Chapter 54: Race against time (5)

You obtained 06 experience points.

You obtained 06 gold coins.

Congratulations! You have leveled up.

You obtained 05 free status points.

After minutes of the continuous fight, Luke reached level twenty-six, and half of the zombies had been dealt with. However, he was exhausted, and his arms felt heavy like steel plates. Even though the level-up restored his stamina, it didn't help him all that much.

"... You should retreat, you are starting to get scratched pretty often and the wounds are increasing in size," Rina said, visibly dispirited. "For the time being, you are fine, but soon the effects of the skill won't be enough to protect you."

In the end, Luke decided to listen to Rina. While her voice didn't sound that convincing, Luke was also starting to feel like he should retreat for a while. Amanda's group opened their eyes widely when they saw him with scratches all over his body, but there was no sign of zombification. They had seen a people turn the previous day while they were with Andrew, and the infected wounds were all purple, and the area around slowly turned to that color… Luke's wounds had no signs of that.

There was no time to explain that since the zombies were approaching. Amanda's father began to drive again, but instead of using a crossbow, Luke grabbed the whip. He didn't try to use it until now, but it shouldn't be hard to hit the zombies when they were that numerous. Besides, Luke wouldn't use mana, and the whip would make use of his high strength.

When the vehicle turned around, Luke began to use the whip. As expected, it was hard to aim, and the weapon's reach was only five meters. So, many fat zombies got close. The thorns of the weapon ripped the flesh apart of the zombies and made them fall as well. While hitting the head was difficult, the power was still there.

"... If you swing it upward and then suddenly swing it downward, you can control the landing point with more ease," Rina said. "If you miss your timing, though, you will hit the people behind you."

"Really, you are well-informed," Luke said, visibly surprised. 

"My specialty is support magic, so I learned to use many different weapons that aren't very popular… all in order to use them in different situations," Rina said and then sighed.

"Your depressing attitude is killing the mood of the fight," Shalia said.

"Shut up… leave me alone," Rina said and then looked away.

Luke tried what Rina said, and he confirmed everything. It was really a lot easier to Aim after raising the weapon. Nevertheless, Luke only used it for a while until he felt that his arms had rested enough. Then, suddenly, he had an idea.

"Shalia, can you create Ice Needles without firing them?" Luke asked.

"I can, but they won't last long, unless I put some extra mana on them," Shalia replied. "If you want to use them alongside Weapon Augmentation, it won't be that efficient."

Luke sighed after hearing that, in the end, it would be better if he left his mana to Shalia and Rina to use. At least when they are fighting against a massive number of enemies like that. After giving the order to stop the car, Luke dashed toward the horde again, and just like before, the horde completely stopped and tried to attack him… they failed miserably, though, and still gave a chance for the others behind to rain down arrows on them.

Congratulations! The skill Dash has leveled up.

You obtained 05 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Viral Resistance has leveled up.

You obtained 05 status points.

In the end, after another ten minutes, the horde had been dealt with. However, Luke was so tired that he couldn't even stand. While covered in sweat, he was on his knees, trying to recover. That was too weird… he got stronger, so how come he couldn't fight for half an hour and didn't feel like shit?

"I can't understand this…" Luke muttered while the others were clearing a path for the pick up to pass.

"Your body got stronger, but this is the first time you fight for so long while using all of your strength… it will take a while for your body to adapt to working like that," Rina explained.

"Can't you do something about this with your magic?" Shalia asked. "Come to think of it, I am a mage, so I never had to worry about that… never felt headaches for using too much mana either."

"I can decrease the strain a bit, it isn't something I can do well since I never used it much," Rina explained. "It is better for the body to get used to it and naturally grow stronger."

After cleaning the path, the group resumed their travel on the pickup. They were almost out of Miami. In fact, the big buildings had almost been left behind. Thanks to that, the group began to feel almost relieved, but those feelings soon disappeared. After turning left on the next crossroads, the group found the 8th street that was very long but not large. On the right side, they saw an equally long river and the water moving dangerously, showing them that something was under there. Something beyond dangerous… on the left side of the road, they found an area of high vegetation with many trees and hills. Crossing it in a vehicle was impossible, and right in front of them, they could see a nearly endless horde of zombies… such a place was perfect for an aerial attack. It probably will become one of the first targets of the aircraft when they show up at the end of the day.

"This can't be… this is too much for us," Celia said.

Luke almost agreed with her… that massive horde wasn't something that they could decimate in just a few hours. Perhaps not even if Luke gained a weapon and used after every single area of effect attack.