra said while looking at the map on the ceiling. ¡°In that case, you two will help me after this meeting. It¡¯ll take a while, but we also have to register every survivor and their skills and make a record or something like it. That will probably help us to manage this place.¡± Rose and Sarah nodded, and they began to take notes. Did they saw my notebook or something? No, that was probably the obvious thing to do in a meeting like that. ¡°Now, about our defenses,¡± Sandra said while scratching her chin. ¡°We should create some sturdy walls around this hotel. The monsters can¡¯t approach or attack, but other humans can. Although probably it will take a while for us to obtain that much evolution coins. So, for now, I think we should copy that crazy bitch and create some towers and jeeps to kill any enemy which may approach. The survivors who arrived today have some firearms which can be reloaded by MP. But for the sake of efficiency and to make less noise, our main defense weapons should be bows and crossbows. Anyone disagrees or have a better idea?¡± At that point in time, that wasn¡¯t much of a meeting; it was more like Sandra deciding everything and hearing our opinions just for the sake of appearances. But she had a lot of experience in stressful situations, and she was the only one who had any real experience in life and death situations among those six hundred survivors. So, it couldn¡¯t be helped. ¡°Who will stay in those towers and jeeps?¡± ¡°Anyone who has decent marksmanship,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°Until we have a decent front line, you should continue offering your support with Claire and the kids.¡± I almost clicked my tongue, but that wasn¡¯t the time or place to do it. So, I just showed a mixed expression of annoyance and boredom. While I already didn¡¯t have a good impression of that woman in the west, I was beginning to hate her. She was responsible for half of my problems. If only we had to worry about monsters, the survivors could eventually get stronger and obtain experience on a safe pace. But with other human causing problems, we couldn¡¯t divide our forces and act that freely. Although the monsters were far more numerous, humans were far smarter. Not only that, monsters couldn¡¯t explode this hotel¡­ but maybe they will be able to do it in a not so distant future. ¡°I guess this is all we have to discuss for now,¡± Sandra said. ¡°We will solve other problems as soon as they appear. Go and rest, from tomorrow onward, our days will be even busier.¡± The meeting ended sooner than I thought, I had expected they would discuss much more things. However, the hard part wasn¡¯t the meeting; it was putting what we had decided in action. Collect information of the survivors and dividing them between fighters and non-fighters would take more than a few hours. Sandra, Rose, and Sarah even wanted to hear their opinions about our decisions. Their night would be very long. I really wanted to do another kind of job aside from keeping an eye on the survivors whiles they fight. Something less noisy would be preferable, but after seeing the determined faces of those three while working non-stop through the night, I sighed and decided to forget about my preferences for a while. I also had to do my part to create a good survivors¡¯ camp and not complain much while I''m at it. Chapter 044 Organization (4) On the next morning, as soon as I woke up, I headed to the lobby to my usual morning ritual: confirming the safety of my family. At that point in time, I was pretty sure nothing would stop them. But, I still wanted to confirm with my eyes. I confirmed that fact and sighed in relief, but then I began to felt uncomfortable, not because of my usual doubts, but because the lobby had too many people. Too many people were there, and many of them were talking happily among themselves, but to me, they were just making a lot of noise even though it was very early in the morning. A few days without suffering wounds and without being mistreated changed the mood of the survivors. It was noisy, but the depressed atmosphere vanished. So, I couldn¡¯t complain. Even the survivors who came from the north looked full of energy, many of them lost their parents and friends, but they finally were free again. Finally, they were able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. ¡°It¡¯s a pretty good sight,¡± Charles said while he was approaching. ¡°You did a good job here too.¡± Charles was really looking the apart walking around with a spear which occasionally emitted electricity. Without the blood or the dirt covering his body, I could finally see his real appearance. He had blond hair and brown eyes; although I didn¡¯t have any good memory about him, he looked to be a friendly guy. But since I needed evolution coins, I was thinking about taking that spear from that apparent friendly guy. ¡°I didn¡¯t much here, the others did.¡± ¡°Yeah, you are the silent type who likes to work in the shadows,¡± Charles said while shrugging. ¡°You didn¡¯t change much since two years ago, always trying to stay alone and always trying to do everything by yourself.¡± So, he remembered a few things of me, huh, aside from being beaten down of course. Anyway, talk about the past wasn¡¯t something that I liked to do. So, I just kept my mouth shut. ¡°Anyway, what should I do in this place?¡± Charles asked. ¡°Aside from pretending that I don¡¯t know you.¡± ¡°Just don¡¯t cause problems for me, and that will be more than enough.¡± ¡°I thought that you would demand a lot of things from me,¡± Charles said while frowning. ¡°He is the type who would rather do everything by himself,¡± Claire said after abruptly appearing. ¡°His pride wouldn¡¯t allow him to force others to do anything for him or in his place.¡± Charles almost fell on the floor thanks to the surprise. Claire had heard our conversation, so, he began to sweat a lot. ¡°Don¡¯t worry; she was the one who gave me the idea to deal with the troublemakers in the north. She knows everything that happened there too.¡± Charles dropped his guard, but I kept an eye on the radar the entire time. So, Claire didn¡¯t surprise me. Her presence was welcomed because of her presence, no one would suspect anything, even if I talk with Charles for more than a few minutes. ¡°Seriously?¡± Charles asked after cleaning the sweat on his forehead. ¡°You scared the shit out of me.¡± ¡°Sorry about that,¡± Claire said. ¡°So, did you notice something different among the survivors after Ethan left?¡± ¡°No, why do you ask?¡± Charles asked while frowning. ¡°If you didn¡¯t notice anything, then it¡¯s fine,¡± Claire explained. ¡°I just considered the possibility of that woman might have infiltrated someone among your group.¡± I froze on the spot, and so did Charles. We had never considered that possibility; I guess he wasn¡¯t very smart either. ¡°I was just asking,¡± Claire said while frowning. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is something we should worry about. She didn¡¯t look the type she would use her brain that much.¡± Well, that much was obvious. But in any case, we still should be careful. We will suffer a lot of damage if someone among us attacks from behind in an eventual confrontation with the woman in the west. ¡°Did you mentioned that possibility to the others?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Claire answered. ¡°Before they left to escort the survivors, I told that to Sandra, Rose, and Sarah. So, while they were checking the survivors, they probably also looked for the most suspicious survivors. Although the most suspicious survivors are that group under your control.¡± The best way to avoid that kind of problem was using the skill domination on everyone. But, Harry and the others wouldn¡¯t even consider that option. We wouldn¡¯t demand anything unreasonable from the survivors, but even I was aware of the dangers of putting a person under the absolute control of another person. They were a bit too idealistic, but because of that, they were good leaders. ¡°Can¡¯t you check the survivors using one of your skills?¡± Claire asked. ¡°We will help most of them, so, you will have plenty of chances to check them.¡± ¡°No, while I can see the information of other survivors, the skill is only at level four. Right now, I can only see the HP, MP, STA, and at what level the limits of the survivors and monsters are. I created a lot of ammo overnight, so I will use my MP today only to check the survivors and raise the skill¡¯s level.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Good idea,¡± Claire said. ¡°The survivors who came from the north are stronger, and all the survivors here already obtained new skills. So, I don¡¯t think you will need to keep an eye on them for the entire day, but just to make sure, I will try to help them more. ¡°You sure have a lot of useful skills, huh,¡± Charles said while frowning. ¡°Your offensive skills must be pretty crazy.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have an offensive skill, not yet.¡± While I could create the spiritual knife, it wasn¡¯t per se an offensive attack. While the sensorial limits could make me aware of the presences nearby, it wasn¡¯t that useful in terms of combat. After all, just knowing the position of the enemies wasn¡¯t enough to hurt them. ¡°Are you serious?¡± Charles asked astonished. ¡°And I wondered why you didn¡¯t use offensive skills while you fought against Ken. I thought you didn¡¯t have enough MP. You tried and succeeded in getting rid of Ken¡¯s gang without possessing an offensive skill; you are more insane than I thought.¡± No, I was just dumb. But I would never say that out loud. Even if everyone already knew that. As long as I was trying to improve and learn from my mistakes, there was no shame in that. No, it was a bit shameful. But I would never say that out loud too. After a few more minutes, Harry and the others appeared. Sandra, Rose, and Sarah looked pretty tired. But after using the statue to create some energy drinks, they looked a lot better. Since it had already become a habit, I just waited for Claire to select ten random survivors. And then we left the hotel to kill the nearby monsters, a few other groups left and headed toward different directions. But soon they return because they suffered many constant ambushes. Since it would be too difficult to make sure that I would check all the survivors, I decided to do it only after we left the hotel. Luckily for me, Rose and Sara wrote down on a notebook the names of those who went with us, to make sure everyone would receive the same opportunities to hunt the monsters in relative safety.
Survivor A ¨C HP: 245 MP: 121 STA: 225 Physical limit Lv 11, Mental limit Lv 06, Sensorial limit 01.
Survivor B ¨C HP: 93 MP: 280 STA: 93 Physical limit Lv 4, Mental limit Lv 12, Sensorial limit 01.
Survivor C ¨C HP: 201 MP: 80 STA: 201 Physical limit Lv 10, Mental limit Lv 03, Sensorial limit 01.
¡­
As I expected, I had to level up that skill more. I couldn¡¯t see anything strange on them either. But I wondered why those survivors didn¡¯t break their sensorial limits eve a single time. A few of them had long-ranged weapons, but they didn¡¯t really try to kill or cause damage to the monsters from afar. ¡®Are they thinking that I will help them forever? Or they really think the sensorial limit is useless?¡¯ It was probably both options, and they couldn¡¯t be more wrong in thinking that. While the sensorial limit was useless in terms of defense and attack, it saved my life many times. Also, because of it, I could outspeed most of the monsters. But it wasn¡¯t like they were wrong either, it was a matter of preference, breaking the physical limit to become sturdier or break the mental limit to kill the monsters as fast as possible. I guess I was an anomaly; I only wanted to break the sensorial limit after all. I wanted to notice my enemies even before they could see me. The vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow improved a lot, as long as my bolts hit them, I could kill the small fries in a second. But, I couldn¡¯t reload the crossbow instantly anymore. To take the empty cartridge and put a fully loaded one on the crossbow, I needed to use five seconds. Fortunately, Claire was there to cover me in the meantime. At the end of that day, I managed to level up that skill, and now I could see a few of the survivors¡¯ skills. It was very useful, but for some reason, I could only see their weakest skills. I will probably be able to see the others when the skill analyze reaches the next level. But, I didn¡¯t notice any suspicious skills among the survivors. On that day, Claire, the kids, and I helped one hundred survivors. At that pace, I wouldn¡¯t be able to check every survivor. So, I decided to meditate near the statue and use the skill to analyze everyone. It wasn¡¯t an ethical thing to do, but thanks to Claire, I was worried about the possibility of a spy being among us. And that feeling would only disappear after I make sure every single survivor in that place was clean. Because I used that skill on almost everyone multiple times, the analyze skill had leveled up again. Now I finally could see all the survivors¡¯ skills. However, only that wasn¡¯t enough to confirm if a person wasn¡¯t a spy or not. So, I kept using the skill. But soon, I stopped.
Survivor A ¨C HP: 50 MP: 720 STA: 50 Physical limit Lv 01, Mental limit Lv 19, Sensorial limit 01. Skill: Fireball Lv 03, Mana Cost Reduction Lv 05, Telepathy Lv 07
¡®How in the hell didn¡¯t I notice that guy?¡¯ Aside from the council¡¯s members and me, he was probably the strongest survivor. But only that wasn¡¯t enough to make him a suspicious person. However, his last skill caught my attention. It wasn¡¯t a combat skill, but the level of that skill was too high. Aside from me, I didn¡¯t find any survivor who had leveled up a non-combat skill so much. That guy didn¡¯t look suspicious at all; he was an average guy who didn¡¯t avoid the other survivors. In fact, he was cheerfully talking with other survivors while he was eating. He had black hair and eyes; he didn¡¯t look strong nor weak. He wasn¡¯t tall or short. Everything on him was average. ¡®He doesn¡¯t look like a spy at all, but, I have to make sure of it.¡¯ After confirming that no one was looking at me, I activated the cape¡¯s effect and headed toward Claire. She was having dinner with the kids, so, to not alarm any other survivors, I decided to whisper in her ears. ¡°Claire, I need a favor.¡± My entire plan almost crumbled when Claire dropped on the floor, her plate full of food. But luckily, no one noticed it because the lobby was very noisy. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± Clair asked with a red face. ¡°Why are you blushing? Also, don¡¯t look for me and just keep eating.¡± ¡°Because you whispered very close to my ears,¡± Claire said after resuming her dinner. ¡°If you do that again I will make you regret it.¡± ¡°You are so weird. Anyway, I think I found someone suspicious when you finish eating go look for Rose and Sarah and help them to look at their notes if someone among the survivors has the skill telepathy.¡± ¡°Already? You sure work fast.¡± Claire said, showing surprise in her voice. ¡°Just do it, if you guys don¡¯t find a person who has that skill, then that guy is a spy. I will wait here and keep my eyes on him.¡± ¡°Roger that,¡± Claire said and then she began to eat a little faster. We were really in trouble if that guy was a spy, we didn¡¯t decide many things. But we already decided how our survivors¡¯ camp would work, and the woman in the west could use that against us. To make matters worse, that guy probably already observed us and reported about our skills. Maybe that woman wasn¡¯t foolish after all. Chapter 045 The most powerful survivor (1) After half an hour, Claire returned, she looked tense, and she brought with her all the members of the council. She worked even faster than me. I deactivated the skill to make them able to see me. ¡°I presume you guys didn¡¯t find a guy with that kind of skill, right?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°We already memorized the faces of most people who possess useful skills such as yours and Sarah¡¯s skill. But no one mentioned to us about telepathy. Who is the person who has that skill?¡± ¡°That black-haired guy who is wearing a red ring near the entrance door.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem like a spy to me,¡± Harry said while frowning. ¡°If you don¡¯t know, most real-life spies are people who can easily disappear in the middle of a crowd,¡± Rose explained. ¡°A spy needs to be someone who doesn''t attract attention to himself.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t tell us about his skill,¡± Sandra said. ¡°But that isn¡¯t enough to incriminate him. Let¡¯s not be rash, that said. Harry and Charles should go to the entrance door to block his way if he tries to run. After that, the rest of us will talk to him. We can¡¯t use skills, but be careful, he may have some item to give him the chance to escape. Let¡¯s subtly surround him, but remember, don¡¯t be rash.¡± Everyone nodded, so without wasting time, Harry and Charles headed toward the entrance door without looking at the suspect. When they were in position, the rest of us walked toward the guy. At first, I thought he had just been controlled like the guys in the north, so I didn¡¯t complain when Sandra said not to act rashly. He could be a spy without him even noticing it, after all. There was a chance the woman in the west made him sent daily reports to her, and after the report, she would make him forget about that. The skill domination was that powerful. However, I discarded that idea when for a fraction of a second, I saw the surprise on his face when he noticed our approach. ¡°Hello, may I talk with for a second?¡± Sandra asked while smiling. ¡°Sure, what is it?¡± The black-haired guy said after he got up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Sandra said while slightly bowing her head. ¡°I talked with you for a few minutes last night, but since I talked with so many people, I forgot your name.¡± ¡°No problem, that is understandable. My name is Karl.¡± Karl said while smiling. Sandra looked at Rose and Sarah while they were looking at Karl¡¯s information, Sarah didn¡¯t find anything, but Rose did, and then she shook her head. ¡°Karl,¡± Sandra said with a more serious tone in her voice. ¡°I will give you only one chance to explain why you hide from us the fact that you have the skill telepathy.¡± Karl froze on the spot, but soon he recovered, he was quite good at that. But that was only getting on my nerves. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Karl said while faking a confused expression. In any other situation, he would have fooled me, but my improved senses made me notice every single of his reactions which proved that he was a spy. I was sure of that since Sandra mentioned his last skill, his heart has been beating like crazy. ¡°He is lying.¡± Although my words were firm, Sandra and the others didn¡¯t look convinced. Karl was a good actor, even though he was surrounded and his heart was beating a lot, he was able to maintain his composure. ¡°Dude¡­ you shouldn¡¯t accuse someone without proof.¡± Karl said, while looking at me and smiling. ¡°I can see all your skills and status, dude. I can also hear your heart beating. You probably broke only your mental limits to make you able to use telepathy from long distances. The first skill you obtained is only at level three; it is hard to find an explanation of why an active skill is only at that level after more than forty days have passed since the monsters appeared. You won¡¯t fool me.¡± Thanks to my words, Karl became speechless. He probably didn¡¯t expect to see someone who could do that; I guess my skills were more uncommon than I thought. After the surprise, he decided to change his strategy. ¡°Is that how things work here?¡± Karl shouted. ¡°A single person¡¯s words were more than enough to blame another? Or is it because you wanted my coins and items?¡± Violence wasn¡¯t permitted inside the hotel, so he tried to make a scene. He probably was thinking about creating and use a commotion to escape. ¡°Shut your damn mouth, or I will fill it with my crossbows. I can do that, right? As long as I don¡¯t cause damage that doesn¡¯t count, right?¡± I didn¡¯t know this guy for a long time, but I really hated him, and I couldn¡¯t remember me hating so much a single person. Pretty much all people hated liars and traitors, but just hating wasn¡¯t enough for me, I wanted to use him to feed the monsters outside the hotel. ¡°Will you permit him to say this kind of thing?¡± Karl said. ¡°You believe in him just because he is your friend, right? This place is a farce! You guys are will only use us! To hell with this place!¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Karl tried to leave, but Harry and Charles blocked his path. He showed an angry face, and then he pointed upward. ¡°I¡¯m going to the other survivor¡¯s camp,¡± Karl shouted angrily. ¡°This place is full of liars!¡± Almost everyone looked to the map on the ceiling, even Claire, Harry, and the others. But that hadn¡¯t been just a coincidence, Karl had planned everything. While he focused their attention of everyone on the ceiling, he picked a round object hidden inside his clothes. ¡®A smoke bomb?¡¯ Before I could totally see the object I ran to stop him; I couldn¡¯t let that guy run away. I grabbed his arm, but at the same time, he pushed some button, and I saw the description of that thing.
Return Stone: Click one time to save a place in this item''s memory, click again to be transported to that exact place.
¡®Holy shit!¡¯ Before I could even try to get away from him, the space around me changed. I had been engulfed by darkness, but soon I returned to the lobby of the hotel, but it wasn¡¯t the same hotel. Karl looked at me surprised; it seemed he didn¡¯t know that he could transport other people alongside him. ¡°Arrest him! He is an enemy!¡± Charles shouted while pointing at me. Immediately I activated the cape¡¯s effect, and then I run toward the interior of the hotel. After I saw Charles, I saw guards a few meters in front of me, and a beautiful woman sitting on a throne, it was the crazy bitch.
Survivor A ¨C HP: 1605 MP: 3222 STA: 1605 Physical limit Lv 25, Mental limit Lv 30, Sensorial limit 01. Skills: Sleep Lv 07, Shockwave Lv 06, Goddess of Illusions Lv 08, Vitality Shield Lv 05, Frost Bite Lv 03, Fire Rain Lv 03.
Although she was gorgeous thanks to her red hair, green eyes, and nice body, that place was too uncomfortable for me, so I left without even looking behind. The entrance door was being blocked for two guards, so I decided to look for another exit. Not to mention, she was absurdly stronger; I didn¡¯t have a chance against her and her minions. Anyway, why does everyone hates so much the sensorial limit? ¡°You returned faster than I thought, Karl,¡± The crazy bitch said while frowning. ¡°And you also brought with you a strange individual.¡± Thanks to my improved senses, I could hear their conversation even while I was trying to look for an exit. But that was the last of my worries. ¡®What is it with those crazy skills!?¡¯ All her skills seemed incredible beyond reason; she could, without a doubt, destroy our base by herself if she really could make rain fire. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ann,¡± Karl said with his head down. ¡°That guy discovered about my telepathy, without me noticing it, he and his friends surrounded me.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Ann said. ¡°He can see our skills and can also become invisible; he could become a better spy than you. It¡¯s a pity his appearance doesn¡¯t suit my tastes.¡± ¡®Shut up crazy bitch¡­ I don¡¯t care about your preferences, and there¡¯s no way in hell I would become one of your toys.¡¯ But, there was also a chance she was forcing the other survivors to obey her using the skill goddess of illusions. What a name for a skill, but that name only showed how powerful that skill was. While they were leisurely talking on the lobby, I tried to open all the windows, but the windows didn¡¯t move an inch, and I didn¡¯t even manage to scratch after using all my strength. ¡°Anyway, you already gave me plenty of information about them,¡± Ann said, showing a bored expression. ¡°They don¡¯t stand a chance against my army, much less against me. It¡¯s a pity, but I will have to kill all of them, even that Harry.¡± ¡°Ann, please stop this,¡± Karl begged, showing a sad expression. ¡°There is still time to reconsider, we made some mistakes, but we don¡¯t have to cause more deaths. While they aren¡¯t as strong as you, they have many survivors with a lot of potential. Let¡¯s ignore them; they don¡¯t intend to take unnecessary risks; they only want to survive.¡± ¡°I already offered them my terms,¡± Ann said, annoyed. ¡°And they didn¡¯t accept my generous offer, those who defy me will perish. They will suffer because they don¡¯t understand how things work now.¡± ¡°Ann¡­¡± Karl insisted. ¡°Shut up!¡± Ann shouted. ¡°Your job is over, go to your room and wait for your new orders. I will deal with that guy myself, the only way to leave this place is by using the entrance door after all.¡± I didn¡¯t want to believe in her words, so I carefully checked the windows and the backdoor. But she was right, the only way to enter and leave the hotel was using the entrance door. How in the hell didn¡¯t I notice that early? It was probably because I didn¡¯t spend much time exploring the hotel. To make matters worse, that place was crowded with survivors, and I had to keep my invisibility active for a long time. That place wasn¡¯t depressing like the survivors¡¯ camp in the north, but in a way, it was even worse, because there were only men in that place. ¡®Fucking sausage feast¡­¡¯ It was almost midnight, so most of the survivors were already sleeping. Only a few of them got up after hearing Karl¡¯s shout. Or they were entirely under Ann¡¯s control, or they didn¡¯t really care about her problems. It was probably the second option because she only cared about the good looking guys, and only a handful of the survivors seemed to suit her tastes. After ten minutes running around, I stopped to calm myself. I had to meditate to at least recover some MP because my stock of lemonade was limited. Fortunately, the effect of skill doubled when it reached level two. ¡®At least one good thing happened.¡¯ While invisible and meditating, I analyzed my situation carefully. I couldn¡¯t run without meeting the crazy bitch¡¯s guards in the lobby, and I also couldn¡¯t fight. The crazy bitch and her minions couldn¡¯t attack either, but everything else was possible, and they had the numbers to do everything else. ¡®I can¡¯t escape, nor fight. Now what?¡¯ It was hard to admit, but my only option was to wait for reinforcements. However, it was too na?ve to think Harry and the others would mobilize all the survivors to help a single person. Only someone stupid would do that. ¡®But they are stupid enough to select a few survivors and at least try to rescue me.¡¯ What an embarrassing situation¡­ waiting to be rescued was without a doubt, the most shameful thing I had to do in my life. Not, it was the second most embarrassing thing. But that was probably my pride talking for me. Even a stupid guy like me had some pride. ¡®Please don¡¯t come, I don¡¯t want to owe you guys any more favors.¡¯ I was foolish beyond reason; I would rather face an unavoidable death than wait to be helped. I knew that was crazy, but it wasn¡¯t like I would lose anything. My only goal in life was to meet my family and hear from them why they left me in that area. I didn¡¯t have anything planned to do after that. Their answer wouldn¡¯t make me feel better; anyway, it would only make me feel worse. So, it was better to try to die while fighting and trying to escape. ¡°Why, Ann?¡± Karl said sobbing. ¡°Why don¡¯t you accept my feelings?¡± Or, I could use the guy who has a crush on a crazy bitch. Chapter 046 the most powerful survivor (2) Carefully, I searched for Karl¡¯s room. Although he was a guy who may have caused our destruction, I was feeling a little bad because I was thinking about using his feelings to save my skin. But I was in that situation because of him, it wasn''t entirely his fault, but I wouldn¡¯t hesitate. Even though it seemed Karl knew the crazy bitch from a long time, he wasn¡¯t receiving any good treatment like her toys. So, his room wasn¡¯t near her room, and that part of the hotel was crowded with survivors. They were sleeping on the floor or on improvised beds. But at least he had a room to himself, thanks to it, I would be able to talk to him without worrying about being discovered. Well, only if he accepts to talk. Slowly, I opened the door of his room. Fortunately, no one noticed me, the survivors were too tired, and Karl was too busy crying for the crazy bitch. Seeing a grown-up man crying for love was somewhat unnerving, but he didn¡¯t look much older than me, so I thought that wasn¡¯t all that pathetic. For a moment, I hesitated. He was an enemy, and he gave plenty of information about us to that crazy bitch. My chances in succeeding talking to him were close to none; my best chance was to use my speed to cross the lobby and use the momentum to open the door before the guards could notice what had happened. The crazy bitch put other two guards near the entrance door, and he was still on her throne in front of the statue and with a clear view of the entrance door. But even if a succeeded, what would I do? I didn¡¯t know the effective range of the crazy bitch¡¯s skills, the chances of me dying outside the hotel were too big. ¡®I have to collect more information about her; half-assed plans will only lead me to my demise. And the only one who can give me the necessary information is him.¡¯ However, I couldn¡¯t just start the conversation saying anything; I had to grab his attention with a single sentence to make him not start a commotion. But what kind of thing would grab his attention? ¡°You really love her, huh.¡± Karl suddenly got up and looked around his room, but he saw nothing. He recognized my voice but didn¡¯t shout. Instead, embarrassed, he cleaned his eyes and face. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Karl asked, showing a lot of anger on his face and voice.¡± Just give up and surrender, you won¡¯t escape from this place.¡± ¡°Maybe I will do that, but let¡¯s talk a little bit.¡± ¡°I have nothing to talk to you,¡± Charles said, and then he headed toward the door. ¡°I¡¯m going to call the guards.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not make a scene, okay? I don¡¯t want to kill you.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t kill me here,¡± Karl said. ¡°No, but my small army of assholes can. I can give them the order to buy hundreds of grenades and make them destroy this place. That woman may survive, but I don¡¯t think you will.¡± Karl looked astonished; she didn¡¯t expect that I had such skill. He thought I was just useful in finding monsters and collect information about other survivors. ¡°However, I don¡¯t want to kill you. Until you and that woman don¡¯t cause us any damage, you aren¡¯t our enemies.¡± ¡°Are you sure of that?¡± Karl said while frowning. ¡°You are very na?ve.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so; when we arrived at this place, you gave the guards the order to arrest me. Besides, you tried to convince that woman to stop with her actions. Just like us, you want to avoid any more deaths. You and she may have caused the death of many other survivors, but our objective is to survive, we aren¡¯t here to deliver justice. Like I said, until you don¡¯t attack us, you aren¡¯t our enemies.¡± I was speaking for myself, and I was pretty sure the others wouldn¡¯t agree with me. But they weren¡¯t stupid enough to attack the crazy bitch knowing that they don¡¯t stand a chance. Probably. ¡°Let¡¯s just talk, alright? If you help me, we may save many lives. We don¡¯t need to attack each other, the hell broke loose, and the last thing we need to do is to make the remaining survivors kill each other.¡± Karl didn¡¯t like that prospect, but he didn¡¯t trust me either. I could clearly see that in his eyes, but in the end, he just sighed and sat on his bed. ¡°I will cooperate,¡± Karl said, showing a grim expression. ¡°But at the very moment I think you are going to cause any problem for us, I won¡¯t rest until I see your dead body.¡± So scary¡­ his threat would be very effective if I didn¡¯t have saw him crying because of his crush a few moments ago. ¡°Alright, do you know anyone who can put some reason in her head? Or is there any way to do it? Like family and friends, or perhaps a memory?¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°She is an orphan like me,¡± Karl said, looking a little sad. ¡°I¡¯m her only friend, and I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a thing like that which can make her change her mind. She is beautiful, but she doesn¡¯t have any good memories because of it.¡± ¡°Are you serious? She looks like she is having the time of her life because of her power and looks.¡± ¡°Did you take a close look on her bodyguards?¡± Karl asked. ¡°No, why?¡± ¡°If you look at their eyes, you will understand it,¡± Karl said, showing a pained expression. ¡°They idolize her; for them, she is the most important thing in the world. But it is not because they truly love her; it is because she altered their memories.¡± ¡°Did she do that with the skill goddess of illusions?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Karl answered with his head down. Holy shit¡­ that skill was even crazier than the skill domination. It was probably even pricier than the telekinesis; by using that skill, she really could become the queen of the entire world. No one would try to disobey her, by altering the people¡¯s memories, she could really become a goddess in their eyes. ¡°That sounds scary¡­ when can she use that skill?¡± ¡°When the targets are sleeping,¡± Karl answered. Oh shit¡­ she already had the skill to make anyone sleep, and I didn¡¯t have any idea how I could counter that effect. I wondered what would happen with her bodyguards if she dies, but I couldn¡¯t ask that to Karl. She was a crazy bitch, but he loved her, and they were probably childhood friends. I couldn¡¯t make him notice that I was considering that. ¡°Do you know why she is acting like this? I mean, is there any explanation why she wants to be surrounded by good looking guys? Why there¡¯s no children and women here?¡± ¡°Ann always has been beautiful,¡± Karl said, showing a small smile. ¡°Even in the orphanage, as a child, she received many jobs to pose in those fashion magazines. Because of that, at an early age, she already knew what she wanted to be: a model. But the world is big, you know. While I had never seen a woman more beautiful than her, other people have their own opinions. She participated in many beauty contests and many fashion shows. But she never stood out as much as she wanted. Because of it, in recent years, she got obsessed with getting other people¡¯s attention. And when the monsters appeared, she obtained the necessary skills to do what he wanted: to be the only person on everyone¡¯s eyes.¡± An egocentric person, huh. That was a pain in the ass. Maybe I don¡¯t have the right to judge, but her reasons seemed very petty. She was already beautiful, but she didn¡¯t accept to be in second place. She always wanted to be in the spotlight. But that didn¡¯t explain why there was no children or women there. But I was pretty sure she couldn¡¯t use her skills to make children love her, I mean, children can love their parents, but it¡¯s not the kind of love Ann wanted. Maybe she could do that with women, but those women had first to prefer women over men. Because of her greedy and lust, she lost sight of the most important things. She always had what she wanted, Karl loved her more than anything else, but she didn¡¯t notice it. ¡®What a pain in the ass¡­¡¯ I have no idea how to deal with her; she wouldn¡¯t listen to me. I only had two options, kill her or control her using the skill domination. But she was too prideful for that, even if I put her into a corner and completely defeat her, she would rather die than obey my commands, I was sure of it. However, I didn¡¯t have the means to achieve any of those. Even with the help of others, I wouldn¡¯t succeed. ¡®Probably, half of our survivors won¡¯t become fighters. So, the crazy bitch¡¯s army outnumbers us in three to one. Maybe her overall army strength isn¡¯t bigger than ours, but our side will hesitate in fighting against other humans.¡¯ We only had one option, run away from her. It was unnerving to run away from someone like her, but we didn¡¯t have much choice. ¡°She changed the memories of how many survivors?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Karl said. ¡°She couldn¡¯t use that skill frequently, but she had plenty of time to recover her MP in this place. Besides, she demanded ninety percent of all survivors¡¯ evolution coins, so she had the chance to buy a lot of potions. At least, fifty percent of the survivors here are under her control. Will you try to start a rebellion?¡± ¡°Not a violent rebellion, but if half of the survivors here join our side, she maybe will hesitate a little.¡± I was really considering a violent rebellion, but too many people would die, so, I couldn¡¯t risk it. The death of innocent people would drive me crazy; my mind would suffer much more damage than the time when I killed those criminals and Ken¡¯s gang. I didn¡¯t regret a single time my actions against them, but I couldn¡¯t sacrifice innocents just to save my skin. If I do that, then I would truly become a monster. ¡®What a pain¡­ why is it so hard to try to be a reasonable person?¡¯ The enemy can change the memories of their minions, but I have to keep worrying about things like good or evil. Why can¡¯t I defeat the enemy using the same dirty tactics? I didn¡¯t have any reasons to keep playing that stupid game. But in the end, I was a person who couldn¡¯t let myself to become like my enemies. It was only an excuse to make me feel good about myself, but I couldn¡¯t become as bad as my enemy. ¡°I guess there¡¯s nothing we can do about this whole situation.¡± ¡°Is that so,¡± Karl said, showing a sad face. ¡°Unless you offer your life to stop her.¡± ¡°What?¡± Karl asked, surprised. ¡°I mean, talk to her and say that you will join the enemy¡¯s side our suicide if she doesn¡¯t stop. You are her childhood friend, right? There¡¯s a chance that will be enough to make her stop.¡± ¡°She won¡¯t listen to that,¡± Karl said. ¡°She will kill me if I try to stop her even a little bit more.¡± I figured as much, once a person obtains grand things, she won¡¯t care about the small ones. Karl was just a tiny thing for Ann. For her, someone so average like Karl didn¡¯t matter; she instead preferred her good looking bodyguards who obeyed all her commands. Although they were no more than puppets, they were even less than dolls, after all, they lost their free will. She was living a life full of lies, she didn¡¯t truly love her bodyguards, and she refused the love of someone who always stood by her side, even when she did unforgivable things. In some aspects, we were alike. I was also running away from many things, and I also was lying to myself. So I decided to do to her the thing I would hate if someone did to me: rub the truth on her face. I deactivated the invisibility, and then I left the room, it was time to make a bet. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Karl asked, confused. ¡°I¡¯m going to do the thing I¡¯m most talented at, I¡¯m going to piss off someone.¡± Chapter 047 the most powerful survivor (3) While I was walking toward the lobby, I was reviewing a few things about the skills that I had learned. First of all, every skill had its strengths and weakness. For example, while telekinesis was powerful, but the user had to keep his focus on the object. Rose was very talented, but she couldn¡¯t move much while controlling the objects. To move around, she would have to pay attention to what direction she would go and where she would put her feet. That was more than enough to make her unable to control her glaives at a high-speed. Another problem the skills had was the user. A skill couldn¡¯t do a single thing by itself, so, a skill could be useful or couldn¡¯t do anything depending on the person who was using it. Any skill could be countered, as long as a human being was using it. I was betting on that possibility to make me escape from that situation. I couldn¡¯t run, and I couldn¡¯t fight, my best option was to find the weakness of that woman¡¯s skill. I was already in deep waters, so, might as well bet everything on that idea. My plan was far from perfect, but I couldn¡¯t make that plan better just by waiting or thinking. So, I decided to use the woman¡¯s words against her while offering her some advice. On the best-case scenario, she would let me go and forget us, and on the worst scenario, I would die. But, oh well, I might as well die fighting too. I couldn¡¯t use offensive skills inside the hotel, but I still could create a spiritual knife. So, I created it, and I stored it in my body. Maybe it would come in handy, maybe not. But, no one ever died for being too careful. When I returned to the lobby, Ann showed a surprised expression. I could understand why Karl was so in love with her, even though she had a terrible personality. ¡°Look who has returned,¡± Ann said while showing a small smile. ¡°Did you return here to surrender?¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good. I came here to talk a little.¡± ¡°Talk about what?¡± Ann asked, confused. ¡°About you and your actions, I¡¯m not the best person to say this, but you should stop while you can.¡± Ann¡¯s carefree expression disappeared, and I could see the anger in her eyes. She looked at me like I was nothing more than an insect; she really had a superiority complex. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much people died because of you, and I don¡¯t care about either. I also don¡¯t care how you intend to manage this place. But if you continue to do as you please, you will die without nothing.¡± ¡°What did you say?¡± Ann asked emitting hostility with her voice. ¡°You are living a life full of lies; you don¡¯t have the right to change other people¡¯s memories. Right now, you don¡¯t love those guys, and they don¡¯t truly love you either. For how long do you intend to lie to yourself? Don¡¯t tell me that you also want to become a queen. Will you create a new country? Will you become the queen of a country full of monsters?¡± Holy crap¡­ did I really have to say those words? I was feeling very uncomfortable because of it; I didn¡¯t have the right to say that because I was full of flaws. But at least my words had some effect on Ann. She looked very pissed, her bodyguards too. But even though she was unreasonable, she wasn¡¯t stupid enough not to recognize that I was telling the truth. ¡°Right now we don¡¯t know how the other cities are holding up we don¡¯t even know if we will find other survivors in this country or in the others. Do you really think that we have the time and the people to waste fighting against each other? Stop wasting time with your petty actions, or you will condemn all humanity to extinction.¡± For a few moments, Ann studied me with a grim expression. She was far smarter than me since she didn¡¯t become furious because of my words. She knew that eventually, she would get bored of being worshiped by her bodyguards. If you eat your favorite food every day, soon you will get sick of it. In essence, it was the same. ¡°You have two options: let me go and forget about us. You can play with your skill in this place; we will ignore you. But, you should let the survivors who aren¡¯t under your control go and create their own survivals¡¯ camp or join ours. The second option is to kill me and start a war with the other survivors, they may die, but you will suffer a lot of damage. Perhaps you will lose all your bodyguards in that war. It¡¯s your choice.¡± She had three options; she could use her skill to put me under her control. But I couldn¡¯t say it, the bait was too obvious, after all. Maybe it wasn¡¯t a bait; perhaps I was just ridiculously giving her the chance to put me under her control. But it wasn¡¯t like I could do much in that situation, the chances were small. But I still could counter her skill because I already knew how the skill worked. Well, more or less. ¡°I will choose the third option,¡± Ann said, smiling. ¡°I will make you kill your friends, and after that, I will delete all your memories, and you will become a worm.¡± My plan had succeeded, but her creativity scared me. If I fail, I will kill many innocent people, and in the end, I will become a worm. ¡®Crazy bitch¡­ you will die by my hands.¡¯ Her bodyguards surrounded me, and without even touching me, they forced me to leave the hotel. Ann followed us while smiling, and because she looked so sure of herself, I began to change my mind about the plan of countering her skill. But when I thought about that, her bodyguards put their weapons near my neck. One slight wrong movement and I would lose my head.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. When we all were outside the hotel, Ann began to sing, and I began to feel tired. She was using the skill sleep; she was far more prudent than Ken. Before I could notice, everything around me disappeared, and I was surrounded by darkness. I couldn¡¯t move, nor could I feel anything, I couldn¡¯t even hear my heart beating. After a few instants, I heard footsteps, and Ann appeared, before she or I could say anything, she created a throne identical to her actual throne, and she sat. ¡°Welcome, this is my world,¡± Ann said, showing a condescending smile. ¡°The goddess of illusions¡¯ world.¡± ¡°So you call yourself a goddess, huh. You are even more full of yourself than Ken.¡± ¡°Who is Ken?¡± Ann said, showing a surprised expression. ¡°The idiot who caused problems in the north, I killed him and his minions. Didn¡¯t you send Karl to spy him and his group?¡± ¡°Oh! His name was Ken!¡± Ann said. ¡°I totally forget about him. A guy who was so full of himself because he had an electric stick doesn¡¯t deserve my attention.¡± ¡°Look who is talking¡­ anyway, why don¡¯t you start already? I don¡¯t have all day to play with you. So, how will you change my memories?¡± ¡°It¡¯s pretty simple,¡± Ann said after she raised her index finger. ¡°I will just alter your most important memories and put myself in the center of them. After that, I will make you see those memories hundreds of times and presto! You will become my mindless servant.¡± ¡°Wow! What a disgusting skill! It¡¯s more like brainwashing than you showing illusions. I guess this will take a long time to take effect.¡± ¡°Not really,¡± Ann explained. ¡°The time in this place is different than in the real world. Years inside this place is less than a few minutes outside.¡± That was a bit scary, instead of changing my memories, I would become crazy if she decided to torture me. But probably she couldn¡¯t do that; she was the kind of person who would do that if she had the chance. ¡°Shall we start? Or I should I see some of your most embarrassing memories?¡± Ann said. Now that worried me a little; I had a lot of embarrassing memories that I would take with me to the grave. The world wasn¡¯t ready to know about those memories, and I wasn¡¯t even a bit interested in sharing them with other people. Not even with my family. A lot of TV screens appeared in a line in front of Ann, in those screens I could see many things that I saw with my eyes along with my entire life. But a few of those scenes didn¡¯t look much familiar. ¡°If we are talking about embarrassing moments, there is a period of life we will find many of those. right?¡± Ann said, looking pretty excited. ¡°Puberty!¡± Ah, crap¡­ what did I do to deserve that? Why the first person to discover my most embarrassing secret had to be the city¡¯s number one bitch? No more plans and I won¡¯t take any more stupid actions. I will become a robot and follow all of Sandra¡¯s orders. If I do that, I won¡¯t probably get in trouble anymore. ¡°Let¡¯s see, let¡¯s see,¡± Ann said while she examined many screens. ¡°What is this? As a man, it seems that you didn¡¯t spend much time in the bathroom. Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± The crazy bitch was really having the time of her life, while she was examined many memories with excitement, I just wanted to bury my face on a hole. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t move a muscle in that place. So my despair and shame rose to levels never before reached. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it!¡± Ann said while she was laughing out loud. ¡°You! You! You!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare say it!¡± ¡°You never had an erection in your entire life!¡± Ann said while laughing even more. ¡°You are totally impotent!¡± Slowly, I could see my HP decreasing; I suffered a fatal blow. Although I couldn¡¯t see my status in that place, I was so depressed that I imagined my HP dropping. My life was over, from all things she could learn from my life; the first she learned was my most embarrassing secret. Now I could become her minion even without the brainwashing, as long as she keeps that secret, I was willing to become her most loyal subject. I was pathetic beyond reason, I was dumb, impulsive, and selfish, I probably had some mental problems, and many other things. The other survivors already knew that, and I couldn¡¯t care less about their opinion. However, when it comes to my most shameful secret, I was very, very sensitive. That was a bit controversial, but I couldn¡¯t let anyone know about that. I would rather die than make that public, but that wasn¡¯t an option anymore. If the crazy bitch decides to share this with others, I won''t kill myself, but I would move to the South Pole. I would hunt the monsters there, and I will live a hermit life. I didn¡¯t know how much time had passed, but after what had seemed ten minutes, Ann stopped laughing. She laughed so much that she trembled on the floor. ¡°Oh boy,¡± Ann said after cleaning the tears on her eyes. ¡°This has been the highest point in my entire week. Even my bodyguards didn¡¯t make me feel that good.¡± She really had to make that comparison, huh. She was really a slut, Karl was insane to love her. It was like loving a porn star. Or perhaps he was even more stupid than me, in any case, I couldn¡¯t care less about that. I thought that I could counter the crazy bitch skill with my willpower, but she destroyed my willpower. Ann could spend her entire life analyzing my memories, but she wasn¡¯t able to cause any more mental damage to me. ¡°What a pity, ¡°Ann said after resuming her actions, ¡°While you don¡¯t suit my tastes, but your toy is a bit above average.¡± What a dirty mouth, but that couldn¡¯t be helped, after all, she played with her bodyguards day in and day out. She wasn¡¯t the goddess of illusions; she was the slut goddess. ¡°No wonder you never had a girlfriend,¡± Ann said. ¡°It seems that you showed interest in some girls, but you soon give up on them because¡­¡± ¡°Go to hell, crazy bitch.¡± ¡°It must be painful,¡± Ann said while analyzing my recent memories. ¡°You have quite a few beautiful friends, but you can¡¯t approach them. You aren¡¯t handsome and even if you had the chance you couldn¡¯t become closer to them, close like a man and a woman can become in bed. It¡¯s so depressing; your heart doesn¡¯t even beat faster when those girls are near you. You don¡¯t care about women anymore? It seems that you aren¡¯t interested in men either.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear this coming from you! You are just an egocentric crazy bitch who wants to be in the center of the universe. Your life is emptier than my life had ever been. You refused the love of the person who loved you for years, for what? You traded the love of someone who loved you despite your innumerable flaws to be loved by empty dolls.¡± ¡°You recover quite fast, huh,¡± Ann said a bit surprised. ¡°Those depressing years strengthen your mind instead of weakening. Anyway, let¡¯s see what kind of your memories can make me laugh.¡± The crazy bitch was also a sadistic bitch; it seemed that she wanted to make me feel even more miserable. Chapter 048 the most powerful survivor (4) ¡°I¡¯m beginning to feel bad about you,¡± Ann said after a few minutes of silence.¡± You are stupid, your family abandoned you two times, the first friend you made in years died, and you can¡¯t trust your new friends becauseyou are pathetic compared to them. Oh wait, they aren¡¯t your friends. And You are only alive because of a massive amount of luck.¡± I was beginning to feel bored, I had already accepted all those facts, and even if I hear those facts by her mouth thousands of times, nothing will change. She was just a crazy sadistic bitch, and I couldn¡¯t care less about her opinion. She was right, but even if I was stupid and even If I was alive only thanks to some luck, I was doing what I wanted. I was even helping a few people once in a while, and I wasn¡¯t causing problems to anyone. I could die at any moment, but I would die doing whatever I wanted. As long as I wanted to help the survivors, I would help them, but if eventually, I got sick of it, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to leave them. I didn¡¯t have any obligation to help them; I was only doing because I was feeling like it. ¡°It seems that your only weakness is your dysfunctional toy,¡± Ann said after analyzing my expression. She was right again; usually, her words would make me mad. But since she was right, I only could feel depressed. In the last two years, I visited many doctors, but not a single one of them could find what was wrong with me. My mom was probably a better doctor than any of them, but there¡¯s no way in hell that I could discuss that problem with my family. I was already by far the most pathetic member of the family, and I didn¡¯t have to give them any more reasons to feel ashamed because of me. They were nice people, but I couldn¡¯t risk it, my fears and inferiority complex were that stronger. So, I just accepted that was inevitable and decided to focus my life on everything else. But then I found that statue, the first light that I found which could solve that problem for me. At first, I was too focused on bringing my parents to my side, so I didn''t think of using that statue to cure me. But in the end, when I discovered my family was together, I decided to create the remedy to cure me, it was kind of expensive, but I would spend any amount to get rid of that problem. But, to my despair, I didn''t notice any changes. The freaking statue could revive the dead and create things out of its ass, so, the problem wasn''t the remedy it was me. Or I was the first creature in the entire universe who had that kind of disease or the problem wasn''t only physical; it was mental too. In any case, I decided to forget about it, until now at least. ¡°You are so boring,¡± Ann said after sighing. ¡°I guess I should start already.¡± My tension rose while I saw Ann looking for my oldest memories, it seemed that she wouldn''t change only a few memories, she will change all of them to make just to make sure than I will never disobey her. If she didn¡¯t lie, my only choice was to keep focusing my mind on my real memories. It would be difficult since she would make me recall those false memories many times, but it wasn¡¯t impossible. A few minutes passed, but nothing happened. Ann was still looking for my oldest memories, but she didn¡¯t find those memories, and she looked impatient. ¡°Did you hit your head when you were a kid or something?¡± Ann asked frowning. ¡°I only found the memories when you were five years old. I don¡¯t see anything older than that.¡± That was weird, but I didn¡¯t have to answer her. So I decided to keep quiet because maybe I could use that in my favor. However, for some reason, that worried me a little. I didn¡¯t remember about hitting my head when I was a kid. And just like she couldn¡¯t find any memory older than that, I couldn''t remember anything before that point either. Elly and Ryan were only a few years younger than me, but I couldn¡¯t remember the time when they were born. My oldest memory was me going to school, and they already could walk. ¡°No doubt about it,¡± Ann said with a serious expression. ¡°You hit your head when you were a kid.¡± Even though she didn¡¯t need it, she let me see a memory where I was trying to interact with other kids in some school. They were five years old like me, and they looked like normal kids, noisy and very energetic. But I was weird, I wasn¡¯t active, and I could barely talk like them. ¡°What the hell¡­¡± That memory made me remember many other memories, since an early age I always had been very introverted. I always thought that I became a quiet kid when I noticed that I wasn¡¯t smart like my younger siblings, and then I truly became an unsocial person when I discovered about my most shameful secret. I wondered if those problems were connected, but I couldn¡¯t find a link or an explanation. But that created a huge doubt in my mind. ¡°What is this?¡± Ann asked while frowning. A few of those screens seemed like a TV tuned to a dead channel, sometimes weird images would appear, and sometimes a lot of images would appear on those screens one above each other. Ann tried to change those memories, but she was electrocuted every time she touched these screens. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± Ann asked showing hostility. I wanted to say that was my secret power or my trump card, but she wouldn¡¯t believe in that lie, I was surprised just like her, after all. Ann insisted on doing that, but nothing happened, after a few more tries she looked tired and exhausted. ¡°What the fuck did you do?¡± Asked said while punching and kicking me. ¡°Answer me!¡± She punched and kicked with all her might, but I felt nothing. It seemed that she couldn¡¯t harm me in that place. She was furious, even when I told her that she was living a life full of lies, she didn¡¯t become that pissed. That skill had never failed, and that was why she maintained her composure for all that time. That was a chance, but I couldn¡¯t use something that I couldn¡¯t understand. After a few moments, Ann stopped and began to walk in circles, trying to find an explanation. But I could see in her eyes that she didn¡¯t, she was impatient and looked even more tired. But I didn''t know why¡­You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Ann studied me while showing an expression full of uncertainty. It was probably the first time that skill had failed, and by looking at her pale face, she lost a massive amount of MP while she tried to change and analyze those weird screens. Ann ignored me, and then she resumed her job again. This time she looked much more focused, I could even see an odd substance leaving her body and entering the screens. ¡®Is that her MP?¡¯ She could do a lot of things inside that space, but I decided just to stay quiet and see what would happen. Maybe she would discover something and explain it to me. Or she was just obsessed about knowing why she couldn¡¯t alter those memories. After a few minutes observing Ann concentrated on whatever that task was, dozens of black screens appeared in front of her. She looked even more tired, but that didn¡¯t bother her. We couldn¡¯t see a thing inside those screens, but we could hear some small noises. Once in a while, I could hear the sound of footsteps, and sometimes I could hear the sound of something being electrocuted¡­ those were really my memories? ¡°What the hell are you?¡± Ann asked showing a dubious expression. ¡°Where did you spend the early five years of your life?¡± I felt shivers when she asked that. What was she trying to imply by making that question? Those black screens represented the five years of my life that I couldn¡¯t remember anything? ¡°Can¡¯t you make me relive those memories? Weren¡¯t you going to make me see them through my own eyes anyway?¡± While it was a bit imprudent, I was curious about those memories. If I could relive those memories, I could find some clues. ¡°I can¡¯t control those distorted memories, nor can I alter those black screens,¡± Ann answered. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why are you asking me?¡± Ann asked, annoyed. ¡°Those memories are yours; you are the only one who can explain them.¡± Since I was more confused than her, Ann decided to ignore me and try to find an explanation on her own. Again she concentrated on analyzing my memories, and again she used her MP to analyze my memories. Ann analyzed all my memories, and because of it, at the end of the process, she looked like she was about to collapse. ¡°This is impossible¡­¡± Ann said, and then the space around us began to crumble. ¡°You don¡¯t look that old.¡± ¡°What?¡± Before I could notice, I was back to the real world. Ann¡¯s guards weren¡¯t around me anymore; they were around her because she collapsed on the ground. But the bitch still had the strength to give some orders. ¡°Bring me some MP potions¡­¡± Ann said with her eyes unfocused. ¡°And kill him.¡± She decided to change her plans, huh. But I wouldn¡¯t just wait for them. That was the chance that I had waited for, I equipped the metal crossbow and tried to aim, but I dropped my weapon on the floor, my arms were numb. ¡®What the hell¡­ is this an aftereffect of her skill?¡¯ I activated the cape¡¯s effect, and after putting the metal crossbow inside my new backpack, I began to run. However, I fell on the ground too; I couldn¡¯t control my legs either. ¡®What the hell¡­¡¯ Ann¡¯s guards tried to find me by attacking every space around with their spears, swords, and axes, but they didn¡¯t anything. But soon they would hit me, my legs were numb, so I got up and slowly and silently tried to get away from that place. However, that wouldn¡¯t work forever, as soon as the crazy bitch recover MP, she will use all her skills to kill me. I had to hide somewhere and wait until I could control my body again. After that, I would have to fight; I could do that outside the hotel. Besides, she knew my secret, so she had to die. Maybe not because of that, but because she would start a war against us. While I was walking away from that place, I looked behind, and I saw Charles giving some potions to Ann. He probably already knew that Ann would lead him to his death. But he couldn¡¯t help and still follow and obey her commands. It was a pity because I could relate to him, but I will end up killing him too, and I already could see how. The western part of the city didn¡¯t have many tall buildings, but it had a lot of trees. So, I used the biggest one as a cover while I was stretching my muscles and joints. After five minutes, only a few fingers were numb, but Ann already recovered all her MP, I noticed that because I saw hundreds of head-size fireballs falling from the skill. ¡®Crazy bitch, she will put the entire city on fire at this rate.¡¯ To make matters worse, it seemed that she had excellent precision with that skill. All of her bodyguards were looking for me, but not a single fireball fall near them. ¡®I should get rid of them first.¡¯ I had nothing against them, they weren¡¯t bad people, but I had to kill them. Otherwise, I would die instead. Maybe that was just an excuse, but if they die, they are the ones at fault for letting themselves being controlled by Ann. They were innocent, but I wasn¡¯t that na?ve to let innocent people kill me regardless of their reasons. One fireball hit the tree so I left before the flames could burn me, I decided to move and counterattack. It seemed that Ann was using a lot of potions because the fireballs didn¡¯t stop, I didn¡¯t have any other option but to fight and keep an eye on the skies. Even though it was night, I could clearly see the fireballs and react before one of them could hit me. ¡®Sorry buddies.¡¯ I equipped the metal crossbow and aimed at Ann¡¯s guards. I hesitated, maybe I didn¡¯t have to kill them, and perhaps everything could be solved by killing Ann. But I wasn¡¯t sure of that; I didn¡¯t know if the effects of her skill would disappear if she dies. It would be near impossible to kill her directly with her guards alive. If I had the chance, I would help the survivors of the city, but I couldn¡¯t put my life in danger based on such a small possibility. In the end, I pulled the trigger, and the explosive bolt destroyed the head of one of her guards.
You have killed a survivor; you have obtained his 3825 Evolution Coins.
I felt my heart sunk while I grabbed the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow and aimed at the heart of another guard. I killed a person who was being controlled; I killed a person who could have been saved. He probably didn¡¯t kill and any harm to other humans, but I killed him. While I hesitated on the first, I didn¡¯t hesitate on the second, at the moment I pulled the trigger that guard noticed me and charged with his spear ready to pierce my heart. But in the end, twelve bolts pierced his heart before he could get close enough.
You have killed a survivor; you have obtained his 2211 Evolution Coins.
¡°You bastard! I will kill you! I will make you eat your shit until you beg for death!¡± Ann shouted.¡± Her threats didn¡¯t scare me; my mind was too busy imagining what kind of punishment I would receive for killing innocents. ¡®Oh, god¡­ If there is a hell, I guess I will burn there when I die.¡¯ Chapter 049 the most powerful survivor (5) After Ann¡¯s shout, the rain of fire stopped, but soon after that, I felt a terrible cold. I didn¡¯t see a single cloud in the sky, but a small tornado and a lot of snow appeared around me, and the freezing wind began to numb my body and slowly eat my flesh. It was the skill frostbite. I was suffering damage so I couldn¡¯t activate the cape, but I could run like hell and so I did. Luckily, the effective range of that skill was quite small, but that was expected, after all, she didn¡¯t use much that skill. When I was one hundred meters away from her, the small ice tornado disappeared, but I wasn¡¯t relieved. My body was trembling, and my fingers were numb again. If that wasn¡¯t enough, I could hear the guards¡¯ footsteps, and the rain of fire returned. ¡®Shit¡­¡¯ Before I could do anything, I saw many red dots leaving the hotel and heading toward my direction. She called reinforcements, and I even could see her coming toward me, but she wasn¡¯t in a hurry. Karl was also alongside her, and he was showing an expression like he was ready to fight. That stupid guy would do anything for a woman who didn¡¯t love him¡­ ridiculous. ¡®Great, just my luck¡­¡¯ I was heavily outnumbered, but none of them were as fast as me, so I still could run and attack from a distance. I also had a few bottles of lemonade, and as long as I can find a safe place, I could meditate and recover even more MP. I could keep fighting the entire night, at least I thought I could. Ann¡¯s rain of fire attracted the nearby monsters.
Mutant Frog (Earth) ¨C HP: 250 MP: 120 STA: 200 Physical limit Lv 12, Mental limit Lv 07, Sensorial limit 07. Skills: Earth Spike Lv 03, Poisonous Tongue Lv 04
Mutant Bat (Thunder) ¨C HP: 200 MP: 240 STA: 150 Physical limit Lv 10, Mental limit Lv 11, Sensorial limit 09. Skills: Electric Beam Lv 02, Poisonous Bite Lv 04
Mutant Crow (Fire) ¨C HP: 140 MP: 320 STA: 320 Physical limit Lv 9, Mental limit Lv 13, Sensorial limit 05. Skills: Fireball Lv 04
¡®This is just getting better and better¡­¡¯ But while facing two different enemies was dangerous, I could use one of them to my advantage. But first, I had something to do. ¡°Those who aren¡¯t being controlled by that crazy bitch get out of here, if you try to attack me I won¡¯t show any mercy. This will be your only chance to leave, but if you help me, I will guide you to a survivor¡¯s camp where you won¡¯t be treated like crap.¡± A few of the survivors stopped; it seemed not all of them were being controlled and didn¡¯t like that place or the crazy bitch¡¯s attitude. But not a single one of them tried to leave or tried to attack Ann¡¯s guards. They didn''t dare to defy Ann, and they didn¡¯t want to put in risk their safety by allying with a single survivor against so many. It was reasonable, but it was also a pity. ¡®Too bad, I tried at least¡­¡¯ I activated the cape¡¯s effect and looked for vast concentrations of monsters, and I found some beehives nearby. I exploded all of them, but to my surprise, every time I attacked one of those beehives, Ann¡¯s troops would march in my direction. ¡®Karl returned to the hotel to see me on the map and give my localization to her¡­¡¯ But that only made things easier for me; I didn¡¯t have to lure the monsters toward Ann¡¯s army, they came by themselves and began to be attacked by the mutant bees. I heard screams and voices in agony, and I felt shivers¡­ to survive, I condemned hundreds of survivors. To survive, they decided to kill a single person, while I decided to kill hundreds of them. I knew it, from that point onward, there was no going back. While they were busy with the bees, I killed another two guards. Ann saw her guards falling and looked at me like she was a mad hungry dog. Before she could attack me, I disappeared and ran away from that place and recovered myself a little. That frostbite skill could make me unable to attack, so, I had to avoid it at all costs. Thanks to the battle and Ann¡¯s fire rain, monsters appeared one after another. Because of it, many of Ann¡¯s minions died, and that gave me the chance to catch my breath and recover a little. She hated me, but even if she knew my localization thanks to Karl, she didn¡¯t want to lose any more of her guards. So, she decided to use the others under her control to attack. One hundred red dots disappeared, but another two hundred left the hotel. Thanks to it, all the monsters had been slain after five minutes, other monsters appeared, but their numbers couldn¡¯t do much against six hundred survivors. Her guards regrouped, and she made them form a circle around her, I wouldn¡¯t be able to kill them easily anymore.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡®Tsk, I need something bigger to distract them.¡¯ My best chance was to use the evolved monsters against her troops, while those monsters weren¡¯t that hard to find, they weren¡¯t easy to find either. Besides, Ann could kill them very quickly; all she had to was concentrate her fire rain on a single spot for a few seconds. However, would she go that far to help the common survivors under her control? I didn¡¯t think so; she would only use her powers to save her guards. It was an empty love, but it was a kind of nonetheless. In any case, the evolved monsters would buy me a few seconds to diminish their numbers. However, to find those evolved monsters, I had to survive the fire rain and that mob coming toward me. My supply of lemonade was running low, so, I decided to attack and run without using the invisibility against them. I would only activate the cape against Ann and her bodyguards. I deactivated the cape¡¯s effect, left the pet shop where I was hiding and began to attack that mob.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 111 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 189 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 133 Evolution Coins.
¡­
The rain of fire stopped and reappeared right above me, not only that, arrows, lances, and many other magic projectiles began to be thrown toward me. Stupid puppets, Ann didn¡¯t order them to bring their firearms, so they didn¡¯t bring. Again, I ran away from them, using all my strength. Unfortunately, my stamina was lacking. So, I had to stop every five minutes to rest. But that was more than enough, none of them were as fast as me, and the monsters were appearing quite frequently. After two hours of running, killing, and trying to calm my nerves while resting, I was exhausted mentally and physically. The monsters killed a lot of her soldiers, but I alone killed more than them. Ann only had three hundred soldiers left, but she didn¡¯t hesitate even a single time. She kept moving toward my direction, did I really pissed her that much? Or was because the skill failed on me and that damaged her pride? Either way, I couldn¡¯t care less. I was about to give up; why did I have to fight? Indeed, I really thought that my life was more important than any of them, perhaps even more important than all their lives, and that was why I fought. But, every time I received those messages, I felt a shiver, and I also received some mental damage. I killed an innocent person, because of me, that person wouldn¡¯t be able to feel anything anymore. The dead survivors wouldn¡¯t laugh or cry anymore; they wouldn¡¯t dream or reunite with their families anymore. With a single bolt on their heads or hearts, I took everything from them. I destroyed their future, and I did that more than two hundred times. I could search on the entire city, or perhaps on the whole planet and I wouldn¡¯t be able to find a monster who killed so many people¡­ I was worse than a monster. When I acknowledged that, something inside me changed, but I didn¡¯t notice what precisely because someone was making a lot of noise. Without a care in the world, I left the drug store where I was hiding and headed toward the streets. While I was walking, I saw many red dots disappearing on the radar, and I soon discovered what was doing that.
Mutant Evolved Alligator (Ice) ¨C HP: 2320 MP: 960 STA: 1600 Physical limit Lv 27, Mental limit Lv 22, Sensorial limit 05. Skills: Ice Rain Lv 05, Bite Lv 07
Mutant Evolved Eagle (Thunder) ¨C HP: 800 MP: 3200 STA: 800 Physical limit Lv 20, Mental limit Lv 30, Sensorial limit 10. Skills: Thunder Storm Lv 07, Electric Prison Lv 03, Bite Lv 02
In the middle of the night, the two colossal monsters were causing a pandemonium. The eagle was ten meters tall, and the alligator seemed to be fifteen meters long. Survivors were being toasted alive by the dozens of lightning bolts coming from the eagle¡¯s mouth. The other survivors were being torn apart by dozens of two-meters long ice spears created by the alligator. That attack was also coming from its mouth, but I couldn¡¯t care less about such monsters. ¡°Oh boy, this is exactly what I needed.¡± The survivors who weren¡¯t under Ann¡¯s control fled from that place to all directions, not a single one of them tried to return to the hotel. After all, Ann would probably kill them if she survives that battle. Although she was just a human, she was on par with the monsters in terms of status and her skills were far superior to the beasts. However, she didn¡¯t have their tough skin, and she wasn¡¯t ferocious like those apex predators. So, she couldn¡¯t kill them that fast. Aside from her eight remaining bodyguards, Ann had one hundred and fifty survivors under her control, and she used them to buy some time while she attacked both monsters. The alligator didn¡¯t have ice scales like the snake I previously fought against, but it was evident the creature had some resistance against ice attacks. So, Ann decided to focus her fire rain on that monster. The eagle was even more troublesome; it could fly in all directions at high speed while electrocuting the survivors with pinpoint precision. The survivors, under her control, tried to kill it, but they were too weak. On the other, Ann¡¯s frostbite was causing a lot of damage while freezing the creature¡¯s feathers. In a minute or two, the eagle would fall and die. Ann was that powerful, she could kill those two colossal creatures by herself, and she didn¡¯t even need to use her most powerful skill. It was indeed a pity that she had to die, if she were just a little bit less crazy, all the survivors would, without a doubt, follow her. At first, I thought only a perfect leader could guide us to our survival and the eventual reconstruction of the world. But with her powers, she could do that, even if she had a few flaws. Thanks to her skills, no one would go against her. As long as her final objective were survival, everything else could be tolerated. But unfortunately, she decided to live a life full of debauchery. Just like I wasn¡¯t fit to be a leader because I put my life above her minions, she wasn¡¯t fit to become a leader because she would put herself over the human race survival. Both of us were trash. To make matters worse, she sacrificed her troops trying to kill me. Ann didn¡¯t hesitate a single time; she was beyond redemption. Probably, a few survivors in our camp had lost friends and family because of her, and no one of them will ever forget that. With all that said, I didn¡¯t have a single reason to let her live. I didn¡¯t even care about Karl¡¯s situation anymore, she would die, and if he tries to protect her, he will die too. As a cleaner, it was my job to get rid of any potential troublemakers. And because of his feelings for Ann, in the future, he could become a threat even bigger than her. I sat on the ground to meditate and recover my MP. Meanwhile, I decided my next actions watchin Ann and her troops being destroyed by the monsters. Chapter 050 the most powerful survivor (6) While Ann¡¯s skills were powerful, she had to drink many MP potions to keep using her powers for such a long time. Even though those potions were quite tasty, she was sick of it because she drunk more than thirty of those bottles. In her eyes, I was just a worm; her pride had been damaged beyond repair by a single worm. Because of it, her rage blinded her judgment. She sacrificed eighty percent of the survivors under her control without a care in the world. The smell of burned flesh, the metallic smell of blood and the dirty made her feel even more pissed. However, she composed herself after killing the two monsters and breaking her limit once again. Hundreds of bodies were around her, most of those bodies had some parts missing, but she didn¡¯t care. In her mind, she could always find new minions and new guards to control. She even had already planned her next actions; first, she would make me regret being born in this world, and then she would decimate all the survivors on the other survivor¡¯s camp. After that, she would cross the country and make all the survivors her minions. Anyone who tries to disobey her would die on the spot. ¡°Where is he?¡± Ann asked while putting her right hand on her right ear. It seemed that she had to do that to communicate with Karl I made a mental note about it while I was approaching. I was smelling of sweat a little bit, but because of the smell of death, they didn¡¯t notice me, even when I was half a meter away from them. ¡°Damn it,¡± Ann said after kicking the ground. ¡°Tell me exactly when he appears on the map.¡± I couldn¡¯t hear Karl¡¯s voice, but I already knew what he had said to her, the invisibility made me disappear even from the map. So he would only find me when I attack again, and that would happen very soon. Something was wrong with me, since those two colossal appeared, all my tension and fears disappeared. I observed the monsters killing the survivors without even blinking; in my eyes, they were just ants being destroyed by a step of an elephant. And now I was walking invisible near them, ready to strike and kill their leader, but, I wasn¡¯t nervous, nor was I afraid of the failure. I just decided to do it and moved. Maybe it was because I had recognized the fact that I was a monster, a real monster in human form who sacrificed hundreds to live. In any case, my heart wasn¡¯t even beating faster; I approached Ann like killing her would be the same as killing another monster. I didn¡¯t feel uncertainty; I didn¡¯t feel the disgust that I usually felt when I was about to take a life; I didn¡¯t feel the hesitation on my footsteps¡­ I felt nothing. I summoned the spiritual knife, but when I saw her information, I decided to create another one.
Survivor Ann ¨C HP: 1605/1605 MP: 1521/3200 STA: 1421/1605 Physical limit Lv 25, Mental limit Lv 30, Sensorial limit 01. Skill: Sleep Lv 07, Shockwave Lv 06, Goddess of Illusions Lv 08, Vitality Shield Lv 05, Frost Bite Lv 03, Fire Rain Lv 03.
¡®Vitality shield is her only defensive skill, and since she didn¡¯t activate until now, this skill will probably activate by itself once I attack. In that case, I will attack twice.¡¯ Her bodyguards were around her, but since they were big and their weapons had a long reach, they didn¡¯t were close to each other. So, I passed by them using the gaps between them, and I stood behind Ann with the two spiritual knives pointed at her neck. Without wasting time, I tried to attack her neck with the knife on my left hand, and just like I had expected a light green shield blocked my attack before I could pierce the skin. The spiritual knife disappeared, but I used the other to hit Ann¡¯s jugular vein. The shield didn¡¯t appear, and I didn¡¯t feel much resistance, but, even after using all my strength, I didn¡¯t manage to hit her vocal cords as I had planned. Ann trembled and fell on the ground while I picked the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow and jumped backward. ¡®That skill can¡¯t be activated repeatedly, as I had expected. But even though the spiritual knife can ignore the target¡¯s defense, she has too much HP.¡¯ Ann looked at me like she was looking at the grim reaper. The wound wasn¡¯t big, but since I hit her jugular vein, she was bleeding a lot. She almost died, no. She knew that she still could die because of the bleeding and that terrified her. For the first time, she recognized me as a threat; I could see that in her eyes. Before she could give the order, I disappeared once again. While she tried to stop the bleeding with her bare hands, she crawled away from that place. Almost all her bodyguards attempted to attack the spot where I had been before, but I wasn''t there anymore. One of her bodyguards approached her and put some medicine on her mouth.
Mystical Potion: It can heal almost any wound, but it can''t heal a damaged heart or brain. It can recover 75% of the user HP, MP, and STA.
It wasn¡¯t a specialized medicine, but it could heal almost any injury, it probably cost a lot. Not only that, perhaps all her bodyguards had at least one of those. Ann probably had one too and that complicated things a little bit, but that was also an opportunity. While Ann and her bodyguards tried to attack her surroundings, I got away from them, and I approached the bodies of the guards that I killed. Just like I had imagined, each one of them had one those medicines, and I found three ¡ª on the last one I didn¡¯t find anything because I had exploded most of his body.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. I casually drunk one of those medicines to recover my MP and STA, they were too valuable to use it on a whim, but they would be useless if I die anyway. When I returned, I saw the guards and her minions forming two circles around Ann. She was literally using them as meat shields; it seemed that my attack caused her some mental damage. But that only made things easier for me, I put the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow on my left hand and on the right hand, I equipped the metal crossbow, and without ceremony, I used both.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 201 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 78 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 177 Evolution Coins.
