"Oh my g-"
"N-no way!"
Never in their lives would they think it was possible.
'That's my brother, he got himself a good 'Talent'.
Erza chuckled on the side.
He's seen far more amazing events than this.
A vase 5 meters away is floating in the air.
"Psychokinesis."
After exerting his energy, Feera plopped down on the couch.
Erza explained that his younger brother's 'Talent' is controlling object with his mind.
That way, he could kill Infected from a distance!
"Big bro! I want one too!"
Bucky spring up from his chair in excitement!
Erza is jumping with joy.
He finally got his brothers into the Infected killing, Evolution Nectar harvesting bandwagon.
With a fearless mindset, they can conquer any obstacle coming their way!
"Sure, but get some rest. Tomorrow, both you and Feera will follow me!"
Their parents gave their consent as they personally saw how strong their sons had become.
Not to mention, the benefits of the Evolution Nectars they had.
…
4th June 2020.
The whole family got up extra motivated today.
They finished their morning training and had breakfast together.
Around 8.00 a.m, the three brothers armed themselves.
The made one final check before they head down the emergency stairs.
"Stay safe, boys."
A parent's instinct would always be to care about their children.
…
"Hey Bucky, you're in for a world of fun! Lemme tell you, yesterday, me and big bro-"
Feera couldn't stop yapping about his achievements yesterday.
Bucky rolled his eyes.
The youngest son of the family is the opposite of his second brother.
He is shy by nature and speaks only when necessary.
Women coined his type of men as 'strong and mysterious'.
"We're almost at the 13th Floor. Stay silent, and be alert."
Erza's voice is akin to a military commander's order.
The brothers immediately got into battle mode.
Turning on a drone, Erza flew it down below.
The drone's maximum reach is 12 floors below, so he scouted up to the 1st Floor!
"Big bro, can I try?"
Bucky voiced up.
He knew his youngest brother has a knack for anything electronic.
He showed the controls and functions, and what the drone's mission is.
After just a few minutes of getting used to, he navigated the drone like a pro!
'Haha, he's so much better suited for this than me.'
Erza connected the drone's vision to his ePhone.
As the drone descended, the coast seems clear.
Suddenly, Bucky jolted.
"Big bro, are you seeing this?"
"Yeah. It's okay, just go down slowly."
On the 2nd Floor, they saw splatters of dried blood.
The drone's camera zoomed downwards, and they saw five shadows.
On the first floor, five Infected wearing the hotel's uniform gathered.
'They must've escaped to the emergency door but some of them were bitten.'
"Big bro, could these things climb up?"
Erza nodded.
Although they weren't intelligent creatures, they still retain some of their human abilities.
Climbing stairs is not a problem for them.
Erza had to make a decision.
Clear the remaining floors without alerting the Infected at the 1st Floor, or eliminate the ones down there first?
After weighing the pros and cons, he decided to test how far up can the Infected hear.
Also to see if it is only those five Infected are down there.
'There might be more on the Ground Floor.'
He instructed Bucky to fly the drone up to the 5th Floor and make a beep sound.
Beep!
Bucky pressed a blue button on the remote, and a momentous but clear sound rang.
The drone then flew down again.
"So they could hear."
The brothers saw that the Infected group was climbing the stairs sluggishly.
It was not five Infected, but seven.
"Bucky, fly down to the first floor and turn on the portable alarm button."
The mechanical aircraft swiftly flew down to the 1st Floor.
Weng! Weng! Weng!
The seven Infected, halfway on the 2nd Floor, rushed to the source of the sound!
Mangled, rotten hands claw the air above in order to reach the flying drone.
"Bucky, fly down to the lowest floor that the drone can until it loses its signal. Set the timer for the alarm to turn off in 60 seconds."
They couldn't risk bringing up the drone again because its rotors make a loud sound.
The drone plopped down to the Ground Floor and they lost its signal.
Erza silently places laser wire-trip alarms on the 4th Floor and 7th Floor.
"That'll distract them for a while. We'll change to a new drone when we get back up for lunch."
Then, they initiated Bucky with his first-ever Infected hunt!
…
After lunch, they swept through another two floors.
In total, they gathered twenty-seven Evolution Nectars!
After dinner and movie, they distributed the pink pearls.
Bucky, Mr. Zayf and Mrs. Numee each swallowed three Evolution Nectars, and become Awakened.
"Bucky, let's see what you can do."
