***
The stragglers grunted, barked and yelled, but to no avail.
The man they wanted to reach was as nonchalant as ever, his ability the same. It was a wonder, seeing even grade Bs struggle to reach him.
However, he just stood there looking at them as if they were idiots.
Josh was very indifferent towards many things, including the name of his own innate ability.
Names were given to easily identify an innate ability. It was also a cool aesthetic and activity done to make the dark atmosphere of the apocalypse lighter.
When the world was brought to ruin, Josh had been prepared to die. Unlike most people, he didn't mourn. Creating attachments to people is a hard thing not to do. Therefore, he had an easy way to go around it.
Not interact with people at all.
Being the introvert that he was, the only time he truly smiled was when he was on his own, keeping to himself.
When Mother Earth had distributed the life energy for invigoration, Josh thought of his time alone doing the things he loved.
He loved his parents, but the happiness of their company was no longer tangible to him anymore. Truthfully he would prefer not to think about it.
That was how the innate ability, Lonely Bastard was born.
It created an area of at most 20 meters where no one other than himself was allowed to exist. Only him and him alone.
The restriction was, no allies.
He couldn't include comrades within this zone of utter protection.
That's why he always considered himself and Sandra opposites. Character-wise and ability-wise.
That's why he usually preferred acting alone. Protecting was pretty difficult for him if he decided to use his ability.
As the creatures grew more agitated, Josh raised his hand and the radius of Lonely Bastard was reduced from 5 meters to less than a meter.
The monsters flocked towards him, hungrily biting and clawing the air anticipating to rip apart.
However, just as quickly as the force preventing them from getting closer receded, an overbearing power expanded with Josh at the centre expanding to 20 meters within less than a second!
Every single one of the Stragglers was blown away. There was no physical impact on any non-living object, only the stragglers, some of which got eviscerated!
Josh didn't stay still, but darted forward and began shooting down those who were already down and those that were on death's door.
A Grade B humanoid straggler rushed him. Its fist grew at least triple its size and it launched it towards the approaching Josh.
The man didn't even flinch, making his towards the punch and drawing his sabre.
The fist of the straggler reached Josh's face but stopped only an inch away.
While the straggler was still confused, Josh beheaded it with a simple slash and rushed forward, nullifying all attacks sent his way and killing all stragglers like flies.
'Those grade As are getting closer. It's time to deal with them,' he thought as he rushed in their direction.
The reason why he had called them potential grade As in the plane was because of their movement. The level of sentience they demonstrated by not rushing in recklessly depicted that they could think properly.
*
On the other side of the battle, a girl with a water tank on her back was going on a murder spree.
She ran faster than the wind, slaughtering tens of Stragglers as she went by.
She did not use any guns or tactical knives, but in both of her hands were.... swords.
They were made of water...or rather ice. You could see the hardness of ice by the wisps of white steam that made it seem like they had been in a cryogenic freezer.
The whole structure of the blades was colourless but the edges were white in colour. When they sliced through any of the Stragglers, they did as good of a job as any blade, leaving behind a seamless cut.
Three animal type Stragglers leapt towards her. A humanoid deer, a giant rat as well as a lizard. Their speed was ridiculous and their attack ferocious. Behind them, Stragglers of all kinds followed behind.
Yang Hai raised her hand and pushed it forward, causing a fountain of the water in the tank to gush out from the opening in the centre of the cap. The water reformed into tens of majestic swords in the air, gleaming as they were illuminated by the sun.
She swung her hand down, and with pinpoint accuracy, she nailed them all through the head to the ground!
They screeched and grunted before losing their lives. Most of them at least.
More streams of clear water gushed from the tank and entered the orifices of the dead and dying Stragglers!
Their bodies jerked up and down as the water penetrated their blood vessels, vigorously mingled with the blood and then escaped through any means it could from the bodies.
The reddish water began gathering in the air forming a large ball.
This was Yang Hai's ability.
Innate Ability: Liquid Response.
She could control water, forming shapes and changing its state at will.
She still had the tube that led to her mouth.
This was for the restriction that came with the ability.
She had to always be hydrating. Thus, some of the water in the tank was for her consumption.
Restrictions didn't always embody the individual as the innate ability did. Sometimes they were abstract and peculiar.
However, when Yang Hai used her ability she always felt strength draining from her body. After a few tests she discovered that as she used the water as she willed, she lost water in her body simultaneously thus weakening her.
To supplement this, she always brought her tank of water.
As she gathered the bloody water into a ball, she suddenly felt a powerful presence behind her moving at a tremendous speed!
There was no time to dodge, so she used the only method available to her at the moment.
Throwing a fist at her was a bulky humanoid that emitted purple smoke. The force of the fist caused the air to release a piercing sound that would make normal humans bleed from ears.
The fist came into contact with something extraordinarily hard. A shocking impact resounded, and the structure that had blocked the punch cracked and broke, releasing fragments that fell to the ground.
A massive crater bloomed under the bulky humanoid and Yang Hai from the sheer impact! Everything was blocked by the gusts of dust that were raised on collision.
When the dust settled, the bulky humanoid was staring expressionlessly at a massive tower shield, his fist still pressing on it!
The tower shield was made entirely out of ice that exuded white steam of chill. It was at least half a meter thick and 2 meters tall with a rectangular shape. The colour of the shield didn't match its cold air.
It was blood red.
Swirls of blood danced within the shield giving it an enchanting look. Behind the shield was a girl in a like coloured armour that covered her from neck to toe, releasing the same steam of cold.
It hugged her figure well, even with its lack of design.
The cracked shield started to recover, the cracks vanishing like they were never there.
It was an Extension Ability of Liquid Response.
Yang Hai could control water only, however she could borrow properties of other liquids and add it to the water.
The shield and armour were made with water stained by the stragglers' blood. Blood in its nature has cells that divide and multiply to facilitate growth given enough nourishment.
This ability worked in conjunction with her Invigoration life energy to make water capable of producing cells that divided and multiplied making the shield heal itself.
She didn't want to use more of her water, as she was facing powerful energy.
'Damn. I ran into a Grade A. This is gonna be tricky,' the thought.
The humanoid suddenly drew back his hand, but Yang Hai didn't retreat. She used that moment to turn the shield into a stream of blood that morphed into a 2-meter long axe.
It was thick, with a devilish looking head that had a reddish gleam!
She held the axe with both hands and attacked immediately.
Yang Hai leapt up and swung down the aze with all her might!
"Yaaaaaaaaah!"