The clash with the faster Infected erupted simultaneously, but Sebastian wasn’t afraid. He towered before the others like a fortress, ready to put his life at risk if that was needed to protect everyone.

Since one of the faster Infected had been blasted to the first floor without any issues, the remaining fast Infected couldn’t be that powerful either. Dealing with the rest should be feasible.

Maybe.

A bead of sweat trickled down Sebastian’s cheek, his eyes drifting to the masses of Infected splurging out of the stairwell. Only a few Infected emerged from it at a time, but the numbers increased quickly. Even if he’d wanted to, Sebastian couldn’t block all of them.

He pounced forward, glared at the fast Infected before him, and used [Slash]. His sword hummed and became a blur as it cleaved through the air. The Infected accelerated suddenly and appeared before Sebastian, forcing the giant of a man to alter his sword’s trajectory.

He missed the targeted area narrowly and cut the Infected’s shoulder from close range instead of severing his neck. The Infected ignored the severed shoulder and lunged at Sebastian. His arms grazed Sebastian’s taut muscles without scratching him.

However, the Infected’s attack was just getting started. His head shot forward, and his arms swung out again. The Infected moved more frantically and attacked again before Sebastian could initiate a second attack.

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed, and he adjusted his stance. He was ready to use [Parry] or retreat a few steps, but it would have been too late. The fast Infected reached for Sebastian’s chest, and the creature’s nails would have dug into his firm chest if not for an arrow whizzing past Sebastian’s head.

Sebastian’s hair stood up to its end, and he imagined for a moment what would have happened to him if the arrow hit him instead, but the situation turned out tens of times better than Sebastian had imagined. The arrow hit the target precisely, cleanly digging through the Infected’s eye socket and brain at once. The fast Infected collapsed to the ground while Sebastian pulled the sword back again.

Sebastian pushed forward again, ready to fight the next fast Infected before the slower ones reached them, but David was already in a dance of death with the Infected.

David twisted his body, which ached a lot more than expected. He twisted his upper body until it felt like he made a half-turn. All of that is done only to narrowly avoid the Infected’s attack. The Infected’s finger swept across David but missed him by a hair’s breadth. A moment later, David got into position to use the heavy baseball bat as intended.

The heavy baseball bat crashed heavily on the Infected’s head. A crunch rang out first, followed by a crack a moment later.

That’s enough!

David was certain one swing with every ounce of strength would be enough to kill the Infected, but that was foolish thinking. The Infected’s skull cracked open, revealing its rotting brain, but the brain hadn’t been damaged. David missed it by a hair’s breadth, just like the Infected’s claws had missed him.

David pulled back, but the Infected pushed forward. It couldn’t feel pain and wasn’t afraid of death either. The creature pushed forward and clawed him again. However, David was fast enough to side-step, evading the bloody attack. If not for a familiar notification popping up.

[You have been infected.]

How?!

David’s attention flicked to his arm for a moment. He didn’t notice anything for a moment, but there it was. A shallow scratch at the back of his hand. The scratch was not deep, and David wasn’t even bleeding. He would have never noticed anything wrong if not for the notification.

Unfortunately, a shallow scratch was already enough to infect someone. It was a death sentence to those without the means to cleanse it.

David ignored it.

Since I’m already infected, I might as well go for it.

He pushed forward, weaved underneath the Infected’s arms, and bodied it without hesitation. The Infected scratched him a few more times. This time the scratches were much deeper and actually painful, but David pushed the Infected to the side nonetheless. The ‘infected’ notification didn’t matter for a moment. His eyes narrowed, and his attention pulled to the fight ahead.

Then his hand shot forward. The Infected jaw opened wide, and it nearly bit his face off if not for the heavy baseball bat blocking the Infected’s path. David’s arm holding onto the heavy baseball bat ached as the Infected used its strength in an attempt to push forward again, but he endured it.

In the meantime, his other hand crashed heavily into the Infected’s cracked skull. The undead’s skull burst open, cutting David’s hand several times – a few more infection notifications popped up – but David didn’t take note of them. All he noticed was his fist impacting heavily, squashing the fast Infected’s brain.

[You have defeated Infected(Uncommon–)]

“Their durability didn’t change. They’re only faster and stronger!” David shouted, his expression distorted in disgust as he pulled his hand out of the Infected’s skull.

Stay calm and get your act together! The infection is still at stage one, the scratches are minor, and the numbing sensation might actually help you in battle. Remember this…if you cannot feel the pain, you aren’t injured!!

