Cores

The shock lingered among them for a moment before they snapped out of it.

Almost instinctively, they all glanced back in the direction they had come from and up at the sky. The day was already fading, the sky darkening as night crept in.

They hadn't realized how much time had passed while scouting. They had set out in the morning, but time had slipped away as they became engrossed in their tasks.

"Maybe we should head back and check the monsters we killed for more orbs along the way," suggested the security head, who had been silent until now.

The group quickly agreed. Without another word, they turned and began retracing their steps. This time, they didn't need to be told to hurry. Their pace quickened naturally, urgency settling in.

As they moved toward the cafeteria, they carefully examined the heads of the stray zombies and monsters along the way, focusing only on the ones they had killed. No one wanted to risk unnecessary fights or take chances that could cost them their lives.

The eerie silence was broken only by the occasional sound of distant battles or the rustling of mutated foliage around them.

Back at the open field where they had fought earlier, they resumed their search. However, the drop rate for cores was disappointingly low. Out of every twelve monsters checked, only two yielded a core.

To their surprise, the shadow cats consistently had cores. But aside from them and a few stronger monsters, they found little else of value.

Initially, they assumed that the presence of cores correlated with a monster's strength, but that theory was shattered when they checked the larger bears and tigers and found no cores at all. It became clear that obtaining cores was a matter of luck, not strength. Some members of the scout group even went as far as dismantling the monsters' bodies to see if the cores were hidden elsewhere, but their efforts proved futile.

After two hours of scouring the battlefield, they made their way back to the cafeteria. On the way, they spotted a massive, oversized chicken dart past them, paying no mind to the group.

They briefly considered taking it down, but Jon shook his head, and they let it go.

"Ah, we could've had chicken for dinner," one scout muttered, clicking his tongue, which lightened the mood a little.

By now, Jenny and Cynthia had both acquired their third skills, and several others in the group had unlocked their second. Their bodies gradually became adorned with various treasures obtained from orbs. These treasures boosted their attacks, defenses, or even granted new abilities. Some had defensive capabilities, while others provided offensive enhancements.

Though everyone would have liked to equip multiple treasures, they quickly realized that they couldn't wear two of the same type. Attempting to do so rendered both items useless.

The scout group also noticed that the pistols carried by the security team were becoming increasingly ineffective against the mutated monsters. While still capable of taking down zombies, they were clearly outdated and growing weaker against the evolving threats.

It made some of them wonder how the rest of the world was holding up. Even the weapons they had secretly created were proving ineffective against the new monsters.

Their steps quickened as they neared the cafeteria, each eager to evolve their skills using the cores they had painstakingly collected. The excitement was obvious on their faces. Even the treasures they had gathered felt secondary to the allure of evolving their abilities.

Jon, in particular, was pleased with the treasures he had acquired. While examining the bears for cores, they had found none, but they did discover treasure orbs. From the two bears, they retrieved three treasures, which Jon, Jenny, and Cynthia divided equally.

One of Jon's treasures was a new spear. He marveled at the system's subtle encouragement toward specific paths, pushing individuals toward skills or items that suited them best. The spear, though simple in design, was made of stone rather than metal yet was surprisingly powerful.

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED ITEM: POWER SPEAR]

[POWER SPEAR (UNRANKED GRADE): ALLOWS LIMITED USE OF EARTH ELEMENT. EFFECTIVE AGAINST LEVEL 20 OR LOWER. STRENGTH +6]

Jon was shocked. Until now, all the treasures had been for below level 15, but now, this one was level 20. Curious about the earth elemental aspect, Jon slammed the bottom of the spear into the ground, mimicking the bear's earlier actions.

The earth rumbled lightly in a five-meter radius around him, confirming his newfound ability to manipulate the terrain within that range.

Another treasure he received was:

[FIGHTER'S COAT: BLOCKS ATTACKS FROM PRE-APOCALYPSE HUMAN-LEVEL WEAPONS. STAMINA +8]

The coat, plain but functional, brought a rare smile to Jon's face as he donned it. "Pre-apocalypse" meant weapons from before the world fell, and "human-level" suggested that weapons like pistols or shotguns would no longer pose a threat to him.

He felt relieved—no more worries about stray bullets. But his luck didn't last long. When he asked for the best treasure, he was handed an earring.

Reluctantly, he pierced his ear, gritting his teeth as he put it on. However, after reading its description, he nearly apologized to the earring.

[POLMEY EARRING (UNRANKED REALM): INCREASES YOUR SENSES TO DANGER.]

Despite its unimpressive appearance, the earring granted him a valuable survival tool. The ability to sense danger was more powerful than even some of the unranked treasures they had encountered so far.

By the time they reached the cafeteria, the group was greeted with smiles and greetings from the survivors who had remained behind.

But the returning scouts barely acknowledged them, scattering to their corners to evolve their skills as soon as possible. The bystanders exchanged confused glances, wondering what had happened to dampen the group's spirits. They didn't realize it was excitement.

Jon wasted no time. He reached his area and retrieved an unranked core from his collection, he had managed to gather 20 of them after killing nearly a hundred monsters.

[EVOLVE SKILLS WITH APPROPRIATE NUMBER OF CORES]

[SKILL 'SPEED-HEALING' (UNRANKED) LEVEL 5 → (FIRST REALM) LEVEL 1: 20/10 UNRANKED CORES]

"Yes," he whispered.

As soon as he confirmed the evolution, the cores flew from his hand, enveloping him in a golden light. They dissolved into him, transforming his skill into something greater.

When he checked his skill afterward, he saw a new description:

[SPEED-HEALING (FIRST REALM) LEVEL 1: SPEEDS UP HEALING PROCESS TO FOUR TIMES THAT OF A NORMAL HUMAN. PERMANENTLY INCREASES HEALTH BY 100.]

"Nice!" he exclaimed. "Now all my skills are in the first realm."

Jon checked his status again:

[STATUS]

[NAME: JON WHYTE]

[AGE: 19]

[LEVEL: 23]

[CLASS: NONE]

[TITLE: NONE]

[STRENGTH: 70 | AGILITY: 100 | STAMINA: 90 (+8) | MANA: 600 | HEALTH: 260]

[SKILLS: INSTANT CALCULATION (FIRST REALM), MOON (FIRST REALM), MOON GAZING (SECOND REALM), SPEED-HEALING (FIRST REALM), MIND WORLD, SHADOW STEPS]

[PASSIVE SKILLS: COMPOSURE (THIRD REALM), SOLDIER'S PHYSIQUE (EVOLVABLE)]

[STATUS POINTS: 13]

But he still hadn't reached level 25. "I'll need to kill one or two threshold creatures," he realized, already restless for his next challenge.

Without waiting, Jon stood up and headed toward the entrance, this time he didn't want anyone to follow, so he had to leave secretly.

So, with his mind focused on his next move, he activated his newly gotten shadow steps and appeared in one of the entrances in a blur.

While the crowd were still curious about the strange behavior of the returning fighters, he was already closing the door to the cafeteria gently to avoid anyone noticing him.

This time, he chose the southern route, where the boys' dormitories were located, determined to test his newfound strength.