Levi stood on what was left of the rooftop of a partially crumbled building. He looked up at the storm clouds above. As it began quickly to pour, however, he remained dry. This was thanks to the umbrella he’d already found, and then grabbed upon seeing the dark clouds approach. He just didn’t really care for getting soaked by the rain.
He watched as from the clouds, a swarm of transparent beings were currently flying toward him. Levi looked down at the other members of the Chosen Few as they stood on the street below. He internally smirked as they were pointing eagerly gawking at the hundreds of monsters coming their way. It might as well have been raining candy for how excited they were. Because all they saw was a coming flood of Experience Points.
The leader of the Chosen Few observed the incoming swarm. As soon as the most forefront ones were close enough, he was able to identify as Spectres. And the ones he looked at were actually quite decently Leveled. With the strongest ones being around the early 30s. Levi tapped his chin, his own interest now peaked as well.
“Not everyday you see an entirely new kind of monster. Doesn’t seem like they’re from the fortress, so just where exactly did they come from?” he muttered to himself. Levi considered the question for a moment longer, but then just internally shrugged. At the end of the day, it actually didn’t really matter what their origin was.
Levi then raised a brow as of the hundreds of Spectres, more than half swooped toward him. While that was a lot, it wasn’t all of them. For as they should have been mindless undead, they should have all been attracted to either the nearest target or the ones attacking them. Since the fighting hadn’t started yet, it meant that he should have been one getting the entire swarm’s focus.
Strangely enough, however, the rest of the undead shot straight downward instead. Clearly not aiming for him, but the other Chosen down below. But for the hundreds that were gunning for him, Levi just calmly drew his blade.
Even with their great numbers, they were still just riff raff in his eyes. Only the ones whose Levels were within the low 30s would even be worth a glance. For the rest, they would only give as much experience as Skeleton Mage. Which was to say, not much at all for someone that was already Level 38.
But even the smallest scraps of Experience was still worth it. Experience Points brought Levels. Levels brought power. And then power brought undisputable authority. In this new world of theirs, that was the only thing that truly mattered. It was the one factor that determined if someone would have to sheepishly follow orders, or be one giving them.
Levi quickly began to shred through entire swathes of undead. As a Spellblade with the Conditional Magus Evolution, the strength of his Abilities came from having options for almost every scenario. Which, of course, included devastating attacks with a large area of effect.
In just a couple mere seconds, the several dozen at the front of the line were already dead. And dozens perished soon after as they rushed forward. But they were nothing more than sacrifices for the meat grinder that then got converted into System notifications.
Since it was easy going to kill them, Levi had no problem splitting his attention. He looked down onto the streets and watched as the other Chosen performed their own slaughter of the Spectres. He saw how many of the undead would skip the closest person, seemingly Hellbent to instead target the person on the other side.
Levi observed the situation and carefully studied it. He took count of how many undead were targeting each member at a time. He glanced at multiple golden screens at a time as he inspected the Levels for many of them. And after watching things for a little while longer, something clicked in his head.
“Ah, so that’s the pattern. I think I now understand what’s going on here,” he said to himself. Levi had a small smile on his face. Already proud of how he’d deduced the mechanisms for how this swarm operated.
—--
In what felt like no time at all, the camp of survivors had fallen into a panic. And in the midst of the newfound chaos, a little girl tried to hide while still clutching her rabbit doll. Sophia’s entire body quivered as a flood of ghostly beings swarmed their encampment.
She barely even had the chance to enjoy the rain still pouring down upon them. It had reminded her of the times she and her siblings would run out and play in the mud. Sophia hadn’t seen her parents or siblings since the day of that terrifying explosion. But she still held onto the hope that they would soon come by to be with her again. Even though she had lost them that day, her family could maybe still find her again.
But as the ghostly swarm encircled the rainy skies above, many began to swoop down. And amongst them, one turned toward her. Its face was empty and had no eyes. Yet even so, something within her said that the monster was now looking right at her.
Sophia’s legs trembled as she hugged her rabbit even tighter. She remembered Granny’s words. That if anything dangerous appeared, to never look away and not be able to see it coming. Not unless an adult was there to protect you first.
She prayed that in that moment, her mother and father would run in and find her. That they would pick her up and allow her to close her eyes while relying on them for protection.
But until that happened, Sophia kept her eyes trained on the Spectre as it came down. As she focused her all on it, a golden screen then appeared. But when she saw the number it presented, she couldn’t help but feel a bit confused.
Spectre (Undead)
Level: 1
The little girl tilted her head slightly to the side. While she was young and had never left the camp, she had still learned quite a bit about the Apocalypse by listening in on the adults’ conversations. It was from this understanding that even Sophia couldn’t help but question the golden screen before her.
The Specter looked scary, but shouldn’t it be stronger? While young children couldn’t gain a Class, it was still the same Level as her. The undead floated around in the air above her for several more seconds. There was still a gap of a few dozen feet between her and it. But rather than close that distance and attack, the Specter then just kept moving.
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“Sophia!” a woman yelled out. The little girl turned to see the source of the voice running toward her. It was Hannah!
She had been one of the nice adults that often took special notice of Sophia and the other young children, and took care of them. Hannah wrapped her arms around her, and enveloped her into a tight embrace.
A moment later, Hannah pulled back. “I’m glad I found you in time. Come on sweetie, let’s get you over to the hideout before these things attack.”
Sophia took the older woman by the hand. But before being led away, she took another look up at the stormy sky. Even now, the vast majority of the undead were simply just flying around at a distance.
