He wasn't one to want to continue to have an emotional conversation, so he chose this time to leave. As he walked past Ailetta, she wasn't crying like he thought she would, considering he just turned her down. This worked for him too since that would've made the situation more awkward.
Reaching the door, he placed his hand on the handle and remained there for a moment. He needed to readjust his mood from the conversation earlier since it could prove to be a distraction later. He thought back to everything that's happened today. The near-death experiences, the annoying people, the thrills. He didn't realize it, but a smile soon surfaced on his face.
He swung the door open abruptly, prepared to continue his enjoyment of this new life given to him when he heard Ailetta's voice shouting from behind.
"This isn't goodbye, Noah! I'll become strong! Strong enough to never hold you back!" Ailetta determinedly declared as she vowed to overcome her weakness and be able to stand by Noah's side. Her words not only were meant to encourage herself but in a hopeful attempt for Noah to not forget about her.
He wasn't sure why, but her words touched him. His excited smile that he had before turned into one of warmth. But both he and Ailetta weren't aware of the look Mark was giving the two during their interaction. Mark's expression was a mixture of emotions, his gaze flickering between the two, with no one aware of what he could be thinking.
———
"Urrgh," Noah groaned as he stretched his body upon stepping outside. Dealing with everyone had left him feeling tense; he would rather face a hundred zombies than engage in conversation with disagreeable people. But now, surrounded by the chaotic sounds echoing in the distance and breathing in the fresh air, he finally felt at ease again.
"Well, it looks like it's just you and me again. Wait! We need a name for you but…are you a male or female?"
The question that Noah assumed to be a simple one only ended up leaving the spider confused. It doesn't know human language at all and has only been able to communicate with him through intentions. But through their bond, it has also been able to comprehend some of the simple words it's heard so far. Although even then it was still confused about the question.
"Ahem! I mean….are you the fucker or the one that gets fucked?" He looked towards the spider with a serious gaze afterwards. He didn't pay too much mind to his vulgar question; he was just trying to make it as simple for the spider as he thought was possible.
"!"
The expected reaction didn't occur; it seemed that the spider actually took offense to the question. It suddenly appeared agitated while it started to trample its legs onto the ground. 'Are you trying to call me weak?' It seemed to be implying. It wasn't as if Noah tried to agitate it intentionally; it seems that he had forgotten the common rule of most insects. And that was the hierarchy between the females and males.
Within most of the species of the insect kingdom, the females were always the dominant party. Even in the spider's situations, the female was normally much larger than the average male.
"So you're a female? Ok my bad, my bad! I should've realized that since only a queen spider can become as powerful as you, am I right?" His wry smile showed that he was just trying to get on the spider's good side and thankfully it worked. It was more than satisfied with what he said, which only made Noah more helpless against his companion. 'Not only is she a glutton, but apparently she's very prideful. Well, maybe not too prideful…she at least has been listening to me. Let's see…I still need a name…'
"Oh, I know!" The sudden outburst startled the spider, who had been waiting patiently while distracting herself by observing their surroundings. She was about to go on another tantrum for being startled so suddenly until she heard what he had to say next.
"I'll call you Arachne! What the name actually means doesn't matter, but supposedly Arachne is a legendary Spider that ruled over all spiders…she was also very prideful and was punished for that. I think this name suits you a lot. Together, you'll become the most powerful spider there is, but you have to make sure you're a good girl or your punishment will be less food."
Arachne was moved upon hearing her name, mainly the part about being the strongest, although the later half returned her back to reality. If she was going to get less food for having a name then she would rather not have one!
"Haha~ don't overthink it, you just have to listen and you can become strong, it's simple right?
But now…let's see, we still have to relocate…I'm tired of being mistaken for a zombie so we need a place where I can clean up, and returning back to the dorm isn't a good idea."
He said while looking in the distance towards the dorms, he could discern small silhouettes of zombies gradually approaching. To his dismay, it was the distant figures of living people running away from said zombies that affected him the most.
He mentally patted himself on the back for making the decision to leave the cafeteria; he was beginning to believe that the place would soon become a beacon for all survivors. However, it wasn't as if the cafeteria was the only place the students were attracted to. When Noah first looked out the boys' dorm window, he couldn't help but notice the students running for the parking lots.
Noah didn't have a car, so leaving by car was the last option on his mind, and he believed that any smart person would shut that idea down after thinking it through. Fleeing without information and a plan is never a smart move. And even then, if everyone decided to leave in their cars, then heavy traffic was sure to occur. Noah would rather be stuck in a building than stuck in a car with no protection.
