Jack stopped talking at some point, and David didn’t bother dispersing the awkward tension. Their steps rang heavily through the hallway, informing Sebastian and Flora of their arrival.

Flora waved excitedly, to which Jack responded. He waved back, the corners of his lips curling upward. His expression improved, and he rushed to the Mage girl without another comment. Jack chatted up to Flora, a bright smile on his lips. Flora chuckled at one of his comments and blushed. The heat shot up to her head, and David nearly laughed aloud.

To think they were a couple. I didn’t notice anything.

The children were fun to watch.

David slowed and focused more on Jack and Flora’s body language. Jack’s body leaned naturally toward Flora. He fidgeted around with his hands and studied Flora intently whenever he made a joke. His smile was vibrant when Flora responded positively, and it dimmed or ceased when his jokes failed miserably. Flora, on the other hand, stood straight. She didn’t lean forward, but that didn’t mean anything. Her body turned in Jack’s direction, she played with her hair, and laughed a lot.

Way too much, given how bad Jack’s jokes were.

Nevermind. They like each other, but Jack likes her a lot more than Flora likes him. Or she’s still uncertain. Is that a TV show or what? Escaping a world-ending event with your crush? Are they shooting a drama or something like that?

David scoffed and walked past the lovebirds. A strong scent filled the air. It struck him fiercely, forcing its way into his nostrils. The majestic smell of perfectly grilled steak.

A faint but familiar sizzling sound rang out from the back of the pizza shop. He found Sebastian grilling a big steak on a large pan using a small camping stove. The window beside him was wide open, acting as an extractor hood.

“I was sure you were joking,” David smiled and sat opposite Sebastian.

“Joking? About food? No way!” Sebastian responded dead-serious.

David chuckled softly, but his stomach seemed to agree with the hulking giant. It grumbled loud enough to overshadow the sizzling steak.

“How can I help you?”

Fortunately, there wasn’t much to do before breakfast was done. Sebastian grilled a few steaks for them and made some eggs on the side, preparing as much protein as possible. It was far from a balanced diet, but nobody knew how long they would wait for their next steak or eggs. Neither was easy to preserve for a long time since electricity had been switched off.

“Is it okay to ask about your Classes? You guys are the first survivors I found, and I think it would be very helpful if we could learn a bit about all the Basic Classes. Devising fighting strategies and plans to kill Infected or to escape should be a lot easier once we know what everyone is capable of,” David asked after taking the second bite of his steak.

“You really want to go out there again?” Flora’s voice trembled as she spoke. It was the first time the Mage girl spoke directly to him. Even when she thanked him for healing her, Flora never looked straight into his eyes. But now she did, her eyes shaking even more violently than her voice.

Sebastian swallowed his food and nodded, “I don’t think Damen is wrong. It makes sense to fight the Infected with a proper strategy. I’ve ranked up twice fighting the Infected. We’re growing stronger while fighting them.”

“David,” David’s eyes narrowed.

Sebastian looked at him, cocking his head to the side, “What?

“My name is not Damen. It’s David,” David clarified, “Either way. What do you mean when you say you ranked up while fighting?”

I ranked up after using my Skill Rune. Shouldn’t it be the same with everyone?

“I ranked up in the fight as well,” Jack said lightly, while Flora added quietly, “Me too. But I only saw the message after I regained consciousness. It popped up after I killed the sixth Infected. There was also some message related to mana exhaustion.”

David’s ears perked up when Flora spoke.

If Flora’s message popped up after some mana exhaustion message, her rank was probably unrelated to the Infected. Do Mages and Clerics rank up using their Skill Runes, while Hunters and Warriors increase their rank by fighting, killing, and/or hunting? Or do all Classes have a different requirement to rank up?

This was a bit confusing, but David had an idea.

“Everyone probably has different requirements to rank up,” He murmured to himself. David thought about it for a few seconds and nodded. That was his best theory for now. Even though both Jack and Sebastian ranked up from killing, Jack only ranked up once while Sebastian ranked up twice.

Hunters are known for hunting and tracking. Warriors are melee fighters, Mages are supposed to be intelligent, trying to comprehend and unravel the mysteries of the universe, and Clerics are healers. Is that how it is?

At least, that was what David learned from the short period he’d spent playing games. His knowledge was far from perfect, but he’d retained the core information.

David shrugged inwardly and turned to the trio once again.

“Since I asked you to tell me about your Classes, I should tell you what I know about the Cleric Class. I don’t know what items other Clerics receive, but I didn’t receive a weapon or the like after picking my Class. However, I obtained two Skill Runes. One is called [Cleanse], which is what I used to cleanse Flora’s infection, and [Cure Wounds]. I was a little injured right after the world turned upside down, which [Cure Wounds] mended. To a certain extent, at least.”

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His entire body was still rattled from falling, but David tried ignoring the pain. Being alive after falling so deep was already a stroke of great fortune. David couldn’t bother complaining about some minor inconvenience.

“I am a Warrior, and you’ve already seen my Skill Runes [Slash] and [Parry],” Sebastian didn’t even look up from his plate. He moaned in pleasure as the juicy meat melted in his mouth, “My Skill Runes use Stamina to activate.

“I’m a Hunter, and [Eagle Eyes] and [Archer Mastery] are my Class’ basic skills,” Jack commented, though he hesitated.

“I have [Mana Bullet] and [Mana Manipulation]...” Flora said in a whisper.

