By the time Angelica and the others had awoken from their sleep, Zane had long since returned to the bunker complex. The last piece of the puzzle had finally come together during the night. And that was for Angelica and Lily to gain their second skills.
Sitting in the mess hall, while drinking a cup of coffee by his lonesome, Zane waited patiently for several hours, all for the purpose of handing off the two large golden blood crystals to the two women when they finally entered the room.
And eventually they did. Angelica, Lily, and the others all gathered in the mess hall for breakfast, surprised to see Zane had already prepared it for them while they slept. It was unusual for Zane to be out in the middle of the night.
Though he didn't require sleep, the man still enjoyed the experience, and since he and the others all resided in the safety of the bunker, there was no real reason not to sleep. This naturally caught the attention of Angelica and Olivia, who were quick to ask Zane why he was awake so early in the morning.
"Zane... You're up early. Did something happen while we slept?"
Zane nodded his head and immediately manifested the two golden blood crystals from his inventory space. He handed one of the two spheres to Angelica, before walking over to Lily and doing the same.
Of course, the moment Zane appeared with two horde king blood crystals in his hands, it was certainly a shock to everyone who was present. They could not fathom that during the night, Zane had wandered off on his own and killed two Tier I Horde Kings by himself.
I mean, such a thing was truly absurd, wasn't it? Naturally, they expressed this sentiment aloud in a variety of statements, trying to find out the truth from the man.
"Where did you get those?"
"Zane... You didn't go out by yourself last night, did you?"
"Please tell me you just stumbled across those and didn't do something stupid like take on two horde kings by yourself!"
Naturally, Zane weathered the storm, remaining entirely silent and expressionless until the five women had calmed down. Once they had finally done so, he explained in great detail what he did the night before.
Even Angelica, the saint that she was, felt compelled to slap the man across the face for being so needlessly reckless, but she would never actually do such a thing and instead stayed her hand. Forcing herself to accept Zane's kindness, even if she wanted to scold him for being so foolish.
"Thank you... I know it was not easy to get this for me... I'm going to go consume it right now..."
Zane simply nodded his head in silence at the young woman who wandered off to her quarters, where she consumed the blood crystal and began the corruption process. As for Lily, she stared at the blood crystal in her hands for a long while.
It was a prize that many human beings, or at least those who had survived this far, would murder her to get their hands on. And Zane had just given it to her as if it were some mere trinket not even worth his attention.
Sure, he gave the others horde king blood crystals, but that could be explained insofar as they were all sleeping with him. But what about her? She was just the 5th wheel to this party's group dynamics. She and Zane had never had such a relationship, so why? Why would he risk his own life to get her this treasure?
Ultimately, Lily shocked everyone who was present by walking up to Zane and pulling him down by the scruff of his cloak so that he was on her level. She then kissed him on the cheek. Her face instantly turning red, as she averted her gaze from the man, and thanked him for his kindness.
[Cooldown: 90 seconds]
[Description: For 20 seconds, each member of your party gains an additional 90 armor.]
---
Angelica was pleased with this skill. She had never much cared for engaging in violence, and didn't have the temperament to harm another living human being unless it was absolutely necessary for her survival.
She already played the role of the healer quite well. And now she had the ability to buff her party? This was a great gift, truly a divine boon. Though she was confused by the fact that Tier I of the skill was called Holy Armor? Did this mean that with each tier unlocked, she would gain another buff to cast for the party?
It was an enticing concept, but ultimately, an unfounded theory. After thinking about it for a bit longer, she decided not to share her thoughts on her potential growth out of fear that she might be wrong. She wouldn't want to get anyone's hopes up after all, now would she?
After recovering from the aftereffects of corruption, and examining her new skill. Angelica climbed out of bed and ran off back to the mess hall where she found that Zane was being pestered by Olivia, Elena, and Madison regarding his feelings towards Lily. A topic he appeared uncomfortable with speaking about.
Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to save the man from his troubles, Angelica wore a perky smile as she practically pranced towards Zane as if she were a dog looking for his approval. She was quick to speak to him and the others about her new skill.
And just as she anticipated, Zane smiled at her, while petting her silky golden hair and singing her praises.
"You have saved our lives a thousandfold, and now you will be able to do an even better job of it. I think the skill compliments you very well Angelica!"
Angelica seemed quite happy with the results she obtained, and she was just about to say something else when Lily stormed into the room. She seemed in a rather foul mood, as she expressed her thoughts about the skill she had received and its apparent uselessness.
"What the fuck is this bullshit? Charm Animal? What am I, a beast tamer now? That would be all well and dandy if there were actual beasts for me to fucking tame! But here we are in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, where even the old world animals have largely been consumed by the dead and their relentless hunger! Fuck!"
Zane was curious, and shot Maya a glance, one that went unnoticed by the others. Death, who had taken the form of a little girl to remain by her son's side, acted ignorant, with a playful gesture which showed that she knew way more about the usefulness of Lily's Skill than she was willing to elaborate on.
And once Zane saw his mother acting this way, he sighed and turned his attention back to Lily, assuring her that her new skill may not be as useless as she thought it was.
"It's hard to say what use your skill can have. The world is changing at a rapid rate. There may very well be things appearing in the near future, things in which this skill can tame and put towards our uses. At the very least, you should test it out on some of the farm animals we have, just to get a feel for what it's worth?"
Lily sighed after taking a deep breath to calm herself. Zane was right. She overreacted. The brief summary of her skill's abilities really informed her of only a very little about its potential uses. Who knows, there might be some hidden might behind it after all. And thus she thanked Zane for calming her fury, and giving her a reason not to be angry.
"You're right... I completely over-reacted. I'm sorry, I let my temper get the better of me. I'll take you up on your advice and go see how this skill actually works. I'll see you all in a bit."
Once Lily was gone, Zane shifted his focus towards his plans on how to deal with Gwen. All the while Maya smiled subtly, concealing her expression in the act of drinking a cup of milk. Clearly, there was something more to Lily's new skill than any of them could understand.