Willie felt the Strength Potion enhance his chubby body, making his muscles stronger and sturdier. Now capable of challenging weaker giants in strength after surpassing the 10-point threshold, he felt a newfound confidence.
'Now I can be less concerned about Willie since, with his Small Fireball and great strength, he will be able to handle a giant, even if he is not a hunter's opponent.'
Adam and Willie made significant progress, which thrilled Leo. They had a hard time killing even one zombie a few days ago, but today Willie has taken down a monster on his own, even if Adam's quick improvement was more spontaneous than earned.
Leo couldn't help but feel relieved as he thought about how far they had come. Even if he had returned in time, he still didn't have a clear purpose other than to get stronger, so knowing that someone could watch out for him was reassuring. His greatest dream was to reunite with his younger brother, aunt, and uncle, but that seemed unattainable at the moment.
"Hey, Adam, I am stronger than you now. You will be unable to compete with my power and Small Fireball. You grew too arrogant after awakening telekinesis, so prepare to see how I will take your cheeky smirk off your face."
"Pfft... You're too slow to follow me. What's the purpose of your magic if you can't use it against me? While you chant your spell, I will rapidly dispatch you with my flying spell."
'Maybe not now…'
Leo groaned internally as he heard their arguments. He agreed that having a competitive spirit was good to their growth, but he disliked the concept of death as a result of the disturbance they had produced.
"Lower your voices; you're going to attract the zombies near us. Willie, lead us to another group of zombies."
Exasperated, Leo decided to restart their zombie search as they still had half an hour before returning to the dormitory building. Maybe they'll find another advanced zombie. Even though they stayed inside a half-mile radius of their bunker, there were plenty of zombies roaming the streets.
After 10 minutes, they were unable to locate a small group of zombies, so Leo began to consider ending their excursion, but as he was about to propose going back, Willie altered his face expression. The color had drained from his face, indicating that he had been afraid of something.
"I've sensed evolved zombies close to our location."
Willie's voice was somewhat unsteady as he announced his findings to everyone. When Leo heard him, he immediately realized why he was so afraid. Willie had never been as afraid as he was now when Leo confronted two hunters in front of the dormitory building.
"How many of them?"
"One Giant and two Hunters. All three of them are low-rank, and there are a lot of zombies adjacent to them."
Maybe Willie didn't say it exactly, but the look on his face indicated that he was hesitant to kill them. They had never targeted more than one developed zombie, and even battling with two Hunters was more spontaneous than planned.
"Let us kill them! Our strength should be sufficient to hunt them."
Willie was reluctant to pursue them, but he did as Leo suggested. He didn't have great aspirations, but he'd already defeated a mammoth single-handedly, if that counts. While he did not succumb to overconfidence, the ember of victory burned bright within his heart.
After 5 minutes, they noticed a significantly larger group of zombies, including a towering behemoth among them. Leo sized him up. It resembled any other zombie except for its enormous size. The behemoth stood out from the mass of undead, but the Hunters blended in.
"Willie, we will attack after you kill a giant with a Small Fireball. Don't miss out on this one! Adam, you're going to take one Hunter while I kill another. You should try to employ Telekinesis not only for Flying Spear, but also to stop a Hunter in its tracks or repel it using your mind. Charlotte, you can wait on the backline before other zombies reach us."
Leo announced their coordinated attack plan and signaled Willie to begin chanting his spell. Understanding him, Willie cleansed his thoughts and began murmuring strange things in a loud voice, becoming increasingly uncomfortable with each syllable. He barely had enough mana to fire one Small fireball because he had previously expended the majority of his mana on Life Pulse and two shots of fireball.
After 15 seconds, the flames collected in front of him, forming a spherical. As Willie focused his attention on it, the flame soared straight and smacked into the head of the Giant.
*Thud!*
"Success!"
Willie couldn't help but gasp with excitement when a gigantic collapsed with a loud bang. As it dropped to the ground, two zombies sprang from the throng and charged at them. They had sharp claws, unlike humans, and black armor-like plates covered sections of their bodies.
Leo quickly enhanced his body with mana and activated Reinforced Breathing leaping towards one of the Hunters. He specifically avoided a second one, giving Adam a cause to oppose it.
Adam used Telekinesis to rapidly lift his spear and shoot it at a Hunter who was approaching him. It went directly for its head, but just as it was about to puncture it, Hunter tilted slightly, avoiding a spear by a hair's breadth and fast approaching him.
Adam moved his hands towards the Hunter and utilized his inherent talent to drive it away from him, just as it was approaching. As it was pushed aside, Adam focused on his spear and pierced Hunter's skull from behind.
When he killed his Hunter, Leo had already dispatched another one while studying their scenario. After defeating three advanced zombies, it became easier for them to eliminate the remaining ordinary zombies. This time, Charlotte and Willie, who were watching from the rear, had also engaged in the slaughter.
After killing additional zombies, it was time to examine their loot. Ordinary zombies had simply fallen Survival Coins, however Adam and Willie had slain the Hunter and gigantic, respectively, and they had each dropped a White Chest. Leo was the only one who didn't receive any loot.
'Even if the drop rates for Treasure Chests have increased this time, it appears that the system is still fair. The stronger you become, the less Treasure Chests you will obtain by defeating inferior zombies.'
Leo wasn't shocked he didn't acquire one because he was already a level 4, outranking low rank 1 zombies by one level. He expected fewer Treasure Chests from advanced zombies.
On the other side, Adam and Willie were grinning when they opened their respective Treasure Chests. Adam had received a vial containing the same blue liquid as Leo, and Willie was holding a crystal apple.
[Basic Mana Potion].
[Description: Drinking restores ten points of mana.]
[Crystal Apple]
[Description: Eating restores two spirit points.]
"You should swap items with each other since Willie needs mana for Small Fireball, while Adam spends spirit for his Telekinesis."
In agreement with Leo, they traded items as Adam gave Willie a Basic Mana Potion, and Willie gave Adam his crystal apple. Both of them were content with their prizes as they clutched them. Willie was able to throw an additional two Small Fireballs after consuming a mana pill, however Adam was able to maintain his Telekinesis for considerably longer.
Adam was already dizzy from the combat with the Hunter, and Willie appeared to have run out of mana. Charlotte also appeared psychologically fatigued, considering it was her first day slaying zombies. Her initial encounter had already taken its toll on her mental state, let alone the frequent battling with zombies that followed.
"Let's finish things up for today. Willie, lead us to our base."
Sensing his comrades' moods, Leo decided that it was enough for today. When Leo recommended turning back, three of them were thrilled because they wanted to get there faster.
'Sleep...'
Charlotte was exhausted after slaying zombies and simply wanted to sleep on the wonderful bed.
'Shower...'
Even though Adam was psychologically exhausted, he wanted to take a shower to remove all of the filth from his body.
'Food...'
Willie's desire was simple: he was hungry after hours of hunting and wanted to fill his stomach with food.