9: Weapon And Defense

“I didn’t know you’re bringing me a grandkid when you return. I’m glad to live until today to see that beautiful child.”

Ace groaned. “Mom, Nicola isn’t my child. She’s a girl I found on my way here,” he said, wiping the gun his father gave him. “She’s the only survivor of their town. I’m not sure if others survived aside from her but I saw the town burning earlier,” Ace explained.

“What is going on? We felt an earthquake in the morning. It was too strong then a few hours later, those things appeared,” Jonas, Ace’s father said. He felt better after Nicola’s ability healed his wound.

Ace stopped what he was doing. “I’m not sure. But after that huge explosion, the world has suddenly become like this. The situation here is better than in the city. I was there when everything was ruined,” he mumbled, clenching his jaw.

Eula, Ace’s mother, rubbed his back. “I’m glad you made it home safely, Ace. We wouldn’t know what to do if something happened to you,” she said, hugging her son.

Ace gently patted his mother’s arm. “I’m glad you’re safe too. I tried to get here as soon as I could but some things happened on the way.” He stood up and practiced holding the gun in his hand.

“Are you sure you’re going alone? Steven can go with you. You said it yourself, it’s dangerous out there,” Jonas said, watching his son doing his preparation.

Ace shook his head. “Steven should stay here and help secure this place. We don’t have any other place to go except here. If we want to survive, we had to keep this farm safe from the zombies,” he explained. “Ava is smart. She’ll try to survive while waiting. We talked over the phone earlier and she said she would hide in case things get worse,” he continued, talking about his younger sister whom he planned to fetch from her academy’s dorm.

“Please take care of Nicola while I’m away. She’s a good kid and will listen if you tell her to do something. Just make sure not to let her wander around alone,” Ace added, tucking the gun on his side.

Eula nodded gently. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep an eye on her until you return. That child has grown on you in a short time. You can’t blame me for thinking that she’s your child. By the way, what about Hannah?”

Ace pursed his lips when his ex-girlfriend’s name was mentioned. They didn’t have a proper breakup but the moment she pushed him to death, he considered him as his ex…or someone he no longer knew—a stranger.

“Hannah? I don’t know that person. Maybe she’s alive somewhere, or maybe she’s already dead. I don’t care,” Ace replied, bitterly.

Eula and Jonas exchanged glances. The latter shook his head, preventing the former from saying anything about the topic their son wanted to avoid.

“I’ll go check the gate and fence. We’ll have to ensure it’s strong enough to block the zombies,” Ace said and left his parents alone. He headed to the gate where Steven, his father’s helper on the farm, and Brenda, Steven’s wife, were picking the mana stones that came from the zombies he killed earlier.

“Ace, we’ve gathered a lot. Are these precious gems? There’s a lot,” Steven commented, showing Ace a pail filled with mana stones.

Ace smiled. “These are stones from the zombie’s head. They drop this when you shatter its skull,” he told him, making Steven feel disgusted and aloof a sudden.

“What are you trying to do with this?” Brenda asked, just like Steven, she also gathered a lot of mana stones.

“I’m going to use these to upgrade our defenses. I don’t know how but there should be a way,” Ace said, taking the mana stones and putting them in how dimensional storage.

[Ace! You have acquired 103 mana stones.]

[Ace! You have acquired 97 mana stones.]

[Your total mana stone is 265.]

Ace was stunned when he heard the familiar voice in his head. He turned to Steven and Brenda who didn’t seem to hear what he did.

“What in the world?” he whispered, trying to understand what was going on. Strange things started to happen since the explosion and Ace still couldn’t help being surprised by every weird and unnatural thing that was happening.

[Ace! User ability level increased]

“Wait, did it say my name? Woah!” He frowned and laughed when he realized that the voice in his head had been addressing him by his name.

[Congratulations! Your ability has successfully reached Level 2!]

[Ace! New skill acquired]

[Ace! New station unlock]

[Ace! Crafting station available]

[Congratulations!

You have unlocked the ability to build tools and weapons using your spatial space. This new capability allows you to craft and enhance items more efficiently and precisely through the crafting station.]

“Cool!” Ace shook his head in disbelief, listening to the voice that kept talking in his head. “This was the reason why my storage was expanded earlier. A system? But where’s the screen? Interesting,” he muttered and waited for further information.

“Steven, Brenda, go back inside the house and tell my parents to get here,” Ace told them and waited until the two disappeared from his sight.

He tapped his fingers on his arm when the voice suddenly stopped talking. “What now? Did you get tired of talking so you choose to be quiet when I’m all ears? I even thought you could help me repair the gate,” Ace muttered and glanced at the gate.

[Ace! Repair is possible. Please choose the object you want to repair]

“Oh! Perfect. I want to repair the gate.” Ace waited for something magical but nothing like that happened. “What? Is this a joke?”

[Ace! The repair is complete. The first repair is free. Use mana stones to repair and upgrade]

“Huh? What are you talking about? The gate is still here—Oh! It’s changed. It looks just like before it was destroyed,” Ace said, blinking his eyes twice.

A few moments later, a smile crept into his face. “Hah! I think I know how this thing works,” he grinned.

“Hey! Can you help me upgrade the fence?”