At 12 pm exactly something unexpected happened, the sound of a bell rang loudly at the top of the science building on campus.
It made Baladan jump at the sudden loud ringing, when he looked out the window of the cafeteria what he saw horrified him.
Dozens of Shadow Corpses had been moving towards the sound! It was terrifying to think people may be trapped in a building that is now being swarmed by the undead.
Bal: "W-We should get moving! With every creature heading towards the sound of bells we should have a easier time getting to the rest of the rooms with potential survivors and finally the nurses office…"
Rosa stood up slowly soon moving close to Baladan a indifferent look on her face as she waited for them to move out.
Bal: "I suggest that Tony and Aria stay behind to watch Gary as we make our way through the school. I want you to block up the door when we leave to make sure nothing gets in before we get back"
Tony: "Ok, me and Aria will take stock of all the food we have as well as supplies while you are gone. If we hear or see anything else we will inform you when you return so, don't die"
Aria kept quiet this time, she knew they had to do this and if anyone was going to be able to survive out there it would be those 2.
Bal: "Of course, try to find anything you can use as a weapon to arm yourselves just in case one of those Shadow Corpses tries to get inside"
———
Bal and Rosa soon left the cafeteria, weapons in hand as they search through the halls.
His free hand was holding a map of the campus as the other held firmly onto the axe. With every turn the images of people running for their lives as Shadow Corpses came out of the class rooms eating the students filled his mind.
He took a quick deep breath calming himself down as he peaked around the corner. There he saw 2 Shadow Corpses slowly walking down the hall towards them. With the sound of the bells he could only assume they are heading for the exit.
What shocked him was the thought that they aren't completely mindless. If they were then their bodies would be pushed up against the windows to the building trying to head the most direct way to the sound.
Now that he thought about it, this might actually be the case! With the creature suddenly leaping over the table to tackle him before. Plus the Shadow Blob using its fat to roll around crushing anything that got in its way.
It felt like they had low intelligence instead of none! With that thought in mind he decided to test it, he looked for something to throw only to find a severed leg still wearing a brand new shoe. He felt like throwing up but held it back, he quickly picked up the leg and threw it behind them.
The sound made one of them look back, the other was more focused on what it saw throw the object. When one turned around it looked where the sound was coming from before turning back to walk for the exit.
Baladan immediately understood what this meant. They could still see and hear, they can probably even smell! These creatures are terrifying! If they are allowed to continue living then they could be a big problem for humanity.
With no other tests in his mind he came around the corner with Rosa. Due to the preparations they had made with creating Aura and learning more about the system Baladan and Rosa weren't as scared as they had been previously.
Rosa never was truly scared of these creatures, with her not having felt their power first hand she felt like they were annoying creatures that kept getting in the way of her prince.
Bal: "I'll take these 2 out, try looking through the rooms to see if there is anything useful as I secure the area"
Rosa: "Ok! If something happens yell out and I'll blow their heads off in seconds!"
She then walked over to the first room close by, the door had been broken up leaving no one inside so she walked in looking through all the bags left behind.
Baladan on the other hand wanted to test something new. With the aura he had created before he decided to try and manipulate it to cover his body as he rushed forward.
Immediately he noticed a change in his speed, it took him seconds to go from one side of the hall to around the center before he swung his axe and completely cut through one of the Shadow Corpses heads. The creature fell down with a splat.
[Congratulations! You have slain a level 5 Shadow Corpse! You gain 150 exp!]
[You have gained 10 DE from level 5 Shadow Corpse]
[Death Energy Cap has been reached! Please finish your evolution requirement to become a first circle being!]
He was slightly surprised about how easy it was to kill it. He didn't have much time to ponder on it as the other creature lunged at him!
Baladan was ready this time, he immediately dropped the axe to his side before grabbing onto the creatures hands now testing his strength.
With the bonus from the jacket and his aura covering his body he easily began to over power it. With his power now over the creatures he realized that they start off 2 times stronger then normal humans!?
Instead of playing with the creature that's looking deep into his soul ready to bite his throat out Baladan just sweeps one leg around tripping it before stepping on its chest as he picked up his axe and slammed it into the creatures skull.
Bal: 'Should I check my status now? I haven't even allocated my attribute points yet either, I will do that before going to help Rosa with the rooms'
[Death System]
Name: Baladan Thatcher
Level: 1
Exp: 600 (Next Level: 900)
Race: ???
Class: Life & Death Sorcerer
Innate Ability: Time Of Death, Steal Time, Consume Death, Sense Death (New).
Ability: Aura Warrior
Title: Surrounded By Death
[Status]
Strength: 11/16 (+5 Jacket)
Agility: 9
Health: 11 (11)
Stamina: 10/15 (9) (+5 Jacket)
Mana: 5 (1)
Death Energy (DE): 100 (100)
Aura Points: 7 (5) (New)
-When Aura is used the body gains a bonus to all physical stats equal to the maximum amount of Aura Points you have.
Attribute Points: 5
[Techniques]
Aura Empowerment
Bal took a second to think about what he wanted to allocate his attribute points to. With his lack of Mana he could put all 5 into it and use it to create more aura that will increase his overall stats all at once.
Or he could put them all into Agility giving him a bigger boost of speed to help kill the creatures faster to quicken his leveling.
In the end he took a deep breath before tapping on his panel multiple times and confirming the allocation of his points. Once he did he had a disappointed look on his face before sending the panel away.
Mana: 10 (1)
———
With day light burning and bags of different useful items in their arms Rosa and Bal continued to search around the school killing any of the Shadow Corpses they pass.
In the end both of them had leveled up to the beginning of level 2 which Baladan allocated 5 more points into mana before they finally made it to the nurses office.
Just like they thought creatures are all over this floor. It seems like most of the students here didn't get to come out of their classrooms after the massive wave of people came running down the halls.
Actually many of the doors were still closed, with signs of being attacked but for some reason they didn't get broken down. The thought of people having killed the creatures inside and are now trapped flashed in his mind as he examines the situation.
Bal: "Rosa, let's draw them towards the stairs and funnel them here. Then we will clear them out quickly using your fire and my axe…"
Rosa: "Ok! Just tell me when to start blasting and we will cook these fuckers!"
Both of them had been whispering to each other making up a plan to kill what looked like 20 Shadow Corpses only to hear a set of steady footsteps coming from above them and down the stairs.
When both of them pulled back a little they saw a burly Shadow Corpse with bulging muscles going from the top floor towards them. A shiver went down Baladan's spine when he realized this creature could see them!
Bal: 'Damnit I should have known! If I can use Sense Death then why can't these fuckers who use Death Energy as well!'
He immediately pulled Rosa back heading down the stairs as the creature jumps the railing now starting to run after them.
Bal: "Throw the bags into a empty classroom! We need to pull it away from the other Shadow Corpses quickly or we will be in big trouble!"
Rosa immediately threw the bags to the side as she ran beside Baladan.
They both ran for their lives barely running out of the range of the hulking creature charging down the hallway after them.
Once they get to the lobby where they had more then enough room to maneuver they jumped out of the way letting the behemoth run by before slamming into the wall.
The bricks had been cracked heavily upon impact, with the creature running full force into it. It is honestly a miracle that the wall didn't crumble!
Bal: "Rosa! Get your spells ready! We are taking this fucker down here and now!"
Baladan stood up axe in hand ready for the creature.
Bal: 'I'll use everything I have to end you here and now!'