¡­
In just two seconds, fifteen of her minions died. When she and the others finally saw my shadow, I disappeared again. Her minions tried to attack me with their ranged skills, but their skills were too slow, and their aim was terrible, after all, most of them preferred to use firearms. Ann used her fire rain, but although that skill was powerful and could kill many monsters very fast, the fireballs didn¡¯t instantly fell on the ground, they could only appear at a certain height above the ground, and it took two seconds two finally hit the ground, all skills had its weakness. The frostbite wasn¡¯t different, while the cold wind could kill a person in a few seconds, the wind itself wasn¡¯t that strong. Anyone fast enough could escape from the effective range before dying. The other skills also had some weakness, but I didn¡¯t have to worry about it. She was so scared to use it or think logically; she only wanted to kill me as fast as possible. I walked around that group using my invisibility to analyze their formation. Because they were like mindless zombies, they did a pretty good job in keeping their attention in all directions. But because they were mindless zombies, they didn¡¯t follow their instincts or noticed small details; they didn¡¯t see me grabbing a stone and making it disappear from the middle of the street. I used all my strength to throw that stone to the other side of their formation, the stone fell on the ground and every single one them attacked, even Ann. ¡®What a bunch of idiots.¡¯
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 101 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 320 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 55 Evolution Coins.
¡­
Using that cheap trick, I earned the time to kill thirty of them before they could notice the trap. When they looked back, once again, they saw me disappearing. The minions didn¡¯t seem afraid, even after seeing hundreds of their comrades dying. Instead, they only felt pissed because I was trying to kill their fake goddess. Because of her, they even lost their instinct of self-preservation. It was truly pitiful when I noticed that, it became evident that they wouldn¡¯t return to normal even if Ann dies. At least I could put them out of their misery. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have many chances of fooling them. After my third attack, Ann had only ninety minions left. So, she decided to retreat. ¡®Showing their backs to the enemy¡­ what a great idea.¡¯ They were ten kilometers away from their base, and Ann was dreaming if she thought that I would let them escape like that. Ann made her minions pick everything they found on the way to protect themselves, thanks to it; I didn¡¯t manage to diminish their numbers as much as I wanted. But I wasn¡¯t in a hurry, I still could recover my MP with that medicine, and I still had a good amount of ammo inside my backpack. I didn¡¯t know if Ann finally began to use her head again, or just Karl gave the order, but her jeeps appeared after they began to retreat. And the drivers also brought a lot of firearms with them. Two of those vehicles passed by them to give support while they retreat, meanwhile, Ann and her bodyguards entered in the two other jeeps to withdraw, but that also hadn¡¯t been a good idea. ¡®So troublesome.¡¯ I activated the cape¡¯s effect before these two jeeps could begin to fire, and then I reappeared inside a dark alley after pulling the trigger of the metal crossbow. No one noticed me there because one of the jeep¡¯s exploded and the other got heavily damaged. ¡®As I expected they also use MP on those vehicles.¡¯ Ten of Ann¡¯s minions died because of that explosion, but that was just to buy some time. I activated the cape again and began to run toward the two jeeps which were running away at high speed. After only two minutes, I caught up with them. Those jeeps weren¡¯t fast, and I was way faster than an average human. It was hard to say, but using all my strength, I could run at fifty miles per hour. However, I could only maintain that speed for a few minutes, and while running at that speed, I made a lot of noise. Luckily, the jeeps made even more noise. So, Ann didn¡¯t notice when I ran past them. I only stopped when I was two hundred meters away from them, I aimed at the jeep Ann was, and I pulled the trigger. Immediately she saw me and pointed her right hand at me; she didn¡¯t use her fire or snow; she used something else. Something that I couldn¡¯t see, I rolled to the side to evade that invisible attack, but I still felt something hitting my right leg and snapping it. But at the same time, Ann¡¯s jeep exploded. The annoying pain in my right leg didn¡¯t stop me from getting up and seeing Ann and her guards being tossed around like leaves because of the explosion. The driver of the other car lost control of the vehicle because of that explosion, and then I saw the jeep hitting the walls of a police station. None of them were using seat belts and thanks to it, they also got smashed against the walls. But they increased their physical limits many times, and that wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill them. Slowly I approached the second car, I was limping, so it couldn¡¯t be helped. But I didn¡¯t have to worry, they received a lot of damage, and they were staggering on their feet. So, I used the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow to finish the bodyguards on the second jeep.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 4502 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 3002 Evolution Coins.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 3888 Evolution Coins.
¡­
After that, I heard something strange, the sound of a huge mass crossing the air at high speed. I tried to evade again, but I got hit on my left arm, and just like my leg, it snapped. ¡®It is probably her skill¡­ shockwave¡­¡¯ I turned around, and I saw Ann again pointing her right hand at me. She was on her knees, and her head was bleeding, and her remaining four bodyguards were slowly getting up too. I could see some fighting spirit in her eyes. That battle wasn¡¯t over yet, but at least, it seemed that she couldn''t put me to sleep. It was probably because she had to calm her nerves to sing correctly. That was the weakness of that skill. Chapter 051 the most powerful survivor (7) Ann picked a small bottle which had a red liquid inside, but Ipulled the triggerbefore she could drink it. I tried to hit her and the bottle, but I only managed to hit the bottle. One of her bodyguards put himself in front of her, and the bolts only hit him. But, in the end, he died.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 2007 Evolution Coins.
Ann clicked her tongue in annoyance; at that point in time, she didn¡¯t have much time to worry about the deaths of her underlings. She only had three guards to protect her, and like always, they created a human wall in front of her. But before that, one of her bodyguards gave her another potion. ¡°That¡¯s not fair guys.¡± I used the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow again, but those three blocked all my bolts. They were probably the strongest of Ann¡¯s bodyguards, and they had a sword, an ax, and a spear respectively as their weapons. In a direct confrontation, I would be in trouble, and I would die if Ann helps them. But I didn¡¯t have to play by their rules. I activated the cape¡¯s effect as soon as they charged to attack. I drank one of those potions too, to recover my MP and heal my wounds. And just like I had expected from a top-class potion, after a single minute, my arm and leg were back to normal. But Ann also recovered herself from the damage she received. Meanwhile, her bodyguards also formed a circle around her Ann used the fire rain to burn everything surrounding her, aside from her bodyguards, of course. The heat of the flames was even more intense than before, I was more than thirty meters away from the fire, but I still could feel the heat. I wondered how they were able to stay in the middle of that flames, but then I saw a small ice tornado around them, protecting them from the flames. ¡®Very smart, but for how long can you do this?¡¯ Probably for more time than I can stay invisible if their bodyguards give her more potions. Besides, the other survivors under her control could arrive at any moment, and I would like to finish things here before they come. To use two spells, Ann had to use both hands to control them. She was almost defenseless in that position but finishing her wouldn¡¯t be easy in that situation. First, I had to make her cancel the ice tornado around her, if I succeed, she will suffer a lot of damage because of the fire rain, she will have to cancel that skill too, and I will finally obtain my chance. ¡®That defensive skill will activate again, so, I had to use two spiritual knives. But where should I aim?¡¯ A wound on the neck wouldn¡¯t stop her; I didn¡¯t have the strength to cause much damage, after all. I had to hit the hand she was using to control the ice tornado. But I had no idea what hand was controlling it, in the end, I decided to go with my guts, I created two spiritual knives, and I aimed. ¡®Here goes nothing.¡¯ I threw the first knife on her face to scare her, and then I threw the second one on her left hand. I got lucky, I scared her with the first attack, and the second knife hit her hand, causing enough damage to make her lose focus on the skill frostbite. After just a few seconds, she also canceled the fire rain because she was coughing a lot and her clothes were on fire. Although the fire rain stopped, she put everything around her on fire. So I wasn¡¯t able to shot from where I was. I moved to my left side a bit, and when I could see them clearly, I used the metal crossbow. I hit the back one of the guards who was trying to extinguish the flames, the bolt hit his spine, and after the explosion, his figure didn¡¯t resemble much of a human anymore. The other two guards and Ann also suffered some damage, but not enough to stop them. However, the explosion threw them to the flames of the destroyed jeep which they previously used. One of them died because of it; he had already suffered a lot of damage because of the crash. Ann and the other soon left the flames; the last guard used his body to extinguish the fire on her body and also used his mystical potion to cure her. After that, he dropped dead with three bolts on the back of his head. I approached with the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow aimed at her face while she looked at me, showing anger and fear on her eyes. She started to craw away, but my steps were faster than her. She was really resilient, although I could see clearly the wounds and burns on her body healing, she ignored the pain like it was nothing. She was done for, Ann knew it. While she was powerful and could decimate hundreds of enemies in a few seconds, he had three fatal weaknesses. First, her greatest weapons against monsters, which was her area of effect skills, were also her weakness. She was stronger, but sometimes to kill a weaker foe, you need a single powerful skill. That was even truer when the enemy was faster than her. Her second weakness was that she didn¡¯t struggle as much as me. We probably faced the same initial problems, but after she received her second skill, she didn¡¯t really put herself on the battlefield. She attacked the enemies from a safe place, and her guards and her other minions always protected her. The last weakness, she didn¡¯t kill me when she had the chance. Because of a single mistake, she got upset because her most useful skill didn¡¯t work, and then she made other mistakes. I made some mistakes against monsters, but when I never underestimated humans. ¡°You monster!¡± Ann shouted while she was crawling away from me. ¡°I finally understand it now¡­ you will burn in hell for what you have done to me! No¡­ you won¡¯t go there because you are not even a human. You are just a¡­¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Every piece of the puzzle fell on its place, because of a single word, thanks to that word, all my doubts vanished. ¡°I see, now everything makes sense. Since the monsters appeared, I have been feeling a little weird, I finally understand why now. Thank you for telling me.¡± Ann furiously glared at me, but before she could say or try anything, I pulled my crossbow¡¯s trigger.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained her 74256 Evolution Coins.
Ann had a lot of HP, so, she only died after the twentieth bolt pierced her head. Before she could fall on the ground, I heard a scream. ¡°NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± It was Karl¡¯s voice; I looked behind me and saw many fireballs flying toward me. But, I easily avoided them. However, that only made Karl angrier. He stopped, and he created an immense fireball, it was the same size as the evolved mutant eagle. He was using all his MP to kill me, but it wouldn¡¯t be that easy. He shot the big fireball, and it was faster than the small ones, but not fast enough. I avoided the massive attack, and the flames passed by my just slightly burning my skin. ¡®Idiot you are going to burn her.¡¯ I looked at the fireball, and to my surprise, Karl¡¯s controlled the flames, and it didn¡¯t hit Ann¡¯s body. The fireball was making a massive curve, but its target was clear: I was the target. ¡®It seems this is going to take a while.¡¯ I remembered Karl¡¯s skills, and thanks to it, I understood that he still had a lot of MP. He had to die too, but I couldn¡¯t carelessly approach, he could create another massive fireball after all. I was starting to get tired because that had been a long night, so, I decided to take the easy way out. I waited until the fireball was only thirty meters away from me, and then I grabbed Ann¡¯s body by the neck and put it in front of me. It wouldn¡¯t protect me from all the flames, but it would probably make Karl hesitate. The result had been better than I had expected; Karl widened his eyes and made the fireball disappear before it could hit me or Ann¡¯s body. Still grabbing Ann¡¯s body by the neck and using as a shield, I approached Karl. He fell on his knees while looking at me, he was crying, and tears didn¡¯t seem like it would stop falling anytime soon. When I was ten meters away from him, he trembled when he looked at Ann¡¯s face pierced by so many bolts. He idolized her so much that he couldn¡¯t believe what I had done. ¡°Why?¡± Karl asked, showing an expression of absolute despair. ¡°She tried to kill me, but she failed. That¡¯s why she is dead.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Karl asked again. ¡°She would cause too many problems for me; this world doesn¡¯t need someone like her anymore.¡± ¡°WHY?¡± Karl shouted. Karl got up and tried to attack me, but five steel bolts on his body stopped him. I didn¡¯t aim at his head or heart, and because of it, I saw him falling on the ground, crying while still maintaining eye contact with Ann¡¯s body. He only died after several seconds, and I observed him for the entire time until the light in his eyes disappeared, but I felt nothing.
You killed a survivor; You have obtained his 758 Evolution Coins.
The most troublesome survivors in that area had died, now we could finally concentrate on strengthening our forces, but I wasn¡¯t sad or happy because of it. I just felt tired. So tired that I didn¡¯t notice the remaining survivors under Ann¡¯s control approaching. When they looked at me, I saw their eyes changing like they had become beasts. They had lost their goddess, and they would do anything to kill the responsible for it. Looking at them, I just sighed. ¡°As I thought, her brainwashing is still active.¡± While I had one more mystical potion and another cartridge of steel bolts, I didn¡¯t feel like fighting anymore. My body was sluggish, and my mind was kind of foggy. Besides, I didn¡¯t have any real reason to fight anymore. I was just a¡­ When I was about to finish that thought, I heard the sound of some car approaching, and when I looked at the radar, I saw a small group of red dots approaching at high speed. ¡°So, they really came, huh.¡± It was Claire, Harry, and a few others. Even though they were behind the survivors who have been brainwashed, I could hear the sound of something hissing through the air, and then one of the brainwashed zombies died. After that, I heard something being pierced; it was probably Rose. ¡°I guess I will have to fight a little more, or they will bother me.¡± It was strange. Why wasn¡¯t I worried about dying? I obtained so much evolution coins that I could learn my new skill, and I still could another powerful skill. Besides, they had a lot of loot. It was almost crazy to give up on that. I activated my invisibility, and then I decided to use my usual hit-and-run tactics. Since they were basically zombies, those survivors didn¡¯t even try to attack Harry¡¯s group. They were only interested in killing me, thanks to it, after five minutes all of the eighty remaining brainwashed survivors had died. I didn¡¯t even have to help; I just waited while keeping myself invisible. When the last of them fell, I reappeared and began to search for anything valuable on Ann¡¯s and her bodyguards¡¯ bodies. Thanks to my actions, Harry and the others frowned. It looked like I was acting as nothing had happened. ¡°Um¡­ Ethan, Are you all right?¡± Harry asked after hesitating. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Thanks for the help.¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± Claire asked, showing a dubious face. ¡°What happened here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m looting their bodies, as for what happened¡­¡± While it was the most obvious thing to do, it was visible on everyone¡¯s eyes that they didn¡¯t like what I was doing. I ignored their expressions and told them everything that happened since I appeared in the hotel. However, I hid some unimportant facts from them, like what Ann and I talked when we were in that dark space, and I also hid what I learned about me. It was something personal, and that information wouldn¡¯t help them anyway. However, they even became more surprised because I was treating that crazy and bloody event like a daily occurrence. Harry was confused, Charles, Sarah, and Sabrina looked a bit scared. Rose was astonished, Claire and Sandra looked angry. ¡°Did you really have no other choice but do this?¡± Claire asked while raising her right eyebrow. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just run or waited for help?¡± ¡°I guess I could have just run, but then I would have lost the chance to diminish her army¡­ only three mystical potions which can still be used, huh. That¡¯s disappointing.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you stop doing this for a minute?¡± Claire said with her face red of anger. ¡°You just killed hundreds of people, and we also killed dozens. Don¡¯t you think we have more important things to discuss?¡± I have no idea what was she talking about, so, I stopped and looked at her in the eye looking for an answer. But soon I understood why she was angry. ¡°Oh, right. Ann¡¯s and her bodyguards¡¯ items are mines, the rest of the loot is all yours. Is that fine?¡± Chapter 052 fifty days left (1) While I was collecting my spoils, I was carefully being observed by the others. But as always, I decided to ignore them. Although I only found three mystical potions, the bodyguards had a lot of items and other potions, nothing really impressive like those mythical potions. But those were worth a lot. Their weapons were particularly powerful, and I bet I could sell each one for at least one thousand evolution coins. ¡°Ethan, you are scaring me, man,¡± Harry said while putting his right hand on my shoulder. I sighed and then looked at him for a second, although he had a reason to be worried, he should be thankful that I almost alone get rid of all the troublemakers of the city. ¡°Do you want to see me screaming, running like a madman or hitting my head against the floor or some walls because I caused the death of hundreds of peoples? Too bad, but I¡¯m not going to do it.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I want to see that, but¡­¡± Harry said frowning. Rose approached him, and then she shook her head, and because of it, Harry backed off. I was thankful for that; their usual selves were already too annoying to deal with. I would feel a terrible headache if they act like they were worried about my mental health every day. To avoid that, I guess I will have to control my actions a little more. After I decided that, I noticed a group of survivors approaching. They were the guys who tried to kill me but fled from the battle. I could see fifty of them and all of them, and they had their weapons on their hands. I glared at them for a second, but soon I lost interest. ¡°Excuse me, are you the friends of this young man?¡± A man with gray hair and well-built body asked. ¡°Yeah, why do you ask?¡± Sandra asked, studying the man. ¡°Because I want to know your intentions, but honestly, I don¡¯t expect anything good from the friends of that little barbarian.¡± The old man said. I didn¡¯t know if he was acting like that because of their numerical advantage or if he was just sincere being because he was tired of being used by those who had more power than him. ¡°According to him, you guys weren¡¯t controlled, but still attacked him. Five hundred against one.¡± Sandra said, emitting hostility in her voice. ¡°He killed many, but I don¡¯t think he started the fight. I think you guys were the barbarians, or perhaps did he lie?¡± ¡°No, you are right.¡± The gray-haired man said. ¡°We tried to kill him, not to suffer under the hands of that woman. But that is just an excuse.¡± At least he was brave enough to admit his actions; I can respect that. Although even if I respect and ignore his previous actions, I don¡¯t think he would do the same to me, many of his friends probably died because of my actions after all. But, in my opinion, they only reaped what they sow. ¡°So, what are you going to do with us?¡± The old man asked. ¡°Nothing, you can do whatever you want as long as you don¡¯t cause us any problems,¡± Sandra explained. ¡°We intend to reunite all the survivors in a single place, but we don¡¯t intend to force anyone to join us. It is your choice.¡± The old man looked at his companions, and all of them nodded, but after that, they looked at me uneasily. ¡°If you guys are that afraid of me, I can always look for another place to¡­¡± ¡°No!¡± Claire said without giving me any room to refuse.¡± You are going back with us!¡± ¡°So noisy.¡± ¡°He may be a high-maintenance child, but he is inoffensive,¡± Sandra said after sighing. ¡°As long as you don¡¯t want to be the king or the god of the city. So, what is your choice?¡± ¡°If you are willing to forget this incident, then we also willing to join your group.¡± The old man said.¡± But, there are many other survivors left on the hotel, and I can¡¯t speak for them. ¡°We will have time to talk to them,¡± Sandra said, looking around. ¡°After we deal with the aftermath of this battle.¡± While all the others were reuniting the bodies of the dead to cremate them. I returned to the hotel and searched for the things Ann had on the hotel, and to my surprise, she had a lot more than I had expected. Although many of those were useless to me, like makeup and perfumes. I sold all the unnecessary items, and then I checked the others. ¡¯Fifty-three low-quality MP potions, twenty-eight medium-quality MP potions, and two rings.¡¯
Fire Ring (Rare): It increases the damage of fire attacks by 50%.
Ice Ring (Rare): It increases the damage of ice attacks by 50%.
Such awesome items and she left on her room, why wouldn¡¯t she use those all the time? She could have killed me if she had just one of those rings. ¡®She probably didn¡¯t leave the hotel in a long time, and she received orbs and coins thanks to her minions. But at least, she was smart enough to create those to get rid of one of her weakness.¡¯If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. In any case, those would be very useful. The medium-quality MP potions could recover five times more MP than the low-quality ones. So, it was inefficient to use those for the time being, but it didn¡¯t matter. Eventually, I would be able to use it without losing any benefit. I left Ann¡¯s room, and I headed toward the statue, and in the lobby, I found the old man talking with the survivors who stayed at the hotel during the battle. I wasn¡¯t interested if they would join us or not, so I just used the statue to learn the elemental magic arrow. Although the spiritual knife was almost an offensive skill, I didn¡¯t learn much when I got that skill. But when I learned that new skill, a lot of knowledge entered my brain. Now I knew hot to control the MP inside me and how to make it manifest outside my body. I also learn how to shape the MP and how to add the properties that I wanted. Only at that moment, I noticed the true potential of that skill. However, that didn¡¯t excite me. That skill was only a means to an end, but I didn¡¯t have any more goals in my mind.
HP: 75/75
MP: 89/89
STA: 75/75
Evolution Orbs: 4111/5300 Evolution Coins: 71125
Skill list: Concentration Lv04 81%: Raises your attack power and range by 4% each hour. The bonus resets when you sleep. Crosshair: Lv09 25%: Creates a crosshair in your field of vision to aim at enemies. Radar: Creates a radar in your field of vision to detect any living creature on your surroundings. Effective Range: Sensorial limit (34) x 10 meters. Analyze Lv06 61%: Analyze and show enemies status and information. Cost: 01 MP Spiritual Knife Lv01 90%: a weapon created by the spiritual energy of its user. It can be safely stored inside the user¡¯s body. 10 MP will be used to summon and to store the weapon. It''s able to ignore the target''s defense. This knife will disappear after being used a single time. Domination Lv 04 22%: It grants the user the ability to command other living beings. To activate the skill, you need their permission. Survivors currently under your control: 39 Meditation Lv 02 19%: By putting yourself in the lotus position, you can restore two points of MP every minute. Your MP can also increase by two points each four consecutive hours of meditation. Moving or receiving damage cancels the skill Search Lv01 95%: By activating the skill, you can search for specific items, monsters, or survivors in a certain range around you. Effective Range: Sensorial Limit (30) x 5 meters. Cost: 10 MP. Elemental Magic Arrow Lv 01 00%: The user can create an arrow made of magic possessing one or more of the existing properties in the universe. The arrows won¡¯t move or disappear until you select a target. One arrow can be created every ten seconds. Cost: 20 MP -> ???
Even after spending so much evolution coins, I still had a lot, so I decided to upgrade my backpack to level three, even though that cost thirty thousand evolution coins. But at least I could carry four times more items and other things. I tried to think about what I should buy next, but I didn¡¯t have a single idea. My mind was still kind of foggy, and because of it, I knew that I wouldn¡¯t have any good ideas. So I decided to rest for a few hours, maybe on the next day I would wake up, and those weird sensations in my body would disappear. But I was wrong. When I woke up, I was more tired than before, I only woke up at the end of the next day. However, my mind was still foggy, and my body heavy. For half an hour, I stared blankly at the ceiling of Karl¡¯s room. Nothing came to my mind at that time, and I didn¡¯t find any reason to get up. I only get up because I heard the sound of someone opening the door. ¡°You are finally awake,¡± Claire said after entering the room. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, did you guys already finished your business here?¡± ¡°Yeah, and Sandra persuaded all the survivors to come with us.¡± Claire said, and then she sat on the bed by my side.¡± Lucius will also join the council.¡± ¡°Who is Lucius?¡± ¡°The grey-haired man who didn¡¯t seem to like you very much,¡± Claire answered ¡°He has plenty of reasons not to like me.¡± ¡°In any case,¡± Claire added. ¡°He is respected among the survivors here, and he was a martial arts teacher, he will be a good addition to our team, and he was pleased about the idea of training all the survivors in some self-defense techniques.¡± ¡°I wonder if that kind of thing will be useful against the monsters.¡± ¡°You never know,¡± Claire said. ¡°Now, back to the topic. How are you really feeling? You aren¡¯t the type of person to oversleep, and you probably had a good reason to sleep on a bed instead of sleep while you meditate.¡± ¡°¡­Not really, I just wanted to sleep, and so I did.¡± ¡°You can talk to me, you know,¡± Claire said while looking me in the eye. ¡°If you want to, I won¡¯t tell the others. But please talk to me, Ethan. Share your concerns with me.¡± ¡°¡­ I think we should get going; we lost too much time in this place.¡± After that, I left the room and headed toward the lobby. But before that, I heard Claire sighing, slightly slapping both of her cheeks with her hands, and then she murmured ¡°patience, patience.¡± It was a weird feeling, sometimes feeling guilty because of my actions and sometimes don¡¯t feeling anything. That wasn¡¯t normal; it was probably because I lost my goal. I needed a new one to keep me moving forward. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ my new goal is to become the strongest person in this world.¡¯ It was stupid, and I also didn¡¯t feel any real changes in my body and mind. It was an empty goal after all, what would I do after I become the strongest? I probably would feel empty too. But when I headed to the lobby, I had an inspiration thanks to the orange sunset. ¡®I need to see more of this new world.¡¯ All my life, I tried to become as awesome as my parents and siblings, but that wasn¡¯t possible. I tried to be someone who they could be proud of, but that was also impossible. From that point onward, I would expand my horizons, and I would find things like that beautiful sunset. Things which could make my heart warm. Although that wasn¡¯t possible for the time being, because I was weak, but that didn¡¯t matter, in a little more than two months, something would change, something big would happen. The countdown was proof of that. Whatever happens, it will give me the chance to leave this. But first, I had to become stronger to be able to live on this new planet filled with monsters and mutant apex predators. ¡®With the help of the elemental magic arrow, I will be able to defeat any opponent. But first, I have to master the skill and increase my MP. In two months, I will obtain the strength that I wanted.¡¯ Surprisingly, my body became lighter, and my mind became clear after I set my new goals. My problems were only mine; my secrets were only mine as well, and the most important thing: my life was mine. On this new world, no one will tell me how to live my life. Despite everything, after those six weeks fighting for my life, I earned the right to live as I please on this world. As long as I don¡¯t kill or hurt innocents, no one will have the right to complain. Those who have power in this new world are free, and I will obtain that power. No matter the cost. Chapter 053 fifty days left (2) As soon as the survivors cremated those who died last night and collected their weapons and items, we headed toward our base. We had four vehicles at our disposal, but those weren''t near enough to transport three hundred survivors. So, we were crossing the city at night on walking speed. In most situations that would be madness, but we had a lot of firearms, and we had three survivors who could kill monsters faster than dozens of guns: Claire, Rose and me. Not to mention, I could detect enemies before they could even see us. However, instead of giving the position of the monsters to the others, I was killing them as soon as I could see them with my own eyes. It was amazing, by using the elemental magic arrow, I could kill monsters two hundred meters away from me without even aiming. I just have to decide where the arrow should hit, and the arrow would hit that target. So, to have more opportunities to do it, I climbed the truck, and for the past hour, I have been sniping monsters, as long as they couldn''t see the arrows, they wouldn''t be able to dodge it. And for some reason, Claire was there with me. While I was dumb, and probably had some mental issues, I knew that she wasn¡¯t for some reason, she obviously was trying to become intimate with me. Maybe she really wanted to become my friend, or perhaps she wanted to become something more. It was hard to be sure, and I didn¡¯t want to get ahead of myself. But none of those options were available. At first, I wasn¡¯t interested in becoming their friends, and I didn¡¯t have a good reason for it. But now I had, Ann gave me the reason why couldn¡¯t become their friends. In any case, the elemental magic arrow was evolving at a fast pace. However, the arrows weren¡¯t like I had imagined they would be. For example, I created an ice arrow, but by using the minimal amount of MP to create that arrow, it had the same size as my bolts. But the power was of the arrow was absolute. That arrow could pierce the skulls of the mutant cats easily, not only that; it was so cold it could freeze anything almost instantly. I hit one paw of another mutant cat, and the monster¡¯s leg turned into crystal after two seconds then it shattered because of the beast¡¯s weight. The arrow was also quite heavy and sturdy; I could tell because I almost lost a finger when I touched it. ¡®The only downside is that I can only create four with my current MP. Anyway, these arrows can be created with any material or substance. So, the possibilities are endless. But the cost to create something absurd would also be absurdly high.¡¯ I had a lot of potions, so I could experiment with that skill as much as I wanted. But it was better to keep that training in secret, all the survivors in the city are together, but nothing guarantees they would stay like that forever. ¡®Anyway, gravity isn¡¯t a substance. But it is a property of the universe, right? Maybe I can create an arrow which can make the monsters heavier and slow them down. I should write that down on the notebook.¡¯ After all that thinking, I also remembered that I needed to create a monster to help me and that I should create a considerable number of those plants. Because of that, I checked those plants, and I noticed they have one more leaf. ¡®Plants and monsters¡­ I have to test if those leaves can create another plant and I also have to decide what kind of monster I want. But can the monsters who obey me even enter the hotel? Even if they could, I don¡¯t think there is enough room in that hotel anymore.¡¯ It would be awesome if I could create that evolved mutant eagle, but that creature was many times stronger than the mutant dire wolf, so to create it, I would have to spend probably two hundred thousand of evolutions coins. I will create one, I definitely will, probably, when I leave the city. Thanks to our numbers, we returned to our base without suffering a single loss early in the morning. But, everyone, aside from me, looked exhausted. That was understandable; they worked for almost twenty hours to cremate and collect the items of those who died. And they also didn¡¯t drop their guards in the entire night. The only who recovered fast had been Claire, the kids hugged her, and just that made her feel relaxed. But the job wasn¡¯t over; we still had to organize the rooms for the new survivors. ¡°All right, everyone, rest for the day.¡± Sandra said after sighing.¡± At night we will discuss with our new allies if they will become fighters or non-fighters. Good job.¡± I wasn¡¯t tired at all, but I decided to spend the day increasing my MP. I could always train the elemental magic arrow, but I needed more MP to train it more effectively. Claire looked at me with a dubious expression, but I just shrugged at her, and I headed to my room, which also was Claire¡¯s and the kids¡¯ room because these new survivors would probably use my previous room. But before that, I bought a vase with sand and put one of those leaves inside of it. I was hoping that I ten days I would have another magic plant. When I entered the room, without wasting time, I sat on my new bad for the first time and began to meditate. Soon after Claire and the kids came, and they made a lot of noise, but I ignored because I was trying to imagine what kind of monster would help me a lot. The easiest choice would be the mutant dire wolf, although that monster was strong and fast, the beast couldn¡¯t use any magic.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡®While I had the evolution coins to create one, I don¡¯t know if can create one who can use magic.¡¯ Besides, was that my best option? For the time being, it was, I could probably even use the beast to move around the city to conserve my STA. The creature was fast and strong and probably could fight for hours against the weakest monsters which could be found currently in the city. But I was wondering if instead of a single powerful monster, I should create dozens of weak ones, like the bees. In the end, I decided to create a mutant dire wolf; after all, I wouldn¡¯t be able to use bees as a vehicle. ¡®I hope I can create one who can use lightning attacks like that eagle, it will be handy to kill dozens of small fries in an instant, and it would give the beast the chance to escape if it finds a powerful foe.¡¯ Once I decided what kind of monster I would create, the day passed slowly because I didn¡¯t have anything better to do. But at least, I managed to increase my MP by six points. After twelve hours in the lotus position, I decided to take a break, and to my surprise, the room was almost empty. Aside from me, only Claire was in the room, and she was sitting on the bed, and by her expression, I could tell that she didn¡¯t sleep. ¡°How can I make this feeling disappear?¡± Claire asked while staring at Martin¡¯s crossbow. ¡°This feeling of guilt of having taking lives. How can I make it disappear?¡± ¡°...It¡¯s not that simple; you can only endure. Eventually, you will feel less guilty. Those who died were a lost cause, Ann¡¯s death didn¡¯t dispel the brainwash and the item to make them return to normal was way too expensive.¡± The remedy to dispel the brainwash was called panacea, and the price was fifty thousand evolution coins. The remedy was all-purpose and could cure almost any mental disease or recover damaged minds, but wasn¡¯t something that we could buy and use on five hundred survivors. We would lose many lives if we tried only to stop them. I was feeling a bit bad, but only because Claire dirtied her hands to help me. I didn¡¯t regret a single bit of my actions. ¡°It was beyond us,¡± Claire said while looking down. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t change what I¡¯m feeling. Even if we had no other choice, I don¡¯t think this disgusting feeling is something that will disappear because of reasons or logic.¡± While I could still recall my feelings at the beginning of the battle, I couldn¡¯t feel bad anymore. And because of it, I couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine what Claire was feeling. It was probably something way more intense than what I felt when I killed those criminals. We both did to save someone, but the survivors she and others killed could return to normal, the chance was small, but it was possible. Harry and the others will probably feel like Claire for the next few days. I didn¡¯t know if Sabrina killed someone, but if she did, she would be the person who would need more help. Rose probably had some experience in dealing with people with traumas, but she also dirtied her hands, so, she wasn¡¯t free from that feeling of guilt. Although I decided to not care about such things anymore, I was feeling a little discomfort, Claire received some mental damage because of me, after all. And it didn¡¯t matter how much I could try; I couldn¡¯t just become a robot and eliminate all my emotions. I could suffocate my feelings like I was already doing, but I would always feel something, no matter how weak the feeling would be, I would feel it. I couldn¡¯t help her or the others, so, to make her feel a little better. I decided to say some empty words. ¡°I guess I owe you guys one for helping me, and I also have to apologize, because of my mistake you have to do what you did. Something like that probably won¡¯t happen again, but I will keep my impulsive actions in check from now on.¡± ¡°If you really feel sorry,¡± Claire said, showing a weak smile.¡± Then there are a few things that you can do.¡± ¡°And what would those things be?¡± ¡°First, don¡¯t disappear again,¡± Claire said, showing a serious expression. ¡°I already lost all my family, and most of my friends already died. I don¡¯t want to see the friends that I made here die too. Promise that you won¡¯t disappear and die.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I can¡¯t promise any of those.¡± I wanted the strength to go wherever I wanted in this new world, and I would do everything to obtain that strength, but some things are beyond human control. So, it was unreasonable to promise that. Besides, if I survive for those two remaining months, I would leave the city, and nothing would stop me. ¡°Somehow, I knew you would say that,¡± Claire showing her weak smile again, but I also saw sadness and pain in her eyes. Seeing Claire like that made my heart ache, I decided not to get attached to the survivors of this city, and I decided not to get attached to anything anymore. But for a brief instant, I felt that I should felt attached to her. But I get rid of those thoughts; it was absolutely impossible. Besides, she deserved a good person as a friend, not a cold-blood killer like me. ¡°There is one more thing that you can do, and I won¡¯t accept a no as an answer,¡± Claire said while opening her arms. ¡°A hug?¡± I was honestly confused, but Claire just kept smile with her arms open. While it was something that I could do, it was a bit strange. I didn¡¯t hug anyone on the past two years after all. And that made me realize that I never had any real bond aside from my parents and siblings. ¡°I guess that¡¯s fine; it¡¯s nothing compared to what I owe you.¡± I awkwardly hug Claire, but she almost crushed me with her inhuman strength. But that wasn¡¯t surprising, she broke her physical limit more than ten times, after all. ¡°In that case,¡± Claire said, smiling. ¡°You have to do this every day from now on.¡± ¡°The brats don¡¯t you hug you every day already?¡± ¡°The more, the merrier,¡± Claire said. I couldn¡¯t help but smile a little because of her words. Claire¡¯s body was very soft, even though she was absurdly strong. Her natural fragrance and her body¡¯s warmth made me feel very comfortable, and since Claire also looked pleased, I decided to enjoy that for a little longer. For the first time in my entire life, I felt that I had formed a bond with another person. Chapter 054 fifty days left (3) To my surprise, Claire fell asleep while she was hugging, and I sighed. I would have to look after the kids, but to my surprise, they behaved themselves when they saw Claire sleeping, and they didn¡¯t cause much trouble to me. They ate, they studied, and they brush their teeth in silence before they went to bed. After all of them fell asleep, I headed toward the lobby to create my mutant dire wolf. But before I could do it, I saw the old man Lucius and three other survivors near the entrance door. It seemed Sandra gave them the job to guard the entrance for the time being, but they also were looking quite frequently toward the statue. ¡®So, they are keeping an eye on the survivors too, huh.¡¯ Sandra was right in doing that, we get rid of the two most annoying troublemakers, but anyone could obtain crazy skills and then try to rule over the city. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. But I never thought she would trust so readily on a person that she only met two days ago, that said, the other three survivors were probably some people who she had keeping an eye for some time. Lucius weapon was a nunchaku, and when I saw it, I frowned. The old man quite brave to use that kind of weapon against monsters, but he was a martial artist, so, he probably had a lot of experience in using that kind of weapon. Lucius saw me frowning, but ignored my action and just nodded. ¡®Better keep my opinion to myself.¡¯ I touched the statue and I when I thought about it, the hologram of the mutant dire wolf appeared. The beast''s statuses were the same as I had previously seen, and just like that, I thought about changing the status a little bit. In the next moment, the skill lighting level 01 appeared on the mutant dire wolf status, and the price went up to thirty thousand. ¡®Ten thousand evolution coins just because of a level 01 skill¡­¡¯ It was probably cheaper than make myself learn that skill; after all, it wouldn¡¯t be in my absolute control. In any case, I decided to create the monster, and soon after I thought that, the statue emitted an intense light toward the entrance door. After a few seconds, nothing changed in the hotel, but I lost thirty thousand evolution coins, and I felt the presence of a monster outside the hotel, and I also could feel a link between me and that monster.
You have created the monster: Mutant Dire Wolf ¨C HP: 1300 MP: 1100 STA: 600 Physical Limit Lv 09, Mental Limit Lv 08, Sensorial Limit Lv 13. Skill: Lightning Lv 01, Bite Lv04. Evolution Orbs: 0000/3800
The light surprised Lucius and the other guards, and because of it, they opened the door. When they saw the mutant dire wolf, they prepared to attack but luckily to me and for them, they hesitated when they saw the calm expression of the monster. Although the beast was big and had some scary characteristics like the red eyes, sharp and massive teeth and claws, it didn¡¯t look that oppressive when it wasn¡¯t growling. Thanks to the silver fur, the monster looked just an over-sized dog which could behead an average person with its mouth and claws. But thanks to the link, the beast wouldn¡¯t do that, unless I give the order. ¡°Don¡¯t worry; he is an ally.¡± I approached, and then I touched the mutant dire wolf nose. The other three guards probably already knew that we could create monsters. But just like Lucius, they observed me doing that with their mouths wide open. ¡°I can¡¯t call you mutant dire wolf, it¡¯s too long. Your name will be Silver.¡± Silver just nodded with his head while looking pleased because I was petting his nose. Although I should treat him a little better since he was an ally, I shouldn¡¯t get too attached to him and lose time playing with a pet; he was my new weapon. So, I decided to test my new weapon. ¡°All right, Silver. Go hunt some small fries and return here at dawn.¡± Silver nodded and then he disappeared in the darkness of the night, well, almost. I still could see him from afar. While Silver probably could feel the link between, the creature was essentially a monster. I didn¡¯t know if he could follow complex orders, but if he can, then he would be a lot useful, and I would be able to use him strategically. ¡°Young man,¡± Lucius said while frowning. ¡°How much did you spend to create that monster?¡± ¡°Thirty thousand evolution coins and I would appreciate if you or the other guards don¡¯t attack him. He is easy to recognize, right? He didn¡¯t look at any of you like he was looking at food.¡± ¡°I presume you obtained that amount by killing Ann, is that right?¡± Lucius asked. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± I obtained much more, but I didn¡¯t have to say that to anyone. At first, I thought he maybe would say to share with him and the other survivors, but he didn¡¯t have the nerve to say it and so just stared at me. Since he didn¡¯t have anything to say, I just left. I returned to my room and began to meditate while hoping that Silver would bring me a lot of evolution coins and without suffering much damage. ¡®Speaking of damage, if the statue created him outside, then he can¡ät enter this hotel and can¡¯t recover like us. I have to create something like a dog¡¯s house outside for him. It shouldn¡¯t be that expensive, or perhaps should I just make him use some warehouse nearby?¡¯Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. All the useful things disappeared, only empty boxes were left behind, so I should use a warehouse instead. It would be better than an improvised house anyway. I finally did everything that I had to do, and from that point on, I could finally focus only on building my strength. To accelerate that process, I spent the rest of the night meditating, and my MP increased by four points. When the morning came, the lobby was already full of survivors ready to leave the hotel. While I was busy meditating, Sandra and the others used the taxes everyone offered and created two ten meters tall towers made of metal in front of the hotel. They organized various groups to stay on those towers during the day; the groups were made of two survivors using two big rapid-fire crossbows, other two survivors equipped with shields and other two responsible for reloading the crossbow with their MP. Since we now had four jeeps equipped with mounted submachine guns, the survivors didn¡¯t have to wait for me, Claire and the kids. They could use those jeeps to receive that support, but because of our numbers were almost one thousand. The groups using the jeeps only could use them for two hours. While they could leave the hotel to hunt by themselves, without our help or the jeeps, they couldn¡¯t complain if something happens. But probably all the fighters would eventually leave every day to fight, at least until the fiftieth day. Everyone had to fight as much as possible while they know what the enemies can do. The fights would become harder when the new monsters appear, because they were stronger and because their total strength was unknown. Slowly, but steadily the survivors were beginning to adapt in this new environment. I was pleased because eventually, they would be able to rely on themselves more. The weight on my shoulders would decrease, and I would be able to focus even more on raising my strength. A few survivors still looked for Claire wanting her support, but even those would eventually grow. Probably when all the survivors learn their third skill, they will be self-reliant, as long as they hunt in balanced groups of five or six. In any case, things were progressing well. The only problem was the fact that not a single survivor could create my steel bolts. It was more efficient for them to create projectiles that the other survivors would use on the jeeps and in the towers. But that fact I didn¡¯t bother me, I could create a lot of ammo while I was meditating. Claire looked much better after an entire night of sleep, and the others looked pretty much fine. They knew the limits of idealism, and they knew some sacrifices had to be made. I left all of them behind, and I opened the entrance door, my actions didn¡¯t attract the attention of anyone. But the smell of the blood attracted their attention, when I opened the door I saw Silver almost covered in blood and pieces of monsters¡¯ guts. But he looked fine.
Silver ¨C HP: 1100/1300 MP: 600/1100 STA: 250/600 Physical Limit Lv 09, Mental Limit Lv 08, Sensorial Limit Lv 13. Skill: Lightning Lv 01 44%, Bite Lv04 11%. Evolution Orbs: 1999/3800
You have received 1999 Evolution Coins.
I received that message when I touched him, and I was surprised, he had done a pretty good job collecting that amount of evolution coins in half a night. And it also seemed that I didn¡¯t have to feed him, Silver was chewing something. Because of that, I heard some screams and some murmurs. But what really surprised me, was the fact his name really changed. ¡°Go and take in the river and rest for the day. Remember, only fight against the small fries.¡± Silver nodded and then he left at a fearsome speed. After I closed the door and I looked behind me, and I saw the questioning faces of many survivors¡­ these people won¡¯t survive for long if things like that can surprise them. Claire and the kids were already waiting for me near the statue. She was frowning, and the other kids had complicated expressions on their faces. But Frank¡¯s eyes were sparkling. ¡°Wow, is that big dog, yours?¡± Frank asked. ¡°Can I mount him?¡± In his eyes, it seemed that I was the new kid in the school who had an awesome toy. I couldn¡¯t even imagine his reaction when I create a monster which can fly. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Frank asked, angrily. ¡°It¡¯s not a toy; it is a weapon for combat.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Claire asked with a questioning face. ¡°Then, what is the name of your crossbows?¡± ¡°So, you heard me, huh. It would be too impractical call him mutant dire wolf every time.¡± ¡°My senses aren¡¯t as good as yours, but I heard it.¡± Claire shrugged. ¡°Although now he looked more like red than silver. Anyway, did he do a good job? You look quite pleased.¡± ¡°Yes, for now, it¡¯s very efficient. But for now, I gave him the order to kill only small fries. I should raise his strength while I recover the evolution coins that I spend.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure of that, but I didn¡¯t know many monsters which had better senses than a wolf. So, I decided to use him only at night. Silver would be able to surprise most of the monsters at night. Besides, during the day, the nearby monsters would be killed by the survivors so that it would be inefficient. Until he gets strong enough, I will send him to kill the weak monsters. Maybe I can do some tests with the powerful monsters when his lightning reaches level five. It was kind of nice having a creature that I was sure that wouldn¡¯t betray me no matter what. It was a bit strange having a pet who would obey all my commands without exception, but it was far better than one who would cause to me problems on a daily basis. With Silver and my army, I could obtain massive amounts of evolution coins and orbs daily without doing anything, but that wasn¡¯t enough. I also had to train my body and mind. I wasn¡¯t smart to come up with good plans, so, I had to obtain combat experience and train my mind to take the best decisions as fast as possible. And I would only obtain those fighting as much as possible. Thanks to the jeeps, our workload diminished a lot. Only a few handfuls of survivors insisted on fighting with us. They didn¡¯t have much confidence because they were the weakest among all the survivors and also because they never used any weapons or practiced any sports before the monsters appeared. And strangely they wanted to be fighters, but that fact didn¡¯t bother me, strength was necessary, and as long as they were ready to fight, I wouldn¡¯t reject them. I also was in the same position as them, while I had some useful skills, I wasn¡¯t in any way talented or smart. So, just like them, I decided to obtain strength even if the odds were against me. ¡®Congratulations, you have successfully collected 5000 evolution orbs, and now you can break a limit of your body, what limit do you wish to break: Physical limit, mental limit or Sensorial limit?¡¯ At the end of that day, I heard that voice. That had been the thirty-fourth time I heard that voice, and for the thirty-fourth time, I decided to break my sensorial limit. I didn¡¯t know what kind of sensorial skill I would receive when I break the limit for the fortieth time, but it would be the last. I decided to focus on the mental limit after that, the potential of the elemental magic arrow was almost endless, and I would need the boost the mental limit would give. I broke the sensorial limit many times because I only wanted to survive, but my goal changed. So, my approach changed, as well. ¡®I hope my last sensorial skill will be useful, like the others.¡¯ I had no idea what kind of skill I would obtain, but that skill would change my life forever and open many paths to me. Chapter 055 fifty days left (4) The next few days passed without any incidents. Since all the survivors were working together, the only thing we have to worry about was strengthening ourselves. Because of my secret army, I was ahead of the others. At the end of the fiftieth day, I was very close to breaking my limit for the fortieth time. But the fact that I was constantly helping the other survivors also helped a little bit. Claire, Harry, and the members of the council also broke their limits more than thirty times; they obtained new skills, and they also upgraded their equipment. However, I didn¡¯t pay much attention to those; I was too busy training the elemental magic arrow and thinking of better ways of using it. Besides, what was the point of learning about the things they can do? Soon I would leave that place, instead of learning about the others, I focused solely on training. Although that was my intention, few things were hard not to notice. The kids were one example of those things, aside from the council¡¯s members, they were our most powerful survivors, and that fact made many adults feel ashamed. But that couldn¡¯t be helped; they were always hunting monsters with Claire and me. It was a bit risky, but with their toys, a single one of them could be enough to offer support to a group of five survivors. They had a camera on those mini-helicopters, and they also had a lot of MP. After the battle against Ann¡¯s minions, our first goal was to make every survivor receive their third skills before the fiftieth day, and we succeeded. Our next step would train most of the fighters to fight together. We had four hundred fighters, and we divided them into four groups, the first group were the tanks, men, and women who focused on breaking their physical limits. Their gear was massive quadrangular shields, iron helmets which could cover most of their heads, breastplates, and spears made of steel. Against humans, that would be enough, but monsters were our enemies. So, the best option was to make all the tanks wear full plate armors. Although that could save their lives, it wasn¡¯t something they could wear just because they wanted. They needed to get used to that kind of gear before using in a battle, and that would take time. So, for the time being, they would fight like that. The survivors of the second group didn¡¯t focus on a single parameter, but that didn¡¯t matter, what was important was the fact they had support skills. Their main job was to offer support to the other groups, with their skills they could snare, slow down enemies, and raise an ally¡¯s defense or speed. Skills were expensive, so it was impossible to form a squad with identical skills, at least for the time being. The survivors of the second group also had rapid-fire crossbows with them, they couldn¡¯t kill enemies a hundred meters away from them, but they could slow down the monsters to give some room to the tanks to breath. The third group was made of mages, survivors which focused on breaking their mental limits and received magic skills. From far away, they could decimate hundreds of enemies using fire, ice, thunder, wind. Their main job was only that, cause as much as damage as possible. That was why they didn¡¯t wear any kind of gear, they only had rings which could slightly raise their magic attacks, and they also carried a lot of potions with them. The last group was the snipers; they used the firearms we obtained in the north and the west. The survivors in this group had many kinds of skills. But since their marksmanship was way above the others, they were selected to this group. Besides, more MP had to be spent to create bullets. So, even though we had hundreds of firearms, we decided to use only one hundred. This group would focus on killing the flying enemies, while magic and arrows could hit flying enemies, gravity would diminish the damage. Firearms would lose some power, but not so much. Sandra and the others also wanted to form four small specialized teams to move fast and silent to kill the most troublesome monsters. But the survivors didn¡¯t like much that idea, these teams would do the most dangerous jobs, after all. In the end, we only formed one special team. Although it was a bit concerning, the members of the special team were also the council¡¯s members, but Sandra wouldn¡¯t participate, and Sabrina and I were also part of it. Sandra would be our commander, and the kids would help her to see the battlefield. Although we divided our forces like we were about to participate in a war, I honestly didn¡¯t think that we would use all our forces on a single big scale battle. But better safe than sorry, so, we created simple cellphones to communicate among ourselves. Although only the leaders of the groups would use it because too much MP was spent while using those cellphones. In any case, one week had passed since all the survivors had started to work together. We finally finished the four towers around the hotel, which we planned to construct, and we also created ten meters tall, reinforced walls around the hotel. Those walls weren¡¯t indestructible, but they could repair itself as long as there are survivors with MP inside the walls. We accomplished a lot in just one week. So, the council decided to give a party and make all the survivors relax at least for a few hours. That day the survivors didn¡¯t have to pay the taxes, and they could eat and drink as much as they wanted. Although the city was full of monsters, the survivors had to rest and let loose once in a while, after all, they were only humans. I wasn¡¯t interested in socializing, I hadn¡¯t a high tolerance to alcohol, and I had a clear goal in mind. So, I decided to meditate on my bed while the other survivors were enjoying the party. Claire and the other just sighed when I told them my plans for the night didn¡¯t involve the party, but they didn¡¯t bother me. After all, I did my part and helped the survivors on the last seven days without complaining even a single time.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I didn¡¯t know what kind of monsters would appear after midnight, so, I decided to let Silver rest until I grasp the power of the new monsters. In just one week he almost already gave me the amount of evolution coins I used to create him, I was more than satisfied. Not only that, but he also broke his limits four times. Everything was going well, and because of it, I was almost sure something really troublesome was about to happen. That feeling was bothering me, and I couldn¡¯t relax, so I decided to meditate. At midnight, I could finally hear that voice again. ¡°The fiftieth day is over; in a few moments, all survivors will receive rewards based on their actions.¡± I received the rewards, but before I could do analyze them, the hotel began to tremble. ¡°What the hell¡­¡± My instincts were right; not only new monsters would appear, something would change in the city. No, something was already changing. While the earthquake was still happening, I heard the voice again. ¡°The doomsday tower appeared, in fifty days this tower will destroy this area and all survivors in it. To survive, you must reach the last floor of the tower and complete this area.¡± As soon as the voice disappeared, the earthquake stopped. In any case, those were pretty serious words. The countdown wasn¡¯t telling us that something would happen in one hundred days, it was telling us that we would die in one hundred days and now we only had fifty days to reach the final floor. ¡®The tower probably caused that earthquake. I guess it will be easy to find this tower; it made the entire city tremble after all.¡¯ While I was putting my rewards on my backpack, Claire appeared with the kids. Some of them were crying, while they were brave enough to face monsters, an earthquake was something beyond their understanding, and the unknown tends to scare even adults. ¡°Calm down, it already stopped and won¡¯t happen again,¡± Claire said while patting the kids¡¯ heads. ¡°What are you going to do, Ethan?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to wait until morning, while I can see very well at night, I don¡¯t dislike sunlight. How¡¯s the situation in the lobby?¡± ¡°Everyone received quite a shock thanks to that message.¡± Claire frowned. ¡°But they didn¡¯t panic, although no one was interested in enjoying the party anymore.¡± ¡°I see.¡± In any case, I decided not to think about anything until I see what changed with my own eyes. So, I just resumed my meditation. The best thing I could do at that moment was to prepare myself for more gruesome battles. Honestly, since I knew that we were in a race against time, I wasn¡¯t worried anymore. I thought something even more troublesome would occur, but it seemed that I was worried for no reason. I was pretty sure that we would face more dangers on that tower, but I was already ready for that. I would put myself in dangerous situations to obtain the strength that I wanted anyway. The countdown meant nothing to me; if I succeed, I will survive and become free in this new world. If I fail, then I didn¡¯t have the right to live. Claire noticed my lack of concern, and she seemed pretty worried, but what worried her, even more, was the fact that she couldn¡¯t see the changes with her own eyes until morning. Because of it, she didn¡¯t sleep that night, and she looked like a caged lion. At five in the morning, most of the survivors were already in the lobby, and they could clearly see the new and the tallest building in the city: The doomsday tower. Maybe it was because we were in the center of the city, but the tower was only five hundred meters away from us. The tower was massive, and I could easily tell that somehow the tower was ten kilometers tall and one kilometer wide. It looked pretty ominous because the tower didn¡¯t seem to reflect a lot of the sunlight, as if a shadow covered it. The survivors looked hypnotized by that building, but the council¡¯s members were already preparing to leave and investigate. The last members to join them were Claire and me. ¡°Pretty scary, right?¡± Harry said forcing a smile. ¡°I feel shivers just by looking at that.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°We will use three jeeps to obtain information about the new monsters.¡± Sandra answered. ¡°After that, we will investigate that tower.¡± The ones who would investigate the changes were pretty much the members of the special team and Sandra. Well, I would also make Silver join us. He was big and strong than most of us, he would help a lot. To speed up the process of exploration, Sandra put me, Claire and Rose on different jeeps. The other members would only offer some support to us and protect the vehicles from attacks. I would be on the first jeep because I have a lot of ammo and I could shot many bolts in just mere seconds. I would be the one who would kill the small fries and clear the path. Besides, I had to be the first one to see the new monsters to see what they could do and what skills they possessed. Rose would be on the second jeep, and her job was to kill the flying enemies. Claire on the last jeep would be responsible for killing any monsters who may try to attack us from behind and to make sure that we would be able to retreat if we find any problems along the way. But there were a few problems, I couldn¡¯t see any monsters on the sky, and I couldn¡¯t see any monsters on the radar. ¡®Something is off¡­¡¯ I couldn¡¯t trust my brain to make a decent plan, but I could trust my instincts, and my instincts were telling me to be careful. So, I warned the others just to make sure that we wouldn¡¯t face any casualties as soon as we leave the hotel. That would be disastrous, and we would have to cancel the operation. Thanks to the safety of the hotel, we couldn¡¯t feel the changes. But as soon as we stepped out of the building, we noticed one thing. ¡°Wow, it¡¯s only six o¡¯clock,¡± Harry said while frowning. ¡°How can the city be this hot already?¡± ¡°I guess summer finally arrived,¡± Rose said while splashing some water on her head. She was right, even within the walls we created, I could see the hot air around us like one person can see in deserts and arid regions. To make matters worse, Silver was losing HP every minute because of that heat. Because of it, I decided to leave him behind and create something to protect him from the sunlight as soon as I return. In any case, if in the winter we faced monsters from cold regions in the summer we would face monsters from the tropical areas. But where were those monsters? As soon as we opened the massive gate of our fortified walls, I discovered why I didn¡¯t see those monsters. Thanks to two fireballs that suddenly appeared in the air and were coming toward us. Chapter 056 the dark orb (1) As soon as that fireballs appeared, I aimed the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow toward them. Not precisely toward them, I aimed at the point where those fireballs appeared. Three bolts hit one fireball, and other three bolts hit the other. The fireballs were one meter wide, but the flames weren¡¯t powerful enough to destroy or change the course of steel bolts.
You have obtained 30 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 30 Evolution Coins.
While I had good reflexes thanks to the sensorial limit, Sarah though fast enough to create a water ball and shot it toward one fireball and destroy it, Harry did the same, but instead of attacking, he used his massive shield to block the second fireball. However, even though the fireball didn¡¯t have enough power to make him struggle against it, he suffered some damage thanks to the heat. Soon after that, I saw the body of an oversized lizard with three steel bolts on its heads hand I saw another lizard with a single steel bolt in its stomach.
Mutant Lizard (Fire)¨C HP: 300/450 MP: 1120/1500 STA: 450/450 Physical Limit Lv 06, Mental Limit Lv 22, Sensorial Limit Lv 06. Skills: Fireball Lv 04, Tongue whip Lv02, Invisibility Lv 06.
Finally, one of my best weapons was being used against me. Although that was annoying, I had already prepared myself for that day. No wonder I couldn¡¯t see any monsters on the radar. Before I couldn¡¯t finish the second beast, Claire and Rose attacked the lizard at the same time. The creature didn¡¯t even have the time to think about running away. While Sarah was healing Harry¡¯s small burns, Sandra decided to start a strategic meeting. ¡°Invisible enemies,¡± Claire said, showing a fed-up expression. ¡°What a pain.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t appear on your radar, right, Ethan?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°You are correct.¡± ¡°Can you still detect them, if you focus your senses?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°Yes, but I can¡¯t do it inside a car. I can¡¯t feel their body heat thanks to this weather. My best option would hear their heartbeat, but if we must use the jeeps, I can use the search skill to find them. We can use that skill to evade them, but the effective range is limited, and I don¡¯t have that much MP.¡± Sandra thought for a few moments, and then she decided to leave the jeeps behind. That would make our job slower, but at least I would be able to feel the monsters'' presence and kill them before they could attack us. While the lizards could attack and stay invisible, it was pretty weak physically. Trying to ignore the heat as much as possible, we left the hotel behind and toward the tower. Now that we couldn¡¯t use the jeeps, our best would be: only go to the tower, obtain as much information as possible and then retreat. But before we could even walk one hundred meters, we faced another problem. I could sense the ground in front of us trembling slightly. ¡°More enemies are coming.¡± As soon as I said that, they also felt the ground trembling. Some cracks began to appear on the street, and soon we saw something erupting from the hard rock asphalt: ants.
Mutant Ant ¨C HP: 150 MP: 250/300 STA: 450 Physical Limit Lv 05, Mental Limit Lv 07, Sensorial Limit Lv 09. Skill: Bite Lv06.
The enemies were weak, but I could see hundreds of them coming from the hole they created. They had fangs powerful enough to destroy asphalt; they shouldn¡¯t be underestimated. Using the vampire Hunter¡¯s crossbow, I began to kill them at a fast pace. But they never stopped coming.
You have obtained 05 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 05 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 05 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 05 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 05 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 05 Evolution Coins.
¡­
Just one steel bolt was enough to kill them, but our mission wasn¡¯t to obtain coins and orbs. That was why everyone was getting impatient. Aside from me, only Rose could kill weak monsters efficiently. Claire strength was to kill powerful monsters with few arrows, and since she didn¡¯t have a lot of MP, weak enemies like ants were a waste of time for her. Harry focused only on stopping the ants, but even his massive shield couldn¡¯t do much against so many monsters. After ten minutes, I already was starting to get annoyed. But Rose had an idea.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Sarah! Fill that hole with water!¡± Rose shouted. ¡°Harry! Use your electric sword!¡± They nodded and obeyed. Sarah had to concentrate for a few moments, but she created a small waterfall out of the thin air and made it pour inside the hole. Before she could finish, Harry activated his sword¡¯s effect and threw toward the hole. For twenty seconds, the water and the sword electrocuted the ants. After that, not a single ant moved, and we received lots of coins and orbs. ¡°Good job.¡± Sandra while patting the tired Harry and Sarah. They used a lot of MP, but at least we discovered fast a method to kill this kind of enemy although only a few handfuls of survivors could emulate that. I didn¡¯t notice since I was too busy, but Harry suffered a lot of damage since he was very close to the ants. His legs were bleeding because the ants were strong enough to rip some flesh off his body, and he was by far our sturdiest survivor. ¡®Invisible lizards and underground ants¡­ things aren¡¯t looking good to make Silver hunt at night.¡¯ With luck, Silver would be able to feel the smell of the mutant lizards. But even with his lightning, he wouldn¡¯t be able to kill so many ants. While he could regenerate his body by eating monster¡¯s meat, if the ants cause too much damage to his legs, he would die. After Sarah drunk some potions and healed Harry, we resumed our mission. I closed my eyes and focused on hearing anything around me, the heat was turning the job of concentrating incredibly hard, but that was something that I would eventually get used to it. While Claire could concentrate faster than me, the range her senses were smaller than the attack range of the mutant lizards. Ignoring the sound of steps and ignoring the sound of the heartbeats of those around me, I expanded my hearing to all directions. Eventually, I found the other two mutant lizards, one in the middle of the road and other near a tree. I opened my eyes, and I looked toward the three, and without any ceremony, I shot. After that, the dead body of a lizard appeared.
You have obtained 30 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 30 Evolution Coins.
¡°There¡¯s another one in front of us in the middle of the street.¡± Everyone nodded and prepared themselves. Sarah created another massive water ball and shot when the fireball appeared. After that, Rose and Claire finished the creature. ¡°I wonder if heat vision goggles can make us see these monsters,¡± Sabrina said while rubbing her chin. It was a good idea, but if it worked, the, it would work on me too. If that were the case, other monsters would be able to find me too, like snakes. As soon as I thought about that, the earth began to tremble. And when I saw some cracks under me, I jumped backward using all my strength. Thank god, I increased the sensorial limit so many times, because I was almost got eaten alive by a massive earthworm.
Evolved Mutant Worm (Earth) ¨C HP: 4500 MP: 750/1000 STA: 2000 Physical Limit Lv 35, Mental Limit Lv 07, Sensorial Limit Lv 13. Skill: Earth manipulation Lv 05, Bite Lv 08.
Before I could even land, I opened my backpack, and I made two ice arrows fly toward the beast eyeless face. Such a monster made me feel disgusted beyond reason, so, I used my most powerful attack. Even though the creature was two meters wide, the arrows easily pierced the monsters head all the way through to the other side. The arrows also caused frostbites, but I didn¡¯t hit any vital spots inside the monster¡¯s body. The creature screamed and trembled before it tried to escape, and that gave me the chance to continue my attack. I aimed and pulled the trigger of my crossbow; the others also recovered from the surprise and began to attack. However, before we could finish it, the monster tried to escape using the same hole. ¡®Like I hell, I will let you escape.¡¯ I opened my backpack again, and I made other two fire arrows fly toward the monster''s mouth. The heat of the arrow¡¯s flames was strong enough to raise the temperature around me a little, but that only showed how much those arrows were powerful. Instead of piercing, the arrows exploded as soon as they touched the monster''s skin, explosions which were three times more powerful than the explosions my metal crossbow explosive bolts could cause. Half of the monsters head had been destroyed, blood and small pieces of flesh began to fall near us and. Thanks to the heat, soon we began to feel the smell of meat and blood being toasted.
You have obtained 400 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 400 Evolution Coins.
¡®What a disgusting smell¡­¡¯ Putting my feelings aside, even though we killed in a few seconds that monster, it would cause a lot of problems if the survivors fight them. The beast would be able to devour a human alive before anyone could notice. All of us knew that, so they were showing tense expressions. ¡°Let¡¯s move on.¡± Sandra declared. We could think of a plan to deal with such a beast later, right now we had to check the tower. Fortunately, we didn¡¯t found other evolved worms and finally arrived at the entrance gate of that tower. It was even more ominous close by; however, what surprised us was that we found a dark altar in front of the tower¡¯s gate. For some time, we just looked at each other waiting for something to happen. But only when Sandra approached the altar, we heard a voice coming from nowhere. ¡°To enter the doomsday tower, the survivors must offer the dark orb. The one who protects the dark orb is also the one who brings pestilence. Until the tower obtains the dark orb, the survivors won¡¯t be able to eat.¡± ¡°What?¡± That surprised me, but the content of the message puzzled me even more. We needed something to enter the tower, come to think of it, I could see half of a hole in the altar, and it was probably there where we had to put the dark orb. I tried to touch the tower¡¯s gate, but an invisible wall stopped me. ¡°Let¡¯s return,¡± Sandra declared. ¡°It seems that we can¡¯t investigate the tower further until we find this orb.¡± As fast as possible we walked back to the hotel, although I want to think more about what that voice said, I decided to focus on my job of finding the invisible lizards. When we returned, Sandra shared with the other our discoveries; we would probably find other monsters. But that could be done later; we had to analyze that message. But it wasn¡¯t that difficult, I tried to drink some lemonade, but it tasted so horrible that I vomited. The lemonade tasted exactly like my vomit. ¡°So, that voice told the truth, huh.¡± A few other survivors tried to create food and water, but everything tasted horrible. Although the lemonade still recovered my MP, I couldn¡¯t force myself to drink it anymore, because that would only make me sick. All the survivors looked astonished; the members of the council were no different. That was by far the most troublesome thing that we had ever faced. Without eating, we couldn¡¯t recover our energies properly. Without eating would get weaker, and without drinking water, we would die in just a few days. I could already imagine some survivors fighting against each other if we don¡¯t solve this situation on a single day. Hungry people can become angry people; angry people don¡¯t care about things like companionship or teamwork. The more time we take to solve that situation, the harder it will be to solve. ¡°Let¡¯s just focus on the things that we can do right now,¡± Sandra said. ¡°We don¡¯t have to worry about things which haven¡¯t happened yet.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Rose said. ¡°But where we can find this dark orb? And who is this who brings pestilence?¡± ¡°Until now, our only enemies were the monsters,¡± Harry said. ¡°So, probably a monster has this orb. And that monster is probably strong too, very strong. Anyone has any clues?¡± That message and their talk triggered an unpleasant memory. When someone thinks about pestilence, the first thing which comes to mind is rats. Besides, when I heard about that dark orb, I remembered about that weird shadow that I saw on the second day after the monsters appeared. It was worth a try. ¡°I think I know where we will find this dark orb.¡± ¡°Where is it?¡± Claire asked. ¡°ST Louis Street. It¡¯s time to exterminate all the rats of this city.¡± Chapter 057 the dark orb (2) The warm and delicious food the statue created for us was important for the survivors¡¯ everyday life. So, we headed toward St Louis Street as soon as possible. But first, we created a heat vision goggles. However, thanks to the hot weather, that thing was useless. It would probably work at night, but the survivors wouldn¡¯t hunt at night. I could use it, but I decided to spend my nights increasing my MP. We wouldn¡¯t be able to use the jeeps. So, we used the reinforced truck. The fireballs of those lizards would make the interior of the vehicle even hotter, but we had to endure. In any case, we headed toward St Louis Street while trying to ignore all the monsters on the way. Thanks to it, at noon, we were almost there. But we had to stop and move on foot because there were too many blocking our way.
Mutant Rat (Fire) ¨C HP: 150 MP: 150 STA: 150 Physical Limit Lv 05, Mental Limit Lv 05, Sensorial Limit Lv 05. Skill: Bite Lv04, Flamethrower Lv 02.
Mutant Rat (Ice) ¨C HP: 150 MP: 150 STA: 150 Physical Limit Lv 05, Mental Limit Lv 05, Sensorial Limit Lv 05. Skill: Bite Lv04, Ice Spike Lv 03.
Mutant Rat (Thunder) ¨C HP: 150 MP: 150 STA: 150 Physical Limit Lv 05, Mental Limit Lv 05, Sensorial Limit Lv 05. Skill: Bite Lv04, Electric Prison Lv 02.
Mutant Rat (Poison)¨C HP: 150 MP: 150 STA: 150 Physical Limit Lv 05, Mental Limit Lv 05, Sensorial Limit Lv 05. Skill: Bite Lv04, Poison Enchantment Lv 4.
¡°It looks like a rainbow of rats.¡± ¡°Yeah, this is creeping me out,¡± Harry said, showing a complicated expression. Although we had a lot of women in our group, only Sabrina seemed nervous after seeing those rats. ¡°Let¡¯s proceed with caution from here onward,¡± Sandra said. The rats were so numerous in that part of the city that we didn¡¯t find any other monster. I was thankful for that, I didn¡¯t have to waste time using all my focus to look for enemies, and I could obtain vast amounts of evolution orbs and coins quickly. Although those rats could use magic and they were five times stronger than the rats that I found on the first day, they died quickly with a single bolt in their heads. The steel bolts were that powerful, not to mention, I also had the bonus damage thanks to the skill concentration.
You have obtained 3 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 3 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 2 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 2 Evolution Coins.
Although it was quite refreshing to kill so many of those things which almost killed me so many times a month ago, the smell of blood and the pile of corpses we were leaving behind was making me dizzy. Despite those minor problems, we were progressing very fast thanks Claire, Rose and me. While Claire couldn¡¯t create many arrows, the survivors have been doing that for her. Rose could keep killing those small fries for hours since she was using the bare minimum MP to control her glaives. I didn¡¯t have an infinite amount of bolts, but thanks to the meditation skill, I could create three steel bolts every minute. ¡°You guys look quite relaxed,¡± Charles said frowning and killing a mutant rat with his spear. ¡°Do you want my crossbow? Then, give me your spear.¡± ¡°No, thanks,¡± Charles answered, and then he beheaded three rats at the same time. Charles knew the pros of a rapid-fire crossbow, a weapon like mine couldn¡¯t make him feel thrilled and powerful like that spear could. Charles¡¯ spear was at the same level as those rings I obtained from Ann, after all. ¡°The youngsters these days sure adapt quickly,¡± Lucius said, using his nunchaku. For the first time, I could see the old man Lucius fighting, since I had never teamed up with him in the previous week and I was too busy concentrating on finding the invisible lizards. Just like Sandra said, he really was a martial artist; perhaps he was already a master. At least he looked like one using those nunchakus. Sometimes I thought that he was using a whip instead of a nunchaku, he could kill enemies five meters away from him, and with just a single twist of his hands, he could make the nunchaku hit two monsters in a rapid sequence. It looked like magic. Speaking of whips and magic, Sarah and Sabrina got a lot better in using their whips. The members of the council always tried to help the survivors. So we didn¡¯t have many chances to hunt together. In any case, they looked pretty elegant while moving around and using the whips, but the result was a bit gruesome. Those two could easily snare a target with the whips and then torn apart the monster¡¯s flesh while retracting the weapon. Whenever Harry saw those two doing that, I could see him trembling a little.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Although she was our commander, Sandra wasn¡¯t much impressive against monsters. But she didn¡¯t seem fazed by that, you can¡¯t have everything you want, after all. In any case, after walking for five hundred meters, we finally reached St Louis Street. But we didn¡¯t have many reasons to celebrate, from that point onward, we had to fight non-stop, and we also found some nuisances along the way.
