How long had Zain stayed in that position for, he wasn't sure himself. He was on his knees, and the others that he had turned had now surrounded him, Skittle, Cobra, War and Jam. It had been so long that the zombies that, once they had cleared the area, were now just walking around the place freely.
If it wasn't for the constant system messages telling him that his energy was low, he perhaps would have stayed there for even longer.
'Why… Why did that man let me live? He could have easily killed me, and after I killed one of his zombies as well?' Zain thought.
It was certainly a strange feeling, because it was the first time since acquiring this zombie body of his that he was close to death.
'The system as well, giving me such a quest. That man, he was one of the ones that started this apocalypse in the first place, a human. How does the system even know such a thing?
'I guess if it is true, it would make sense as to why he had all of those zombies listening to him, even though he was a human and had those powerful chained zombies as well. That makes me wonder though, if the man I saw in the vision really was the one who started this, then his partner… Is it the blonde woman?
'The blonde woman… Her name was Sarah, the one who dropped this pendant, and started the Reborn group. It would make sense, and if I find her, it would allow me to complete a diamond quest.'
Zain started to clench his fist hard.
'I don't know anything about this system, but it looks like I was on the right path, but what do I do… if I run into that man again, if the same thing happens again?'
While thinking of this and quests, he remembered a certain message that had appeared after the others left. After all, Pink had managed to escape, which meant he had completed his first platinum quest.
[Reward: Platinum Card]
[Would you like to use the Platinum Card]
Zain was quite excited to see what it would entail. Skills, system upgrades and exp was what he had received so far.
[The Platinum Card has been used]
[A forced body evolution is now occurring]
Immediately, it felt like Zain was in the middle of absorbing multiple high grade crystals as something was overcoming himself. He could feel a tingling sensation all over his body. A feeling that he hadn't felt often since turning.
[Body evolution has been complete]
[The user has gained +5 to all stats]
[Level 8]
[Experience [1,092/48,273]
[Strength: 7]
[Agility: 5]
[Intelligence: 13]
[Endurance: 7]
With the extra stat point Zain had gained from when Cobra had killed one of the Dark Zombies, he had decided to put the stat point into his intelligence as well, because this was an amazing reward without a doubt.
'Each level up only gives me one stat. Sure there might be cards and eating certain people that increase my stats, but this is like going up multiple levels at once.'
All of a sudden, Zain's speed, strength and everything else was beyond those of the members of his horde. He was stronger than Skittle, although not faster than Cobra, but it sure was a big improvement compared to before.
'I don't understand, if you have the ability to give me strength like this, then why didn't you just give me strength from the beginning!' Zain said in anger. With this power, he would have been able to perhaps save Skittle as well before.
On top of that, there was one more message that had occurred separate from the evolution.
[Your intelligence is now over 10]
[The maximum number of Horde members has increased]
[4/20]
'I had a feeling, with the path I had chosen, that one of the stats would allow me to increase my power and my guess was correct. My type of character isn't meant to directly get involved in fights, but because of the quests and me having to get involved myself all the time, I'm more like a hybrid character. Between a control type and an enhanced type.' Zain thought.
Still there was a problem, even with these rewards, with these stats, Zain imagined that he still would have lost a fight to just one of the Chained Zombies, and there were three of them. Who knew how many more there were out there as well. 20 zombies they would have easily been able to deal with, he needed to be able to control hundreds.
If he was to meet that man again, and get the answers he wanted, or to even continue surviving in the world as he had done, something needed to be done.
'With the system I thought I was already growing at a rapid pace but now I can see that's not true. I was getting so comfortable being surrounded by others, that I neglected the most important aspect.' Zain thought.
'I need to keep levelling up. I need to just focus on getting stronger, myself. I will hunt the Stage 2 Zombies, get their crystals and level up, then when I have finally started to stagnate, I will go back to that weapon room using the return key.
'I'm sure the others got away, but I'm sorry my journey with you will end here, and if we are meant to meet in the future, then we will.' Zain thought, walking over to one of the dead bodies.
"I'm sorry Brandon, but a part of you will be a part of me. I need energy, and I need to know what you know as well." Zain said, as he knelt down and started to eat part of his body and brain. Accepting what he was, Zain was going to push through this, so he was never in that same situation again.
*****
Thank you for all the support so far on LUZ. LUZ will be continuing on, and I hope I can do more chapters for all my series as time free's up in the future.