He also noticed students heading in another direction, towards a building almost as large as the cafeteria, if not larger.
"Fuck me…Okay, I understand the cafeteria, but why there too?" It took a moment for Noah to register what the other building was; it just so happened to be another shelter besides the dorms where he could take a shower to remove all the blood. He thought the gym would be the next perfect setup to use as a base. It's still relatively close to the cafeteria, so he wouldn't have to go too far away from the mysterious shopkeeper, and the gym is fairly large without too many obstacles. If he ever was overrun by zombies or needed to retreat from something he couldn't contend against, then he wouldn't have to navigate through too many obstacles to do so.
"Well, there shouldn't be too many people there, right? Okay, let's go Arachne…shoot, that's kind of a mouthful to say…I may already need a nickname for you…Well, whatever, let's head over there, and then we can rest for a bit. I'm sure that there aren't just zombies on the campus. That voice earlier referred to 'all' humans, so I'm willing to bet that we will be pincered in soon, so we have a lot of work to do."
Considering the amount of screaming echoing throughout the campus, along with students attempting to flee by car, he was certain they would soon attract a lot of attention from outside, potentially drawing in unwanted visitors. Determined to act before that occurred, he and Arachne hastily made their way towards the gym.
Since the zombies were slow, he didn't have to worry about them for quite a while, or so he thought. When he was making his way to the gym, the group he saw previously who were also on their way there began to scream.
He was sure by the screams that they were being attacked. He didn't care about their situation, but he was at least sure that the zombies from the dorms shouldn't be able to reach here yet; at least they shouldn't be able to catch someone who was running away. So his first thought was an animal that mutated, like the vulture for instance.
Now that he had a better understanding of his spider's capabilities, he knew that if they weren't directly confronting their enemy, then Arachne would have an overwhelming advantage. It would probably be in his best interest to recuperate first, as he had the ability to regain his stamina, unlike his spider. But how could he let a juicy situation such as this pass by? He wouldn't always be able to find bait to draw in a big fish unless he was willing to play the bait himself.
[Player: Arachne
Race: Jumping Spider
Class: Arachnid
Lvl: 5
Exp:75/400
Health:70%
Stamina:53%
Mana: 4]
Just in case, he did a quick look at Arachne's stats to check her stamina. He couldn't use human standards when addressing an animal, even more so to a spider that was nothing close to natural. And he was right to do so; the spider already recovered close to 10% of its stamina in that small amount of time, which was already unbelievable to him. But he noted something else that was even more unthinkable.
'?? How did her experience increase? We didn't fight! Unless…' He thought back to what she's been doing ever since after the fight.
'Is she really getting experience from just eating? Is that some kind of skill or can we grow from eating too? Maaaann I want to try it so bad now, would my Chimera race make me absorb the traits of everything I eat then? It didn't work on my protein bar so maybe it only works on living creatures that can also level up?
So I should be okay as long as I avoid that for now. But that means I won't get extra experience either…ugh! This is annoying! I need time to think this through…Let's check things out over there first, and then I'll make figuring this out my top priority.'
Having finally finished his inner rant, he quickened his pace to reach the group being attacked. Arachne's stamina was good enough for now to handle whatever they encountered unless the animals widened the gap in strength from the time he spent in the cafeteria, which seemed impossible in his mind. If his spider could get tired, then the rest of the animals should feel fatigued as well.
However, he also thought about the fact that Arachne was able to recover a portion of her stamina faster than usual. 'Maybe feeding also helps stamina recovery, which would mean animals have another advantage. Unless humans start adapting to this new life, then we will soon be out of the race of survival of the fittest.'
"Ahhhh! AHHHHH! N-NO HE-HEL-HELP MEEEEEE!"
When Noah finally came upon the group, he estimated at least ten people there. The number was most likely reduced by one after the agonizing scream he had heard earlier. Noah then noticed the group had stopped, all facing in the direction of the screams. He wasn't quite sure if they were contemplating to help the person or if they were just attempting to sate their curiosity by watching the person's end.
The group's indecisiveness didn't last long before two of the females broke away and made a beeline for the gymnasium. From the start, Noah had already witnessed this kind of scenario play out plenty of times, so he knew what was going to happen next. After the two ran away, the rest who thought about being a hero also followed in their footsteps, leaving the student alone to die.
This finally left Noah alone to observe what they were running from. Surely it must be something truly horrifying, that a group of nine would be so afraid to help out someone they knew. But not only was the perpetrator something he wasn't expecting, Noah was now beyond conflicted by what he was witnessing..
"Wait….that's a zombie, isn't it? And they were just running, right? What the fuck is happening?"