Evolved Mutant Rat (Ice) ¨C HP: 750 MP: 750 STA: 750 Physical Limit Lv 12, Mental Limit Lv 12, Sensorial Limit Lv 12. Skill: Bite Lv07, Ice Dart Lv 05.
Evolved Mutant Rat (Fire) ¨C HP: 750 MP: 750 STA: 750 Physical Limit Lv 12, Mental Limit Lv 12, Sensorial Limit Lv 12. Skill: Bite Lv06, Fire Pillar Lv 06.
Evolved Mutant Rat (Earth) ¨C HP: 750 MP: 750 STA: 750 Physical Limit Lv 12, Mental Limit Lv 12, Sensorial Limit Lv 12. Skill: Bite Lv04, Earthquake Lv 05.
Now I was pretty sure that we were on the right path to find the dark orb. These monsters were there to do something, and since they many of them didn¡¯t move, they were protecting something. When we were one kilometer away, I could finally see it. It wasn¡¯t a shadow, nor was it a massive amount of rats moving around without reason, it was a dark aura. And that aura made me feel exactly the same thing when I found those magic plants using the search skill. Something which had vast amounts of energy was emitting that dark aura. ¡°The dark orb is up ahead; I''m sure of it.¡± ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± Claire asked. ¡°We can only see a shadow from here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a shadow, it¡¯s an aura. Probably the monster which is protecting the dark orb is emitting that aura. When you look at a bonfire, sometimes it seems that the flames are distorting the space around it, right? That monster is doing the same thing, but without using flames or anything. The monster is emitting that aura because it is absurdly strong.¡± While I said that in an uninterested voice, the others looked pretty tense, I wasn¡¯t underestimating the enemy ahead; I was on thinking that was just another obstacle in my way. Again, if I die, it was because I didn¡¯t deserve to live in this new world. I was nowhere strong to defeat a foe which could emit an aura like that, but I made a lot of preparations on the past week. So, I was confident that I would at least cause some problems to that monster. ¡°It seems that we won¡¯t be able to fight and focus only on the monster which holds the dark orb,¡± Sandra said while piercing the head of a mutant rat. ¡°In that case, some of us will focus on attacking these minor nuisances and the others will kill the monster which has the dark orb.¡± ¡°Are you sure we can do this with only nine people?¡± Charles asked, looking uneasy. ¡°We don¡¯t have other options,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°We can¡¯t bring a lot of survivors inside the truck. Besides, we are the leaders of our camp, and all of you are the members of the special team. We have to show to the other survivors that we can solve this kind of problem. If we retreat or fail, they will lose the faith they have on us.¡± She was right, although we helped those survivors, it was pretty much evident that we would obtain some benefits from them. Until now, they have left us to take the crucial decisions, but we have to prove that we deserved that right. ¡°If we solve this problem,¡± Sandra added. ¡°They will know that it¡¯s possible to survive, and we will be able to count on their help to solve future problems. So, let¡¯s do our best.¡± ¡°All right, then,¡± Charles said after sighing. ¡°Harry,¡± Sandra said while looking at his son¡¯s eyes with a serious expression.¡± You will be responsible for blocking the attacks of the monster which has the dark orb. Don¡¯t try to attack, do you hear me? Only focus on blocking the monster¡¯s attack. Sarah will be right behind you to heal your wounds; she will use her MP to do only that. So, if you make a mistake, we will lose all the chances to solve this problem. This is a great responsibility, but I know you can succeed.¡± Sarah nodded, and Harry gulped showing a tense expression, but soon afterward, he also nodded. Harry could block some unbelievable attacks which could instantly kill any of us, so, even though it was a hard decision, Sandra gave that vital job to him, he was the only one who could do it. ¡°Rose, Claire, and Ethan will be the ones who will attack the monster,¡± Sandra said. ¡°You three are by far our best attackers. So, your job is to kill the monster as fast as possible. The rest of us will kill the other enemies. We will protect Rose, Claire, and Ethan to give them room to attack the monster until we obtain the dark orb. We also can¡¯t let the monsters attack Sarah and Harry.¡± Sandra, Sabrina, and Lucius were excellent in middle range combat thanks to their weapons. So, they were the best option to do that kind of job. While Charles wasn¡¯t as good as them in that aspect, he could kill most of the evolved mutant rats using the spear¡¯s skill. So, he also would be able to protect the rest of us from the small fries. ¡°One more thing,¡± Sandra said after sighing. ¡°Don¡¯t die. We can¡¯t afford to lose a single survivor, and you are our most powerful survivors. Every single one of you is irreplaceable; if you succeed, the survivors back on our base will understand that we can rebuild our society and eventually get rid of all the monsters. So, do everything in your power to stay alive.¡± I wondered why she said that. Putting the cheesy lines aside, it seemed that she didn¡¯t consider to be an essential member of the group. Yeah, she wasn¡¯t amazing while fighting like the others, but she always knew what to do and what kind of risks to take. I looked at the others, and they also looked puzzled. The only exception was Lucius; he didn¡¯t seem surprised at all. ¡°Let¡¯s move on,¡± Sandra said. ¡°And keep the formation.¡± Even before we could see the monster which had the dark orb, we already decided to enter on that formation. Harry was ahead of us, his sword was on his back, and he was holding his massive shield with bolt hands. Sarah was right behind him, ready to heal him at any moment. Claire, Rose and I were killing the monsters ahead, while Sandra, Sabrina, Lucius, and Charles were killing those who were left behind heavily damaged. After twenty minutes of fighting non-stop under that almost unbearable hot weather, we finally arrived at our destination. Although thanks to that hot weather, the city was becoming arid like a desert at a fast pace. That part of the St Louis Street already was already a desert, all the vegetation, trees and water nearby had disappeared. Even the soil had lost all its life. All that we could see aside from the asphalt was useless sand. Right in front of us was a grotesque twenty meters tall creature, it was undoubtedly a rat. But the beast was so big and fat the only thing it could move were its arms. Almost every part of the creature¡¯s body was covered in fur, the creature¡¯s claws weren¡¯t sharp but were covered in dirt, blood and monsters¡¯ flesh. The same could be seen on the monster¡¯s head. Even though the beast was brown, half of the creature¡¯s face was red thanks to blood and monsters meat. In fact, we could see right now that creature chewing a mutant cat like it was noodles.
Evolved Mutant Rat (Ice) (Fire) (Thunder) (Poison)¨C HP: 50000 MP: 20000 STA: 10000 Physical Limit Lv 60, Mental Limit Lv 20, Sensorial Limit Lv 10. Skill: Bite Lv 10, Fire Rain Lv 05, Thunderstorm Lv 06, Blizzard Lv 06, Acid Rain Lv 08, Replication Lv 10, Magic Vampirism Lv ??.
When I saw the creature¡¯s last skill, I became a little surprised. After that, I looked at my status, and I saw my MP slowly decreasing. We also had a time limit to fight against that monster. The situation couldn¡¯t get any worse. Chapter 058 the dark orb (3) When I reported to the others what skill that disgusting creature had, I could see the shock on their pale faces, but that didn¡¯t change their mind. Without any warning, I made steel bolts rain over the grotesque creature¡¯s body. After that, some glaives and arrows also pierced the monster''s skin, but the beast continued to chew the mutant cat as if nothing had happened. We continued to attack, but the projectiles didn¡¯t pierce the monsters as much as we wanted. Harry and Sarah were patiently waiting for the creature¡¯s attacks; on the other hand, Sandra and the others were busy killing the innumerous mutant rats. Their numbers didn¡¯t decrease even after some minutes. To make things worse, every time the monster chewed, its HP was restored. ¡®Tsk, try to chew this.¡¯ I opened my backpack and a half meter fire arrow flew toward the beast¡¯s fangs. A massive explosion occurred, causing some damage to the creature. However, that explosion only slightly burned the fur on the beast¡¯s face and cracked a little bit the beast¡¯s fangs. But what really pissed off the monster was the fact that I destroyed its snack. The creature glared at me, and I grinned to piss off the beast even more. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d say that I was enjoying that. I could see in the creature¡¯s eyes that it had decided that I would be its next snack and that only made me feel more thrilled. I never enjoyed my fights against the monsters, but I would have to enjoy it from that point onward. Fighting for survival would become a habit, until that point, I had lived a boring life, but I decided to make my life more fun. The bolts flew toward the beast¡¯s face, but with a single hand, the monster stopped my attacks and with the other pointed at me, Claire and Rose. In the next moment, three evolved mutant rats appeared in front of us out of thin air. ¡®I don¡¯t think this is enough. Before the newborn evolved mutant rat could do anything, ten steel bolts pierced its head. On the next second, the creature fell on the ground, dead. I looked at Claire and Rose, and then I saw the other monsters falling on the ground, drowning in a pool of their own blood. The monster¡¯s eyes showed a hint of anger and in the next second dozens of mutant rats appeared near all of us. It was that replication skill; our formation was useless. Harry looked at us, nervously. ¡°Keep attacking the beast!¡± Sandra shouted. Sandra and the others were barely keeping the monsters away from us, they were covered in sweat and blood, and they were breathing with difficulty. They couldn¡¯t cause massive amounts of damage like us. However, they were doing their job just as Sandra said they would. The beast insisted on that pathetic tactic of trying to kill us with sheer numbers, but it only lost time and MP. Although I was having fun turning that massive beast into a hedgehog using my steel bolts, I decided to speed up a little bit. Even without eating, that creature was restoring its HP, and our MP was being drained. I didn¡¯t have time to waste. I kept shooting with steel bolts with my crossbow on my right hand and with my left hand, I opened my backpack, and I sent three fire arrows toward the monsters head. Even though I was wearing the fire ring, the damn beast didn¡¯t receive much damage. The ice arrows were sturdier and sharper, but the monster¡¯s skin was too tough. It almost looked like the creature¡¯s fur was an armor. The only weak point was its head, but the only one who could attack that effectively that point was Rose. While Claire and I could attack the beasts¡¯ face, it wasn¡¯t enough. The fat seemed like another layer of armor. ¡®In that case, let¡¯s open a big smile on that ugly face.¡¯ The creature couldn¡¯t move much, so, I would be able to do it. From my backpack, two green light arrows appeared and then flew toward the monster¡¯s cheek. Blood gushed like rain from the points the arrows scratched. Although the damage was small in comparison to the fire arrows, those arrows that I used were made of wind and managed to pierce some of the monster''s skin easily. ¡®It¡¯s a pity this kind of arrow is only good at cutting.¡¯ Since it was made of wind, those arrows could easily be blocked by a sturdy defense. They were only useful in that kind of situation, to little by little overcome the monster''s defense. Even though I had leveled up the elemental magic arrow, the cost to create these arrows was absurdly high. So, I had to make every single one of those arrows worth of it. Again, the massive beast looked annoyed at me, even though our attacks could barely scratch the creature, we were the three most powerful ranged survivors. We shouldn¡¯t be underestimated, Claire was a monster by her own right, and Rose had her telekinesis. While I was good at pissing off the beast. Thanks to our continuous attacks, the creature had already lost twenty percent of its HP Rose understood why I attacked the cheeks, and she also helped me to open a way to the creature¡¯s mouth. Claire¡¯s arrow wouldn¡¯t help in that task, so she decided to blind the enemy. But even the beast¡¯s eyelids were too fat, the monster only had to blink, and Claire wouldn¡¯t be able to destroy its eyes. ¡°Tsk, what an annoying monster,¡± Claire said impatiently. I used more four wind arrows, and thanks to Rose¡¯s help, I managed to cause enough damage to see the monster¡¯s teeth. But, the beast didn¡¯t like that and decided to put Harry to work. The creature pointed at us, and then lightning bolts flew toward us. Harry only managed to block the attack because he was ready to act; however, things weren¡¯t going well for him.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Argh! Damn it!¡± Harry moaned gritting his teeth. Those bolts of lightning weren¡¯t arrows, they could fly in any direction, and so many sparks managed to hit Harry¡¯s legs. Not only that, the shield wasn¡¯t created to absorb electricity. Thanks to all that, Harry¡¯s HP was decreasing at a fast pace, even though Sarah was healing him non-stop. ¡®I guess I don¡¯t have time to enjoy myself here.¡¯ Things will get messy if our sturdiest survivor dies. So, I decided to use all my ice arrows remaining; those were sturdy and sharper; it would do the job. Probably. I opened my backpack, and my last remaining five ice arrows flew toward the monster¡¯s teeth. Even though the arrows were small, they managed to make the monster¡¯s colossal head move a little backward thanks to the impact. The first two arrows broke a few teeth, and the others managed to pierce the interior of the beast¡¯s mouth deeply. Blood began to fall from the forced smiled that I created like a waterfall. ¡®As expected of those arrows strengthened by the ice ring¡­¡¯ The monster lost ten thousand HP, thanks to only three arrows. The beast¡¯s eyes were burning with rage, but then the creature raised its head toward the sky. Making us unable to hit the interior of the mouth. ¡®Tsk... is smarter than I thought.¡¯ As if that wasn¡¯t enough, the creature began to spill something toward the skies. After just a few seconds, a purple cloud was covering the entire battlefield. ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± Rose said without stopping her attacks. It was pretty much evident what was about to happen; I explained to them the beasts¡¯ skills after all. The skill¡¯s names were self-explanatory, and just like that, incredibly corrosive droplets of water began to fall on us. Usually, the pain would make me very annoyed, but instead, I felt bored. Although that acid rain was slowly eroding my clothes, hair, and skin, it wasn¡¯t an attack that would put my life in risk in a single moment. The others were moaning thanks to the pain, the only one who wasn¡¯t bothered by the rain was Harry, his defense far outclassed the attack power of that rain. But even though he was busy blocking the thunderstorm, he looked at us showing a worried expression. ¡®Area of effect skills are boring¡­ one more reason to finish this battle faster.¡¯ If I could control the magic arrows and make them explode at will, I could dissipate that cloud easily, but that wasn¡¯t something that I could do right at that moment. No matter, that was just one more thing to train and learn through trial and error. Although it tasted like crap and vomit, I forced myself to drink two MP potions, and then I equipped the metal crossbow on my left hand, and then I began to shot furiously at the monster¡¯s fat neck. ¡®Your MP will be drained too.¡¯ Thanks to vast amounts of MP the explosive bolt drained, and the fire ring, little by little I was opening a wound on the beast¡¯s neck. When the monster¡¯s HP dropped to twenty thousand, all the external layer of skin had been burned, and I finally could see the weak pink flesh. Damage that would be easy, thanks to it, I grinned. However, like it was laughing at my efforts, the creature stopped the acid rain and then pointed toward the sky. A mutant rat appeared right above the creature¡¯s head, and then the grotesque beast ate it. ¡®Disgusting beyond reason¡­ such a thing doesn¡¯t deserve to live.¡¯ But that hadn¡¯t been a random action, in the next few seconds, the creature recovered five thousand of its HP. ¡°Don¡¯t let that thing eat anymore!¡± Sandra shouted. That was my intention, but I had only seven magic arrows left, and the metal crossbow couldn¡¯t be used consecutively. I exploded the second mutant rat that thing created, but I couldn¡¯t do a thing to destroy the third, which appeared five seconds after. For the first time in a while, I felt annoyed when I saw the wound that I caused on the beast¡¯s neck closing and healing at a fearsome speed. ¡®Tsk, this is going to take forever at this rate.¡¯ My ammo was running low, and I had already used too many magic arrows. I had to bet everything on a single attack, but first, I had to make a few preparations to make sure that attack will cause as much damage as possible. But then I noticed something that could help me even more.
HP: 62/83
MP: 51/136
STA: 33/83
Evolution Orbs: 9752/10000 Evolution Coins: 42561
I was about to break my limit, and I would obtain one more sensorial skill until now those skills only offered support outside of the battles, but I felt the last sensorial skill that I would receive would help a lot. My instincts were telling me that. ¡°It¡¯s worth a try.¡± ¡°What?¡± Claire asked, confused after she saw me grinning. I opened my backpack and sent two dark five centimeters long darts toward the grotesque beast. One hit the head, and the other hit the arm, which was creating the mutant rats. The arm fell on the floor and created a small crater just like a meteor, but the head didn¡¯t move an inch. ¡®Tsk, it was too small to make that beast fall on the ground too. Even though the head became ten times heavier, the body is big enough to support all that weight.¡¯ I could create fire, ice, wind, electric, and earth arrows, but I also could create those dark arrows which could make everything ten times heavier, those arrows could alter the gravity around the target. It didn¡¯t cause damage directly, but if used correctly, it could make an enemy suffocate thanks to the weight of its own body. But as I already saw it, the grotesque beast was fine. ¡®It doesn¡¯t matter; this will give me enough time.¡¯ I left Rose and Claire behind, and then I joined Sandra and the others, only by helping them, I would obtain the orbs necessary to break the limit. When I appeared and began to shot, they looked at me astonished. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there, kill the monsters.¡± I already knew that I was a bit unreliable, but they also knew that I wasn¡¯t crazy enough to cause our deaths. I had a plan, and they noticed it. The dark arrows would only work for ten seconds, but that had been more than enough time to break the limit. I broke the sensorial limit for the last and fortieth time and then I saw the message. ¡®Congratulations, you broke your sensorial limit forty times. Now you will receive a random sensorial skill¡­ your new skill has been selected; you obtained the skill: Teleport.¡¯ I grinned, and then I laughed like a maniac. I knew that I could trust in my instincts; my instincts were the only thing which would never betray me. I turned around, and I faced the big monster with the biggest smile on my face. The others looked at me astonished while I approached the creature casually. Chapter 059 the dark orb (4)
Skill: Teleport Lv 01 00% Info: You can teleport to any point in your field of vision; you can also teleport to other locations as long as you have been there or you can feel the presence of someone or something on that place. You can teleport any numbers of allies as long as you are touching them or they are touching you, the cost of the skill will multiply accordingly with the number of allies teleported. Cost: 01 MP/01 Meter.
Luck was on my side; I didn¡¯t even have to test that skill. I already knew what I had to do to kill the grotesque and disgusting creature. ¡®Twenty and five meters of distance¡­ I guess I can¡¯t bring Rose and Claire with me.¡¯ They would make things easier for me, all that I had to do was to drink some MP potions, but I couldn¡¯t stand more of that taste of vomit in my mouth. So, I decided to go alone. I opened my backpack, and then I activated the skill, then in the next moment, I was falling toward the beast¡¯s head. The creature looked at me surprised, but I didn¡¯t care. I sent my last five fire arrow toward the creature¡¯s mouth; I aimed carefully, and the arrows went down through the creature¡¯s throat. And then I heard the satisfying sound of the massive explosions, after that the beast convulsed while its HP was dropping. ¡®It didn¡¯t die¡­ so resilient.¡¯ I finally landed on the creature¡¯s forehead and them I aimed the metal crossbow toward the beast¡¯s right eye, and I pulled the trigger. The explosive bolt exploded, and disgusting fluids flew toward all directions. I ignored that unpleasant feeling and smell, then I used the vampire hunter''s crossbow, and I made steel bolts rain over the destroyed eye. After just a few seconds, I received that message, and a dark sphere appeared on my hands.
You have obtained 7500 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 7500 Evolution Coins.
You have acquired the Dark Orb. You and your allies MP increased by 50 points. As long as you touch the dark orb, you can use the skill: Magic Vampirism.
¡®Not bad, not bad at all.¡¯ While I was pleased with the news, I had more pressing matters to attend to. The massive beast was falling, and while I wouldn¡¯t die because of the fall, I wasn¡¯t interested in feeling the pain. So, I teleported back to where Rose and Claire were. They looked at me with wide eyes and mouth open. ¡°What are you guys looking at? The mission isn¡¯t over yet.¡± The big boss died, but we still were surrounded by hundreds of monsters. Claire and Rose began to attack the innumerous small fries, but with the dark orb in my hands everything became easy, I could drain the monsters MP, and I even could send that MP to my allies. ¡®What a fearsome item.¡¯ It was a pity that I couldn¡¯t keep this to myself. In any case, thanks to the dark orb, we killed most of the enemies while a few ran away because their creator had died. ¡°Wow! Amazing Ethan!¡± Harry said, while strongly patting my back. ¡°You managed to kill half of the creature by yourself in just a few seconds! And you can teleport!¡± ¡°Can you stop hitting me? My HP is decreasing.¡± ¡°This is your new skill, huh. ¡°Claire said with her arms crossed. ¡°It is one hell of a broken skill.¡± ¡°Good job, Ethan,¡± Sandra said, showing a grim face. ¡°Although you could have told us what you were planning beforehand. And why in the hell did you laugh like that?¡± ¡°I got excited; this skill is that amazing, after all. Besides, I didn¡¯t have time to explain; the effects of my arrows were about to end.¡± My words didn¡¯t convince Sandra; it was pretty much evident that acted disregarding the safety of the others. While I really didn¡¯t want to see anyone dying because of my actions, I wanted to enjoy the fight. ¡°Isn¡¯t it time to return? This hot weather is killing me, and I want to drink lemonade which doesn¡¯t taste like vomit.¡± For a few seconds, Sandra looked at me; she wasn¡¯t angry, nor was she sad. For some reason, I could see a hint of understanding in her eyes, but in the end, she just sighed and gave us the order to return. Along the way, using the dark orb, I drained the monster¡¯s MP to restock my stock of steel bolts. I couldn¡¯t create the magic arrows inside the truck; I needed to concentrate. So, I decided to do it only at night. Although it would be hard to create those while enduring the urge to train the teleport, it was evident that skill would become more efficient as its levels up, and I would be able to move through greater distances. However, even though that skill could put me on the best place available to kill the monsters, I also needed the magic arrows to kill the fiercest enemies. ¡®On a single day, I used all the arrows that I created in a week¡­ but at least my MP increased a lot.¡¯Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The bonus that I received at the end of the fight would make things easier for me; maybe I will be able to create the dark arrows and put them inside my backpack before passing out. After stopping at the hotel to say to the other survivors that we succeeded, we headed toward the tower, and then I put the dark orb on the altar. We heard the sound of glass cracking, and then we noticed the barrier had disappeared. ¡°Let¡¯s call it a day,¡± Sandra declared. ¡°We already fought too much, and we deserve some rest.¡± Although I was a bit interested in the things that I would find inside that tower, I wasn¡¯t foolish enough to enter it without a supply of magic arrows. So, we returned to the hotel to rest. The survivors looked delighted with the fact the food and water didn¡¯t taste disgusting anymore¡­ even though they only didn¡¯t have the chance to eat and drink for a few hours. In any case, I left them to continue the party from yesterday; I created a shelter to protect Silver from that hot weather, and then I left to meditate and create the magic arrows. While I was at it, I decided to relax drinking some lemonade. ¡®We will probably face stronger monsters than that grotesque rat inside that tower¡­ shall I create more but weak magic arrows or just a few strong ones?¡¯ Using the teleport skill, I could make my attacks many times more effective, so, the best option was to create powerful magic arrows. However, the more powerful the magic arrows were, the more difficult it was to create. I was pretty sure MP was magic points, so, to create those arrows, I had to control my magic power. But magic only appeared after the hell broke loose in the city. Not only that, the elemental magic arrow was the first skill which I had to control my magic power. Create the weakest arrows was easy, I just had to think, but to make more powerful arrows I had to control the magic power. It was like trying to make arrows out of clouds. ¡®What an unnerving process.¡¯ However, I couldn¡¯t give up just because of a few minor problems. I used 100 MP to create each one of those last fire arrows, and they were enough to destroy the insides of that beast. It was troublesome, but it was worth the trouble. ¡®I guess I will try to make those arrows twenty percent more powerful for the time being.¡¯ My MP had increased so; my concentration wouldn¡¯t wane just increasing the effectiveness by twenty percent. Just when I was about to start, Claire appeared. ¡°Do you have a moment?¡± Claire asked. ¡°I¡¯m kind of busy right now. Try again tomorrow.¡± I was already condensing the air to create an ice arrow, but she ignored me and sat by my side. I looked at her, annoyed, but she just shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me; go on,¡± Claire said. Like hell, I would be able to concentrate with another person so close and observing me, but I decided to try it anyways. It may come a day where I will have to use all my MP to create a single arrow to attack an enemy during a battle. I had to train to be able to do that too. ¡°You looked like you were having fun, ¡°Claire said, looking at the arrow slowly appearing out of thin air, ¡°when we were fighting that monster. You looked ecstatic when you learned your new skill.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I be excited? With that skill, I will be able to achieve my goal.¡± ¡°And what would that be?¡± Claire asked. ¡°World domination.¡± Claire punched me and then sighed; she knew the last person who would want to dominate the world would be me. Who in their right mind would try to become the ruler of a world full of monsters? Only stupid people like Ken and Ann would, no wonder they died so quickly. ¡°There are more important things in life, you know,¡± Claire said with her head down. ¡°It¡¯s a dangerous path, the path of battles and carnage. You shouldn¡¯t enjoy things like that; we are fighting for survival and not for enjoyment.¡± What kind of things were more important than enjoyment¡­ the first thing which appeared in my mind was the word family. But only that made me feel a little depressed. Even though she was right, it didn¡¯t mean that I was wrong. Whether I enjoy or not killing monsters and fighting them, as long as I don¡¯t cause problems to others, everything was fine. For some reason, that way of thought made me frown. ¡®As long as I don¡¯t cause problems to others¡­¡¯ That was a scary way of deciding my actions, if I don¡¯t prejudice anyone, then that was fine, but if someone loses something, then that was a bad thing. I didn¡¯t notice until that moment, but that was the parameter that I had been using to decide my actions for the last two years. ¡°I agree with you; few things are better than lemonade.¡± This time Claire just sighed, she knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to have a serious conversation with me. I already decided that I would live a fun life in this new world or at least die trying to have one. I always tried to emulate on myself the greatness of my parents and siblings, but since I wasn¡¯t then, I failed, and I lived a pathetic and boring life. I wouldn¡¯t repeat a mistake. Although I was pretty sure Claire tried to make me fail with her words; I succeeded in creating a fifty centimeter¡¯s long ice arrow. The arrow was so awesome that I could sense the temperature in that room decreasing. Quickly, I put the arrow inside my backpack. Meditation was great; I could increase and recover my MP while creating magic arrows. Soon after I finished that arrow, the door suddenly opened, and Harry accompanied by Rose and Sarah appeared. ¡°Ethan, Claire,¡± Harry said, showing an astonished expression. ¡°You guys need to see this.¡± The fifty-first day didn¡¯t even have finished, and it seemed new changes occurred. Although it couldn¡¯t be something like the tower, we didn¡¯t felt anything after all. We left the room, crossed the lobby leaving the surprising survivors behind, and when we opened the wall''s massive gate, I finally understood the reason for their surprise.
Skeleton ¨C HP: None MP: None STA: None Physical Limit Lv 25, Mental Limit Lv 01, Sensorial Limit Lv 01. Skill: Smash Lv06.
Skeleton Archer ¨C HP: None MP: None STA: None Physical Limit Lv 01, Mental Limit Lv 01, Sensorial Limit Lv 25. Skill: Powerful Shot Lv06, Poison Shot Lv 06.
Skeleton Wizard ¨C HP: None MP: None STA: None Physical Limit Lv 01, Mental Limit Lv 25, Sensorial Limit Lv 01. Skill: Fireball Lv06, Ice Dart Lv 06, Lightning Lv 06.
¡°Things aren¡¯t looking good.¡± ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Claire asked. ¡°I can¡¯t see their HP, MP, and STA. But they can use skills and each one of them broke a single type of limit.¡± If that wasn¡¯t enough, I couldn¡¯t see them on the radar, even though I could see them with my own eyes and hear them. Besides, the other monsters ignored them. When I explained this to the others, they became even more surprised. But Rose understood why. ¡°It¡¯s probably because they are already dead. ¡°Rose explained. ¡°Their energy can¡¯t be seen, because they don¡¯t have energy. Someone or something is giving them infinity energy.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s the tower.¡± Sarah said.¡± ¡°It makes sense,¡± Rose nodded. ¡°They only appeared after the tower became available for us, they are probably coming from there as well.¡± ¡°So, they have an infinite amount of energy?¡± Harry asked, surprised. ¡°If that is the case, how can we kill them?¡± ¡°They are made of bones and magic,¡± Rose said. ¡°If we attack them normally, they will probably regenerate. We will have to smash them to pieces to make sure they won¡¯t cause problems. I think that is the only way.¡± Smash enemies? The best thing I could do was to explode enemies¡­ I immediately knew those skeletons would cause one hell of a headache to me. Chapter 060 Challenges (1) I tried to explode those skeletons, but the explosive bolts didn¡¯t work. Those fucking bags of bones could throw fireballs, but the explosive bolts couldn¡¯t drain their MP. But not everything was bad news; Silver could easily smash them with his massive weight and powerful fangs. That said, they were too many skeletons around the hotel, If I didn¡¯t know better, I would say the tower send them here because it was the only part of the city which had survivors. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, at night I found another kind of enemy.
Mutant Hyena (Shadow) ¨C HP: 750 MP: 250 STA: 750 Physical Limit Lv 10, Mental Limit Lv 05, Sensorial Limit Lv 15. Skill: Bite Lv06, Dark Mist Lv 05.
Those hyenas were relatively weaker, but they always walked in packs of five. Since I didn¡¯t like their last skill. I decided to create one of those heat vision googles and put it on Silver. It felt out of place on him, but I couldn¡¯t care less about such things. ¡°All right, Silver, you know the drill. Go hunt weak monsters until dawn, if things get dicey retreat immediately.¡± Silver barked and then left, although there was a chance that he could find an evolved mutant worm, he was a real predator and was fast enough. I was sure that he would be able to sense the presence of that thing and retreat before suffering any major wounds. That said, I was still pissed that I couldn¡¯t do much against those skeletons. I tried to destroy the core of their bodies which was their spine, but that didn''t change a thing. I could destroy them by freezing or exploding them with the magic arrows, but that was too inefficient. The magic arrows could be better used against the big guns. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much about it,¡± Harry said. ¡°The mutant lizards are still there, and you are the only one who can find them before they can attack us.¡± He had a point. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like I always had to kill the monsters on the most efficient way possible. It doesn¡¯t matter how much I fight and break my limits; I would always have a few weakness. I just had to accept that fact and learn from my weakness and those troublesome situations. After I accepted that fact, I decided to meditate and create new magic arrows through the night. Oddly enough, when I returned to my room, I saw Claire there meditating. She learned that skill soon after we returned, it seems she intended to upgrade her bow, but since Claire only broke her physical and sensorial limits, she didn¡¯t have enough MP. ¡®I guess she is quite competitive.¡¯ I heard that a few other survivors also had decided to learn that skill, although only a handful of them had the necessary amount of evolution coins. Anyway, I just got rid of those thoughts and decided to meditate and create new magic arrows for the rest of the night. When morning came, I headed toward the entrance gate and there I found Silver still fighting against a few skeletons.
Silver ¨C HP: 432/1300 MP: 311/1900 STA: 154/600 Physical Limit Lv 09, Mental Limit Lv 12, Sensorial Limit Lv 13. Skill: Lightning Lv 03 02%, Bite Lv04 11%. Evolution Orbs: 3652/6600
The survivors who would take the first turn of the day helped and then Silver finally had the chance to rest. Until that moment, I had never seen him so wounded, his blood was dripping, and he looked quite grumpy. After he sat down to rest, I patted his head.
You have received 4871 Evolution Coins.
It was a new record, although I was pleased, the cost had been too high. The problem were the skeletons; they didn¡¯t have flesh, so Silver couldn¡¯t eat them to regenerate his wounds. ¡®I guess I will bring the corpses of the mutant lizards which I will kill today to him.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t a sight most people would like to see, but it was necessary. Besides, everyone already got used to Silver. When I was too busy, Frank would silently approach and then climb on Silver¡¯s head while he was sleeping. That brat was really brave; even the adults didn''t dare to pat Silver, much less climb on his back. After I finished my business with Silver, I returned to the lobby, and there I found all the survivors listening to Sandra. ¡°Today we will enter and investigate the interior of that tower,¡± Sandra declared. ¡°But since innumerous skeletons appeared, I intend to take with us fifty members of the first group and fifty of the third group. The skeletons have only a single weakness, so the survivors of the second and fourth group won¡¯t participate. But don¡¯t slack off, all the fighters will have to fight inside the tower, I¡¯m sure of it. So, hunt while we investigate the tower.¡± Sandra chose the strongest survivors of the first and third group, and even though they didn¡¯t much experience working together, they already knew what their job was. The first group would stop the normal skeletons and block the magic and arrows from the others; the members of the third group would just make magic rain over those creatures. The special team will join the mission only to kill any big monster which may appear, and I was the sole exception, I would try to find the mutant lizards and kill them as soon as possible. My job was also to predict any attacks coming from below us, although that was close to impossible. I will have to focus a lot to be able to do it, and that hellish hot weather would only make things difficult.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡®I guess this will be a good training for me.¡¯ Surprisingly, as soon as we left the hotel, our tanks formed two perfect lines and began to move forward while stomping and smashing the heads and the skeleton¡¯s spines with their spears.
You have obtained 01 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 01 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 01 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 01 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 01 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 01 Evolution Coins.
¡­
Even though fifty survivors were destroying those skeletons, I was still receiving that message a lot. I thought those skeletons wouldn¡¯t give more than ten orbs and coins per death, but I was wrong. The tanks only stopped when they saw more than five skeletons wizards and skeletons archers ahead of them. When that happened, they stopped and raised their shields, the first line used their shields to protect their front and the second line use their shields to protect them from projectiles coming from above. It was the famous tortoise formation. ¡®I guess they trained when I wasn¡¯t looking.¡¯ It was almost perfect; the only problem was that they couldn¡¯t advance fast enough. Some skeletons archers and wizards ignored them and tried to attack the survivors of the third group, but Rose was there to protect them, she controlled Harry¡¯s shield to block those magic attacks. ¡°Move faster!¡± Sandra shouted. ¡°The other groups will be targeted if you guys don¡¯t move faster!¡± But that was easy said than done, the survivors have been training, but it wasn¡¯t simple to ignore the pain and move forward when fireballs and lightning bolts were hitting them almost directly. In any case, I had better things to do than observing them. ¡®Focus and concentrate, ignore the survivors¡¯ presence, and feel the monsters¡¯ movements¡­¡¯ I quickly heard the sound of three hearts beating in places where I couldn¡¯t see anything, and I killed the mutant lizards. Finding them was easy, although they were relatively far away, there wasn¡¯t anything blocking my senses. The problem was the monsters coming from the ground; I killed every single salamander before those could attack. But it was impossible to detect the mutant ants¡¯ presence, the best I could do was to feel them destroying the ground when they were three meters away from us, and that also meant that we only had three seconds to prepare. Unfortunately, those fuckers always appeared right below the first group, destroying their entire formation for a few seconds. We got attacked by ants three times, and we just walked two hundred meters, although we didn¡¯t suffer any losses, a few of our tanks were moaning in pain while being healed by Sarah. ¡®There¡¯s no other choice; I will have to use the search skill.¡¯ Although my stock of potions would suffer because I would have to use that skill almost every twenty seconds, it was better than losing our frontline. Thanks to that, we managed to reach the tower without suffering any more wounds. Although some survivors looked weirdly at me. As if I wasn¡¯t trying to do my job at the beginning. I just ignored them. Exactly as we had expected, the skeletons were coming out from the tower. A new skeleton appeared ten seconds after the last one had left the tower. The entrance door was open, but we couldn¡¯t see anything inside the tower, even the sunlight wasn¡¯t able to enter in that place. ¡°What are we going to do, mom?¡± Harry asked, facing the tower. ¡°We will have to enter,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°We need as much information as possible before trying to reach the last floor of this tower.¡± ¡°Should we send a small team first?¡± Rose asked. ¡°No,¡± Sandra crossed her arms. ¡°We will all enter together, whatever happens, we will all face it together. We will rest for fifteen minutes; after that, we will enter.¡± Rest in that place wasn¡¯t an easy task thanks to the skeletons appearing and the hot weather. Even though we were about to enter in a dangerous place, I was thankful when Sandra gave the order to enter the tower. That hot weather was even more annoying the life and death situations. When I put my feet inside that tower, I immediately noticed that something was off. That place wasn¡¯t hot at all, and I didn¡¯t saw any skeletons. It looked like I was in the hotel, but I couldn¡¯t feel the fatigue leaving my body. Besides, that place made me remember that place where Ann used to see my memories; I couldn¡¯t see anything. It was just me and the darkness, even Claire, who was right beside me disappeared. ¡°What the hell¡­¡± ¡°Welcome survivor, to the doomsday tower¡¯s first challenge.¡± It was that annoying voice again, something bad was about to happen, and I knew it. Every time I heard that voice without breaking my limit, something troublesome happened. ¡°First challenge? How many challenges will we have to face?¡± ¡°Ten challenges, do you wish to start the first challenge?¡± ¡°Wait a minute, will happen after we succeed?¡± ¡°I cannot answer that question, do you wish to start the first challenge?¡± It seems that I finally could get some answers, although not all of them. But I decided to continue asking. ¡°What will happen if we fail in this challenge?¡± ¡°All survivors who fail will die, do you wish to start the first challenge?¡± ¡°Who can we win this challenge?¡± ¡°To win, fifty-five of those one hundred nine survivors currently inside this tower have to answer five questions currently. Do you wish to start the first challenge?¡± I was speechless, I entered the tower hoping to fight against thousands of monsters, but instead, I had to answer a quiz correctly. But then I realized something. ¡°Wait a minute; if I don¡¯t answer those five questions correctly, I will die. But what will happen if I answer those five questions correctly and most of the survivors don¡¯t?¡± ¡°If you answer incorrectly any question, you will die. But, if fifty percent of the survivors inside this tower doesn¡¯t answer all the questions correctly, all survivors inside this tower will die. Do you wish to start the challenge?¡± Me and my rotten luck¡­ I thought that I would only need strength to live in this new chaotic world. But I was wrong, as usual. I would also need some intelligence and some luck. In any case, I was in trouble. ¡°If we succeed, what will happen to the survivors who aren¡¯t in this tower right now? Will they have to answer those questions?¡± ¡°No, if the survivors who are in this tower right now succeed, all the other survivors will only face the other challenges. Do you wish to start the first challenge?¡± At least, not everything wasn''t bad news. If we succeed, the kids and other survivors won¡¯t have to take those risks although I had no idea if the next challenges would be any less crazy. Chapter 061 Challenges (2) Since I wouldn¡¯t become smarter any time soon, I decided to start the challenge. ¡°Yes, you can start the challenge.¡± ¡°You are fighting against a monster, and then you realize you aren¡¯t strong enough to kill the monster, what will you do? Will you fight until death? Will you surrender? Will you kill yourself?¡± Whoa¡­ those options were pretty limited. I would rather not choose any of them; I would end up dying anyway. I would instead explode the monster¡¯s head with my magic arrows. But, it seems that was a general question which ignored the skills and weapons of the survivors. I was pretty sure the others had to answer that very same question. ¡°I will fight until death.¡± My life was on the line, but I didn¡¯t hesitate in choosing that option. I used my pride as a basis, but even so, I was confident that was the correct answer. I didn¡¯t know who or what have caused this whole incident, but that only happened for one single reason: to make us fight. We even received crazy powers, items, and weapons as a reward for our struggles. ¡°Congratulations, you chose the right answer.¡± I sighed in relief, although I frowned because that voice congratulated me, but I couldn¡¯t feel real feeling behind it. In any case, that question had been incredibly easy; I thought that I would have answer question about something more specific like math or physics. "You and two other survivors are fighting against a powerful monster; suddenly, the monster attacks and heavily wounds the other two survivors. What will you do? Will you fight and try to kill the monster by yourself? Will you sacrifice yourself and give your allies the chance to escape? Or will you kill your allies?" I guess I was wrong about the quiz; the questions weren''t just about random things it was about fighting and survival. Again the questions were pretty limited, but that question seemed pretty easy as well. I wasn¡¯t a hero, I wouldn¡¯t give my life for random survivors, and I wouldn¡¯t kill other survivors as long as they don¡¯t point their weapons at me. ¡°I will fight and kill the monster alone.¡± ¡°Congratulations, you chose the right answer.¡± Maybe I wasn¡¯t in trouble; the questions were pretty straightforward. And until now, all the answers had something in common. ¡°You killed a powerful most all by yourself and obtained a massive amount of evolutions coins, using those coins you can learn a powerful skill but other survivors need more powerful weapons to fight the monsters which suddenly got stronger. What will you do? Will you learn the powerful skill? Or will you create more powerful weapons to the other survivors?¡± Now things got a little complicated. If it were me from one month ago, I was pretty sure that I would share those coins with the other survivors. But now I wanted strength, and I wouldn¡¯t share with anyone the things that I had earned alone. That would only make me waste time and delay my progress. Although I gave to the others, the items, weapons, and vehicles of those who were being controlled by Ann. I only did it because it would make me waste too much time searching and collecting them. Besides, they cleaned the battlefield, so they had the right to be rewarded. ¡°I will learn the powerful skill.¡± ¡°Congratulations, you chose the right answer.¡± It seemed that I was mistaken; I thought the thing the answers had in common was the wish to fight. But in reality, it wasn¡¯t about that. ¡°You are the leader of a group, and one member of your group ran away in the middle of a hard fight, after the fight you and your group caught him. What will you do? Will you kill him? Or will you banish him from the group?¡± ¡°I will kill him.¡± ¡°Congratulations, you chose the right answer.¡± As I thought, the correct answer could be any of those options. I only had to answer what I indeed would do in that situation; I couldn¡¯t lie to myself. ¡°Final question. You and your best friend are arguing about a weapon you two obtained after killing another survivor, he gets angry and draws his weapon ready to fight and kill for what he wants. What will you do? Will you kill him? Or will you let him take the weapon for himself?¡± ¡°I will kill him.¡± ¡°Congratulations, you finished the first challenge. The first challenge was completed.¡± Soon after that, I reappeared in front of the tower. I looked around me, and I saw the confused faces of Claire and Harry, the other survivors were there as well. But, I was pretty sure our numbers had decreased. Twenty-one of the one hundred nine survivors had vanished; those were the ones who didn¡¯t notice the objective of that quiz. It was to make us realize what kind of person we were. I already knew my flaws, so, I wasn¡¯t worried about the fact that I was a selfish and cold person. Claire, Harry, and the others seemed fine, but Sandra and Lucius looked a bit depressed. Those two were the oldest and less idealistic, so they had to say with their mouth what kind of person they were. Most of the other survivors also looked depressed, and even though that wasn¡¯t surprising, I was a bit perplexed. It wasn¡¯t a crime being selfish or being ruthless against traitors.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Let¡¯s return,¡± Sandra declared. We lost twenty-one survivors, and we couldn¡¯t even bring their bodies with us, and though the quiz didn¡¯t wound the other survivors, they suffered massive mental damage. The survivors who stayed in the hotel didn¡¯t have many reasons to celebrate either; we didn¡¯t fight inside the tower, but, we lost more than twenty survivors. And we had to face more challenges. The depressing atmosphere inside the hotel returned, but I just ignored because I had better things to do with my time. With the help of my secret army, I brought the corpses of those mutant lizards which I killed. Hopefully, that would be enough to fill Silver¡¯s stomach and make his wounds disappear. We were in a race against time, we all would die in forty-eight days if we don¡¯t reach the last floor of that tower, but Sandra and the others decided to only go to the tower again in three days. We would use those three days to strengthen ourselves and also mourn the loss of the survivors who died. Even though the day had just begun, I decided to spend the rest of the day meditating and creating magic arrows. It would be more efficient hunting at night alongside Silver, he would deal with the skeletons, and I would kill the other monsters. Claire and the kids won''t notice anything if I disappear in the middle of the night using the skill teleport. But when night came, to my surprise, Claire noticed that I was planning something. ¡°You are planning to sneak out, aren¡¯t you?¡± Claire asked. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I tried to play dumb, but I was horrible at acting. Besides, Claire was far smarter than me, and I was a simple guy. ¡°We won¡¯t follow you, but we will keep an eye on you,¡± Claire said, showing one of the mini-helicopters. I¡¯m sure that you just want to move your body a little. So it¡¯s okay if we use those.¡± ¡°Why are you trying to be so cooperative all of a sudden?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not what you think,¡± Claire said, showing a fed-up expression. ¡°Frank wants to see those skeletons, and we can¡¯t exactly take the kids with us during the day thanks to the hot weather. And we won¡¯t take the kids to the tower, but it¡¯s not like we can just lock them here forever. Besides, this is a good opportunity to make the children understand how dangerous the city is at night.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t saw the new monsters yet? We have the tower for that. And can they see in the dark with those toys? They will end up hitting Silver or me if they only put heat vision glasses in front of those cameras.¡± ¡°No, they won¡¯t be able to see the mutant lizards,¡± Claire explained. ¡°That¡¯s your job, but they have flashlights, and they will attack the skeletons. Just don¡¯t go too far away, or they will end up using all their MP faster. If you want to hunt for a few hours, just stay around the hotel.¡± It was better than just leaving the hotel using a lot of MP. Besides, there were too many skeletons around the hotel; even Silver wasn¡¯t enough to destroy all of them. And since the tower was creating them regularly, it was better to kill them before their numbers become too high. ¡°All right then. What are you going to do?¡± ¡°I will stay here with then and meditate,¡± Claire answered. ¡°But first, I want you to tell me what options did you chose.¡± ¡°Do you mean this morning inside the tower? I chose only the first options.¡± Even though I answered without any hesitation, Claire didn¡¯t show any surprise; she only seemed a bit sad. I wish that I could be that na?ve and idealistic, things would be so simple for me. I left Claire and the kids behind, and I headed toward the entrance gate been followed by ten noise mini-helicopters. But when I looked at those toys, I noticed that they weren¡¯t only mini-helicopters anymore. There were mini-helicopters, mini-planes, mini-dragons, and flying teddy bears. I sighed when I looked at those. I rarely looked at their toys when I was in that room because I was too busy creating new arrows. Although those toys looked silly, they had high firepower and were really useful. They were more powerful than conventional machine guns, and they could be reloaded at any moment. The kids just have to push a button, and their MP would be sucked to create the ammo. With those toys, the kids were more powerful than any other survivors, with the exceptions of the council¡¯s members and me of course. That said, Claire put some restrictions on the kids¡¯ weapons to avoid disasters. The survivors couldn¡¯t use their weapons and skills inside the hotel, but she also made them able to recognize humans and unable to aim at them. In any case, they would be useful, as long as the mutant lizards don¡¯t destroy them. I thought that I already enough surprises for the night thanks to Claire¡¯s sudden cooperation, but that was just the first surprise. I found Harry, Rose, and Sarah near the entrance door, and it seemed they were preparing to hunt. I was pretty sure that was the first time they would try something like that. ¡°Hey, Ethan,¡± Harry said, waving his right hand. ¡°Are you going to hunt some monsters too? Why don¡¯t you join us?¡± ¡°Why are you guys here? I thought you guys used the nighttime to plan our future actions.¡± ¡°Mom said that we didn¡¯t have many things to plan,¡± Harry answered with his head down. ¡°She said that she will organize the files of those who died by herself.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain why you are here.¡± ¡°We have been relying too much on Sandra,¡± Rose answered with her arms crossed. ¡°She is always leading us, and because of it, she received a shock after our losses this morning. So, we decided that we should hunt as much as possible to prevent more losses and to lessen the weight on her shoulders.¡± I didn¡¯t think that was the case; she probably was feeling depressed because of her answers. But, it wasn¡¯t like they were doing something stupid because of a wrong impression. A day without hunting made they feel restless, and since Claire learned the meditation skill to get rid of her only weakness, which was her MP, they decided to take some risks to grow in strength. They also wanted to become strong by themselves, and that was probably why they didn¡¯t invite me earlier. ¡°This is surprisingly imprudent coming from you three, do you guys have a death wish or something? I don¡¯t see any of you carrying those heat vision glasses.¡± ¡°No one will die, as long as I am nearby, no one will die,¡± Sarah said like it was a matter of fact. I didn¡¯t remember Sarah being that confident, her healing skill was a lot more efficient and faster than before, but only that wasn¡¯t enough to make someone feel so confident. Although Sarah didn¡¯t seem like she was being full of herself, she was only saying that we could count on her. I guess she had many reasons to feel so confident; after all, she could heal most wounds in a matter of seconds. ¡°Well, this is none of my business. If you guys can come with me, then feel free to do it. Ten others are already following me after all. But you two should stay on Silver¡¯s back to avoid major problems.¡± Chapter 062 Challenges (3) Rose and Sarah weren¡¯t fast on their feet, so, they accepted to stay on Silver¡¯s back without any fuss. Besides, Silver didn¡¯t have much space to run with so many skeletons around, and because of it, they could use their skills and offer support without any problems. Before I could even search for the mutant lizards, the kids¡¯ toys began to attack the skeletons. Those bag of bones started to fell on the ground in pieces each time a projectile hit them and explode. ¡®It seems they also changed their ammo while I wasn¡¯t looking, or perhaps Claire made them change the ammo with the skeletons in mind.¡¯ Although their firepower and precision were great, their teamwork was lacking without Claire or me giving orders to the kids. They couldn¡¯t hear me, and Claire was probably meditating, so things wouldn¡¯t be so simple. But I signalized using my hands to make them hit different targets, giving priority to skeleton wizards and archers. To my surprise, after I signalized to the kids, things got a lot easier. Harry and Silver were fighting the normal skeletons, while Rose, Sarah, and the kids¡¯ toys were attacking the other skeletons. I thought that I would have to offer them some support, but Sarah water balls were quickly hitting the skeletons wizards and the skeletons archers making them unable to attack. She didn¡¯t cause any damage, but she was giving more than enough time to the others. To destroy the skeletons, Rose modified her glaives and made them thicker. She now could control five objects, and each second one was skeleton was being destroyed thanks to her. While Silver could smash the skeletons with his weight, Harry was blocking the skeletons which ignored Silver. He couldn¡¯t exactly kill the skeletons fast like Rose and the kids, but he was able to stop the Skeletons quickly. If one monster tried to ignore him, Harry used the weight of his shield to stop the monsters¡¯ advance and even knock them down. Even without a skill, he could make the monsters ignore his allies and focus on him in an instant. Looking at that battlefield, I realized that I wasn¡¯t needed there, I was just obtaining orbs and coins without doing anything. Then I remembered Ann¡¯s words. ¡°You are pathetic compared to them.¡± Although she wasn¡¯t wrong, I wasn¡¯t relying on them. Little by little, I was obtaining the strength that I wanted. After a month or two, I was sure that I would destroy these skeletons without having to worry about my MP. I got rid of those thoughts because some guest had arrived: mutant hyenas. Although those creatures seemed to be monsters which would just attack without thinking, they tried to surround us while using the skill dark mist to make us unable to see them or the other monsters attacks. They only tried, because as soon as I saw the dark mist leaving their bodies, I decided to go all out. I teleported near each one of them and killed them using the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow, I spent a lot of MP, but I didn¡¯t have much choice, they were fast, and I couldn¡¯t give them time to expand that dark mist. I would be okay with my senses and the radar, but the others would be unable to attack. While I was teleporting to kill the hyenas, I felt the presence of a single mutant lizard nearby. And to avoid any problems, I decided to kill it using one ice arrow; it was easy to aim with the magic arrows after all. The creature fell on the floor without doing anything. ¡°Man, I wish I could learn that skill,¡± Harry said, stopping the advance of the skeletons and giving Silver the chance to smash them easily. ¡°It¡¯s amazing to be able to move around instantly.¡± ¡°Then, use the statue and learn the skill.¡± ¡°I wish I had the evolution coins to do it,¡± Harry said. ¡°That skill costs five million evolution coins.¡± That surprised me a lot; it seemed that I had been luckier than I thought. To learn that skill, a person had to pay the price, which was enough to revive five people. I thought the crazier thing we would be able to do would be to revive the dead. But I was wrong, the things we could do using evolution coins were endless. Harry¡¯s words made me understand how narrow-minded I had been. In the beginning, I tried to be more creative to learn useful skills, but my way of thinking was just too simplistic. I had to be crazy creative to learn even more crazy skills. For example, while I could teleport around to put myself in a good position to attack, there had to be another way to do something similar with a less expensive skill, like flying in the skies. And I knew a person who could do something similar. ¡°What is it?¡± Rose asked after she noticed that I was looking at her. ¡°Can you fly?¡± ¡°I can¡­¡± Rose answered. ¡°You can!?¡± Harry asked, astonished. ¡°For a few minutes,¡± Rose added. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me this before?¡± Harry asked. ¡°This is amazing!¡± ¡°Because you are noisy and I knew you would make a fuss,¡± Rose sighed. ¡°Stay focused on the monsters.¡± Rose probably didn¡¯t make this information public because it wasn¡¯t all that efficient. She could move around any object and even her own body, but to move heavier things, she would have to spend more MP. That was why she could only fly for a few minutes, even though that by itself was already amazing. In any case, we could probably learn the skill to fly, and that skill would be more efficient. Something like that would be great in Claire¡¯s or Rose¡¯s hands.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. For now, I couldn¡¯t think of any skill more amazing the teleport and the elemental magic arrow, but that didn¡¯t mean that I had to give up. I had to keep using my brain to think of new interesting skills, and I also had to fight more, the monsters were natural fighters, and they could give me some inspiration. After a few hours destroying many skeletons and a few monsters around the hotel, we decided to return. I was satisfied with the result of that hunt, all of us had broken our limits one time, and I also broke my mental limit for the first time, although I didn¡¯t notice any changes. Besides, it was already late, and the kids had to sleep. I could hunt with Silver, but I decided to leave him hunting alone. I had to meditate and increase my MP; it was too unpleasant to ignore the skeletons only because I would run out of MP fast. It seemed that I wasn¡¯t the only one who understood the potential the things we could learn using the statue, as soon as we returned to the hotel, Harry run toward the statue. He looked pretty serious for a few moments, but then he grinned. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you all of a sudden?¡± Rose asked a bit annoyed by Harry¡¯s behavior. ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Harry answered. ¡°It¡¯s just that I confirmed that I can learn a certain skill.¡± ¡°Which skill?¡± Sarah asked. ¡°When I learn, I will show you guys.¡± Harry smiled. ¡°You guys will be astonished, although it will take some time until I can obtain the evolution coins.¡± I was a bit curious since Harry was a creative guy, but since he didn¡¯t tell what that skill was, I just left them behind and went to my room. Although it was very late, it seemed the kids didn¡¯t have enough fun exploding skeletons. They wanted more, but Claire put them to sleep in just ten minutes, even without using her iron fists. Without wasting time with small talk, she resumed her meditation. I thought that I was focused guy, but I was light-years behind Claire in that aspect. She rarely left the kids¡¯ side, and she used every single moment of her spare time to get stronger. I wanted to meditate too, but I decided to do that later when I noticed the leaf of the spiritual plant that I put in a vase had grown and now was identical of the other spiritual plant. It was good news, but that was just the beginning because that new plant already had a new leaf ready to be used. I headed toward the lobby and created twenty vases, and I planted a new leaf one each one of them. Thanks to my search in the last few days, I had ten red spiritual plants, four blue spiritual plants, and six green spiritual plants, which could recover my STA. I could create more of them, but we didn¡¯t have much free space to put so many vases. Besides, once I share that information with the other survivors, they would also cultivate their own plants. ¡®We have to expand our base if we want to take advantage of this.¡¯ That was our best option, but we didn¡¯t know if we would have time to expand our base. Something would happen in less than fifty days, and we had no idea what would that be. However, we wouldn¡¯t lose anything by cultivating those plants; it wasn¡¯t like all the survivors would spend all day hunting. After I shared that information with the other survivors, they began to cultivate their own plants. For those who didn¡¯t have enough evolution coins to learn the skill meditation, the plants were the best option. So, for the next two days, the survivors hunted and shared all the space available to cultivate those plants. Then finally the day we would challenge the tower again arrived, Sandra to be back to normal. But she was much less talkative than usual. ¡°Today only the special team and twenty survivors will go to the tower,¡± Sandra declared. ¡°Only our best front liners and our best magic attackers will participate, the rest of you should take turns using the truck. Don¡¯t try to use the jeeps when the mutant lizards can explode them before they could even be seen.¡± She didn¡¯t look much motivated, but her brain was working like always, if we take fewer survivors, we won¡¯t suffer many losses, although we didn¡¯t know if that number would be enough to complete the second challenge. Anyway, the truck was powerful enough to destroy the mutant lizards and the skeletons. The ants wouldn¡¯t be able to destroy the trucks¡¯ armor, and the evolved mutant worm wouldn¡¯t be able to eat the whole vehicle. The survivors wouldn¡¯t be able to obtain real combat experience, but you can¡¯t always have what you want. The survivors who Sandra chose also participated in the first challenge; those were physically and mentally stronger. They didn¡¯t hesitate while moving toward the skeletons and they didn¡¯t panic when the mutant ants appeared right below them. Although those survivors didn¡¯t have useful skills like the members of the special team, they wouldn¡¯t be shaken by the challenges. At least that was what Rose said. I only agreed with that opinion when we finally found the second evolved mutant worm. Thanks to the skill earth manipulation, the fucking beast could move around without making any sound. When I noticed the presence of the creature, it was already too late. Suddenly, the earth trembled a hole appeared right below two members of our front line. They didn¡¯t have time to react, and they got swallowed by the colossal earthworm. The monster broke our formation, but soon the other tanks surrounded the beast and began to attack. ¡°Ethan!¡± Rose shouted, using her telekinesis to keep the monster''s mouth open. I nodded, and then I teleported to above the beast''s mouth. Fortunately, I had been fast enough, and I could see the two survivors slowly slipping down the beast¡¯s throat. I couldn¡¯t attack because they were blocking the path, so I just touched them. ¡°Wow, this place stinks.¡± I teleported back, and then I felt that familiar wave of dizziness, but soon I recovered and began to attack the beast too. After just ten seconds, the creature died. But that didn¡¯t surprise me; those thirty were our most powerful survivors, after all. Those two survivors thanked me, but they showed big smiles when they thanked Rose. Well, that was to be expected, she used a lot of her MP to stop that thing''s mouth. She used so much that we had to stop because she couldn¡¯t walk thanks to the dizziness. After ten minutes we reached the tower, and without saying any word, Sandra nodded, giving us the signal to enter the tower. Again, everyone disappeared, and I saw myself in an empty dark place. My MP and STA weren''t regenerating, but I felt like I was inside the hotel. ¡®No team battles again, huh. Well, that works better for me.¡¯ ¡°Welcome survivors, to the doomsday tower''s second challenge.¡± ¡°What is the second challenge?¡± ¡°To complete the second challenge, you have to defeat yourself three times. Do you wish to start the second challenge?¡± What?¡± Another crazy event was about to start, and I had a bad feeling about it. Chapter 063 Challenges (4) I wanted to know more about the test, but obviously, those answers wouldn''t be answered. If I knew beforehand why I would have to defeat myself three times, the challenge would be a lot easier. ¡°I wish to start the second challenge.¡± ¡°The second challenge is starting¡­ defeat the person who you think you are.¡± ¡°What the heck¡­¡¯ Before I could even understand the meaning of those words, another version of me appeared out of thin air and glared at me. ¡°A new kind of monster, huh. Die.¡± My copy said. Just like that copy of myself appeared out of thin air, the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow suddenly appeared in his hands. He aimed without hesitation and pulled the trigger, but I teleported to behind him, and I opened my backpack, sending a fire arrow toward him. I didn¡¯t make any sound, but he also teleported to escape that attack without even looking behind him. ¡°Such a troublesome monster¡­¡± My copy showed a calm expression. I never recorded myself acting normally, but that was precisely how I imagined that I acted on a daily basis. Just like him, I was ready to strike down the opponent in front of me using everything that I have without losing my cool. But for some reason, I wanted to observe him more. My copy teleported himself to above me and then used a fire arrow to attack, but I teleported again without counter-attacking. I just observed my copy. Although he was displeased that he was using his projectiles without hitting a target, he was quick to calm down and began to attack again. ¡®It¡¯s really an exact copy of me¡­ but I can¡¯t waste time observing him.¡¯ That was what I thought, but then I noticed that my MP was still full. For some reason, in that space, I could use all my skills without worrying about their cost. ¡®It seems someone or something really wants to see me fighting against myself. In that case, I should use this rare opportunity as well.¡¯ Although that was a bit unnerving, it was also an excellent opportunity to study my own actions and attacks. Soon as I began to just teleport to one place to another, my copy also noted that he wasn¡¯t spending MP. So, he began to attack without a care in the world. I intend to observe my copy to learn a few things, but I didn¡¯t see much problems in my actions and fighting style. But that was impossible; I only had two months of combat experience. I was pretty sure that I was supposed to look like a newbie struggling a lot. ¡®I understand now¡­ I won¡¯t learn a thing here, because that copy is an idealized version of myself.¡¯ Although I always wanted to improve, my main focus was to acquire real combat experience. I wanted to learn more about the enemies to defeat them in the most efficient way possible. I would adapt myself according to the enemy, so, observe the idealized version of myself was a waste of time. After all, that copy was who I was trying to be. ¡®The problem is: how do I defeat the ideal version of myself?¡¯ Against someone who had the same weapons, skill, and actions, I only had one option: surprise him. While my copy tried to explode me using fire arrows nonstop, I teleported around thinking about a thing which would surprise me a lot. But I had to be creative; he was an exact copy of myself. What words would grab the attention of the idealized version of myself in the middle of a battle? It wasn¡¯t that hard to think of something which could do that, actually. ¡®Oh, boy¡­ I don¡¯t believe that I¡¯m about to say this to myself.¡¯ I sighed while I was teleporting around. Although it was quite fun, I couldn¡¯t enjoy it. I looked at my skills and also didn¡¯t saw any progress, so I decided to end that already. I teleported to his side, and then I whispered in his ear. ¡°Your family abandoned you.¡± For half a second my copy stopped and then I sent three fire arrows toward him, and those made him explode, but I didn¡¯t saw blood nor flesh, I only saw black smoke on the place he had been. Even my idealized version of myself was weak in that aspect. After killing so many people, I decided to ignore my noisy conscience and my annoying feelings, but even in my imagination, I didn¡¯t succeed in doing that. ¡°You defeated yourself one time¡­ defeat the person who the others think you are.¡± Now I would be able to learn a few things, but those words worried me a little. I still had to face another version of myself, and my instincts were telling me that I wouldn¡¯t like any of those battles. Just like before another me appeared out of thin air, this one didn¡¯t look calm like the other. ¡°Tsk, another fucking monster.¡± My copy said, showing a displeased face. Contrary to my expectations, that copy didn¡¯t attack soon after appeared. Instead, it studied me carefully while trying to keep a distance. The vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow was already in his hands, but it looked like he wouldn¡¯t use unless I try something.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡®That¡¯s weird¡­ he looks angry, but he doesn¡¯t seem brave enough to do anything. Is this really how the others see me?¡¯ I wouldn¡¯t deny that my first action was to study the enemy and analyze their status and skills, but I didn¡¯t think that I acted like that. I won¡¯t deny that I would do anything to survive; I would use any cowardly tactics possible. But that was just me being practical and not coward. While I was thinking about such things, my copy activated the cape¡¯s effect. ¡®I guess I really act like a coward sometimes.¡¯ I also activated my cape to disappear, but I didn¡¯t move from that spot. Thinking objectively, even though I used the cape to increase my chances of survival, it was a means to surprise and escape from enemies. I used the cape dozens of times when I fought against Ann and her minions, and I also used that when I tried to kill her using the spiritual knives. All in all, it was something a coward would use. After a few seconds, my copy appeared, and I saw three fire arrows flying toward me. Even though I was invisible, he somehow noticed that I didn¡¯t move from that spot. But I didn¡¯t have any reason to get nervous; I just teleported to a few meters backward to escape the explosions. ¡°Tsk, why I always have to face this kind of annoying monsters?¡± My copy showed an annoyed expression. He had realized that I hadn¡¯t been hit, so he disappeared again. I couldn¡¯t hear his footsteps, nor could I hear his heart beating, probably because he wasn¡¯t a living being. In any case, he made me realize that I was a bit passive when I was fighting against new monsters. I wondered why, using the magic arrows, I could kill most of the monsters very quickly. Was it because a new and more powerful monster could appear soon after? Or was it because I was a real coward? Again, my copy appeared, and then he sent dozens of fire arrows toward all directions. He finally realized that he could use his skills freely, and that was very weird. I couldn¡¯t feel his presence, but he and the previous copy attacks were noisy, and I could feel the flames heat. Using the teleport skill, I stayed away from the floor and from the attacks. ¡°You are pretty smart for a monster.¡± My copy smiled. First, my copy was pissed and was trying to keep distance, and now he seemed that he was enjoying himself. Was I that weird? I was pretty sure that I didn¡¯t have a split personality. ¡®Something is off.¡¯ Recently, I decided to enjoy the battles against monsters. After all, we wouldn¡¯t destroy all the monsters on the planet any time soon, death battles against monsters would be part of our daily lives. So, I couldn¡¯t complain if my copy was doing the same. But, my copy''s previous behavior seemed like something I would do only at the time when the monsters appeared, and when I was feeling depressed. I was pretty sure that I didn¡¯t act like that in a few weeks. ¡®Maybe this copy has been created by using the memories of those around me. First impressions are important, and that would explain why this copy''s behavior is so all over the place.¡¯ That said, I couldn¡¯t also deny the fact that something was wrong with me. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if my behavior suddenly changes, I wasn¡¯t a normal and sane human, after all. I wasn¡¯t hypocrite enough to say otherwise after all the things I had done. The copy continued to attack me while keeping a distance; his pattern was quite obvious. He tries to distract me using the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow and then tries to kill me using the metal crossbow and magic arrows. If that fails, he disappears and decides to rest a little. And since I never used the spiritual knife in front of the others, who are still alive, my copy never used. ¡®Well, then. To destroy this copy, I had to use the weakness the others think I have. And that would be¡­¡¯ I sighed again, Claire, Harry, and the others had a big mouth. So, the thing which concerned me the most everyone already knew. In any case, I wondered why those copies didn¡¯t try to taunt me as well. It was probably because I didn¡¯t consider myself a smart person and because the others didn¡¯t think that I was smart either. I got rid of those thoughts, and just like before I teleported to my copy¡¯s side when he appeared to attack and then I whispered in his ears. ¡°Your family abandoned you because you are too pathetic.¡± The result was even better than I had expected, my copy froze on the spot for several seconds. He was trembling, his face was pale, and he was sweating cold. I didn¡¯t even have to use magic arrows to destroy him, the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow did the job. ¡°Wow, do they really think that I¡¯m that weak mentally?¡± That was somewhat unpleasant, although I didn¡¯t care about the other survivors¡¯ opinions, I didn¡¯t want to be seen as a weak person either. But maybe I was just overthinking, in some people¡¯s eyes, like Claire¡¯s for example; I was just too attached to my family. Harry, Rose, and Sarah probably had the same opinion; they saw me trying to cross the city looking for my family while I was wounded, dirt, and covered in blood. Besides, I really changed when I discovered they didn¡¯t have any intention of bringing me to their area. After a few days waiting for them, I decided not to care anymore. I decided to focus on killing the monsters and make the city more peaceful while obtaining more evolution coins. Although they abandoned me, I still wanted to make them feel proud of me. That was why I helped the other survivors when I wanted to be alone, and that was why I stayed with Claire and the kids even though they would make me remember of my family. And that also was why I obeyed Sandra¡¯s and the others¡¯ orders even though it pissed me off. All in all, I helped all the others, because that was the only thing I could do to make them feel proud of me. Even though every single survivor made me remember the family which I had never belonged to. My actions were controversial, but that couldn¡¯t be helped, I was a contradictory existence. After my battle against Ann, for the first time, I decided to stay with the others because I wanted. I needed strength, and they would give me enough time to obtain that strength. Besides, something would happen at the end of those one hundred days. The tower only confirmed my suspicions. At the end of those one hundred days or after we complete the tower, I would obtain the strength that I needed, I was sure of it. I just had to be patient, and I would get the first thing that I wished for myself, freedom. ¡°You defeated yourself two times¡­ defeat the person who you truly are.¡± When the black smoke which created my copy disappeared, I heard that voice announcement. It seems these challenges really wanted to mess with my mind, but that didn¡¯t matter. I knew myself pretty well, and my last copy wouldn¡¯t be able to surprise me. In fact, I already even knew what I would say to make the copy drop its guard. Then it appeared, a young man showing a depressed expression, his body was trembling, and I could see the fear in his eyes. The fear of the unknown, the fear of battles, the fear of betrayals¡­ the fear of everything. My copy saw me staring at him, and then he lost the strength on his legs and fell on the floor on his butt. He tried to crawl away from me with tears in his eyes, and then he activated the cape¡¯s effect. For several minutes I waited for my copy do something, but he didn¡¯t. But I could hear his sobs¡­ because of that, I fell on the floor laughing. ¡°It seems that I don¡¯t know myself all that much. Chapter 064 Challenges (5) I always knew that I was a pathetic person, and I lived a pathetic life, but that beyond my expectations. It was so absurd that I laughed for several minutes until I ran out of air. I had never laughed so much in my entire life. ¡°Let¡¯s talk a little, no need to feel so much fear, dude.¡± After I got up, I said those words to my copy which I couldn¡¯t see. But just as I had expected, I didn¡¯t hear an answer. My copy was quite shy; in any case, destroy that copy would be easier. So, I decided to learn a few things about myself again. But honestly, I was a bit skeptical of that. ¡°Why are you afraid? We are the same person, well, almost the same person. I wouldn¡¯t act like that in front of the others.¡± ¡°Shut up, monster¡­ leave me alone or I will ki-ki-kill you!¡± My copy said, trying to muster some courage. ¡°I¡¯m not a monster, and if you truly are me, you understand that you aren¡¯t real. This is just another challenge of the tower, anyway, what is the last thing that you remember before appearing in this place?¡± My copy didn¡¯t answer, and then I sighed. He didn¡¯t react much to my words, so, he was probably aware that he was just a copy of me. But to act like that... his memories probably had been altered. My first copy was who I wanted to be, was calm and analytical. But I would only become something like that when I forget some memories. After all, what molded a person was that person memories. My second copy was the version of me who fought alongside the other survivors; he was me who forgot almost everything during the battles and acted naturally. Thanks to that, I always end up displaying the behaviors which I tried to suppress. My last copy was the person who didn¡¯t care about anything; it just acted naturally ignoring all kinds of problems he could cause. He was the person who I wanted to hide from the world; I was a coward, crybaby, insecure, and weak. ¡°This tower really is a messed up place¡­¡± I was the example of a survivor who could survive thanks to luck and some courage. But those were useless in a challenge like this, although most people could survive just by forgetting their pride for a while, the mental damage would never disappear. That said, it was also a good opportunity to train my mind. My third copy acted like that because his fears and flaws were stronger than his willpower, if I force him to say why he was acting like that, I would be able to strengthen my mental defenses. Probably. However, I really wanted to leave that place. That version of me made me laugh, but I was beginning to feel pissed. I didn¡¯t want to be weak; I hated to be weak. ¡°¡­ Why are you hiding? What are you so afraid of? We don¡¯t have time to lose here. You have skills and have weapons, why are you still acting like that?¡± After a long sigh, I managed to say those words. That copy was everything that I hated on myself, I was fine in using coward tactics, but everything else in him was too unnerving. ¡°You already know why¡­¡± My copy sobbed. ¡°Yeah, I know. Now, quit whining and face your fears and flaws. We live in a world where the weak become food for monsters on a daily basis. Just forget your past and move on.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ and you know why.¡± My copy sobbed again. I wanted to be a survivor who fights and keeps my head cool, but that was getting hard. It was annoying when someone who has your same voice is always endings his sentences with sobs. ¡°I give up. I guess I just should keep ignoring those feelings instead of facing them.¡± Using my crossbows, I shot to all directions. That place was so weird that I even didn¡¯t have to reload my weapons, but even after several minutes shooting to all sides, nothing happened. ¡°As expected of a copy of my past, you are quite good at hiding.¡± It was pretty easy to be good at that when you can disappear and teleport around without worrying about MP. ¡°Why can¡¯t I return to the past?¡± My copy asked, and then he sobbed. ¡°Why do you want to return? Those days were only lies; our lives were lies. My life won¡¯t become a lie anymore!¡± I created a fire arrow and shot toward where his voice had come from, but nothing happened, the magic arrow only disappeared in the darkness. ¡°Because it¡¯s better to live a lie than live a life full of fears and uncertainty.¡± My copy said. ¡°Oh, boy¡­ you are pathetic to your very core, huh. Don¡¯t you feel ashamed in saying that kind of thing? I would feel embarrassed, just by thinking about it.¡± I sighed to calm down, hearing my voice saying that kind of thing was really unnerving, and it was also very embarrassing. Maybe I didn¡¯t know all my flaws very well. But I absolutely wasn¡¯t that pathetic. I complain a lot about many annoying things, but I never cried, no matter what situation I was in. Even after two years away from the family that I idolized so much, I never cried. That version of me had to die.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I stopped attacking, and then I activated the cape¡¯s effect. I wouldn¡¯t be able to destroy him just by shooting at all directions; I had to be even more creative because that version of me was already tormented by his fears and flaws. He already knew all too well about my deepest secrets, so I wouldn''t be able to surprise him like the other two copies. ¡°Why was I born that way? Death is better than this kind of life.¡± My copy said. ¡°Be thankful that you are alive you pathetic coward. It¡¯s better than don¡¯t exist or don¡¯t feel anything.¡± ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be thankful for anything; we are an anomaly! We don¡¯t have the right to live in this world.¡± My copy shouted, and then sobbed. ¡°In that case, you should appear, and I will get rid of one anomaly. If someone tries to take my life, that person will have to try a lot because I won¡¯t fall that easily.¡± I used the search skill to find my copy, but as I had expected, I found nothing. But then I had an idea, in that space, I could use MP without any worries. So, I decided to create a massive magic arrow to hit him. ¡®I will end up being hit if I try to create a magic arrow too powerful¡­ in that case, I should create an arrow which can¡¯t damage me directly.¡¯ While I wasn¡¯t worried about hurting myself as long as I could get rid of that pathetic excuse of a copy, I couldn¡¯t take so many risks just because I was a bit angry. So, I began to concentrate, and little by little, a dark arrow appeared in the middle of that empty space. ¡°¡­ I know what you are planning, and that won¡¯t work. Just give up, there¡¯s nothing for us on this world.¡± My copy said. ¡°Give up and do what after that? I may be pathetic like you are, but I¡¯m changing, and soon I will become someone who doesn¡¯t need to rely on or wait for anyone. Just wait, and you will see.¡± My copy babbled about something, but I just ignored him, he was too coward to attack me, and I didn¡¯t have to listen to the words of such a pathetic creature. I wouldn¡¯t learn a thing from him, and I had to get rid of him, he was my weak side. Although probably I would never be able to eradicate him, that would be a crucial first step. After one hour concentrating the tiny dark arrow had become a ten meters long lance. I grinned while I was looking at that large arrow, I would wait anxiously for the day I would be able to create a dark arrow like that using my power alone. I didn¡¯t even have to aim, I just made the arrow touch the floor, and then suddenly the space became denser, and I felt something pushing me to the floor. ¡®Holy shit¡­ is this the gravity increased by ten times?¡¯ Although I could move my arms and legs a little, I didn¡¯t have the strength to get up. But that wasn¡¯t necessary; I could move around using something else. I looked to my front, my left side and right side but I saw nothing. However, I heard something snapping before me. ¡®Behind me, huh. Pretty clever.¡¯ I teleported a few meters behind, and then I appeared right behind my copy. Without ceremony or any fancy words, I created a fire arrow and exploded his body. ¡®Serves you right¡­ cowards don¡¯t have a place in this new world.¡¯ I felt really refreshed after exploding my copy, after all, I literally blew away my side, which had all the things that I hated on me. I still could feel those annoying feelings inside me, but they would eventually disappear. I was sure of it. ¡°Congratulations, you finished the second challenge. The second challenge was completed.¡± I finally reappeared outside the tower, and then I saw the others. Surprisingly, we lost only two survivors, and none of those were the members of the special team. Sandra and Lucius, who had received some mental damage previously looked normal. The only exception was Claire; she was pale and looked like she had seen a ghost. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Sandra asked, putting a hand on Claire''s shoulder. ¡°Yes¡­ I¡¯m fine.¡± Claire answered, forcing a smile. ¡°I just¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to say anything,¡± Sandra interrupted her. ¡°We all faced some¡­ troublesome enemies. We can talk once we return to the hotel, only if you feel comfortable about it.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Claire said. It seems even Claire had her secrets, and her copies used those against her, and that was surprising, I always thought that she was by far the strongest among us, physically and mentally. I thought I didn¡¯t really see it; she killed a few mutant cats when her arm was terribly wounded on the day I met her and the kids. Anyways, that was her problem, and she had friends to share her problems. I wasn¡¯t interested, and I wasn¡¯t the best person to talk about problems or secrets. Although we completed our mission losing only two survivors, we didn¡¯t celebrate on the way back. I was feeling refreshed, but the others looked tired, even though we only stayed in the tower for half an hour. Even under that hot sun, Claire still looked pale, and she didn¡¯t kill a single monster on the way back, she didn¡¯t even try. ¡°You look quite relaxed, Ethan,¡± Harry said, showing a surprised expression. ¡°Mind your own business.¡± ¡°Well,¡± Rose said frowning. ¡°Ethan seems to be the kind of person who would enjoy beating the crap out of someone who looks exactly like him.¡± ¡°I will accept that as a compliment.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you should,¡± Sarah said. ¡°Focus on your surroundings,¡± Sandra said angrily. ¡°You can talk inside the hotel as much as you want,¡± Sandra said angrily. When we arrived at the hotel, a few survivors celebrated the success of the missions, and others mourned the two survivors who died. As usual, I tried to head to my room, but two hands stopped me. Annoyed, I looked behind, and I saw Harry and Rose. ¡°What?¡± They pointed at Claire, who was absent-minded heading to the second floor, but after that, they didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Do you want me to talk to her?¡± ¡°Yes, you are her roommate,¡± Rose answered as if it was a matter of fact. ¡°You should talk to her.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a man, and she is older, I have no idea what she is thinking. So, I can¡¯t help. Besides, I thought you were the psychologist here, not me.¡± ¡°I was just a student, and I¡¯m not saying that she needs a therapy session.¡± Rose sighed. ¡°She needs to talk to a friend.¡± ¡°Great, then you guys can talk to her.¡± ¡°You are her closest friend, Ethan,¡± Sarah said. ¡°You are the one who should talk to her.¡± ¡°Since when am I her closest friend?¡± Thanks to my question, they became astonished. Why did they look so surprised? I was just asking a simple question. ¡°A friend isn¡¯t someone you talk about everything at any moment? Claire and I never talked about anything besides our work here. I don¡¯t know anything about her besides her name, her job, and the fact that she is very good using bows.¡± I also knew that she was Martin¡¯s cousin, but that wasn¡¯t something that she told me. So, we were pretty much strangers. ¡°Let me ask you two questions, do you guys pretend to leave this city? Does Claire intend to leave?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we will, and I don¡¯t think Claire will either,¡± Harry answered. ¡°Good, then this is one more reason for you guys talk to her. Soon, I will leave this city, and nothing will stop me. So, you guys should create some radars. That being said, the words of someone who doesn¡¯t know a thing about her and will leave this city soon won¡¯t help her, right?¡± After saying that, I headed to my room while Harry, Rose, and Sarah were looking at me with their mouths wide open. Chapter 065 Challenges (6) Since Claire wasn¡¯t acting like her usual self and she was one of our best-ranged attackers, Sandra decided to delay our next mission. So, for three days, we only hunted to increase the strength of our forces. The first two challenges were practically mental tests, and just like me, everyone else was thinking the third challenge would be a real battle. It was only a hypothesis, but we wouldn¡¯t lose anything by raising the strength of our forces, although it seemed thatwe wouldn¡¯t use them all at once as we had imagined. During those three days, I only managed to break my limit a single time, but that didn¡¯t worry me, my skills were becoming more efficient, so I was able to progress even without breaking my limits. I also used the statue to confirm the price of a few things that I would need to leave the city.
