Chapter 11 Ruthless Choice
Wain did not know that he would have to fulfill any conditions to develop the skill. This was a surprise to him.
'It wasn't mentioned in the manual... What's more, I can't improve the Chronicle of skill now. I have to choose one of the three options offered and fulfill the condition.' Thought Wain and looked at the description of the next evolution option.
[Speedy Lizard's Dash(Primary Chronicle Active Skill, Rare Rating)
This is an enhanced version of Lizard's Dash. Thanks to your increased dexterity, the dash's length, and speed are much greater. You can now cover a distance of ten meters in less than one second. After application: Agility + 10 for 30 seconds]
[It is possible to develop the skill if the following conditions are met-
[Agility above 30 points, no external factors: 18/30]
Wain could choose one of these options and develop the skill right now. He did not have enough Strength or Agility, but he had 18 Status Points. He had no problem increasing Strength or Agility up to 30 points.
But, he was curious to see what the third evolution option was all about. The name wasn't the most common.
[Lightning Lizard's Dash(Primary Chronicle Active Skill, Rare Rating)
This is an enhanced version of Lizard's Dash. Unlike the normal skill version, your speed and dash strength will increase significantly. During the dash, you will emit electric charges. The electric charges will explode at the end of the dash, creating an electric discharge. The target in front of you will be attacked and take some damage. You can cover a distance of ten meters in less than a second]
After using, no bonuses were given for this skill, but Wain immediately wanted to choose this one. With lightning energy, this skill was becoming like some kind of spell, which Wain liked. But when he looked at the prerequisites, he frowned.
[It is possible to develop the skill if the following conditions are met-
[Any Rare Rating Whole Soul of monster with the lightning attribute: 0/1 is required]
Wain didn't expect to see something like this. He didn't think the condition could be Soul, much less with a certain Rating and wholeness.
"Hmm, I can improve Lizard's Dash right now if I choose one of the previous options. But, I like the last one best. Oddly enough, to improve it, I must meet the most difficult condition offered." Mumbled Wain and closed the system.
He decided there was no point in developing a skill if that was not the highest possible maximum. Lightning Lizard's Dash was definitely the strongest variation of the three.
"But, where do I look for Whole Soul with the lightning attribute?" Wain pondered.
He looked at the monsters heading toward the hospital but didn't see any that fit. They were only weak, simple monsters.
"Hmm, for a monster to get any attribute, whether it's lightning, fire, water, or other, it must either evolve or appear in a suitable environment..." Proclaimed Wain was looking at the houses in the distance.
"I didn't notice it at first, but it looks like the monsters have already managed to destroy the generators that provide power to this city. I don't see any lights coming on in even a single apartment building. However, every light bulb in this hospital works without any problem." Wain reasoned.
He concluded that the hospital had its generator. It was the source of electricity, hence the attribute of lightning.
"But, electricity alone isn't enough. I need the monster to appear under certain conditions, to be endowed with the attribute of lightning." Wain muttered.
His gaze fell on the men running away in the distance. One of them stumbled and fell. He managed to get up and run away from the crowd of zombies. But, one monster managed to wound him. The wound was not deep, it was a simple scratch, but the man was already infected.
Wain slammed his fist against his palm as if he had an idea in his head and said, "Right! I just need to create a lightning zombie, easy peasy!"
With those words, Wain turned around and headed for the hospital wards. He was sure that one of the people here had been infected and was on the verge of turning into a zombie. Depending on the severity of his injury, the transformation could take anywhere from thirty minutes to three days. That meant he had to find a severely wounded person with signs of infection.
It didn't take long to find that man. There was a middle-aged man in one of the rooms, bleeding and all alone. Wain walked up to him and knocked him out with one sharp blow to the neck.
Wain raised him on his back and headed toward the generator. Wain didn't know where the generator was, but the maps showed the place. Only service personnel could go in there, but those rules weren't working right now.
Wain walked for a while until he got to the specified location, but it wasn't as easy as he thought.
"Stop! Who are you?" Said one of the two men standing in the aisle.
'I see, so they had the brains to send someone to guard the generator. Thought Wain looking at them.