His head flicked to the next Infected, who’d traveled past him when he fought the other one. Against everyone’s expectations, the Infected advanced toward Flora, whose legs trembled violently. Her arms were shaking as she raised the Mage Wand. Mana gathered at its tip, transforming into a large, twinkling mass of blue.

Flora hurled a [Magic Bullet] at the Infected but missed the head again. The mass of mana crashed heavily into the Infected’s chest, cracking its ribs and pushing it backward. But that was not enough to kill the Infected. Once again, it was only enough to shatter its rib cage. The Infected was still alive and pushed forward without feeling any pain.

It accelerated quickly, but David had enough time to reach the Infected nonetheless. Nobody seemed to notice David as he raised the heavy baseball bat high into the air. A moment later, the bat whisked down and crashed onto the back of its head. The Infected swayed but moved forward, forcing David to push forward and hit the Infected again. The bat hit the target with great precision. Not only did the Infected’s skull crack open like a coconut, but the remaining momentum was enough to kill the Infected right before it reached Flora.

[You have defeated Infected(Uncommon–)]

The fight is not yet over. Stay calm and focus on the fight ahead. Analyze the battlefield!

David repeated the words in his mind like a mantra. He didn’t have much combat experience, and he was most definitely not a war veteran, but he knew how to analyze situations, landscapes, and much more.

David spun around, ready to deal with another Infected, but Sebastian was faster. Instead of helping David or coming for Flora’s help, Sebastian chose to trust David. He trusted David wouldn’t let anyone die.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

In exchange, Sebastian took care of the other Infected. He had already taken care of another fast Infected and was fighting a second head-on. But fighting so many agile and fairly strong Infected wasn’t easy. Defeating them didn’t come with a cheap price.

Thick lines of dark red appeared on Sebastian’s arm. David noticed them only now. Several deep scratches, blood trickling down the wounds, as the infestation spread. It spread slowly, the yellowish veins sprouting around the wounded area.

It’s not spreading as fast as Flora’s infection.

David rushed next to Sebastian, who continued fighting. He cleaved through the faster Infected and used [Slash] to tear several ordinary Infected apart. The ordinary Infected were getting close, yet Sebastian didn’t even think about retreating. His muscles bulged, his strength increased ever so slightly, and he accelerated.

He ranked up, didn’t he? Isn’t that the third time he’s ranked up!?

It was surprising, but certainly not unpleasant. David smiled, seeing Sebastian push forward, facing the small horde of Infected head-on.

“You’re getting addicted to it, aren’t you?” David snickered while pushing forward as well. He reached the last of the faster Infected and was about to hit it when his hair stood up to its end. David jumped to the right and evaded the [Mana Bullet] coming his way, barely in time. Flora’s attack struck the Infected square in the face, smashing its head in one go.

And your Skill Rune ranked up. They’re growing fast.

Even Jack's accuracy was improving. It was still not perfect, but Jack was improving. Their team was growing stronger. Everyone except David.

David pushed past Sebastian, crushing the skulls of three ordinary Infected before he got scratched again. It was another shallow scratch, but it was enough to accelerate the infection’s spread.

So what?

A cacophony of snarls, bone-breaking crunches, and body-splitting squishes filled the air. Occasionally, a [Mana Bullet] and an arrow joined the fray, but it was mostly Sebastian and David who were taking care of the ordinary Infected.

[You have been infected.]

The notification was the first David noticed. It took a good second before the pain followed. His left leg hurt. His calves burned as if someone had put them on fire, to be precise.

Looking down, David saw a crippled Infected. The undead’s lower body was missing. It had been cut in half and abandoned its lower body to fight the living. David would have shuddered at the Infected’s sight if it had been a few hours earlier, but not anymore. His mind had already adjusted to the grotesque sight unfolding before him.

If anything, David wouldn’t be surprised to see worse things now that he’d seen the dead roaming around among the living like this.

The Infected crawled slowly across the floor and ignored the stampede overhead. Its upper body had been crushed several times, its undead brethren stepping on the half Infected dozens of times. The arms had been crushed, and the creature’s chest was deflated. It was already as good as dead, literally.

Unfortunately, none of that mattered. The undead had reached the target and gnawed on David’s leg, threatening to tear out several chunks of flesh.