Evolved Mutant Eagle (Thunder)¨CHP: 800 MP: 3200 STA: 800 Physical Limit Lv 20, Mental Limit Lv 30, Sensorial Limit Lv 10. Skill: Thunder Storm Lv 07, Electric Prison Lv 03, Bite Lv02. Price: 200000 Evolution coins.
Skill: Mana Cost Reduction. Info: this skill reduces the cost of other skills by 5%. Price: 50000 Evolution coins.
For now, those were the things thatI needed most. Although the effects of the Mana cost reduction skill was weak, it would get stronger eventually. The evolved mutant eagle would help a lot in battles thanks to its massive amount of MP and skills, and more importantly,I would be able to fly on its back. That monster could fly easily at seventy miles per hour, and even though it didn¡¯t have much STA, I would be able to cross great distances. I already could buy the skill, but I decided to create first the evolved mutant eagle. With some luck, I would be able to use it during the challenges. On the night before our third mission, I was meditating on my bed while Claire was playing with the kids and forcing herself to smile while she was at it. She was better than before, but the second challenge marked her for life. Harry, Rose, and Sarah tried to talk with her, but they didn¡¯t succeed in cheering her. When they tried to talk about the second challenge, Claire panicked and avoided eye contact. She was feeling ashamed; I was sure of it. Although she was strong-willed, the copies thatshe saw probably shocked her. Everyone has some pride in who they are, so it is hard to face our flaws, even more, when those take our forms. While I was thinking about those things, someone knocked on the door and opened it. Sandra appeared and looked at me. ¡°Can we talk for a minute?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°Sure.¡± I already knew what she wanted to talk about, so that didn¡¯t surprise me. What surprised me was the fact that she waited three days to talk about the things I said to Harry, Rose, and Sarah. I got up from the bed and then I followed Sandra, surprisingly we left the hotel and climbed one of the towers. Three survivors were there wearing heat vision glasses, but they left the place without making a fuss. ¡°Can you kill the mutant lizards while we talk?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°I can, but is this going to take long?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know; it¡¯s up to you,¡± Sandra answered. Sandra¡¯s usual serious and determined behavior disappeared; she didn¡¯t look confident, andshe seemed to be thinking about something. I sighed because she seemed to be slowly changing; I felt the presence ofsome mutant lizards approaching, and then I killed them before they could try to knock down the tower. Anyway, the change in behavior was somewhat expected. Until now, most of us only struggled to survive, but now most of us were adapting to this new environment. Allof us, even me initially thought in some months or weeks, the monsters would disappear, and then everything would return to the normal, but we were wrong. ¡°Harry told me about your plans,¡± Sandra said thoughtfully looking at the starry sky. ¡°And?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you reconsider? ¡°Sandra asked, looking at me. ¡°In a few weeks, things will get better.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t, and how do you know things will get better?¡± ¡°Because Lucius and I are planning to leave the council,¡± Sandra answered as a matter of fact. Now that was surprising, and I didn¡¯t know why she would do that and also didn¡¯t know how that would make things better. Those two were the voices of experience in the council; without them, the council members were only a group of college students. ¡°I don¡¯t really care, but I think you should reconsider. Although they are strong, they can¡¯t lead the others without you two.¡± ¡°Of course they can,¡± Sandra said, smiling. ¡°Harry is my son, and even though he is a bitdumb sometimes, Rose and Sarah will help him. Those three will be the new leaders.¡± ¡°Do they already know about it?¡± ¡°No, we will only tell when we complete those challenges,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°Did you see their expressions after those two challenges? They didn¡¯t change; those two challenges didn¡¯t shake them up. Do you know why? Because they are young and idealistic, they know who they truly are, and they don¡¯t hide what they think from the others.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that is possible. Besides, the words young and idealistic can be replaced by inexperienced and na?ve.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Sandra laughed. ¡°But I truly believe they will do a good job, they are strong, and they don¡¯t hesitate in helping the other survivors. They will become the leaders that we need.¡± It seemed Sandra reached the same conclusion Claire andI reached a month ago. Although I honestly thought they would still need Sandra and Luciusto lead the others. But Harry was young, but he could learn to command like his mother, Rose and Sarah would offer him some advice at the right moments. Sandra and Lucius would step down, while Harry, Rose, and Sarah would become the symbol that we can survive in this new world full of monsters.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°What about Claire and Charles?¡± ¡°They will understand our decision,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°They are more warriors than leaders.¡± ¡°And what are you and Lucius will do after that?¡± ¡°We will just become normal survivors,¡± Sandra answered after she rubbed her chin. ¡°We will help the other survivors using the knowledge we had as a former firefighter and martial artist. But we will also collect information to them. To prevent future problems, you already know why.¡± They would also step down to keep in check the greediest survivors. Since the beginning, they were trying to be as democratic as possible. But that also could give a chance to a new Ken, or a new Ann appear. ¡°I know that I annoyed you a lot,¡± Sandra showed a severe expression. ¡°But it was only because I didn¡¯t want to see you die. We need, and we needed your skills, but I only tried to keep you with us because I know your parents.¡± Sandra¡¯s words surprised me a lot. She never said that, but judging by the fact that she was always trying to keep me on a tight leash, it wasn¡¯t hard to believe. ¡°Anyway,¡± Sandra said nervously, ¡°When Harry, Rose, and Sarah become the new leaders, you will be free as much as you want in this camp. Even though you don¡¯t consider them to be your friends, they care about you, and they won¡¯t force you to do anything that you consider annoying. Now you have nomore reasons to leave, right?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who is the leader after we complete these challenges, and I get the strength that I need; I will leave this city.¡± ¡°¡­ All rightthen,¡± Sandra said after a long sigh. ¡°I won¡¯t insist on this matter anymore. But you can always return to this place, Ethan. Either you help us or not; it doesn¡¯t matter. We will always wait for you.¡± After saying those words, Sandra left and entered the hotel. It was nice to have a place to return, but this place was always making me remember unpleasant things. When I was with other people, I felt insecure. Those survivors lost their families and friends, but they found a new strength in other survivors, they became friends, and they got stronger together. But I was different; the most important persons in my life were still alive. However, I couldn¡¯t feel stronger while thinking about them, I only felt weaker. That was one of the reasonsI wanted to leave this place, not to feel weak. ¡®¡­ She said that she knows my parents. Then that means she probably knows about¡­ no, it¡¯s not possible.¡¯ I got rid of those thoughts when the survivors who would stay in that tower returned. After that, I returned to my room and resumed my meditation. The next morning, Sandra repeated the same words she had said four days ago. They replaced the two survivors who haddied, nothing unusual happened. So, we just departed to the tower without wasting time. Although she looked tired like she didn¡¯t sleep well in days, Claire was killing monsters like usual. Sandra and Lucius didn¡¯t seem strange either, but I couldn¡¯t really talk about the old man. I knew almost nothing about him. After fighting some minor nuisances along the way, we reached the tower and just like before, Sandra nodded and we entered. The usual dark and emptyspace was nowhere to be seen, I could see a massive door behind me, and in front of me, there was a small jungle. A river, trees, rocks, and monsters could be found in that place. But weirdly, I also could see the massive walls of the interior of the tower. I focused my sight, and then I noticed a long staircase on the other side of the jungle; it was a spiral staircase which seemed to lead to the top of the tower. ¡°Finally, some real action, but this will take a while.¡± I was alone, and I couldn¡¯t even see the top of the tower, but at least I would get stronger and get some coins while climbing the staircase.After all, I could see many nests and beehives on the walls.
Mutant Monkey (Earth)¨CHP: 1500 MP: 600 STA: 1200 Physical Limit Lv 20, Mental Limit Lv 5, Sensorial Limit Lv 10. Skill: Iron Punch Lv 05, Stone Wall Lv03.
Mutant Piranha (Ice)¨CHP: 500 MP: 1800 STA: 600 Physical Limit Lv 05, Mental Limit Lv 22, Sensorial Limit Lv 11. Skill: Ice Bolt Lv 06, Bite Lv05.
Mutant Spider (Poison)¨CHP: 800 MP: 1400 STA: 1200 Physical Limit Lv 08, Mental Limit Lv 17, Sensorial Limit Lv 12. Skill: Acid Sphere, Spider¡¯s Web Lv 04, Bite Lv 04.
Those were the only new monsters inside the jungle; I had already found the others in the last two months. Fighting against them was really a pain in the ass, the freaking piranhas could spit ice bolts even from inside the river, so I had some difficulty killing them using only the metal bolts. The mutant monkeys were strong physically and by activating the iron punch, they could charge at fearsome speed, but I could avoid such obvious attacks, the problem was the stone walls. It goes without saying, but my steel bolts couldn¡¯t destroy those walls. Finally, the mutant spiders were weak, but the acid sphere was fast, and their webs were strong enough to slow me down for a few precious seconds.
You have obtained 30 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 30 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 27 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 27 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 32 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 32 Evolution Coins.
¡°At least this is better than mental battles where I don¡¯t earn a thing.¡± After an hour using my senses nonstop to avoid being hit by any skill, I finally reached the staircase. But after walking just for a few seconds, new enemies appeared. Crow, bees, and other small flying monsters began to approach and attack, but I already knew their attacks and movement patterns, it was easy to get rid of those.
You have obtained 12 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 12 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 09 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 09 Evolution Coins.
Occasionally, one of them would use their small brains to hit me with some skills, and rarely would I got scratched. Little by little, I was losing HP, but a single arrow in their heads was enough to kill them and cool my head. I climbed, and I climbed, and then I climbed a little more. My notion of time inside that tower was weird, but after what seemed to be five hours, I reached the top of the staircase. I finally could see the door, which would lead me to the top of the tower, but in front of the door, I saw an arena. ¡°What the¡­¡± In the middle of the arena I saw a man wearing an orange uniform, he seemed a bitfamiliar. ¡°Welcome to the third challenge of the doomsday tower. Survive, and you may proceed, die, and the ghost survivor will take your place.¡± ¡®Ghost survivor?¡¯ When I put my feet on the arena, the other man finally moved and glared at me. ¡°Tsk, a fucking brat killed me¡­ you will pay for this!¡± ¡°Do I know you?¡± The other man charged with a very simple spear, but his charge was so clumsy and slow that I waited until the very moment to evade. Because of that, I saw his face closely and remembered him. Without a second thought, I aimed, and two steel bolts pierced his head.
You have obtained 60 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 60 Evolution Coins.
¡°Oh, you are one of the assholes who kidnapped Rose and Sarah. Don¡¯t worry; the world is better without someone like you. You can return to your eternal slumber.¡± ¡°You may proceed...¡± The third challenger had been awfully easy, so easy that I hesitated in opening the door. But to my surprise, when I touched the door, I returned to the start point on the bottom of the tower. ¡°Seriously?¡± I crossed the jungle again, but I didn¡¯t find the corpses of the monsters which I had killed. I was still getting orbs and coins while killing the same monsters, but I had a bad feeling about that. After six hours, I reached that arena again, and there I saw another man, totallydifferent from the previous, but he was also wearing an orange uniform. ¡°Survive, and you may proceed, die, and the ghost survivor will take your place.¡± ¡°Oh, boy¡­ this will take a while.¡± Chapter 066 Challenges (7) After an entire day fighting and climbing that massive staircase without stopping for a single moment, I was quite pleased with the results. I broke my limit one time, and my HP and STA increased by two points. But I was exhausted. My legs were heavy like that time I used the massive dark arrow against my copy, and my condition reached an alarming point.
HP: 09/93
MP: 35/285
STA: 04/93
Evolution Orbs: 5832/14000 Evolution Coins: 75231
At that moment, I finally completed my eighth trip to the top of the tower, and at the arena, I saw the leader of the criminals. ¡°Survive, and you may proceed, die, and the ghost survivor will take your place.¡± As soon as I put my feet on the arena, I heard that voice, and then the bald criminal moved and looked at me. ¡°Hey, man¡­ long time no see.¡± While I was trying to catch my breath, I looked and waved at him. But that only pissed him. I soon understood what I had to do to complete that challenge; I had to cross the jungle, climb the staircase, and kill again someone who I already had murdered. The last part was actually very easy since they didn¡¯t get any stronger. That challenge wasn¡¯t only a physical test; it was also a mental test. To make one survivor consider the opportunity to give his own life to bring another survivor from the dead. But, that thought never crossed my mind. I only killed assholes and those who tried to kill me, after all. ¡°Die!¡± The bald criminal shouted. From my point of view, he and the other criminals seemed to be running in slow motion. So, I just took a few steps to the side and put two steel bolts in his legs. The bolts pierced both of his knees and then he fell screaming on the floor. ¡°Let¡¯s talk man¡­ I want to rest¡­ I can¡¯t rest down there¡­ there are too many monsters.¡± ¡°Fucking brat.¡± The bald criminal said, showing his ugly face filled with anger. ¡°Dude¡­ this is your chance to be alive again¡­ you don¡¯t have a single chance to defeat me¡­ almost two months have passed since you died¡­ and I¡¯m way stronger than before¡­ no, I¡¯m just faster, and I have new tricks.¡± I put myself in the lotus position to recover my MP, in the meantime, the bald criminal was trying to crawl toward me with his club in hand. He really hated me, but that didn¡¯t surprise me. What surprised me was the fact that he still wanted to fight. ¡°I guess you don¡¯t want to die again, huh. How is the other side? Where have you been for the past two months? Hell? Underworld? Valhalla?¡± ¡°¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± The bald criminal said, gritting his teeth. ¡°What is the last thing that you remember?¡± ¡°You killing me¡­ then darkness.¡± The bald criminal said, showing an expression of despair. ¡°Well¡­ that would scare the shit out of me too. But that is just you reaping what you sow, in this new world you could have become a new person, a powerful person. But you didn¡¯t want to change.¡± ¡°It¡¯s easy for you to say something like that¡­ I bet you had never faced any difficulties in your life!¡± The bald criminal shouted with tears in his eyes. ¡°Everyone has their own share of problems; everyone suffers for many different reasons. You don¡¯t have the right to judge the suffering of the others. And your own suffering doesn¡¯t give you the right to commit crimes.¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± The criminal shouted, trying to approach with his club in hand. ¡°I guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡± I put two steel bolts on his shoulders, and because of it, he couldn¡¯t use his arms anymore. I had to recover myself in the middle of the fight, because if I kill him that annoying voice will teleport me to the bottom of the tower, even if I don¡¯t touch the door. ¡°Fuck¡­ damn it.¡± The criminal said, crying. ¡°¡­ just enjoy this opportunity, man. Use this time to repent on your crimes.¡± I was starting to feel a bit bad. Death is a natural part of life, but that didn¡¯t change the fact, that I would also feel scared like him knowing that my life would end in a few minutes. But, I didn¡¯t have the time to pity him. I still have to cross the jungle and climb the staircase almost three hundred more times. Judging by my pace, it would take forty days to finish that challenge. I couldn¡¯t spend so much time in a single challenge; I didn¡¯t know how much challenges were left. And as long as I don¡¯t complete this challenge, the others wouldn¡¯t be able to start the next challenge. ¡°Why is this happening? I was brought back to life just to have some false hope?¡± The bald criminal showed a face full of tears. ¡°I don¡¯t know man; it¡¯s probably to make me feel bad about my actions.¡± If that was indeed the case, then this tower had to try harder. But I was a bit worried about Claire since she didn¡¯t fully recover from the second challenge. The council members would have to repeat this entire process a few times, but they would succeed. But how about the other twenty survivors? I wondered what kind of enemies they would face on the arena; after all, they didn¡¯t kill anyone, probably. ¡°Tell me¡­ how much stronger are you now?¡± The bald criminal asked. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say¡­ maybe I¡¯m strong enough to kill a small army of zombies. Why do you ask?¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I defeated Ann¡¯s army, so that was probably accurate. ¡°Can you revive me? You obtained crazy powers, right? You can do this, right?¡± The bald criminal asked, showing a glint of hope in his eyes. I hesitated to answer that question, it was possible to revive him, but who would do it? No one would. It was possible, and that would give him some false hope, but lying it would only making him even more desperate. I wasn¡¯t the right person to judge if by dying he paid for all his crimes, so I contemplated my two options: lie to him and watch him suffer even more or tell the truth and give him the false hope. In choosing any of those options I would feel a mix of emotions, I would feel like a merciful person, and at the same time, I would feel like a sociopath¡­ that was very disturbing. ¡°¡­ You can be revived, but it¡¯s not easy. No one until now obtained the evolution coins necessary to revive someone.¡± ¡°Please revive me!¡± The bald criminal said ecstatically. ¡°If you do it, I will obey all your orders! I will become your dog or whatever you want. Please, revive me. I¡¯m scared of the darkness. I want to exist! Please, please!¡± ¡°¡­ Is this all you have to say?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ please say this to those two girls¡­¡± I nodded, and then I teleported to behind him and put a steel bolt on his head, just like the others, his body became dust immediately. ¡°Sorry, but I can do much more useful things with so much evolution coins than revive someone like you.¡± I sighed, and after ten seconds without moving, I heard that annoying voice, and then I reappeared at the bottom of the tower. Since I was feeling a bit bad because of the bald criminal¡¯s situation, I wasn¡¯t a true monster yet. In any case, I only had recovered twenty percent of my STA, I recovered fifty percent of my MP thanks to the meditation, but I wasn¡¯t feeling even a little excited. ¡®I guess I will have to break my physical limit a few times to end this as soon as possible.¡¯ I could probably continue without sleeping for two more days; the problem was food and water. I had twenty liters of lemonade inside my backpack, but I didn¡¯t have any food. So, I would have to eat monsters and drink the river¡¯s water. ¡®I hope those fucking piranhas taste good.¡¯ Monsters¡¯ meat would speed up my recovery, so I decided to kill a considerable amount of them, grill the meat and store inside my backpack. After that, I would ignore the jungle¡¯s monsters and climb the staircase as fast as possible. ¡®It¡¯s the best thing I can do, too bad I already drunk all the potions I received as a reward. Next time I will store them¡­ living and learning.¡¯ Luckily for me, the things I needed to create a bonfire were everywhere on the jungle. The fire attracted the monsters, and I killed them, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to eat the monkey¡¯s meat, I didn¡¯t want to eat something humanoid. The spiders were out of questions, so I approached the river, and when a shoal of piranhas approached to attack, I shot three electric arrows toward the river and in an instant, I obtained ten kilograms of meat. ¡®This fish is too damn ugly¡­ I hope the meat tastes good at least.¡¯ Although I thought that, I would eat it as long as that could recover my HP and STA. Fortunately, the grilled piranhas were excellent, and when I cut off their faces, it became even tastier. After grilling twenty kilograms of meat, I decided to resume the challenge. To increase my speed, even more, I decided to eat the meat every time by STA was below eighty percent. That would probably keep my body at the peak of its capacity, and just like I had imagined, that worked. It was hard to be sure, but I probably spent four hours to cross the jungle and climb the staircase a single time. But by maintaining my STA at the max of its capacity, I managed to complete that circuit in three hours. Even better, my legs weren¡¯t heavy or sore anymore. ¡®It¡¯s a good progress¡­ but it¡¯s not enough. I have to complete this circuit at least two hundred and eighty more times. I have to be at least thirty percent faster.¡¯ But that was easier said than done. I thought a lot about what to do to increase my speed, but nothing came to mind, the only option was to break my physical limit and so I did. After another entire day fighting, running and killing ten Ken¡¯s lackeys, I broke my physical limit for the first time, and I noticed that I had become faster. But it wasn¡¯t enough, and to break my limit again, I would have to obtain, more than fifteen thousand evolution orbs. ¡®This will be a pain¡­¡¯ Running at full speed and invisible, I could cross the entire jungle in less than a minute. Usually, I also could climb the ten kilometers long staircase before using all my STA. But the gravity made things less efficient. I would run out of stamina in the middle waypoint in the staircase. After another day, fighting, running, killing ghosts, and doing calculations, I got sick of it doing calculations. ¡®Why do I have to hurry? This place is just perfect for me, I grow strong as much as I want, and I can obtain evolutions coins as much as I want. No one can bother me here. I will use this challenge in my favor.¡¯ The time was against me, but I was sure I wouldn¡¯t have to face many more challenges after that one. The third challenge was that hard; after all, we would face one or two more challenges. Once I recognized that as a fact, everything went smoothly. To grow strong without neglecting a single parameter, I fought for twenty hours every day, and then I rested, meditated, and created more steel bolts in the remaining four hours. That was the minimal amount of time that I needed to increase my MP, so, I couldn¡¯t stop for less than four hours. During the first days, when I wasn¡¯t sleeping and meditating, I felt a terrible headache as if someone was splitting my head with an ax. However, aside from that sharp pain in my head, was feeling great. Even when my muscles and bones were making weird sounds, I was feeling great because I was getting stronger without the orbs. After four hours resting and meditating, I got up feeling alive like I had never felt before. After one week, the pain in my head disappeared, and I had changed, I had become a true survivor. I noticed it when I saw Ken¡¯s terrified expression.
HP: 85/135
MP: 136/311
STA:45/135
Evolution Orbs: 7452/28000 Evolution Coins: 145936
Skill list: Concentration Lv06 21%: Raises your attack power and range by 6% each hour. The bonus resets when you sleep. Crosshair: Lv09 37%: Creates a crosshair in your field of vision to aim at enemies. Radar: Creates a radar in your field of vision to detect any living creature on your surroundings. Effective Range: Sensorial limit (40) x 10 meters. Analyze Lv06 99%: Analyze and show enemies status and information. Cost: 01 MP. Spiritual Knife Lv02 70%: a weapon created by the spiritual energy of its user. It can be safely stored inside the user¡¯s body. 9 MP will be used to summon and to store the weapon. It''s able to ignore the target''s defense. This knife will disappear after being used a single time. Domination Lv 04 44%: It grants the user the ability to command other living beings. To activate the skill, you need their permission ¡ª survivors currently under your control: 39. Search Lv02 71%: By activating the skill this skill you can search for specific items, monsters, or survivors in a certain range around you. Effective Range: Sensorial Limit (40) x 5 meters. Cost: 10 MP. Meditation Lv 05 1%: By putting yourself in the lotus position, you can restore five points of your MP every minute. Your MP can also increase by five points every four consecutive hours of meditation. Moving or receiving damage cancels the skill. Elemental Magic Arrow Lv 03 11%: The user can create an arrow made of magic possessing one or more of the existing properties in the universe. The arrows won¡¯t move or disappear until the user selects a target. One arrow can be created every eight seconds. Cost: 20 MP. Skill: Teleport Lv 01 34% Info: You can teleport to any point in your field of vision; you also can teleport to other locations as long as you have been there or you can feel the presence of someone or something on that place. You can teleport any numbers of allies as long as you are touching them or them are touching you, the cost of the skill will multiply accordingly with the number of allies teleported. Cost: 01 MP/03 Meter.
Chapter 067 Challenges (8) After hearing that annoying voice informing the start of the battle, Ken looked at me, but then he took a few steps backward. ¡°Hey¡­¡± ¡°What¡­ who are you?¡± Ken showed a pale face. ¡°Don¡¯t ask stupid questions.¡± ¡°Ethan?¡± Ken asked. I sighed, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. I was a bit different because I didn¡¯t take a shower in an entire week. I was covered with my own blood and monsters blood. Not only that, my clothes were in tatters. I barely resembled a human from the modern age. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s my name, I guess. If you behave yourself, I won¡¯t explode your limbs, and you will be able to live for four hours. Don¡¯t try anything funny, alright? This week has been a very long week¡­¡± Ken was a stupid guy, but soon he noticed that he didn¡¯t have a chance against me. He was pissed, but he didn¡¯t try anything. For some reason, he was with the spear I gave to Charles, but ignored it and then I began to meditate and create steel bolts. ¡°How long time has passed since you killed me?¡± Ken asked. ¡°One month.¡± ¡°Just one month?!¡± Ken said astonished. It was hard to notice the flow of time when you aren¡¯t alive; I was pretty sure of that after fighting against almost fifty ghost survivors. ¡°How did you change so much in just one month?¡± Ken asked, his eyes were wide open, and he still was pale. ¡°Because I fought a lot, or it is because I killed a lot of survivors. Perhaps it¡¯s because I discovered about my origins, but I guess I changed a lot because I¡¯m stuck here for the past week.¡± Judging by the look on Ken¡¯s face, he probably knew what I had to do to complete the challenge. He was a resilient guy, he was angry, but Ken didn¡¯t give in to despair. ¡°What happened after my death?¡± Ken asked, clenching his teeth and fists. ¡°The survivors you controlled became our allies. After that, I killed the woman in the west and many of her minions. Now all the survivors in the city are fighting together, and then this tower appeared.¡± ¡°So, you are ruling the city now?¡± Ken asked. ¡°Do you think that I¡¯m like you? Dealing with other survivors is a pain, as long as they don¡¯t cause problems to me, I don¡¯t care if they die or do anything else.¡± Ken looked even more annoyed, and that was the problem of those full of pride. Always thinking they are better than the others and they hate, more than anything, being looked down by others. He and Ann probably slept during history classes, no one who tried to rule over the others because they thought they were better than the others lived long. What is the point of creating an empire? No empire lasts forever; they probably thought they would be different because of their powers. But they weren¡¯t the only ones with power. In any case, just like many other ¡®¡¯rulers¡¯¡¯, they fell because of their pride. ¡°Better luck next time.¡± Ken¡¯s face was filled with anger and hatred, too bad those two feelings wouldn¡¯t do a thing for him. If it weren¡¯t so expensive, I would bring him back to life and make him my minion, someone so stubborn would be very useful. ¡°¡­ Why am I dead, and you are alive?¡± Ken asked, looking at his trembling hands. ¡°For many reasons, you died because I had two skills when the monsters appeared, because you underestimated humans and because you did what you wanted to do.¡± My answer was clear and direct, but he obviously didn¡¯t accept it. He was that immature, after all. I was also immature, but for different reasons. After four hours, I got up and pointed my crossbow toward his face. ¡°Any last words?¡± ¡°I¡­ want to live,¡± Ken answered, showing an expression full of fear, hatred, and shame. ¡°Got it, I will pass your message to Charles, his sister, and his girlfriend. I won¡¯t revive you, but maybe they will.¡± In the end, Ken showed a face full of despair and didn¡¯t even try to fight. I exploded him, and then he became dust. Without a second thought, I touched the door, and then I reappeared at the bottom of the tower. At that point I time, those steps had already become something natural to me. So, I just repeated them without caring about what I was doing. I killed the monsters as if it was something natural, I climbed the stairs and killed more monsters as if it was something natural, and then I killed the ghost survivors as if that was something natural. Speaking of the ghosts survivors, even after death, Ann¡¯s lackeys still looked me like I was the worst creature in the world. Once in a while, the survivors who weren¡¯t under Ann¡¯s control would appear, and they would cry and ask for forgiveness. Although I didn¡¯t have to forgive them, they had already paid for their actions with their lives. As incredible as that may be, my days inside of the doomsday tower passed really fast. I didn¡¯t have to think about anything; I just have to act and feel my body getting stronger. Thanks to it, my annoying feelings didn¡¯t bother me. Slowly, my worries and fears were getting smaller. It wasn¡¯t only my body which was getting stronger; my mind was also evolving by leaps and bounds. Two weeks after I killed Ken again, my physical limit reached level ten, and I finally could complete all that circuit in two and a half hours. I also learned a new skill.
Hot Blood: this skill can increase your physical attack, defense, and movement speed by five percent for ten seconds. Cost: 05 STA.
I couldn¡¯t expect much after learning teleportation, I rarely used my own strength to attack, and I was a survivor who would try to evade instead of blocking the enemies¡¯ attacks. At least that skill would help a little bit when I ran out of MP. Another two weeks passed in the blink of an eye, and just before my second fight against Ann, my mental limit also reached level ten, I obtained a new but totally useless skill.
Fire arrow: You can create an arrow made of fire. You can create a new fire arrow after three seconds.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Cost: 03 MP.
That skill would only be useful to create bonfires since I already had the explosive bolts and the elemental magic arrow. In any case, I didn¡¯t waste time testing it. More than thirty days had passed since I entered that tower, but it was hard to tell. Inside the tower, I couldn¡¯t see if it was day or night. I already obtained the strength that I wanted for the time being, so it was time to complete this challenge and the next ones. When I stepped on the arena, I saw the light appearing on Ann¡¯s eyes. She already knew what she had to do, but bad memories prevented her from doing anything. She was trembling like a leaf, and even though she also had the two rings that I was wearing, she chose the easy way out. She created a rain of fire, and all the fireballs feel on her. ¡°That was¡­ disappointing.¡± I wondered why she did that. Was I that scary? Or perhaps she was too afraid because I had already killed her? Or it was because she knew what I was? I touched the door, and when I appeared on the bottom of the tower, shot a few thunder arrows on the river. The piranhas died I could see the river reflecting myself. ¡®That explains a lot.¡¯ Most of my hair had been burned, some parts of my ears were missing, and all my body was covered in wounds, scars, and burns. My lips and eyebrows had some cuts in them, and my clothes couldn¡¯t even be considered clothes anymore. All in all, I looked like a man who had become a zombie a few years ago. ¡°I scared the shit out of her, huh. I bet she thought dozens of years had passed and was much stronger than her.¡¯ Only my crossbows were clean. So, even when fireballs or any other magic projectiles were hitting me, I made sure my weapons wouldn¡¯t suffer any damage. Aside from my brain and heart, my weapons were the most important parts of my body. Since Ann didn¡¯t have anything meaningful to say to me, I doubted Karl would have, so, when he opened his eyes, I just put some steel bolts on his face. ¡°Congratulations, you completed the third challenge.¡± I didn¡¯t even have to touch the door; I got teleported to the outside of the tower. When I appeared on the outside, the city was still hot¡­ no, it became hot again. The stations changed four times while I was inside the tower. In any case, I had been received with a warm welcome, the special team and all the other fighters pointed their weapons toward me. It was almost like I was the new monster boss they had to kill. I looked at the survivors, and they trembled when they made eye contact with me, I heard the sound of all of them gripping their weapons just like they were ready to attack, but Claire stopped them. ¡°Wait! Wait,¡± Claire shouted. ¡°Those crossbows¡­ is that you, Ethan?¡± After hearing Claire¡¯s words, Harry and others looked at me suspiciously. But at least none of them tried to attack; otherwise, I would have to retaliate. I used that opportunity to analyze them, and it seemed they didn¡¯t slack off. Most of the special team members had broken their limits forty-five times, the kids had already broken their limits more than forty times, and all the other survivors broke their limits at least more than thirty-five times. ¡°How many days are left?¡± ¡°Wow¡­ it is really Ethan!¡± Harry said astonished. ¡°As expected of you, to survive for so¡­¡± ¡°Can you answer my question?¡± ¡°¡­ Six days,¡± Harry showed a surprised expression. ¡°Can you stopping looking at me like that?¡± It seemed fighting for so long affected me even more than I thought, everyone was looking at me like I was a beast. Not because of my appearance, but because I was also looking at them like they were targets. I needed to rest, I spent almost forty days treating every living creature near me as an enemy, and that mindset wouldn¡¯t disappear that fast. But a shower, new clothes a good sleep would probably speed up the process. ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep for a day, feel free to complete the other challenges, but don¡¯t bother me for the next twenty-four hours.¡± ¡°Hey, Eth...¡± Claire said. Before I could hear Claire complaints, I teleported back to the entrance of the hotel. Silver was already there and easily recognized me. Although I looked like a zombie, Silver didn¡¯t look disgusted when I touched him.
You have received 124563 Evolution Coins.
Silver ¨C HP: 1110/3100 MP: 201/2300 STA: 452/700 Physical Limit Lv 18, Mental Limit Lv 15, Sensorial Limit Lv 13. Skill: Lightning Lv 06 42%, Bite Lv06 51%. Evolution Orbs: 7452/15000
¡°Good boy¡­ you also fought a lot while I was away.¡± Although he obtained enough orbs to break his limit several times, he had a lot of scars on his body because his status couldn¡¯t increase unless I decided what limit to break. The enemies got stronger, but Silver survived. To make fights easier for him without using MP, I made him broke his physical limit eight times in a row. And he became as sturdy as that evolved alligator, that would be enough for the time being. I had a lot of evolution coins, but I decided to spend those later. I ignored the whispers and stares once I entered the hotel and created a few clothes and other things to clean myself. I headed toward the bathroom, got rid of my old clothes, and I spent one hour to clean myself. The feeling of getting stronger was good, but the sensation of feeling clean was also very good. After putting my new clothes, which were pretty much the same clothes that I was wearing when I left my home ninety days ago, I teleported to my bed. Once I closed my eyes, I slept like a rock without any worries because tomorrow, I would end those challenges.
HP: 201/245
MP: 136/674
STA: 47/245
Evolution Orbs: 4963/50000 Evolution Coins: 481246
Skill list: Concentration Lv09 2%: Raises your attack power and range by 9% each hour. The bonus resets when you sleep. Crosshair: Lv09 52%: Creates a crosshair in your field of vision to aim at enemies. Radar: Creates a radar in your field of vision to detect any living creature on your surroundings. Effective Range: Sensorial limit (40) x 10 meters. Analyze Lv09 1%: Analyze and show enemies status and information. Cost: 01 MP Spiritual Knife Lv05 11%: a weapon created by the spiritual energy of its user. It can be safely stored inside the user¡¯s body. 5 MP will be used to summon and to store the weapon. It''s able to ignore the target''s defense. This knife will disappear after being used a single time. Domination Lv 06 21%: It grants you the ability to command other living beings. To activate the skill, you need their permission. Survivors currently under your control: 39 Search Lv04 03%: By activating the skill, you can search for specific items, monsters, or survivors in a certain range around yourself. Effective Range: Sensorial Limit (40) x 5 meters. Cost: 10 MP. Meditation Lv 07 11%: By putting yourself in the lotus position, you can restore seven points of your MP every minute. Your MP can also increase by seven points every four consecutive hours of meditation. Moving or receiving damage cancels the skill. Elemental Magic Arrow Lv 05 97%: You can create an arrow made of magic possessing one or more of the existing properties in the universe. The arrows won¡¯t move or disappear until you select a target. One arrow can be created every sixseconds. Cost: 20 MP Teleport Lv 03 89%: You can teleport to any point in your field of vision; you also can teleport to other locations as long as you have been there or you can feel the presence of someone or something on that place. You can teleport any numbers of allies as long as you are touching them or them are touching you, the cost of the skill will multiply accordingly with the number of allies teleported. Cost: 01 MP/03 Meter. Hot Blood Lv01 44%: This skill can increase your physical attack, defense, and move speed by five percent for ten seconds. Fire arrow Lv 01 00%: You can create an arrow made of fire. You can create a new fire arrow after three seconds. Cost: 03 MP.
Chapter 068 Challenges (9) After precisely twenty-four hours, I woke up. It was noon, and the room was almost empty, only Claire and I were there. I checked my body, and most of my wounds have healed, even my burned hair was back to normal. That said, the scars wouldn¡¯t disappear unless I used some medicine, but I wasn¡¯t interested in that. The scars were proof that I fought with my life on the line, and I survived. ¡°Did you become a robot or something?¡± Claire asked. ¡°You slept exactly for twenty-four hours¡­¡±
Claire ¨C HP: 319 MP: 187 STA: 319 Physical Limit Lv 23, Mental Limit Lv 01, Sensorial Limit Lv 22. Skills: Focus Lv 07, Link Lv 05, Impulse Lv 04, Meditation Lv 04, Night Vision Lv 03, Vitality Shield Lv 03. Evolution Orbs: 2563/15000 Evolution Coins: 26984
Skill: Link Info: The user can find the allies'' position. Number of allies registered: 23 Cost: 06 MP per minute x distance (KM) Price: 50000
Sandra didn¡¯t lie, Claire really could track me, as long as she has MP and I¡¯m not too far away, she would be able to pinpoint my position. ¡°You should spend your evolution coins while you can, I will complete the challenges of that tower today, and I don¡¯t know what will happen.¡± I got up and tried to leave the room, but Claire stopped me with her inhuman strength. She hugged me from behind, and although she wasn¡¯t big like a bear, I felt like one was hugging me. ¡°I told you not to disappear,¡± Claire said. ¡°I didn¡¯t disappear, I was stuck inside the tower, and I don¡¯t remember promising anything. Now, let me go. Time is¡­ evolution orbs and coins.¡± ¡°Promise that you won¡¯t disappear again,¡± Claire said, pressing her face against my back. ¡°¡­ Forget it, Claire, it won¡¯t happen. No matter what.¡± Claire let me go showing a surprised expression, but then she looked angry. I used that opportunity to teleport to the statue. And without ceremony, I learned the skill mana cost reduction. After that, I upgraded my backpack to level six, and now I could carry 1.6 tons inside of it. In an instant, I lost 110000 evolution coins, but that was just the beginning. I customized my backpack to be able to summon anything from inside of it using only my thought, to do it without using MP I had to spend fifty thousand evolution coins. After that, I created the evolved mutant eagle; the statue emitted a light enough to illuminate the entire lobby, and then I heard a thud in front of the hotel. The survivors went to see what had happened, and then they made a lot of noise. ¡®I suppose I don¡¯t need conventional bolts anymore, I can create a magic arrow every two minutes and even the weakest arrows can destroy most small fries.¡¯ That said, it would be a waste not to use my hands in a battle. I would keep one hand free to use the spiritual knife if the necessity arises, but I would need a crossbow in my other hand. It was already part of me. I decided to sell the metal crossbow because it had a limit of how much MP it could absorb, and improve even more the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow. But then I remembered about my hard times inside the tower; my recovery rate was slow, only MP recovered fast. ¡®I need one skill to restore my HP and STA faster¡­ Come to think of it, in the beginning, I thought about draining the monsters energy to myself. Is there a skill which can do such a thing?¡¯
Skill: Universal Absorption. Info: the user can absorb the energy of dead foes. Only one type of energy can be consumed from a single enemy, and only one percent of the remaining energy will be absorbed. Cost: 10MP Price: 100000 Evolution coins.
I couldn¡¯t drain HP from dead enemies, but I could drain their MP and STA. While that skill would be useless if I use on small fries, I could keep myself at top condition by consuming their STA. Without hesitation, I learned the skill. ¡®Now I just need something to restore my HP¡­ but I can do this later, and I don¡¯t have much more evolution coins.¡¯ I left the statue, and I also left the building, I didn¡¯t notice it, but they had expanded the perimeter of the walls. The whole block had been destroyed, and now only the hotel was inside the walls. The walls were a hundred meters long, thanks to it, outside the hotel I saw thousands of magic plants. ¡°Your plants are also being cultivated,¡± Sandra said, ¡°It¡¯s unbelievable, but the plants can even survive under this hot sun even without water. We just have to find them and put it in a vase; our guess is they can grow just by absorbing the environment energy. Anyway, your new pet is quite big.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The walls were ten meters tall, but I still could see the evolved mutant eagle on the other side of the walls. The creature was making a lot of noise; it was probably fighting. ¡°Did you tried to finish the next challenge?¡± ¡°We tried to enter, but the door didn¡¯t open,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°However, we received a message: all the survivors need to enter for the final challenge begin.¡± ¡°How are the preparations?¡± ¡°We are trying to equip all the survivors,¡± Sandra explained. ¡°In an hour or two, they will have their weapons; the problem is their resolve.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t have a choice. Besides, it¡¯s not like they will have to fight directly.¡± ¡°We also thought about that,¡± Sandra said. ¡°The final challenge will probably be a massive fight against many monsters or against a single powerful one. The tower is wide, so they will have space to run from the battle. But even though it is simple to explain and understand. They can¡¯t just accept the reality of the facts.¡± I left Sandra behind, and then I headed toward the wall¡¯s gate, and there I saw many survivors observing the evolved mutant eagle, stepping on skeletons like they were pieces of Lego. Once in a while, mutant lizards would attack, but soon other survivors would make rain magic and projectiles on them. Claire, Harry, and the others were among them, they look relieved, but Claire was still angry and avoiding eye contact. ¡°You look¡­ less wild today,¡± Sarah smiled awkwardly. ¡°Well, it¡¯s understandable,¡± Rose said after she crossed her arms. ¡°He had a hard time inside the tower, anyway, you did well surviving for so long. ¡°I didn¡¯t have a hard time; I never felt so great before. Fighting, getting stronger, and no one was there to bother me. I felt like I was in Hawaii.¡± ¡°Maybe you got stronger,¡± Claire retorted, ¡°But you became more annoying than stronger, I¡¯m sure.¡± ¡°¡­ well, I¡¯m feeling something good is about to happen after this challenge,¡± Harry said. ¡°So, let¡¯s work hard together, all right?¡± Even though the eagle was mine, I didn¡¯t obtain a single orb or coin just observing it. But when I sit on the creature¡¯s back, the notifications started to appear.
Evolved Mutant Eagle (Thunder) ¨C HP: 800 MP: 3200 STA 800 Physical limit Lv 20, Mental limit Lv 30, Sensorial limit Lv 05. Skills: Thunder Storm Lv 07, Electric Prison Lv 03, Bite Lv 02. Evolution Orbs: 542/45000
The creature was just a big eagle, so I didn¡¯t have any ideas for a name. But it was an ally; it deserved a name. Besides, call it evolved mutant eagle every time was annoying. ¡°Your name will be Stella.¡± I choose that because it would be easy to remember, it was similar to the name of another species of eagles, after all. ¡°Let¡¯s fly a little.¡± Even though Stella was big, in a few seconds, we reached one hundred meters of height, and I had a hard time keeping myself on her back. Just like I had expected, Stella could quickly fly at one hundred kilometers per hour. Her max speed in the skies were one hundred fifty kilometers per hour, but she had to use the double of her STA. Flying at her average speed, she only had to stop after one hour. Although in the ground, she looked like a clumsy penguin. As if flying at that speed wasn¡¯t enough, she could quickly destroy dozens of monsters using her thunderstorm. After just ten minutes, I returned to the hotel, flying on her back was great, but we would have to fight soon. So, I decided to conserve her energy. ¡°Show off,¡± Claire said when we landed. I finally gave her the reason to hate me, but that didn¡¯t bother me. ¡°Awesome!¡± Harry said,¡± But you are not the only one who grew stronger. Look at this: Shadow Clo-¡° Harry made a weird sign with his hands, but before he could finish his sentence. Rose stepped on his foot. ¡°I already told to stop saying that stupid name!¡± Rose shouted angrily. I thought he had failed in whatever he was trying to do, but to my surprise, three Harry copies appeared. They were wearing the same clothes, but they didn¡¯t have any weapon or gear.
Harry A - HP: 408 MP: 13 STA: 408
Harry B - HP: 408 MP: 13 STA: 408
Harry C - HP: 408 MP: 13 STA: 408
His copies also didn¡¯t have skills; his copies also made his original body weaker. Maybe it was suitable for multitasking, but it was terrible for battle. ¡°What is the point of creating three copies of you who can¡¯t use skills and don¡¯t have any equipment?¡± ¡°This is exactly what I told him¡­¡± Rose sighed. ¡°But I can equip them!¡± Harry protested. ¡°Their equipment is in my room, and they can fight and obtain orbs and coins for me while I do something else. They can even hunt at night while I sleep. ¡°What will happen if they die?¡± ¡°I will obtain their memories, orbs, and coins¡­¡± Harry hesitated. ¡°And I will also receive the damage they received.¡± ¡°So, every time they die in the middle of the night, you will wake up thanks to an excruciating pain. It¡¯s a very interesting alarm. And you spent half of your MP just to show me this?" Sandra probably hit her head somewhere when she concluded Harry would be a good leader, I looked at her, but she avoided my gaze. Although I wasn¡¯t a fan of masochism, I probably could use that skill as well. I would meditate while my copies would kill monsters, but it would be hard since the monsters are getting stronger and my copies would only have a fraction of my HP, MP, and STA. While Sandra and the others were finishing the preparations, I decided to collect my leaves from the magical herbs. Luckily, the non-fighters had enough time in their hands to replant my other leaves and even put the names of the owners in those vases. Thanks to it, I found my herbs rather quickly. I had one hundred sixty spiritual plants: eighty red, thirty-two blue, and forty-eight green leaves. While I was collecting the new leaves, I saw some survivors putting some leaves inside small bottles with water, and that picked my interest. ¡°You can create potions by mixing water and those leaves in a small bottle,¡± Charles explained.¡± But you also have to wait for ten days for the potion to be completed. It¡¯s worth though, put just two leaves in a bottle with water, wait for ten days, and then you will have a low-quality potion.¡± ¡°I see.¡± It was more efficient, but it was also too time-consuming. But the survivors knew the drawbacks, and that was also why they were storing some leaves inside their bags. ¡°Anyway, it seems that you pissed off the kids¡¯ teacher,¡± Charles said. ¡°You should apologize, she looked very worried when you were inside that tower.¡± ¡°Mind your own business.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying¡­¡± Charles said. ¡°Wow¡­ calm down, dude, no need to glare.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t involve yourself in other people¡¯s lives or problems. Not unless you want to pick a fight with them. ¡°I totally agree,¡± Charles said. ¡°But I will say what I want anyways since I owe you one. You already knew how she was after the second test; after the third, she looked even worse. But since she was worried about you, she overcame her sadness and depression, just because she was worried about you. That¡¯s all I wanted to say.¡± After saying that, Charles left. Luckily, my days alongside these people were ending. They were too meddlesome, why can¡¯t they live their own lives? I don¡¯t remember meeting people so many annoying before the monsters. Everyone was worried about their own problems, and so was I. In any case, I soon forget Charles¡¯ words and resumed my job of collecting leaves. After that, I watched Stella stepping on skeletons until Sandra and all the other survivors left the hotel. Chapter 069 The last challenge (1) To avoid deaths, Sandra gave the order to our tanks form three defensive lines as we walked toward the tower. One line was in front of us, and the others were on the right side and left side. I was in the middle of the survivors and on top of the truck, and so was Rose and Claire. We had to offer quick support. We didn¡¯t have to worry about our backs, because Silver and Stella were there occasionally smashing skeletons and eating mutant lizards. But since we were only five hundred meters away from the tower, we didn¡¯t face any major problems. When Sandra and the others approached that dark altar, all the survivors got instantly teleported to inside the tower. Some people screamed; some people began to tremble. Talking wouldn''t help in that situation, so we just acted. We were in front of that jungle, and dozens of monsters started to appear, but we killed them all. I really had an easy time against those monsters, they charged forward without thinking, and I didn¡¯t have to aim at them. Just by looking at one direction and thinking about one kind of magic arrow and then that same arrow would appear out of thin air and kill a few of them easily. Even my weakest magic arrows were more than enough to kill four or five of thosemonsters since I trained and the magic arrows got more efficient. The fighters did their job correctly without any problems, thanks to it, the other survivors calmed down. It seemed that place was the real interior of the tower, the jungle was exactly like I remembered, and the staircase was still there. It would be a little troublesome to make almost one thousand survivors climb since only five could walk side by side in that staircase. Fighting would also be an issue, but I already knew how the birds tend toattack. Besides, we didn¡¯t have to wait for their attacks. The survivors of the third group, Rose Claire and I exploded their nests before they could try anything. The birds who survived our attacks didn¡¯t pose a threat to us. So, again, we didn¡¯t suffer any losses. When we reached the arena, Sandra gave us the order to stop and rest. Until that moment, we didn¡¯t hear that voice talking about the fourth challenge, and we were almost at the top of the tower. That was our last chance to rest. The survivors began to clean their weapons and drink potions to recover their MP and STA. Meanwhile, I decided to meditate and create magic arrows. It had become a habit, and it was as natural as breathing to me. ¡°I¡¯m getting nervous,¡± Harry said. ¡°I wonder what will happen after this challenge¡­¡± ¡°You should be nervous,¡± Rose retorted¡± After all, you spent thousands of coins in an almost useless skill. You could have upgraded your shield instead of learning a skill which you considered to be cool.¡± Harry had a long green sword in his hands and four identical tower shields on his back. It seemed that he decided to use his copies to defense; in any case, it also seemed that he liked electric swords. I wasn¡¯t really interested in what their new weapons could do, but I wouldn¡¯t lose anything just by knowing. Rose, now had four thick glaives and three shields like ones Harry had. Sarah and Sabrina still had their whips, but they also emitted a light blue glow. They probably added some effect in their weapons to slow down the monsters. Lucius still had his nunchaku, but his weapon also had spikes and emitted a red glow. Earlier I also saw his nunchaku exploding when it hit the monsters. Sandra and Charles now also had shields, Sandra was the type who focused on defense and stopping a massive number of monsters with her shout, so it was only obvious. But Charles created a shield because he always became defenseless after using the effect of his spear. Claire now had a long metal crossbow, and it was hard to imagine the necessary amount of strength to carry, much less use that thing. That bow exponentially increased the attack power, but if that wasn¡¯t enough, her arrows also could multiply before hitting the targets. ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Claire asked, displeased. ¡°I¡¯m looking at an angry woman.¡± Claire snorted, and then she focused her attention on the kids. The kids also upgraded their toys, but they also were wearing protective equipment. They bought backpacks like mine, and they filled it with potions. It surprised me they didn¡¯t create some monsters to fight with them, it was probably because we didn¡¯t have all that much space in the hotel. The fact Silver was always covered in blood and guts probably was an important factor as well. After one hour, Sandra decided to give a speech, but ignored her and continued to create my magic arrows while she was saying some serious words mixed with cheesy lines. ¡°Let¡¯s fight and survive,¡± Sandra said. ¡°This world belongs to us.¡± The survivors were tense, so they only nodded. If this were a movie, they would raise their weapons and scream excitedly. But those people weren¡¯t trained warriors; they were civilians. So, the only thing they could was to hold the nerves and prepare to fight with their lives on the line. After confirming all the survivors were ready, Sandra touched the door, and then all of us heard it. ¡°Welcome to the last challenge, defeat the monster and all the survivors alive will return home.¡± Return home¡­ it almost seemed like we weren¡¯t in our city. In any case, we didn¡¯t have time to think about those words. As soon as the voice disappeared, all of us got teleported again, and we appeared at the top of the tower. The air was heavy, and dense clouds were very close to us; those were massive enough to cover the entire top of the tower. In fact, we appeared right in the middle of one those clouds, but when the cloud disappeared, we saw it.
Dragon ¨C HP: 500000 MP: 500000 STA: 500000 Physical Limit Lv 50, Mental Limit Lv 50, Sensorial Limit Lv 20.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Skills: Fire Breath Lv 10, Frost Breath Lv 10, Shock Breath Lv 10, Magic Resistance Lv 10, Physical Resistance Lv 10, Fly Lv 10. Evolution Orbs: 0/1500000 Evolution Coins: 0
Magic Resistance Lv 10: Negates 50% of all magic attacks.
When I saw the massive forty meters long black lizard, I understood one thing, many, many of us would die. All the creature¡¯s body was covered in sharp black scales. That creature wasn¡¯t something teamwork would defeat, to defeat it, we would have to do everything in our power. But Sandra and the others insisted on keeping their formation they previously had decided. Even after I told them the status and skills the dragon had. ¡°Non-fighters, fall back!¡± Sandra shouted. ¡°Group one, enter tortoise formation! Group two stay behind group one and use your support skills on them. Group three attack the monster while it¡¯s not flying! Group four, wait until the monster began to fly, only after that began to shot!¡± I gave the order to Silver to run around and attack the dragon from behind whenever possible, after that, I climbed on Stella¡¯s back, and she began to fly. Meanwhile, the special team entered in formation, the same formation we used against the rat which had the dark orb. I sighed, maybe teamwork would work if they had shields with some magic resistance, but that wasn¡¯t something they could afford to buy. ¡°Well¡­ it will be better if I do my own thing.¡± The dragon slowly began to walk toward the survivors, the creature was too massive, and its limbs were short. So, it was only obvious the thing was slow. But the dragon had enormous wings and also had the skill fly, in the skies the dragon would be unstoppable. The beast ignored Stella and me who flying, and because of it, the dragon got directly by the thunderstorm. For ten seconds, several bolts of lightning hit the monster, but the beast didn¡¯t stop.
Dragon ¨C HP: 499885 MP: 500000 STA: 500000
Stella had spent one hundred points of MP to cause a little more of one hundred points of damage; the magic resistance skill was really troublesome. But that didn¡¯t faze me; it caused damage, so, the dragon wasn¡¯t totally immune to magic. ¡°Continue attacking from a safe distance, if you see that monster opening its mouth toward you, just retreat. When you run out of MP, I will return.¡± After saying that, I patted Stella¡¯s head and she nodded. And soon I jumped from her back toward the dragon, even though the creature ignored the attacks, once I was fifty meters away from it in midair, the dragon looked at me and opened its mouth. A massive wave of flames flew toward me, but it hit nothing, I teleported, and then I reappeared on the dragon¡¯s nape. ¡°Let¡¯s see if you can attack me here.¡± In fact, I was hoping the dragon could attack; his arms were long enough to reach its nape. And if he could damage his own body, I couldn¡¯t ask for more. In a sequence, I made ten ice arrows hit a single point on the dragon¡¯s nape. But I only saw a small dent in a scale where should have been a deep wound. The steel bolts bounced off.
Dragon ¨C HP: 499685 MP: 495000 STA: 499850
¡®An attack on a single point is better than an area of effect attack, obviously.¡¯ Still, that wasn¡¯t nearly enough, I spend almost forty days creating magic arrows, but I alone wouldn¡¯t be able to kill that thing with those arrows. Even though I was attacking its nape, the dragon ignored me and then, opened its mouth toward the group one. They raised their shields, but a single attack incinerated dozens of them, I expected nothing less from an attack which consumed five thousand points of MP. However, even after dozens of his comrades being burned alive and others were running with flames on their bodies, the other survivors of the group one didn¡¯t retreat. Thanks to it, the survivors in the group three began to attack. Stella was attacking the monster¡¯s tail, and Silver was trying to bite the dragon¡¯s legs whenever possible, so I wasn¡¯t worried about them hitting me. But the rain of magic created by the survivors worried me; they weren¡¯t aiming, they didn¡¯t have time to do it. Besides, they couldn¡¯t see me. ¡®It can¡¯t be helped¡­¡¯ Without much choice, I stopped my non-stop attacks and slowed down my pace to evade a few magic projectiles. Those magic were enough to cause small explosions, but the scales were absorbing most of the magic effects. While I was dodging those projectiles, I saw an arrow becoming three and hitting the dragon¡¯s cheek and a few glaives trying to hit the dragon¡¯s eyes. But that only made the dragon¡¯s angry; the creature opened its mouth again. ¡°Try next time.¡± I sent five one-meter long dark arrows toward the dragon¡¯s face and thanks to it, the monster¡¯s mouth closed and I felt an explosion inside of him. Everyone was already trembling and waiting for the dragon¡¯s breath, but became speechless when they saw the dizzy dragon breathing smoke through its nose.
Dragon ¨C HP: 494261 MP: 495000 STA: 499850
¡°I see¡­ so, only your scales can absorb magic. That¡¯s good to know.¡± The other survivors noticed that too, so they prepared themselves to counter-attack when the dragon opens its mouth. But I didn¡¯t have to wait for that, through the dragon¡¯s teeth, I could see the interior of its mouth. Besides, its mouth was big enough; a few persons could enter there and attack freely. It was dangerous, but the dragon couldn''t control its body thanks to the dark arrows. Then I decided to teleport the best attacker with me to the beast¡¯s mouth. I jumped from the monster¡¯s nape, and when I saw Claire and Rose, I teleported toward them. ¡°Come with me for a second.¡± ¡°What?¡± Claire asked surprise. ¡°To where-¡° Before Rose could finish her sentence, I touched their shoulders and teleported to inside the dragon¡¯s mouth. Then I sent one-meter long fire arrows down its throat without stopping for a second. ¡°What are you waiting for? Attack!¡± Claire and Rose woke up from their shock and began to attack the dragon¡¯s throat, blood began to gush on us, and the monster¡¯s body trembled when the fire arrows exploded. Finally, the dark arrows¡¯ effect disappeared, and then the dragon could move its head again. The beast tried to smash us with its tongue, but I teleported back to where Harry and the others were. Sandra and the others became speechless when they saw us appear covered in blood. But since those two looked more annoyed than in pain, they decided to overlook my actions.
Dragon ¨C HP: 471261 MP: 490000 STA: 498750
¡°How did it go?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°The dragon lost four percent of its HP; we caused more damage than I had expected.¡± ¡°How many times can you use those dark arrows?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°Five times.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Sandra said thoughtfully. ¡°Then I will trust in your judgment, repeat this attack when you see fit. Sorry, but you two will have to endure this.¡± ¡°¡­ Ok.¡± Claire said. ¡°Understood.¡± Rose nodded. That was the best we could do for now, but I didn¡¯t have to wait for them. I knew I could enter the dragon¡¯s mouth, cause damage and leave before getting hurt, as long as I have MP, of course. And so I did it. Chapter 070 The last challenge (2) Things were going well until I teleported us to attack the dragon¡¯s throat for the second time. We caused eve more damage since Claire and Rose were ready. But after that, the dragon decided to fly and safely attack us from above. If blocking the monster attack by the front was difficult, it was close to impossible do it when the monster was flying. With the dragon in the sky, the survivors¡¯ formation became useless. Survivors from all groups begin to die like ants; the dragon¡¯s power was absolute and unrivaled in the sky. ¡°Tsk.¡± In the beginning, the survivors accepted their allies¡¯ death was something inevitable since we were facing a dragon. Still, after we lost twenty percent of the fighters, the fight became chaotic. The non-fighters didn¡¯t have other choice but fight since the dragon was flying over the top of the tower. The smell of blood increased, and the morale of our troops dropped. The formation became useless, and the survivors began to run everywhere. A few of them even jumped from the tower. To survive, the survivors joined their friends and fought in small teams, but they couldn¡¯t do much. Since Silver couldn¡¯t do much against the dragon in the sky, I made him follow Claire and the others. I was flying on Stella¡¯s back and attacking the dragon with magic arrows and observing the battlefield. Even the special team decided to retreat, and now they were protecting the kids. Or at least they were trying. ¡°Numbers doesn¡¯t mean a thing in this world. Only absolute power can make a difference.¡± It was a bit hard, but I could meditate and attack with magic arrows on Stella¡¯s back. But soon she would have to rest.
