Olivia and Elena woke up the next day to find that Zane had once more prepared breakfast for them. Not specifically out of the goodness of his heart, like they misunderstood, but simply because now that he no longer required sleep to survive, or fee refreshed, Zane had a lot of downtime. And he would rather get breakfast out of the way, then waste any time having the girls prepare it.
The two women sat down at the table, wiping their eyes and yawning. In all honesty, they were taking the limited time they had access to actual beds for granted. But once they noticed the coffee sitting on the table for them, they were quick to awaken to a coherent state.
Once Elena and Olivia both had ingested half their cup of coffee, they finally realized something. Zane had once more undergone a physical transformation. It wasn't nearly as drastic as the last one, but there were subtle changes to his face that made the two of them open their mouths in shock.
Zane, of course, ignored this reaction. The last time he had changed, the women had freaked out as well, thus this was within his expectations. Instead, he sipped his coffee while diverting the conversation to something which he thought was far more important.
"Listen up. I discovered something last night. Something that will be of serious help to us in the future. In your system's UIs, there is a tab called "Achievements. I want the two of you to look at it, and tell me what you have unlocked so far.'
The two women were surprised that Zane was talking about the system so early in the morning, but if he was doing so, then it meant that these "achievements" must be important. Thus both Elena and Olivia looked at their achievements.
The first two were the same as Zanes. Those being "Slayer of the Dead – Tier I" and 'Corrupted – Tier I." Naturally, they also had the same rewards. Thus, Zane nodded his head in silence when he heard the women speak of these, but the third achievement that the two women shared was something that Zane was lacking.
It was not, of course, his hidden achievement. As even though Elena had technically been responsible for Lexi's death, she had not dealt the final blow. That was instead done by the Walkers. And thus the system didn't count this as murder.
Instead, the third achievement was voiced by Elena with a curious tone in her voice.
"It says here that I have unlocked the achievement Skillful. Apparently I needed to kill fifty enemies with while using my skill. The rewards are a title of the same name, and, 5,000 XP."
Olivia also spoke up, declaring that she, too, had this skill.
"Oh, I also have that one!"
Just to check, Zane asked Elena if she had any other skills, as he was not aware that the system did not count her crippling of Lexi as a murder.
"Just to make sure Elena. You don't have any other achievements, like, for example, a Hidden Achievement?" "
Elena shook her head, signalling she did not have such a thig, before asking Zane why he would pose such a question to her.
"No, why? Do you?"
While the names and levels of undead were clearly displayed above their heads with blood red lettering via the system. The same could not be said about living beings. Because of this, neither of the two women could see Zane's title or current level. Thus, he lied to them, not wanting to alert them about his sinister title, in fears that they might react poorly to it.
"Nope, I was just wondering, in some of the old video games I played, that was a thing, and I was wondering if there was something I missed... That's all."
This was a believable enough lie, and because of this, the two women nodded their heads silently in understanding. Thus, they went ahead and claimed their rewards. The two women would ultimately receive two levels ups, bringing them up to level 5.
[Note: User and their party members will not be affected by this skill]
---
Elena was stunned by this significant improvement over her ability. This would come in handy. Before all she could do was slow time. If a bullet was fired at them, it would still have the potential to hit one of them if they were not careful. But now she could freeze time altogether for five seconds. This gave them an incredible ability to ambush targets.
As for Olivia, after hearing the rewards that Elena got from upgrading her skill, she was quick to do the same, eagerly awaiting something incredibly overpowered, even Moreso than her current ability.
[Skill: Electric Discharge – Tier II]
[Description: Your control over electricity has improved by leaps and bounds. You can now charge electronics to their full capacity regardless of whether or not they have a rechargeable battery, or even a battery altogether. In addition to this your skill's cooldown has been decreased by 10%]
[Note: The more electricity required, the more frequently you will have to cast the ability.]
---
Olivia seemed kind of bummed out that her ability did not enhance her ability to engage in combat, unlike how Elena's had. But Zane was absolutely stunned by this ability, and quite literally dropped his jaw in shock. Which was perhaps the first hint of emotion he had showed the women since he flipped out and killed Gregory in cold blood.
When Olivia saw this, she looked over at Elena, who was also reacting the same way and was quick to ask why the two of them were staring at her like this.
"What? Why are you both looking like me at that? Is there something I'm missing?"
Zane quickly pulled out his phone, which was low on battery at the moment. Although the power grid had not gone completely out yet, it was starting to fail, and because of this, it was becoming more and more difficult to charge ones electronic devices.
If what this ability said was true, Olivia was quite literally a lifeline. That would give Zane and his team an enormous edge in the apocalypse, as she could effectively keep the power running in any shelter they decided to take refuge in.
As well as recharge any electronics they had, including their phones, but also the optics on their firearms, weapon lights, and IR designators. Hell, if they managed to get their hands on some night vision or thermals, they would also be able to keep those charged indefinitely.
The possibilities of uses that Olivia now had for her evolved skill were insane. And thus Zane handed his phone over to the woman and demanded she test it out.
"Here, charge my phone real quick. I want to see if this actually works..."
Olivia held onto the device and did as Zane had said. She carefully cast an electric discharge, trying her best not to blow up the phone or worse cause harm to Zane, who was sitting in front of her.
But like the description had said, her skill in controlling electricity had vastly improved. To the point where she could precisely fill the battery in a matter of seconds. Without causing any damage to the battery itself or the device.
It was only then that Olivia realized the potential she now possessed, and just how irreplaceable she had become to Zane, thus triggering a subconscious response in the form of a smug smile. All the while eying Elena with a conceited gaze as if she had somehow gotten ahead of her.