Confidence and Arrogance

Brick had picked up on his strange condition that he had experienced in the previous battle and was trying to find that strange sensation once again as he made his way towards the main building.

A stone was thrown in one direction which made a noise and attracted a nearby zombie towards it.

The zombie was looking and walking in the opposite direction so it missed the approaching figure behind it.

A dagger stabbed accurately into the back of the head then the zombie fell down to the ground and lay there dead.

Brick looked around and showed a slight smile on his face. 'I feel as if I am onto something. I just need to catch that feeling once again.'

In that state he was more focussed and could feel his body adapting much quicker to the crystal nucleus which had been diluted by water.

It felt as if his body was reaching the initial stages of evolution or mutation as the novel had stated.

Some would awaken a power randomly, some would awaken it in a life and death crisis while others were more gradual and needed to grasp a certain state or requirements to unlock their power quicker.

While the deeper concentration could not be explained by those states of evolving, he just assumed that it had something to do with his unique situation with his soul.

It was not strange for reborn people who have a merged or two souls to be more adept in certain areas that require mental, soul or spiritual influenced which would aid in having better control, resistances or other talents.

It was not strange for reincarnation novels to feature main characters which were very sensitive and had excellent mental abilities which lead to them having better talents and comprehensive abilities while others would be more skilled in areas like talisman, pill or artefact making which require a lot of knowledge and control to make higher grade ones.

His ability to concentrate in battle and pay attention to the changes in battle was definitely above what the previous owner could achieve before they had evolved and gained their ability so he believed it to be a perk of his soul being brought to the present world. 'If this is my bonus for being brought here then it will not be so bad since it should be compatible with this bodies ability if it is the same one.'

More time had passed and Brick had reached the main building while avoiding any more crowded areas where there were more zombies lurking around.

So long as he did not run around recklessly creating noise wherever he went, it was not difficult to avoid attracting the zombies and he could use various means to distract or divert them.

A large and luxurious mansion was before his eyes after he had made his way into the main front yard then approached the door.

A zombie that seemed to be dressed up like a gardener of the mansion saw him then moved toward him. "Hrr."

Brick waited for it to approach and when it had reached towards him, his body moved naturally to avoid it then responded by getting himself in the right position to strike in response.

The knife stabbed into the temple and ended its life quickly and efficiently.

With a simple action, the zombie was easily dealt with by Brick and there was not a single moment that he felt he was in any danger.

It was not arrogance that he was feeling towards the situation but it was more related to the confidence he had in his own skills which lead him to no longer fear ordinary zombies.

It did not remove his cautiousness towards the bites or scratches and getting overwhelmed by numbers or an unfavourable environment as he still factored in those things for the sake of his own survival.

Even if there were a couple more zombies, he had confidence in being able separate and kill them one at a time if he kept his distance and used the environment to his advantage.

Many would be overcome with arrogance and would believe themselves to be powerful then recklessly charge at one or two zombies to face them at a close range which would result in a single mistake and would lead to their death.

It happened too often when people gained a little too much confidence in themselves or had gained some kind of special power.

It was not strange for a newly awakened power user to gain confidence in their ability then die quickly due to not testing out the various strengths and weaknesses or limitations of that ability.

Newly awakened had very weak abilities and they were considered as half awakened due to a lot of them only being to summon a small amount of power which could barely be called a boost to their present physical capabilities.

If they believed themselves to be invincible upon gaining them then they would be among those to die shortly after obtaining those powers.

There exists a very fine line between confidence and arrogance, Brick was aware of that and did not take on more than what he knew he could handle.

Him going alone was a way to make his way over towards the main house more efficiently but to also test his current capabilities and limits, once those limits were better known then he could gain more confidence in his own abilities and analyse various situations better whether they involved himself or his group.

Even facing the opposite group that appeared, Brick was fully aware of the dangers that the other party presented so he did not provoke a fight right away even if he had some assurances that he could defeat Shawn and have his group overwhelm the others with numbers.

He had spotted the gun on the waist of several people and had acted accordingly to the situation since he wanted to maintain the lives of those that he had saved and prevent a future massacre.

It was not that he feared the opposite party but it was more that it was not the right time to act.

It was far too public and involved too many people while it did not matter that Shawn was gaining a following due to the main house being able to take back that power from him.