Dragon ¨C HP: 411261 MP: 4459850 STA: 496230
¡®The beast is using its MP and STA to keep flying at high speeds, but it will destroy us before it could run out of energy.¡¯ Only ten minutes have passed since the beginning of the battle, but the survivors were already exhausted, and most of them were heavily injured. They had potions, but they didn¡¯t have enough time to use it. Besides, even if potions could restore their HP and alleviate the pain, it couldn¡¯t restore destroyed limbs. Sarah could restore them, but she didn¡¯t have time to do it. ¡°Let¡¯s try to buy some time for them. When the dragon falls, you have to attack him and made him fall from the top of the tower, alright? After that, rest a little.¡± I patted Stella¡¯s back, and she nodded, it was risky, but my plans were always dangerous. I was a man who survived thanks to a lot of luck and because I could annoy even the death. In any case, I wasn¡¯t a strategist, and I doubted one smart man could make a good plan against such a beast. I jumped from Stella¡¯s back when the dragon was right below us, and near the border of the tower, the monster looked at me and opened its mouth, I sent a dark arrow toward its mouth. I only hit the throat, but all monster¡¯s body became heavy, and then it began to fall. I teleported to the inside of the beast¡¯s mouth when I heard the sound of Stella¡¯s flying at max speed to hit the monster. Stella¡¯s didn¡¯t even have one-third of the dragon¡¯s weight. But the attack had been enough to make the dragon fall toward the tower''s entrance. The dragon lost control over all its body; it didn''t even have the chance to smash me with its tongue or use its teeth to bit me. After all, all his body was ten times heavier, even its tongue and mouth. And since that was the case, I didn''t show mercy. When the dark arrow effect ended, I shot another dark arrow down the monster¡¯s throat. The beast began to fall again, and I also sent other magic down its throat. Meanwhile, I shot steel bolts toward all directions. ¡°Now you will have a hard time if you try to chew me.¡± Thanks to the dragon''s massive weight, after just a minute and after I used only six dark arrows, we hit the ground. I didn¡¯t expect that, and thanks to it, I received damage during the impact, and one of the dragon¡¯s tooth pierced my right leg. The pain was nothing, but that would hinder my movements. I ate a few herbs, but it would take more than a few minutes for that wound to heal.
Dragon ¨C HP: 342261 MP: 435250 STA: 475850
But I soon ignored that small problem when I analyzed the dragon¡¯s status. The free fall made the monster lose a lot of HP. ¡°I guess I will repeat this again¡­¡± I teleported, and then I reappeared on the dragon¡¯s back, in that place the monster wouldn¡¯t be able to attack and then I could use its a vehicle. After all, I couldn¡¯t teleport to the top of the tower. As if my line was one line, and it was, I used all my strength to cling on the monster body like I was a cicada. Soon after, the dragon began to fly again and ignored me. ¡®Stupid monster, it is just an oversized lizard, after all.¡¯ As if the creature was reading my thoughts, it turned his back toward the tower and flew backward. The dragon tried to smash me against the tower, but I teleported to evade the attack. I would suffer damage, thanks to the impact, and the monster would try to smash me with its tongue. So, I decided to teleport to midair. Only after it was safe, I teleported back to the monster¡¯s back again. ¡°Don¡¯t try to do it again; I can do this all day.¡± Somehow, the monster understood me and didn¡¯t try to smash me against the wall again. And strangely just flew to the top of the tower. That was suspicious, and just like I had expected, the dragon was planning something. The beast stopped one hundred meters away from the top of the tower and then used its claws and legs to climb. I teleported to the inside of its mouth and then shot another dark arrow down the dragon''s throat. However, the beast didn¡¯t fall. Its arms and legs were short but were strong enough to endure the weight of its body increased many times.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡®Son of a bitch¡­¡¯ I shot other dark arrows, but the effect didn¡¯t accumulate. Slowly the dragon began to climb the tower and even ignored the fact its stomach was being filled with its own blood. The vitality of that thing was absurd¡­ My MP was low, and I wanted to rest a little bit, I deserved that, after all, I gained five minutes to the survivors. With luck, Sandra and the others prepared something. I shot another dark arrow, and then I teleported back to the top of the tower. At the top of the tower, I received another warm welcome. Hundreds of survivors were aiming firearms, crossbows and other ranged weapons toward my direction. Those who could use magic already had their skills ready to be shot, and the remaining survivors of the first group were nearby prepared to use their shields if the dragon tries to attack again. I could see even the non-fighters among them, their eyes were bloodshot, and it seemed they wanted to fight. ¡°I wish you guys luck.¡± Even I wasn¡¯t crazy enough to attack the dragon from inside when hundreds of survivors were attacking the creature. So, I used that opportunity to rest in the back lines. I began to meditate and quenched my thirsty by drinking a lot of lemonade. After five seconds, the dragon¡¯s face appeared, and the survivors bombed the monster''s face with hundreds of attacks. Silver and Stella helped, as well. ¡°This is the position I wanted to see this monster¡­¡± I sent another dark arrow to give the dragon a hard time, and to keep him in that position; I shot two-meter long fire arrows toward the creature. Every time those arrows hit the monster, I felt the tower trembling a little. But I already expected that. After all, to create that kind of arrow, I had to spend five hundred points of MP and half an hour. Meanwhile, Sarah approached and began to heal my leg. ¡°You really like to make Claire mad, don¡¯t you?¡± Sarah asked, smiling wryly. For two minutes, the dragon stayed in that position, receiving hundreds of attacks every second. But eventually, I ran out of dark arrows. I had to concentrate for half an hour to create those as well, so that wasn¡¯t an option. When the dragon finally climbed the tower, his face was a mess.
Dragon ¨C HP: 198963 MP: 426250 STA: 442850
But something was different; I could see in the monster¡¯s eye an earth-shattering fury. As if until now, he only had fought for food. But now, he didn¡¯t consider us as food anymore. You can¡¯t hate your food, and all of us could see the hatred in its eyes. The dragon charged and all survivors retreated, the survivors with shields tried to stop the beast. But they were smashed like ants, and those who survived had been tossed like leaves to all directions. The monster was unstoppable, and I couldn¡¯t do anything but cause damage and ignore the survivors¡¯ death. ¡°Restore your MP, this time you are going with me.¡± ¡°What?¡± Sarah asked, astonished. ¡°We can¡¯t stop this thing using common methods. So, you will fill the monster¡¯s stomach with water, and I will use an electric arrow.¡± Sarah understood my intentions, but she still was reluctant. Not because she was afraid, but because people were dying and she was the only one who could heal them fast enough. But in the end, she began to eat a lot of blue leaves because she knew it, if we stop the dragon with that attack, we will save a lot of survivors. After a few seconds, Sarah looked at me and nodded. I touched her shoulder and then I teleported to the monster''s mouth, the creature felt our presence and tried to smash us, but I made a lot of ice arrows pierce its tongue making the beast unable to control it, at least for a few seconds. The fire breath would melt those arrows. Sarah pointed her hands toward the monster¡¯s throat, and I also saw a blue ring on her right hand, soon after massive amounts of water began to flow toward the monster''s stomach. The stomach of a living creature wasn¡¯t exactly a tunnel, so, after a few seconds, the water she sent was mixing with the water she was still creating. I shot three thunder arrows toward the water, and before I could see the result, we left the monster¡¯s mouth. The thunder arrows weren¡¯t like my ice arrows, but they could electrocute a target for ten seconds. Thanks to it, the dragon trembled a lot. That massive amount of water increased the power of my arrows, Sarah showed a small smile, but she was pale like a ghost. She used almost all her MP.
Dragon ¨C HP: 147847 MP: 414550 STA: 431150
¡®Now, what I have to do?¡¯ Sarah was exhausted, so I would have to wait for a few minutes before doing that again. Only Rose had enough MP and skills to do something similar, but her telekinesis was her main skill, and her other skills were low level. While I was thinking about what to do, Claire approached. ¡°Take me with you,¡± Claire said. ¡°You are strong, but not enough.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk like you have ever seen my true power,¡± Claire retorted. I thought she fought with all her might against the twenty-meter tall rat; it was impressive. Thanks to it, it was hard to believe that she could do much more than that, but then I remembered her first skill: focus. And then I looked at her status.
Skill: focus. Info: The user can strengthen a single shot. The user can¡¯t move while this skill is active. Every second in the focused state, the damage of the next attack will increase by 200%. This skill can only be reactivated after sixty seconds. Cost: 1 MP per second, the cost of the skill will double with each second.
That surprised me a lot; the potential of that skill was absurd. That was the perfect skill for someone like Claire, who had so much talent and experience. She was basically a deadly sniper. ¡°All right then, I will wait for six seconds until your charge the shot.¡± Claire nodded and aimed her bow upward; it seemed that she also couldn''t change her body¡¯s position, and she intended to hit the dragon¡¯s brain. It was a pity I couldn¡¯t teleport it nearby the dragon¡¯s heart; only the mouth was big enough for a few persons to fit inside. Even the dragon¡¯s throat was too thin. Besides, I had to have some space to make the magic arrows fly. It wasn¡¯t like the arrows would appear out of thin air, they had to leave the backpack, and if they hit anything before the target, their effects will be activated. After six seconds, I touched Claire¡¯s shoulders, and then I teleported us. When she saw the dragon¡¯s mouth, she shot. In the fraction of a second before the arrow could hit anything, the arrow became three projectiles, and in the next moment, three arrows pierced the dragon¡¯s mouth deeply. The attack had been so powerful that it made the dragon scream for the first time. Before the dragon could destroy our eardrums, I teleported us back to the outside.
Dragon ¨C HP: 62354 MP: 411310 STA: 421450
I was honestly impressed with the damage she caused, but before I could say anything, she snorted and joined Harry and the others who were protecting the kids. Chapter 071 The last challenge (3) After suffering so many wounds, the dragon finally discovered a way to counter my teleport skill. The answer was quite simple; the monster just had to keep using its fire breath nonstop. Thanks to it, our numbers began to decrease at an alarming rate. While water could counter that skill, we didn¡¯t have enough people to counter such a massive attack. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, even my most potent ice arrows melted before reaching the dragon¡¯s mouth. I looked at Harry¡¯s shields, but those couldn¡¯t endure the dragon¡¯s flame even for half a second. All the survivors, without exception, could only run from the beast. After losing another two hundred survivors, we noticed that the dragon couldn¡¯t move fast while using its fire breath, and that was why the survivors were running like hell. Only those who could hit the dragon from a long-distance were attacking, but the damage caused was close to zero. ¡®Our only option is to attack the eyes and nose¡­¡¯ But even the dragon''s eyelids had scales to absorb magic and physical damage. Since the creature was always moving, my magic arrows couldn''t enter its heard through its nose. Thanks to that, I wasn¡¯t causing much damage as well. Claire probably could cause enough damage, but she needed time to focus. The dragon had good instincts; whenever Claire was preparing that skill, the dragon would attack her. Attack from the ground wasn¡¯t an option, and since she couldn¡¯t move, I couldn¡¯t teleport her to midair, falling from the skies was also considering moving. Even though when teleporting wasn¡¯t. ¡®Whatever, I didn¡¯t spend more than thirty days inside that tower to rely on others. I spent to obtain the strength and destroy any obstacles.¡¯ I teleported, and then I appeared in front of the dragon¡¯s eyes, created and spiritual knife and activated the hot blood skill. I attacked the dragon¡¯s right eye, but its eyes closed, and it hit a scale. The knife disappeared, but I could see a small crack. ¡®For now, this will be better than magic arrows.¡¯ Although spiritual knives couldn¡¯t be created in a sequence, I had a few of those stored inside me. So, I put the vampire hunter¡¯s crossbow inside my backpack and summoned those spiritual knives, using both my hands, I slashed the dragon¡¯s eyelid. After the third slash, the dragon finally decided to react. He began to move his head in all directions trying to throw me off balance. Too bad for him, but I could always teleport and put myself in a good position to attack again. Ignoring the dragon¡¯s pitiful attempts to stop me, I continued my attacks. After using my last spiritual knife, I saw a small piece of flesh unprotected. Since I couldn¡¯t wait six seconds in that place to create another spiritual knife, I teleported to midair twenty meters above the dragon, and then I sent five ice arrows toward that same eye.
Dragon ¨C HP: 53654 MP: 407450 STA: 414520
¡®I guess it¡¯s better than nothing¡­¡¯ I teleported to where Sandra was, and then I said to her what I did, she also decided to focus their attacks on that eye. But I didn¡¯t expect much from the survivors¡¯ accuracy. In any case, something changed again. The dragon was still breathing fire, but I could see its eyes on me. ¡°It seems that you pissed him off¡­¡± Harry said nervously. ¡°He is good at pissing off others,¡± Claire said. I already knew that, in any case, I could use that. In a sense, the dragon defeated us; we lost too many survivors, probably six hundred. But the monster already knew it would die and that was precisely why decided to look at me. The beast would try to kill me before that. I teleported to where Stella was, and then I climbed on her back, she began to fly, and then I studied the dragon. The monster¡¯s eyes were always on me; I was fortunate that the beast didn¡¯t figure out that I didn¡¯t have more dark arrows. Otherwise, the creature would destroy all of us in a matter of seconds. The survivors¡¯ attacks were still falling on the dragon¡¯s face, but only Claire¡¯s and Rose¡¯s attacks were causing any real damage. Besides, the other survivors were trying to run away from the beast; only when they were safe enough, they would try to attack. ¡®I guess I should bring Claire and Sarah, their combined attacks and my thunder arrows will do the trick¡­¡¯ After I decided what my next action would be, the dragon used its fire breath to attack us, but Stella managed to escape from the flames. However, the dragon insisted. Ignoring the other survivors¡¯ attacks, the dragon aimed its flames only toward us. After a few seconds without hitting anything with its attacks, the dragon began to fly still trying to attack us with its flames. ¡®It finally noticed, huh.¡¯ The dragon suffered damage when I used the dark arrows for the first time, so, after so much time without using those arrows, the monster noticed that I couldn¡¯t use those anymore. Nothing could make the dragon fall from the skies anymore. ¡°Tsk.¡± I almost could see the dragon grinning while it was approaching; the creature knew that I was annoying because of the things I could do. But in essence, I was only a worm in comparison to its power. The beast didn¡¯t even have to use its power; it only had to use the weight of a single limb to kill me. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to kill me that easily. I hope your meat tastes good, and I also hope that you will give me lots of coins and orbs.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Stella was smaller and lighter, but she didn¡¯t have the fly skill. So, even though the dragon was massive, it could fly faster, and it was approaching quickly. However, even though I couldn¡¯t make the dragon fall, I still could easily evade it. Just before, the flames reached us; I teleport us to above the dragon. I shot five ice arrows toward the dragon¡¯s eyes and Stella used her thunderstorm, the arrows melted but thanks to the scales, only a small amount of water appeared.
Dragon ¨C HP: 51982 MP: 406950 STA: 413520
¡®This will take a while¡­¡¯ When the dragon noticed I had done, it tried to change its directions, and that gave us plenty of time to run away. To make things easier, I made Stella fly around the tower to give the others some time to prepare another massive attack. The dragon was too resilient for me to finish it alone. I ate some blue herbs and then I noticed that I didn¡¯t have any more of those. Even the potions I obtained inside the tower had already been used. Now I only had those three potions I got from Ann¡¯s guards. ¡®There is no other choice¡­¡¯ I didn¡¯t even use those inside the tower despite the many wounds I received; I wanted to keep those stored and used when I was really about to die. But it couldn¡¯t be helped. Besides, the coins I would receive by killing the dragon will probably enough to buy at least two of those potions. It wasn¡¯t time to hesitate.
Stella ¨C HP: 411/800 MP: 1245/3200 STA: 321/800
Stella was also getting tired, but I made her fly toward the city and then fly in circles around the tower. Too bad the dragon¡¯s was still using its flame breath, if it just tried to bite us, I could have made the damn monster hit its face against the tower. For a few minutes, we kept using our hit-and-run tactics. The damage we caused was accumulating, but Stella was reaching her limits, she was getting slower, and the dragon wasn¡¯t giving us much time to attack. And I also was running out of MP.
Dragon ¨C HP: 44122 MP: 395850 STA: 401220
¡°Let¡¯s return and see what they have prepared for us.¡± Stella nodded and began to fly upward in a straight line, the dragon did the same, but the explosions of my fire arrows prevented the monster from reaching its top speed. Before we reached the top, I drank one mystical potion, and when we returned to the top of the tower, I saw for a fraction of a second, the remaining survivors near the border ready to attack again. None of them had shields; they would go all out with the next attack. When the dragon appeared, the survivors used all their skills and ranged weapons to attack it. But that wouldn¡¯t be enough thanks to the dragon¡¯s speed. So, I used the only thing I could slow down the dragon¡¯s advance, earth arrows. I made earth arrows rain on the dragon¡¯s face. ¡®What the hell¡­¡¯ The earth arrows were three meters long and looked more like pillars than arrows. They were sturdy and heavier, and one second after hitting a target they would become sand. I created a few of those, but since they were too heavy, they occupied a lot of space inside my backpack. To make matters worse, those arrows didn¡¯t cause more damage than the ice or fire arrows. The best thing I could with those was to break the limbs of some weak evolved monsters. But to my surprise, the earth arrows were hitting the dragon in the face and caused more damage than I thought. Not only that, the dragon couldn¡¯t even fly upward anymore; it was using all its power not to fall. ¡®Is earth its weakness?¡¯ It was possible; all monsters were weak to some type of attack. Fire monsters were weak against water and ice attacks, so, since it couldn¡¯t use earth magic, it was easy to accept that was its weakness. Besides, my analyze skill wasn¡¯t level ten, but when it reaches that, I was pretty sure it would inform me of the target¡¯s weakness. The survivors didn¡¯t know what was going on, but they didn¡¯t waste time thinking about it either. Every time, an earth arrow hit the dragon, the monster trembled in agony, and that raised the survivors'' morale. But soon I ran out of earth arrows, the dragon was covered in blood, and it was wounded, but it had enough HP to make us tremble with its eyes.
Dragon ¨C HP: 21236 MP: 382450 STA: 391250
¡°Tsk.¡± I sent a low of magic arrows toward the dragon¡¯s face to buy some time; I needed to create more earth arrow. It didn¡¯t have to be so long, but I needed a few more. But to my surprise, a single arrow, which came from the middle of the survivors, became three and then hit the dragon, causing a loud noise.
You have obtained 65000 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 65000 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 01 Dragon¡¯s heart.
¡®She really killed, huh.¡¯ I obtained a lot less than I had expected, but at least I broke my limit. But soon I forgot about those when half a meter long covered in blood heart appeared right in front of me. I didn¡¯t expect to receive such a thing; until now, we didn¡¯t receive any item soon after defeating monsters.
Dragon¡¯s heart: this item can be used in rituals.
Almost no information, but eventually I would learn what that thing could do. I put the dragon¡¯s heart inside my backpack as I watched the dragon falling toward the city ground. ¡°Congratulations, area 43 has been completed. Finishing area 43¡­ all survivors alive will have their HP, MP, and STA increased by one hundred points¡­¡± It was an excellent reward, but while Stella and I were approaching, I didn¡¯t see a single survivor celebrating. We lost more than sixty hundred survivors, and even though they didn¡¯t know each other for a long time, many survivors were crying. I, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t feeling anything. I was just a bit curious about what was about to happen. In any case, even though I decided not to care anymore, I felt relieved when I saw all the kids and the members of the special team alive. Claire was trying to calm down the kids because they could see blood and dead bodies in all directions. Sandra and Harry welcomed me, showing tired smiles, while Sarah was treating the wounded, Rose and Sabrina were giving potions to other survivors. Meanwhile, Charles and Lucius were trying to count how many survivors were alive. ¡°The server 43 will be shut down in three minutes; all survivors will be forced to log out. All your possessions will be automatically transferred to Earth.¡± Martin was right; we really were in a virtual reality. It wasn''t possible to separate all the survivors in the city in a single night, but it was also impossible to connect all of us to some virtual reality in a single night. But I decided not to dwell on that. Eventually, I would discover how and why, anyway. But the last part bothered me; it was almost looked like we weren¡¯t on earth¡­ weren¡¯t we connected to a virtual reality on earth? When I wondered about that, I saw my body and the other survivors¡¯ bodies slowly becoming light blue particles of light. That made me feel worried, and obviously, the survivor began to panic. Eventually, all my body disappeared, and for a second, I saw nothing but darkness, but when I blinked, I saw myself in the middle of the city again. I saw thousands of survivors in front of me, and among them, I saw four people that I haven¡¯t seen in two years. Chapter 072 Reunion (1) I looked behind me, and I saw all the survivors who fought and survived against the dragon. I thought we got teleported to the city, but that place wasn¡¯t like the city I remembered. I saw dozens of buildings destroyed and many others were totally covered in vegetation. I could see trees everywhere, even in the middle of the roads. That place looked familiar, but at the same time, it seemed strange. While I was studying the surroundings, they stepped forward. All of them looked relieved and happy, but they didn¡¯t look all that comfortable. ¡®So, Ryan and Ellie already know, huh.¡¯ I didn¡¯t show any expression when I looked at them; thanks to that; they hesitated for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, Ethan,¡± Jerry smiled.
Jerry ¨C HP: 1231 MP: 1121 STA: 1231 Physical Limit Lv 27, Mental Limit Lv 27, Sensorial Limit Lv 04. Skills: Blood Thirsty Lv 08, Beast Skin Lv 05, Rest Lv 04, Demonic Blade Lv 04, Fire Pillar Lv 04, Thunder Punch Lv 06. Evolution Orbs: 14526/35000 Evolution Coins: 7563
As I had expected, he was far stronger than any of us. I was ahead of him because I spend thirty days inside the tower. Jerry always did everything with efficiency in mind, and the monsters wouldn¡¯t change that. Because of the battles, he looked even more imposing that I could remember, he was almost fifty, but he looked like he was only thirty years old. He had the body of someone who spent two decades religiously working out. All his hair was black, and I couldn¡¯t see a single white hair. As always, his hair was very short, and in his dark brown eyes, I could see the light of a man who fought with his life on the line dozens of times. For some reason, he was using the army¡¯s uniform. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you too¡­ sir.¡± Thanks to my words and my indifference, they soon understood that I also knew everything. The first one to recover had been Naomi; just like Jerry, she looked much younger than she indeed was. Her blond hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she looked more slender and elegant than in my memories. That said, I also could see in her blue eyes the same glint I saw in Jerry¡¯s eyes. She was wearing light clothes like that was her day off.
Naomi ¨C HP: 444 MP: 2452 STA: 444 Physical Limit Lv 16, Mental Limit Lv 37, Sensorial Limit Lv 05. Skills: Heal Lv 09, Frostbite Lv 08, Mirage Lv 05, Physical Blessing Lv 06, Mist Lv 06. Evolution Orbs: 11226/35000 Evolution Coins: 1113
¡°So, you do know,¡± Naomi said and then showed a serious expression. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°In that case, we will act accordingly,¡± Naomi said with her eyes closed and arms crossed. ¡°You can ask us anything later, at an appropriate time.¡± ¡°Roger that¡­ you two grew up a lot; I¡¯m glad you two didn¡¯t look much different.¡± ¡°You think so?¡± Ryan showed a shy smile and scratched the back of his head. ¡°You too grew up,¡± Ellie said, showing a pure smile. ¡°You look fiercer and cool.¡± ¡°Your definition of cool is a little bit strange.¡± I couldn¡¯t see a single thing cool on me; I was covered in blood, dirt, and sweat. In any case, I couldn¡¯t mistreat them. Ryan and Ellie just got caught in my messy situation. Those two looked like the perfect combination of Jerry¡¯s and Naomi¡¯s genes, although Ryan was tall for his age, he wasn¡¯t that imposing like Jerry. Ryan always felt embarrassed when he was being praised, but aside from that, he could talk to any stranger about anything. His hair was dark like Jerry, but he had Naomi¡¯s blue eyes.
Ryan ¨C HP: 365 MP: 285 STA: 365 Physical Limit Lv 16, Mental Limit Lv 16, Sensorial Limit Lv 16. Skills: Hawkeye Lv 07, Focus Lv 04, Magic Arrow Lv 06, Alert Lv 06, Mana Bomb Lv 04. Evolution Orbs: 2452/16000 Evolution Coins: 5312
If Ryan was a bit shy and innocent, Ellie was mature for her age. She had excellent social skills, and she was quick to analyze and praise even strangers. She was blond like Naomi but had Jerry¡¯s dark brown eyes. She was still growing, but it was evident that she would become a beautiful and elegant woman like her mother.
Ellie ¨C HP: 356 MP: 2185 STA: 356 Physical Limit Lv 10, Mental Limit Lv 31, Sensorial Limit Lv 07.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Skills: Lightning Lv 06, Mana Shield Lv 06, Tornado Lv 08, Ice Lance Lv 06, Haste Lv 05. Evolution Orbs: 8522/16000 Evolution Coins: 9635
¡°Ethan, who are these people?¡± Harry asked. ¡°They are¡­¡± ¡°They are his family.¡± Sandra interrupted me. ¡°Long time no see, Jerry. You too Naomi, you don¡¯t age, do you?¡± ¡°Sandra?¡± Jerry asked, surprised. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see you here, and you already know Ethan?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Sandra answered, showing a grim expression. ¡°He caused a few problems, but he helped us a lot. In fact, I met my son and daughter before a disaster could happen thanks to him. I¡¯m truly thankful; you two should feel proud. Despite everything.¡± Sandra looked at them like she was reprimanding them. She also knew about me; it was evident judging by her actions. ¡°Small world, huh. ¡° Naomi said, looking a little bit uncomfortable. ¡°In any case, I¡¯m glad that you are alive and you met your son and daughter.¡± For a few seconds, the air around us became heavy. Sandra was trying to reprimand Jerry and Naomi without making a scene, while Harry and the others looked confused by my lack of emotions on my face. To make matters worse, Claire appeared like she was ready to pick a fight. ¡°Is that all you two have to say?¡± Claire asked, glaring at Jerry and Naomi. It was evident why Claire was so upset, although she was barging in on someone else problems, Jerry and Naomi understood she was right in being angry. Because of that, they avoided her gaze. ¡°I won¡¯t judge your past actions,¡± Claire said. ¡°But why in the hell didn¡¯t you bring your son to your side after the monsters appeared?¡± Although Sandra didn¡¯t want to make a scene, Claire wasn¡¯t even a bit worried about that. She was almost shouting, and even though Harry and the others understood why she was angry, they thought she was going a bit overboard. For many reasons, they couldn¡¯t answer Claire¡¯s question, and I wasn¡¯t interested in that answer either. I already had a good idea of their reasons. ¡°Claire, can you please shut up?¡± ¡°Like hell, I will!¡± Claire shouted. ¡°Claire¡­ I believe I helped you more than a few times. I¡¯m not going to ask you anything in return, but unless you want to make me your enemy, I would advise you not to involve yourself in my problems. Do I make myself clear?¡± It had been a while since I felt so much anger, but luckily, that made helped me to send that message to Claire. By her expression of shock, she understood that I wasn¡¯t joking. I used that opportunity, and I looked to Harry and the others, and they also understood that applied to them as well. Despite everything, Claire decided not to insist although I could understand by her anger and frustration that wasn¡¯t over yet for her. ¡°I guess this is enough for introductions¡­ Don¡¯t we have some more important matters to attend to?¡± ¡°¡­ Yes,¡± Jerry said. ¡°But first, you and your group should rest. We also lost many comrades when we fought that dragon, so, for now, just take a long shower and rest for the day.¡± Jerry and Naomi guided us toward our temporary rooms, but before we reached the building, we found a statue in the middle of the city. That was a dangerous place, the monsters could destroy it, but the statue didn¡¯t have a single scratch. I looked around and focused my eyes, and then I noticed why. They had walled the entire region; I could see fifteen meters tall steel walls in all directions and those walls I saw dozens of survivors using their weapons and killing enemies in the ground and in the sky. Besides, there were ten heavily armed men near the statue, so, not even the craziest human would be able to destroy it. ¡°We will have a lot of problems if the statue gets destroyed,¡± Jerry said. ¡°So, the first thing we did after returning was to create those walls. You all will have to help to expand those walls; I don¡¯t have to explain why right?¡± ¡°Yes, because we have to earn our space here,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°Anyway, did we really returned? Weren¡¯t we on Earth during those days?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t be sure, given the circumstances,¡± Jerry answered. ¡°But our minds were connected to a virtual reality in another place. Right now, we truly are on earth. But, we are on an earth one thousand years in the future. After so much time, all electronic devices stopped working. So, it¡¯s impossible that we were connected here. We reached this conclusion after investigating the growth of the vegetation.¡± The survivors became speechless with that explanation, but our situation didn¡¯t change. We have the statue, there were monsters everywhere, and we had to fight, that was the important part. ¡°So, no more safe hotels, huh,¡± Sandra said, annoyed. ¡°What more changed?¡± ¡°The system is pretty much the same,¡± Jerry explained. ¡°We fight monsters, and we earn coins and orbs. But, there are no more rewards every ten days. Also, when the monsters die, their bodies dissolve really fast, and the environment absorbs their energy. Occasionally, they drop items. The environment also changed; the monsters aren¡¯t only mutated animals. There are many fantastical kinds of monsters lurking in the world now. Eventually, I think we will face dragons again.¡± Thanks to that information, the survivors got depressed. To kill a single dragon, we lost almost seventy percent of our forces. And by the looks of things, the survivors in the city aside from us weren¡¯t more than five thousand. ¡°How many survivors are here?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°A little more than five thousand,¡± Jerry answered, showing a serious expression. ¡°And no more survivors will join us. From the one hundred areas, only the survivors of four areas are still alive. Your group is the last one; all the other areas had been deleted.¡± Basically, 99.8% of this city population died in the last one hundred days. And we can''t expect anything better in the other cities." After Jerry explained that, we reached our temporary home, it was a very simple building which probably will be used as a warehouse in the future. But at least there enough rooms, even if everyone decides to sleep alone. They probably made this building using the statue, after all, it was one of the two buildings in the surroundings which didn¡¯t have any cracks, it was still standing and didn¡¯t have any vegetation in it. The building didn¡¯t have any beds, but all the survivors had things like that in their backpacks which could distort space. Anyways, the survivors entered the building without saying a word and headed to the showers to clean themselves. That would probably take a while¡­ ¡°Ethan,¡± Jerry touched my left shoulder. ¡°I will be waiting for you on the fourteenth floor of that building in front of the statue. You want to know about everything, right? Come to my office tonight, and I will tell you.¡± ¡°...Ok.¡± Jerry, Naomi, Ryan, and Ellie left, showing complicated expressions. Although I could understand why they were acting like that, they could act like usual, and I wouldn¡¯t care. I had no grudges against them, after all. In any case, even though I wasn¡¯t all that interested in what they would say, I wouldn¡¯t lose anything by listening either. ¡®I still have two hours¡­ I guess I will clean myself in the river.¡¯ I could see a lot of monsters resting inside the walls, so, Silver could rest anywhere. I climbed Stella¡¯s back, and she flew toward the river. There were some monsters there, but Stella killed them all with her thunderstorm. From there, I could see some survivors in the top of the walls looking at me suspiciously, but I just ignored them. I burned my old clothes, and without a care, I jumped in the river. Although inside the virtual reality was summer, it wasn¡¯t that hot in the city. The weather changed a lot in the virtual reality probably because we had to experiment many kinds of situations and fight against different types of monsters. As if the virtual reality was just a tutorial, and only now, we would face true challenges. In the blink of an eye, the two hours passed while I was relaxing in the river. It seemed that I would have to walk for a few kilometers to see those new monsters. In any case, I would have plenty of time for that. After giving some time to Silver and Stella to rest, I would leave the city. I put on new clothes, and then I headed to Jerry¡¯s office; it was time to finish the business of my old life. Only by doing that, I would obtain the freedom that I wanted. Chapter 073 Reunion (2) I found Jerry¡¯s office rather quickly because I saw him and Naomi in front of it, to my surprise, Sandra was also there. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, I saw a man who looked to be around Lucius age, he looked even more imposed than Jerry, but he didn¡¯t look that young. He had a well-built body, and his hairstyle was just like Jerry¡¯s. Black and short. He also had a few scars on his face, but aside from that, he didn¡¯t have any other remarkable characteristics.
Survivor A ¨C HP: ??? MP: ??? STA: ??? Skills: ??? Evolution Orbs: ??? Evolution Coins: ???
Behind him, I saw a young woman who had long black straight hair, she also had dark brown eyes, and she was wearing glasses. In her hands, she was carrying something like a paste with a few documents. She was probably that man¡¯s assistant.
Survivor A ¨C HP: ??? MP: ??? STA: ??? Skills: ??? Evolution Orbs: ??? Evolution Coins: ???
Those two were quite secretive with their status; in any case, it seemed they spend a lot of coins to buy the item to counter my analyze skill. After all, not even Jerry and Naomi could hide their status. I looked at the man¡¯s and the woman¡¯s right hand, and I saw a dark ring in them. But to me, it didn¡¯t matter why they were doing that or who they were. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°I already know about you,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°I just came here to hear that from their mouths, and I also want to know why.¡± ¡°No wonder you annoyed me so much¡­ did you tell anyone about this?¡± ¡°No,¡± Sandra answered. ¡°Then why Claire annoyed me so much, as well?¡± ¡°I knew that she was feeling indebted to you,¡± Sandra explained. ¡°That was why I told her to stay close to you to help you or to stop you. Since she knew why you became even more introverted, she didn¡¯t ask me any questions. I was worried about your mental health; I thought the truth would drive you mad. That was why I tried to keep you with us, I guess by doing that, I end up annoying you. Claire didn¡¯t know anything, but since you are also hard to deal with, she lost her cool many times and tried to force you to stay with the group.¡± ¡°I see¡­ so you knew him, huh.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Sandra answered.¡± I knew Eric; he was a good friend. ¡°Well, whatever. Let¡¯s just finish this already.¡± ¡°Wait a minute, Ethan,¡± Jerry interrupted me when I tried to enter his office. ¡°First, let me introduce to the general and his assistant. His name is¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not interested.¡± It seems he was the leader here, after all, Jerry, which was one of the strongest survivors, was slightly bowing his head to introduce him. ¡°¡­ I think you should,¡± Jerry said, showing a complicated expression. ¡°He is the man who supervised the entire ¡®Ethan project.¡¯ He is the man who decided everything in your life, your schools, your job, the people who would get close to you and many other aspects of your life had been determined by him.¡± ¡°I see¡­ but I¡¯m still not interested.¡± Until now, that man just stared at me without showing any emotion, but I could see in his eyes that he was getting angry. Finally, my natural talent of getting on other people¡¯s nerves was working on him. ¡°In any case, the name of that man was Eric, then the name of the project was Ethan; hence, that is my name. You don¡¯t have any creativity, do you?¡± With his arms crossed, the general stepped forward. He was twenty centimeters taller than me, so I had to look upward to see his angry face. But to me, he looked like a cute cat; he had to work on his threatening skills a little more. Even that dragon didn¡¯t scare me; there was no way in hell a human would. ¡°Boy¡­¡± The general said with his grave voice. ¡°You are just like him, and that is why I will forgive your impertinence this one time. But if you want to live peacefully inside these walls, you won¡¯t want to get on my bad side.¡± ¡°And who said that I want to live here?¡± The general studied me for a few seconds; it seems that he was having a hard time deciding if he would attack me or not. He appeared to be a prideful man, and in any occasion, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill me on the spot, but since he was the leader here, he probably made someone analyze me. He knew my skills, I was sure of it, and that was why he didn¡¯t attack me. ¡°Ethan¡­ can you stop this?¡± Jerry said nervously. ¡°Please, sir, calm down. Given the circumstances, Ethan has the right to act like this. For now, let¡¯s enter and talk. After that, we can discuss everything else.¡± For some odd reason, Jerry was acting extremely careful around the general. Almost like that man was the most important person in the entire country, when I thought about that, I understood everything. He wasn¡¯t only their leader; he was almost the supreme commander of the survivors; thanks to his position before the monsters appeared, he really became the most important person in the entire country. The president probably had died; we also didn¡¯t have any governors or politicians. He was the last remaining symbol of power and order of our previous society. At least, he didn¡¯t look crazy like Ken or Ann.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! The atmosphere around us was tense, but eventually, everyone entered Terry¡¯s office. Although that building was simple, like the other one, Terry put a lot of things inside that room to make his work easier. It looked like a typical office; there were chairs, tables, a lot of documents and a coffee machine. After we sat down, Naomi gave to each one of us a cup of coffee. But I refused and began to drink my lemonade. Naomi showed a wry smile. ¡°Well¡­¡± Jerry said after a long sigh. ¡°Where should I start?¡± ¡°From the very beginning.¡± ¡°Ok¡­¡± Jerry said, showing a tense expression. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In middle school, Jerry, Naomi, and Sandra, who lived in the same neighborhood met for the first time a boy called Eric. Just like me, he had light brown hair and light brown eyes. But he was very athletic and somewhat smart, he was quick to make new friends, and he only stopped at his home to eat or sleep. He was always playing with his friends and neighbors. However, Eric had a problem; he was quick to pick fights when someone was causing problems to his friends. Instead of ignoring, his first action when he met bullies was to punch them in the face. Regardless of his nature, Jerry, Naomi, and Sandra became his friends, and for years they did many things together. They studied together, played together, and traveled together. They looked like siblings, even though in high school, when Eric was very known as delinquent thanks to his hot temper. They ignored all gossips and acted like always. But nothing lasts forever, Eric wanted to join the army to live a thrilling life, Naomi wanted to study and become a doctor, and Sandra wanted to become a firefighter. Only Jerry didn¡¯t know what to do when he finished high school, he wasn¡¯t particularly athletic or smart. So, he decided to follow his best friend and joined the army. The group became smaller, and life in the army wasn¡¯t easy, but that only strengthened the friendship between Jerry and Eric. Besides, they were always doing everything together, just like before. So, they didn¡¯t complain even when they trained for weeks inside forests or when they stayed away from home for months. The next few years passed rather quickly, and they learned a lot. In the army self-discipline was a given, but they also learned several martial arts, they became skilled in using many types of firearms, they even learned how to create grenades and guns with things which everyone has is their own homes. But eventually, the learning time ended, and they finally had to put what they learned in practice. Those two traveled around the world in many missions, thanks to their skills and discipline they picked the interest of General McKenzie, who was just a major at that time. He saw the potential in them, so, he ensured that they would travel the world in as many missions as possible. They participated in pacification missions, they searched and arrested many potential terrorists, and they even fought against massive terrorist groups. Thanks to those missions, they became even better soldiers; they became elite soldiers. They were selected to be two of the ten members of a unique team, which would investigate and combat terrorist organizations behind the curtains. Eric was ecstatic when he had been selected for that time, it was a thrilling job, and he also would make the world a better place, he couldn¡¯t ask for more. But on the other hand, Jerry was feeling tired. Five years had passed since they joined the army, they saw a lot of things, and they saw everywhere the darkness of humanity. One could quickly find it, and after fighting so much against that darkness, Jerry understood that it was a never-ending war. But he didn¡¯t abandon his best friend; for two years he fought alongside him on strange lands. He couldn¡¯t tell his family where he was, nor could he call them on a daily basis. He endured and endured until he met Naomi again. Jerry and Eric were collecting information about a terroristic group in a country devastated by civil war when they saw Naomi working as a volunteer doctor. Seven years had passed since they saw each other, and now they were adults. Jerry and Eric were working in secrecy, so, they couldn¡¯t talk to her. But that didn¡¯t prevent Jerry from feeling a lot of things, Naomi looked much more beautiful than in his memories. Before she was only his friend, but now he wanted much more than her friendship¡­ because of that feeling, he decided to return home. General McKenzie let out a long sigh when he heard Jerry''s intentions; he learned many things in the army; most of all, he learned how to be direct. He didn¡¯t hesitate that he wanted to quit that job because of a woman, a woman who he didn¡¯t even know if she was single. But to his surprise, Eric totally supported him; they were close like brothers. The only thing they wished for each other was happiness. That being said, Jerry was an important soldier, and he had valuable information about many things. So, he returned home, but he was still working for General McKenzie in secrecy. After two years, Jerry and Naomi got married, and to their surprise, Eric and Sandra showed themselves. After nine years the group was together again, and that had been the best day of their lives. Sandra was married and was pregnant. They had many reasons to celebrate, but after that day, those four would never be seen together again¡­ Two years after his marriage, Jerry began to feel worried about Eric. Since his marriage he didn¡¯t saw or talked to him, it was only obvious thanks to the nature of his job, but that didn¡¯t make Jerry feel less worried. Once in a while, he would meet General McKenzie, and since he acted like usual, he didn¡¯t ask about Eric. But even though he had been trained to be patient, he couldn¡¯t stay so calm after so much time without notice of his best friend. When he decided to question the General about Eric, the General informed him that Eric had disappeared. Since he was his best friend, he had been selected to lead a team to search for him. But it wasn¡¯t because the General was a good person; it was because his entire unit had vanished along with Eric. Ten highly trained men have vanished overnight without leaving a trace. Jerry headed toward the last city where Eric and his unit had been sent. And to his surprise, the entire city inhabitants had also vanished. They were in the extreme north of Europe, but they didn¡¯t find a single sign of the twenty-five thousand inhabitants of that city. The vehicles were there, their clothes were there, their food was there, and even their money was there. For some odd reason, they disappeared, but they left behind even their pets. Jerry found the house Eric and his teammates were using, and there he found their equipment. For three months, they stayed in that city looking for clues, but they didn¡¯t find anything. However, one hundred days after the inhabitants of that city had disappeared, a single person appeared out of nowhere, and that person was Eric. He was covered in blood, he had lost his two legs, and his face was half-burned. But still had the energy to say a single sentence to Jerry before he died: The monsters¡­ are coming¡­ When General heard that, he immediately believed in those words. His men were always under surveillance. And Eric didn¡¯t show a single time any sign of craziness in his actions or in his words. That said, the word of one of his underling wasn¡¯t enough to convince others. So, he reunited a group of researchers to analyze Eric¡¯s memories, and Naomi was among them. But they didn¡¯t have the technology to analyze the data inside a dead brain. After many failures, they had an idea. They decided to create a clone of Eric and upload his memories to that clone¡¯s brain. Chapter 074 Reunion (3) The Ethan project began thanks to the General¡¯s many friends, he was an overbearing man, but they knew he wasn¡¯t crazy. He and his unity prevented and neutralized many threats, so, they decided to back up him. Thanks to those wealthy contributors, they started to clone Eric. The researchers didn¡¯t know if they would succeed in the first try, so, they made one hundred clones. To avoid problems, they decided not to speed up their growth process. Cloning a human was already complicated enough, and they didn¡¯t want to damage the brain of those clones. The clones lived inside medical machines until they were two years old, they could breathe, and they were feed thanks to those machines. Occasionally, those machines would also electrocute their muscles to stimulate them. Otherwise, the clones¡¯ muscles would atrophy. When all the clones were two years old, the second part of the experiment started. That part was the most dangerous and gruesome thing those researchers had done in all their lives. Somehow, they managed to copy the data from Eric¡¯s brain, but it took a while. However, the process to transfer this data to another person¡¯s brain was even slower. Since they couldn¡¯t analyze the memories of his dead brain, they didn¡¯t know where those memories were. So they copied all the memories and uploaded almost thirty years of life experience into the clones¡¯ brains. The process was inhuman. Since humans don¡¯t have USB ports in their heads, they transferred the data using electricity. Despite being renowned researches, they decided to electrocute two years old kids¡¯ brains to transfer the data. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, they used even more electricity to see what kind of memories the clones were receiving. But on the first day of the second part of the experiment, they didn¡¯t see the things they wanted. On the first day, twenty clones died. And half of the researchers give up on the project. They became traumatized for life when they saw two years old clones bleeding through their eyes, noses, and ears. After that, they gave up on science and medicine as well and looked for other jobs. Any job which wouldn''t make them remember their actions; All of them had discussed beforehand the whole process, and none of them was against it. It was necessary to prevent a significant threat. Besides, they were just clones, they didn¡¯t have to live normal lives, and their existence had a single purpose. They weren''t real humans. It was easy to accept that when they were just talking, but not after observing the process. Despite everything, the project continued because they managed to transfer the memories, and they also managed to see some of those memories. Eric was twenty-nine years old when he died, but the researchers managed to speed up the transfer process. In three years, all the clones had absorbed twenty-nine years of memories. Well, not all clones. Only a single clone survived being electrocuted in the head for three years 24/7, and that clone was me, Ethan number twenty-seven. No wonder I always felt something was wrong with me, my first five years of life, I had been treated as a guinea pig. No wonder I didn¡¯t feel anything after killing so many people, I was indeed a monster created in a lab. In any case, the experiment had been a success. General McKenzie had the information that he wanted, and he shared it with all governments of the world, and they prepared accordingly to it. But, they didn¡¯t expect that all humans would be separated in one hundred areas, and that was why none of their plans had been of any use. In any case, at the end of the project, only the General, Jerry, and Naomi were still involved and knew about everything which had happened in the experiment. The researchers who participated in the project... chose the easy way out when they discovered those memories would never leave them. Since the contributors were only interested in the memories, the last part of the project was to dispose of me, but the General decided to let me live. I was the clone of the first and single human who survived the system¡¯s arrival. He was interested in what would happen to me once the system took over the world, and that was why Jerry and Naomi adopted me. However, until the system appeared again, I never noticed those memories. The general probably thought that I would have Eric¡¯s skills and weapons, but I inherited only one skill, his first skill. He noticed that wouldn''t be the case since I acted relatively like a normal kid after I began to live with Jerry, Naomi, Ryan, and Ellie. But the General didn¡¯t give up; he carefully analyzed Eric¡¯s youth and made me experiment similar things which he had lived. We went to the same elementary school, the same middle school, and the same high school. But I only showed any similarities with Eric, when I was under pressure. Eric was quite the fighter, and that was why I defeated Ken and his nine friends when we fought for the first time. The General observed me for my entire life and knew that I was attached to Jerry, Naomi, Ryan, and Ellie, and that was why he separated me from them, to put me under pressure. Unfortunately for him, I never went berserk again, not until the monsters appeared. Besides, I could never become someone like Eric; after all, I only saw four of his memories. In any case, since I had memories in my head, which weren¡¯t mine, Ann¡¯s skill didn¡¯t work on me. His memories were somehow, sealed inside my mind because I didn''t live them. ¡°What a crazy story¡­¡± I was honestly surprised, I thought they only cloned me, and everything else went smoothly. Regardless, I wondered why they didn¡¯t tell me what they felt in the middle of the experiment. I was pretty sure the General could only see me as a guinea pig, but I wasn¡¯t so sure about Jerry and Naomi. But they probably didn¡¯t felt anything; they had time and the leisure to procreate after all. However, when I saw Naomi trembling with her head down, showing a dark expression, I began to doubt that. Jerry wasn¡¯t showing any emotion on his face. However, I could hear the sweat dripping from his hands and his heart beating irregularly. They also received some mental damage thanks to the experiment, but that didn¡¯t change a thing. Since I could sense those signs, I could tell their actions were haunting them, but there was another person who couldn¡¯t notice those small signs.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Sandra was mad, so mad that I could see her MP leaving her body even though she didn¡¯t have that much. She was biting her lips so hard that her chin was covered in blood. Her hands were dripping blood on the floor. Without any warning, she took her spear out her backpack and charged toward Jerry and Naomi. ¡°You monsters!¡± Sandra shouted. I still had a few more questions to ask, so I touched her shoulder and teleported us to the first floor. ¡°I guess you already heard what you wanted; you can leave now.¡± Before she could react, I teleported back to Jerry¡¯s office. Since I appeared so suddenly, I saw Naomi crying and Jerry¡¯s face filled with despair. It was weird, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to hate them, but I also couldn¡¯t bring myself to love them either. They only raised me because the General gave the order or because I was the clone of one of their friends. In any case, I didn¡¯t have time to lose; I could hear Sandra¡¯s footsteps approaching. ¡°Let¡¯s finish this before she returns¡­ I¡¯m not a perfect clone, right? Since I have been observed my whole life, you know my problems, right?¡± ¡°¡­ Yes,¡± Jerry said after a long sigh to calm his nerves. ¡°You are not a perfect clone, we don¡¯t know why, but we do know that you can¡¯t procreate and you can¡¯t cry either.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I need one of those to survive in this world¡­¡± ¡°Ethan¡­¡± Naomi said, rubbing her eyes. ¡°Are you sure that you don¡¯t feel any different from before? We are not sure of this yet, but we think that our bodies had been destroyed, and only our information had been sent to that virtual reality. But since we survived, our bodies had been restored. This is something beyond our understanding because it created us perfectly. But since you are a¡­ clone¡­ all your imperfections should have been erased when you disconnected from the virtual reality.¡± ¡°Nope, I don¡¯t feel different at all. In this situation, I was supposed to feel many things like sadness, right? But I don¡¯t feel anything special.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Naomi sobbed. ¡°¡­Ethan,¡± Jerry said after sighing. ¡°We also know that some other things worried you, like your cognitive skills and the fact that you had never been good at any sport. It¡¯s all because of those five years of the experiment, the early five years of a person are critical to develop cognitive and motor skills. Since you didn¡¯t live them, you are quite clumsy and not very smart.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I had already suspected that was the case when Ann told me that I was a clone, I thought all my problems were connected. The reason why Jerry and Naomi didn¡¯t teleport me to their side, it was because the General wanted me to become a soldier like Eric. In any case, I guess I heard anything that I wanted to hear. When I thought that it was time to leave, Sandra appeared. And it seemed that she wanted to pick a fight. Come to think of it, she probably saw me when I was little, and she noticed that something was wrong since I didn¡¯t have any resemblance to Jerry and Naomi. But Sandra only understood that I was a clone when we met a few months ago. ¡°Can you wait for a few moments? I don¡¯t want to teleport you to the other side of the walls.¡± ¡°How can you stay so calm?¡± Sandra asked, perplexed. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear what they did to you?¡± ¡°Yeah, I heard. Why are you angry, anyways? This is none of your business. I may be Eric¡¯s clone, but I¡¯m not him; hence, you don¡¯t have a single reason to say anything about this. You didn¡¯t lose anything thanks to their actions. In any case, I can¡¯t love them because of what they did to me, but I can¡¯t hate them because I only exist thanks to them.¡± After hearing that, Sandra finally decided to stop her foolish actions. She stepped back and gritted her teeth because she also kept this secret from me. ¡°It seems that you understand your position in this world,¡± The General said. ¡°Then you already know that you only exist to serve our country, right now, I¡¯m the leader of this country, and that is why you have to obey me.¡± ¡°Sure, I will do that. When you show me where the bar code on my body is.¡± ¡°What?¡± The General asked angrily. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m a product created at your convenience, but I won¡¯t become your minion. If you try to mess with me, I will destroy you and everything you values.¡± ¡°You little¡­¡± The General shouted. ¡°Do you think that you can live here after threatening me?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I already said that I will leave this place?¡± ¡°Do you think a mere clone like you can survive without using the statue?¡± The General asked. ¡°Sir! Can you please stop this?¡± Jerry shouted after he got up from his chair. ¡°You have my loyalty, sir, but don¡¯t forget that you are only one of the leaders of this place.¡± It seemed that I was wrong, General McKenzie wasn''t the only leader in this place. And by the look of it, Jerry was one of the leaders as well. He only had control over half of it since Jerry was still loyal to him. ¡°Ethan¡­¡± Jerry said hesitantly. ¡°I have no idea of how you are feeling right now, but can you please reconsider? This world is far more dangerous than that virtual reality. I know that you have some powerful skills, but all of us need the statue, and unless all of the leaders of this place agree, you can¡¯t just enter, use the statue and leave without helping us.¡± ¡°In that case, I just need to find another statue.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± Jerry explained. ¡°The statue is attracting these monsters, and they always try to destroy it. You won¡¯t find a statue in abandoned cities. You want to stay alone for a while; it¡¯s understandable. But you don¡¯t need to put yourself in danger; once in a while, you need to rest, and this place is perfect for that¡­ I don¡¯t have the right to say this¡­ but I want to see you safe. You don¡¯t have to treat us as your family or friends. You don¡¯t even need to talk to us, but please stay here where it is safe and help us to rebuild our world.¡± ¡°¡­ this is your world, not mine, and as far as I know, I¡¯m a monster, not a human.¡± ¡°You are not a monster, Ethan,¡± Naomi said, looking me in the eyes. ¡°If you can¡¯t do this for yourself, do it for your friends. They will need you, right?¡± ¡°They are just a bunch of strangers to me, and I already helped them too much. Until now, my life had been controlled by those around me, but this ends now.¡± ¡°I understand, Ethan,¡± Jerry said. ¡°For obvious reasons, you can¡¯t see any of us as your allies; in that case, let¡¯s make a deal. You are free to come and go whenever you want, and you don¡¯t have to say a thing to anyone, you can also use the statue as much as you want. But after you leave this city, you have to follow a single direction, and you have to check all the big cities nearby and look for survivors, and if it is possible, you have to bring them to this place. We will give you all the necessary supplies for this work, and we will even pay you ten thousand evolution coins for each survivor you bring to this place. It is a good deal, right?¡± ¡°Wait!¡± The General retorted. ¡°Do you think you can decide this all by yourself?¡± ¡°Sir, we already decided this would be they pay for the search teams,¡± Jerry explained. ¡°Ethan can do this job by himself, so isn¡¯t it fine? Or do you think that we won¡¯t lose a thing trying to fight against him?¡± It wasn¡¯t a bad deal, although they had already decided to form teams to search for survivors in the big cities of this country. Jerry was using that as an excuse to make me return here once in a while and thus confirm my safety. I didn¡¯t know if it was because I was his best friend clone or if it was because of his feelings of guilt, but I couldn¡¯t care less. However, until I find another statue, I had no other choice but to play by their rules or become the enemy of five thousand humans. ¡°¡­ I will think about it.¡± After that, I teleported back to the entrance of that building. I had already finished my business with them. Chapter 075 Reunion (4) For the next few days, I hunted the monsters in the city but outside the walls. After the new survivors arrived, using those survivors¡¯ evolution coins, they increased the length of those walls. Now, each side of the walls was five hundred meters long. Since those walls were constantly receiving damage from monsters, they also made the metal of the walls capable of absorbing MP to repair itself. Every day hundreds of survivors would walk above the walls to give their MP. Even though most of the city had become a jungle, I didn¡¯t find any new monster. I only found mutated animals, but I found a few spiritual plants, and just like Jerry said, a few monsters dropped items. But I only obtained low-quality potions, and even though I killed thousands of monsters, I got just a few dozen potions. In any case, to see if the people inside the walls could become eventual enemies, I decided to move around and see their reactions. Most of them ignored me, but a few big and rough-looking guys looked at me like they were ready to battle. Those were the General underlings, I was sure of it. The number of survivors protecting the statue also increased; twelve survivors were protecting the statue now. Every eight hours, the survivors protecting the statue changed, and to my surprise, Sandra, Lucius, and Sabrina were among them. Each one of them protecting the statue for eight hours. It seemed Sandra really made Harry the representative of our area. In any case, even though I didn¡¯t accept Jerry¡¯s deal yet, none of those twelve survivors stopped me from using the statue. Thanks to that, I saw myself in a dilemma. It was evident that they wanted to keep an eye on me, but their offer was too good to be refused. Using the memory stone, I could bring a lot of survivors to this place and quickly obtain a lot of evolution coins. I didn¡¯t even have to look for them that actively. While traveling around the country, I was bound to find other survivors. Besides, become an enemy of this place would make things difficult. I could always defeat the survivors protecting the statue to use it. But next time, a whole army would be waiting for me near the statue. ¡®I guess it will be better if I do this small job for them¡­ I just have to bring some survivors here, and they will stay out of my way.¡¯ I would probably find some troublesome guys by going to Jerry¡¯s office in the middle of the day, so, I decided to talk to him late at night. When I made sure that he was alone in his office, I teleported there. Even though I appeared suddenly, Jerry didn¡¯t seem surprised. It looked like he had been waiting for me. ¡°I will do the job.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Jerry nodded, showing a relieved expression. ¡°We have four representatives inside the walls; each one of us will select two times to search and investigate other cities. Harry is the representative of your group, so you have to talk to him. He will decide what direction you will go.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± ¡°Wait a minute, Ethan,¡± Jerry raised his right hand. ¡°Don¡¯t try to oppose the General again, alright? You have many reasons to hate us, but he did everything because he wanted to protect our country. And he is a man who will not hesitate and destroy any threat. So, please, don¡¯t antagonize him anymore.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about him. As long as he stays out of my way, what the thinks or does are irrelevant.¡± I teleported back to the entrance and headed toward Harry¡¯s office, with the help of the survivors of another group, they managed to create a similar building near where Jerry¡¯s office was situated. Thanks to this building and the walls, all the coins they obtained in the battle against the dragon had been used. Harry¡¯s office was on the last floor of the building; there I saw him reading a lot of papers. Rose and Sarah also were there, ¡°Hi, Ethan,¡± Harry smiled. ¡°Do you want to talk about something? Let¡¯s sit down; this will be a good change of pace for me.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need; this will be quick. I want to be part of one of the search teams.¡± Harry studied me with his right hand covering his mouth, then he looked at Rose, but she just shrugged. Sarah sighed because she knew I wasn¡¯t making a request. ¡°Alright, then¡­¡± Harry declared, and then he picked up a few papers. ¡°Charles, his girlfriend, and his sister will go to the northwest; you will go to the west. Your team will be you and¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m going alone.¡± ¡°¡­ No, you are not going alone,¡± Harry crossed his arms and looked at me, showing a severe expression. ¡°This is too dangerous, and as the representative of our group, it¡¯s up to me to decide that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m giving you the chance to help you because I don¡¯t want to kill anyone to use the statue. I¡¯m going alone, and this isn¡¯t up for debate, but if you insist, then you don¡¯t leave me no choice but to force my way and kill anyone who tries to stop me.¡± Harry looked at Rose again, and again she shrugged. Sarah also repeated her actions and just sighed. ¡°¡­ Come on, man! Cut me some slack!¡± Harry said after a long sigh, and then he dropped his serious fa?ade. ¡°What will happen if you die? I don¡¯t want to feel responsible for your eventual death.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°I¡¯m not going to die. Besides, this isn¡¯t your decision. I¡¯m just saying this to you, for the sake of appearances. Not only that, you are by far the representative with less influence here. You are young, and you are not exactly smart, if that isn¡¯t enough, you don¡¯t have enough manpower. I¡¯m being selfish here, but I¡¯m also doing you a favor by going alone.¡± ¡°He is already fully aware of this,¡± Rose massaged her forehead. ¡°But even if that is the case, he doesn¡¯t want to put you at risk much less to make you travel alone for such a long time. Despite everything, Ethan, we think of you as a friend. You don¡¯t talk about you, nor do you ask about us, but we will be ready to talk. When you decide to talk to us about everything, we will be ready to talk to you.¡± ¡°You are a good guy, Ethan,¡± Sarah smiled. ¡°You may try to fool yourself, but you did everything you did because you wanted to help, you wanted to prevent deaths. ¡°I thought all these battles made you guys become survivors, but I guess you guys became poets¡­ anyway, let¡¯s finish this.¡± ¡°¡­man, you are a pain in the ass.¡± Harry covered his face with both hands. ¡°At least, let Claire go with you.¡± ¡°Are you joking? She is the last person I would like to work with. Besides, she has to take care of the kids. Or do you want to cause problems to the kids and me as well?¡± ¡°Alright, fine!¡± Harry got massaging his forehead. ¡°You can go alone, but I want to hear your reports every night! We will give you the memory stones for it.¡± ¡°I will write a brief summary of my actions and make someone give to you once a week.¡± ¡°I give up¡­ I¡¯m too tired for this.¡± Harry left the room. After that, Rose and Sarah explained the job to me. It seemed that I also had to analyze the survivors and judge if they could be trusted. They said that I had to observe them for at least a week before bringing them to our city. I left Harry¡¯s office, and then I headed toward the entrance of the building, but something stopped me. Something invisible grabbed me from behind. ¡°What do you want, Claire?¡± ¡°How did you know?¡± Claire¡¯s voice trembled. ¡°You already hugged me from behind before. Besides, only you need the invisibility skill, it will be handy to use together with the focus skill. Now, can you let me go before I get angry?¡± ¡°No, I won¡¯t let you go.¡± Claire clicked on something. One second later, I was in one of many rooms in that building. The place was surprisingly neat and had many personal objects, even though it only had been created a few days ago. Using all her strength, Claire threw me on a bed. ¡°What the he¡­ck.¡± I looked at her direction, and she appeared¡­ and she was naked. I already that she had an incredible well-toned body, but it was even more impressive without clothes, obviously. Her boobs and ass weren¡¯t exaggerated big; she had the perfect proportions of a warrior woman. But she didn¡¯t have a single scar on her body. In my eyes, she had a perfect body. I knew what she was planning, but for some reason, I didn¡¯t try to escape, even though I knew it would be useless. At least I could enjoy that scene a little more and feel depressed later, besides, that would probably make Claire give up. But man¡­ I never thought a naked woman wearing glasses could be so sexy. Claire jumped on the bed and began to take off my clothes as if she was a wild animal ready to devour me. Maybe it was my impression, but it seemed that she was really looking forward to what would come next. ¡°Hey¡­¡± ¡°I will change your mind,¡± Claire said after she took off my shirt and began to lick my chest. ¡°What¡­¡± I immediately knew Harry had told her; he probably left early just to say to her. Those idiots finally decided to take some drastic measures, but I never thought Claire would fall so low, literally. ¡°Stop it, Claire. It¡¯s useless¡­ don¡¯t do this; you will only regret it later.¡± ¡°What is useless? You want this as much as I want¡­¡± Claire said as she touched my sealed weapon. ¡°That is impossible¡­.¡± My master sword was standing! When I looked at that, something crossed my spine and reached my whole body; it was a feeling of total excitement. But it was different from the feeling I always felt while fighting against monsters¡­ for the first time in my life, I was sexually excited! I finally understood, the medicine had worked, but I needed the right stimulus, after all, my Excalibur hibernated for almost twenty years. ¡°Well, well. What do we have here¡­?¡± Claire smiled mischievously. ¡°Always trying to act the cool part of the tragic hero, but you are just a normal guy.¡± Claire¡¯s words resonated inside my mind, perhaps was that I wanted? To be normal? Maybe it was impossible for me, but I couldn¡¯t let my origins dictate my actions, I could act like an average guy if I wanted, and like a regular guy, I decided to take advantage of that moment. ¡°Remember, you are the one who started this.¡± Claire did everything she wanted, but I also did the same. I kissed and licked every part of her soft body, and I felt her sweet fragrance as much as I could. She only stopped for a moment when I licked her nipples; her moans made my mind go blank. I kissed her just a few times, and her sweet and soft lips made me take the last step. Even though Claire started everything, for some reason, she was still reluctant to connect our bodies. But after I took the first step, she literally took control of everything. On top of me, she did the few things that she knew to make both of us feel good. Although she was twenty-four years old, she wasn¡¯t all that knowledgeable or experient. But that didn¡¯t matter, I never felt so good in my entire life, and I would never feel that good again. Although our first time had been pretty intense, soon, the second round began, and then third and then the fourth. For a kids¡¯ teacher, she was pretty wild and liked to be in control. But I was the kind of guy who didn¡¯t like to have most things under my control. After two hours, Claire fell asleep on her bed, exhausted. Even though it had been my first time, I did a pretty good job. I could see that because of the smile on her face. ¡°Stay with us¡­ stay with me¡­¡± Claire said those words soon after she fell asleep, and then I felt a bit regret. When I cooled my head, it was easy to understand why Claire did that. For pity, or because she felt that she still owed me. It was obvious; she never said that she loved me, after all. For her, I was probably just a troublesome little brother. Someone even harder to handle than ten-year-old kids. ¡®Things will get really awkward after this¡­ it will be better if I just disappear, she probably will regret this tomorrow.¡¯ That said, I couldn¡¯t just leave without saying anything to her. Since I was really dumb, I just wrote two words in a small paper. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Claire woke up the next morning, she was feeling great. Since the monsters appeared, she had never felt so relaxed. But everything changed when she saw Ethan had disappeared, and he left a single note with the sentence "Thank you." Claire let the note feel on the floor, and she began to kick it until she could barely stand. That day, the survivors in that building had evacuated the building because they thought a monster was attacking their new home. Chapter 076 Frozen World (1) Before heading to the west, I decided to leave Silver behind to help Claire and the kids. That action probably had been better than my ¡®¡¯thank you¡¯¡¯ which still haunts me after one month. Besides, Stella couldn¡¯t carry him on her back, and I would fly as much as possible. In any case, for a long time, I wondered if Claire would kill Silver. His existence would always remind her what I did, after all. But even though I was far away, I was still could feel the link between Silver and me. Since I was always moving and busy searching for survivors in all the cities I came across, one month passed in the blink of an eye. I found thirty survivors, and after analyzing them for ten days, I sent them to my hometown and told them to look for Harry. I was doing the job they gave me correctly, but I didn¡¯t receive my payments. I didn¡¯t want to meet any of them, because they would probably inform Claire and I didn¡¯t want to meet her. Just by thinking about that night was enough to make me feel weak and anxious. Every time I recalled our moments together made my heart race, the scenes of that night always made my body want more, but I couldn¡¯t fool myself. So, I did my best to get rid of those thoughts and feelings. Anyway, along this month, I found many new monsters, slimes, goblins, kobolds, and orcs. They were monsters, one would only found in games and books, but since Jerry had informed me, they didn¡¯t surprise me. Besides, their strength was pretty much the same as the monsters I fought inside the tower, and their power wasn¡¯t increasing every ten days. They had the same strength as a survivor who broke their limit forty times, but a single magic fire arrow in their heads was enough to kill them. ¡°If the monsters¡¯ strength is just this, then we will soon eradicate them.¡± When I thought that, I found a massive cave in the middle of a destroyed city. It was summer, but all the surroundings of the cave were frozen. Near it, I found signs of a recent battle. ¡°I few survivors of this city completed the virtual reality, huh.¡± But, I didn¡¯t find any monsters inside or near the city. The only explanation was that something came out from the cave and killed the survivors. My job was to search for survivors, but I couldn¡¯t just ignore possible threats. So, I entered the cave. The inside of the cave was surprisingly bright; it seemed that the ice was emitting light. While I was wondering about that, suddenly, the space around me changed, and I saw myself surrounded by knee-deep snow. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, I was in the middle of a blizzard, the cold was almost unbearable, and I barely could see anything fifty meters away from me. But I saw signs of monsters on the radar, but instead of attacking, I waited to see them. After a few seconds, I finally could see tree meters tall humanoid creatures wearing rustic pieces of leather as clothes, they had blue skin, and they had terrific muscles. They seemed to be pretty smart because they were trying to surround me, and they had huge chunks of wood and ice in their hands. Their weapons were quite simple clubs, but those were sturdy and would cause a lot of damage.
Troll (Ice) ¨C HP: 5000 MP: 400 STA 5000 Physical limit Lv 55, Mental limit Lv 10, Sensorial limit Lv 01. Skills: Ice Pillar Lv 07, Ice Spear Lv 07, Smash Lv 07.
¡®Another fantasy race¡­ but those look much stronger.¡¯ For some reason, one of the trolls prepared an attack with its club, and I then frowned since the monster was too far away. But half a second before his club could hit the ground I felt that I was in danger, so I teleported to Stella¡¯s back. In the next second, a five meters tall ice lance emerged from the snow and pierced the air, exactly where I had been. Sensing my will to fight, Stella opened her mouth and used the thunderstorm. All five trolls were being electrocuted, but they still could move. ¡®It can¡¯t be helped; it is an area of effect attack, and they are stronger than Stella.¡¯ That being said, they were slower than me, and the electric attack was slowing them down even more. I teleported to above the nearest troll and made a fire arrow, and six steel bolts pierce its head.
Troll (Ice) ¨C HP: 3504/5000 MP: 350/400 STA 4975/5000 Physical limit Lv 55, Mental limit Lv 10, Sensorial limit Lv 01. Skills: Ice Pillar Lv 07, Ice Spear Lv 07, Smash Lv 07, Life Force Lv 08. Frozen Aura Lv 01.
¡®It is even more resilient than I thought¡­ time to go all out.¡¯ I teleported to behind the same troll, and then I made other six fire arrows explode its head. The creature died, but the others began to attack, three ice spears were flying toward me, and another troll was preparing to create another ice pillar. Moving in that snow was too hard, so I just teleported around.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Orbs.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Coins.