“But Hannah, they’re not attacking. See?” she said while pointing a finger at the Spectres.
It was around the same time that most people within the came started to realize the same thing. To so soon see a swarm of undead after the horde’s recent attack had inspired panic amongst them. Yet it hadn’t taken long for them to notice that something about these undead were different.
Undead were mindless monsters that attacked the living on sight. That was a well understood fact about them. Yet it became increasingly clear that the behavior of the Spectres didn’t seem to fit this typical mold. Because while there were well over a thousand circling the sky above, only a small minority had come down to attack. And of those, their attacks seemed to be focused onto an even small number of individuals.
The people were still cautious, of course. But many of them also couldn’t help but feel relieved that they apparently didn’t have to fight off another horde. Not at the moment, anyway. For the timing, it at least gave them the chance to better prepare themselves. To get their equipment ready, and hide away the noncombatants like Sophia.
But at the same time, the general inaction of the Spectres was a concern in itself. Many people asked themselves the same question while moving around. Just what was the reason for the undead swarm’s overall non-aggression so far?
—--
Alex gritted his teeth as he readied himself and his blade. It was then that several Spectres broke off from the main group. He quickly glanced between the undead now flying toward him. There were a fair number of them, but he saw that their Levels weren’t too worrying.
Spectre (Undead)
Level: 22
Spectre (Undead)
Level: 15
Spectre (Undead)
Level: 21
No problem.
The teen Warrior fiercely swung his sword. A Slash flew through their air and cut straight through three of the undead in one go. The attacked Spectres were only able to let out one final wail, before their body faded alongside their screams.
EXP Earned!
EXP Earned!
EXP Earned!
He released a light sigh of relief. A part of Alex had been concerned that being ghosts, these undead would be incorporeal and difficult to hurt. But at the very least, he now knew that his Ability was fully effective. Now there was just a different question left to answer. And it was as if the same would prove true for his actual sword. Yet as more Spectres flew toward him, that was about to be answered.
As one of the Spectres tried to swipe at him as it flew by, Alex deftly stepped to the side. Then before it could escape his reach, he struck. His sword slashed right through the middle and split the Spectre in two.
EXP Earned!
Alright, there’s a lot. But they’re nothing special. While these things can fly, they aren’t as fast as Sirens, Alex thought to himself as he killed another one.
He didn’t know how dangerous their attacks would be. They didn’t have claws per se, but their nails were a couple inches long and seemingly sharp. As ghosts, however, the teen wasn’t sure if there would be more to it. Like whether or not their strikes would deal a supernatural kind of damage, like he’d heard about for the fog chains of Lesser Revenants. But as long as he didn’t get directly hit, he would have the fortune of never finding out.
Speaking of which, Alex had to duck to avoid a swipe aimed for the top of his head. He then spun around on his back heel, and struck down another Spectre.
But just what the Hell is going on? Alex asked himself.
Where did all of these undead even come from? Was it the storm itself that brought them, or just a coincidence? Yet the latter felt unlikely. As this was the first change in weather across the Apocalypse so far, it was way too much to merely be considered coincidental.
He then fired off another Slash, and killed a few more of Spectres. And as others came down to attack them, he quickly made short work of them. After the last one attacking him fell, however, no more came down. Even as there was still an entire swarm flying overhead, no more seemed to pay him any mind.
However, he did see some Spectres swooping downward. Not for him, but others across the encampment. Alex charged forward to give his aid wherever he could. He fired off another Slash, and killed a Spectre that was lingering over a few children. Right before he killed another that was coming toward them, he inspected it.
Spectre (Undead)
Level: 2
Huh?! Alex blinked a few times. He was surprised by just how weak this one was compared to the undead he’d just fought. With the exception of the Classless kids, this Spectre could hardly even be considered an actual threat.
He quickly glanced around at various other Spectres. Another that was only Level 3. Several that were in the early teens. Some more in the high teens. Alex couldn’t help but feel stomped by such a wide range in Levels.
Alex had heard that it was possible for some undead to be stronger while being the same variant. All the basic Skeletons he’d ever fought were in the single digits for their Level. Yet apparently in the innermost section of the city, Jaco had found regular Skeletons that were effectively as strong as Ghouls. So from that, he knew it was possible for monsters to go beyond their expected Level range.
However, in that case, it had still followed the expectations of weaker monsters in the outer regions versus stronger ones further into the city. Here there was no such distinction, or really any such thing of any kind. For there to be so many of the same variant of a monster ranging from Level 1 all the way to the 30s was simply unprecedented.
But looking up at the sky, the teen then noticed something that seemed off. Of the many Spectres, a very large number had broken off and were now hovering over the area a small distance away.
“Wait, what?” Alex asked. He couldn’t help but frown, wondering just what exactly was causing this. But then from that same direction, a beam of fire suddenly shot through the air. It swiftly cut down the undead that had the misfortune of flying at a lower height.
The teen quickly made his way over to the perimeter of the camp. Before him was the newly built wall. It was both solid and tall, but had yet to have any other defenses added. Defenses that could prevent what Alex then promptly did to quickly circumvent it. Which was to make use of his high Strength and simply leap over it.
Then on the other side, he saw what was causing so many Spectres to break off. Standing on the field outside the camp was one man, Jaco. And specifically swarming around him and him alone were hundreds of the undead.
“Why are so many being attracted to him?” Alex muttered, dumbfounded by the sight. He just couldn’t make sense out of anything that was currently going on.
But he found no answer. The swarm of monsters continued to surround Jaco as he fought them off alone.