Chapter 14 – Gymnasium
Jack felt his entire body numbing as he finally rested after the battle. While the fight lasted merely a few minutes, it was an extremely intense few minutes of continuous movement, sharp turns, and twists. Jack's body, though stronger than before, was still far from powerful enough to handle that much strain.
He needed to get stronger to maintain his stamina and flexibility for longer periods of time. However, in the end, he managed to defeat the bird with a trick he came up with on the spot. Using his balance to his advantage, he pretended to slip, and when the monster took the bait, he quickly stabbed it in the back, catching it completely by surprise.
'It was very risky, and if I didn't aim right, it would've poked my eyes out,' he mused. 'But… the rewards are good enough.'
An increase of two points in all stats was huge — far beyond anything he had gained so far. The sheer amount of power coursing through his veins at that moment was unbelievable. Jack felt as if he were floating in the air while his body grew sturdier, lighter, and more powerful.
"CLAPCLAPCLAP That was beautiful, Jack!" Liliana flew toward him with a happy smile on her face. "Absolutely outstanding. I couldn't believe my own eyes."
"..."
"I was expecting you to be talented, but the way you killed that creature when it was stronger than you… I am truly in awe," she said with her eyes sparkling. 'Not only did he outplay it, but his fighting style is already impressive without training. How… how did he even gain so much awareness with barely any time on his hands?'
Jack had only fought a few monsters, yet he was clearly evolving his fighting style very fast. It was as if every move and every attack he gave or received was absorbed into his mind and used to hone his skills. He was a sponge, absorbing all the knowledge at a rapid pace.
"Thank you…" He replied as he rose from the ground and grabbed his shoulder. "Tsk… I need to get these off…" he cursed as he grabbed the feather and pulled it out, squinting from the pain. However, surprisingly, blood didn't gush out, indicating that the injury had already stopped bleeding.
'My recovery speed has increased quite a bit. Nice,' he mused. Then, he pulled the second feather and stood up.
"Where are… hm?" Looking around for his two companions, he saw them emerge from a classroom, blood dripping from their bodies.
"Are you two good?"
"Jack! You killed it?!" Alex rushed toward him.
"Yeah… it was a bit close."
"We also killed like four Undead! We had to share the same weapon!"
"... I see."
"You wouldn't believe it, haha, Luna was so cool! The way she used her gravity ability — it helped a lot!"
Jack instinctively stared at Luna, who seemed as nonchalant as ever. She was holding the iron bar and staring back at him in silence.
'Hm, already figuring things out. Can't expect less from her,' he mused.
"Good that you two could deal with the monsters on your own."
"Oh yeah! We also leveled up!" Alex said. "I gained more points and two extra points to use on my own!"
"What about you?"
"Yes, same here."
"Good. Don't use them yet. Make sure to save them for when it's necessary," Jack said. "We might need every point we have to beat the monsters we'll meet on our path."
After the bird's emergence, Jack realized that the monsters were not only evolving fast — way faster than he could imagine — but they were also not limited to humans; rather, they came in all kinds of animals.
'That makes it even worse. Fighting humans is one thing, fighting a rabid dog or any other creature is a whole other thing…'
Animals were far less predictable, much stronger than humans, and had far more weapons in their arsenal.
"We need to be careful, ok?"
"Yes!"
"Hey, Jack…" Luna spoke. "Is your shoulder ok? There's blood there."
"Hm? Yeah, it's fine. Just a scratch," Jack said. "It'll heal sooner or later."
With that, the trio turned around and continued their march down to the bottom floor. On the way, they met several Undead, which they dealt with swiftly. Jack killed a few while keeping the majority for his friends. He was only gaining 5 EXP from these monsters, so it was better to leave them to the two who were still learning.
Jack was now solely aiming for monsters at his level or above, as they gave the biggest rewards.
The trio eventually found themselves back on the first floor, which was still infested with monsters. However, Jack was already aware of that, so he led his friends to the back, where they climbed through a window and found themselves in the rear area of the building.
Making their way near the wall, they found the gate that led to the other section of the school grounds wide open, with the door itself thrown to the side. Trails of blood and corpses filled the path, with monsters moving in the distance.
"This is… horrific…" Alex muttered, closing his eyes for a second. "So horrific…"
"It seems not every single one gets the chance to become a monster. Some get their heads eaten and end up simply dead," Luna muttered as she examined the corpses with her eyes. "So it is truly a matter of this infection reaching the brain. If it doesn't, then the target will not turn into an Undead."
"I guess… they're lucky? To not become monsters," Alex said, trying to make himself feel a bit better about the massacre. However, even he knew that this was nothing but an illusion. Nothing was truly good about all these people dying in such a horrific and painful way.
Solace in such a situation was nonexistent.
Jack remained silent the entire time, paving the path toward the gymnasium, which was at the far back of the school grounds, beyond the open fields. Monsters noticed their presence and started running toward them.
Jack pulled his sword and, with quick moves, killed them.
[You have…]
[You have…]
[You have…]
Notifications rolled in rapidly as he sliced the last monster and sheathed his sword again. "Let's go."
His two companions watched the scene with awe in their eyes. They simply couldn't understand how Jack was this strong. He made it look so easy, as if he weren't even trying.
Eventually, the group found themselves standing before the gymnasium doors, which were closed shut.
"Hm?" Jack tried to push the door, but it was locked. "Locked?"
'Usually around this time, it's open since students have PE lessons. That means…'
"The doors have been closed shut from the inside," he said. 'Are there potentially survivors inside too? It could be…'
"There could be more survivors here?" Alex said.
"Only one way to figure that out."
KNOCKKNOCK
Jack knocked on the door. "Is anybody in there?"
Then, it was silent for a few seconds. Jack knocked again and called for anyone inside but received no reply.
"Hm, could it be that there's no one inside?" Alex muttered.
"Fufu, I can sense quite a number of people inside. But they're remaining silent," Liliana giggled. "They're really afraid."
'I see…'
"Open the doors, I know you're inside. We are not infected."
KNOCKKNOCK
"Go away!!"
At that moment, they heard a yell from inside.
"We aren't opening the doors to anyone! You could be one of them!"