¡®Wow, no wonder they are so sturdy¡­¡¯ Using their large bodies as a cover, I eliminated one troll after the other. After only one minute they had died, it was nice to end a fight without wounds, but even though I was increasing the level of my best skills, the MP used wasn¡¯t something to laugh at. Even though they were stronger than normal monsters, their bodies dissolved a few minutes after their death. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t drop any items. ¡®I need to be fast to absorb their energy, or it will dissipate¡­¡¯ Now that everything was calm again, I tried to analyze my surroundings. The blizzard was too strong, but I was sure that I wasn¡¯t inside the cave anymore. I got teleported to another place. I redid my steps, and in the blink of an eye, I was inside the cave again. ¡®A portal, huh. The trolls probably killed the survivors who completed the virtual reality, but why didn¡¯t I see them outside?¡¯ I was also curious where in the world the trolls were. But I doubted that I could identify just by looking, I didn¡¯t know any regions covered in snow, after all. Besides, it didn¡¯t matter if they were in the North or South Pole. They just had to die. ¡®That blizzard will probably make things difficult for Stella, but if she uses her MP only to fly, I will have a lot of time to kill those trolls. In any case, I¡¯m interested in why this place is connected to a place so far away; I need to investigate it.¡¯ We returned to where I had fought the trolls, and without wasting time, I climbed on Stella¡¯s, and then she took off. The wind was against us, so Stella wasn¡¯t flying that fast, but that only made things easier for me, because my magic arrows would lose a lot of power thanks to our speed and the blizzard. Since the blizzard was obstructing my vision, I made Stella fly just fifty meters above the ground. At that distance, I would be able to see the trolls, and they also would be able to counterattack, but by teleporting, I could avoid significant problems. Using two-meter long fire arrows, I was able to kill the trolls in a single shot. But their numbers didn¡¯t decrease; they came from all directions as if our very presence was attracting them. After twenty minutes, my ammo of magic arrows that could kill those trolls in a single shot was already running low, and I couldn¡¯t exactly stop in the middle of that blizzard to create those. Besides, it took ten minutes to create them. ¡®What a pain¡­ I guess I can¡¯t keep doing this forever. I need to find a good place to attack them and meditate at the same time.¡¯ That being said, I couldn¡¯t even see what was ahead of me much less find such a place. But I knew that even those trolls needed shelter, they couldn¡¯t stay under that blizzard forever. I was bound to find the place that I needed. I confirmed my hypothesis after twenty minutes; the blizzard was so dense that we didn¡¯t saw a massive mountain covered in snow right in front of us, and Stella almost crashed against it. ¡°Let¡¯s see if we can find a shelter in this mountain.¡± Stella nodded and then she began to fly around the mountain. Fortunately, we found a big entrance at the base of the mountain. It was so big that even Stella could cross walking. But I felt something was off, the ground inside the mountain was too uniform. The walls also didn¡¯t look uneven, ice was covering everything, but that wasn¡¯t the reason that place felt so weird. ¡°Whatever, I will find out what is this feeling later.¡± Trolls were coming from our front, and from behind us, I sat on the ground and began to meditate. It was rare to find so many monsters, much less strong monsters which could track me. Regardless, I decided to make use of that opportunity to my heart¡¯s content. ¡°Let¡¯s see what will end first, my MP and potions or your numbers.¡± Since the trolls didn¡¯t have much MP, I couldn¡¯t use the universal absorption. That skill was handy in long battles. In any case, I used my magic arrows until I ran out of it; the magic arrows, which I had created in one month, had disappeared after two hours. I tried to use the small ones to buy some time, but the regeneration speed of those trolls was crazy. They could regenerate a destroyed limb in a matter of minutes, but they got smaller because of it. In any case, after two hours, the trolls stopped coming. And I picked my spoils, which were just a few low-quality potions. ¡°I guess I need a melee weapon; the spiritual knife is good against humans, but it can only be used a single time, and it needs MP to be created, stored, and summoned. I need a melee weapon to conserve my MP¡­ steel bolts barely work on small fries now. Besides, it is a pain that I always need MP to kill every single fucking monster. It is time to learn how to fight without depending too much on magic powers.¡± That was easier said than done, but I had time. Not exactly at that moment, but after discovering why that portal existed, I would have time to train. And I also needed to think of the best melee weapon for me to use. But I couldn¡¯t think of one, because the mountain began to tremble. It wasn¡¯t an earthquake, I felt some energy passing through the walls and ground, and then I heard it¡­ ¡°Who is the worm who invaded my castle and killed my servants? Show yourself before me!¡± A gravely and loud voice echoed through the mountain. It didn¡¯t look like the voice of a human, but I was yet to find a monster that could speak. However, the voice was somewhat different, as if the owner of that voice had a really big throat. ¡°Answer me, worm! Face me like a true warrior!¡± The gravelly voice echoed even more strongly. ¡°I¡¯m not as loud as you, and I don¡¯t want to shout.¡± ¡°A human¡¯s voice¡­ did you came to avenge your friends and take my throne? Come to me, and I shall accept your challenge.¡± The owner of that gravelly voice said pleased. Castle, warrior, throne¡­ those words echoed in my mind. It seemed the mountain was actually a castle buried in snow¡­ I had never heard of a castle that big. That was probably why I felt weird because that wasn¡¯t a natural cave, it was an entrance covered in ice, or perhaps the castle was made of ice. It was hard to tell. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m emperor of this world; my name is Tinemouth, the most powerful troll in the entire world!¡± Tinemouth proudly said. ¡°Not again¡­ I¡¯m tired of kings and emperors. Why do you claim to be the emperor of this world? You aren¡¯t even from here, and humans still exist.¡± ¡°Your words make no sense human,¡± Tinemouth declared unfazed. ¡°I¡¯m the strongest troll; it is only natural that the strongest is the emperor. Soon I will kill all humans, and soon I shall be your planet¡¯s emperor as well.¡± Tinemouth''s words confused me; it was like he was saying we really were in his world, not on earth. ¡°Wait, aren¡¯t we on earth?¡± ¡°Human, are you mocking me?¡± Tinemouth growled. ¡°Or perhaps that you crossed the dungeon¡¯s entrance and arrived at my castle without knowing what was lying ahead of you? No wonder your race is on the verge of extinction, humans are utterly stupid¡­ this is my world, the frozen world! And here, my words are absolute!¡± It seemed that I had entered a dungeon, and that dungeon was an entire world¡­ how in the hell earth was connected to another world? Chapter 077 Frozen World (2) ¡°Come human, face me!¡± Tinemouth said. ¡°If you defeat me, this world will be yours! You will have access to god-like powers!¡± That was a very interesting offer, but the bait was too obvious. Tinemouth probably had set a few traps inside his castle, or maybe he was confident of his victory in a direct combat. In any case, he would gain a lot by fighting against me, and I didn¡¯t know if he was telling the truth. I would fight him anyway, but only after a few preparations. I sit on the ground and then I began to create magic arrows, my ammo was running low, and I needed a lot more to defeat that ¡®¡¯ Troll Emperor.¡± ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± Tinemouth asked, and I could sense the annoyance in his voice. ¡°Come and face me, don¡¯t you want power and riches?¡± I ignored him and kept creating magic arrows, he seemed to have a big mouth, and for some reason, he wanted me to go and meet him. I didn¡¯t know why, but he couldn¡¯t leave the place where he was, so I decided to use that in my favor. Pathetic, human!¡± Tinemouth shouted. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a warrior? Aren¡¯t you going to avenge your fellow humans that died by my orders?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a warrior, and I¡¯m not going to avenge strangers.¡± To my surprise, five trolls appeared out of nowhere right in front of me. Stella used the electric prison in one and used the thunderstorm on the others; thanks to her; I had time to react. I used my most powerful arrows to get rid of them as fast as possible since Stella couldn¡¯t fly in that space, she suffered some damage, but soon she healed after she ate the trolls. I felt very uncomfortable seeing that, humanoid creatures being devoured wasn¡¯t a pleasant sight. Anyway, it seemed that I pissed off Tinemouth, but that wasn¡¯t surprising, I was really talented at that, after all. I wondered if he had teleported those trolls, but I discarded that idea. When the trolls appeared, they weren¡¯t ready to attack; it took a full second for them to see me and raise their weapons. ¡®Did he create those trolls just like that big rat which had the dark orb?¡¯ If that was really the case, perhaps he didn¡¯t lie that I would obtain god-like powers. The fat rat only could create rats, and he only could create trolls, so the power was pretty much the same. ¡®What was the name again? Replication?¡¯ Unlike Harry¡¯s copies, those monsters¡¯ were strong. I stayed on guard waiting for new trolls, but nothing happened. Only after five minutes other five trolls appeared and just like before we crushed them. ¡®It seems he can¡¯t use that power at will¡­ or is he trying to make me drop my guard?¡¯ That same process happened a few times, Tinemouth tried to taunt me, I ignored him and then after five minutes five trolls appeared. It was a pain to stop the meditation, but I didn¡¯t have much choice but to move, after all, they could create those ice lances from the ground. After two hours, Tinemouth noticed that his actions were useless, so he stopped. But after half an hour, thirty trolls appeared coming from the interior of his castle. ¡®So, he really can create only five trolls every five minutes¡­ but it is strange¡­ how can he create such powerful creatures so easily? Is he using a statue? The other trolls don¡¯t have so much MP.¡¯ Instead of approaching, the trolls used their range attacks, so we had no choice but to retreat. It seemed that he also could control or give orders to those trolls. However, he wasn¡¯t exactly a genius. He could have blocked our path, but instead of that, he made his trolls follow us. In an open field, I killed them quickly. Once I returned to his castle, I decided to ask some questions to keep his mind busy. I needed some time to create magic arrows, and I wouldn''t be able to defeat him anytime soon if he attacks me every five minutes. It was good that I could break my limits and obtain a lot of coins, but I had to search for survivors. I accepted that job, and I had to finish it. ¡°Hey, why are you doing this? And when your planet got connected with the earth?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Tinemouth¡¯s voice sounded confused. ¡°The path to obtain power is endless, I¡¯m the strongest in my world, and there are no more challenges here for me. That¡¯s why I want to fight against your race and become even stronger. and I have been doing this for the past forty days.¡± It seemed the dungeon connecting worlds appeared right after we completed the virtual reality. He wanted to get stronger by fighting against us, so he probably couldn¡¯t obtain orbs and coins by defeating his own trolls¡­ ¡°Wait a minute; you can¡¯t get stronger on this planet¡­ that means that you are the only one who survived until now?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Tinemouth said proudly. ¡°After my planet got assimilated, my race struggled to survive. We reclaimed our planet, but the assimilation was just the beginning. Many invaders attacked our planet and absorbed the mana from it, until the very last drop. I managed to survive, and then I obtained the power to rule this planet.¡± Many weird terms were popping out¡­ but I only focused my attention on the word invaders. It was hard to believe, but things were getting even weirder. The assimilation was probably the term we could use to represent the arrival of monsters and of that damn voice. Mana was perhaps the energy that made us able to use magic, so, MP stands for mana points. Earth just got assimilated, so the planet has lots of mana, and that energy was used to strengthen every living being, and that was why those invaders attacked his planet. Then that means¡­ earth was already being targeted. Those dungeons were basically portals to make aliens monsters arrive on earth.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡®The assimilation granted earth the ability to participate in a huge battle royale of a cosmic scale¡­ we obtained crazy powers, and the planet is also receiving a lot of mana. But in exchange, we also became a target for races who are participating in this battle royale for centuries, maybe for thousands of years¡­ what a headache.¡¯ Suddenly, I didn¡¯t feel like attacking him anymore. He fought for centuries, and he could create trolls that were stronger than ninety-nine percent of earth¡¯s survivors. We weren¡¯t in the same league. He was probably even stronger than the dragon we faced before. But why can¡¯t he attack me directly? Why doesn¡¯t he just invade earth already? I couldn¡¯t even imagine how strong he could be after fighting and breaking his limits for centuries¡­ something was off. ¡°Hey, why don¡¯t you invade already? What are you waiting for?¡± Tinemouth didn¡¯t answer; the answer was probably something very troublesome for him. He was strong, but for some reason, that strength wasn¡¯t enough to make him invade earth. It seemed that he wasn¡¯t all that dumb¡­ or perhaps he was, it was hard to be sure. ¡®He is sure of his victory in a direct combat¡­ but don¡¯t want to leave the place where he is¡­ and he needs something more besides strength to invade earth. He is under some serious restrictions.¡¯ I decided to retreat, I was in his world, even though he genuinely wasn¡¯t the god of that world, he was in a situation far better than mine. Besides, it was stupid to approach a creature who had fought and survived for centuries. I climbed on Stella¡¯s back, and then I gave the order for her to return to our starting point. ¡°Pathetic human¡­¡± Tinemouth growled. ¡°Your weak and coward race shall be wiped out from your planet, by my hand.¡± I ignored Tinemouth¡¯s words, and then I faced the freezing wind again, I didn¡¯t have to face him on his domain, I just had to stop his plans and then kill him when the opportunity arises. There was no need to rush. After I returned to earth, I decided to investigate the surroundings, and it didn¡¯t take long before I could see some strange things. First, the entrance of the dungeon was right in the middle of the frozen part of the destroyed city. I used Stella to fly above the entrance of the dungeon, and then I noticed the ice formed a perfect circle. ¡®This ice is made by the mana coming from the dungeon¡­ but didn¡¯t he say the mana of his planet had been absorbed? Why is he trying to freeze the surroundings of a dungeon?¡¯ I could probably discover why if I analyze his status, but it was too risky. While I was thinking about what to do, one hour passed, and then I felt the presence of five trolls crossing the invisible portal. Soon after that, I heard the sound of bones cracking and flesh being torn apart. After five seconds, their presence disappeared. ¡°What the hell¡­¡± I rushed to see what had happened, but it was pretty obvious, the trolls had killed each other. After five minutes, the whole process repeated itself. Tinemouth gave them the order for them to kill each other on this planet, but why? When I thought about it, I decided to leave the frozen area of the city. I tried to analyze the frozen area, but I didn¡¯t have to do it, it was obvious what was happening. After another five trolls killed each other, the frozen area grew five centimeters. ¡°Son of a bitch¡­¡± I tried to measure the distance between the portal and the still non-frozen part of the city. The ice had covered almost six hundred meters in all directions from the epicenter of the dungeon. I made a few calculations, and I concluded Tinemouth was increasing the layer of ice by one centimeter every minute for the past forty days. ¡®He is using his mana to create the environment of his planet on earth¡­ then, even though he is far stronger than any of us, he needs to be in cold regions to be able to use his full power.¡¯ I wondered if that was even necessary, even weakened, after fighting for centuries he should be stronger than the dragon. He was hiding something and couldn¡¯t leave the place where he was. I tried to destroy that ice, but even my most powerful fire arrow was useless¡­ that was the difference between our powers. ¡®I can¡¯t jump to conclusions¡­ for now, all I have to do is to stop his plans.¡¯ It will be excruciating, but I would have to stop him on his planet and under that blizzard. I needed to stop his plans, but I couldn''t stop my training. I had to increase my mana pool every day. ¡®It will be annoying¡­ but it will also be a good training. I also need to search for survivors; I don¡¯t know when this guy will lose his patience, after all¡­ I guess I will have to learn the skill Harry learned and make my copy search for survivors; it should be fine since monsters outside the dungeons are many times weaker than those trolls.¡¯ I didn¡¯t want to ask for help, and I didn''t Claire either. So, I returned to that city using the memory stone while I was invisible. Sabrina was there, but not she nor the others protecting the statue noticed me. It was noon, and the statues hologram didn¡¯t emit much light in an open space.
Skill: Partial Replication. Info: You can create a copy of yourself, your HP, MP, and STA will be divided between you and your copies. Cost: 10 MP per copy. Price: 50000 Evolution coins.
¡®A clone who wants to create copies¡­ how ironic.¡¯ Since my copy wouldn¡¯t be able to meditate, I created two backpacks that could share the same interior space.
Twin Dimensional Storage Backpacks Level 01: two backpacks connected by a single-dimensional space. The users can use to transfer anything. It can store 100 Kg. Cost: 50000 Evolution Coins.
Ten times more expensive, thanks to a single function¡­ but it couldn¡¯t be helped; it was what I needed, and it was a handy function. While my copy could pick potions of monsters, it was impossible to tell if he would get enough to create his ammo. Besides, the chances of a troll dropping an item were bigger. I almost forgot that I also decided to buy a melee weapon. ¡®I¡¯m not skillful, and I''m very clumsy, according to Jerry, it is because I spent those five years in a lab. But this isn¡¯t an excuse to stay like this forever¡­ however, I also can¡¯t choose a weapon too difficult to handle; my life is one the line, and I also like more practical things¡­¡¯ That being said, thanks to Eric or not, I was a decent fighter using my fists. Although it wasn¡¯t a thing that was in my control, but I could learn to control it and adapt to use it against monsters. After a few seconds, my melee weapon took shape.
Assassin¡¯s Mechanic Arms: A sturdy pair of weapons that can also protect your entire arms. It uses the enemies¡¯ blood to repair itself. There are a thirty centimeters long hidden blade in both arms; to equip or to hide those blades, you just need to use your mind. Cost: 200000 Evolution coins.
I spent the evolution coins obtained in the last month all at once, but that had been a good and cool investment. Chapter 078 Frozen World (3) I bought other three memory stones, and after using one to register that place, I returned. Without wasting any time, I used the skill, and my copy appeared. Just like Stella and Silver, we had a mental connection. It was a bit unnerving and depressing, but I end up sighing, looking at myself, and that made me feel even worse. It was like I was looking at a mirror and didn¡¯t like what was there.
HP: 170/170
MP: 445/450
STA: 170/170
Words weren¡¯t necessary between us, so I just gave him one of the twin bags, one memory stone for him to register the place if he ends up dying and the vampire hunter crossbow. After that, he climbed on Stella¡¯s back, and they headed to the west. Even though I was physically more fit than before, and my body was also stronger thanks to the mana, those mechanical arms weren¡¯t easy to keep equipped. It was hard to be sure, but each one weighed probably thirty kilograms. ¡®Well¡­ all this weight only means they are very sturdy. This will also be a good training,¡¯ Only in a few hours, I would confirm that fact, but if by carrying twenty kilograms, I could increase my HP and STA by one point. Perhaps, those would increase after a little less than seventeen hours, the mechanical arms were three times heavier, after all. ¡®For now, I will get used to these weapons and wait until the partial replication levels up. After that, I will create another copy and make him fight against the trolls while I meditate and give him some support.¡¯ I entered the portal, and then I saw the next five trolls, it was already a habit, so I tried to teleport and attack them from behind. However, I managed to stop at the last moment; I needed to get used to fighting with my body alone. Mana was useful, but I was too dependent on magic, and because of it, I always had to stop and create magic arrows before and after a big fight. That kind of action shortened the duration of those battles, but I always end up wasting too much time outside those very battles. ¡®I can¡¯t be a glass-cannon forever. Besides, I will also break my physical limits, and it would be a waste not use this strength.¡¯ When the trolls started their attacks, I remembered the first days after the monsters appeared. It was hard to run in that knee-deep snow, and the visibility wasn¡¯t good, so their attacks were difficult to dodge completely. ¡®My body is kind of heavy since I¡¯m sharing my energy with my copy, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯m slower¡­ I guess this will work.¡¯ A troll used its club to attack me with an ice pillar, but I used that opportunity, and with all my strength, I charged forward after a jump. Before the ice pillar could even appear, I punched the troll¡¯s face with my right hand and made the hidden blade pierce the monster¡¯s skull. Well, I tried, I wasn¡¯t strong enough to keep my arm still, and the troll¡¯s skin was too thick. The hidden blade penetrated the monster¡¯s mouth through its cheek, but it made my right hand move a little backward. I sensed danger, and then an ice lance flew toward me, but end up only hitting the troll that I was attacking. But since all of them could use ice attacks, the ice lance didn¡¯t even scratch. I retread and then began to run around to avoid their attacks. ¡®Since the hidden blade appears almost instantly, I ended up receiving some of its kinetic energy, and that was why my arm moved backward slightly, huh.¡¯ Once I approximated the trolls, instead of magic, those idiots used their clubs, but they were too slow. Their attacks only hit the ground and then raised a massive screen of snow. I used that opportunity to move to behind one of them. ¡®Let¡¯s see if your nape is sturdy as well.¡¯ I jumped to attack the monster again, but before finishing the punch, I used the hidden blade. The strength of my punch nullified the hidden blade¡¯s kickback, the blade pierced the troll¡¯s nape, and he lost control over its body and fell on the snow. However, I didn¡¯t receive any message. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, I saw the wound healing at a fearsome pace. ¡®Not even a direct hit in their spine is enough¡­ I have to destroy their brains.¡¯ Using my left hand, I tried to attack the fallen troll¡¯s head, but I only made a crack in the skull. Their heads were big, and their skulls were thicker as well. I retreated because ice lances were flying toward me, but soon after that, I returned to finish the job. The second attack pierced the skull until the middle of the troll¡¯s brain.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Coins.
¡®Well, considering that I only broke my physical limits twelve times, this isn¡¯t half bad¡­ I expect nothing less from a weapon so expensive.¡¯Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. To kill the trolls, I had to hit the back of their heads two times using all my strength. It was much better than I had expected; after all, it was the first time that I was trying to fight without using mana. It took a couple of minutes to kill the remaining four trolls; I had to evade all their attacks, and the snow was slowing me down, so it couldn¡¯t be helped. When the battle ended, the next five trolls appeared. ¡®It seems Tinemouth can only give them simple orders and his voice can¡¯t reach this place. The entire mountain is his domain, so he probably can make his voice reach any point of that mountain, and he can make his trolls appear only inside of it. I¡¯m relatively safe here.¡¯ The cold of the wind was eating the heat of my body, so I decided to keep my body moving before the blizzard could freeze me to death. Although it was dangerous, it was also quite refreshing fighting up close. I felt that I was overcoming my coward side; every time I avoided their clubs by a hair¡¯s breadth, I felt my heart beating faster. That excitement was terrific; the only thing that felt better than that had been my night with Claire¡­ I remembered Claire, and then I lost my focus for half a second, and then a troll managed to hit me. At the last moment, I used the mechanic arms to block the attack, and it worked. However, I felt the bones of my arms cracking. It was crazy to use my arms in that situation, so I stopped my melee training combat and used my mana to kill the trolls. ¡°Why in the hell I thought about that in the middle of a battle¡­¡±
HP: 95/170
MP: 375/450
STA: 150/170
I received a lot of damage, so I would have to drink a few potions and wait until my bones are fully healed. Soon, my HP was full again, but broken bones weren¡¯t something a few low-quality potions could heal in a few minutes. Only after a few hours, my bones were back to normal. ¡°I have to focus on the job¡­ no more distractions in close combat.¡± After my wounds healed, I fought only using my mechanic arms again. However, every time I got too excited, I ended up remembering Claire, and every time that happened, I lost my focus and received other wounds. ¡°What the fuck is wrong with me?¡± It seemed that I was confounding the excitement of the battles and sexual arousal. It was crazy, but even though my master sword didn¡¯t react in the middle of the battles, the excitement was similar. It couldn¡¯t be helped; I couldn¡¯t differentiate one of the other since I didn¡¯t have much experience in dealing with my hormones. ¡°I have to control my nerves¡­ or I will end up overthinking and reaching a dangerous conclusion about Claire and me.¡± In the blink of an eye, the time passed, and after seventeen hours, I received a message.
Congratulations, your HP and STA increased by one point, thanks to your recent actions.
To my surprise, the partial replication also leveled up. I thought it would take a few days, but it probably leveled up faster because my copy could kill hundreds of monsters in a few minutes with Stella¡¯s help. ¡®I still want to keep fighting myself, but I also have to increase my mana pool¡­ it can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ I created another copy and gave the assassin¡¯s mechanic arms to him. Since our HP decreased again, I decided to eliminate at least three trolls for efficiency¡¯s sake and because I didn¡¯t want to feel the pain of one-third of me dying. Compared to that, the tower had been a walk in the park. At least in the tower, the weather was naturally warm, and I had free food. Once in a while, the trolls¡¯ body would dissolve and leave ten kilograms of meat, but I didn¡¯t want to eat the meat of something humanoid. I only didn¡¯t freeze to death thanks to the two meters long fire arrows which I was creating; those were powerful enough to melt all the snow one meter around me. After three days, my copy and I were already at our limits. We didn¡¯t sleep, and we were sick of cold food, and after twenty-four hours under that blizzard, my copy started to receive damage over time thanks to the cold. ¡®I guess I underestimated the patience of a guy who is a few centuries old¡­¡¯ I could always cancel that copy and create another one, but there was a problem. The copy I create will be the same as me, precisely the same. It will have the same amount of mental and physical tiredness¡­ the only thing which kept me motivated was the fact that I was progressing a lot. In three days, I broke my limit again, even though I would need more than ten days to the same on earth. However, I couldn¡¯t keep doing that forever. I needed to sleep at least two hours every day, and the trolls didn¡¯t let me sleep even for ten minutes. ¡®Time to change my tactics¡­¡¯ I canceled my copy, and then I returned to earth, I decided to rest for a few hours before doing anything. Since there were no monsters in the city and the trolls would just kill each other, I didn¡¯t need to worry about an ambush. After eight hours, I returned to the frozen world, and this time I headed toward Tinemouth¡¯s castle again. The chances of me annoying him inside the castle were bigger. Besides, even though the castle was cold, it was much better than stay under that blizzard. After running an entire hour, I finally reached Tinemouth¡¯s castle. To speed up things, I used mana to kill the trolls along the way. Just like before, I created a copy and began to meditate right at the entrance of the castle. I wasn¡¯t sure, but since a straight line connected the portal to earth and the entrance of the castle, I bet all the trolls had to cross that path. ¡°So, you returned, pathetic human.¡± Tinemouth sounded bored. ¡°It seems that you learned a new skill¡­ but such pathetic skill is useless against me.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± ¡°Yes, to defeat me, you have to have at least one transcendental skill,¡± Tinemouth answered. ¡°But, this isn¡¯t something a human should have right now.¡± ¡°What is a transcendental skill?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know humans could be so stupid¡­¡± Tinemouth¡¯s voice seemed surprised. ¡°No wonder your race is on the verge of extinction. The name is self-explanatory, transcendental skills are skills which had reached the next level. All skills can become transcendental skills, but after those reach a certain point, they need a sacrifice to evolve. Transcendental skills don¡¯t grow strong like normal skills; you need to perform a sacrifice.¡± Although I was thankful for all that information, I wondered why he was telling me so much. It was probably because he was a warrior, and warriors tend to worry about honor and bullshits like that. I didn¡¯t know much about him, but apparently, he wanted to defeat me fair and square. His trolls weren¡¯t a cheap trick, they always attacked directly, after all. Anyway, based on his words, the limit the skills could grow was probably level ten. After that, something had to be sacrificed to evolve the skill. I wondered what I would need to sacrifice. Besides, if all skills could evolve, what kind of skill my teleport would become? Was there a thing even crazier than crossing distances instantly? I couldn¡¯t even imagine what that would be¡­ Chapter 079 Frozen World (4) ¡°Human, come and face me,¡± Tinemouth said. ¡°Defeat me, and this world will be yours, and you will obtain the power to rule and save your race from extinction.¡± ¡°Not again¡­ I don¡¯t want to rule anything, I¡¯m not a savior, and I don¡¯t to save anyone. I fight for myself, and I don¡¯t care if others die or not.¡± ¡°I can feel the determination in your words¡­¡± Tinemouth sounded interested. ¡°But you can¡¯t fool yourself, much less me. Every individual of an intelligent species hold someone dear; the only exception is those who never met anyone in their entire lives¡­ those who are the first of their species or those who are the last¡­¡± I had never expected to hear that kind thing from a monster, much less from one who wanted to take over the earth just to become stronger. It was even weirder because he was right, to some extent. One month has passed since I left my hometown, and I rarely remembered about the others, but once in a while, Claire¡¯s face would suddenly appear in my mind. The excitement of the battles only made things more visible. It was really pathetic¡­ I couldn¡¯t forget the woman who slept with me, even though she probably did that out of pity. ¡°¡­ Anyways, do you want to get stronger and be the ruler of the earth, right? What are you going to do after that?¡± ¡°I will devour all the energy on your planet, and then¡­¡± Tinemouth answered with a sharp voice. ¡°I will do the same to other planets who are being assimilated by the system.¡± ¡°And after that?¡± ¡°I will keep doing this forever,¡± Tinemouth¡¯s voice trembled. ¡°Until I find those who invaded and doomed my planet.¡± ¡°Doomed? This planet seems fine, even though it is a bit too cold for my taste.¡± ¡°Human¡­¡± Tinemouth explained. ¡°When all the mana on a planet is devoured, the planet is destined to die. This planet will explode in a few years, with the sole exception of this island, this whole planet is just a big fireball.¡± That was kind of scary, if what he said was true, then probably many aliens are already devouring earth¡¯s mana. It was impossible that was the only portal in the entire world, after all. No wonder normal monsters were weak; our new enemies weren¡¯t monsters; it was alien invaders with magic powers. Although those aliens looked more like monsters of a videogame¡­ ¡°I see¡­ so you want revenge. But you are doing to us, the same thing your enemies did to your race. Are you fine in becoming the thing you hate the most?¡± ¡°¡­It is the natural order of things,¡± Tinemouth answered after a few seconds of silence. ¡°Your race barely survived the assimilation; your race is already doomed. I won¡¯t let your planet become a meal for those who destroyed my planet; the energy of your planet will become my meal instead.¡± Something was off, if he really was thinking about that, then he should be angrier. After all, I¡¯m holding him down while the other invaders are already attacking us. Or perhaps just like him, they can¡¯t just suddenly invade and are just doing some preparations. Another weird thing was the fact that he was literally helping me by regularly sending his trolls. He stopped creating them near me and my copy, the trolls were just appearing five hundred meters away from us. Since he didn¡¯t seem reluctant to answer my questions, I decided to ask that. ¡°You say that you wanted to absorb the mana from earth¡­ but here you are sending your minions and strengthening me. You are just granting me the means to stop you and the other invaders. Why are you doing this?¡± ¡°Because I want a good fight,¡± Tinemouth answered as if that was a matter of fact. ¡°I¡¯m from a warrior race, and I¡¯m not a coward. I¡¯m not going to defeat your race using cowardly tactics, maybe I¡¯m invading planets like those who I hate, but I¡¯m not going to attack my targets from all sides like them. Besides, the more strength you have, the more mana I will receive when I kill you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think energy works like that¡­¡± ¡°What do you know about energy?¡± Tinemouth retorted. ¡°You and your race still didn¡¯t cross the face barrier. You can¡¯t even see mana and understand that you can find it everywhere. Your race has such big and abundant mana source nearby, and you can¡¯t even understand the magnitude of its power, much less use it to your favor¡­¡± The first barrier¡­ it seemed that was something important Tinemouth had experienced. And a significant source of mana nearby us¡­ I wondered if he was talking about the sun. If that was the case, then we probably misunderstood how spiritual plants work. Come to think of it; the sun is, in essence, a big ball of concentrated energy. Even before the assimilation, humankind never succeed in using efficiently the energy sun always sent to us. But if the sun also sends mana to earth with its light¡­ why don¡¯t we get strong just by absorbing its energy like the other monsters? ¡°You are talking about the sun, right? What is the first barrier? Can you explain what are and how those things work?¡± ¡°Defeat me, and I shall answer your questions,¡± Tinemouth answered. ¡°But you know that I can¡¯t defeat you inside this castle, isn¡¯t that exactly why you don¡¯t leave the place you are? You can¡¯t use your full power outside cold regions, right? That is why you are trying to freeze that city.¡± ¡°So, you noticed.¡± Tinemouth chuckled. ¡°The basic intelligence level of your race is pretty high¡­¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t that hard to notice and understand it. And I don¡¯t think you should measure the intelligence of humankind using me as a basis.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. I was getting more mature thanks to all those battles, and my cognitive skills were getting better because I broke my mental limit a few times. But I was leagues behind of some people like Rose and Sarah. ¡°I see¡­¡± Tinemouth sounded interested. ¡°So your race has a weak body but a strong mind¡­ the exact opposite of my race. Your race suffered too many losses because of your weak body, but perhaps you can survive the invaders using your brains¡­¡± ¡°Well, there is a chance¡­ but I wouldn¡¯t bet anything on it. I don¡¯t think all the idiots already died¡­ anyway, can you explain what the first barrier is? I also would like to know how I can use the sun¡¯s energy.¡± ¡°Defeat me, and I shall answer your questions,¡± Tinemouth answered. It seemed Tinemouth wanted to use information as bait to lure me. But I wouldn¡¯t fall that easily, much less knowing that he had been fighting and getting stronger for centuries. The trolls couldn¡¯t talk, only grunt. So, Tinemouth broke his limits so much that he obtained the ability to speak. And his race was already strong, to begin with. His strength in battle wasn¡¯t something that I could even imagine, but his power had limitations, and for the time being, I was safe. Anyway, he would end up saying more critical information, so I just have to wait. Meanwhile, I decided to analyze his words. Since he stopped talking, I remembered one very important thing, the dragon¡¯s heart. The description of the item said that it could be used in rituals. In rituals, something tend to be sacrificed. And since dragons weren¡¯t exactly easy to find, it probably was an essential item to evolve skills. But I didn¡¯t think a single one be enough to evolve skills. The other important thing he mentioned was the first barrier¡­ skills could evolve after reaching level ten, but after breaking a single limit ten times we didn¡¯t evolve, we only obtained new skills. ¡®I wonder if this first barrier is connected to the number of times we broke our limits using orbs¡­ or if it is connected to the number of times, we break a single limit¡­ either way, this isn¡¯t an easy thing to be achieved.¡¯ After that, I tried to make Tinemouth tell me more about the things he experienced when the assimilation occurred on his planet. That would probably give me a good insight into the situations which would happen on earth, but he always avoided the subject. Instead, he always talked about useless things about himself. ¡°I was one of the weakest of my race¡­¡± Tinemouth¡¯s voice sounded weak and sad. ¡°Many brothers and sisters sacrificed themselves to give me the chance to get stronger. But I only obtained strength when it was already too late¡­¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you revive them?¡± ¡°I revived them; I revived thousands of my brothers and sister¡­¡± Tinemouth¡¯s voice sounded melancholic. ¡°But eventually they died, the invaders were too strong, and we couldn¡¯t raise our strength since the invaders exterminated us and absorbed the mana of our planet.¡± Thousands of times¡­ he spent billions of evolution coins¡­ I finally could understand why he didn¡¯t revive them anymore because it was pointless. He also probably ran out of coins to revive them; he couldn¡¯t obtain more coins since he was the only living creature of this planet. But since I was from another world, I could obtain orbs and coins by killing the trolls he created. I didn¡¯t look carefully at the troll¡¯s face, but after he said that, I noticed the trolls were pretty much identical. Those trolls were probably a copy of him when he was weak; that was why he didn¡¯t feel anything as I killed them. He probably could obtain coins and orbs by killing my copy, but since the difference in power was too big, it was meaningless. After one week, I didn¡¯t have more lemonade to drink. The food I created using the statue also was over, so, I only ate the monster¡¯s meat that I collected from the past month. Despite that, the days passed rather quickly. Listening to his stories, I learned a lot about the creature he was. ¡°I realized that my race was doomed ten years after the invaders began their invasion.¡± Tinemouth sounded pretty angry. ¡°After ten years of constant war, I was the only one who managed to survive. At that moment, I obtained the strength that I have now, but also at that moment, I realized that we were only ¡®food¡¯ to strengthen them.¡± ¡°How did you realize that?¡± ¡°I became stronger¡­ and smarter.¡± Tinemouth answered. ¡°And then I finally noticed, they did the same I¡¯m doing to you.¡± ¡°Did they use weak copies of themselves?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± Tinemouth sounded even angrier. ¡°We were a race of warriors, but in their eyes, we were frail as leaves. They didn¡¯t even came themselves¡­ such humiliation¡­¡± The castle trembled for a few minutes after that. Just the rage of a creature who fought for centuries could make an entire mountain tremble. And those who invaded his planet considered him weak; it was pretty much evident since they didn¡¯t return to kill him. The orbs and coins he would obtain by killing him weren''t worth the trouble. But why did they sent only copies to invade Tinemouth¡¯s planet? Why decimate and absorb the energy of an entire world? If all life forms need a sun near their planets to exist, then the best thing they could do was just to absorb the mana periodically. Why the rush? Many questions appeared again, and even though Tinemouth was almost one thousand years old, he didn¡¯t know why. I wrote a few notes and made a copy return to my hometown and deliver my news to Harry. But since he was noisy and my copy couldn¡¯t use his skills and just made my copy deliver the message to whoever was protecting the statue. Although I was pretty sure we couldn¡¯t do much to prevent that unless we inform other survivor¡¯s camp across the planet or divide our forces. But that was a bit dangerous if not crazy. For weeks, Tinemouth and I talked about his life experiences and my own life experiences. But since he lived much more than me, almost always he was talking, and I was listening. But he still kept the importation information hidden. At some point, he stopped sending his trolls every five minutes and gave me the chance to sleep a few hours every day¡­ he even made his trolls bring me warm food. He had a statue in his possession, even though he probably didn¡¯t have much evolution coins¡­ after six weeks, I concluded one thing. ¡°You don¡¯t really want to invade earth, do you?¡± ¡°¡­ What are you talking about?¡± Tinemouth sounded confused. ¡°You are only trying to invade earth because you want someone to kill you at your full power. You are only sending your trolls to kill me, because you want to give me the chance to stop those who destroyed your planet, right?¡± Tinemouth didn¡¯t say a thing; it seemed that I was right. He told me a lot of things, but he kept hidden the important stuff because if he says what I wanted, he thought that I wouldn¡¯t be able to see him as an enemy. He probably really hated those who destroyed his planet and his race, but he couldn¡¯t see much meaning in revenge when he was the last of his race and lived alone for probably hundreds of years. He wanted to join his brothers and sisters, but he couldn¡¯t commit suicide, he was from a warrior race, after all. I waited for a few minutes, but he didn¡¯t say anything more. Then I decided to grant his wish; I would obtain a lot by doing so, after all. ¡°Just wait one week, in one week I will end your torment.¡± Chapter 080 Frozen World (5) For twenty-four hours, I slept; meanwhile, my copy eliminated the trolls. He had been doing that for six weeks, so he could do it without my help. My backpack was full of magic arrows and potions again. It was time to leave that place, but before that, I had to sever the connection between this world and earth. I started the creation of the last magic arrow I would create in that world, a fire arrow. It took three hours, but I finally managed to create a single arrow using all my mana. However, that was just the beginning. The fire arrow was fifty meters long, but the flames didn¡¯t even melt a single layer of ice in that castle. I needed something even more powerful. Using all my concentration, I tried to compress the arrow while I put even more mana thanks to the meditation. The process was slow since that was the first time I did something like that, but I was determined to finish it. On the second day, the fire arrow had become forty meters long, but the power itself had increased many times. On the third day, the arrow had become thirty meters long, but even though I created using my own mana, I was starting to feel the heat of it. On the fourth day, the arrow diminished five meters, but I felt like I was near a volcano. The cold totally disappeared, and the walls of the castle were slowly melting. On the fifth day, the arrow lost another five meters of length, and I finally could see the real walls of the castle. Even though trolls that couldn¡¯t talk created that, the castle seemed like a gigantic sculpture made of ice. Even my fire arrow was melting those walls. On the sixth day, all the ice had disappeared, and my fire arrow was burning my body. That had never happened before; only when I touched the arrows, I could sense the extent of theirs. On the seventh day, I finished the arrow, the entire castle was collapsing, and the flames were burning my muscles. Without much choice, I was drinking HP potions constantly. The ten meters long arrow was so powerful; the trolls couldn¡¯t even approach. At ten meters of distance, their bodies became fireballs, and at five meters of distance, they turned into charcoal. ¡°How about this, Tinemouth? I bet this will be enough to end your suffering, you are a warrior, but you won¡¯t feel shame in being defeated by me if I use this, right?¡± ¡°Splendid, you have my respect, Ethan,¡± Tinemouth said, full of admiration. ¡°I don¡¯t think this much power will be enough for you to face them, but your chances will be better than mine. That being said, I can¡¯t exactly let you hit me with that, there¡¯s no honor in that. You will use your best attack, and I will use my own best attack. I¡¯m waiting.¡± I began to walk slowly forward, before shooting that arrow, I had to see the warrior which I would use it. Huge blocks of ice began to fall, but every piece of those became steam and then disappeared when it approached me. It almost looked like a mini-sun was near me. After a few minutes, I finally reached the castle¡¯s throne room. Tinemouth was there; he was just like the other trolls, blue, but also was two times bigger. His clothes were also rustic, but he didn¡¯t have any club. Not only that, I could see in his eyes the knowledge and experience he had accumulated over the years. On his right side, I saw that statue and floating above him; I could see a blue crown that had a bluestone engraved in it.
Tinemouth - HP: 1500000/1500000 MP: 25412/50000 STA: 1500000/150000 Physical limit Lv 120, Mental limit Lv 30, Sensorial limit Lv 01. Skills: Ice Lance Lv 10, Ice Pillar Lv 10, Ice Club Lv 10, Ice Fortress Lv 10, Life Force Lv 10, Replication Lv ??, Frozen Aura Lv 10. Evolution Orbs: 145263/2080000 Evolution Coins: 8745
¡°Let¡¯s end this quickly, Ethan.¡± Tinemouth got up. ¡°No need to idle talk when one of us is about to die. In any case, I thank you for coming and for giving me the chance to die as a warrior.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Tinemouth raised his right hand, and then I felt a shrill. I almost could see the mana of our surroundings concentrating on the palm of his right hand, after a single minute, all the remaining ice around us disappeared. And all that I could see was a place slowly being consumed by flames and magma. ¡°A dying planet¡­¡± We didn¡¯t have much time, Tinemouth had been using all his mana to protect that place. It was probably the place where he was born, and the energy he used to protect his homeland had become a single club made of ice. His weapon was as big and thick as himself. Tinemouth pointed his club toward me, and then he prepared to attack. Before he could have finished that movement, my fire arrow flew toward him and then hit him when his body blurred 0.1 seconds after that. I didn¡¯t even have the chance to use my arms and legs to stay in that place, the explosion of my fire arrow hitting his club, sent me flying backward hundreds of meters. When I got up, I saw a tornado and a thunder cloud right above the place where Tinemouth and I were a few seconds ago. The thunder cloud made hundreds of lightning bolts hit the ground in just a few seconds. ¡®The shockwave saved me¡­ those lighting bolts could have toasted me alive.¡¯ After fifteen minutes, the thunder cloud dissipated, and the hot wind finally sent the dust away, revealing a one hundred fifty meters long crater. Strangely, the blue crown was still flying in the same place, and it was intact. But in the center of the crater, I found Tinemouth completely burned, his limbs had been burned to crisp, half of his head had been burned, and I even could see ashes coming out of it. ¡°You defeated me, Ethan,¡± Tinemouth laughed. ¡°You caused more damage to me than those bastards. I wish you luck¡­ you will need it. I''m sorry for not having the answers you want...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t joke around; trolls don¡¯t have a lot of mana. You faced me with a weapon you created in one minute, while I had one which took me a week to create¡­ farewell.¡± The remaining energy in Tinemouth¡¯s body disappeared after he smiled, and in the next instant, all his body became ashes. Thanks to him, a few humans died, but that was irrelevant to me, and he had my admiration. The only survivor of his race¡­ who fought until the very end and didn¡¯t give up even after centuries of solitude.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
You have obtained 500000 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 508745 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 01 Dragon¡¯s heart.
You have obtained the Frozen World¡¯s Core.
Another dragon¡¯s heart appeared in front of me, I was right, those were necessary to evolve skills, and that was why Tinemouth had one. But only one wasn¡¯t enough. After that, the bluestone in the crow flew toward me.
Frozen World¡¯s Core: Increases the power of your ice-based skills by 100%.
As I had expected, away from the crown, the damage of Tinemouth¡¯s skills would lose half of its power. He wanted to be defeated while he was using everything he obtained; in any case, the crown probably granted him the skill replication. The skill frozen aura was probably what he used to keep the island covered in snow and ice, and that was how the trolls¡¯ mana was freezing the city on the other side of the portal. I thought that I would be able to create copies that could use magic by using the crown, but the fucking thing didn¡¯t move an inch from that spot. And even after touching, I couldn¡¯t use that skill¡­ it belonged to the king of that world, and the crown couldn¡¯t leave that place... only the inhabitants of that world could use it ¡°Well, at least I broke my limits several times, and my ice arrows are more powerful now¡­¡± However, I didn¡¯t have time to celebrate. Tinemouth¡¯s skill was the only thing slowing down the process of the end of that world. Now that he was gone, the planet was about to explode. I tried to use the memory stone, but it failed. ¡°Seriously? I can¡¯t use it here?¡± I picked a lot of potions and began to drink it while I was teleporting and heading to the portal. My mana had increased, and the teleport leveled up several times, but I couldn¡¯t cross those sixty kilometers of distance in a single moment. In the end, I used the skill only to cross the places where I couldn¡¯t see anything where I could put my feet. The frozen world had become a magma world, pillars of magma were erupting from all places, and it was getting hard to breathe. And I was pretty sure that I was in danger just by being near the magma, and I confirmed that fact when I saw my HP dropping. I still had mana to use, but I was already getting dizzy. I managed to stay conscious because the planet would explode in a few minutes; I was sure of it. Fortunately, I had a lot of potions, and then I reached the place where the portal was after a few minutes. But the scenery had completely changed, before, even though I couldn¡¯t see anything unusual in that place, I could tell where the portal was. But now I couldn¡¯t tell anymore. ¡°Oh shit¡­¡± I tried to return following a straight line, but it was hard to do so when ninety percent of the path was just magma. I looked everywhere, but I still couldn¡¯t imagine where the portal was. The whole planet trembled, and then I noticed that I didn¡¯t have time to hesitate. I had to trust my instincts, so I closed my eyes, and then I teleported to above a tiny spike of earth, which was slowly being consumed by the magma. It didn¡¯t even have enough room for me to put a single foot, but I didn¡¯t have to do it. In the next moment, I reappeared at the entrance of the dungeon, and the place was also collapsing. The ice was nowhere to be seen. I teleported once again to the outside of the cave, and then I saw the cave collapsing while I threw myself on the wet ground. But I didn¡¯t care; I was too exhausted. I was so tired that I slept right over there without confirming if it was safe or not. If anything approaches, I would wake up anyway. So, it was fine. I didn¡¯t sleep for long, not even for ten minutes. Contrary to my expectations, I wake up thanks to a sharping pain on my back. After that, I received the following messages.
Your copy died.
You have obtained 387456 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 387456 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained Twin Dimensional Backpack Level 01 (B)
The backpack appeared right next to me, and then my copy¡¯s memories began to appear inside my mind. I was already tired, to begin with, and those seven weeks of memories made me feel even more exhausted. In any case, some assholes backstabbed me, but I was too tired to care of them at that moment. However, Stella was still there. So, I had to go. ¡°I will make them regret this¡­¡± Totally pissed, I searched for the memory stones inside the backpack, and I found a few. Two of them had been used to register the place where my copy died and the survivors¡¯ camp in my hometown. ¡°It is time to clean the world once again¡­¡±
HP: 203/480
MP: 111/1920
STA: 11/480
Evolution Orbs: 45236/150000 Evolution Coins: 1469896
Skill list: Concentration Lv09 45%: Raises your attack power and range by 9% each hour. The bonus resets when you sleep. Crosshair: Lv09 77%: Creates a crosshair in your field of vision to aim at enemies. Radar: Creates a radar in your field of vision to detect any living creature on your surroundings. Effective Range: Sensorial limit (40) x 10 meters. Analyze Lv09 35%: Analyze and show enemies'' status and information. Cost: 01 MP Spiritual Knife Lv06 19%: a weapon created by your spiritual energy. It can be safely stored inside the user¡¯s body. 5 MP will be used to summon and to store the weapon. It''s able to ignore the target''s defense. This knife will disappear after being used a single time. Domination Lv 05 79%: It grants you the ability to command other living beings. To activate the skill, you need their permission. Survivors currently under your control: 12 Search Lv04 03%: By activating the skill, you can search for specific items, monsters, or survivors in a certain range around yourself. Effective Range: Sensorial Limit (40) x 5 meters. Cost: 10 MP. Meditation Lv 08 11%: By putting yourself in the lotus position, you can restore eight points of your MP every minute. Your MP can also increase by eight points every four consecutive hours of meditation. Moving or receiving damage cancels the skill Elemental Magic Arrow Lv 07 66%: You can create an arrow made of magic possessing one or more of the existing properties in the universe. The arrows won¡¯t move or disappear until you select a target. One arrow can be created every 4 seconds. Cost: 20 MP Teleport Lv 05 50%: You can teleport to any point in your field of vision; you also can teleport to other locations as long as you have been there, or you can feel the presence of someone or something in that place. You can teleport any numbers of allies as long as you are touching them or them are touching you, the cost of the skill will multiply accordingly with the number of allies teleported. Cost: 01 MP/05 Meters. Hot Blood Lv03 22%: This skill can increase your physical attack, defense, and movement speed by nine percent for ten seconds. Cost: 5 MP. Fire arrow Lv 03 11%: You can create an arrow made of fire. You can create a new fire arrow after three seconds. Cost: 03 MP. Mana Cost Reduction Lv 05 15%: The costs of your skills are being reduced by 15%. Universal Absorption Lv 01 50%: You can absorb the energy of dead foes. Only one type of energy can be consumed from a single enemy, and only one percent of the remaining energy will be absorbed. Cost: 10MP Partial Replication Lv 04 91%: You can create four copies of yourself, your HP, MP, and STA will be divided between you and your copies. Cost: 10 MP per copy.
Chapter 081 Come to the dark side, we have boobs (1) Two weeks after my copy left with Stella, they found a group of twenty survivors. He observed them for ten days, and when he confirmed they would be useful and wouldn¡¯t cause trouble, he brought them to our survivors¡¯ camp. Another two weeks passed, and my copy finally found a big city and a relatively big group of survivors. Surprisingly, they even had their own camp, even though they only had fifty survivors. They were in the middle of a battle against a horde of harpies, even though they had the upper body of a woman and lower body of a bird, those creatures looked very bizarre. Their heads were particularly unnerving, their fangs were rather big, and their faces had traces of animals like rats. And as if that wasn¡¯t enough, they only used their full power against women; they merely tried to knock down men and bring them unconscious to their world, in order to use them to procreate¡­ it seems all harpies were females, and they used males of different species to procreate and to increase their numbers. I bet many men would help them in that regard, but they were too ugly, so they only could kidnap them. Even though my copy couldn¡¯t use my skills, he helped them and prevented casualties. Stella did a remarkable job using her electric attacks to slow down the harpies. I honestly felt weird recalling those memories¡­ appearing and helping them in the middle of a battle and preventing their demise. Such an unnerving feeling¡­ Anyway, the survivors thanked my copy. But that camp was weird, only one-third of the survivors looked strong, the others¡­ were just a bunch of airhead women who ¡°comforted¡± the fighters after the battles. That being said, after the battle, those women approached my copy with their ulterior motives. My copy didn¡¯t show any skill, but it was obvious Stella was under his control. Thanks to that, the fighters looked at my copy, annoyed. It seemed they didn¡¯t treat the women as slaves, but they also didn¡¯t a new and stronger survivor in their group. In any case, my copy clearly showed his disgust to those women, so they didn¡¯t try to approach him again. That was fine; it seemed they were famous singers, dancers, and actresses before the monsters appeared, but none of them were as beautiful as Claire, so my copy wasn¡¯t interested in them¡­ but why my copy compared them to Claire? Anyway, my copy stayed with them for a few days and helped them to fight against the harpies. There was a dungeon nearby, but they were only interested in protecting themselves and their base. That was why my copy just silently helped and observed them, but soon he noticed something was off, the fighters were always looking at him as if they were appraising his skills. After a few days, the obvious happened. The fighters backstabbed my copy at the end of one of the Harpies¡¯ attacks. But my copy was already expecting that and registered that location and put the memory stone inside the backpack. ¡®It seems my presence was making the women ignore the fighters¡­ they weren¡¯t bad enough to force them to become their lovers, but they were pathetic enough to get jealous of my power. So utterly pathetic¡­¡¯ None of them would be of any use, but I had to help Stella and make those who backstabbed me pay. So, I used the memory stone without any delay. As if Stella was waiting for me, she was flying in circles around the camp. Meanwhile, the fighters were trying to hit her with magic and long-ranged weapons. I was too tired and angry to dialogue, so I just attacked their heads with my ice arrows. Thanks to the core of the frozen world, my weakest ice arrows quickly pierced their heads. When they noticed what was going on, five of them already had died, and the women began to scream. I ignored them and continued with the killing.
You have obtained 4563 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 7411 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 9863 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 4126 Evolution Coins.
¡­
They tried to counter-attack, but I just teleported to behind them and killed one after the other. Thirty seconds after that, twenty bodies were lying on the floor. The other survivors trembled and waited for the worst, but after I collected the fighter''s items and weapons, I just teleported to Stella¡¯s back and made her fly to the west. Those forty women didn¡¯t do anything against me, but they would be useless, those who rely only on others were just a waste of time. ¡°Ah! I could have forced them to become my minions¡­ my mind is too hazy¡­ I need to sleep.¡± I searched for the dungeon, and I found it rather quickly, after all, a few harpies were trying to escape.
Harpy (Wind) ¨C HP: 1600 MP: 6400 STA: 1600 Physical limit Lv 25, Mental limit Lv 35, Sensorial limit Lv 10. Skills: Wind Blade Lv 07, Sand Storm Lv 07, Steel Claws Lv 07.
¡°More copies, huh¡­ it seemed the true harpies are looking down on humans. But that works better for me, I guess.¡± The dungeon was also another cave in the middle of the city. However, there was no ice or anything like it near the dungeon. It seemed whoever was creating those harpies, was just targeting earth for its mana. And it didn¡¯t intend to come.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. According to my copy¡¯s memories, the harpies leave the dungeon every day three hours before sunset to attack. It seemed they had better things to do at night, like making good use of their male hostages¡­ I wondered if even those harpies, which were just copies, could also procreate. In any case, I didn¡¯t have to enter the dungeon, I could sleep for twenty hours before the next attack, and I really need it. Since the harpies killed the nearby monsters every day, I could sleep near the dungeon without problems. If anything happens, I was sure Stella would wake me up. So, I just laid a few blankets on the floor and slept like a rock. I intend to sleep for precisely twenty hours and prepare myself to face the harpies, but I only slept fifteen because I felt those forty women approaching. I looked at them, annoyed, but at least they didn¡¯t come to pick a fight; they didn¡¯t have weapons¡­ but that itself was a problem, who did they intend to fight against the monsters without weapons? ¡°Excuse me¡­ can we talk for a minute?¡± A black-haired woman stepped forward, while the others were too scared even to maintain eye-contact. That black-haired woman had blue eyes, and it seemed someone that I saw in a movie a long time ago. She probably was over forty, but she looked young even without makeup, just like Naomi. ¡°No, get lost.¡± ¡°Can you please reconsider? We have a good proposal for you.¡± The black-haired woman insisted. ¡°¡­ Then I will hear you guys, but if you say some bullshit, I will make my arrows pierce your head in the next moment.¡± The woman gulped after looking in my eyes and understanding that I wasn¡¯t kidding. If she says that she and others would treat me like they treat those guys, I would definitely kill her. I didn¡¯t have time to waste with such people. ¡°All right¡­ we noticed that you are very strong,¡± The women hesitated. ¡°After yesterday''s incident, we noticed that we can''t rely on others anymore. We have to get stronger to protect ourselves.¡± ¡°Wow, it took five months for you to notice that? With such a fast way of thinking, how didn¡¯t you guys single-handedly defeated the dragon?¡± ¡°¡­ So, we would like to borrow your strength,¡± The women ignored my sarcasm. ¡°If you help us, I¡¯m sure we can make up for the lost time. If you protect us while we obtain the strength, later, we can become your soldiers.¡± For someone who spent the last five months being protected, she really seemed resolute.
Survivor ¨C HP: 280 MP: 280 STA: 280 Physical limit Lv 12, Mental limit Lv 12, Sensorial limit Lv 01. Skills: Stone Arrow Lv 02, Increase Movement Speed Lv 02, Iron Skin Lv 01. Evolution Orbs: 123/1520 Evolution Coins: 214
I analyzed her and the other status, and I concluded that they weren¡¯t plotting anything. At least they broke their limits more than twenty times; if they didn¡¯t have broken their limits at least ten times after five months, they would definitely be a lost cause¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t you think it is already too late for that? Besides, why the change of heart? I bet that you already saw plenty of people dying before, and that didn¡¯t make you change your attitude.¡± Yes, you are right.¡± The black-haired woman said with her head down. ¡°I know this is a cheap excuse, but we thought that eventually, the government would solve everything, that¡¯s why we left our lives in the hands of those men. Eventually, we discovered that it wouldn¡¯t happen, but it was already too late for us. Our group was too big, and only a handful of survivors still had their weapons and could use the statue¡­ and we weren¡¯t part of that group.¡± ¡°Nice excuse, the dead can¡¯t defend themselves, after all.¡± That woman acknowledged my words, and because of it, she didn¡¯t say anything after that. In any case, I didn¡¯t need soldiers, and I didn¡¯t want to babysit anyone. Besides, so many women nearby would only make me remember Claire. However, my job was still to look for useful survivors, if they prove their worth and that they are determined to grow stronger, I could take them to our survivor¡¯s camp. ¡°All right, I will help you guys, but first, you have to prove that you are worthy of my time. And you guys will also have to pay me.¡± ¡°¡­ How can we do those things?¡± The black-haired woman asked. ¡°You guys will have to defeat the next wave of harpies, I won¡¯t say that you guys won¡¯t get wounded, but I will make sure no one of you will die. For that, each one of you will have to pay me two thousand evolution coins every day.¡± ¡°That¡­ will certainly be difficult without weapons.¡± The black-haired woman dropped her head.¡± ¡°You guys can use the weapons I got from your ex-friends. But I doubt any of you will be able to handle it¡­ it will be better if you guys use some rapid-fire crossbows.¡± The women nodded and then excitedly shared the news with her friends, although some of them frowned that I wouldn¡¯t protect them from wounds. In any case, I would have to create a few copies of my crossbow, but it was fine, it was only a loan, and I would receive much more from them. The payment of two days would be more than enough to pay for those weapons. ¡®Come to think of it¡­ I can already revive Martin¡­ and I didn¡¯t look at the statue in their base. I guess I will revive him, for the time being, I don¡¯t need more skills or weapons.¡¯ That was an excellent opportunity, Martin would be able to get stronger, and by bringing him to our survivors¡¯ camp, Claire would probably forgive me. ¡®I wonder what he will do after he discovers that he died and five months passed¡­ he will probably freak out. But he will be happy by knowing that Claire is still alive¡­ but I should keep secret about what I did to her¡­¡¯ Since it would take a few hours to go to that statue and return, I decided to teleport there and create those crossbows myself. To avoid problems and surprises, I left Stella there with them. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ forty-one copies of my crossbow.¡¯ The last one I would give to Martin, he would need it. Finally, all my debts would disappear, although this debt was a bit pricey, it was a good investment. I could create many weapons and beasts with one million evolutions coins, but none of those had the potential a human has. Besides, humans could obtain skills just by breaking a limit ten times. With luck, Martin would receive a powerful skill like teleport. In any case, I began to feel nervous; I was about to do an almost unbelievable thing. But it would only benefit me in the long run, so I chose the option and selected Martin.
You revived a human; this human will follow all your commands.
¡®Holy shit¡­ this is dangerous¡­ although it is expensive if someone defeats a powerful person and resurrect that same person¡­ a lot of problems may happen.¡¯ Soon after that, a sphere of light appeared right in front of me, just like had appeared the sphere of light suddenly vanished. And in that place, I saw Martin, his body and clothes were back to normal, but his weapon was nowhere to be seen, Claire had it. After a few seconds, Martin woke up scared; it seemed that he had a nightmare. But in his case, the nightmare had been real; he had been tortured by those criminals, after all ¡°Wow, Ethan?¡± Martin asked startled. ¡°What are you doing here? No, wait¡­ what is this place? I was at my aunt¡¯s home and¡­¡± Martin trembled, his last moments crossed through his mind, and he recalled the pain, fear, and hatred he felt. And he looked at me as if I had done something unbelievable. ¡°Yes, I revived you. Now we are even.¡± Chapter 082 Come to the dark side, we have boobs (2) While I was putting those crossbows inside my backpack, I told Martin what happened after his death. Despite everything, he only showed interest in one thing. ¡°You found Claire?¡± Martin asked; his eyes were wide open. ¡°What a small world¡­¡± Despite the bad news about his parents and relatives, Martin didn¡¯t give in to despair, it would take a while, but he would be able to bring them back. ¡°Here, you will need this. Right now, you are probably the weakest human alive. We can talk later.¡± I gave him a rapid-fire crossbow, my backpack (B), and a few potions; it would be better than to provide him the cartridges full of bolts. Those were heavy, after all. I stopped my report at the part where Claire and the others made a council; right now, we had to kill some harpies. ¡°Dude, you look so different¡­¡± Martin frowned. ¡°I can¡¯t believe a person can change so much after only five months. You were so na?ve and hotheaded¡­ but right now, you look colder and serious.¡± ¡°You will change, too, or you will die again. Our problems are bigger than you can imagine.¡± It seemed Martin didn¡¯t expect to hear that soon after reviving, but I couldn¡¯t hide the facts from him. Earth wasn¡¯t a safe place anymore; he will need to adapt to his new environment. I teleported us back to where I left Stella, and the women and Martin looked pretty surprised with both Stella and the women. ¡°Wow, did you teleport us?¡± Martin''s mouth was wide open. ¡°Fuck! A monster!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t attack; she is an ally. While those are¡­ well, only time will tell what those people will become.¡± I gave each one of the women a copy of my crossbow and said to them, create bolts while they could. ¡°Sir, what limits shall we break?¡± The black-haired women asked. ¡°¡­ My name is Ethan. I¡¯m not your boss and break whatever you want. I will help you guys as long as you pay me.¡± ¡°My name is Angela,¡± She frowned. ¡°But if we prove that we are serious, aren¡¯t you going to take us to your survival camp?¡± ¡°I will consider the idea, depending on your progress¡­ how did you know about that? I didn¡¯t say anything, and my copy also didn¡¯t reveal.¡± ¡°Well, you are strong and can survive alone,¡± Angela explained. ¡°So it didn¡¯t make sense when you decided to stay with us for a few days. Besides, we knew that you were observing us to determine if we could be trusted or not.¡± I had to change my actions. I wasn¡¯t a good actor, after all. Instead of approaching and helping, I had to observe the next survivors and keep myself hidden. Or perhaps Angela, despite everything, was smart. ¡°You should discuss with your friends a formation, those crossbows can carry a lot of bolts, but they also require some time to reload. You guys can¡¯t just stay in front of the dungeon in a single line, create a formation with that in mind. Let¡¯s see if you guys learned your lesson.¡± Angela nodded and then joined the other women. I would probably have to use her to give orders to others. But that was fine by me, dealing with a single person was much easier than forty. Besides, I would never remember their names. ¡°Dude¡­ you will have to explain to me in detail what happened in those five months.¡± Martin massaged his forehead. ¡°So much information is popping out that I¡¯m getting dizzy.¡± ¡°Eventually, you will know everything about what happened, but for now, you should focus on getting stronger as quickly as possible. Don¡¯t you want to see Claire?¡± ¡°Yeah, you are right. Thanks, man.¡± Martin smiled. ¡°But, I¡¯m getting jealous of you having so many pretty women following your orders.¡± ¡°Well, they have to follow if they want to survive. They lost five months because of their stupid way of thinking¡­ don¡¯t ask; I will explain everything later.¡± Martin nodded and readied himself, Angela and the other women discussed for a few minutes, and they decided to form to lines. The first line would attack and then retreat to reload, and then it would be the chance of the second line to attack. Simple but effective. If twenty of them shot toward the dungeon entrance, they would hit many harpies even if they don¡¯t have a superb accuracy. After two hours, I heard the sound of wings flapping, which was coming from the dungeon. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t have to do anything. The women were already in formation since they already knew what time the harpies would leave the dungeon. Stella was right behind them to use her thunderstorm; Martin was on her back since he was the weakest and could die in a single attack of the harpies. I was on the right side of the formation, ready to use my magic arrows. However, I wouldn¡¯t do it until the very last moment; those women needed to show that hey truly had changed, and I only would be sure of that by seeing them fight even after being wounded. At one hundred meters away from the dungeon¡¯s entrance, we would have a few seconds to attack. We could move a little backward, but by doing so, their accuracy would drop significantly. Anyway, the first group of harpies appeared, and dozens of metal bolts and thunderbolts flew toward them. But less than half of it hit the targets. Only one harpy died, and nine were approaching us. Just that had been enough to scare the hell out of five women; they dropped the crossbows and ran away in the other direction.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Wait!¡± Angela shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t bother, just keep shooting.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± Angela insisted, showing a pained expression. Angela and the other kept shooting until their first cartridge of bolts was empty; after that, the second line stepped forward and began to attack. Five of the first group of harpies had died, but the other five were already twenty meters away from us, and the second group of harpies was already leaving the dungeon. ¡°I¡¯m going to bring them back,¡± Angela said, reloading her crossbow. ¡°As I said, don¡¯t bother. They just didn¡¯t just run away from the battle; they also abandoned you all. They ignored the fact that their desertion would put your lives on the line. Do you think that they really are your friends?¡± Angela showed a pained expression, she knew that my argument was logical, but she was tired of seeing people dying and running away. In any case, I observed the battle with my arms crossed. Thankfully those who ran away left my crossbows. Otherwise, I would have to make them pay for stealing what was mine. For some reason, even though the harpies were creatures that were stronger at long-ranged attacks, they insisted on attacking the women up close. ¡®I guess they can feel the difference in power¡­ or perhaps it is just their nature, and they wanted to kill women with their claws.¡¯ The crossbows were working, but since the women didn¡¯t have much experience, they missed a lot. In the end, two of the first group of harpies managed to attack them. I killed those two before they could injure too much the women. But even though their injuries were relatively small, another ten dropped their weapons and ran away. ¡°Ethan!¡± Martin shouted. ¡°The hell are you doing? Kill the harpies!¡± I ignored Martin¡¯s complaints and kept observing the battle. Surprisingly, Angela organized the others very fast, and so the other two lines of attacks were ready. With a few exceptions, most of them were trembling while shooting. The wounds weren¡¯t enough to make them faint or stop their movements, but a lot were crying and fighting at the same time. At least they recognized their mistakes and weren¡¯t trying to run away again. Since their numbers had decreased, I decided to help a little more. Using potions, they would recover faster, but there was no sense in traumatizing them with pain.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Coins.
¡­
They were stronger than the trolls, so they obviously gave me more orbs and coins. Thanks to it, the women were breaking the limits really fast. Despite that, they were having a hard time enduring the pain after choosing a limit. The cave was big, but the harpies were two meters tall and wide, so only ten harpies could leave at the same time. I hit the jackpot by killing Tinemouth since a single ice arrow was enough to kill a harpy if I hit it in the head. After a few minutes, hundreds of bodies were in front of us; the smell of blood was enough to make the women almost puke. All of them were pale, even Martin. The other harpies got upset and finally decided to use their magic; a single swing of their wings was enough to create those wind blades. I tried to block those attacks using my ice arrows, but even though I diminished the power behind that magic, the remaining power was enough to hit all of us and open big wounds. ¡°Tsk. I guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡± I told them that I would keep them alive, so I had no choice but to be more active in that battle. Those wind blades could behead their heads and limbs easily, after all. Every time I saw a harpy stopping to prepare an attack, I shot an ice arrow to its head.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 150 Evolution Coins.
¡­
¡®¡­ It is too easy using ice arrows. Tomorrow I will use my mechanic arms and train the universal absorption. Those harpies have a lot of mana and stamina, after all.¡¯ It would be best to help them by using magic arrows for the rest of the day. They needed experience and confidence, I promised that they would live, and I fulfilled my promise. So, they would be able to fight more freely from tomorrow onwards. ¡®Let¡¯s hope they don¡¯t hit me with their bolts¡­ but I don¡¯t think that will be a problem. I will attract half of the harpies, and the other half will attack Martin and the women.¡¯ Half an hour passed, and we killed five hundred harpies. The battle finally ended, and everyone fell on the ground tired, their bodies were also trembling thanks to the tension. Even though we killed five hundred harpies, I only saw thirty potions, and only three of those were medium-quality potions; the others were low-quality ones. And I picked those three to myself while Angela shared the others with her friends.
