Chapter 49 - Evolution Stone
Six days later, below a sturdy tall tree, Zach could be found eating instant noodles peacefully. However, when you look at it closely, there are a lot of Undead in his surroundings but seeing that they were on the ground and not moving, they are probably already dead.
"It's been a week already, yet I haven't still found other people in the area. Am I really the only one here? Now that I think about it, it's my and Zoey's birthday today. I really hope she was okay." Zach muttered while looking at the sky wondering when he would find other people like him as he already had enough of meeting Undead for the past week.
Feeling lonely, Zach then just finished his noodles as it was now time again to leave the area however, when he was about to sip the last soup, he heard a familiar sound coming in his direction.
Looking at the Undead moving towards him, Zach just has a completely uninterested expression on his face before he takes out a weapon that looks like a spear. Not wanting the Undead to come any closer, he then just threw that spear toward it and saw it pierced into a tree before dying.
After that, Zach then finally finished his noodles as he stood up while stretching a bit. After a week of doing nothing but killing zombies, Zach has a complete transformation because aside from leveling up to 10, his attire has also changed specifically his shoes and pants after he luckily acquired them from one of the drops.
The shoes Zach was wearing were called Speed Boots, it's a Tier 1 item with a function that increases his Agility by 5. On the other hand, the pants he was wearing were called Protective Leather Pants and it's also a Tier 1 item with a function of increasing his defensive power by 3.
Aside from that, Zach has also acquired two more weapons namely the Sharp Knife and Long Spear and both of them were also Tier 1 items. Unfortunately, he was not lucky enough to acquire another skill book, but it was not a problem since he was no longer bothered even if there was a large group of zombies surrounding him.
Meanwhile, it was only now that Zach had used the full potential of his evolved body as aside from having abnormal strength, he could also jump higher than what seemed to be normal. However, the greatest weapon that he had was none other than the system itself, especially the Survival Path which helped him move without meeting any dangerous situation, and the Survival Lines which helped him have time to avoid any attack that was coming to him making his combat strength greatly improve over the past week.
Leaving the Evolution Coins on the ground, Zach then just left the place as he headed north trying to see what that direction had to offer since he had been wandering aimlessly all this time as the forest-like place he was in was just as confusing as a maze.
Along the way, a number of Undead keep on coming at Zach, but they only meet their end as the Steel Sword continues to cut them. However, when he traveled for quite a distance, he suddenly stopped and hid after he saw another 2-meter tall and fat Undead in the distance.
[Monster: Glutton
Monster Tier: 1
Monster Level: 11
Monster Classification: Ordinary
Monster Skills: None]
"This is the second time I have met this monster. So, it was called Glutton. Well, it's a fitting name." Zach said after using appraisal skill wanting to see what it was since he never had the chance to use it to the ones that he killed with an RPG before.
"I may have been scared of it before but aside from having a little higher level, it was still a dumb Undead." Zach followed before he took out the Long Spear in his inventory. One thing he has observed is that the reason behind the guns, the katana, and even the RPG that he used couldn't kill them immediately is because there was a difference in Tiers as all of them and everything that he could buy on the system were all Tier 0, unlike the dropped items he got from after killing an Undead.
Now that Zach had weapons of the same Tier as him and the Undead around, he was already capable of killing them with ease and it would probably be the same as this Glutton seeing him after some time, throw the Long Spear at the Glutton trying to hit its head and see if it would kill it.
However, the Long Spear didn't reach its head as it only hit its body seeing it buried on its fat belly. The Glutton shrieks which it immediately looks in which direction it came from and there it saw Zach. It then growled angrily as it started moving towards him.
"Looks like I need to improve my throwing skills." Zach said upon seeing that the Long Spear didn't hit the spot that he wanted it to land on. Looking at the Glutton coming in his direction, he then just took out his Steel Sword and started running trying to face the incoming monster.
As there were also ordinary Undead around, Zach also had to take care of them as he continued to kill his way before seeing the Glutton suddenly swing its fat arm towards his direction which he immediately slid between his feet all the while using his Steel Sword to attack it.
As if a chunk of meat was cut off, the Glutton immediately fell as it lost its balance. On the other hand, Zach didn't slip the chance as he stood up and jumped on its back before heading towards the obvious weakness which is the head. Taking out a Long Spear, he then pierced it to its head and continued to push it before burying it down to the ground.
[Level Up.]
[1 Free Attributable Stat gained.]
Not impressed by his level up, Zach immediately searched if it had dropped items since the last one had given him the Steel Sword and Appraisal Skill Book. Seeing something shining beside it, he immediately went forward and grabbed what item or items it dropped.
Seeing that two items were present, Zach immediately put them inside his inventory since he needed to clear up the place first as more and more Undead could be found swarming in his direction.
Leaving down the dead body of Glutton, Zach then immediately started a killing spree while carrying the Steel Sword in his hand cutting them like they were nothing. It even took him only a minute to clear the area seeing the place finally become quiet and gory.
Sitting on the ground, Zach then took out the items that he got. One of them was a pair of leather gloves while the other one was a stone. Curious as to what they are, he then immediately used Appraisal to the both of them.
[Item: Strength Gloves
Item Tier: 1
Item Rating: 1 Star
Item Classification: Ordinary
Item Function: When equipped, an additional + 5 stat points to Strength.
Item Evolution Requirement: 1 Evolution Stone (Tier 1)]
[Item: Evolution Stone
Item Tier: 1
Item Rating: ???
Item Classification: ???
Item Function: ???]
"Oh, shit!!! I really acquired it and why does it show question marks in it?" Zach already felt good upon seeing the Strength Gloves but when he saw the last one, he couldn't help but feel surprised. Also, it was the first time that it happened to him and he immediately understood that it was probably an item above the ordinary class and that makes his appraisal skill unable to discern its information.
