It took more than one hour to complete distributing food supplies and finding out those who would be interested in going with Dorian and the others to clear the area of zombies. In the end, only 27 students agreed to participate, Dorian himself included.
Dorian offered a few words of advice to those who decided to stay behind. His advice included keeping the place as quiet as possible to prevent drawing the attention of zombies around the dorm.
Uncertain if they would actually remain quiet, he asked them to barricade the dorm entrance with all the heavy objects they could find.
He also gave special assignments, instructing them to scout from their rooms and report any strange movements they observed when he returned.
After he finished speaking, he left with the twenty-six volunteers.
The others followed his instructions. From outside, they could hear the sound of heavy objects being piled up behind the door.
Standing outside the dorm, Dorian and the other volunteers took the opportunity to observe the scene around them more closely under the bright morning sun.
The corpses of the zombies they had slain the previous night were now more visible. They could see how quickly the flesh of the zombies had started to rot, far faster than the decaying rate of normal human beings.
The scene was pretty gruesome for some volunteers in the group, and they immediately became nauseous, with some even vomiting uncontrollably.
Clarissa stood closely behind Dorian, seeing him as her only savior at that moment.
Dorian, on the other hand, took in the view for a while. Not too far away on the left side, he could see a pair of zombies staggering toward their location after noticing them.
Close to a dormitory on the right side, a group of zombies staggered out of the wide-open entrance and moved toward them.
The annoying beastial shrieks from the ones who first found them seemed to have attracted others, who started pouring out one after another.
Brandon, Craig, Milan, and the others in the group braced themselves to engage.
Dorian turned to Brandon and Craig and gave them the order to take care of the ones storming out of the nearby dorm. He sent Milan and three other volunteers toward another location.
"Remember everything I told you yesterday about these zombies—aim for the head always and don't let them get too close," he muttered to them before dispatching them.
Only Clarissa and two young men remained with Dorian.
"Take this," Dorian handed his dagger of darkness to Clarissa.
Clarissa held the dagger with trembling hands and stared at it nervously; one could easily tell she had never held a weapon before.
Dorian turned to the other two beside him.
----
Sampi - Lv 1
Ethereal Order - Tier-1
Aspect - Boost: Strength boost
-
Zion - Lv 1
Ethereal Order - Tier-1
Aspect - Class: Brawler
----
Both of them possessed martial arts-related aspects.
Zion had a default skill called Iron Fist that increased the damage caused by his unarmed attacks by fifty percent, while Sampi's Boost granted a one hundred percent increase in physical strength. They both possessed impressive aspects.
Thankfully, both were already level one, having slain some zombies the previous day, so Dorian had no need to lecture them on how to use their aspects.
"Come with me."
He told them, and they began strolling toward the dorm building opposite them, whose entrance was wide open.
Dorian had spotted some movement on the fifth floor; there were definitely zombies inside.
The three of them entered the eerily silent first floor of the dorm, which was littered with blood and body parts.
Not so far away, a corpse could be seen on the ground, wearing a uniform of Starmap Academy.
"It is turning. This is the perfect target for you, Clarissa,"
Dorian said, bringing the three toward the corpse on the ground.
It was that of a young male student, with a large visible bite mark on his neck and several smaller bite marks and cuts on other parts of his body.
"Daniel Razz, I know him." Zion and Sampi recognized the student.
Clarissa seemed to recognize him as well, swallowing nervously while watching his body slowly turn.
The weight of killing him became heavier as she recalled scenes of him alive. It would definitely haunt her.
"This happened recently, meaning the zombie is still in this dorm building. Perhaps it has climbed to the second floor," said Dorian, who didn't appear even a bit shaken.
Zion and Sampi looked at Dorian and then at each other.
'This guy, he is not showing an ounce of sympathy toward his fellow schoolmates,' they thought.
Dorian took the dagger of darkness from Clarissa and chopped off both the hands and legs of the corpse before it fully turned, making it simpler for Clarissa to kill when it finally rose.
However, this action was perceived differently by the others. Their expressions resembled those of people watching execution videos on the dark web.
Clarissa even covered her eyes.
Dorian understood how his actions made him appear to others, but he didn't really care.
The three were still in shock when the corpse jolted awake and shrieked. Its dead eyes fixed on them as its mouth moved hungrily.
"Clarissa, take the dagger and chop off its head," Dorian handed the dagger back to her.
"I-I can't!" Clarissa rejected outright.
Dorian only shook his head pitifully. "Weren't you the one who said you wanted to help?"
Clarissa nodded. "But not like this... I knew him."
"That doesn't matter. Sooner or later, you'll have to kill people you know to survive and save those you love. You should be prepared for those times," Dorian replied.
He wasn't a good talker, but he had some solid advice, most of which he had gleaned from reading Ethereal Descent.
Zion and Sampi looked at each other, replaying Dorian's words in their minds.
Clarissa stared at the dagger and the zombie struggling to stand up without limbs.
Nervously, she grabbed the dagger and stepped closer to the zombie.
The zombie turned its attention toward her, shrieking even louder and more violently.
Dorian folded his hands and watched the scene unfold.
Clarissa turned to look at Dorian, and Dorian nodded, signaling her to go ahead.
She held the dagger tightly.
The zombie shrieked even more ferociously, pushing itself backward with all its strength, its jaws open and ready to bite Clarissa's flesh on contact.
Fortunately, Clarissa reacted in time, letting out a small startled yell as she took two quick steps backward.
The zombie landed just a short distance away from her leg—just a small movement and it would succeed in biting her.
Instinctively, Clarissa slashed the dagger in her hands toward the neck of the zombie.
Her eyes closed instinctively when the dagger made contact with its neck, and the sound of a sharp object slicing through flesh resounded.
[ EXP +8 ]