Angela ¨C HP: 211/400 MP: 22/400 STA: 119/400 Physical Limit Lv 15, Mental Limit Lv 15, Sensorial Limit Lv 01 Skills: Stone Arrow Lv 02, Increase Movement Speed Lv 02, Iron Skin Lv 01 Evolution Orbs: 101/3200 Evolution Coins: 4563
Martin ¨C HP: 222/320 MP: 05/320 STA: 201/320 Physical Limit Lv 13, Mental Limit Lv 13, Sensorial Limit Lv 01 Skills: Critical Hit Lv 02, Smoke Screen Lv 01, Flying Dragon Kick Lv 01. Evolution Orbs: 999/1800 Evolution Coins: 3831
For a single day of progress, they broke their limits a lot, and all of them would be able to pay for my services. Anyway, Martin¡¯s last skill picked my interest, and I want to see it in action, but even though he also looked excited thanks to that skill, he looked like he wanted to complain first. ¡°The hell are you doing, Ethan?¡± Martin frowned. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you help them more?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not doing charity work; I¡¯m testing their change of heart. They lost five months because they decided to rely on others, I¡¯m not going to help cowards or traitors.¡± ¡°You have a point, but I don¡¯t think you have to be so selective.¡± Martin insisted. ¡°We lost already too many lives, don¡¯t you think after seeing the bodies of those men?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you? I killed those men, they tried to screw me, but I made them pay.¡± I didn¡¯t notice Martin had seen their bodies; we just stayed there for a few minutes. In any case, Martin seemed surprised. But it couldn¡¯t be helped; he was a man who died but only saw the shit of the end of the world for four days. ¡°Look, if you want to play the hero, fine by me. But I won¡¯t do it, for all that I care, all cowards and traitors can die.¡± Martin was feeling conflicted, he was thankful that I revived him, but he also was perplexed and scared because I was too cold. But I was just getting started, he didn¡¯t look weak-minded, but there was a chance that he would end up running away after hearing about what I did and how many I killed in the last few months. It wasn¡¯t something I was proud of, but it wasn¡¯t something that I was ashamed of either. I only killed those who tried to mess with me, and I would continue doing so. Chapter 083 Come to the dark side, we have boobs (3) We returned to the camp where I killed the fighters, and I cremated them outside. Since I was too tired the first time I arrived at that place, and then I was too busy on the second time, I didn¡¯t realize how small that place was. The camp was basically five meters tall stone walls surrounding a single two stores tall house and the statue. I wondered why how they survived in such a place, but I didn¡¯t want to ask. In any case, as soon as we returned, the women paid me, and they also used their remaining coins to create other things to help them in the next battle. It seemed that they gained some confidence; they got stronger quickly. Thanks to it, they didn¡¯t mind much the wounds, it was a small price to pay for power. They endured the fear and apprehension of the first battle, so they probably wouldn¡¯t run away. After observing that camp, I thought it was a good idea to use that as my base, I wouldn¡¯t have to use the statue in my hometown anymore. However, I accepted the job, so I had to finish it. Until I reach the west coast, I couldn¡¯t stop. Thanks to the tension of the battle, the women slept like a rock soon after having a meal. Meanwhile, Martin was using his Dragon Flying Kick on the walls. It was a bizarre move; it was a kick, which made him fly for five meters in a straight line. According to him, that skill was identical to a move of an old fighting game. And I wondered how in the hell something so specific could be learned through the system. After getting tired of using his strange skill, Martin also slept like a rock, I, on the other hand, decided to meditate above the walls and keep an eye on the surroundings. Angela said the harpies killed every nearby monster on a daily basis, but since we killed all the harpies before they could do anything, I thought it would be more prudent to stay alert. Besides, I didn¡¯t feel comfortable sleeping nearby strangers. To my surprise, Angela slept for a few hours and then approached. She didn¡¯t say anything, but she looked around the camp for a few minutes and then I finally understood what she was waiting for. Those fifteen women who had run away returned, and Angela looked at me; it seemed she still wanted to help them. ¡°You have two options, leave this place and help them or make them go away. If your other friends want to do the same, feel free to play the role of a hero. But this place is now mine, for the time being, at least. In any case, I don¡¯t want any coward or traitors here.¡± Angela looked at those fifteen women showing a pained expression, and after a long sigh, she made her choice. She pointed her crossbow at them and shot a few bolts in front of them; she didn¡¯t say anything, only that action and her serious expression made them run away again. After that, Angela sighed again, and she laid on top of the walls. ¡°I can¡¯t believe humanity finally reached this point,¡± Angela looked at the full moon, which was making the surroundings clear to me like daylight. "I can¡¯t believe I chose my own life above the life of other fifteen human beings.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to that forever, just get strong faster and you will be able to babysit other survivors as much as you want. However, by doing so, you will lose a lot of time, and when the true enemies appear, you will regret it.¡± ¡°True enemies?¡± Angela showed great interest. ¡°Those harpies are just weak copies of a single much more powerful harpy. Before coming here, I spent more than six weeks inside of another dungeon, there I fought against trolls, and also there, I met the troll who was creating them. Tell me, what you think of my ice arrows?¡± ¡°¡­ They are very powerful,¡± Angela hesitated. ¡°It can kill the harpies with a single shot, after all.¡± ¡°Then try to imagine this, imagine an arrow literally five thousand times more powerful. It took me a week to create such an arrow, and I used this same arrow to kill that troll, and in a single minute, he created a weapon that could rival my magic arrow. And magic wasn¡¯t even his strong point¡­ monsters with that level of strength are our trues enemies.¡± Angela¡¯s eyes were wide open, trying to imagine what I described, but it wasn¡¯t that hard to imagine. She only had to think of an enemy in which she had to shot steel bolts for a week to kill it. ¡°I¡¯m having difficulty imagining such a monster¡­¡± Angela¡¯s face was pale. ¡°Isn¡¯t that another reason to help every single human?¡± ¡°¡­ I wonder how you can still be so na?ve. Do you really think your friends who ran away would act differently against a monster thousand times stronger than those harpies?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but sigh, where were those idealistic people hiding before the monsters. It seemed that I attracted that kind of people; their numbers were so high that I wondered how we didn¡¯t live in a utopia before. I told Angela all my discoveries because she would be the one who would tell the other women about the big and dangerous situation earth was in. Fighting for survival was only the beginning; we were part of a big battle royale. The next morning I also told Martin about my recent discoveries and about what I did in the last five months. In the end, his mouth was wide open and stayed like that for a few minutes. ¡°Seriously?¡± Martin asked. ¡°Dude¡­ you faced some serious shit, huh. I bet you made Claire angry a lot with your lone wolf attitude¡­ in any case, I understand a little your actions. Even though I still think you are a bit too extreme.¡± ¡°Whatever, if you think you have the strength to protect yourself and cowards from creatures like that, then feel free to do it. I¡¯m not going to risk my life and waste time with those I judge not be worth the trouble.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have the strength,¡± Martin laughed. ¡°I died by the hands of a bunch of low-lives, and I¡¯m now five months behind you in terms of progress¡­ it pains me to admit it, but I can¡¯t play the role of a hero with my parents and relatives dead. After bringing them back, maybe I will try. But for the time being, I will focus on my own problems.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Martin had a noisy conscience, but he wasn¡¯t a fool. So, he put himself and his family above strangers. With that mindset, he probably wouldn¡¯t cause problems and probably would be useful if I try to kill who or whatever was creating those harpies. But I wondered if that was a good idea, the frozen world only had a single survivor, what were the chances of the world on the other side of the dungeon being the same? Very, very low. We would probably face more than just a few monsters like Tinemouth. ¡®I guess it is suicide to face those creatures from other worlds in their habitats right now. First, all the survivors in the entire world need to be able to kill at least ten of those harpies by themselves¡­ in any case, I think I will try to do it alone, once I finish this job.¡¯ Although I was doing my job pretty well, Harry has yet to send my payment¡­ that fucker was probably doing that to make me go there and talk to them. For the next few hours, Martin, Angela, and the others just rested and created more steel bolts. Since we killed the harpies before they could hunt, the normal monsters appeared in the city. Although those which appeared were pretty much big but weak insects, thanks to that, I noticed that I didn¡¯t find a single evolved monster since the end of the virtual reality¡­ and I wondered why. At 2 pm, we headed toward the dungeon, but I left Stella at the statue to protect it. She would succeed in that job since normal monsters were too weak in comparison to her. The battlefield from yesterday had disappeared, the blood and the bodies just became nutrient to the new earth. Thanks to that, we wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the terrain. I picked and equipped my mechanic arms, and upon seeing those, Martin frowned. Angela and the others also frowned, but I just ignored them. Although it was very efficient using my crossbows and magic arrows, it was too much fun using my own body and defeating enemies up close. Besides, I had to train the universal absorption, and the harpies were the first enemies who were powerful enough for the skill to be useful. ¡°Dude,¡± Martin said. ¡°Rapid-fire crossbows, magic and now mechanic arms¡­ do you plan to become a living arsenal?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just covering my bases; one should prepare the umbrella before it rains. Anyway, don¡¯t hit me. If anyone hits me, I won¡¯t kill that person, but I will shot another bolt on the same spot. An eye for an eye.¡± Everyone gulped when they understood I wasn¡¯t joking. I knew that my actions could cause such an incident, but it couldn¡¯t be helped, I need to train my body and the universal absorption. Besides, that could end up being good training, avoiding their bolts probably will improve my reaction and decision making speed. When the time came, I approached the cave, and I stayed twenty meters away on the right side of it. The harpies finally appeared, and when the first group left the dungeon, I lightly hit my two mechanic arms against each other. The sound attracted the attention of five harpies, and they began to fly toward me. ¡°Good.¡± They didn¡¯t want to kill any men, so they approached without using their magic. When they were five meters away from me, I charged forward, hit the face of the nearest harpy, and then activated the hidden blade when my mechanic arm hit the harpy¡¯s eyes. There was no resistance.
You have obtained 210 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 210 Evolution Coins.
The other harpies tried to surround me, but I activated the hot blood skill and moved behind them before they could do it. I tried to punch a second harpy, but the monster managed to twist its neck to avoid the attack. Their bones were relatively thin, and they didn¡¯t have big muscles, so they could do that kind of action. Anyway, I started the motion of a punch and teleported behind another harpy and finished the punch. I didn¡¯t want to teleport much using my mechanic arms, but I couldn¡¯t afford to waste time when I knew I had to fight against more than five hundred monsters in less than half an hour. I repeated the same action in the next ten seconds, started the motion of an attack, and then teleported to finish the same attack. The harpies died without even scratching me, but that was just to be expected, they were just cannon fodder.
You absorbed 64 MP from an enemy.
You absorbed 64 MP from an enemy.
You absorbed 64 MP from an enemy.
You absorbed 64 MP from an enemy.
You absorbed 64 MP from an enemy.
I absorbed a lot of mana, I almost didn¡¯t spend my STA in that few seconds of battle and I also didn¡¯t spend mana. It was kind of a waste, but even I couldn¡¯t create and store magic arrows inside my backpack in the middle of a fight while I was using my mechanic arms. ¡®You can¡¯t always have what you want¡­ but at least, thanks to this, I can use the universal absorption as much as I want. In any case, I should think of a way to spend this extra mana in the middle of a battle.¡¯ The second wave of harpies arrived soon after I finished absorbing the dead harpies¡¯ energy. I looked at Martin, Angela, and the others, and I saw the other harpies¡¯ body fifty meters away from them. They managed to kill the monsters before they could even approach until the harpies decide to use magic; they would be fine. The next few minutes passed without significant problems. But then the harpies decide to use magic again just after suffering the same losses of yesterday. It looked like they were programmed to only go all out after losing half of the forces. To test the durability of my mechanic arms, I decided to block their wind blades a few times; their attacks only managed to leave small dents on it. A few dozen attacks on the same spot would cause a lot of problems, but they didn¡¯t have that level of accuracy. Besides, my mechanic arms could repair itself with their blood faster than that. I returned to the group, and I used my magic arrow to kill the harpies, which tried to use magic. Martin, Angela, and the others killed the remaining harpies. The second battle ended without any of us suffering any injuries¡­ I was probably helping them too much. There was no way a group like that would be able to kill so many harpies. In any case, they celebrated their success, and I also finally broke my physical limit for the twentieth time. ¡°Congratulations, you broke your physical limit for the twentieth time. Now you will receive a random physical skill¡­ your new skill has been selected; you obtained the skill Chin-Breaker.¡±
Chin-Breaker: A powerful uppercut which can cause damage and stun weaker foes. Cost: 10
A useful skill which I could use with my mechanic arms, but that only made me feel worried. A battle without suffering any wounds and now a useful skill¡­ something bad was about to happen. And my instincts were right; I saw on my radar three creatures crossing the dungeon¡¯s portal. Three harpies appeared; however, those were different. The other harpies¡¯ arms were also their wings, but those three wings were in their backs, they had human¡¯s arms, thanks to it, they were carrying weapons. One harpy had a bow, another had a sword, and the last one had a staff. ¡°Who is the human who killed our soldiers? Are you the human who killed them?¡± The harpy carrying a sword asked, looking at me. Chapter 084 Come to the dark side, we have boobs (4) ¡°Martin¡­ pick the memory stone I put in the bag use it when after all of them touch you.¡± ¡°Hey, what¡­¡± Martin said, surprised. ¡°We can fight together,¡± Angela protested. ¡°We don¡¯t have to run away.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t run away; this is a strategic retreat¡­ I told you that I would protect you guys as long as you pay me, but I can¡¯t protect you from those three monsters.¡± Even though I told all of them about Tinemouth, they didn¡¯t understand that a monster that could talk was far more powerful than the others. In any case, they were hesitating because I helped them and then wanted to return the favor. But their actions were only making angry. While the harpies were observing me, Martin, Angela, and the others were hesitating. I analyzed the harpies.
Harpy A ¨C HP: 25000 MP: 25000 STA: 25000 Physical Limit Lv 30, Mental Limit Lv 30, Sensorial Limit Lv 50. Skill: Arrow Storm Lv 10, Hawkeye Lv 10, Analyze Lv 10, Focus Lv 10, Fly Lv 10. Evolution Orbs: 365215/700000 Evolution Coins: 25362
Harpy B ¨C HP: 125000 MP: 25000 STA: 125000 Physical Limit Lv 50, Mental Limit Lv 30, Sensorial Limit Lv 30. Skill: Sonic Charge Lv 10, Demonic Blade Lv10, Dark Aura Lv 10, Sonic Slash Lv 10, Fly Lv 10. Evolution Orbs: 245412/700000 Evolution Coins: 55523
Harpy C ¨C HP: 25000 MP: 125000 STA: 25000 Physical Limit Lv 30, Mental Limit Lv 50, Sensorial Limit Lv 30. Skill: Firestorm Lv 10, Thunderstorm Lv 10, Hailstorm Lv 10, Mud Rain Lv 10, Fly Lv 10. Evolution Orbs: 541412/700000 Evolution Coins: 36521
They were trouble; in any case, I was beginning to understand the system worked differently on humans. We obtained more skills, but the amount of energy in our bodies was too low compared to monsters. Martin, Angela, and the others were getting on my nerves because they were taking their sweet time. But I couldn¡¯t show my anger in front of the enemies, so I decided to buy some time. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m the man who is responsible for the death of your soldiers¡­¡± I looked behind and glared at Martin, then he slowly took the bag and began to search for the memory stone. ¡°So, it is you¡­¡± The harpy wielding a sword said. The harpy with a bow approached her and then whispered my status and skills on her ear. She frowned, my skills were relatively powerful, but in terms of status, I was far weaker than them. Those three were powerful, but something even more powerful sent them. ¡°Your power level is low¡­¡± The harpy wielding a sword said. ¡°But you have potential, your world had been assimilated just a few months ago, and you are already able to kill our soldiers. Join us, we will forgive you, and we will even let your friends go.¡± Well, that surprised me a lot. I didn¡¯t expect to receive an invitation to join the monster¡¯s army. Martin and Angela also looked surprised. However, I wasn¡¯t interested, nor did I wanted to be forgiven by them. ¡°I think I will pass.¡± Martin already had the memory stone on his hands, but he still was taking his sweet time. If he really intended to force me to leave Stella behind, I would break more than a few bones of his body. ¡°Ethan¡­ you have potential, but your world is doomed.¡± The harpy wielding a sword said. ¡°You can¡¯t save your race alone, and you can¡¯t survive alone. Join us, and you will obtain true power, and our queen will give you a high position in our kingdom. If you show that you are worth, perhaps you will become her second in command.¡± ¡°Why does everyone want to be kings and queens? I¡¯m no interested in titles, but if I can obtain power, maybe I can reconsider. What do you want from me?¡± ¡°Hey, Ethan! Are you serious?¡± Martin shouted. ¡°Can you please shut your mouth? Why shouldn¡¯t I at least hear their offer?¡± Martin looked at me like I was saying some crazy bullshit. But that was expected of someone like him, he was a human, but I wasn¡¯t. Why should I have to choose the side of those who treated me like a tool? ¡°We want your seed.¡± The harpy wielding a sword said. ¡°We want you to multiply our numbers. Don¡¯t worry; you won¡¯t be forced to mate with low-level harpies; we aware that your race privileges sex partners with beautiful bodies and faces. You will only mate with harpies like us.¡± Wow, that conversation was getting weirder. But seriously, she was sure full of herself. She was right, those three were more humans than harpies, and they had beautiful bodies and faces. Those harpies had feathers here and there, but that wasn¡¯t a problem. They probably had the same level of beauty as a top-model¡­ actually, that wasn¡¯t a bad idea. My master sword finally had been awakened, so intended to make good use of it. The harpy wielding a sword was a redhead beauty full of muscles, but her muscles weren''t big enough to look grotesque. The harpy who had a bow was also a black-haired beauty, but she had a slim body, despite being from a race of monsters, we had the same height. The harpy wielding a staff was blond, and she had two massive boobs almost as big as her head. Joining them wasn¡¯t a bad idea¡­ but when I started to fantasize about myself with them¡­ Claire¡¯s face appeared in my mind, and I facepalmed.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡®I can¡¯t believe how pathetic I am¡­ I love Claire¡­ I love a woman just because I slept with her a single time¡­ I¡¯m so pathetic that I want to die¡­¡¯ After a long time of silence, I sighed and calmed my mind. Their offer was good, but they also wanted to treat me as an object. I wanted power, but I wouldn¡¯t let anyone look down on me or see me as a convenient tool. ¡°Now that I think better about it, I will have to refuse. It could be fun and all, but I will have to pass. I won¡¯t become anyone¡¯s minion.¡± When I said that, the three harpies readied themselves. It was time to talk with our fists, I looked at Martin, and he understood that he and the others were dead weight. ¡°I will send help.¡± Martin declared. ¡°I don¡¯t need it.¡± After that, Martin, Angela, and the others disappeared, and I teleported to where Stella was. It was a waste, but I had to abandon that camp and that statue. Stella began to fly at her top speed. However, after ten seconds, I already could see those harpies approaching one kilometer behind us. The blond and the redhead harpy wouldn¡¯t cause a problem at that distance, but I already could see a few arrows flying toward us. That being said, I blocked those arrows with my ice arrows. ¡°Just keep flying, girl. I will take care of those three.¡± Stella nodded and concentrated on her job of flying toward the west, I would probably miss a few survivors¡¯ camp and cities, but that was the least of my problems. I made Stella fly close to the ground while I was sending a few ice arrows to slow down the harpies. But they were easing avowing those arrows and barely slowing down. But I had the perfect weapon against that kind of enemy. When the harpies were flying five meters above the ground, just like us, I sent a five-meter long dark arrow toward them. Well, almost. I aimed right below them, and when the arrow hit the ground, a gravitational field which had thirty meters of radius appeared and made them kiss the ground. ¡®Serves you right, birdbrains.¡¯ I sent a few five meters long ice arrows toward their heads. They tried to use their weapons to block those arrows, but only the red harpy fully blocked the arrows. The other two also used their weapons to block the arrows, and they also succeed because their weapons were strangely sturdy, but the ice shards cut their skin.
Harpy A ¨C HP: 24563/25000 MP: 24850 STA: 24850/25000
Harpy B ¨C HP: 125000/125000 MP: 24850 STA: 124850/125000
Harpy C ¨C HP: 24436/25000 MP: 124850 STA: 24850/25000
¡®Yup, this will take a while.¡¯ Rather than that, I was starting to get dizzy of finding enemies with such high status. I shot other arrows toward them, but they blocked all of those. Only my ice arrows were effective. ¡®My best option would be an arrow like the one I used against Tinemouth, but I don¡¯t have that much time to create such a massive thing. However, I can use the memory stones to fool them¡­ but I will only use in the last moment when I ran out of options; those who try to kill me will taste death.¡¯ I picked a memory stone and registered that place, Martin would probably buy one and put inside the backpack (B), but I didn¡¯t intend to return to that camp anytime soon. In any case, the harpies slowed down a little, they knew what I could do with the dark arrows, so they decided to follow me more carefully. The shards of ice arrows were slowly wounding them, but I didn¡¯t have time to kill them so slowly. They were flying slower, but they were still faster than Stella. ¡®¡­ I guess this can work.¡¯ I shot a five meters long fire arrow toward the face of the red harpy, but with a single swing of her sword. She destroyed the fire arrow. However, she felt something piercing her right cheek and showed surprise in her eyes. The spiritual knife that I had thrown right behind the fire arrow hit her, even though I had aimed at her eyes¡­
Harpy B ¨C HP: 122253/125000 MP: 24650 STA: 24650/125000
¡®Now, I just need to repeat that fifty more times and wait that she will fall for that trick every single time¡­¡¯ It was just a little bit unrealistic, but a man can dream. In any case, they knew that I had a few tricks up my sleeves, so they decided not to approach and were flying two hundred meters behind me. However, I was in the range of the two other harpies. A rain of arrows, fire, thunder, and ice was falling on Stella and me, I could see them and avoid those, but Stella was too big. Without much choice, I teleported us to two hundred meters ahead of their attacks. ¡®Area of effects'' attacks are a pain¡­ I guess I should start with the blondie¡­¡¯ Their mage seemed to be the weakest physically, so I decided to scare her a little. I jumped from Stella¡¯s back to protect her from those arrows and magic, and then I started the motion of a punch, only in the last moment I teleported to the side of the blond harpy and then my punch connected. I didn¡¯t calculate correctly, so my punch and the hidden black only hit and pierced her cheeks.
Harpy C ¨C HP: 21004/25000 MP: 124850 STA: 24450/25000
The red harpy, swing her sword furiously at me, and the brunette harpy also aimed her bow. But in the next moment, I was already back to Stella¡¯s back. Those three harpies looked at me as if they were trying to cut my limbs just with their stare. But I only felt refreshed. ¡®Ah¡­ it is so good to annoy my enemies.¡¯ I was far from killing them, but they became even more careful with their chase. I didn¡¯t know if they were determined to kill me or if they still wanted to make me their plaything, but I couldn¡¯t care less. Our game of cat and mouse continued like that for a few minutes. Every time they used their area of effect skills, I teleported to attack the blondie harpy. But after the third time, the red harpy decided to fly just above her. ¡®Trying to counter-attack, huh. Try to counter-attack this.¡¯ I shot three earth arrows toward every single of them, the red harpy tried to block two, and the brunette harpy tried to shot down the last one. They succeeded, but that only made the arrow became dust, and in the next moment, sand fell on their eyes. I teleported to near the black-haired harpy, and then I punched her eyes, and the hidden place also pierced.
Harpy A ¨C HP: 17985/25000 MP: 24850 STA: 24850/25000
¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Damn you human!¡± The brunette harpy shouted. My eardrums almost exploded, but I teleported back before that could happen. I didn¡¯t think that I would be able to kill the harpy, but I didn¡¯t expect to cause only that amount of damage. But it couldn¡¯t be helped, even though I hit one of the weakest spots on her body. She had a lot of HP, and that showed how strong even the weakest parts of her body were. The red harpy lost her patience and charged three times faster than her usual speed. She probably used one of her skills, but it didn¡¯t matter, she was charging at a straight line. So, I just shot a thunder arrow. She blocked the attack and got electrocuted, but she endured like it was nothing. And then, with a swing of her sword, she sent an energy beam toward me. I sensed the danger when I felt the air around that attack trembling. That skill could kill Stella and me in a single shot, so I teleported us five hundred meters away to the right side. I didn¡¯t even consider the amount of mana I would use because that attack scared the shit out of me. The energy beam which had the shape of a crescent moon hit and destroyed completely three buildings before hitting the ground and creating a twenty meters wide crater.
Harpy B ¨C HP: 117024/125000 MP: 23250 STA: 121450/125000
¡®Haha¡­ she still can shot twenty of those¡­¡¯ Chapter 085 Come to the dark side, we have boobs (5) To protect her friends from my tricks, the red harpy decided not to give me a single minute of rest. She was three times faster than the other harpies, so to protect Stella and me from her crazy attacks, I teleported around like there was no tomorrow. I couldn¡¯t leave Stella to attack the other two harpies. Otherwise, the red harpy would kill Stella. And although she was a monster, she was a monster created by me, and never betrayed me, so I wouldn¡¯t let her die. I had no choice but to teleport Stella alongside me and duplicate the cost of the teleport and so I did. I teleported to above the other two harpies and made ice arrows rain over them. However, after three seconds, the red harpy was back. ¡®Fucking monsters¡­ how can fly five hundred meters in just three seconds?!¡¯ It was crazy, but it was that harpy¡¯s speed. I teleported to run away again, but I was just postponing the inevitable. To teleport far away from such a monster, I had to spend a lot of mana and low-quality potions, and those were practically useless while I was teleporting Stella and me. ¡®Tsk, annoying monster.¡¯
Harpy B ¨C HP: 117024/125000 MP: 21050 STA: 119150/125000
At least she was using a lot of energy to keep that speed, but I didn¡¯t have the luxury to wait for that. I had to surprise them and be more effective with my attacks. I made Stella fly upward, and then I made her fell downward at her top speed. When the red harpy was about to attack us again, I teleported us to behind the other two harpies, and Stella hit them. Her weight was enough to make the two harpies unable to react to that impact. In the end, all of us hit the ground, and a massive wave of dust covered our surroundings. Ignoring the pain, I got up and punched the harpies¡¯ heads and activated the hidden blade. They screamed in pain, and I also heard the sound of their skulls cracking. But before I could attack again, the red harpy appeared. However, I was already waiting for that; I shot a dark arrow toward the ground and gravitational field formed around us. Thanks to that, the red harpy fell on the ground with a thud before it could attack me, and the weight of my mechanic arms was cracking the harpies¡¯ skulls. However, my arms were also being crushed because I had now in each arm, three hundred kilograms of metal. I felt bad that Stella was also suffering damage because of the gravity, but I had to use every moment in our favor to smash the harpies¡¯ brains. Only when the effect of the dark arrow disappeared, I teleported us back to the air. All the bones of my arms were broken, and I wouldn¡¯t be able to use them for the next few hours. But I succeeded in what I wanted.
Harpy A ¨C HP: 4526/25000 MP: 21340 STA: 20520/25000
Harpy C ¨C HP: 2563/25000 MP: 117450 STA: 19580/25000
The heads of those two harpies were covered in blood; their previous beauty was nowhere to be seen. They looked at me scared, and they were moaning thanks to the throbbing pain in their heads. On the other hand, the red harpy looked furious, I could see a dark aura around her. Thanks to that, I was sure that she wanted to kill me. However, she didn¡¯t attack. The other two harpies began to retreat while the red harpy was keeping her eyes on me to keep them safe. ¡®Like you can escape after attacking me first¡­¡¯ Despite that, I decided to wait until they disappeared. Only after that, I used the memory stone and returned to the city where their dungeon was. ¡®I had to ambush them, but my most powerful attacks are too flashy¡­ I have to find a place where they wouldn¡¯t be able to see me or my magic arrows.¡¯ There were many places where I could hide, but my arrows would be noticed; they were big after all, and only the things touching me could become invisible alongside me. I had half an hour before their return, but I didn¡¯t have a good place to ambush them or magic arrows powerful enough to kill all of them. ¡®Come on, think¡­ there has to be a way¡­¡¯ After much thinking, I found the best place to ambush them, the interior of the dungeon. They wouldn¡¯t be able to see me or my arrows, and I could of explode them as soon as they appear, or at least I could try. The red harpy wouldn¡¯t die that easily, and I couldn¡¯t use memory stones inside dungeons. I made Stella fly to the other side of the ruined city, and I entered the dungeon invisible. On the other side of the dungeon, I saw a strange world; it was even weirder than a world of ice or a world of magma¡­ it was a world huge, and massive blocks of earth were flying. In the distance, I could see the biggest floating island, and in the center of it, I saw a castle as big as Tinemouth¡¯s ice castle. Fortunately, I couldn¡¯t see a single enemy nearby. ¡®Oh, boy¡­ how in the hell can exist floating islands¡­ laws of physics are for the weak, I guess.¡¯ That was interesting, but I didn¡¯t have time to think about that, I had to form a plan quickly. I was drinking a lot of potions while I was thinking about how I should attack the harpies; after a few minutes, I had recovered my energy. However, my arms were still healing, but I wasn¡¯t interested in a close fight against that red harpy anyway.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡®Think¡­ I have a lot of skills¡­ what I can do with those skills to kill that red harpy?¡¯ I thought a lot, but since I was a genius, my answer to everything was to make it bigger. The only thing I could really was bigger magic arrows. I had thousands of magic arrows inside my backpack, but those were useless since I could only summon one at a time. I thought that I was walking a path where eventually I could solve big problems like that by myself, but I was wrong. I still had a long way to go¡­ I looked at both of my hands and sighed. But then I noticed it¡­ I could only shot one at a time once the arrows were inside my backpack, but I didn¡¯t have to do that if I create two or more at the same time without shooting. Besides, according to the skill¡¯s information, I could combine more than one element... like wind and fire. ¡®I¡¯m so stupid¡­¡¯ I involuntarily sealed the true potential of that skill; I didn¡¯t have to create only simple arrows. I could combine them¡­ using the knowledge I obtained when I learned the skill, I created a single magic arrow made of wind and fire. In an instant, five times more mana had been consumed to create a twenty centimeters long arrow. But by looking at the speed of flames moving, I was sure that the arrow was also five times stronger. I shot that arrow a few meters behind me, and then I saw an explosion that created a crater; it was one-meter long. ¡®The power is good enough, but I need ice arrows, the core of Tinemouth¡¯s planet will duplicate the effectiveness of those arrows.¡¯ I was in the middle of a fifty meters long floating island, and the portal was right in the center of that island. So, I moved to the other side of the island, and when the harpies appear, they wouldn¡¯t see me, and I would have a clear view of their backs. I sat on the floor to meditate because I would need every bit of mana to destroy them. I started to create the first arrow combining ice and wind, and after ten seconds, the arrow was ready. However, I didn¡¯t stop. I made the arrow bigger, and then I also started creating the second arrow. I felt an intense headache thanks to that; I wasn¡¯t a smart man, and creating two arrows at the same time was very similar to solving two equations at the same time. To make matters worse, strengthening two arrows at the same time was like trying to solve two infinite equations at the same time. I initially thought that I would be able to create at least five at the same time since I created thousands of magic arrows, but I was dead wrong. Two was my limit. After five minutes, I had spent all my mana. And now I had those strengthened magic arrows floating above my hands. The first time I concentrated that much to create an arrow, it took me three hours to spend all my mana. And that only showed how amazing those arrows were. In any case, I decided to keep meditating but not strengthen those arrows anymore. I was pretty sure those two arrows would kill the two wounded harpies, but the same couldn¡¯t be said to the red harpy. So, I had to keep some MP to use in the case of an emergency. Soon after, I had decided that those three harpies appeared, and I shot those arrows toward them. The two arrows hit the back of the red harpy, and then a cold wind spread across the floating island. In a few seconds, the entire island became a floating iceberg. I almost got caught in my own attack and died since I didn¡¯t expect that kind of effect. The red harpy¡¯s wings became ice and shattered; the same happened to her legs. On the other hand, the other two harpies got completely frozen and became statues of ice.
You have obtained 100000 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 125362 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained 100000 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 136521 Evolution Coins.
I became speechless with the result of my attack, and I even obtained evolution coins for killing them and the coins they originally possessed. Well, my old friend caught off guard, finally returned. I thought the red harpy was done for, without legs and wings, but she still had her arms, sword, and plenty of mana to kill me. She used all her strength to shot that same energy beam toward me, I tried to teleport, but her attack still cut off my left arm even though I was still wearing my mechanic arms. ¡°Fucking Bitch!¡± The pain almost made me lose my cool, but I endured the pain. I cooled my head because I could always reattach my arm, all that I needed was a good potion. In any case, I became invisible, and then I teleported to fifty meters above the red harpy, but that was just the beginning of my counter-attack. To keep her on the ground and to amplify my next attack, I sent a dark arrow toward, thanks to it; she fell on the floor with her arms open. Soon I also entered the field, and my weight increased. Two seconds later, my other mechanic arm hit her head, and the hidden blade pierced her skull. But the bitch was so resilient that even the blade broke after hitting her brain. I moaned in pain, I lost an arm, and again I sacrificed, even more, my still broken other arm to deliver a critical blow.
You have obtained 100000 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 155523 Evolution Coins.
The bodies of the other harpies were long gone, so I used the universal absorption on the red harpy to recover some stamina, and I also used her blood to repair part of the mechanic arm. Even though they had the same power level, the red harpy was by the most troublesome. I was still weak against enemies who were good melee fighters¡­ in any case, I drunk a few potions and picked my fallen arm and put my mechanic arms inside my backpack. I was in enemy territory and terribly wounded. I had to get the hell out of there and heal my wounds before other monsters could notice me. Back to earth, I drunk one of the potions which I got from Ann¡¯s guards. I tried to reattach my arm, but only that potion wasn¡¯t enough. I was still bleeding, so I teleported back to the camp and created the medicine. I felt alleviated, watching my cut off being reattached. The feeling of having an arm cut off was too unnerving, I could endure the pain, but I could never get used to that feeling of weakness. I laid down in front of the statue; I was too tired to move or think. Fortunately, Stella returned. ¡°Keep an eye on things for me, all right?¡± Stella nodded and began to look around in all directions, and I closed my eyes, relieved. I wondered when I would be able to consider myself as someone strong. Whenever I thought I was improving, I found a new troublesome enemy. I won a battle of 1 vs. 3, but the red harpy alone was already too much for me. I only won because she decided to protect her friends, because I used the memory stone and because I discovered by luck how to make my arrows stronger. I still depended on luck, and I hated that feeling¡­ Chapter 086 Three suns (1) I only got up on the second day, and I was still mentally exhausted. Close combat battles were fun, but a one-sided massacre wasn¡¯t. Much less when your opponent can cut your arm like butter. I needed to increase my physical strength, but I also needed to increase my mental limit. In the end, I opted to put those on the same level. I needed to be versatile since I didn¡¯t want to rely on others. The number of monsters inside that ruined city had increased since we also killed all harpies, and I used them to repair my mechanic arm. It took the entire morning, but at the end of it, my mechanic arm was brand new. After that, I analyzed my options. Challenge the dungeon and face a foe much stronger those three harpies and perhaps obtain an item as powerful as the core of the frozen world. Or finish my job and search for other survivors. The first was too appealing, but a bit unrealistic, I only killed Tinemouth because he was tired of living alone. I couldn¡¯t get ahead of myself, so I just registered the position of that dungeon with a memory stone, and we flew once again to the west. On the next day, I found a new memory stone and a note inside my backpack. Martin used his brain even though I didn¡¯t ask for a new memory stone. Anyway, I only read the first sentence of his note; he had written that he wanted to talk. I threw his note away because he joined the group of people who wanted to bother me. On the night of that very same day, I received one hundred thousand evolution coins. Angela and the others discovered the price for the crossbows and decided to pay instead of sending the crossbows back. And I was honestly thankful for that because the selling price was smaller than the price to create it. I still had the other fifteen rapid-fire crossbows, but I decided to keep them. My copies couldn¡¯t use skills, so that kind of weapon was what they needed. The next few weeks passed rather anticlimactically, I didn¡¯t find any other dungeons, and the few survivors that I found, were too desperate to cause problems. My hometown was the exception, but I couldn¡¯t find any more than thirty survivors in all the other survivors¡¯ camp. But, I managed to train and increase my arsenal using the new magic arrows. So, I was okay with that. In any case, after two months, I found other seventy survivors and sent them to Harry. After five months of searching carefully for survivors in all the cities I came across, I finally reached the west coast. I completed my job, but Harry still didn¡¯t send my payment, and I would make him regret it¡­ but that was the least of my worries. Along with the ocean, I found another ruined city, a volcano, which I was pretty sure didn¡¯t exist in that area, and a dragon flying around that same volcano.
Dragon ¨C HP: 750000 MP: 750000 STA: 750000 Physical Limit Lv 60, Mental Limit Lv 60, Sensorial Limit Lv 01. Skills: Fire Breath Lv 10, Frost Breath, Earthquake Lv 10, Shock Breath Lv 10, Magic Resistance Lv 10, Physical Resistance Lv 10, Fly Lv 10. Evolution Orbs: 458536/900000 Evolution Coins: 458536
¡®¡­ Why is that thing''s status different from the previous dragon? Maybe that one is intelligent¡­ come to think of it, the dragon we faced was just an illusion, even though I obtained a dragon¡¯s heart.¡¯ In any case, I was getting excited. Although I only broke my limit two times in the last two months, I was sure that I would be able to put my mental limit at level twenty after killing that dragon. Besides, it would be a one on one battle. So, it wouldn¡¯t be as annoying as my battle against the three harpies. The difference in status was big, but a surprise attack and my new arrows would do the trick. However, I still needed to be careful that dragon could use earth magic, so earth arrows wouldn¡¯t help like before. ¡®I wonder why that thing is just flying around the volcano¡­ is protecting it? I bet there is an entrance of a dungeon in that volcano¡­ holy crap¡­ is there a world full of dragons on the other side of the dungeon? But why only one dragon is outside the dungeon?¡¯ I felt a terrible headache, but I managed to calm down and not jump to conclusions. I couldn¡¯t say that was the case before seeing with my own eyes. But first, I had to take care of that dragon. It was a dangerous thing to exist, but it was also very convenient. Dragons¡¯ hearts were valuable, I was pretty sure that by using them, I would be able to evolve my skills, but it couldn¡¯t be the only thing it could be used for. Anyway, to gain time, I left Stella in another city to make her kill the nearby monsters. After that, I returned to the city where the dragon was while invisible and registered the place using a memory stone, and then I returned to where I left Stella. ¡®Let¡¯s see¡­ that dragon has half of Tinemouth¡¯s HP, but its magic resistance will negate half of the effect of my arrows. However, I have the frozen world¡¯s core¡­ I guess if I create an arrow combining the properties of ice and wind for three and half days will be enough to kill it.¡¯ It was rather boring doing calculations to finish an enemy on the easy way, but I didn¡¯t have time to worry about my pesky combat instincts. I had to confirm if there was a dungeon nearby and what was on the other side of that possible dungeon. And without ceremony, I started the creation of that arrow, I wished I could have done that before, but my backpacks were already full. The next few days passed rather slowly, I couldn¡¯t move from that spot, nor could I eat. I needed to keep myself concentrated to combine the power of two magic arrows. Otherwise, I would lose control of the arrow. I left Stella, protecting my surroundings, but after three days she couldn¡¯t stay near me anymore. The arrow was freezing everything ten meters around me, even my own body. That kind of power was beyond me, and that was why the cold alone was enough to damage my body.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Without much choice, I had to use the hot blood skill once in a while. Otherwise, I would become a snowman because of my own arrow. Only after four days, I had completed the arrow, the arrow was only five meters long, but I was satisfied with the result. Right at that moment, the country was in the middle of spring, but it was snowing around me. Well, almost. The coldness of the arrow was freezing the moisture in my surroundings, and even while I was still using the hot blood, I could sense my health deteriorating. ¡®I have to finish this soon, or I will die of hypothermia¡­ and I¡¯m too hungry.¡¯ Using my invisibility with an arrow that could literally freeze anything near me was meaningless. So, I just used the memory stone, after I recovered my mana, and reappeared in the city where the dragon and volcano were. But to my surprise, the dragon wasn¡¯t alone anymore. Two dragons were flying around the volcano. ¡°Are you fucking kidding me?¡± I was three kilometers away from the dragons; from that distance, I was nothing but an ant in the middle of a ruined city. But the dragons still saw me; instead, they felt my arrow. Both of those looked at my direction, but only one flew toward me. ¡°Although I¡¯m thankful for that, it is annoying being looked down on¡­¡± The dragons were pretty much the same, forty meters long oversized lizards covered with black scales. But the status of the second was different.
Dragon ¨C HP: 500000 MP: 1000000 STA: 750000 Physical Limit Lv 50, Mental Limit Lv 70, Sensorial Limit Lv 01. Skills: Fire Breath Lv 10, Frost Breath Lv 10, Shock Breath Lv 10, Magic Resistance Lv 10, Physical Resistance Lv 10, Fly Lv 10, Dragon¡¯s Roar Lv 10. Evolution Orbs: 53625/900000 Evolution Coins: 53625
¡®Well, at least the one which is less resistant is coming first.¡¯ Those weren¡¯t copies, or if they were, they were copies of different dragons. In any case, it didn¡¯t matter if they were copies or not; their strength was absolute. While the beast was flying toward me, I wondered what I should do. Kill that dragon and then get out and ask for help, kill that dragon and came back later with another arrow, or kill both of those. I didn¡¯t want to ask for help, and if a dragon appeared after four days, another dragon could appear again in the next four days. While that was fine as long as they can be killed, my main objective was to investigate why they were flying around the volcano. I could get strong a lot fighting those dragons, but until when I will be able to fight a dragon one-on-one? Until when I will have time to create those arrows? I wanted power, but I couldn¡¯t put my life on the life if there were a chance of me fighting against two or more dragons. That was simply something crazy. ¡®Well¡­ I guess I will kill both of them and fill my belly with their meat.¡¯ The first dragon opened its mouth when it was two hundred meters away from me. An obvious bad move, but it didn¡¯t have time to regret it. On the next moment, my magic arrow entered its mouth, and for the next few seconds, I saw the dragon becoming an ice sculpture falling from the sky and shattering into pieces once it hit the ground.
You have obtained 200000 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 253625 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained a Dragon¡¯s Heart.
¡°Congratulations, you broke your mental limit for the twentieth time. Now you will receive a random mental skill¡­ your new skill has been selected; you obtained the skill Poison Shot.¡±
Poison Shot: You can shoot a sphere of poison that can cause damage and decrease the target defense by 2% for ten seconds. You can use this skill every five seconds. Cost: 10
I ignored those messages because the other dragon was already flying toward my direction, and I created another arrow combining ice and wind magic. However, the second dragon didn¡¯t open its mouth. It tried to smash me with its weight, and since I didn''t have other choices, I shot the arrow toward its right eyes. The arrow shattered and froze the dragon¡¯s eyelids, but only for half a second. ¡®I didn¡¯t expect less¡­¡¯ The dragon collided against the spot I had been, but I teleported to its back before it could hit me. I didn¡¯t want to teleport to its mouth again, I could surprise that creature like that, but I didn¡¯t want to depend on the same trick forever. Thanks to the impact, the dragon stopped on the ground, and I used that opportunity to attack their nape with my mechanic arms. I wanted to see if my strength alone and my new weapon would be any effective against the dragon¡¯s physical defense. But after five seconds and twenty punches, I saw only a small crack on the scale I attacked. ¡®I¡¯m still too weak¡­¡¯ I would probably end up destroying the hidden blades, so I decided not to use it. But I continued to punch after activating the hot blood skill, the dragon took off, but I kept hitting the same spot until the monster¡¯s speed almost made me fall. I used all my strength to keep myself on the dragon¡¯s nape by holding on one of the dragon¡¯s scales. ¡®Come to think of it¡­ my new skill can¡¯t be used here?¡¯ While I was trying not to fall, I used the poison shot and hit the same scale I had attacked, but it barely did anything. I tried to punch a few more times, but the increase of damage was almost meaningless. The skill was too weak. ¡®It¡¯s only level one¡­ it can¡¯t be helped.¡¯ Sensing me on its nape, the dragon tried to make me fall. However, it failed even when it flew upside down. Without much choice, the dragon tried to smash against a ten meters tall building. But I teleported to midair to evade the attack again; I saw the pieces of that building falling on the dragon, and then I had an idea. I sent a dark arrow toward the dragon, the effect had been weak thanks to its magic resistance, but the building pieces hit the dragon and made the creature fall on the ground again. Dark arrows were really useful, even when those weren¡¯t directly effective on the targets. The dragon looked at me furiously, and then I had another good idea. I shot a poison shot toward its eyes, and right behind it, I threw a spiritual knife. The dragon blocked the poison shot with its eyelids, but the spiritual knife hit the eyes. However, it didn¡¯t cause much damage; it only reddened a little bit the dragon¡¯s right eye. ¡°Human! How dare you!¡± The dragon shouted. ¡°So, the cat didn¡¯t eat your tongue, huh.¡± Chapter 087 Three suns (2) When the dark arrow disappeared, I teleported to the dragon¡¯s nape again, and I kept punching, and I also shot a few ice arrows. I didn¡¯t have to destroy that scale with my strength alone, after all. The dragon took off again while it was snorting. It only spoke in a moment of rage; it was easy to tell that the dragon was very proud and wouldn¡¯t talk to a human. After twenty seconds, I finally destroyed the scale, and then I shot ice arrows non-stop toward the same point. Slowly but surely, I was opening a path to that dragon¡¯s brain, and since I had the frozen world¡¯s core, I would end up killing the dragon after a few minutes. However, thanks to the power of my ice arrows, the dragon got upset and screamed. A single scream had been enough to make me feel dizzy for a few seconds, and I had to stop my attack. ¡®How can this fucking creature do this without even using a skill?¡¯ The beast noticed the effectiveness of its scream and tried again, but a dark arrow stopped that action. The scales decreased the size of the gravitational field, but it had been big enough to cover the dragon''s entire mouth. I used that chance and shot dozens of ice arrows on that same wound.
Dragon ¨C HP: 725486 MP: 748852 STA: 748996
¡®Not bad¡­ not bad at all.¡¯ In just two minutes, I had caused a lot of damage, even without reaching the dragon¡¯s brain, I was sure that I had enough ice arrows to kill the dragon. The wound on the dragon¡¯s nape was getting bigger and bigger; it was already twenty centimeters deep. The beast sensed the danger and tried to scream again, but dark arrows stopped it every single time. Noticing that it was a useless effort, the dragon decided to take some drastic measures. Since I was too busy attacking, I didn¡¯t know where the dragon was flying. I only noticed its plans when the dragon flew downward direct to the center of the volcano, I didn¡¯t see smoke in the distance, but the volcano was active, and almost all interior was filled with magma. Without much choice, I left the dragon¡¯s nape teleporting to the soil, and two seconds after that, the dragon dived on the magma. ¡®Holy crap¡­ are you serious?¡¯ I never imagined the dragon would do such a crazy thing. It was a monster, but it couldn¡¯t survive to magma, right? Once again, I was wrong; after five seconds, the dragon left the volcano.
Dragon ¨C HP: 705111 MP: 748852 STA: 748996
¡®¡­ Well, at least it took some damage.¡¯ The difference between us wasn¡¯t only in overall power or on the number of times we broke our limits. I would never be able to do such a thing even after breaking my limits one hundred and twenty times. It was obvious, but the dragon was a real monster, and I was just pretending to be one. ¡®The difference between the copy of a human and a true cosmic predator¡­¡¯ But only that wasn¡¯t enough to make me tremble. As long as I could cause damage, I wouldn¡¯t care if that beast bathed every day on magma. The dragon flew toward me, and I combined a wind arrow and an ice arrow, hoping that the beast would open its mouth. But again, it didn¡¯t. The creature probably already knew that I killed the other dragon when it opened its mouth. Without any other option, I shot the arrow, and it entered the dragon¡¯s nose. In the next second, ice covered the beast¡¯s entire nose. ¡°Now, you will have to open your mouth to breath.¡± The dragon looked at me, annoyed, but it continued to charge. Such fruitless effort¡­ the beast only hit the ground again. At least the impact shattered the ice on its nose. I teleported back to the creature¡¯s nape, and I resumed my previous job. ¡°Damn you, human!¡± The dragon said. ¡°Stop running and face me directly.¡± ¡°Oh? Now you want to talk? Why should I do what you want? Why should I face you directly when I don¡¯t have any chance of victory?¡± ¡°Because that is the way of the warriors.¡± The dragon said. ¡°What is the point of winning using the opponent''s weakness? True warriors¡­ Cease your attacks and get off of my back!¡± I chuckled when I heard the dragon¡¯s complaints; I continued my attacks even while we were talking, and that upset him and made him stop in the middle of his cheesy line. There¡¯s no way in hell I would stop my attacks; I didn¡¯t have time to lose talking with an oversized lizard. While the beast was trying desperately knock me on the ground or against the building of the ruined city, the wound on its nape was increasing in depth. The dragon finally could see its blood falling on the ground and marking the city. The creature tried to use its arms to smash me, but those short limbs were too slow¡­ it had a lot of vitality and could fly fast, but its body was too heavy. The dragon finally recognized that it had only two options, run or die. I was weaker, but eventually, I would kill it. The creature would die inside the lava after a few minutes, so it decided to clash against another building. I got away before I could suffer some damage, but to my surprise, the beast literally buried itself on the building¡¯s rubbles. ¡°Burying your head in the sand, huh. Let¡¯s see for how long you can do this.¡± Only my most powerful arrows would be able to destroy the rubbles, but I decided to create another combined magic arrow instead. I teleported to the top of the building in front of where the dragon was buried and sit in it to meditate. While I was creating the next arrow, I drunk mana potions like there was no tomorrow. I only stopped when I was about to puke. I had to create another powerful arrow quickly because I knew something was off. The plan to hide inside below the rubbles was too stupid, that dragon was definitely waiting for something.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. In any case, I ignored my fatigue and kept myself concentrated on making the new arrow. Whenever I could, I drunk other mana potions. Keep doing the same thing for days wasn¡¯t easy, but complain was useless, and my life was on the line, so there was no room for failure. After two days, I was about to finish that arrow when I felt the city trembling. A few seconds later, I saw another dragon appearing at the base of the volcano. ¡®Come on¡­ this is going to take forever.¡¯ Thanks to the arrival of the new dragon, I heard the other laughing. He waited for two days for a companion, but that raised a few questions. Why that dragon just didn¡¯t hide inside the dungeon where probably there were other dragons? Why one appeared only after two days? Those were troublesome questions, but it wasn¡¯t as troublesome as the first skill the second dragon had.
Dragon ¨C HP: 400000 MP: 1200000 STA: 400000 Physical Limit Lv 40, Mental Limit Lv 80, Sensorial Limit Lv 01. Skills: Meteor Storm Lv 10, Magic Resistance Lv 10, Physical Resistance Lv 10, Fly Lv 10. Evolution Orbs: 0/900000 Evolution Coins: 0
¡®Are you serious? Meteor Storm?¡¯ I knew teleport was a broken skill, but making rain meteors was just too crazy. And as if wasn¡¯t enough, the second dragon stopped when it was one kilometer away from me. In the next second, I felt a chill and teleported away from that building. I reappeared two hundred meters away from there, and then I saw a five meters long meteor crushing that very same building. The meteor obliterated the building, and I felt the ground trembling thanks to that impact. ¡®It can attack from that distance and have such pinpoint precision¡­¡¯
Dragon ¨C HP: 400000 MP: 1189654 STA: 400000
But not everything was lost, the cost to use such skill was high, and even though the dragon had magic resistance, it could suffer damage from all types of magic. Except for earth, probably. I tried to get close to that dragon, but the bastard was flying too fast, and whenever it saw me, a meteor fell from the sky on the next moment. It was crazy, but the dragon only have to look at the target, and the meteor would fall 0.5 seconds later. While I was busy trying to approach the second dragon, the other left the rubbles and began to fly. The fucking beast was grinning from ear to ear, so I decided to make a sculpture out of that smile. Without caring about my remaining mana, I teleported and teleported toward that dragon. The beast knew it couldn¡¯t kill me, and its only option was to leave the job for the other dragon, so it tried to run away. But I wouldn¡¯t let those who mess with me escape that easily. After a few seconds, I finally appeared in front of the beast, and he tried to devour me, but that only made things easier for me. Before he could try, I shot the arrow I created for two days toward its mouth. And in the next moment, the dragon lost control all over its body and started to fall. It didn¡¯t die, but its insides were frozen and suffered enough damage.
Dragon ¨C HP: 15423 MP: 731525 STA: 739875
I tried to finish off that dragon with my other arrows as soon as it fell on the ground, but another meteor fell and stopped me. However, that meteor smashed the dragon¡¯s head.
You have obtained 191458 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 640994 Evolution Coins.
You have obtained Dragon¡¯s Heart.
I was thankful for the help, but I didn¡¯t expect it. However, I didn¡¯t have time to think about such things. I teleported back to the dragon¡¯s corpse and used universal absorption, and I recovered all my mana. After that, I activated my invisibility and approached carefully. Probably because it had a bigger mana pool, that dragon was way faster than the others. Even though it was big, it was as fast as that red harpy max speed. Thanks to that, I didn¡¯t have time to teleport to its back and hold on something to keep myself on its back. Since it focused only on increasing its power, the dragon didn¡¯t notice me slowly getting closer. The beast couldn¡¯t see me, but it still was flying in circles around the corpse of the dead dragon. Thanks to that, I had an easy time teleporting and appearing in front of its face. I saw the gaps within the dragon¡¯s mouth and teleported again to the inside of it. I didn¡¯t want to use the same trick every time, but those three dragons already caused too much trouble. I shot a dark arrow down the dragon¡¯s throat, and I shot five massive ice arrows to pierce the dragon¡¯s tongue. After that, I teleported to the outside, and I saw the dragon falling and hitting several buildings. Before the effect of the dark arrow could end, I appeared right in front of the dragon¡¯s eyes and began to attack. Activating the hot blood skill, using the hidden blades and my ice arrows, I tried to destroy the dragon¡¯s eyes. Aside from the meteor storm, that was the dragon¡¯s most powerful weapon. It couldn¡¯t decide where its skill would fall without it, after all. The dragon had the strength to try to smash me with its short arms. I already saw that coming, and I just teleported away, and soon after, I returned. The physical defense of that dragon was lower since it needed mana to use meteor storm frequently. So, it didn¡¯t take long before I destroyed the scales which were protecting its right eye. The effect of the dark arrow ended, but I shot others to make the dragon¡¯s head heavier. I also became heavier, but I still was able to shot magic arrows, and so I did.
Dragon ¨C HP: 365698 MP: 1132564 STA: 391452
That dragon was suffering damage faster than I thought, also faster than I thought, I destroyed the dragon¡¯s right eye. Blood and other viscous liquid splashed on me, but I ignored and attacked. The beast finally sensed that its life was in danger, and I almost saw it trembled when it looked at me and saw my vicious smile and eyes. It didn¡¯t treat me as an equal, so it didn¡¯t say anything. But it considered me a threat and decided to take some drastic measures. On the next second, a meteor fell and hit my right side and the dragon¡¯s left side of its face. I was too busy attacking, and I didn¡¯t expect the dragon would sacrifice half of its head to kill me. But in the end, its self-preservation instincts prevented the creature from going all out. Only one-third of the dragon¡¯s face had been hit, and only my right arm and right leg had been hit. It goes without saying, but I lost both. Somehow, I didn¡¯t feel the pain of losing those limbs, probably because the attack caught me by surprise. The shockwave sent me flying a dozen meters away from the dragon, but since the beast was dizzy thanks to the attack, it didn¡¯t use that chance. Despite losing two limbs, I was lucky. I was feeling dizzy, but there was no pain, and I wasn¡¯t bleeding. The speed of the meteor and the shockwave cauterized my wounds. However, despite the lack of pain, something inside my mind snapped. I got rid of my thought of safely attacking the dragon; now I just wanted to make the beast suffer. Chapter 088 Three suns (3) I stored my mechanic arm inside my backpack since I couldn¡¯t get up easily with just a leg, and grabbed a few potions to restore my energy. The dragon finally recovered, and then it looked at me, but then I sent a dark arrow to keep its head heavy and then shot ice arrows toward the eye, which was still working. ¡°Try to open your eyes now.¡± Since that was just making the dragon feel slightly uncomfortable, I created another arrow combining the power of wind and fire arrows and then shot toward the destroyed part of the dragon¡¯s face. The arrow exploded, and a few pieces of the dragon¡¯s flesh began to rain over the area. I created another, and after shooting, the left cheek of the dragon¡¯s had been destroyed, and I clearly could see the beast¡¯s throat. I tried to shot another dark arrow down the dragon¡¯s throat, but another meteor fell, the beast didn¡¯t have to look at me. It could do it even with its eyes closed. But this time that didn¡¯t catch me by surprise. I teleported to the dragon¡¯s head. ¡°Try to hit me here, you fucking piece of shit.¡± I really wanted to see that again, but I decided to return and shot a dark arrow through the dragon¡¯s throat. That was the best way to keep the dragon immobile, after all. After the first dark arrow made the dragon unable to move, I started my torture session. I could have killed the dragon by shooting magic arrows to its insides, but I didn¡¯t want that. I wanted to make that piece of shit feel as much pain as possible. After ten minutes, I used all the dark arrows I created in the last months, but thanks to those, I had destroyed both of the dragon¡¯s eyes. Pieces of flesh were everywhere, and I was in the middle of the pool of dragon¡¯s blood. I really enjoyed damage that bastard while the beast couldn¡¯t move. But soon I got tired of it, my head cooled down, and understood what I was doing was pointless and idiotic. Mostly because my missing limbs wouldn¡¯t return by doing that and because I was using arrows that took time to create. In any case, the dragon didn¡¯t scream and only opened its mouth when it was about to die. ¡°Human¡­ mark my words¡­ my brothers and sisters will make you pay for this. My race will decimate your race, your planet. We will¡­¡± ¡°Blah, blah, blah. I don¡¯t need to hear your bullshit, and I also don¡¯t want to hear the prelude of your actions. Just die.¡± After shooting a few ice arrows, the third dragon finally died. And I broke my limits for the third time that day, but I was too tired to celebrate.
You have obtained 208542 Evolution Orbs.
You have obtained 209000 Evolution Coins.
¡°I lost my cool again¡­ but it can¡¯t be helped¡­ I can¡¯t lose limbs and treat it like a daily occurrence.¡± I fell on the ground exhausted, but soon I got up to absorb the dragon¡¯s mana, and I still have a job to finish. I destroyed the meteor, which had hit me and the dragon, waiting that I would find my limbs under it. But I didn¡¯t find anything. Even my mechanic arm had become a pile of nothing. I picked it and threw on the dragon¡¯s blood, but nothing happened, it was destroyed beyond repair. I sighed; after that, I used a memory stone to register that place. I activated my cape¡¯s effect and then used the memory stone Martin had put inside the backpack. Although I was invisible, I was covered in dust, sweat, and blood. So, it didn¡¯t take long before one of the guards protecting the statue felt my presence. As if that wasn¡¯t enough, Sandra was there. And she was by far the most troublesome person I could meet in that place. Lucius and Sabrina never bothered me, after all. ¡°Ethan, are you here?¡± Sandra said, looking at the hologram in front of the statue. ¡°We need to talk; it is about Claire.¡± It was pretty much obvious that I would be the only person who would appear and use the statue while invisible. But I didn¡¯t want to talk, much less about Claire. Nor did I wanted to be seen in that state, so I just quickly created the potions to restore lost limbs. To my surprise, even though I only spent one thousand evolution coins to heal Claire¡¯s wounded arm. To restore a single limb, I had to spend one hundred thousand coins. But I created without a fuss, and then I returned after registering that place with a memory stone. I would have to create other mechanic arms, heavier and sturdier. But I didn¡¯t need to investigate the volcano. As soon as I returned, I teleported to the highest building, which was still standing, and then I drunk those potions. After that, I threw myself on the floor, waiting for the potions to heal my lost limbs. I could feel the energy filling my body, and I also could sense the cells multiplying to restore my arm and leg. It was a refreshing feeling and almost made me fall asleep. But I shook my head; I needed to keep watching that volcano until Stella returns. I gave her the order to come at sunset, so I didn¡¯t have to wait for long. Stella returned at the appointed time, and without delay, I gave her the order to keep an eye on the volcano. I only woke after two days because I could feel my stomach grumbling. Too bad for him, I only had a few cookies and one hundred liters of lemonade inside my backpack. I didn¡¯t want to cook, and the monster¡¯s meat disappeared very fast. So, I created a few hundred kilograms of things that could be eaten without much preparation when I left the city where I found the harpies¡¯ dungeon. In any case, my limbs were back to normal, and nothing seemed different in that city. So, I decided to look for the entrance of the dungeon near that volcano. Fortunately, it didn¡¯t take to find the dungeon¡¯s entrance. It was at the base of the mountain, and it was large enough for a flying dragon to cross. I only wanted to investigate, so I became invisible and walked toward the dungeon. It goes without saying since I was practically inside an active volcano, but the place was hot. The ground and walls were brown, and just by touching them for a few seconds was enough to make me lose HP and burn my hand. Just like the other times, before I could even see the end of the cave, I suddenly appeared in the middle of a new world. It was a world of mountains and sand. The sand didn¡¯t have life, and the mountains didn¡¯t have any vegetation. And that place was hot enough to make me feel dizzy and choke me, the air was heavy and hot, and the sand was melting my sneakers. The environment itself was damaging me, with every passing second, my HP was dropping. I looked to the skies, and then I understood why the place was so hot, I could see three suns. One was setting, the other was rising, and the last one was above me. And as if that wasn¡¯t enough, they were big. No¡­ they were very close to that planet. But, those thoughts disappeared when I saw hundreds of those over-sized lizards lying down on the sand as if they were on a comfy bed.
Dragon ¨C HP: 400000 MP: 1080000 STA: 400000 Physical Limit Lv 40, Mental Limit Lv 76, Sensorial Limit Lv 01. Skills: Meteor Storm Lv 10, Magic Resistance Lv 10, Physical Resistance Lv 10, Fly Lv 10. Evolution Orbs: 125100/840000 Evolution Coins: 0
Dragon ¨C HP: 500000 MP: 880000 STA: 500000 Physical Limit Lv 50, Mental Limit Lv 65, Sensorial Limit Lv 01. Skills: Fire Breath Lv 10, Frost Breath Lv 10, Shock Breath Lv 10, Magic Resistance Lv 10, Physical Resistance Lv 10, Fly Lv 10. Evolution Orbs: 554120/820000Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Evolution Coins: 0
Dragon ¨C HP: 1060000 MP: 400000 STA: 1060000 Physical Limit Lv 74, Mental Limit Lv 40, Sensorial Limit Lv 01. Skills: Fire Breath Lv 10, Frost Breath Lv 10, Shock Breath Lv 10, Magic Resistance Lv 10, Physical Resistance Lv 10, Fly Lv 10, Triple Slash Lv 10. Evolution Orbs: 44100/900000 Evolution Coins: 0
Those were the three most powerful dragons I could see, immediately I took a step backward, but I stopped and looked at the most powerful dragon again. Something was off; the number of times they broke their limits was lower than the dragons I killed outside. I confirmed my suspicions, and another thing picked my interest¡­ the number of orbs they had was continually increasing. ¡®What the hell¡­¡¯ It almost looked like they were getting stronger without doing anything. Well, it wasn¡¯t surprising that they could that. Normal monsters could absorb the mana from the environment, but the dragons were obtaining three orbs every second was a bit too much. ¡®Is it because they have three suns?¡¯ That was probably the case, but why didn¡¯t they leave the dungeon? They were continually looking at the invisible portal, but they didn¡¯t try to approach it. In any case, I confirmed a few things and then left the dungeon. I returned to that building, where I had slept to analyze my discoveries. All the dragons were different, so they hadn¡¯t been created like Tinemouth¡¯s trolls. And just like Tinemouth, they had a reason not to leave their world and invade earth. ¡®The only difference between the dragon¡¯s on that planet, and the dragons I killed was the number of times they broke their limits. Do they have to break their limits one hundred and twenty times to use the portal? But why?¡¯ If they were under a restriction to leave, they probably also were under a restriction to return. That would explain why none of the dragons tried to return to their world. In any case, I only managed to confirm one of those theories, and after two weeks observing the dungeon, I confirmed that the dragons only could leave the dungeon after breaking their limits one hundred and twenty times. Soon, the other two would also reach that level. But I decided to return to my hometown and inform the others; I would have problems if they get attacked and the statue gets destroyed. ¡°I guess my job here is done.¡± I teleported to where I had left Stella, and there I saw her eating a few goblins, it was kind of unnerving seeing my pet eating humanoid creatures. But since I knew she would never attack me, soon I forgot about it.
Stella ¨C HP: 3200 MP: 3200 STA 3200 Physical limit Lv 30, Mental limit Lv 30, Sensorial limit Lv 05. Skills: Thunder Storm Lv 08, Electric Prison Lv 05, Bite Lv 04. Evolution Orbs: 4125/65000
Since I only used her to fly and to keep an eye on things when I was sleeping. Stella didn¡¯t grow much stronger. But she could fly for more extended periods, and she was faster than before, so it was fine.
HP: 1140/1140
MP: 4020/4020
STA: 1140/1140
Evolution Orbs: 98562/310000 Evolution Coins: 4069896
Although I wasn¡¯t anywhere near the dragon¡¯s level in terms of raw power, I got a lot stronger in those six months if I do say so myself.