With a grin, Feera taunts his little brother a little bit.
Bucky picked up the suite's control tablet from a table nearby.
After touching it a few seconds, he put it down with a chill movement.
"Watch."
Da da da daaaa!
Da dan dan daaaaa!
The entertainment area's speakers began playing Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C Major.
And then, the projector turns on by itself.
Next, the lights blinked on and off in a chaotic order.
After a few minutes, Bucky dived headfirst onto the big beanie beside him.
"Pant-pant, how'd you like me now?! Hehe!"
Bucky's ability is amazing.
He gained the 'Talent' to control electronics!
"Bucky, what did you felt when you activated your powers?"
Erza asked.
Bucky told him that he could connect his mind to machines and instruct the electronics.
"I believe your 'Talent' is called Technopathy. It's an amazing ability, use it well."
Erza praised his little brother.
"Mum, Dad?"
Over the four days of the apocalypse, not only their parents don't look weary or tired, they look younger instead!
They regained their black hair back, and their body posture looked so much better.
"Okay, this is what I think I got."
She went to the kitchen and got a knife.
"Metal manipulation?"
They were already theorizing her powers.
Suddenly, a gush of blood spews out from her left wrist!
"Honey!"
"Mom!!"
They rushed to her aide.
"It's okay, stay there!"
She whipped her right palm out, signaling them to not interfere.
Then, she brought the same palm to the area of injury.
With a speed visible to the naked eye, her wound closed up!
All the men in the family had even a bigger shock than all the previous 'Talent' shows!
"Mom, you have healing powers! Oh-my-god!!"
Erza jumped and hugged his mother.
The slit wrist has completely healed and even the scabs fell off.
All that was left was a dried bloodstain.
How rare was it for a healer-type Awakened to appear?
Not only would it help with everyday injuries, but they also wouldn't worry about getting sick anymore.
While they were all in a daze, Mr. Zayf stepped forward.
"Ehem! Seems like your mother's ability would be the greatest one you've ever seen so far. Your old father here also has some tricks up his sleeve!"
They anticipated the demonstration of his 'Talent'.
Abruptly, the lights went out.
"A blackout?"
'At this moment of time? But the hotel has a backup generat-'
A few seconds later, a light blue spark appeared from where Mr. Zayf was standing.
Bzzt!
The sparks jumped up and down until it intensifies and become chains of electrical discharges.
Crackle!
The lights turned back on, and it turns out, Mr. Zayf was manipulating the electric current!
"So whaddya think? Neat eh?"
With a height of 170cm and appearing in his mid-50s, he resembles an Asian version of Zeus!
"Dad! That is crazy! You're the freaking God of Thunder!"
Feera went to hug his Dad but he got an electric shock instead.
The other laughed at his antics.
"Dad, how strong can your electricity go?"
"How strong? I would say that I could make the whole floor blackout? And I think I could power up a Tesla to half."
With a nod, Erza told them that his father has the 'Electric Manipulation' Talent.
Seeing all of them merrily discussing their powers, Erza felt relieved seeing his family accepting this estranged reality.
The reality that this world revolves around strength!
"Alright guys, listen up. Now that everybody is an Awakened, we need to polish our Talent and refine its control."
He explained that the only way to strengthen their abilities lies on the same pink beads they have eaten before: the Evolution Nectars.
Although, once a person has Awakened for the first time, they need to consume far more Evolution Nectars to evolve.
"All of us are currently a Class-10 Awakened, which is, unfortunately, the weakest."
Their current strength is considered the weakest? How strong would the strongest be?
"Big bro, are you saying this because you don't want us to be lazy?"
When humans got a hold of new power, they tend to be comfortable and have no desire to improve further.
"Yes, and no, Feera. Yes, because if we stop improving, we die. No, is because the Infected aren't going to remain as weak as they are now."
He reminded them that in his previous life aka prophetic dream, he was slain by a really strong Infected.
"W-What Strain was it ?"
Bucky asked.
"Strain 10 Infected!"
Looks of shock and concern welled upon their faces.
Strain 1 Infected is already twice as strong as an average human, how strong would Strain 10 get?!
They were informed that Erza was a Class-2 Awakened, and he perished under the monstrosity.
"Our family's survival depends on what we do today!"
"We need to be strong enough to protect each other!"
In his previous life, he was all alone.
In this life, he has no more regrets! He would even die again to protect them!