The result was explosive. The hot and cold air formed a whirlpool that advanced fiercely down the hallway. The group had to hold on tightly to the railings to avoid being blown away. Luckily, the zombie on the other side wasn't having a much better time.
Adam and the others heard its screams. The whirlpool could have grown into a full-blown tornado, but the magical energy fueling the blizzard and flames was not infinite, so it soon died down and the hallway fell silent.
Adam surveyed the mess left by the whirlwind. Part of the railing of the building was ripped out of the ground. The wall also showed signs of having been damaged. Lying on the floor of the hallway, wounded, was the zombie they were looking for.
The zombie's eyes were red, but lava seemed to run in his veins and all his skin looked like a burnt scab.
Marlen was the first to get up and react. She ran straight at the zombie, before it could have a chance to summon more flames. Tarin, meanwhile, lay on the ground, sweating, unable to believe the forces he had unleashed.
He had poured all his energy into a single spell, so the fight was over for him.
Jane and Noah prepared to fire at the zombie, while Adam approached ready to absorb any flame the enemy threw.
The zombie, stunned by what had happened, didn't react until Marlen had gone half the distance; and at that point it fired, from the ground, a second fireball.
Marlen expected the attack, so she rolled on the ground and let the ball pass over her. Behind her, Adam stopped for a second and deflected the attack.
The second explosion of the fireball prevented Noah and Jane from being able to shoot the enemy, as they had to back up to avoid burns. Adam, who unfortunately was closest, received a severe burn on one of his legs.
Marlen got up and moved even closer to the zombie who, in panic, raised a wall of fire in front of him. Marlen knew that backing away would give the zombie time to cover them with fire, so she didn't stop and ran through the wall screaming in pain; even with the slight contact.
The zombie was waiting for her on the other side. To the warrior's surprise, she received a strong blow to the stomach that was about to send her back towards the wall of fire.
Luckily, the zombie was not very strong and she managed to resist the impact. She raised her axe and with all her might struck the zombie.
The axe easily severed one of the zombie's arms, which screamed in pain and fell back a few steps. Marlen tried to continue the attack, but the zombie's blood was literally lava. Some of it landed on her arm and armor. Marlen felt so much pain that she fell to the ground on her knees.
The zombie raised its other arm to fire another fireball at Marlen, but just then a shot rang out; followed almost instantly by another.
Noah made out, momentarily, through the wall of fire, how Marlen fell to her knees, so he raised his gun and aimed at the zombie. His double shot hit the monster in the head, which suddenly exploded and left everything covered in burning lava. Marlen was spared because the fiery liquid was scattered into the hallway, but she came close to it.
The wall of fire went out and Miriam was able to run out to help her sister, after helping Adam, who had been left behind affected by the second fireball.
As Miriam passed Noah she shot him a furious look, for she had seen how close her sister had come to getting all the lava on top of her.
Jane, meanwhile, lowered her bow. She was preparing a [Certain Shot], but was glad it wasn't necessary.
Soon the whole group gathered in the hallway, in front of the corpse of the zombie.
"Well, that was easier than expected," said Noah, who was looking curiously at the mess the lava had left behind.
"Yes, but without the blizzard we wouldn't even have been able to find the zombie."
Adam looked at Tarin and he nodded, relieved that the fight was over. The zombie had thrown a crystal and a book, but no one could get close as long as the lava continued to burn.
"Besides, this zombie's ability to do damage is several times that of the Zombie Glacier. We can survive a blizzard, but I doubt anyone here can withstand a direct hit from a fireball.
The temperature in the atmosphere dropped and gradually everyone felt relieved. While waiting to collect the items, the group decided to finish clearing the building of the remaining zombies.
The fight against the unevolved zombies no longer carried any risk. Everyone in the group was strong enough to take them on, so it didn't take Adam long to get the message he was waiting for.
[Congratulations on clearing a large building of the presence of hostiles. As the territory is adjacent to the Nuevo Sol haven and the team that cleared it belongs to that shelter, Adam Rega has obtained ownership of the building].
At last, after almost a full day of continuous combat, the group had completely cleared the building. Adam was relieved, but at the same time surprised. In just one day they had cleared all 120 apartments. He looked up at the sky and was surprised that it was still so early, it should be a few hours before nightfall. The fights had been brief and brutal, but the breaks had gotten longer as they had fought and fought.
Adam looked at his hands. He felt some pain from the burns from the fireballs, but Miriam had helped him heal them. It was amazing what the system allowed him to do and how the levels made him so much stronger and resilient than an ordinary human. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like when he reached level 100, or level 1000. Was there even a maximum?
But his excitement was cut off when Adam remembered clearly what had happened to the Zoila. Two children had died horrible deaths on this new world and it had probably been repeated everywhere. It was there that it finally dawned on him how many millions of people had died between yesterday and today? How many children?
Adam decided to stop thinking about it and worry about continuing to survive. The seventh day, where supposedly there would be many changes, seemed so far away in his mind.
The group met again on the top floor, in the corridor affected by flames and lava. Adam had again received the announcement that his property was partially damaged and that he needed people with the right classes and materials to repair the place.
On the ground was the same blue crystal as always and a new spell that resulted in no surprises.
[Fireball].
Adam stowed it in his bag and prepared to let Carlos know everything was ready, but Tarin held him by the shoulder. The teenager hesitated a bit before speaking, but finally asked:
"Could I learn the spell?"
"You? Your specialty is ice."
"Yes, but after seeing the power of the whirlpool that formed earlier, I thought it might be a good idea to master both elements and combine them."
Adam looked at him open-mouthed, it did indeed seem like a good idea, especially considering the power he had observed earlier.
"That's fine, but you'll have to find a place where you can practice without harming anyone."
"Are you going to deliver the spell to that traitor? Wouldn't he go straight home after this?"
Adam looked at Marlen with a frown.
"Stop it, Marlen. I think I've said it many times before, we shouldn't be fighting with each other."
"Well then, tell that traitor that he shouldn't listen to his scumbag brother anymore, if he wants to continue to count himself among the living."
Marlen walked past, still ignoring Tarin, and down the stairs of the building. Tarin sighed in relief as the woman disappeared.
"Someday she'll grow out of it, I'm sure."
"Adam, you should talk to my brother. He has contacted other groups of survivors in the suburb."
"Other groups?" Adam was excited, if more people had survived then things would be easier.
"Yes, but there's some kind of problem. You see, I overheard part of my brother's last conversation and there seems to be a very powerful zombie out there, I don't know anything else, so you should talk to him."
Adam nodded. All of the evolved zombies in the superblock had turned out to be stronger than expected. Even the Gorger, seemed to have superior abilities to what he had encountered in his building. The more he thought about it, the more he believed the zombies were also leveling up or something.