One of the men looked at the man on Wain's back and said, 'This is no place for wounded people. Take this man to the ward.'
Wain nodded and said, "Sure, I'm just lost, but I'll stay here anyway."
The next moment a dark sword appeared between the two guards, and Wain swung his arm.
Two heads fell to the floor, and blood flooded the corridor. Wain walked past the lying bodies, carefully stepping over the pools of blood. Unlike killing monsters, killing people didn't give a person a soul.
He muttered to himself, "Eh, humans have become the only creatures without souls of their own. Not surprising, though, considering how terrible we are..."
Wain opened the door and saw a functioning generator. All Wain had to do was wait a few minutes before the man turned into a zombie. And then send electricity into his body through the wires. The method was rather ruthless but straightforward.
Wain put the man's body close to the generator and went to clean up after himself. He carried the two men's bodies to an inconspicuous place and quickly cleaned up the bloody footprints. Wain was very experienced at this. He was a master at it.
"He's bleeding and probably just recently came to this hospital. It's only a couple of minutes before he turns. I have to be prepared for the unexpected. I doubt a lightning zombie will be as strong as a normal zombie. It will be times stronger." Mumbled Wain.
Crackle.
After a couple of minutes of waiting, Wain saw the man's body begin to shrivel and partially decompose. It was a sign that the man had entered the first phase of his transformation into a zombie.
Wain immediately began to act. He cut off many wires and brought them to the man. He didn't care that it could have had a harmful effect on the operation of the generator or put it out of action altogether. The most important thing at the time was to get the soul he needed.
Wain was not going to spare a zombie. He used as much electricity as he could, and Wain saw a strange change at one point.
Electric sparks spun into the man's flesh and headed for his head. At the same moment, the transformation into a monster was complete.
Wain bounced to the side and looked curiously at the result.
Just as he had anticipated, the man had turned into a zombie, but not an ordinary one. This zombie was one and a half times taller, had electric shocks running all over his body, and his eyes looked as if they were made of lightning.
Roooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaar!
The Lightning Zombie roared and pounced on Wain. However, Wain didn't attack him back. He just ducked.
Wain wasn't sure if he should kill this zombie now. He doubted something.
'Hmm, to develop Lizard's Dash into Lightning Lizard's Dash, I need a Rare Rating Whole Soul with the lightning attribute. I'll definitely get the soul with the lightning attribute if I kill this zombie. Furthermore, I doubt there are many Lightning zombies at this point, so I'm 99% sure I'll get the Whole Soul. However, this zombie doesn't look unique or strong enough for its soul to be Rare Rated. I need to fix that.' Wain thought and dodged another zombie attack.
The next moment, a dark sword appeared behind the zombie, instantly slicing the monster's Achilles tendons in his legs.
As the zombie slowly crawled toward him, unable to get to his feet, Wain headed toward the corpses of the guards he had killed.
"What's going on here?!" Suddenly, however, a man burst into the room with a bat in his hands.
Then the man's gaze fell on Wain dragging two headless bodies behind him with a calm expression on his face.
"Today is definitely not your day," Wain said calmly.
The man didn't understand what was happening, but it was already a foregone conclusion. Wain swung his hand, and the dark sword pierced the man's heart.
Wain smirked as he looked at the zombie and said, "Dinner is served. I have prepared a real banquet especially for you!"
For the next few minutes, Wain watched without emotion as the zombies devoured the corpses of men. The monsters grew stronger by devouring the flesh of others, thereby gaining Soul Essence. The more of a creature had, the faster the monster became stronger.
'Hmm, there's quite a bit of Soul Essence in those three. After all, they haven't even killed any monsters yet and haven't awakened their Soul Altar.' Thought Wain.
He came to that conclusion because none of them had used any skill. However, Wain killed them too quickly for them to offer any resistance.
"I need to help him. He needs to get strong enough, so I don't get my hands dirty for nothing." Wain muttered and headed for the wires.
It was a real challenge for the zombie. He had to eat people and at the same time absorb large amounts of electricity that Wain was forcibly transmitting to him.
"Aahahaha, I like that. I feel like a mad scientist. But, this is just the beginning."