Everything is somewhat close to my guesses. That’s good, I suppose.

Jack was glaring at him, probably cursing David in his mind, but that was okay. As long as Jack answered his questions, David couldn’t care less.

And that was exactly what Jack and the others did. David asked a few more questions about their Skill Runes, their stats, and so forth. It was confusing at some point – apparently, Flora’s Body wasn’t lower than Jack’s Body property, even though Jack was clearly faster and a little stronger –but the confusing points taught David a lot.

Flora is more flexible, and her stamina isn’t too bad either.

Flora was the only one David had yet to see sweat. She was small and had to make multiple steps where Sebastian stepped once, but she kept up with the rest. Even though she’d collapsed before and was infected, Flora recuperated rapidly.

Their average of all characteristics forming Body is probably roughly the same. It’s similar enough to put them in the same bracket. But…doesn’t that mean growing your stats with workouts should be possible?

David tilted his head. The human body might have limits, but if they were to use the mystical energies nestling in their bodies, it shouldn’t be a problem to replicate techniques like those in martial arts movies and cultivation novels.

They’re called the body refinement technique, right?

It might be foolish thinking, unchartered territory, and theorizing with half-knowledge – if one could call it that in the first place – but the corner of David’s lips curled upward when he thought about it.

“Your smile is creepy, dude,” Jack looked at David in disgust.

“Don’t be like that, Jack,” Sebastian tried to mediate, but something interrupted them. A snarl rang through the surroundings. Jack and Sebastian looked out of the window, “That’s weird. I can’t see any Infected.”

David’s ears perked up. He faintly heard a cracking noise from somewhere. He got up, reached for his baseball bat, and entered the shopping center’s wide open hall.

The others also got up, leaving the remains of their breakfast behind. Jack’s lips parted, but they shut seal when a cacophony of shattered glass and snarls rang out.

“Everyone,” David looked back with a smile, “Get ready to fight.”

He grasped his backpack, slung it around his shoulder, and adjusted it within seconds. In the meantime, the others hurried to do the same. They scraped as much food and beverages into their bags before hurriedly grasping their weapons.

David walked to the railing surrounding the inner area of the second floor and bent over to see what was happening on the first floor. First, David saw only a few rotten faces—maybe a handful of Infected. But that was only the first row of undead appearing in his field of vision. The first Infected walked across shattered glass, ignoring the large pieces of glass digging deep into their rotting flesh.

They spread out in all directions until a groan rang out. It didn’t sound like an Infected, but more like a muffled, pained scream. The Infected turned to the right and headed to the stairwell.

“There is someone!” Jack exclaimed, pointing to the stairs on the second floor.

David only saw a glimpse of a black jacket and blood. Droplets of blood sprayed in all directions.

Then, the first Infected arrived. They reached the second floor in masses and squeezed out of the narrow stairwell. Some Infected turned to follow the blood, but most were pushed forward, detouring from their initial path.

There were so many Infected that an unfortunate pair was pushed forward until they reached the railing. But that was not the end of it. They were pressed against the railing, yet the force from behind never stopped. It didn’t stop until the unfortunate pair was shoved over the railing.

Everyone saw them fall, but nobody complained. Their chances of survival had just increased.

Still, Jack and the others didn’t want to take any risks. They remained dead-silent even as the Infected spewed out of the stairwell like a freshly unclogged pipe and stared at David. Their eyes screamed at him, telling him not to make a move and to ignore the Infected. That was exactly what David did. He didn’t make a move.

The situation was scary, but it also excited him. His heart jumped out of his chest, and he barely registered what was happening around him. Still, David remained silent and unmoving. But the same couldn’t be said about the others.

Flora was the first to step back, imagining the worst, but that was a mistake. Flora’s shoes squeaked as they scratched across the floor. It wasn’t loud, yet it was more than enough. As if on cue, the Infected shot around. Their heads flicked in their direction, their dead eyes staring at them like one would look at a delicacy.

Then they inched closer, their snarls transforming into a heinous chorus as the flood of Infected inched closer.

Most Infected were slow, which made an escape easy. However, there were also slightly taller Infected. Their flesh was rotten through and through, their bones were exposed in certain spots, and yellow liquid poured down their lips. They were larger but also stronger and faster than the rest.

They pushed their brethren aside, throwing a few more Infected over the railing onto the first floor, and dashed forward.

Maybe David and Jack could make a run for it, but Flor was a bit too slow, especially after filling her backpack to the brim.

Jack groaned and retrieved his bow while Sebastian pulled up before the rest. He firmly held onto the longsword and took a deep breath.

“Make a run for it, kids! I will stall them!”

David snorted, walking beside him, “What’s that nonsense? I have been waiting for this!”

His heart was jumping out of his chest, and fear threatened to occupy every part of his body.

But before either of them could make more or say another word, a blue mass whizzed past their heads. It was Flora’s [Mana Bullet]!

She didn’t hit the closest Infected in the head, but it crashed heavily into the Infected’s side. A crunch rang out; several ribs were broken in one go, yet the Infected was still alive…and flying through the air. It was hurled back, smashed against the railing, and toppled over, just like the Infected it had pushed aside.

The Infected snarled loudly before it crashed to the marble floor down below.

“Shit!” Flora cursed, earning her a gaze filled with contempt.

“Young lady, mind your language!” Sebastian corrected her sternly, but a thin smile blossomed on his face as he muttered, “Good shot, though.”