***
"Did you manage to handle them on your own?"
"Yes, sir."
Lucas glanced down at the ground in front of them, where the unmistakable signs of battle lay—aside from the foul stench that had become all too familiar, there was the telltale green blood staining the narrow path. He took a moment to reflect, impressed by her talent. 'Meri seems quite capable, even more so than Lucy was during her first kill.'
"For your first time, that was really well done. My apologies for not being more aware," Lucas admitted, blaming the distraction caused by the continuous notification sounds that accompanied his kills. The constant chiming had become quite irritating.
"Lucy, is the child, okay?" he inquired, looking over to see Lucy comforting the startled boy while Meri sat on the ground, still gripping the dagger he had given her.
"What's your current level, Meri?" he asked her.
"I'm at level 4, sir."
Lucy chimed in, expressing her surprise, "Wow, Auntie, that's impressive progress!"
As he cleaned his jian and Lucy's katana with the fresh water, Lucas extended a hand to help Meri up. "Let's get back on our feet and continue. Even the slightest noise here could attract those zombie scavengers. Also, Lucy, you always seem to have more energy when talking to Meri than when talking to me."
Lucy responded with a smile, "It's different, Lucas. You wouldn't understand."
He shrugged in mock exasperation. "Sure…"
"Is this the university?"
As they approached the university grounds, Lucas inquired, though they hadn't fully arrived yet. The building, painted in shades of blue and spanning five floors, caught his eye. He had to admit, he quite liked what he was seeing.
However, an obstacle lay before them—a wide boulevard stretched in front of the university grounds, disappearing into the distance. He could use his abilities to scout ahead, but that would waste precious time. So, they opted for an alternative plan—attempting to quietly approach their destination.
Their efforts were short-lived, as they encountered a group of zombies just minutes into their quiet approach.
"Meri, use your skill to mask your brother's presence. We can focus on leveling up once we secure a safe base for him," Lucas instructed, as they faced the group of zombies.
Though the zombies were already in sight, they had yet to notice the approaching group.
"Let me identify where the zombies are congregating, so we can steer clear of the stronger ones."
Activating his skill, Lucas conjured a vortex of wind beneath him with a declaration of "Hurricane leap!" Elevated above the fray, Lucas surveyed the scene, noting that the zombies had indeed become alerted to the gathering winds below him. "The sound of the wind's gathering probably drew their attention."
Surveying the gathered zombies by craning his head in various directions, Lucas quickly identified a particularly dense cluster to the west. Amidst the horde, his keen eyes caught a flicker of small green light. The sight simultaneously shocked and excited him as his leap ability began to wear off, causing him to descend gracefully.
"Lucy, change of plans. Let's make our way toward that densely packed area on the west side of the road. I spotted a green light; I believe it's an ability orb."
"Really? Amazing," Lucy responded, her face lighting up. It had been a while since either of them had encountered such a phenomenon. It seemed these orbs appeared sporadically, remaining elusive until the right moment.
'A green one? It's probably a supportive skill, similar to what we've theorized,' Lucy mused. 'My tiny immortal skill has proven its worth since obtaining it.'
While Lucy was excited, and Lucas displayed a sense of amazement, Meri wore a look of confusion. "Sir, what's an ability orb?" she inquired.
Lucas chuckled before explaining, "Ah, Meri, I forgot to tell you about that. It's an orb that grants you an ability directly. Unlike item-based abilities, these orbs imbue you with skills that become part of your being. Oh, I just realized that you don't have any system items, given that achievements are quite challenging. How many coins do you currently have?"
"200 coins, sir. I acquired them from killing zombies with your dagger."
'Ah, that worked too? Hmm…' Lucas mused.
Just as he finished his thought, the distant sounds of murmuring zombies reached his ears, growing louder as they approached his location. "Meri, stay here. I trust you can protect Cale. Lucy, come with me. Those zombies seem to have noticed me when I flew up using the leaping ability."
With his jian in hand, Lucas dashed out of the intersection between the buildings onto the boulevard, a spacious area dotted with wrecked cars. A zombie came charging toward him, mouth agape—these were the ubiquitous level-one zombies. A single swipe of his sword severed the creature in half, sending its dismembered body flying.
Lying on the ground, the zombie's remaining half twitched weakly, its hungry gaze locked onto Lucas. He paid it little mind, focusing instead on his new trajectory westward. Following Lucy, who was ahead of him and skillfully dispatching zombies with well-aimed hail, Lucas continued to run.
"Hurricane spiral!" he called, conjuring multiple fireballs into a swirling vortex. The flames took on a bright red hue as they whirled, consuming much of the approaching zombie horde. The tornado of fire acted as a crucible, refining more fire from the undead and using their combustible bodies as fuel.
