'I would have never been able to grow to such a height if I had to train by myself,' Jay told himself as he looked at the completely changed attributes panel. The changes could be said to be incredible.
He was confident that he could beat ten of his former self with his eyes closed. He was also more confident about their upcoming outing. At least, they should be able to escape no matter what kind of trouble they would encounter.
With his attributes sorted, Jay turned his focus to the skill list. The panel shifted and short descriptions of each skill appeared in front of him.
Skills:
[Close Combat Mastery: (Passive, Uncommon) (Expert 15%)
You are a specialist in close combat. Your body is your greatest weapon, and you are highly proficient in various martial arts.
Deal an additional 20% damage when unarmed. Gain 10% extra proficiency when learning close combat skills.]
[Cold-Blooded:(Passive, Uncommon) (Proficient 61%)
Though your blood runs hot, your mind stays cool. You remain calm and composed, even in the deadliest situations. Emotions don't easily cloud your judgment, and you can be ruthless when necessary.
Resistance to rank F mental interference and shock increased by 7.5%.]
[Athlete:(Passive, Uncommon) (Expert 35%)
Years of intense training have brought your body close to the peak of human ability. You possess exceptional control and adaptability.
Constitution +2, Strength +1, Agility +1 every 5 levels. Stamina consumption and cost of rank E and below skills reduced by 30%.]
Jay calmly read on their description. He wasn't too surprised as each of them was something he was actually good at. What he wasn't sure of was whether these reflected his existing abilities or if something new had awakened within him.
'The effects of close combat mastery are easy to understand,' he thought. It was normal to be able to exert more power using a technique you were proficient with. The same way it was easier to learn something in a field in which you already had a good foundation.
However cold-blooded and athlete clearly touched the edge of the extraordinary. 'The concept of mental interference and the added attributes feel more abstract. And athlete is low-key OP. That's definitely the system's work.'
Everything aside, they allowed him to get a better view of the system mechanics.
Firstly, there was a concept of skill quality with uncommon being one of the tiers. As for how good uncommon skills were, he didn't have too many expectations as the scope of his only affected rank F and E. 'That's pretty low in RPG settings. But it should be good for now,' he thought.
Then there was a mastery system with proficient and expert proficiency level. At first glance, expert was better than proficient since his two skills at that level were stronger. 'And to be fair I trained more in those two fields.'
With a deep breath, he closed the attributes panel and turned to look at Lexie.
The moment their eyes met, she smiled and suddenly punched him. Her fist turned into a blur and instantly appeared in front of him. However, as if he had expected all this, Jay calmly tilted his head to the side. Lexie fist brushed past him, her punch bringing with it strong gust of wind that rustled his hairs.
"Not bad," Lexie said as she retracted her hand.
"That's wasn't a test," Jay replied.
"I wasn't even trying." Lexie flexed her fingers. Just now, she was too excited and wanted to try her newfound power. In her eagerness, she threw a light punch at Jay. Unexpectedly, it turned out that this casual punch was as strong as her full-power attack before increasing her attributes.
If Jay didn't react fast enough, this could have been embarrassing.
"Keep your energy for later." Jay scolded as he stood up. He could understand Lexie's feelings.
Every part of his body moved seamlessly like parts of a fine-tuned machine. Each muscle was brimming with incredible power that he could unleash with a single thought. His body was lighter but at the same time more resilient than ever before.
Like Lexie he was eager to find an opportunity to vent this newfound strength and have a hearty fight. However, he calmed down.
'I can't let this get to my head,' he reminded himself. His current strength was only a proof of how bad the situation could get if they weren't careful and didn't try to level up as much as possible.
'We were lucky. It was dumb luck that we could kill the Fehl so easily.' It went without saying how strong a level 5 was if his mere level 3 could improve him that much.
A simple mistake and this story would have to add its final chapter much earlier than expected.
"We can't be arrogant now," Jay once again reminded.
"Got it. Anyway, do you plan to look like that for long?" Lexie asked while sizing him up.
"Well." Jay glanced down at his blood-soaked clothes. He did look scary with all the blood covering him. That was from earlier when he dodged the Fehl's attack and rolled in the pool of blood around it.
He didn't pay attention to it before as he had too much on his mind. Now that Lexie pointed it out, it felt uncomfortable. Even though he'd likely get dirty again, cleaning up didn't seem like a bad idea.
"All right, give me a minute." Jay left the twins alone, and soon the sound of running water echoed from the shower.
"Sis, maybe you should consider staying back," Alex pleaded again.
"Alex, it's nice of you but don't test my patience," Lexie replied.
"Why do you always have to be like this?"
"I could ask you the same," she shot back. "The last time I listened to you, Nico died and I almost lost you."
"It was an accident. We didn't..." Alex looked down, his voice barely a whisper.
"I don't want to live with that kind of guilt again. I'd rather…"
"Okay! Okay! I get it. Sorry." Alex interrupted, not wanting her to go on with her thought.
An awkward silence settled between the twins as they waited for Jay. Fortunately, the wait wasn't long. Jay soon returned, looking fresher in a clean tracksuit. "Let's go," he said, towel-drying his hair.
First, they checked in on Louisa and Sylvi.
Sylvi had added another point to her Constitution and was now completely out of danger. Still, her wound remained open and needed to be properly treated.
"We'll get you a first aid kit from the doctor's office before we leave," Jay said before turning away.
"Thanks," she replied quietly.
As they reached the lounge, looking ready to go, a small commotion broke out.
"Are you leaving," Damien asked as he walked towards them.
"Yes," Jay replied.