David reacted instinctively. The heavy baseball crashed down, crushing the Infected’s head before it could rip a chunk of flesh out of his calves. It worked, but the damage was already done. He was injured, unable to push his full weight onto his left leg, and the infection entered his bloodstream,

[Infection(Stage One) has entered your bloodstream.]

[Infection’s level increased to stage two.]

[Cure Wounds]!

[Cleanse]!

There was no notification related to [Cure Wounds], but David could feel it. The holy power in his Holy Sea churned and jumped into action. It split into two streams and activated both Skill Runes simultaneously, just like David wanted.

[Cleanse] instantly removed the minor infections caused by minor scratches, filling his body with holy power. A sudden, cozy, and stress-relieving warmth washed over him. It fixed the infection spreading through his arms before the remaining holy power pushed it to his leg, where [Cure Wounds] and [Cleanse] worked together.

David had no idea if it was because he used both Skill Runes together or due to [Cleanse]’s rank increase, but the infection in his leg was quickly taken care of. The wound healed quickly, yet [Cure Wounds] didn’t rank up.

Is it the synergy, or because I took care of the infection in my leg right after it entered my bloodstream?

David had many theories revolving around his rapid recovery, but only one thing was important at this moment.

[Infection has been cleansed.]

He continued fighting while his Skill Runes took care of his conditions, yet there was nothing special to do. Sebastian did an amazing job. He must have killed close to two dozen Infected with Jack’s help.

In total, there had been three dozen, maybe some more, Infected. They didn’t charge them simultaneously, given how narrow the stairwell was, but the fight hadn’t been easy on them despite that.

Sebastian sustained several scratches, some deep enough to expose his bone, yet he never complained. He didn’t even groan in pain and smiled at the others instead. His expression transformed only when his eyes fell upon Flora and Jack. Sebastian’s eyes scanned the pair from head to toe, and he only relaxed when he was sure they hadn’t been scratched.

“You are a savage, dude,” David praised Sebastian as he walked over. He didn’t rush and focused on the remains of holy power circulating through his body instead.

Every bit of holy power is being used. Even the energy ‘waste’ improves my condition.

David’s hand glowed dimly as he used [Cleanse] first. The holy power first surged through David’s body, improving his condition again until it reached his hand.

Sebastian wasn’t faring well, his injuries were worse than expected, but David had some tests to do either way. That was important for future battles and, thus, a necessity. Sebastian wasn’t going to die from some minor experiments like that. It would be fine.

Cost-efficiency it is…[Cleanse] first and [Cure Wounds] next, then both together, and in the next few battles, I should use them randomly to see if the order matters, or if everything is fine.

His power surged into Sebastian, whose complexion improved within seconds. The color on his face returned while the infection receded. However, the infection wasn’t fully cleansed right away, forcing David to use [Cleanse] and [Cure Wounds] together. The latter was required to stop the severe bleeding, either way.

[Patient’s Infection has been cleansed.]

[Proficiency of Cure Wounds reached 100%.]

[Tier-0 I] → [Tier-0 II]

David’s Holy Sea was running dangerously low. His mind was strained, and he moved slower. Nonetheless, the smile on his lips didn’t cease.

“Thanks,” Sebastian smiled at him, yet the Warrior didn’t look the same as before. Something about Sebastian had changed. He had a wild look in his eyes.

“No problem,” David turned around. Jack looked like always – like your average asshole –, but Flora was breathing heavily. Her hair was wet and sticking to her face, and her clothes were drenched in sweat.

“The Infected are growing stronger,” Jack commented, his eyes trailing the Uncommon Infected’s corpses.

They might have defeated the group of Infected, but the situation worsened progressively. First, the Infected were growing stronger quickly. It was still the first day since everything changed, and stronger Infected weren’t as uncommon as their name suggested anymore.

“But they’re not growing more durable. At least not these Uncommon ones. They’re slightly faster, taller, and stronger, but their endurance and behavior hasn’t changed a bit,” David responded, “The Infected seem to be blind and rather stupid. They follow their instincts rather than fighting logically. Nonetheless, the Infected aren’t weak. Their sense of smell and sound is excellent, and they’re especially focused on the smell of sweat and blood.”

He looked at Flora, who’d been the focus of attack whenever the Infected inched closer. The faster Infected turned to her whenever they reached her range, which was only a few meters.

The scent of blood isn’t as strong. Blood is more potent and can be smelled over an extended range, but sweat can turn into a problem as well.

Maybe they had to pay more attention to Flora…or make use of it. If she was sweating this much, and the Infected were attracted by it, they may as well exploit that.