Caspian had spent the first week of the Apocalypse hunting down the corrupted attracted to the skyscraper.
He did not fail to notice the two thugs who had been sloppily tailing him whenever he drove out with his truck.
He had hoped the gang leader he met on the twenty third floor would have some sense and contain his greed. But he had given him way too much credit.
Caspian was very proficient in the negative aspect of human nature at this point. So he wasn't very much surprised.
He also made zero effort to hide his movements since there was nothing to hide---- at least not yet.
He hunted with nothing but some blunt weapons and his fighting skills, honed through an entire year of apocalyptic battle from his previous life.
Laying waste to white level corrupted had almost become second nature. And the best part was---- for every single corrupted he killed; he was getting the value for ten thousand. His talent was just that broken.
He made some necessary purchases from the Origin Store. He bought full body T1(Tier One)combat gear for himself, Catherine and Emma.
Now, with these combat gears, no white level corrupted, brown level corrupted or even the upcoming black level corrupted will be able to get past their defences.
Brown level corrupted started appearing around the end of the first week. These newly evolved corrupted usually have strength at the mid level of Tier one.
They are stronger, faster, and they even start hunting in groups on instinct. But they still have no sentient intelligence.
Corrupted evolve by feasting on integrated humans(humans without innate talents). But their growth skyrockets when they feast on awakened humans. It becomes harder to evolve; the stronger these corrupted become; just like integrated humans and awakeners.
At this point in time. Most people who come across brown level corrupted, have little to no chance of survival.That is unless they have a very powerful combat talent, or somehow have very high stats.
Still, these brown level corrupted where no big challenge for Caspian. And he was particularly eager to dispatch them since each one gives a whooping one hundred gold coins per kill.
When Caspian would be met with a little struggle would be when the evolved black level corrupted start coming around.
These creatures will be at the peak of Tier One. And some would even start developing sentient intelligence.
But they would only begin to appear towards the end of the first trial according to the timeline Caspian remembers.Just like every other survivor whose growth becomes harder the stronger they get; these corrupted also find it hard to evolve into higher forms past a certain point.
As much as Caspian hunted to his heart's content; he still makes sure to only display a little of his strength while fighting, so as not to scare off Rocco and his gang who had been monitoring his adventures occasionally.
Caspian had a lucrative use for Rocco Strain. And he even spent some gold coins designing a contract that would suit his needs perfectly. All that was left was for the gang leader to take the bait.
Caspian also earned himself a lot of achievements during this time. Further fattening up his gold coin balance. These achievements were strict in the way they were earned. And normally, people would have to discover them by accident. But since Caspian had gotten information about how people earned these achievements from the chat group in his previous life; he just did the exact same things.
These achievements cannot be earned twice. It's a first come first serve type of situation.
One achievement was to beat a corrupted to death with one's shoe.
Another was to beat a corrupted to death with the skull of another corrupted.
And another was to get the first double kill, and the first triple kill and so on.
These were all really small achievements though, nothing like being the first to kill a corrupted on the planet, and the rewards reflected that.
But to someone like Caspian who had a broken talent. Those gold coin rewards became broken as well.
However, there were some particular high level achievements that Caspian had his eyes on; but the conditions aren't yet met. Those who managed to accidentally acquire these achievements in his previous life stood apart from the rest. Now Caspian knows the way; and he will grab them all.
At the end of the first week, Caspian already had all his stats at maximum for Tier one. And he had more than enough gold coins to step into the next Tier of ascendance.
However, without having a talent that can be measured by the Origin System, ascending to Tier two would be a waste. And he would just be repeating the same thing from his last life.
He had to gather enough gold coins to bring the contract between himself and Emma to life. And he also had a bold idea to do the same with Catherine. So, for the mean time; he couldn't ascend to Tier two. And not just him. Emma and Catherine as well.
But what he could currently do was make them as strong as they can be for Tier one existences.
So, including the gear which had basically made them invincible against anyone not at the peak of Tier One. Caspian proceeded to feed them with enough gold coins to bring their stats to the maximum of tier one; just like him.
It surprised them greatly that his talent was that broken. Even when he only told them his talent could multiply the gold coins he earned by a hundred. He wasn't about to start sharing all his secrets. He would do that when they have signed his contract.
He also bought two pairs of T1 pistols each for both the girls. Goods are made available in the Origin Store according to the amount of gold coins you have in your balance. So, what every integrated and awakener has access to from the store is always different.
Now, Emma and Catherine had the defensive gear, the weapon for emergencies, and they were now basically walking and talking weapons who could take on a missile head on and walk out unscathed.
All they needed now was some training on how to fight. And Caspian planned to show them how.
Catherine had only been the receptionist of the penthouse lobby to Caspian. But after being intimate with her multiple times during this last week, with her always being the initiator and coming into his room----
Caspian had come to care for her in his own way. Even if he has shut his heart out; He won't become a demon to those who open theirs to him.
Emma on the other hand. Caspian still feels guilt for how his recklessness in his previous life had led to her death. And he finds it hard to put how he truly feels about her into words. So he prefers to maintain what he has going on with Catherine.
Not much else happened in the skyscraper during that first week. Even though there were a lot of people in the building, most chose to hide indoors. A decision they would soon come to regret when the second trial starts.
And the brave ones would venture out occasionally to hunt down weak corrupted around the building.
A group chat was started by someone in the building and Caspian and the girls were also added. The individual who started the group chat said his intention was for the residents of the building to share information expediently in case of danger.
Caspian didn't know who this person was; or even who any of the residents of the skyscraper were, or what they did in the Apocalypse in his last life, since he had left the building as soon as the Apocalypse started in his last life.
Soon, Rocco Srain and his group of misfits started going door to door, as he introduced himself to the occupying residents from all apartments and floors that he was the current proprietor of the entire sky scrapper. Which sparked a lot of discussion and speculation on the group chat.
Of course, Rocco Strain and his gang could not get to Caspian's penthouse floor since the exclusive elevator to that floor can only be operated by Caspian himself. And Capian had already bolted the stair door that led to his floor shut with bunker level materials, same as the rest of his apartment.
But all these events weren't high on the least of highlights for the last two weeks. That honor belonged to Emma Witherspoon.