Chapter 17: Hunt (1)

"There you have it…" Luke said while he was turning off the transmitter. "We can't wait for the army to come today or tomorrow. They also won't like it if they see people getting too strong, so you should be careful while showing your skills."

Amanda looked at her parents without knowing what to say or do. She knew that in such a situation, waiting for others to help them was a mistake, but in the end, her parents were waiting for that. They lived sixty years of a peaceful life so that they couldn't change so late in their lives.

"What are you going to do?" Amanda asked.

"That is none of your business, right?" Luke frowned.

Amanda could tell that Luke wasn't someone who would work with others. She was also pretty prideful so that she wouldn't ask others for help. Still, while in that situation, she had to choose between her pride and the safety of her parents. That being said, Luke had reasons to keep his distance.

"... I have been wanting to ask you this for a while, but what are those two?" Amanda asked to point to the elves.

"They are some toys I bought in a cartoon convention the other day, don't mind them," Luke said.

"That wasn't nice, Luke," Rina said.

"I am also a bit offended by that," Shalia added.

"... Anyway, you should focus on hunting the ordinary zombies, they shouldn't pose a problem against your aim," Luke said. "If your parents stay with you, they should level up as well. If you leave the house, close the door."

Luke didn't want to play the hero, not even for the girl, he was interested in one week ago. Right now, he needed to focus on himself and obtain power for two reasons, because he needed to obtain a method to leave the city and meet up with his parents and because it was fun.

"Let's hunt some… what the hell…" Luke said, surprised as he looked around.

Luke wanted to hunt some mutant zombies, but much to his surprise, the neighborhood was almost completely surrounded by dozens of zombies. He only stayed inside for a couple of minutes, and yet… looking at the fresh wounds in their bodies, Luke assumed that they were the people who were trying to escape half an hour ago.

"I suppose I need to help with the cleaning of the neighborhood," Luke said and then drew his sword.

"You should be careful, if you kill too many monsters in a single area…" Rina said.

"The smell will attract other monsters and it might even spread some diseases…" Luke furrowed his eyebrows. "This isn't a joke…"

Even if leveling up was fun, Luke couldn't do that all day and night. Even if he could, the darkness of the night would make things much more dangerous.

Before Luke could select a target, he heard the sound of an arrow hissing, and then he saw a zombie getting hit in the head. The creature's head got frozen and then shattered… Amanda's magic power increased a lot more than before, probably because she allocated the status points that she had. While that consumed some mana, it should be a pretty efficient way to hunt zombies without getting hurt or without even using stamina.

"You can't let her monopolize the zombies, maybe with some luck you will get some item," Shalia said.

"Instead of that, use this chance to get used to fighting against large numbers without using skill," Rina said.

Both of them were right. Still, hunting the monsters so close to his home would be a bit problematic. Unfortunately, luring them to other regions might cause even more problems. So, Luke began to hunt them in that area… he probably won't stay in the neighborhood for long, after all.

Luke tried his short sword, but the zombies died with a single strike when they were hit in the head. The same thing happened when he experimented with the rapier. Much to Luke's surprise, his accuracy wasn't that bad with the rapier, it was, in fact, pretty good, and he didn't have to dirty the whole blade with undead blood. Against small fries, that kind of weapon was the best.

"I need a spell to use mana, having all this much and not using it is a waste…." Luke thought while he was slashing apart the zombies.

Luke looked for some, but his father didn't have any weapons at home… even though he was supposed to have a collection of them somewhere. Nevertheless, Luke forgot about that when he heard a scream in the distance, but he didn't see anything thanks to the smoke curtain. However, when he approached, he saw a zombie biting the neck of a black-haired woman. The blood gushing made Luke's blood run cold, and the unpleasant surprises didn't end there. The zombie that killed the woman began to tremble and then suddenly grew taller, and its body began to emit heat. When the creature turned around, Luke saw it drooling fire.

"The zombie just…" Luke frowned.

"It evolved… they can evolve once they meet certain criteria," Rina said. "For this type of zombie, they need to reach level five and have at least twenty points in magic."

That was interesting, and all, but Luke was more worried about the fact that such creatures are probably spawning in dozens around the city. If things continue like that, leaving it will be pretty hard.

Luke could always kill the creature by relying on Weapon Augmentation, but he dashed toward the monster without thinking about it. When the beast opened its mouth and used Fireball, Luke dodged to the side by relying on his speed. While he succeeded, he still felt some crazy heat on his right shoulder. That being said, he got close enough to use Stinger… right at the moment the creature opened its mouth again to attack.

You obtained 03 experience points.

You obtained 03 gold coins.