“Hmm, the candidates are faring worse than I had expected.” A young boy that seemed around fifteen years old commented, standing on an elevated platform that was situated within the centre of a massive dome.
And, embedded on the inner walls of the dome were TVs, each spanning 100 inches in size. There were thousands of such screens in the dome. And each screen showed the POV of the candidate in the screening trial.
It displayed everything they were going through within their trials, also displaying the number of Agates they had accumulated.
“It’s just the start, so that’s to be expected. Most would take time to adapt to the situation before showing their actual capabilities.” A girl nearby said calmly, “Personally, I’m quite curious about a few candidates myself. I’ve been watching them for the past couple of weeks.”
“To think the picky Tina Vink has already picked a few of her members.” The
“637 people…that’s our death count…” Derisher said with a heavy tone, watching the pile of bodies before them. Not every corpse was there, just the ones they could find. The rest of them were in the bellies of the zombies that had already been melted by the previous Chief. The atmosphere was heavy, the air of sadness, anger, and despair coagulating around them as Rael stood in the centre, gazing at the rows upon rows of corpses with darkened eyes. “Derisher…” He muttered, watching the people pile the bodies after the identities of the corpses had been tallied, “How many people lived on the surface before?” “Around thirty to forty million in our Empire at the very least. If you count the rest of the Empires, the number would become huge. So, I can’t give an accurate estimate.” Derisher said, watching Rael slowly walk towards the pile of corpses. “I see,” Rael muttered, g
Pulsor! Rael unleashed the Plasma Skill and leapt, continuously activating it as he flew through the air like an aircraft, making convoluted aerobics as he used the ability to its limit. Suddenly, he unleashed Needle Swirl, piercing its tip through a building wall as the tube part stretched taut, pulling him towards the wall. Rael unleashed Pulsor through his legs, accelerating as he arrived before the wall, but just when it seemed like he would slam into it, his other hand shot out a Needle Swirl on the opposite side, causing it to pierce through a large boulder as it shrunk in length instantly, pulling him accordingly. Dissipating the first Needle Swirl, Rael used the free palm to unleash Pulsor, preventing himself from slamming into the wall as he diverted his linear momentum into radial, making an arc in the air as the Needle Swirl remained firm, attached to the boulder.
Five days had passed since Rael had arrived at the settlement, the underground city of Lereal. Currently, a group of seven were inside a house, gazing at the underground map that they had made in the past year through their numerous scouting. As it was a mining city, there were detailed maps about most of the tunnels in the region. But, the mining city had existed for more than a few centuries. So, a lot of routes were forgotten with time. And even if they had been recorded, they weren’t updated once they no longer served any purpose. The routes could have changed due to the intervention by the zombies. After the apocalypse struck, the scouts had been mapping out the routes constantly in the sample copies of maps they had and once they returned, they updated the main map. “The Red Gecko Brigand would proceed towards the waterfalls on the east while the Green Gecko Briga
“Let’s return,” Rael spoke after a minute. “But that…zombie…” One of the scouts in his team hesitated. “That’s not an opponent we can think of defeating.” Rael said, “Let’s not waste our time and deal with the rest of the zombies in this region.” “But, will it be possible to ever defeat it?” One of the scouts asked, gritting his teeth as he was still reeling from shock and fear of seeing the hill-sized zombie. “Yes,” Rael nodded confidently, “The size of the Agate Stars can be increased. I’ll need to manually refine more Agates into them. But it’s possible.” “So, once everyone in our settlement has the power, we’ll work on strengthening ourselves.” Rael nodded, “Over time, as we defeat more and more zombies, we would eventually be able to take on that zombie, given we save it as the last zombie that we face on the surface.” “Alright, hope we get t
“Everyone!” It was the evening of the next day as Rael stood on a platform, addressing the fifty recruit scouts that had received their Agate Child Stars, “You’ve just received the power of Plasma. In the following days, Captain Xahn would be drilling into you everything you need to learn as a scout.” “It might seem like we’re hurrying through things, and that is true.” Rael nodded, causing them to gaze at him in surprise, “And that’s because the concentration of the zombie radiation is visibly increasing with the passage of every day. Now that you’ve obtained the Agate Star, you too would be able to perceive the changes.” Standing at the side, Deriri listened to Rael’s words, feeling her heart thump in response, her mood heavy. Obviously, she too had noticed the difference. It was easy considering the rate of her Plasma replenishment was steadily increasing. She had timed it on the first day, wondering how much ti
The scouts continued to grow stronger as they battled more and more zombies. Moreover, they didn’t clash head on, for that would be suicide. It also wasn’t efficient. Humanity’s strongest suit was their innate intelligence. And hence, Rael had proposed to set up traps on the surface. First of them was a massive pit that was fifteen metres in height. Once the pit was created, it would be covered by a layer of rock pillars that they had forged through their Plasma. It would be neatly layered to prevent it from collapsing. And all of them would hinge on one unassuming pillar that actually bore all the stress of the trap floor. And, when the zombies moved over the trap, a scout would use the Needle Swirl to break this linchpin, causing the artificial floor to collapse. Once the zombies fell into the pit, the scouts would drop boulders upon them, killing the zombies safe and sound. There was no re
“Chief, a Titan Zombie had arrived!” A scout ran into the settlement, shouting the moment he appeared before Rael’s house. “A Titan Zombie? Where?” Rael exited the house, asking in a hurry. “Follow me, Chief!” The scout said and took off into the air using Pulsor. Rael followed suit as upon seeing him, Xahn too followed them. … “A Titan Zombie…” Derisher flew into the air, heading towards the Titan Zombie as he noticed its eyes widen in surprise upon seeing him. “Freaking royal that had abandoned us…” Derisher grunted in anger and unsheathed his Agate Blade, holding it using his Needle Swirl as he slammed it into his opponent, surprised when it didn’t even scrape the opponent. A faint Plasma Barrier flickered on the skin of the Titan Zombie, protecting itself against the attack as it gazed at the figur
“Chief, a Titan Zombie had arrived!”A scout ran into the settlement, shouting the moment he appeared before Rael’s house.“A Titan Zombie? Where?” Rael exited the house, asking in a hurry.“Follow me, Chief!” The scout said and took off into the air using Pulsor.Rael followed suit as upon seeing him, Xahn too followed them.…“A Titan Zombie…” Derisher flew into the air, heading towards the Titan Zombie as he noticed its eyes widen in surprise upon seeing him.“Freaking royal that had abandoned us…” Derisher grunted in anger and unsheathed his Agate Blade, holding it using his Needle Swirl as he slammed it into his opponent, surprised when it didn’t even scrape the opponent.A faint Plasma Barrier flickered on the skin of th