A few zombies managed to evade his blade and fled back to their point of origin, perhaps drawn by the sound of Lucas's wind-based ability. Lucas allowed them to escape his immediate attention, realizing that Meri was capable of handling them. 'I can't keep shielding her; she needs to learn to defend herself.'
Exhaling a tense breath, Lucas's gaze narrows upon the imposing figure before him. A towering, muscular zombie looms ahead, resembling the bodybuilder-esque undead he had encountered previously. This one, however, is even more massive and robust, though its enhanced physique comes at the cost of reduced agility compared to its predecessor.
Without hesitation, Lucas swaps out his jian for a cleaver knife, swiftly withdrawing it from the pouch attached to his belt. He hurls the blade at the zombies, one after another, capitalizing on his unique assortment of kitchen implements.
The cleaver knife impacts the zombie's flesh, each strike leaving only minor scars amidst its thick, tough musculature. But this outcome aligns with Lucas's strategy—targeting weak points amidst the hardened muscle. Seizing his jian once again, he aims to exploit the wounds inflicted by the cleaver.
Human muscles form a protective layer beneath the skin, resilient and difficult to penetrate depending on an individual's physical condition. Capitalizing on the knife's penetration of tough tendons, Lucas hones his technique. The main challenge is avoiding stepping on the scattered knives strewn across the ground. Random debris is one thing, but knives present a different level of risk.
"Fire shield!" Lucas invokes, summoning a fiery barrier to envelop him. The zombie's hostility becomes evident as it thrashes about, its actions mirroring those of an enraged infant—throwing objects and screaming, albeit with the addition of a ravenous appetite for human flesh.
"They're growing smarter," Lucas mutters, his words a muted acknowledgment of this grim reality. Regardless of its level, this zombie exhibits a level of cognitive capacity akin to that of an infant. It reacts with a primal mixture of aggression and frustration, a far cry from the organized hunting behavior displayed by more evolved zombies.
"Come here, you brute. Taste this blaze," Lucas taunts, prompting the zombie to charge toward him. The creature inadvertently steps on some of the scattered cleaver knives, resulting in a peculiar dance of crunching metal underfoot.
"Whoosh!"
A fireball streaks from Lucas's hand, finding its mark in the zombie's eye. Yet, the zombie remains undeterred; the blaze inflicting no perceptible damage to its relentless advance. A timely intervention from Lucy arrives as he calls out to Lucy, "Lucas, lend a hand here. Aim some hail at its right eye."
Fire might prove ineffectual against these zombies, but ice—sharp and chilling—offers promise. Two ice hails are dispatched by Lucy, slicing through the air and connecting with the target. As the projectiles collide with the creature's right eye, greenish blood streams forth, momentarily obscuring its vision.
Seizing a piece of scrap metal from a nearby wrecked car, Lucas seizes the opportunity presented by the incapacitated zombie. He plunges the jagged shard into its infected eye socket, releasing a gruesome flood of green fluid. The fire shield protects him from the revolting discharge, although the spectacle remains nauseating.
With the zombie momentarily incapacitated, Lucas seizes his jian and thrusts it into the nearest wound near its heart. The confrontation continues a high-stakes dance on the precipice of survival.
In the absence of the formidable muscle barrier, Lucas's jian sinks easily into the target, its sharp edge slicing through the majority of the creature's body. The onslaught severs vital connections within the zombie's frame, causing its once tenacious grip on mobility to falter. Nevertheless, he doesn't take any chances. Swiftly and methodically, Lucas severs the creature's head from its torso, ensuring its incapacitation beyond doubt.
---
[Level 8 Zombie Killed, Awarding 400 Exp!]
[Received 40 Coins!]
---
'Even for a level eight, it's unusually resilient... but now, finally extinguished.'
There's no time to dwell. With urgency, Lucas shifts his focus to assist Lucy with the remaining zombies she was contending with, her katana cleaving through the undead in precise arcs. Meanwhile, Lucas's attention oscillates between monitoring the onslaught and ensuring Lucy's safety.
Their surroundings are becoming increasingly swarmed with undead—possibly numbering between a hundred and two hundred. The very prospect of constructing a base here begins to unravel, as the expanse's vulnerability to zombie convergence becomes evident. Lucas reflects on this, contemplating the trade-off between open spaces and confined areas for defense.
"No," he reasons inwardly, a spark of clarity cutting through the chaos. "An open space would likely be easier to defend, as counterintuitive as it seems. The cramped areas could become potential traps."
As the onslaught of zombies continues unabated, Lucas sighs and discharges another fireball into the horde. His voice murmurs a cryptic phrase, lost amidst the clamor and chaos of the battlefield.
"We'll leave future troubles for future me," he remarks wryly, a touch of resignation in his tone.