[An Evolution Stone has been detected.]
[Do you want to use the Evolution Stone to evolve the Steel Sword?]
[Yes/No.]
[Confirming the usage of Evolution Stone to Steel Sword?]
[Yes/No]
"It really is the item required?" Zach was surprised by the sudden notification of the system. Curious about what would happen, he first put to it his Survival Inventory and duplicated it to make sure that he had spare ones.
"Yes." Zach replied afterward.
[Using 1 Evolution Stone on Steel Sword.]
[Steel Sword evolution completed.]
[Item: Steel Sword
Item Tier: 1
Item Rating: 2 Stars
Item Classification: Ordinary
Item Function: When equipped, an additional + 8 to attacking power.
Item Evolution Requirement: 2 Evolution Stones (Tier 1)]
"Shit! Its rating has really ranked up. Is this the power of the Evolution Stone? So amazing!! But can this item still evolve?" Zach felt great upon seeing the change in the additional attacking power. However, he was still not satisfied as he thought that maybe it could still evolve again. He then immediately duplicated the Evolution Stone many times before using it once more.
[Confirming the usage of Evolution Stone to Steel Sword?]
[Yes/No]
"Y-Yes." Zach replied with its heart beating with great excitement.
[Using 2 Evolution Stones on Steel Sword.]
[Steel Sword evolution completed.]
[Item: Steel Sword
Item Tier: 1
Item Rating: 3 Stars
Item Classification: Ordinary
Item Function: When equipped, an additional + 12 to attacking power.
Item Evolution Requirement: 3 Evolution Stones (Tier 1)]
"A broken item indeed. I'm going to be invincible at this rate." Zach muttered upon suddenly imagining himself wearing pieces of equipment enhanced to its highest rating. Seeing that it was possible, he then no longer wasted more time and continued to evolve the Steel Sword as he had no problems no matter how many Evolution Stones it would need.
After that, Zach then could now be found holding the Steel Sword with both hands as if he was treating it as a treasure. The appearance of the sword didn't change as it still looked the same as before however, its function has reached its highest possible rating after using a total of 10 Evolution Stones on it.
[Item: Steel Sword
Item Tier: 1
Item Rating: 5 Stars
Item Classification: Ordinary
Item Function: When equipped, an additional + 20 to attacking power.
Item Evolution Requirement: Evolution can no longer be applied.]
"I wonder how sharp and powerful it was now but before that. Hehe." Zach muttered as he could no longer wait to test it out however, he still wasn't done as he took the other items that he had and started evolving them without any guilt because if this was a game, then he was probably being reported as a cheater already.
Not before long, Zach then could now be found standing as if he were the center of the world after all his equipment had been raised to 5 Stars ranging from his Strength Gloves, Protective Leather Pants, Speed Boots, Long Spear, and Sharp Knife.
[Item: Strength Gloves
Item Tier: 1
Item Rank: 5 Stars
Item Classification: Ordinary
Item Function: When equipped, an additional + 25 stat points to Strength.
Item Evolution Requirement: Evolution can no longer be applied.]
[Item: Protective Leather Pants
Item Tier: 1
Item Rating: 5 Stars
Item Classification: Ordinary
Item Function: When equipped, an additional + 15 to defensive power.
Item Evolution Requirement: Evolution can no longer be applied.]
[Item: Speed Boots
Item Tier: 1
Item Rating: 5 Stars
Item Classification: Ordinary
Item Function: When equipped, an additional + 25 stat points to Agility.
Item Evolution Requirement: Evolution can no longer be applied.]
[Item: Long Spear
Item Tier: 1
Item Rating: 5 Stars
Item Classification: Ordinary
Item Function: When equipped, an additional + 20 to attacking power.
Item Evolution Requirement: Evolution can no longer be applied.]
[Item: Sharp Knife
Item Tier: 1
Item Rating: 5 Stars
Item Classification: Ordinary
Item Function: When equipped, an additional + 15 to attacking power.
Item Evolution Requirement: Evolution can no longer be applied.]
"That's what I thought about being overpowered. Now, to test them. Hmmm." Zach said before he suddenly heard something that caught his attention since this was not a sound that he was familiar with and was something new. Sharpening his hearing, he finally and clearly heard what it was and his excitement started showing on his face seeing him already running towards a particular direction.
Step by step, Zach feels like his speed has become much faster than before which makes him think that it must be the work of the additional stats given by the items. Passing by many Undead on his way, he finally reached the source of sound in no time.
"Help!"
"Help us!"
"Anyone!"
Two young men and one woman could be found fending off against a number of Undead that surrounded them. Looking closely, all of them had weapons in their hands. The two men holding a sword and an axe respectively while the woman could be found holding a bow and arrow.
On the other hand, the group of three was actually having a nice meal and didn't notice that a group of Undead had already gotten closer to them, and before they could take action, it was already late as they were already surrounded which put them in such a dangerous situation. Knowing that they might not probably escape such a predicament, they had no choice but to risk it as they started shouting for help hoping that there were other people around even though they knew that it would also attract the Undead.
…Swoosh…Swoosh…Swoosh…
…Thud…Thud…Thud….
Suddenly, the group caught and saw Zach's arrival and they witnessed how he killed all the Undead around with great ease as if he was slicing a paper seeing how their bodies were cut cleanly however, that was not the most surprising that they saw as they were all dumbstruck upon seeing how fast he did it.
It only took a couple of seconds before every Undead in the vicinity was killed leaving behind the two men and one woman frozen as they watched Zach smiling while covered with blood and looking at his sword. They witnessed everything and they all wondered whether he really was a human as he looked like more of a monster.