Skill list: Concentration Lv09 95%: Raises your attack power and range by 9% each hour. The bonus resets when you sleep. Crosshair: Lv09 97%: Creates a crosshair in your field of vision to aim at enemies. Radar: Creates a radar in your field of vision to detect any living creature on your surroundings. Effective Range: Sensorial limit (40) x 10 meters. Analyze Lv09 87%: Analyze and show enemies'' status and information. Cost: 01 MP Spiritual Knife Lv07 55%: a weapon created by your spiritual energy. It can be safely stored inside your body. 4 MP will be used to summon and to store the weapon. It''s able to ignore the target''s defense. This knife will disappear after being used a single time. Domination Lv 06 21%: you can use this skill to command other living beings. To activate the skill, you need their permission. Survivors currently under your control: 12 Search Lv06 58%: By activating this skill, you can search for specific items, monsters, or survivors in a certain range around you. Effective Range: Sensorial Limit (40) x 5 meters. Cost: 10 MP. Meditation Lv 09 49%: By putting yourself in the lotus position, you can restore nine points of your MP each minute. Your MP can also increase by nine points each four consecutive hours of meditation. Moving or receiving damage cancels the skill. Elemental Magic Arrow Lv 08 47%: The user can create an arrow made of magic possessing one or more of the existing properties in the universe. The arrows won¡¯t move or disappear until you select a target. One arrow can be created every 3 seconds. Cost: 20 MP Teleport Lv 06 22%: You can teleport to any point in your field of vision; you also can teleport to other locations as long as you have been there, or you can feel the presence of someone or something on that place. You can teleport any numbers of allies as long as you are touching them or them are touching you, the cost of the skill will multiply accordingly with the number of allies teleported. Cost: 01 MP/06 Meters. Hot Blood Lv05 09%: This skill can increase your physical attack, defense, and movement speed by 15% for ten seconds. Cost: 5 MP. Fire arrow Lv 04 03%: You can create an arrow made of fire. You can create a new fire arrow after three seconds. Cost: 03 MP. Mana Cost Reduction Lv 06 89%: The costs of your skills are being reduced by 17%. Universal Absorption Lv 03 97% You can absorb the energy of dead foes. Only one type of energy can be consumed from a single enemy, and only three percent of the remaining energy will be absorbed. Cost: 10MP Partial Replication Lv 06 02%: You can create six copies of yourself, your HP, MP, and STA will be divided between you and your copies. Cost: 10 MP per copy. Chin-Breaker Lv 03 71%: A powerful uppercut that causes damage and can stun weaker foes. Cost: 10 Poison Shot Lv 01 12%: You can shoot a sphere of poison that can cause damage and decrease the target defense by 2% for ten seconds. You can use this skill every five seconds. Cost: 10
I thought at least one or two of my skills would reach level ten after so much time, but somehow, it was getting harder to level up these skills. But if I spent a few days in a dungeon, concentration and crosshair certainly will reach that level. Anyway, it was time to return and get my rewards; after that, I would kill some dragons and harpies. Harry was probably getting angry after reading so many reports of one or two lines. Besides, all the survivors will have to prepare, those dragons would leave that dungeon and destroy the entire world, and our country would be only the first target. I registered that point in a memory stone, and then I used the other to make Stella and me return to my hometown. After that, I teleported and moved us to the outside the walls. Stella was too big, and her presence would reveal my presence. I only wanted to meet Harry, Rose, or Sarah and tell them about the dragon¡¯s dungeon. After that, I intended to leave because I was honestly afraid of Claire. I didn¡¯t only give her reasons to hate me; I was probably her sworn enemy. I activated my cape¡¯s effect, and then I returned. The survivor¡¯s camp had grown a lot in the past few months, it was hard to be sure, but the walls probably were twenty-five meters tall and had one kilometer of length in all directions. The number of buildings had increased mostly because many survivors created their own monsters. But most of the space inside the walls was being used to cultivate spiritual plants. ¡®I wonder what happened to my plants¡­ I just left them behind¡­ what a waste.¡¯ I collected more than one hundred of those plants in the last few months, but I couldn¡¯t just stop to cultivate them. Unless Claire had burned them, probably someone was using my other plants. It seemed more than three thousand of the survivors were non-fighters; they didn¡¯t face many threats after the end of the one hundred days. So, those who didn¡¯t have the courage to fight the front lines decided to become the support of those who wanted to fight. But I guess it was only obvious, the walls needed MP, and someone had to turn those herbs in potions. Since I was too busy analyzing those new buildings, I didn¡¯t notice it. But someone stopped in the middle of the road with crossed arms, that person was looking directly at me, even though I was invisible. I only noticed when I was five meters away from her¡­ that person was Claire. Her hair was a bit longer, and she looked much more radiant than before. While looking at her, my heart began to race. She looked incredibly healthy, her boobs were bigger, and her stomach was big¡­ but strangely, she didn¡¯t look fat. My mind stopped working correctly, and I took a step backward because I was feeling dizzy. Claire was pregnant. ¡°You don¡¯t have to run.¡± Claire frowned. I wasn¡¯t trying to run, but she couldn¡¯t notice that. I totally forgot her skill; she could sense my presence anywhere. It was the perfect counter for my cape. I canceled the effect and forced a smile. ¡°Hey¡­ Claire¡­ you look healthy¡­¡± ¡°Is this seriously the first thing you want to say?¡± Claire clenched her fists. ¡°No¡­ Congratulations! Who is the fa-¡° ¡°If you finish that sentence, I will kill you.¡± Claire¡¯s mana began to leave her body, and I saw dark aura was around her. ¡°I see¡­ but are you sure? Your stomach is bigger than it should be¡­¡± ¡°It''s because I have two kids here with me,¡± Claire said, and then she turned around. ¡°Anyway, I just wanted to let you know. You don¡¯t have to worry about anything; I will handle everything myself.¡± ¡°Tw-twins¡­?¡± After that, I didn¡¯t know what Claire said or did; I collapsed on the floor. Chapter 089 Claire (1) Claire lived a normal life until middle school, she was a happy kid, her family was relatively well-off, they treated her very well, and she had many friends. But then she began to stand out from the crowd, she was smart, beautiful and she was good at sports. When she was twelve years old, she discovered archery and after three years practicing with the bow every single day. Claire became the best archer in the city, and then she was well-known in the city thanks to her skills and beauty. And then her problems started to appear. Claire always had two major weaknesses; she was too gullible; she always believed in other people¡¯s words. Her second weakness: she liked silent and mysterious guys. The idea of someone like that opening his heart only to Claire was very charming in her eyes. Thanks to those factors, she made the first of the three things she regrets until this day. She began to date a guy who she had never talked before, just because he said that he liked her and because she never saw him talking with her friends or with many people. Whenever she saw him, he looked like someone thinking about something profound and didn''t intend to share his thoughts with others; he was a ¡®mysterious guy.¡¯ However, their relationship didn¡¯t last long. On their first date, that guy convinced her to take their relationship to the next level; he said that he wanted to connect with her on a deep level. Claire thought he was being sincere, but he wasn¡¯t. Her first time hadn¡¯t been like she had imagined it would be, her boyfriend was too focused on himself, and she didn¡¯t feel that good. She described her first time with a single word: messy. On the next day, Claire noticed something had changed. People who she had never talked to were laughing at her. Her boyfriend was doing the same, and he was smiling as if he had obtained what he wanted, with only that, Claire understood everything. That guy only saw her as an object, she was a trophy to him, and now he was bragging to his small group of friends that he had been the first one to have that trophy. For one week, Claire felt humiliated, but more than anything, she felt mad, really mad. Not even her closest friends or teachers talked to her; they never saw her so angry, they had never seen her angry. But after one week, that guy tried to talk to her. But he didn¡¯t have any chance to say anything, at the moment he stopped in front of her, she literally kicked his balls with all her strength. That guy had to stay in a hospital for a week, and not a single person in that school tried to mess with her ever again. For four years, Claire stayed away from any kind of relationship with men. But after teaching archery for a year, to her lazy cousin Martin, she concluded not all guys were assholes. She began to date a model in college; he was well-known as a womanizer. But since he said that he was tired from those shallow relationships and he didn¡¯t try to make her spread her legs on the first date, Claire concluded that he was better than her first boyfriend. However, he was just a bit better. After he slept with her, the next morning, she saw him with another girl. He didn¡¯t try to spread any gossips about her, but that didn¡¯t make her feel any better. Claire really wanted to kick that guy¡¯s ass, but she didn¡¯t want to make a commotion, and she couldn¡¯t get involved in fights since she was constantly competing in archery tournaments. So, she just suppressed her rage. Until Martin laughed at her when she told him what her dream was, she wanted to be an elementary school teacher. Kids were the perfect beings for Claire, they were cute, obedient, and they would never betray her trust. Martin thought she was joking, so he laughed for ten minutes straight. It was just too weird. She was one of the best archers in the country, after all. It didn¡¯t make any sense. Thanks to that, Claire exploded, she said that she hated him and that she never wanted to see him again. And indeed, she never saw him again¡­ After that, Claire decided to dedicate her life to her dream and archery. It would be hard to do both at the same time, but as long as she puts her heart and mind in both, things would work out eventually. But her luck wasn¡¯t that good, a famous and handsome archer was on vacation in the city and decided to visit the training center for archers in the city. Immediately, Claire picked his interest, and since he was famous, rich, handsome, and not a single woman had refused him until that moment. He decided to be a little more¡­ assertive when he saw Claire alone. He touched her boobs, and in the next moment, she broke his arm and literally kicked his ass. Claire wasn¡¯t interested in romance anymore. But thanks to her actions, Claire had been banished from archery competitions. That guy was that influential. Her friends in the training center knew what truly had happened, so she continued to train with them, even though she wouldn¡¯t compete anymore. Two weeks after that, she met Ethan. Although she wasn¡¯t a teenager anymore, mysterious men guys still made Claire¡¯s heart beat faster. She decided to give up on romance, but you can¡¯t win against your heart. But Ethan, the last mysterious guy she met, was just too damn boring. Arthur, the old man who always cleaned and organized their equipment, was complaining about backache. So, he decided to hire someone to do the difficult job for him and that someone was Ethan. On his first day of work, Arthur made Ethan introduce himself, but he just said his name. People laughed because they thought he was joking, but Claire noticed that he wasn¡¯t interested in being friends with anyone. When Arthur was introducing the other athletes to him, he was looking at them, but at the same time, it seemed that he wasn¡¯t seeing anyone in front of them. Like other people didn¡¯t matter to him.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Ethan was a quiet kid; it was almost creepy, even to Claire. He never called anyone by their names; he was always saying, ¡°yes sir¡± and ¡°yes ma¡¯am,¡± even to those who were younger than him. Although his actions and personality were questionable, his job was impeccable; their equipment was always clean and ready to be used. He never slacked off and never refused any job, Ethan was attentive, and even after six months, he didn¡¯t make a single mistake and never missed a day of work. Not even in summer break when other kids of his age were fooling around. He was always quiet, thinking about something no one could tell what it was, doing his own thing. He wasn¡¯t a bad kid, but he was wasting his youth living like that. So, Claire decided to teach him how to use the bow, it was fun to teach other people, and that was one of the reasons she wanted to be a teacher. However, Ethan wasn¡¯t interested. He blatantly refused her lessons even when she showed her biggest smile, after one week of insistency, Ethan, showing a fed-up expression, for the first time, looked at her and said: ¡°Why should I learn this? Why are you doing this anyway? Do you want to hunt some bears or deer? I¡¯m pretty sure a shotgun is more practical.¡± After that, Ethan left without waiting for her reaction or answer. He really pissed her off; people practice sports because it is fun and helps them to stay in shape. A person doesn¡¯t need a profound reason to practice for hours and hours, something they like to do. Claire didn¡¯t try to teach him anymore, but her colleagues tried. However, he politely refused every single time. He showed his annoyed face only a single time, and that pissed her even more. Claire decided to leave him alone, but by coincidence, she noticed something strange, the cameras in the building were always aimed at him. Even though he never did anything special or questionable. It seemed like he was being watched, but why would someone watch him? He was just a quiet kid working on a part-time job. Claire decided to ask Arthur about Ethan, but even he didn¡¯t know much about the kid. He only knew where he was living and that he lived alone. It was probably a coincidence, and Claire soon forgot about that because she graduated from college and began to work as a teacher. She never felt so happy in her entire life, doing what he liked to do, surrounded by cute and sweet kids. She felt so blissful that she even decided to call his cousin Martin to say that she was sorry and that she forgave him. But Martin never answered her calls, even after four years, he was still angry at her. But they would eventually meet again; she decided to visit him after the end of the semester. But she never had the chance, because the monsters appeared. Even though the city was filled with monsters, Claire didn¡¯t panic. She only panicked when she understood her parents had disappeared; she killed hundreds of rats easily with the bow she found inside her home, but Claire felt horrified when she didn¡¯t find her parents where they worked. The city was filled with monsters, and thousands of people had disappeared overnight, but Claire kept her head cool and decided to look for other survivors. She could see blood everywhere, the city had become a battlefield, the first thing which came to her mid were her students, and she decided to look for them. Claire went to the school where she worked and then she looked for the documents of the students, there she found her students¡¯ addresses. The city was too big, and she was getting tired of killing monsters, so she decided to look for the students who lived nearby the school. On the first day, she found three students, but she also went to other three houses where her students lived. However, in those places, she only found blood and pieces of flesh. Claire felt shivers as she imagined the worse, but she didn¡¯t stop. For a week, she searched for survivors, but she gave priority to the school¡¯s students. Thanks to Martin, she knew how that system worked, and she welcomed the skill and the strength she obtained. But she was a single woman trying to protect ten kids. After one week, she was exhausted, wounded, and she only found ten kids. She felt some stares coming from a few houses as she walked around the city looking for food, but none of those people showed themselves or tried to help even when the kids were with her. Claire already knew human beings were selfish and disgusting, but she never imagined they could be so pathetic. When that week ended, Claire decided to stop looking for survivors and the other kids, just like her parents, most of the population of the city had disappeared. She needed to find a safe place where she and kids could rest; the school wasn¡¯t safe anymore. But after fighting so much to protect the school, the smell of the monsters she killed in front of that place, attracted other dangerous beasts. Claire killed them all with ease, but she had a hard time against the mutant eagle and the anaconda. She couldn¡¯t retreat because the kids were inside the school, and those two monsters could easily destroy a few walls and the entire building. So, Claire fought against them from up close. Even though her strength laid in ranged attacks, the monsters already knew the kids¡¯ presence, and because of that, she couldn¡¯t lure them away from the school. In the end, Claire managed to kill both monsters, but on the last attack, the anaconda spat poison toward her. Claire couldn¡¯t dodge, she didn¡¯t have much MP, and so she couldn¡¯t cancel the activation of the focus skill. As soon as the monster died, she cleaned her arm where the poison had hit. There was no pain, and Claire sighed in relief. She returned to the kids and decided to rest for half an hour, and then she would look for a safe place. But, she began to feel a burning pain in her arm, and then she collapsed. For the next few days, the pain in her arm didn¡¯t let her stay conscious for more than a few seconds. Sometimes, she would wake up and see the kids crying, and sometimes she would wake up and see someone talking to the kids. She didn¡¯t know how much time had passed, but she sensed that someone was carrying her in some kind of vehicle, the kids were also there. But fortunately, someone was protecting them. She tried to grab her bow, but she didn¡¯t have the strength, and soon she would lose consciousness again. The last time she woke up, she heard the sound of something big ahead of them, and then she saw someone patting Frank¡¯s head saying it would kill a few monsters to open the path. That person looked a lot like Ethan, but she was light-headed, there was no way Ethan would help someone. He was a selfish brat who didn¡¯t like to interact with other people. Chapter 090 Claire (2) After the Ethan-like guy left, Claire heard the sound of three massive beasts approaching. She mustered all her strength and will-power to get up; she had to protect the kids. And she did it; she left like her arm was melting while she used her bow and activated the focus skill with all her strength to kill the beasts. The kids looked at her happily, but soon they began to cry when she fell on the floor like a puppet without a master. Claire was dying, she knew it, and she only had regrets because she didn¡¯t saw the kids in a safe place, because she didn¡¯t saw her parents for the last time and because she didn¡¯t apologize to Martin. However, she didn¡¯t die. She woke up one the next day feeling incredibly hungry but refreshed. The pain in her arm had disappeared, and she and the kids were in a luxurious room. The kids were sleeping near her, and there was a lot of food in the room. There were a lot of bottles of lemonade as well¡­ ¡°Did I die?¡± She didn¡¯t expect to wake up in a place like that, but when the kids woke up, they explained to her what had happened. A scary-looking guy had helped them and healed her wound. On the next morning, he saw that scary looking guy, and he just had rescued two sisters from criminals. He looked like Ethan, but she was sure it wasn¡¯t him. Ethan would never help others, much less put himself in danger to help strangers. But it was really him, he was as annoying as ever, and he even pretended that he didn¡¯t remember her. But soon she forgot about that when he told her that he had met Martin and that Martin was dead. For the next few days, Claire spent the next few days in a daze. Harry, Rose, and Sarah explained to her how to use the statue, and because of it, she discovered all her relatives were dead. In ten days, all the people she cared about had died. Her mind was in turmoil, but she couldn¡¯t stay like that forever. The kids needed her, and the city still was filled with monsters. So, she had to keep moving and had to suppress her feelings. The chance was small, like a grain of sand, but she could revive them. The statue had that power; she just needed to obtain a few millions of evolution coins. There was still hope, and Ethan showed that to her. He and Harry had obtained the evolution coins, to bring one person to that area. However, when Ethan touched the statue, she saw his face distort in many emotions.Ethan looked like a robot trying to show happiness, anger, and sadness at the same time. In the end, he didn¡¯t transport anyone and just gave his coins to Harry. After that day, the Ethan who was willing to help others disappeared, and the grumpy old Ethan returned with full force. Although Claire was still suffering from her numerous losses, she honestly felt Happy when Harry reunited with his mother and sister. It had been the first good thing which had happened in two weeks. According to them, their areas were in even more complicated situations. They walked for days searching for each other, but they didn¡¯t find a single living soul. They only understood why after Harry transported them. To let Sandra and Sabrina rest, they decided to take two days off; they had evolution points to buy the things they needed. So, that break was more than welcome. Meanwhile, Ethan began to do his own things again. He only returned late in the night, and he left before sunrise. Although she didn¡¯t know him all that much, she predicted his actions to that extent. After those two days, they reunited to decide what their next actions would be. They wanted Ethan¡¯s presence and opinions, but he clearly didn¡¯t want to see or talk to anyone for the time being. So, they decided to form a council. Sandra, Harry, Claire, Rose, and Sarah would discuss every night what they would do in the next day. They wanted more allies; hence, they needed to look for them. It was easy to find them thanks to the map on the ceiling, but they couldn¡¯t pinpoint their locations outside the hotel. They needed Ethan¡¯s skills, but Claire knew he wouldn¡¯t cooperate that easily. The others understood her explanation of what kind of person Ethan was, but Sandra was surprisingly insistent. For some reason, she really wanted to see him with them as much as possible, even if she had to force him. She was obviously thankful, but she was more interested in him than she was grateful. On the rare occasions she saw him, she studied him as if he was a unique animal. After one week, they decided it was time to let Ethan know what they had decided and what he would have to do to contribute. In Claire¡¯s opinion, giving him orders would only make things more difficult. ¡°We have to keep an eye on him,¡± Sandra put her hands on Claire¡¯s shoulders. ¡°If you feel indebted to him, you should make him stay with us as much as possible, even if he starts to hate us. This will help us, but this will help him, as well.¡± It seemed Sandra was hiding something, but Claire didn¡¯t ask what. Ethan was basically a teenager; extended periods of isolation wouldn¡¯t help him. For some reason, his parents didn¡¯t want to transport him to their area. But that didn¡¯t mean that they also had to ignore him. In any case, only Sandra and Claire dared to give him orders, even though those orders would likely make him hate them. Only those two were old enough to do the necessary, even if they had to end up being hated. But to Claire¡¯s surprise, Ethan didn¡¯t refuse the jobs. Even though he was very annoyed and extremely displeased, he did the job they gave to him. It was easier just to explain why he had to do this job, but since Ethan¡¯s behavior always got on Claire¡¯s nerves, she always ended up complicating things. She smiled to piss him off and said other things to piss him off too. She was trying to act like a big sister to him, but she was an only child, and Ethan was also the oldest son of three. So, their relationship became unnerving more than anything.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. As for Sandra, she was determined to treat him like a soldier. That was very odd in everyone¡¯s eyes, after all, Ethan obviously hated being ordered around, and she never acted like that to anyone else. Just like Claire had imagined, Ethan contributed a lot to their survivors¡¯ camp, but he still treated everyone like strangers. He was always running away from others, but he never refused to help them. He was like a child who was too afraid to make friends, but he was even more afraid to be hated. When Claire noticed that, she decided to be more sincere with him. But that didn¡¯t change a thing; instead, when she said what she was planning to do, he left without saying anything to deal with Ken¡¯s gang. Two days after that talk, she understood what he had decided to do and tried to inform the others. But then Ann appeared, surrounded by her big guards and with four jeeps equipped with machine guns. All the survivors got stronger physically, but they didn¡¯t want to test their endurance against bullets. Luckily, Ann left after giving a single warning. Claire wanted to help Ethan, but they couldn¡¯t leave the hotel so suddenly. By analyzing the map on the ceiling, she saw a few dozen red dots disappearing in the north, and after ten minutes, another one disappeared. After that, nothing happened, but she saw on the map hundreds of survivors outside the hotel. They didn¡¯t move for almost three days; it was almost madness considering that cold weather. After two days, Ethan returned as if nothing had happened. And Claire immediately registered him in her Link skill; it was more than enough to keep an eye on him. But Sandra implicit gave him the order to stay in the hotel and help the other survivors. With that action, Claire was sure Sandra was hiding something; she was going too far by giving Ethan such orders. Claire already could imagine Ethan leaving that survivors¡¯ camp and never return. He wasn¡¯t that impatient, and Sandra was acting too harshly. Claire decided to ask why, and Sandra said that she knew his parents, but even so, it was too strange. And from that point onward, Sandra avoided the topic. From that day onward, the time passed rather fast. Thanks to the survivors in the north, their days were filled with nothing but fights against monsters. They had to prepare for the battle against Ann and her minions, but the battle never occurred. Ethan discovered her spy and ended up getting teleported with him to her base. They rushed to help him after they saw the commotion near Ann¡¯s camp, but when they arrived there, they only saw a sea of blood and corpses. Again, Ethan single-handedly solved a big problem. But he paid a high price; he became indifferent to everything. As if he didn¡¯t care about others anymore, his short temper disappeared, and when he received orders, he just analyzed them, thinking about how those jobs would benefit him. That scared everyone, but they had their own problems to deal with. They killed the people who Ann had brainwashed; they killed to help an ally, not because their lives were at risk. For the next few days, they analyzed their actions and their ideals. Before, they had decided that they would help every person they could, but only after dirtying their hands, they understood how shallow their resolves were. For the first time, Claire understood the weight Ethan was carrying on his shoulders. The weight probably crushed his mind and was why he was acting so indifferent. He comforted her with some words, but she knew that he was just saying them. Claire hugged him to show him how important he was to her, but only that hadn¡¯t been enough. The next few days again passed in the blink of an eye, and then the tower appeared. When they confronted the twenty meters tall rat, they finally saw how damaged Ethan¡¯s mind was. He grinned like a maniac in the middle of a battle where their lives were on the line just because he obtained an amazing skill. Before, when he was fighting, it seemed that he was struggling to stay alive. But now, he was enjoying battles as much as he enjoyed his lemonade. But they didn¡¯t have time to correct his attitude; they had to organize many things and strengthen the fighters. They lost twenty survivors on the first challenge of the tower, and many others had suffered mental damage. Sandra and Lucius recognized that they were more ruthless than idealistic, it wasn¡¯t a crime, but it wasn¡¯t something they would accept being just after a few months of struggles. Most survivors had expected a hard second challenge, so they didn¡¯t suffer much mental damage. But at the end of the challenge, Claire was in shock. She defeated with some ease the person she thought she was. Anyone could do it; they just had to exploit their own weaknesses. But when she found her second copy, she heard something that she didn¡¯t want to hear. ¡°You are just a manipulative woman¡­ you just like kids because they are easy to manipulate. Do you think all men are assholes? You are the reason for your own misfortune. You are always trying to manipulate others, but you are the one who is easy to manipulate.¡± Those words echoed in Claire¡¯s mind. She indeed blamed men when those three incidents had happened, but if she had used her head a little, she could have avoided them. But who thought of her like that? Does everyone think that of her like that? That question tormented her, but she knew it wasn¡¯t a crazy lie. She didn¡¯t interact with other men, after all. She only interacted with Harry, who was already destined to stay with Rose and Sarah, Charles, who already had a girlfriend and Ethan who never showed any interest in her. If the second copy put doubts in her mind, the third copy confirmed her fears. Even though it was a grown-up woman, she was always crying and whining. ¡°Why is this happening to me? I don¡¯t deserve this! I¡¯m beautiful, smart, and I do everything perfectly! This isn¡¯t fair! Why men always take advantage of me? I deserve to be happier¡­¡± Claire got madder every time she heard those words because, at some point in her life, she had those thoughts. It was easy to blame others or the situation, and it was hard to accept that you are also to blame for your problems. For the first time, Claire fought and killed an enemy who she really hated. But that didn¡¯t help her; it only made her feel more miserable. Until the end of the third challenge, Claire didn¡¯t feel any motivation to do anything. She just forced himself to move forward because otherwise, she would slow down the others. It couldn¡¯t be helped; the second challenge made her dubious of her own ideals and dreams. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She only decided to be an elementary school teacher when she was at college when she noticed the men around her only saw her as an object to be conquered. Although she was sure that she didn¡¯t want to manipulate kids, she only wanted to educate them to become good people. Those thoughts nagged her until the end of the third challenge. She spent three days to complete that circuit twenty times. She had killed twenty survivors because she wanted to help Ethan. But she didn¡¯t hesitate; what was done was done. She had been the penultimate person to finish the challenge; only one person had killed more survivors than her. And that person stayed inside that tower for thirty-seven days. Chapter 091 Claire (3) Since the third challenge had been a test based on how many the survivors had killed other survivors, after five hours, the trial had already been completed. Most survivors struggled in that jungle alone, but Sandra only brought the best, not a single one of them died. Besides, they didn¡¯t face anyone in the arena. However, they couldn¡¯t rechallenge the tower until the place had no survivors inside. After one day, Harry, Rose, Lucius, and Sabrina had completed the challenge. After two days, Sandra, Sarah, and Charles also left the tower, and Claire completed on the third day. She and everyone else were already aware of the problems Ethan would face. He would have to complete the challenge in forty days; he would have to revive those dark memories hundreds of times. Everyone was showing tense expressions on their faces, and Claire''s heart ached. Fortunately, her worries helped her to accept her own faults and mistakes. The challenges didn¡¯t faze Ethan because he was fully aware of his own flaws, he was aware of his insanity, although he didn¡¯t want to correct them, just by knowing his problems he could overcome any challenge. So, Claire decided to accept her own flaws because that was the only way to overcome them. Claire and the others headed every single day to the tower, and there they waited for Ethan as they killed the monsters and the skeletons which the tower was still creating. They didn¡¯t know if he would complete the challenge in time, but even so, they decided to wait for him and heal his wounds once he appears. Every day they tried to enter the tower, but the tower didn¡¯t let them. That annoyed many people, but at least it was the proof that Ethan was still alive. Claire waited during the day near the tower, and at night she regularly used her skill to locate Ethan¡¯s presence. He had helped her so many times, and now that he needed help, she couldn¡¯t do a thing. When Claire was meditating, she was always looking at the tower and recalling the few memories she had of Ethan. Always grumpy, annoyed, and in the last few days, he didn¡¯t show interest in anything but battles. He complained many times, but he never refused to help her and the kids. He put his life on the line to help them and dirtied his hands to keep their hands clean. The kids even said that he had his arm cut off, trying to protect them. He was like a very clumsy hero who didn¡¯t know how to fight with grace and elegance. But he was a hardworking and quiet guy, who helped others even when it was very annoying. He wasn¡¯t handsome, nor did he have a beautiful body. But if he had shown even a little bit of interest, she would have given a chance to him to become more than friends. Although he probably never considered her as a friend. His attitude was unnerving, but it was a bit charming because he was like her, always afraid of getting connected with other people. Before she could notice it, Claire began to feel a weird feeling in her stomach and heart as she waited near the tower or when she looked at it. For the first time in her life, she felt the feeling of loving a man as a member of the opposite sex. Since she had a bad experience before she could fall in love for the first time, Claire never truly loved a man. She always felt reluctant; she imagined she would be betrayed again. It was impossible to know what other people were thinking, and that scared her. But then she realized it; she had been unlucky just two times. Because those two times, she felt scared that she would be betrayed again, and because of it, she lost years of her life. Because she was too scared, she lost years of happiness. A person shouldn¡¯t give up on his journey just because they found two stones on their path. The higher the mountain, the better the view. By overcoming the hardships, any person could find a treasure at the end of their journey or on the other side of the mountain. Claire decided that she wouldn¡¯t let her past hold her back anymore. She let her two boyfriends chose her, but now she would choose her boyfriend. Ethan would be the perfect test subject, maybe he wasn¡¯t handsome or gentle, but she knew he would never betray her. Maybe things wouldn¡¯t work out in the end, but at least she knew she wouldn¡¯t be betrayed again. And that would be an essential first step, maybe that wasn¡¯t a good time due to the city¡¯s state. But when would be a good time? They could die at any moment. With that resolve, Claire decided to take the first step. When Ethan appeared, he was unrecognizable. Even Claire looked at him and thought he was a zombie, but he didn¡¯t have dead eyes, he had the eyes of a beast. Even though Ethan looked like a swamp monster, his crossbows were perfectly clean, and that was why she recognized him and stopped everyone from attacking him. Maybe it couldn¡¯t be helped since he fought against monsters for more than thirty days straight, but he was looking at everyone as if they were his new targets, and that scared Claire. But before she could say anything, he disappeared, she could feel his presence inside the other. But when she arrived there, he was sleeping like a rock. Although it was somewhat creepy, Claire observed him until the time he woke up. As the hotel healed his wounds, Claire watched him carefully. She already knew, but he really didn¡¯t have any discernible characteristics. An average guy with an average body and a few scars. She didn¡¯t feel attracted to him because of his body, and then she felt relieved. She didn¡¯t want to see others like objects; she felt attracted to him for the person he was, even though he had many flaws.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. After a day, Ethan woke up, and before she could say what he wanted, he was already preparing for the next battle. In the last moment, she hesitated to say what she wanted to say, but to her surprise, he rejected her even before she could say anything! She felt so frustrated, but even after that, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to hate him. She hid her frustration by treating him coldly, or at least she tried. As if a big dog wasn¡¯t enough, Ethan created a big parrot. But she knew he wasn¡¯t an animal lover, his actions were just preparations for eventual situations, and in the last challenge, his second pet helped a lot. As soon as they saw the dragon, Ethan informed them of the monsters'' status and skills, and after that, he disappeared. He wasn¡¯t interested in teamwork, but Claire knew teamwork wouldn¡¯t do a thing against that beast. The dragon decimated the survivors; the best thing Claire could do was to keep the kids away from the monster. The one who stopped the dragon¡¯s rampage had been Ethan. As if he had a death wish, Ethan teleported Rose, Claire, to inside the monster¡¯s mouth. The third challenge had destroyed the last pieces of sanity he had. He teleported himself to the dragon¡¯s mouth so many times that Claire lost the count. But even though it was madness, it was the only way to defeat that monster. After losing half of their forces, Ethan decided to knock down the dragon and give the others time to rest and regroup. Claire couldn¡¯t believe it when she saw Ethan alone make the dragon fall all and hit the ground of the city, and he did that, inside the dragon¡¯s mouth! As if that wasn¡¯t enough, he decided to use the dragon to return to the top of the tower. After he returned, Claire had an idea, if they combine their powers, they would be able to cause a lot of damage, and so they did. Even though she felt happy by combined their forces, she didn¡¯t show it. And in the end, she killed the beast with another concentrated shot. Before they could even count their losses, they got teleported to the real world. Claire could barely believe that she had struggled so much in virtual reality. And then she met Ethan¡¯s family; she felt something was off, he didn¡¯t resemble any of them. Sandra was glaring at them, and that confirmed Claire¡¯s suspicions. At first, they looked happily at Ethan, but when they saw his uninterested face, they froze on the spot and then changed their behavior. Their cold treatment pissed Claire, and she tried to get some answers from them, but Ethan glared at her the same way he looked at monsters when he was about to kill them. He openly declared that he would become her enemy if she insisted on that conversation, so she reluctantly backed off. They lost a lot, but they also had new allies. The hotels disappeared, but they would be relatively safe inside the walls. Harry and the others wanted to discuss their next actions, but after they cleaned themselves, they didn¡¯t find Sandra. They decided to rest for the day and so the members of the special dispersed, only Claire, Harry, Rose and Sarah stayed together. They knew where Sandra had gone; she was probably with Ethan talking with his parents. And so they waited for her. But Sandra only appeared after the midnight showing a complicated expression and then she frowned when she saw them. ¡°I¡¯m not talking,¡± Sandra shook her head. ¡°Mom!¡± Harry protested. ¡°This is none of my business and none of your business. ¡° Sandra glared at them. ¡°Unless you want problems with Ethan, you won¡¯t want to hear what I heard. Besides, that is a secret from some very important people.¡± ¡°I still want to hear,¡± Claire stepped forward with her arms crossed. Sandra looked at Harry, Rose, and Sarah, and they also looked resolute. Sandra let out a long sigh. She wouldn¡¯t be able to help Ethan, but probably they would, so told them everything they heard. Sandra finished telling them what she heard when the sun was rising, and their reactions were pretty much the same she had imagined it would be. Their mouths were wide open, Harry was trembling, Rose was astonished, Sarah was crying, and Claire was furious. ¡°I¡­ my skill¡­¡± Harry trembled as he remembered the time when he showed his replication skill to Ethan. ¡°I don¡¯t think that bothered him¡­ he doesn¡¯t care if he is a clone. The true problem lies elsewhere.¡± Sandra explained as she walked in circles. ¡°But even so¡­¡± Harry said, showing a pale face. ¡°Since when do you know this?¡± Rose asked angrily, ¡°He needs psychiatric monitoring; I could have helped. But you kept this secret to yourself! Can you even imagine what he is thinking?! He always knew that something was wrong with him. If that isn¡¯t enough, he killed hundreds to avoid a war, and now he knows he is a clone. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if any moment he decides to wipe out the whole human race.¡± ¡°Like I said,¡± Sandra said impatiently. ¡°The real problem is elsewhere; he thinks that he is not a human, so he decided that he won¡¯t care about the others. Even though that fucking General taunted him so much, Ethan is sane enough not to kill innocents indiscriminately. But he won¡¯t hold back if someone causes problems for him. He will be merciless even with those who cause him small problems¡­¡± Sarah couldn¡¯t say a thing; she couldn¡¯t process was she just heard. The thought of so many children being sacrificed made her so sad that she felt that her very soul was freezing. Not to mention Ethan¡¯s situation, he basically only lived thirteen years. Claire, on the other hand, was having a hard time suppressing her anger, no wonder Ethan never opened his heart to anyone, nor did he show any interest in others. He had been treated as a guinea pig even for those he loved so much, Sandra said Jerry and Naomi looked like they cared about him, but it was hard to believe, after all, they only treated him the way the General wanted. Since the fight against Ann, Ethan only looked at others as if they were simple tools. And now he didn¡¯t have any use or interest in those tools; he would treat everyone the same way he had been treated for his entire life. Claire knew it; he would never see humans as his equals. She decided that she had to open his eyes and make him understand that he was a human, but only words wouldn¡¯t work. Words never worked with him before. Claire decided to express her feelings with actions, and what she had decided to do made her heart beat very fast. Chapter 092 Claire (4) For three days, Claire waited patiently for her opportunity, and Harry informed her that Ethan was about to leave. So, she decided to go all out. She never felt so embarrassed before, despite looking forward to sex after years, Claire thought she was acting a bit shameless. Waiting for him naked in the corridor, throwing him in the bed and tearing up his clothes¡­ despite doing all of this, she hesitated in the last moment. But Ethan took the final step for her; after that, things went smoothly. Both of them did whatever they wanted without caring for the consequences. That said, Claire never felt so good. Being connected with another person on so many levels made her feel many things. But the next morning, Ethan had disappeared and just left a note with words thank you. That infuriated Claire; she had been betrayed again. In the end, even Ethan just saw her as a whore that he used for his own convenience. Her happiness had disappeared, and anger filled her heart. She decided not to care about him anymore; if he thought so little of her, then Claire would do the same. And for two entire months, just her bad mood alone made the kids behave and made the other survivors avoid her. The only persons who continued to talk with her were the members of the former special team and Sandra. They didn¡¯t know what she did; they only knew that she had tried to persuade him. So, they offered her words of comfort. At least, Ethan was doing his job correctly, and in a single month, he had brought thirty new allies. But his short reports were getting on Harry¡¯s nerves. But after two months, Claire¡¯s anger disappeared, and tension and fear filled her heart. Her periods were late, and her stomach was getting bigger, even though she was constantly fighting and not eating too much. Claire decided to wear more loose clothes and talked to Sarah about it. Sarah wasn¡¯t a full-fledged doctor, but she knew enough to confirm her suspicions, Claire was pregnant. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­ that night¡­¡± Sarah trembled. ¡°You¡­ Ethan?¡± ¡°¡­ Yes.¡± Claire answered, showing a pale face said. ¡°Ethan¡­ you asshole!¡± Sarah shouted, angrily. Sarah¡¯s reaction surprised Claire, she was a meek woman, but she couldn¡¯t forgive Ethan¡¯s actions. It didn¡¯t matter if he felt different than the other, that wasn¡¯t excuse to act like that. But Claire asked her to keep secret. Claire was troubled; she really wanted to have kids, a boy, and a girl. But she never wanted to get pregnant so soon and not with the world in that state. Besides, how she would give birth? They didn¡¯t have any hospitals; any wound or disease was treated by potions and magic. But there was magic to help in the birth process? Probably not¡­ in any case, she acted without thinking again. Because she didn¡¯t think things through, she was in a complicated situation. However, she tried to act normally. She fought and protected the walls, she helped the new survivors, she helped the kids to study, and she did all this keeping her secret. But that wasn¡¯t helping her; it only made her feel more anxious. Those feelings disappeared when Martin and the other twenty-five women appeared in the middle of the city. Claire couldn¡¯t believe, and without thinking, he hugged Martin with all her might, she almost crushed him, but he endured because he got stronger. However, her impulsive actions made Martin notice. ¡°Claire¡­you are¡­¡± Martin hesitated, showing a happy and surprised face. ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone,¡± Claire warned him. Claire cried of happiness, his cousin was back, but she wondered who had revived him. More important than that, why he was the only man in that group. However, soon, all those questions vanished when she saw the crossbows on their hands. ¡°Ethan revived you, huh.¡± Claire looked coldly at Martin. ¡°It seems you two had a lot of fun in the past few months.¡± All those twenty-five women were quite pretty, Ethan was an asshole, and she knew her cousin was a womanizer. So, it was only obvious why they were the only men among that group of women. But Martin nervously explained that she was wrong. He had been revived on the previous day, and he and the others stayed with Ethan for a single day. Because three strong harpies had appeared, and Ethan wouldn¡¯t be able to fight and protect them at the same time. In any case, they discovered Ethan had survived because they left a note inside the backpack, and he took that note. But he didn¡¯t answer, nor returned. Three months have passed since Claire had accepted her loose clothes style, most survivors didn¡¯t look funny at her anymore. But a few other individuals began to study her; those were Sandra, Harry, and Rose. They were her closest friends, after all. So, it couldn¡¯t be helped. Besides, Sarah¡¯s nervous behavior when she was near, Claire didn¡¯t help much. So, they all soon discovered. Harry started to sweat, Rose face palmed, and Sandra studied Claire with a stern expression. ¡°Why did you do?¡± Sandra asked. ¡°¡­ Because I wanted.¡± Claire hesitated for a few seconds. ¡°¡­ Then, it can¡¯t be helped.¡± Sandra let out a long sigh. ¡°We will take care of this situation together, and when I see Ethan again, I will punch him.¡± Claire didn¡¯t have any reason to hide the fact that she was pregnant anymore, so, a few survivors who she talked for a few minutes started to congratulate her. But things got awkward when they asked who the father was. Putting that aside, thanks to Claire¡¯s situation, another unnerving problem had been solved. Rose and Sarah began to date Harry. Sandra and Sabrina lectured him for a few hours to make sure he wouldn¡¯t make any mistake. But they were sisters, so it was probably okay, as long as Harry doesn¡¯t try a threesome¡­ that would make things beyond awkward.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Claire felt happy for them, and a bit jealous. Not because Harry had two partners, but because none of them would betray him. In any case, Harry gave the order to Sandra, Sabrina and Lucius stop Ethan when they see him again near the statue. But, Ethan didn¡¯t appear in weeks and if that wasn¡¯t enough. Claire discovered that she would give birth to twins. After a while, Claire¡¯s mind was at peace. She could raise those two kids alone; she was raising ten others after all. Two more wouldn¡¯t be all that difficult. The kids¡¯ father probably abandoned his job and was crossing the world at that moment; he was so far away that Claire would pass out just by trying to use her skill to pinpoint his localization. In any case, she didn¡¯t need him. He was basically a big child, he wouldn¡¯t help, and he would end up causing more problems. Just when Claire made her mind, she saw something big thing appear and disappear in the middle of the city. It was a big bird, and she knew that bird. Claire activated her link skill and feel Ethan¡¯s presence, he didn¡¯t die, nor he was crossing the world. But that was strange, according to Sandra, Lucius, and Sabrina, he only returned late at night once a week to create his stupid lemonade. But it didn¡¯t matter; Claire had already decided what to do, she didn¡¯t need him. However, even though he was an asshole, he had the right to know. After a long sigh, Claire began to walk toward his direction. Just like she had imagined, Ethan trying to cross the city invisible, and just like she had imagined, he tried to run away from her. That confirmed her suspicions; he wouldn¡¯t be a good father. But things changed when Ethan appeared, her heart started to beat faster, he looked surprisingly attractive, but it was probably her imagination. But what surprised her was his expression, he was in shock, and then he collapsed. Claire let out a long sigh. ¡°¡­ how pathetic.¡± Claire grabbed Ethan and put him on her shoulder. Some survivors were starting to observe their actions, so Claire decided to teleport to her room using a memory stone. She always had one ready to be used if something happens, and she has to return to her room and grab her bow. She put him on her bed and began to observe him once again, he was stronger physically, and he was also a bit taller. He fought a lot in the past few months, but at least he was clean. He was still wearing the clothes he always wears, a set of clothes young men would wear when they would do some exercises. Luckily, the kids were studying in the next room. They would make a fuss if they see him, because he left without saying anything to them and because they knew he was the reason for Claire¡¯s bad mood. Claire decided that she wouldn¡¯t act without thinking again, but before she could notice, she had put his head or her lap. She really had a soft spot to kids, even those who were a bit too taller. As she gently massaged his forehead, Claire realized that she couldn¡¯t hate Ethan. He made a mistake, and she also made a mistake, she never said that she loved him. Perhaps if she had said that, he would have stayed. Or maybe she was being too na?ve again; he also never told her how he felt about her. After two hours, Ethan woke up, and he looked surprised by being in that position. But then he showed a conflicted expression. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Claire¡­¡± ¡°I waited to hear this for six months.¡± Claire showed a serene expression. ¡°Damn it¡­ I¡¯m so pathetic!¡± Ethan was reacting quite differently than Claire had expected, he wasn¡¯t a total asshole, after all. ¡°No need to worry about it, ¡°Claire sighed. ¡° I can raise them on my own.¡± ¡°But this isn¡¯t fair to you¡­ you tried to help me, but I just¡­ caused you problems¡­¡± Claire thought Ethan would just ignore the whole situation; those months without seeing him made her accumulate vast amounts of grudge. He was really conflicted, he wanted to stay alone after all, but now he had a reason not to do it. ¡°Well¡­ I decided that at some point, I would get pregnant and give birth to a kid or two,¡± Claire explained. ¡°So, this isn¡¯t a problem; it is a blessing. But as I said, there¡¯s no need to worry. You can see them once in a while if you feel like it. Besides, I also have ten other kids to look after, so it is understandable than you don¡¯t want to accept this responsibility.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking about what I wanted¡­ I was talking that you deserved someone better to be the father of your children. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t want to help you or accept this responsibility. I¡¯m not fit to be a father or to represent a father. I was created in a lab and killed hundreds of people, and I don¡¯t regret it. Someone like me doesn¡¯t deserve to be a father¡­¡± Claire saw tears in Ethan¡¯s eyes, but he got rid of them. She misunderstood him, everyone misunderstood him, he wanted to feel connected, and he wanted to be part of a family. But he didn¡¯t think that he had that right. ¡°Whether you think if you deserve or not, it doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Claire declared after she crossed her arms. ¡°I¡¯m the person who decides who will be the father of my kids, and I don¡¯t regret my actions.¡± ¡°Are you serious? But I¡­¡± ¡°Enough with your excuses!¡± Claire retorted. ¡°I already knew your origins when I slept with you, and like I said, I don¡¯t regret my actions. I only regret the fact that I didn¡¯t tell you how I feel about you. I love you, now answer me. Do you love me or not? Do you want to be the father of my children or not?¡± ¡°Does it really matter what I want? I¡¯m a cold blood killer¡­ I don¡¯t deserve¡­¡± ¡°If you think that you don¡¯t deserve anything because you killed those people,¡± Claire interrupted him. ¡°Them revive all of them and make them obey you. That will satisfy your stupid conscience, right? Now, answer my questions!¡± ¡°I¡­ I think I do.¡± ¡°You think?¡± Claire asked, angrily. ¡°Give me a clear answer!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that simple¡­ I don¡¯t know if that is love¡­ I just feel that I want to stay with you, as much as possible, if that is possible. If I can be the father of a family, I want you to be the mother of that family. But it is not so simple, right?¡± ¡°No, it isn¡¯t.¡± Claire showed a serious expression. ¡°If you really want to, then you have to swear that you will stay with me forever. And if you disappear ever again, I beat the crap out of you.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be that simple¡­¡± ¡°Just swear it already¡­¡± Claire showed a sad expression. ¡°Why do you always try to run away? If you really love me and if you really want to stay with me. Then we can easily start a family.¡± ¡°If it is that simple, then I swear that I won¡¯t even disappear again¡­ I love you, Claire.¡± After finally hearing what she wanted to hear, Claire cried. She was so happy that she couldn¡¯t hold back her tears, and Ethan¡¯s comforted her on his arms for the next few hours¡­ Chapter 093 Determination (1) I had never felt so many indescribable emotions, and I had never imagined just one person could make me feel so many things. Claire made me feel like a human being, and now she made me feel loved. But I still didn¡¯t think that I deserve so much happiness, so I had decided to do the things to make me deserve it. It would take a while, but I still could do it. After Claire stopped crying, she kissed me¡­ how I missed that sensation. Her soft lips, her sweet fragrance. It was hard to control myself, knowing that she had accepted me, but I couldn¡¯t rush things. We already skipped too many steps. Besides, an audience had been watching us for a while. So, I pointed at the door, and Claire saw the kids looking at us. Thanks to it, she felt a bit embarrassed. But the kids didn¡¯t look interested in what we were doing, they were just looking at me, and they looked angry. ¡°I guess I owe some explanations to a few persons¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Claire nodded. I approached the kids, and when I was in front of them, they ignored me, and they looked at other directions. ¡°So, you guys are angry too, huh. I will give a bottle of lemonade for those who decide to forgive me.¡± Only that wasn¡¯t enough; they didn¡¯t show any interest. I guess that wasn¡¯t enough after disappearing for six months. I had to give them a single but big motive for them to forget about the last few months. ¡°All right, those who decide to forgive me, I will let them fly on Stella¡¯s back every day for one hour.¡± In the next instant, the kids were asking me to do that right now. Frank was so eager to fly on her back that he climbed on my shoulders. That had been too easy¡­ kids are creatures who can easily forget grudges. Since it couldn¡¯t be helped, I teleported them to where Stella was. ¡°Is that really fine?¡¯ Claire asked, worried. ¡°Yeah, I created these chairs before, so they will be safe.¡± From my backpack, I took out a few chairs. Those chairs had seatbelts, and they could stick on anything by consuming a small amount of mana. Most of the survivors that I met in the last six months weren¡¯t strong enough to hold themselves on Stella¡¯s feathers, so those chairs did the job. After ten minutes, the kids were flying on Stella¡¯s back safely around the city. For now, there were any monsters nearby which could defeat Stella in the air, but just for now. ¡°I have to report a few things to Harry, do you want to come with me?¡± ¡°Sure, but let¡¯s just walk,¡± Claire said, showing a big smile, and then she held my right hand tightly. ¡°¡­ I guess it¡¯s fine.¡± The dragons wouldn¡¯t attack today or tomorrow, so I decided it was fine to enjoy every moment possible. I didn¡¯t have to rush, so we just walked leisurely to Harry¡¯s office. ¡°Ethan, you must know a few things about me,¡± Claire showed a severe expression. ¡°I¡¯m a very jealous woman, and I¡¯m not lenient like Rose and Sarah. If I see you looking at another woman¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m that popular¡­ so those three finally decided to assume their crazy relationship, huh.¡± ¡°Yes, in any case, after all these months waiting for you, I deserve to be compensated,¡± Claire pouted.¡± Do you have how many nights I didn¡¯t sleep because I was thinking about you? You will have to do everything I wish until I feel satisfied.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind doing that, but¡­ I feel that I¡¯m always doing whatever everyone wants.¡± ¡°Even if that is the case, I¡¯m not going to be unreasonable,¡± Claire said. ¡°I just want to hear everything you think and feel, so don¡¯t hide anything anymore, ok?¡± ¡°Thank you for your leniency¡­ I will try not to keep too many secrets; from now on, I will try to be an open book.¡± After ten minutes, we arrived on the floor. Harry was working, and then I stopped when I heard his shout. ¡°I¡¯m going to find that asshole and bring him here even if I have to use brute force!¡± Harry shouted furiously. ¡°It seems someone has been caused problems for Harry. Maybe I should help him to find that asshole.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he is talking about you.¡± Claire showed an awkward smile. ¡°He is pretty ungrateful, huh. I gave him more than one hundred minions, and he calls me an asshole¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call them minions,¡± Claire showed a serious expression. ¡°Everyone inside the walls are our allies.¡± ¡°It will take a while for me to reach that level of trust in every single person around here¡­¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. We reached Harry¡¯s office, but when I tried to open the door, someone inside the office opened and then I saw Harry¡¯s angry expression. He looked at Claire and me and looked confused for a moment, but soon he got rid of his surprise. ¡°Ethan!¡± Harry shouted. Surprisingly, Harry tried to punch me, but I teleported Claire and me to inside the room, and he only managed to punch the wall behind me. It wasn¡¯t nearly enough to kill me, but the floor trembled. ¡°Hello to you too. It seemed that you are a bit stressed for some reason¡­ if you want to spar with me, let¡¯s do it after we talk.¡± ¡°For some reason?¡± Harry asked, angrily. ¡°You are the reason that I¡¯m stressed, you asshole!¡± ¡°Look who has returned,¡± Rose said with her arms crossed. ¡°It seemed the soft-hearted Claire already forgave you, but things won¡¯t be so easy with us.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t try to defend him, Claire,¡± Sarah looked coldly at me. ¡°He deserves to hear a very long lecture¡­¡± ¡°So much for a warm welcome, huh. I guess I will hear your complaints for the time being, but try to be quick; I have important matters that I have to attend to.¡± ¡°You have got a lot of nerve¡­¡± Harry sighed as he tried to calm down. ¡°Where have you been for the past months? What the hell are these reports? How could you abandon Claire like that?¡± ¡°Observing dragons, I¡¯m not good with words, and she already forgave me. Any more questions?¡± Obviously, my calm reaction and words pissed them. But my first answer picked their interest; even Claire was almost crushing my hand because of the surprise. She looked at me as if I hid that information from her. But she didn¡¯t ask anything¡­ ¡°Dragons, you say¡­ ¡°Harry calmed down and began to analyze my words. ¡°Why are you scratching your arm? ¡°It became a habit, I killed a few alone, but one of them destroyed my right arm and right leg. Since then, my right arm always feels itchy when I think about them.¡± ¡°You fought against them alone?¡± Claire asked while she was crushing my hand. ¡°Have you lost your mind?¡± ¡°You can kill one alone, too; you just need some mobility. Anyway, those dragons were flying around a dungeon, and I got curious. So, I didn¡¯t have another choice but to kill and investigate the dungeon. The other guys found dungeons, right? Is there some dungeon nearby?¡± ¡°Yes, they found a few,¡± Harry frowned. ¡°And there is one fifty kilometers away from here.¡± ¡°Good, I intend to go there soon.¡± ¡°You are not going alone; I¡¯m going too,¡± Claire declared. ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t think I¡¯m in the position of stopping you from doing so¡­ after I defeated those dragons, I entered the dungeon, and I saw hundreds of dragons there, ready to leave the dungeon. I estimate that in a few weeks, hundreds of dragons will leave the dungeon and attack this country, maybe thousands. I didn¡¯t have time to count them. I only stayed in the dungeon for a few seconds.¡± Thanks to my words, Harry, Rose, and Sarah forgot about their anger and began to think about what to do. But soon they recovered from the surprise. Besides, they couldn¡¯t decide everything; they had to discuss it with the other three representatives. ¡°Rose, you pass this information to the other three,¡± Harry said. ¡°Sarah, tell to our allies to increase the amount of time they use to hunt, they will need to get stronger to survive those dragons.¡± Rose picked up their magic cellphone and scheduled a meeting with the other leaders inside the walls, and Sarah left the room to tell everyone who was in the building that information. ¡°This will be enough for now,¡± Harry sighed. ¡°Back to the topic, care to explain the content of those notes?¡± Harry pointed at the reports that I wrote, for some creepy reason, he kept all those notes. ¡°Isn¡¯t it self-explanatory? I carefully summarized my actions in those notes.¡± ¡°You summarized too much!¡± Harry growled. ¡°Basically, all your reports had the same sentences, and you never said where you were. I found no survivors this week, I killed a few survivors, and I brought a few survivors. You only wrote this and about the trolls. If it weren¡¯t for Martin and the others, we wouldn¡¯t even know that you killed the troll king and found a dungeon of harpies!¡± ¡°Like I said, I¡¯m not good with words. Just get rid of those notes, why are you keeping the reports of another man? You are creeping me out. I figured out Martin and Angela would explain those events.¡± ¡°You¡­ you disappear for six months and then reappear with a quick tongue, huh.¡± Harry frowned. ¡°I would rather ignore your complaints, but Claire said that I have to tell her everything that I think. That¡¯s why I¡¯m not ignoring you.¡± ¡°Well, well.¡± Harry smiled, showing a condescending expression. ¡°It seems the lone wolf Ethan became a docile guy; love really does change people, huh.¡± ¡°I totally agree; it seems your nights full of love are being too stressful for you; no wonder you are so grumpy. Is it because they don¡¯t let you use your copies to sleep with both of them at the same time? Or is it because you are too scared to ask?¡± ¡°What?¡± Harry said, surprised. ¡°How did you¡­¡± ¡°Ethan!¡± Claire blushed. ¡°Why are you saying this kind of thing?¡± ¡°Because you said that you wanted to hear what I always think.¡± Claire seemed like she was regretting that decision, and Rose stepped on Harry¡¯s foot. As I thought, Harry learned that skill with that in mind, but he was too scared to ask, even the two sisters stay in different rooms. Anyway, Harry was too stressed, even with Rose¡¯s and Sarah¡¯s help, it was too much work to represent so many survivors. They didn¡¯t neglect her training, but they spent too much time solving everyone¡¯s problems. ¡°Anyway, we are done here, right? We have some important things to do, but I guess we have to wait for Sarah.¡± ¡°What are those important things?¡± Claire asked, confused. ¡°Do you intend to give birth in your room? We need to create a hospital and put some equipment inside of it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Rose put down the magic cellphone. ¡°Claire is strong, and she can handle this, but your children will need medical attention. Until now, we kept ignoring this kind of situation because of the existence of potions and magic, but we do need a hospital that can help pregnant women. We need to repopulate the earth, after all.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Harry nodded. ¡°We have to create many types of equipment, which reminds me, I still didn¡¯t pay Ethan for his work. I owe you one million and five hundred thousand evolution coins, thank god Rose and Sarah kept an eye on me, or I would have spent this sum a long time ago. I guess I will go with you, the meeting will only begin in a few hours, and I need a change of pace¡­ this job is too stressful.¡± I intended to punch him for not paying me sooner, but I guess I caused some problems to him as well. So, I decided to forget about it. ¡°That will help a lot, I intend to do a few other things, and I don¡¯t know if I have enough coins. I also had to meet Silver and get the coins he obtained for me.¡± ¡°What exactly are you planning to do?¡± Claire asked frowning. ¡°I will upgrade my new weapon.¡± ¡°Ah, Martin told us about your mechanic arms.¡± Claire frowned. ¡°Attack from a distance isn¡¯t fun to you anymore, huh. What else?¡± ¡°I only created those because I was growing too dependent on mana. And I guess I will also use the statue to become a vampire.¡± Chapter 094 Determination (2) After Sarah returned, we headed toward the statue, and after we left the building, I saw Silver resting near the entrance. And since he wasn¡¯t a domesticated cat, he only showed interest when I patted his head.
You have received 1565423 Evolution coins.
Silver ¨C HP: 2900/2900 MP: 3500/3500 STA: 1500/1500 Physical Limit Lv 23, Mental Limit Lv 19, Sensorial Limit Lv 13. Skill: Lightning Lv 7 22%, Bite Lv08 41%. Evolution Orbs: 25412/65000
¡°Good boy, you fought a lot¡­ later I will give you some good meat.¡± Silver fought a lot in these six months, even though he only hunted when Claire was hunting. In any case, I made him break his physical and mental limits a few times. After a few minutes, we reached the statue, Sabrina was there, and she greeted us. Soon after that, Harry transferred to me exactly 1500000 evolution coins. I sold my left mechanic arm and created a new one, heavier and sturdier. Even though it couldn¡¯t be helped since a meteor had destroyed it. The durability somehow had disappointed me. In any case, I also added the effect to repair itself by using the monsters'' blood. The new mechanic arms were brown, and it had the same design as the previous one. So, I would be able to use the hidden blade. But it was made of an unknown metal, probably alien. Thanks to that, it was many times sturdier and only fifty percent heavier, and I had to pay two million evolution coins. ¡°Are you sure you want to spend so much in a single weapon?¡± Claire asked. ¡°Do you think it is a bad move? As you already know, I¡¯m not a genius. So, if you have a better idea from a weapon to me, I want to hear.¡± ¡°Oh? Now you want to hear others'' opinions?¡± Claire frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear others'' opinions. I want to hear only your opinion, we are a family, right?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I guess so.¡± Claire blushed. ¡°But no one knows your fighting style better than yourself. So, I can¡¯t offer any advice for the time being since we didn¡¯t fight together for six months.¡± I nodded and created the mechanic arms, Claire had a point and could trust her to cover my back, but I still couldn¡¯t change my nature. There was nothing wrong with being versatile. ¡°Now then¡­ time to find some vampire skills. Oh, I already find it.¡±
Vampire¡¯s Aura: It grants you the skill to absorb your enemies¡¯ blood to heal your wounds. The enemies¡¯ blood cannot be absorbed once it falls on the ground, and it needs to touch your skin to be absorbed. Cost: 3000000 Evolution Coins
It was a passive skill, it had a few restrictions, but it was exactly what I needed to have a full deck of skills to keep me alive in almost all situations. Now, I could heal myself, absorb energy, move with ease, deal massive amounts of damage, and find enemies before they could find me. And I still would have 2 million evolution coins to buy the equipment for the hospital that I would create for Claire. ¡°I guess this is it.¡± ¡°Despite saying that you aren¡¯t a genius,¡± Claire frowned. ¡°You sure have some creativity for those crazy skills.¡± ¡°Look on the bright side; you won¡¯t see me covered in monsters¡¯ blood anymore. You will only see me covered in my own blood.¡± ¡°Your persuasion skills could use some work,¡± Claire said. ¡°In any case, all of us need to get stronger; I will accompany you when you go to that dungeon. I heard the monsters inside of it are more powerful, and the rewards are better.¡± ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Claire frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not made of glass, and I¡¯m not weaker just because I¡¯m pregnant.¡± Since I never saw Claire crying, I thought she was getting sensitive and weak as of late. But she couldn¡¯t change who she truly was in just a few months, and I was the same. ¡°All right, but first, let¡¯s make sure there¡¯s nothing wrong with you or with the newest members of our family.¡± ¡°Look at them¡­¡± Harry grinned. ¡°Acting so lovey-dovey in the middle of the day and in front of a big crowd. I think I will have diabetes just by looking at them.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± ¡°Ethan,¡± Sarah showed a serious expression. ¡°I know a few types of equipment Claire will need, but I don¡¯t know all of them. We need the help of a true doctor.¡± ¡°Who do you recommend?¡± ¡°Naomi,¡± Sarah answered without hesitation. ¡°She is the most experienced doctor around here.¡± ¡°¡­ All right, I will bring her. I don¡¯t think she will refuse, this will benefit many of us, after all. Does any of you have any idea where she might be?¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°She is at Jerry¡¯s office,¡± Harry answered. ¡°I think we should go with you.¡± ¡°Nah, it is fine. It will be more efficient if you guys look for an appropriate place to create this hospital.¡± ¡°OK¡­¡± Harry sighed. ¡°Leave it to us.¡± Harry and Rose left to find the appropriate place. Meanwhile, I teleported Claire and Sarah to Jerry¡¯s office. Just like he said, Naomi and Jerry were there, and they looked surprised at my sudden arrival. Come to think of it; it was pretty rude to teleport to other people¡¯s places like that. ¡°Ethan!¡± Jerry showed a big smile. ¡°So, you finally returned.¡± ¡°Hello, Ethan,¡± Naomi smiled as well. Six months have passed, but Claire and Sarah still showed animosity toward them. But it couldn¡¯t be helped; on the other hand, I still couldn¡¯t bring myself to hate them. They did what they did because they received orders. Otherwise, they would be treated as traitors. That being said, I also couldn¡¯t bring myself to care all that much about them. ¡°Hi, I need your help for a few minutes. We need a few types of equipment to keep an eye on Claire and our children''s condition.¡± Despite the new, none of them showed any surprised; they probably saw Claire a few times in the past few months. In any case, they didn¡¯t want to hide anything from me anymore. So, they congratulated us. ¡°Sure, I will help,¡± Sandra said ¡°This is a good opportunity,¡± Harry nodded. ¡°Do you need help with anything?¡± ¡°No, I will create the equipment, and Harry will find the place. But someone will have to work in the place; I guess you two can decide who will do it.¡± ¡°I imagined you would say that¡­¡± Harry showed a serious expression. ¡°We will find someone appropriate. As for your findings¡­ I guess we will hear them from Harry¡¯s mouth, right?¡± ¡°Yes, anyway, we should get going.¡± I couldn¡¯t waste time with idle talk, so I teleported us again to the statue. Even though Claire looked fine, our children were ordinary humans, probably. I still didn¡¯t know what to expect. But I was pretty sure they would be like us before the system. With Naomi¡¯s help, we created the equipment very fast. I also had to create some solar panels and lots of cables to connect everything. But despite the fact all those things could fill all the interior of an entire truck, I spent only half a million evolution coins. ¡°You sure have a lot of coins to spare¡­¡± Sarah frowned as she looked at me, creating the equipment without hesitation. ¡°Well, I killed the king of another world, after all, and I also killed some high-leveled harpies and three dragons.¡± ¡°I¡¯m feeling bad for making you spend your coins alone,¡± Claire said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, thanks to you; I have those coins.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Claire asked, confused. ¡°You didn¡¯t kill Silver, thanks to that, I obtained the coins I spend to create that equipment.¡± ¡°You thought I would do that just because you left me?¡± Claire retorted. I really thought she would, but I didn¡¯t answer her question. Instead, I looked behind me, because something was approaching at high speed. He got a lot stronger, and he was already at the same level as the normal survivors. But his attack was too obvious, I equipped my new mechanic arms and blocked Martin¡¯s punch. Thanks to that, he growled in pain. ¡°Ethan! You asshole.¡± Martin shouted angrily even though his eyes were full of tears, thanks to the pain. ¡°How dare you abandon Claire like that?¡± ¡°Why does everyone want to punch me? Do I really look like a pushover?¡± ¡°You even ask why?¡± Martin frowned. ¡°You abandoned her and left a single note!¡± ¡°I thought she would regret her actions¡­ and I didn¡¯t think that she really loved me¡­ Anyway, I will hear her complaints, but not yours. If you punch me again, I will punch you back with my mechanic arms. Good luck enduring the pain.¡± Martin was still angry, but he wasn¡¯t a fool to push his luck against me. Anyway, Claire calmed him. ¡°It¡¯s all right, Martin. ¡°Claire smiled.¡± That¡¯s all in the past. Let¡¯s forget about the past and focus on the future. ¡°¡­ You really have a soft spot for kids.¡± Martin sighed. After a few minutes, Angela and the other women appeared, and they came from the same direction in which Martin came. ¡°Hello, long time no see.¡± Angela smiled. ¡°Are you guys still hunting together with Martin?¡± ¡°Yes, we were the weakest ones here when we appeared, and so was he,¡± Angela explained. ¡°So, we decided to hunt together since we already knew each other. Besides, most survivors avoided us when we explained what we did before we met you.¡± ¡°Well, at least you learned your lesson. Although I don¡¯t think you owe explanations to anyone here.¡± ¡°We decided to tell everything ourselves,¡± Angela explained. ¡°That way, everyone would know, and their eyes would serve as a reminder to us.¡± ¡°I see.¡± They were pretty determined, even though everyone inside the walls was supposed to be allies, it didn¡¯t mean they were friends. By doing what they did, they sealed many options; they wouldn¡¯t receive help from many people. But I guess that was fine since they didn¡¯t want to be protected anymore. ¡°Very convenient for you, Martin.¡± Claire looked at him, suspiciously. ¡°Surrounded by so many pretty women¡­¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Martin said nervously. ¡°We are just friends, helping friends is a given.¡± Fortunately for Martin, Claire¡¯s suspicious ended when Harry returned. Harry and Rose returned with a truck; they decided to use a big room on the first floor of the building. After that, every one helped to put that equipment carefully on the truck. At sunset, we finally moved everything to the room in question. ¡°Tomorrow, I will organize this place and look for a person to stay here during the day,¡± Naomi answered. A single person would do the job because Naomi told me to customize that equipment. Thanks to that, by pushing a single button, all equipment could be turned on and off. All the person responsible for that place had to do was to understand the results. ¡°When can we came for the first exams?¡± ¡°The day after tomorrow. You two can come at 09:00 AM.¡± Naomi answered. ¡°Thanks for the help; we will come.¡± After that, Naomi smiled and left. Martin, Angela, and the other women also left. ¡°Ethan,¡± Harry showed a serious expression. ¡°The general wants to hear directly from you the report of the last six months.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell him already? Why did I write those notes?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not enough.¡± Harry sighed. ¡°Everyone wants to hear in detail about your battles against the dragons, the harpies, and that troll.¡± ¡°No one tried to enter the dungeons? Or the other groups only found a single dungeon?¡± ¡°No, if we add the three dungeons you found, there are at least ten dungeons in our country,¡± Harry explained. ¡°I guess there¡¯s nine since the frozen world disappeared. But yeah, once we learned that we can¡¯t use memory stones inside of it and that those are other worlds, we decided to do that later. Our main objective was to look for survivors and strengthen our base.¡± I guess I owed them those details, it would help them to prepare, and I couldn¡¯t be uncooperative anymore since I decided to live with Claire and the kids. My actions could bring problems to them, so I had to be careful. ¡°All right, I will tell them. What are you going to do, Claire?¡± ¡°I wait for you at home,¡± Claire smiled. ¡°I¡¯m a bit tired, and I bet the kids will also be tired when they return. I will be waiting for you.¡± Claire kissed my cheek and then left, thanks to that, Harry was grinning again. He really was an annoying guy¡­ ¡°You represent six hundred survivors¡­ stop acting like a ten-year-old kid.¡± ¡°You really reached the bottom of the well, Harry,¡± Rose said. ¡°Even Ethan is lecturing you now, to make matters worse, he is right.¡± ¡°Anyway, when this meeting will start?¡± ¡°As soon as we arrive there,¡± Harry answered. ¡°When they heard about the dragons, every representative hurried to the meeting room. They are already waiting for us.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s go then.¡± Chapter 095 Determination (3) The meeting room was located one floor above Jerry¡¯s office, and it was on the last floor of that building. As if those four representatives could only use that place, I only saw a huge table and four chairs. That being said, I saw Naomi standing behind Jerry, that black-haired woman standing behind the General and another unknown woman standing behind the last representative of the survivors, who also was a woman who I had never seen before. Those two looked similar; they had blond hair and blue eyes. But the woman standing seemed like a female warrior, she was huge, and her muscles were flashy. She had very short hair, and even though it was already night, she was still wearing armor and still had an ax on her back. On the other hand, the woman sitting seemed more frail and refined. She was the complete opposite of her sister/assistant/bodyguard. She had long hair and was wearing regular clothes and didn¡¯t have any weapons with her. But, I could see several rings on her ¡ª rings which could amplify magic powers and hide their information. ¡®I guess this is the smart thing to do, but that is already too late for me.¡¯ In any case, I decided to get rid of that thought and end that meeting as soon as possible. The General didn¡¯t look at me like I was a mere object, but he was still an unnerving old man. And the big blonde female warrior stare was annoying as well. So, before anyone could ask, I told them my discoveries in detail. The General and the blond woman who was sitting looked at me suspiciously when I talked about Tinemouth. They couldn¡¯t believe that I obtained so many orbs, coins, and the core of the frozen world so easily. I noticed that thanks to their eyes, but I would like to make them experiment on how is it feel to keep yourself awake for a week and be burned by your own attack. ¡°You did a good job,¡± Rose said. ¡°Although it is a very interesting way of attacking, it depends on too many factors to be able to do it. Besides, I don¡¯t think we will be able to replicate a magic arrow like the one you used against Tinemouth.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t kill him thanks to your mana alone,¡± Rose explained. ¡°Your skill concentration amplified the power of that magic arrow by manifold.¡± I didn¡¯t realize that, but she was right. Come to think of it, even by preparing a single attack for an entire week; I didn¡¯t have the chance of killing such a creature that could delay the end of a whole planet. The skill concentration made that arrow become thirteen times stronger¡­ In any case, it was a pretty simple combination of skills, so the blond woman and the General assistant wrote down than information. I thought it was worth a try, for now on, we would have to rely more on such things. Passive skills were expensive, but those were very useful. After that, I told them the experiences I had with the harpies. For some reason, everyone was looking at me suspiciously now. ¡°Is something wrong with what I said?¡± ¡°Ethan¡­ did those harpies really made such an offer and said that they would let Martin go?¡± Rose frowned. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you know why?¡± Rose asked again. ¡°Because they want males to procreate¡­ and if I remember well, they looked interested in me thanks to my skills.¡± Everyone looked at each other; it seemed that reached the same conclusion, and I had no idea what that conclusion was. It was a pain to be in a room where everyone is smarter than me. But thanks to that, I began to think more seriously why they wanted me and decided to let Martin go. If they really needed males, every single one would be precious for them. Why would then let Martin go if I had decided to join them? ¡°¡­ Perhaps, our skills can be passed down to our children?¡± ¡°That would explain a lot of things.¡± Rose nodded. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be surprising,¡± Naomi added. ¡°Our skills are changing our bodied to molecular levels, so it is only obvious that new infants will receive some of those changes.¡± That was one more reason to keep an eye on Claire¡¯s pregnancy. She didn¡¯t tell me that anything was wrong, but considering this information, we had to be extra careful. It was hard to believe my kids would be born and have the power to kill dragons, but it wouldn¡¯t be weird if they inherit some of mine¡¯s and Claire¡¯s skills.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Finally, my report was about to end, I wondered what those people had been doing inside the walls. After all, the dragons surprised them even more. The three suns, the fact that the dragons were getting stronger just by receiving the suns¡¯ energy¡­ it was really impressive, but soon the surprise ended. ¡°Thousands of dragons¡­¡± Jerry showed a serious expression. ¡°Our walls will be useless against them.¡± ¡°According to what Ethan said, a few of them can also summon meteors.¡± Harry¡¯s face was dark. ¡°They will destroy us¡­ if we let them attack.¡± ¡°You are right; we have to strike first.¡± Jerry nodded. ¡°They can¡¯t leave all at once, so if we reunite the strongest survivors and keep them there, we will eliminate this threat.¡± I guess that is the other option; we didn¡¯t have to wait for them. Dragon¡¯s hearts were also valuable, but I had promised that I wouldn¡¯t leave Claire and I really didn¡¯t want to take her to such a battlefield. She was powerful, but I didn¡¯t want to put her or our kids¡¯ lives at risk. ¡°Each representative shall form a team of six members,¡± The General declared. ¡°And those twenty-four will kill the dragons as soon as they leave the dungeon. We shall send them tomorrow. So, be quick and choose your strongest warriors.¡± It seemed the General still was using his authority to force his decisions on others. In any case, he had a point. So, no one complained. After that, the meeting ended, and everyone left, and since they lived in the same building, I ended up walking alongside Harry, Rose, and Sarah. ¡°Who are the members of the team you will send?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know yet¡­¡± Harry frowned. ¡°What I do know is that I¡¯m not sending you or Claire.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine by me.¡± ¡°What? I thought that you would complain and would insist on joining the team.¡± Harry frowned. ¡°I want more Dragon¡¯s heart, but I have a promise to fulfill, and I don¡¯t want to take Claire to that place.¡± ¡°Well, well.¡± Rose smiled. ¡°It seems you are finally using your brain; love really does change people, huh. In that case, you should do our job while we go and exterminate those dragons. We are the strongest of our area, after all.¡± ¡°No, thanks. I¡¯m not going to face those dragons, but Claire and I will to the nearby dungeon. We can¡¯t slack off.¡± ¡°You should reconsider,¡± Sarah showed a serious expression. ¡°She is pregnant, in two months she will give birth. She isn¡¯t in the condition to fight, and you should stay with her, inside the walls.¡± ¡°It is precisely why she is pregnant that we have to fight and get stronger while we can. I don¡¯t want, and I¡¯m sure Claire also doesn¡¯t want to raise our kids inside some walls. Do you think we can sleep soundly when there¡¯s a portal nearby connecting earth to another world?¡± ¡°¡­ You know, it¡¯s kind of scary when you are right like that.¡± Sarah frowned. ¡°Will you two go alone to that dungeon to fool around?¡± Harry asked. ¡°Or will you bring someone to help?¡± ¡®It depends, what kind of monsters we will face on that dungeon?¡± ¡°Have you ever heard of sahuagins?¡± Harry asked. ¡°You will find those if you walk south for fifty kilometers. The entrance of their dungeon is on a small island that appeared in the middle of a great lake. No one entered that dungeon, but I bet that in their world, you will find much more water than soil.¡± ¡°We received a report about their fight style,¡± Rose said. ¡°According to the team who fought against them, the sahuagins broke their limits fifty to sixty times. However, they become much more deadly when there¡¯s water nearby. They move faster inside the water, and their attacks become more deadly.¡± ¡°So, if I follow the city¡¯s river downstream, I will found them¡­ why didn¡¯t they attack this place?¡± ¡°It seems they can¡¯t fight in this world for long periods,¡± Rose explained. ¡°Even inside water, they ended up losing HP after ten minutes in our world. Based on your reports, many alien monsters can come to this world, but only under some serious restrictions. Or perhaps the water from the earth is different from their planet.¡± ¡°I see¡­ I think I will bring Martin¡¯s group with us. I promised that I would help them, but I didn¡¯t have time to do it thanks to the harpies. I already know them, and since they are the weakest ones here, they will probably accept.¡± ¡°I think that is a good idea.¡± Harry nodded. ¡°Those women are being ostracized thanks to their past actions, they don¡¯t complain, but it¡¯s about time to someone offer them some help. Just be careful, those sahuagins are small, but they are agile and strong. Their tridents are sturdy and deadly.¡± I made a mental note of that information, but I couldn¡¯t rely too much on their opinions if they didn¡¯t face them. Besides, just by fighting, I would be able to tell how much dangerous those monsters were. In any case, despite trying to summarize my report, when I returned to Claire¡¯s room, everyone was already sleeping, even Claire. She seemed tired even while she was sleeping, but I was also tired. She took a massive weight off my shoulders, but too many things had happened in a single day, so it couldn¡¯t be helped that we were exhausted. I laid down in front of her and admired her beautiful sleeping face. Maybe it was because I really loved her, but I had never seen such a beautiful woman before. It was almost unbelievable that she also loved me. In any case, I swear it on my heart that I would deserve her love and that I would never lose her or our kids. Frank and the others wouldn¡¯t probably see me as their father, but that was alright. I would also protect them, as well. They were my family, my first and real family, and I would do anything to keep them on my side. I lived a life full of lies, and when I discovered what I was, I decided to ignore almost everything and seek power for the sake of seeking power. But now I had genuine reasons to seek power, to protect Claire, the kids, and our children in her belly. No one will ever take that happiness from me. I will protect them... no matter what. Even if I have to destroy other planets, I won¡¯t lose them.