Born quickly led everyone back, fighting at the staircase was not ideal.
The only open space was in the classrooms.
Born rushed into a classroom and directed everyone to push the desks and chairs aside.
Soon, the feral cat walked in again, strutting gracefully and nonchalantly.
Born observed it closely.
Its eyes were blood-red, and it had rotting wounds on its body, indicating it was likely a zombie.
Could animals mutate too?
Judging by its behavior, the feral cat hadn't lost its sanity and didn't attack immediately, unlike normal zombies.
"Could it still retain some pre-mutation habits?" Pearl exclaimed.
Her words echoed Born's suspicion.
"Be careful. Mia, you'll have to be the main attacker."
Mia acknowledged and cautiously approached the feral cat.
The cat licked its paw, completely unfazed by Mia's approach.
As Mia closed the distance, her eyes flashed with determination, and she suddenly accelerated.
But the next moment, she was swatted back.
Her combat suit tore at the chest, revealing lace underneath.
Three bloody claw marks were clearly visible to Born.
Ignoring everything else, Born stepped forward and placed his hand on Mia's chest.
A white light appeared.
Three claw marks cost 12 points to heal, and clearing the zombie toxins cost 10 points.
Just one treatment used up 22 points.
Born immediately changed his strategy.
He exchanged 50 bolts, as there were not many points left.
50 bolts cost 25 points, leaving 25 points remaining.
"Engage in ranged combat, and try not to get injured."
Born's tone was serious.
Everyone nodded and spread out.
The feral cat continued licking its paw, still stained with Mia's blood.
Thwack, thwack, thwack!
A volley of crossbow bolts was fired.
The feral cat suddenly leaped, grabbing onto the ceiling and hanging upside down, evading the attack.
"Holy crap!"
Born didn't know what to say.
The feral cat lunged again.
Mia dashed forward, discarding her firefighter's axe. She used a knife-hand strike to deflect the cat's paw and then quickly ducked and jumped back.
Everyone quickly raised their automatic crossbows, and a volley of bolts was fired, hitting the feral cat this time.
Blood flowed profusely.
This clearly enraged the tabby cat, and it suddenly accelerated, darting forward.
The group suppressed it with continuous fire while retreating.
Born suddenly had an idea and called Laura and Sibley, who were without crossbows, to join him.
The three of them picked up small desks and chairs and started throwing them at the cat.
Born, tiring quickly, had a new plan.
The classroom had front and back doors, and they retreated near the back door.
Born immediately started stacking desks together.
Pearl instructed her team to help Born, and they quickly built a barricade.
The feral cat could easily jump over this height.
But with each leap, bolts would hit it, throwing it off balance.
The cat would crash into the desks, which Born and the others would hold in place with their bodies.
With four or five desks stacked together, forming a width of three to four meters, the cat made another jump.
But mid-air, its belly was exposed.
Mia's eyes flashed. She grabbed the firefighter's axe and charged forward.
She slid across the desks, raising the axe overhead.
Smash!
The feral cat fell onto the desks, toppling them, with blood spilling everywhere.
The group didn't hesitate, continuously shooting until they ran out of bolts.
Congratulations, host, for the first kill of a mutated creature. You have earned 100 points and a bonus of 300 points.
Please carefully examine the mutated creature's body.
Born was curious.
But he chose to trust the system's words.
This kill had significantly increased his points to 425.
Fortunately, the subsequent battles were more of a guerrilla style, with everyone only sustaining minor scrapes while dodging.
To avoid any risk of zombie toxins, Born promptly helped everyone heal their injuries.
Angelica watched in stunned silence. She had many questions but couldn't bring herself to ask them.
Then, Born asked Mia for the firefighter's axe and, following the system's prompt, split open the feral cat's head.
A marble-like object rolled out onto the ground.
Ignoring the grime, Born picked it up and examined it closely.
The marble was glowing?
Evolution energy detected. Confirm absorption?
"Absorb it," Born ordered, somewhat uncertainly.
Points +500, simultaneously points -500, activating the full member ability system. The host can awaken an ability for free once. Awaken now?
Abilities?
Holy crap!
Born was so shocked he almost jumped up.
Was he finally going to stand out?
Awaken, definitely awaken, especially since it's free!
Congratulations, host, on completing the ability awakening. Current ability level: 1. Points can be used to upgrade ability level.
Ability: Thunder Field – Can release lightning around the body, controlling it to launch attacks.
Ability Level 1, Skill: Thunder Strike
Born was stunned. That was it?
Wasn't awakening an ability supposed to trigger celestial phenomena, with thunder rolling and lightning flashing?
The system does not want to elaborate further. Please stop reading so much fantasy fiction.
Born's mouth twitched.
Wait!
Did the system just talk to him?
Could it also detect his thoughts?
Born tried probing a few more times in his mind, but the system didn't respond.
Oh well, a shy system.
Being teased by the system was a bit embarrassing.
He opened the abilities panel.
Ability Level 1 (100 points needed to upgrade to the next level)
With the 400 points he had just gained, Born unhesitatingly spent them all on upgrades.
Ability Level 4 (100 points needed to upgrade to the next level) Skill: Thunder Strike
Born was puzzled. No change?
But then he noticed on the system panel that his spirit attribute had increased from 1 to 5.3, a significant increase of 4.3.
This wasn't a small number. 1 point of spirit equated to the average adult's baseline, and he now had the equivalent of five people's total spirit.
He could confirm that this increase was due to his ability.
However, now wasn't the time to experiment with his ability.
Unfortunately, there were no zombies in the school building.
"With thunder, shatter the darkness!"
"Yes, just like that!"
Born was startled and turned around to see an elementary school student suddenly appear at the classroom door.
"Holy crap, holy crap!"
At that moment, a slender hand reached out and patted the student on the head.
"It's dangerous for you to be out here. Come back with the teacher."
"Look, the cat is dead!"
"Wow, that cat was so powerful. How did you guys kill it? Amazing, amazing!"
The student jumped up and down excitedly, like a little monkey.
A beautiful woman in a floral dress, with long braids, emerged.
She tucked her hair behind her ear, curiously peering into the classroom.
In that instant, both were stunned.
"Lane?"
"Born?"