Even if Shawn became inflated with his present gains, he could not forget who he worked for and who held the most power and resources.

In the end, he was just someone that needed a backer too in the apocalypse so he could survive and his pursuit for power would be a trivial matter.

The Reed family along with some other influential families or people had knowledge of places where needed resources would be stored and had a means to protect themselves.

They also had various connections with others which could help them gain entry into the future bases and use their resources to gain a higher position so even if money had become useless, the worth of the rich was not yet gone unless all they had was a large amount of money with them.

The worth of money had ended with the apocalypse and even normal coins had become worthless as most people looted from anywhere they could for resources, later those on power would rely on their own distributing or trading methods like using stamps or tokens until the importance of the crystal nucleus was realised in the original novel.

Those rich people who were not quick enough to adapt to the changes would not have an easy life from then onwards due to them putting their hopes on using their money to buy resources or to bribe others to make their lives easier.

The door was left unlocked and Brick stepped inside slowly as she looked at his surroundings.

In the main hall was a wide hallway with a staircase which split off to the left and right in the shape of a T while there were several other rooms on the lower floor at the front of the mansion.

The door made a slight sound which had attracted the zombies inside so Brick stepped back and closed the door a little then stepped back into the yard.

The gap was smaller but it was still possible for the zombies to pass through without accidentally pushing it closed themselves unless they approach from another angle behind the door.

"Uhh.."

"Hhh."

Brick calmly watched as four had gathered but had a little distance between them as they were slowly exiting the door.

The gap was only big enough for one or two to fit to it obstructed a larger group unless they pushed the door open wider once again by accident as they moved forward so it slowed them down or split them up a little better.

Brick had stepped down the steps on the main path leading to the main door and then watched the zombies as they stepped on nothing but air with their next steps.

The zombies fell down and clumsily rolled down the hard stone steps one after another.

Before they could pull themselves back up or regain their awareness of their surroundings, an axe came downward onto their heads and ended their lives.

Brick watched as the zombies fell down and responded quickly by attacking them when they were down and were vulnerable then started whistling to draw more from inside the house outside. "Here zombies zombies zombies."

The main yard was very clear and had been checked over so it was safer to draw out the zombies that were inside rather than face them in a more closed off place that he was less familiar with or could have poorer lighting.

It was easy to be taken by surprise inside and he had better options available when he was outside whether it was getting to somewhere safe or having a wider and open space to use to kite the zombies around.

Each zombie was just a deteriorated version of a human with their own characteristics so they were each different from each other even if it was by a little bit.

Those physical differences would allow them to be a little tougher, quicker or stronger depending on the type of physique they had before they had turned into a zombie.

Not every one of them would move at the same exact speed so it was easier to separate them in a more open space.

Several doors of the main hall were still left open so the zombies that heard the loud whistles of Brick had headed outside then fell down one after another until three had fallen together.

Brick brought his axe down on one that was the closest and backed away to avoid the other two as he had assessed the risk to be slightly higher and not worth attempting to kill more of them right away. "Damned.."

More zombies were close to falling down the steps so the danger level would be increased if he remained so he had to back down.

Just as he was fighting off the zombies on his own, there were some cameras which caught the movements outside and within the main hall which had ignited the hopes of many others.

One person who was watching was a middle aged man who was dressed in a smart business suit, he had several guards around him which had a baton or another blunt or sharp weapon attached to their waist.

The middle aged man watched the screen in front of him and showed a smile, he inserted some shells into a single barrel shotgun which had been lying on the table then lead the way out. "We finally have a chance."

It was not strange for a rich man to have a collection of guns as collectables or for actual use whether it was for sport or for protection.

The Reed family were very influential so they had their fair share of enemies and sometimes gained some threats from people so they had to have a means to protect themselves within their own homes.

The shotgun was mainly used for hunting and clay shooting but the father of Tanya was most familiar with it.

It had a lot of power but it was only a single shot and needed to be reloaded so he had to aim to kill each time then would have to rely on the others.

He was a cautious man who would not hand out his prized guns and ammunition to others carelessly so many were stuck with ordinary weapons as they assisted him.

Once he saw that the threat within several rooms and the main hall had been moved to the outside and some zombies had started to be directed to fall from the upper floor down the stairs thanks to Brick, many saw a chance to secure the building once again.