"What about us?"
"You can't come with us yet." Jay shook his head.
"Why? Is there something?"
"Don't worry we will come back. We don't plan to leave you behind..."
"I see."
"I leave them in your care," Jay instructed as he put a hand on Damien's shoulder. "Make sure everyone is ready to move out when we come back."
"You can count on me." Damian nodded.
"Good," Jay said and left without any other words.
"Do you think they will keep their words?" Hendrick asked Damien.
"They will," Damian said as he turned his eyes from Jay's back and looked at Hendrick. He was willing to bet on Jay and the twins' goodwill. He didn't know what they were planning but he knew they wouldn't mind helping them as long as it didn't conflict with their interest.
"I hope." Hendrick sighed.
"Yeah. Come on we have many things to do."
Meanwhile, unbothered by what the other survivors thought, the trio left the illusory safe haven and walked into the corridor. The constant banging, the growl of zombies and the smell of blood, thick in the air, replaced the exuberant and festive that should have reigned if everything was normal.
They checked the door. Despite the zombies' relentless assault, it still held firm. The only noticeable change was a few cracks running across its surface, and some of the furniture stacked against it had toppled over.
Relieved, they turned around and continued on their way.
They passed the away team locker, the recovery room, the coach's office. When walking by the media room, just like Lexie had said, they heard a few noises coming from inside. Messy steps and long guttural sound akin to a chorus of dying whimper.
As they were already warned, the trio simply ignored it and continued to advance.
They stopped as they reached the doctor's office.
"Is it open?"
"Let me check." Jay grabbed the door knob. Unfortunately, as he turned it, the door didn't open. "It's locked."
"Is someone inside?"
"Maybe," Jay said.
He then turned toward the door and gently knocked it.
"Is anyone inside?" he asked. However, no one answered.
"If there is anyone inside, please open. Or we will break the door."
"Who is it?" this time a voice mixed with a tinge of anxiety answered from the other side of the door.
Hearing the answer, Jay immediately replied, "It's Jay Williams, one of the players. Can you open the door?"
"Ah! Yes," the person answered. A few moments later, a small click resounded and the door opened.
"Doctor Angela," Jay said as he looked at the blond middle-aged women. She seemed to be in her thirties with a beautiful face and soft features.
"Jay?" she asked sounding a little surprised but also relieved. "Come inside, quick," she added, her green eyes looking around anxiously.
"Yes," Jay nodded and he walked inside the room with Alex and Lexie in tow.
"Are you alright?" Angela worriedly started checking up on Jay after closing the door.
"Yeah, don't worry," Jay comforted.
"All right," Angela nodded after confirming there was no visible wounds on Jay or the twins' bodies. She then asked, "What is happening? Earlier, I suddenly fainted and when I woke up and I heard a commotion and cries of pain. I was afraid so I locked the door and stayed in my office."
"You are lucky," Jay said, praising Angela for her good instincts. If she had foolishly gone out, she would have probably turned into one of the countless bodies in the hallway.
"Ah! What's going on?" Somehow, she felt that the situation may be more serious than she thought.
Looking at Angela expression, Jay shook his head and quickly recounted everything that happened to them.
"This is terrible. How can something like that happen?" she asked as she sat in her chair, shock written all over her face.
"We don't know," Jay shook his head. He didn't know how many times he already heard this question and he could only give the same answers.
"We can only do with it for now."
"You are right. It wasn't easy on you," Angela said as she got ahold of herself and looked at the trio with some pity. As an adult, she couldn't allow herself to panic when those young people were so calm.
"Don't worry. It's fine."
"Have you seen my uncle?" she asked, worried.
Jay knew who she was talking about. Her uncle was his coach.
Silent, he looked at the green eyes filled with hope, wondering whether to lie or tell the truth. However, he only hesitated for a few seconds before choosing to be honest. In this situation, he'd prefer if other were honest with him too.
"Sorry," he said as he shook his head. He had seen the coach turn into a zombie. Heck, it was even Lexie who offed him. But that, Angela didn't need to know.
"This. Are you sure?" Angela asked with some difficulties, tears gradually filling her eyes.
"Yes." Jay nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Uncle," Angela whimpered as the reality that her last family was gone settled in. She was now all alone in the world and she didn't even have an opportunity to say goodbye to him.
Silently, tears dripped down her eyes and she felt hollow. She even wondered if she shouldn't give up.
As her mind was slipping into darkness, he felt a strong hand gripping her shoulder. "I know that you are sad. But I am sure if the coach was here, he would ask you to cheer up and move on. He wouldn't want you to give up because of his death."
Jay's words were like a wake-up call for Angela. She knew the kind of man her uncle was. He always taught her to be strong and move forward no matter what.
When her parent died, it was him who took care of her and helped her become who she was. She couldn't let herself go like this even if it was just to respect his legacy.
"I'm sorry for the unsightly display," she said as she wiped her tears and did her best to squeeze a smile on her face.
"It wasn't. It's okay to break down. You lost someone important," Lexie said as she looked at Angela with pity. Once again, she was reminded what kind of tragic world they were in now.
"Hum." Angela nodded. "You wanted something right," she asked. She understood that the trio weren't probably looking for her. From an objective point of view there was no ties between them and they had no need to do so.
"Yes, already got it," Alex said. While the other where talking, he hadn't stayed idle and he took everything they needed.
"All right. I shouldn't delay you more than this."
"Yes, we will bring you to the locker and continue," Jay said. "There is someone we need you to check out."
Angela gave one last look at the office that had protected her, then followed them out.