Three men were sitting now in a room filled with different sized boxes and bags. One was reclining against the wall, staring intently at a notebook with his hands clasped in his. He was, of course, Leo.
Adam was attempting to achieve a meditative state while seated cross-legged across from him. But from the deep furrow on his brow, it was obvious he had not achieved deep concentration. Willie sat next to him, attempting to control the flow of his life pulse, appearing both bewildered and joyful.
Leo glanced at them from time to time as he went through the journal he had begun to complete just prior to the Second Holocaust. It had details on many monster kinds, including their names, prowess, and weaknesses; it also included information about various events and the approximate dates of them.
In Leo's copybook, zombie categorization was also noted. Initially, there was only one type of zombie, which could be classified as a level 1 monster. They were barbaric and dull.
In addition, zombie subspecies diverge based on their evolutionary histories. Generally speaking, though, they fall into three categories. The zombies could become a strength-type zombie, Giant, a speed-type zombie, Hunter, or a balanced-type zombie, Ghoul.
Hunters were incredibly nimble, and giants were incredibly powerful and hardy. Ghouls possessed strength and agility. They resembled a cross between two different kinds.
Furthermore, even common zombies may become more powerful based on the amount of biomass they have devoured. While humans leveled up by defeating monsters, zombies required food consumption to achieve the same result.
Zombies are far more evolved than humans, meaning that they constantly change and evolve at a considerably quicker rate. Rarely, zombies may even possess unique powers that set them apart from other species—abilities that are akin to human intrinsic abilities that come to life. Well, finding one was not common.
Zombies were categorized into ranks because they could become stronger by devouring people. Since high-level survivors' biomass was more important to the evolution of zombies, they were more helpful to them.
Enhancers with levels 5 to 25 could defeat rank 1 evolved zombies, while those with rank 2 evolved zombies required levels 40 to 100 enhancers to defeat them. Having been at its previous developmental stage, the giant he had killed in the library was equivalent to level 5.
'With my current strength, I can easily take down a middle rank 1 giant, but I still lack the agility to take down a rank-one hunter.' He began listing and categorizing abilities from his previous existence as he thought about the issue, since his regression had allowed him to acquire them.
'Why had I forgotten about it earlier? It's perfect for the initial stage. Leo realized this all at once when he remembered a talent from a previous existence. He had discovered it on his own when he had recently joined the life of an enhancer. He was unable to utilize it afterwards, though, because of its limitations.
Although the technique itself may be difficult, it worked well and was useful in the early phases of battles.
"Willie, are there any monsters around us?" Leo looked around, eager to practice the skill right now, but their confined area made it difficult for him to move around freely.
"There are a few of them around us, but with your strength, I doubt that they will cause you any problems." Willie had already attempted to manage it by sending multiple live pulses, so much so that he had learned the exact locations of every living thing around them by heart.
"Then I'll go outside for a while . I'd like to give things a go." After saying those things, Leo hurried out of the minimarket. Leo ventured out of the market and attempted to demonstrate his ability.
'How was it? Get your legs strong and launch yourself off the ground. Try to direct mana into your leg muscles at the same moment. The mana within muscles will burst as they contract, forcibly fusing with your leg muscles.'
Leo did as he was told, channeling a small quantity of mana into his legs and shooting forward with a single stride. The world around him began to blur as he materialized five meters from where he had started.
He almost stumbled in the center, but he managed to keep his equilibrium at the last minute.
[You have learned a flash step (LVL 1).]
[Regression is reacting to your new skill.]
[Your agility is too low to increase the level of Flash Step (LVL 1).]
Leo was a little taken aback to hear repeated system messages.
'It appears that I need to increase my agility attribute points. I overlooked the fact that, in the first stages, a [Flash Step] needs the minuscule variance between strength and agility numbers. At higher levels, it should become insignificant, though.' Leo regarded his acquisition of this skill as a miraculous feat in itself. If he had gained one more strength point, he would have undoubtedly failed.
On its first level, there should be a minute difference between strength and agility to learn [Flash Step]. To raise it to its next level, Leo needed to pour more mana into his legs. However, without needed mana control, Leo would only harm his legs rather than raise their level. He can't risk getting an injury in the initial phases. He would better wait until he gets his hands on the source of health potions.
The skill's sole drawback was that it required a lot of stamina and put a lot of pressure on the user's body. After a single use, fatigue crept through Leo's body like a heavy shroud. Furthermore, he couldn't use it excessively because he felt strain in his legs. His leg muscles would have been seriously harmed if he had used it constantly.
Leo sighed with satisfaction and smiled slightly at the outcome. Leo chose to head back to the storage area because he had previously mastered the talent. When he entered the room, he noticed that Willie and Adam were both sleeping on the floor since they were getting tired of their training.
"Leo, move quicker! We've been waiting for you, so we can eat together."
Willie grinned broadly when he saw Leo for the first time. It seems that Willie was the one who had postponed eating the longest.
Bottles of mineral water, chocolate, and canned food were discovered when they opened several of the boxes. Willie and Adam devoured it quickly, while Leo took his time. He could manage his urges and was used to feeling hungry.
Even though Adam and Willie were eating more slowly than usual, they still appeared to be relatively hungry as they devoured numerous cans of food.
"I'm sure you two got enough sleep. We're going hunting in 30 minutes, so get as much rest as you can." Leo made the decision to intervene as they were finishing off another food can.
"Okay," They were both so eager to get started that they nodded. Yes, the storage room was considerably safer, but spending so much time in one place was monotonous, and Leo could understand them perfectly. He had previously spent several months imprisoned in a single room.
"Please let me take a bus, my friend." Adam grinned and threw his arm around Leo's neck. He was somewhat familiar with leveling up, having played a few games with Leo in the past.
Leo gave him a small smile and continued, "In our circumstances, there's no such thing as riding a bus. If you are the final person to land a hit, only then will you level up. Don't attempt to take an easy route."
"Oh my god. Okay, then I won't be taking the bus." Adam dried his imaginary tears playfully, seeming as though he was profoundly grieved by that fact. But Leo realized that Adam only behaved this way toward him because they had been friends for a number of years.
They rested for thirty minutes before leaving the storeroom and locking it with a key they discovered in a staff room.
"Willie, your time to shine." Standing in front of the minimarket, they made the decision to depend on Willie's innate talent. Leo and Adam trailed him, since Willie was previously aware of their combat prowess.
They took turns murdering zombies, especially those that were stragglers. They pursued solitary zombies strolling the streets instead of going into locations where there were too many of them.
Leo saw as he killed zombies that there were a lot more of them than there had been previously. By now, zombies would have surrounded them except it weren't for Willie and his Life Pulse.
They hunted for two hours before deciding to head back to their minimarket since they were sick of slaying zombies. After taking down over thirty zombies, they managed to obtain an additional white chest. If they hadn't been afraid of drawing the attention of a swarm of zombies, they would have killed a lot more people.
Leo observed that obtaining a treasure chest had been more difficult than it had been the day before because they had only obtained one from killing over thirty zombies, but they had obtained three white chests from killing less than twenty.
Adam received the spear that it had dropped because he was the only one without a weapon. It was a spear with a cracked shaft and a stone spearhead.
[Broken Spear]
[Attack: 7-10]
[Durability: 10]
Even though Adam disliked the fact that the spear was broken, he was relieved to have a proper weapon, if that is what it is.