After thinking for a while, everyone realized that they had to open a path with brute strength. Even if they could use magic or use all kinds of resources across the city, it wouldn't be enough to defeat countless zombies… the city had over millions of inhabitants, after all. So, after a short pause at noon to have lunch, they began to hunt zombies in earnest. However, it seemed that they weren't lucky enough to face zombies and level up safely. While they were fighting, a group of those starving wolves appeared, and they began to eat half of the zombies with a single bite. They stopped that when they found a fresher meal… Luke's group.
"Protect the rear guard, don't let the zombies attack us," Luke said to Stanley, Leah, Patrick, and Olivia. "We will deal with those."
That was easier said than done since they had to fight three versus three, and Luke was the only one who could be in the front line. Nevertheless, he charged toward them, but before either he or the wolves could do anything, Celia used Fireball. The wolf close to Luke tried to disperse the attack with its Wind Barrier, but the monster failed, much to everyone's surprise, and its face began to burn. It seemed that Celia's power when it came to magic was higher than the wolves…
While clenching his teeth and trying to put all the strength behind the attack, Luke used Stinger and tried to stab the monster's face. However, the beastly instincts of the monster warned the creature and made it use its paws to block the attack. While that protected the beast from a critical hit, it made Luke's swords pierce one of those entirely and half of the other, making the monster growl in agony. The other two monsters tried to crush Luke with their paws, but Shalia finally used her mana to do something and used ice magic to freeze the monster's paws for a moment. It was the perfect moment to attack those, but Luck swung his sword to stop the other beast. He tried to use a slash alongside with Stinger, and while he avoided the attack, he didn't cause much damage since the fur of those monsters was too thick.
Amanda finally joined the fray and tried to crack the frozen paws of the monster that Shalia stopped. Still, while her attacks made the best grunt in agony when the ice broke, the pawns were just bleeding a little. Nevertheless, when the beasts turned around to face Luke, he surprised them with Stinger and made his sword pierce the throat of one of the monsters.
"Hell yeah… if strength isn't solving your problem, it is because you aren't using enough strength," Luke said.
While the monster was trembling all over in agony, the attack didn't kill the beast, but the fact that Luke made his sword spin in the monster's neck did it. That required an absurd amount of strength, but Luke had it since he had been increasing his strength like a madman.
You obtained 15 experience points.
You obtained 15 gold coins.
The remaining monsters tried to attack Luke before he could recover. Still, a Fireball exploded right on their path and stopped them. Amanda began to hit those two faces, which gave Luke a perfect chance to attack their heads. However, instead of charging toward them, they grabbed several knives and used Weapon Augmentation while aiming for their eyes. Naturally, the monsters didn't see those coming, and one of them lost the sight while the other only lost one eye.
Luke ignored the blind one and charged toward the other. Thanks to the damage caused, the furious beast was completely enraged and tried to rip Luke apart with its claws, but Luke stopped the monster's attack with Stinger. Yet again, he made his sword spin to cause great pain at the beast. While the beast was screaming, two fireballs landed on its face and killed it. Meanwhile, Amanda slowly killed the blind one with her Ice Arrows.
You obtained 14 experience points.
You obtained 14 gold coins.
You obtained 10 experience points.
You obtained 10 gold coins.
"That was too risky, Luke," Amanda said while Luke was grabbing a skill book from the ground. "What happened to your previous tactic of weakening the enemy?"
"You can't understand my tactics since my IQ is too high…" Luke shrugged.
"Why do you always try to annoy me?" Amanda asked.
"It is retribution," Luke replied. "Nevertheless, waiting and letting the monsters attack wouldn't be the best of ideas… we would get crushed."
Congratulations! You have learned the skill Spark Ball.
It grants you the power to summon a sphere of electricity that can cause damage and paralyze the enemies for a time according to the damage they received. The damage will be equal to your half of your intelligence, plus your level multiplied by the skill level.
Cost: 05 MP
Luke didn't know that skill book would grant him, but he imagined that it was a magic skill book since the cover was green and some lightning-like things were drawn on it as well. Since Amanda and Celia already had long-ranged attacks, it was his time to obtain one… one that doesn't consumes things while he uses it.
"The drop rate is really a mess… I can't imagine humans surviving for long relying only on those knives," Luke said. At the same time, he watched Stanley, Leah, Patrick, and Olivia fighting the zombies that were approaching.
"Let's help them," Amanda said, but then Luke stopped her.
"We used too much mana. It is time to recover it," Luke said. "They are fighting well, for the time being, so we can leave those to them."
While the zombies had grown stronger over time, Celia and Amanda's parents still were hanging in there. They were a bit slow, but their focus was rather impressive… they barely made any mistakes and naturally watched each other's back… which made Luke wonder how his parents were doing.