AN: Special thanks to fox06. One bonus chapter will be released in a few hours for them.
*****
"Are you ready?"
Kael gazed at the two girls before him, a rare look of seriousness on his face.
Alice gave a silent nod, her expression calm, while her younger sister, Natalie, fidgeted a bit in nervousness.
Their plan was to purge this floor of undead, and their focus was on speed. They had to ensure that the zombies were taken out as quickly and quietly as possible. They didn't want to attract more of them from the lower floors, or worse, from outside the dormitory.
"Stick with me," Alice whispered to her sister, the latter nodding in affirmation.
Natalie closed her eyes and shifted her vision to her housefly.
Her vision split into fragments. The corridor appeared all at once... front, back, sides... broken and overlapping. Stillness dulled everything, but the slightest movement stood out sharply.
The little insect outside the front door buzzed silently as it flew further into the corridor.
There were no zombies in the corridor, as the creatures seemed to have taken refuge in the rooms.
After a minute of observation, the insect finally arrived before the last ajar door on the left and flew inside.
From her shared senses, Natalie saw the room was empty. Yet the blood marks and shambolic room told a different story.
Noticing the bathroom door was open, she controlled the insect and flew inside.
The white tiles of the room were marked with crimson smears.
The side water closet was broken, its pieces scattered on the ground, and in front of the cracked mirror was a female zombie, standing still.
For some reason, Natalie felt a chill seeing this zombie, and before she realized it, she had already sent her insect out of the bathroom.
Back in the room, Natalie panted a bit roughly, her sister caressing her back in comfort.
Kael waited for the little girl to collect herself, which didn't take too long.
"The level three zombies are in one room. The level five is in another, the fifth room on the right. And finally that Rare level 10 Zombie is still in that room, it's just that her actions are weird." Natalie ended with an uncertain look.
"Weird?" Kael's brow rose in curiosity.
"Yes... it is just standing there in front of the mirror."
A few moments of silence lingered.
'Do zombies now have a fashion sense?' Kael couldn't help but have this passing thought, but soon after he shook his head, throwing away the absurd thought.
"So, we stick to the plan." He gazed intently at Alice as he continued, "You handle the two level threes, and I will handle the level five. Then we tackle that level 10 Zombie together."
Alice looked at him for a moment before her pink lips parted slightly.
"Will you be okay?"
She didn't know Kael's level, but just because there was a higher threat did not mean the level 5 was any less of a dangerous opponent. Especially considering Kael was missing a limb.
Kael didn't answer immediately. He looked at his energy counter for a moment.
ENERGI : 25 / 25
Normally, he would take a more careful approach, as he was a very cautious person by nature. After all, he had preferred climbing a pillar with only one arm to facing a horde of undead with no energy.
Yet, he just had to take the risk this time.
His competitive spirit aside, Kael needed to test his theory on his ENERGI, and he would need a strong opponent for that.
'Not to mention I have a score to settle with that bastard.'
That is right. The level 5 zombie was the same undead who had nearly made Kael shit his pants.
With their decision made, and after going through their plan again, Kael whispered good luck before quietly opening the door, the room soon devoid of anyone.
*****
The group moved as silently as possible with Kael at the front.
Not long after, Kael turned to Alice, nodded his head, before he took a deep breath.
Then he broke into a quiet sprint.
-GRR!
-GRR?
The two zombies in the left room seemed to sense some movement as they released quiet growls, but before they could approach the entrance, Alice mouthed, "Stay here," to her sister, and without any hesitation she lunged through the opened door.
A blue sword made from pure mana materialized rapidly in her right hand while a small shield of the same color formed on her left.
As for Kael, he had already moved forward and arrived before the opened door of the fifth room on the right. He closed his eyes for a split second before entering the room.
At the same time, he silently boosted his agility stat with one Energi.
That familiar rush flowed inside him, albeit very subdued, but Kael didn't care, his eyes trained on the undead who turned to face him the instant he entered.
Only now did Kael see the bastard clearly.
'It is this brat!
The zombie before Kael stood taller than most of the others, its longer limbs making it look unnaturally lanky.
Its skin was a sickly gray, veins bulging dark beneath it like crawling worms.
And its eyes—one completely bloodshot and the other a cloudy white—fixed onto Kael's figure.
Kael knew the zombie before him, or at least who he was in life.
The boy was a student a year below him, and every time he passed beside Kael, he would look down on him without greeting.
Kael didn't really care for his juniors respecting him, even though most did, probably because of his achievements.
But what he had disliked was the fact the boy would move close to him anytime they were near, his head lowering to face him.
They had never really exchanged words before, but just the fact that the boy's actions made Kael feel like he was being looked down upon was enough to put him in his bad books.
'Even in death, you still annoy me...'
'Not to mention he must have also been a pervert, if not, what was he doing in a place like this?'
Of course, Kael knew with how much time had passed since the apocalypse descended, it wasn't totally unusual for the undead to be here. It was just that he didn't care.
Not daring to waste more time, Kael swiftly bridged the distance between them.
At the same time he quietly added one point of ENERGI to a stat, one he was yet to enhance.
MIND : 8 + 2
Kael gasped uncontrollably as the world slowed around him. He could feel the foul breath of the monster hitting his face, and he could see the wriggling worms under the undead skin so vividly that he felt he could count them.
According to the system, the max stat an UNAWAKENED human could have was 10 points, but that was only in theory.
In practice, even the smartest individual would mostly cap at 9, and that just went to show how intelligent Kael was for his age range.
Yes, for his age range.
Because Natalie had told him she started with 6 points in her mind stat, and the thought of being only two points above someone who looked dumb left a bad taste in Kael's mouth.
So, the only logical conclusion was that the stats were based on age range, at least for Mind. Although he felt the difference would probably level out once anyone reached ten in any stat.
Back to the fight...
Kael watched in clarity as the claws of the undead suddenly took a metallic sheen, their edges glinting menacingly.
The zombie swiped its right claws at his head.
'Down!'
An Energi point boost in agility was not enough to give Kael an edge in speed, but because he had moved before the claw had even left the zombie's side, he was able to dodge the attack with surprising ease.
The sound of the wind parting easily from the claws sent Kael deeper into his peculiar state.
'Two more Energi in agility.'
His agility swiftly climbed to ten, his speed now able to respond to his perception.
And even though he wasn't as fast as he was when he ran from the swarm of deadly crows, Kael found himself to be stronger at the moment.
The effect of boosting his mind and its synergy with his enhanced speed was just that good.
'Also, it worked.'
Kael grinned victoriously when the countdown of his previous two point agility boost passed, yet his stat remained fixed at ten, confirming his theory.
The zombie sensing his attack miss was about to growl in anger only for Kael's good hand to blur upward, his speed-enhanced fist connecting with the monster's lower jaw in a devastating uppercut.
-BAM!
The creature staggered backward as ichor flew from its mouth.
*****
AN: Let's keep up the good work guys. Don't forget to give more power stones and golden tickets if possible. Thank you.