Rising early the next morning, Fletcher pulled on the lightweight armor vest and the two gloves that were part of his loot. According to the notes in his notebook, these pieces of equipment weren't blessed with any magical enhancements; however, they provided excellent protection, They felt much more flexible than a traditional bulletproof vest.

Fletcher had a plan to hunt some zombies, and he was considering his options. He could either go for a frontal attack or set up some traps - the latter seemed like the safer bet until he felt more confident in himself. This way, Fletcher could avoid taking unnecessary risks while honing his skills.

Despite the ghost town feel, he was aware of the tragic truth; if the remains of the soldiers from yesterday's battle were left intact, they would soon become zombies. He knew that in a few hours, any deceased soldiers could transform into the undead unless their brains were destroyed or incinerated.

Anticipating the zombie soldiers that were patrolling the town, he carefully laid out some tripwires and crouched in wait.

Fletcher watched in glee as a zombie stumbled toward one of his traps. His fingers were tightly wrapped around the handle of the steel hammer he had found, it was the only thing that could give him an advantage over the undead creature. Cautiously, Fletcher crept up behind it until the beast tripped on the wire, crashing to the ground with a sickening thud against the concrete. The zombie barely had time to realize what had happened before Fletcher's weapon struck down, smashing into its skull. He felt the satisfying crack as the hammer hit but, unfortunately, wasn't quite able to break through.

'fuck this zombie's skull is so hard to break, I hit it as hard as I can'

Fletcher panicked when the zombie let out a thunderous roar, he quickly swung his weapon again, but it still wouldn't die. Frustrated and desperate, Fletcher kept striking at it until pieces of it’s brain flew off with every blow. Finally, after several hits, the zombie lay lifeless on the ground and Fletcher reached into its skull to sift through what remained.

'found it '

Fletcher yanked a small red core from its brain and sprinted away with all his might. He knew the cacophony he created must have enticed any zombies in the area. After catching his breath, Fletcher cleaned off the energy core with some water before throwing it into his mouth and swallowing it whole. Suddenly, warmth filled his stomach and gradually spread throughout his body - it was a comforting sensation like being inside of a sauna. The process lasted around a minute until his temperature normalized. With everything back to normal, Fletcher inspected his stats.

'My strength increased by 0.1 that's not right I remember reading William's notebook, he stated that a zombie energy core can increase attributes of an awakened by 0.01, he even mentioned how he had to constantly swallow energy cores up to sixty cores a day, to maximize his consumption, wait there was also something about digestion'

He carefully opened the notebook, his eyes eagerly scanning through its pages until he found what he was looking for, a section devoted to energy cores.

Notebook entry N45

Today, I and the other awakened got some exciting news, how to boost our attributes. Apparently, it's easy, just take energy cores, Each one gives a tiny 0.01 upgrade when swallowed and takes about 10 minutes for our bodies to digest. We were given sixty cores a day, and told to continuously consume one every time we our body cooled off.

Fletcher could hardly believe his eyes when he realized what had happened. In just a minute, he had gone from feeling like an inferior to having the most extraordinary ability, his devour ability allowed him  to absorb ten times more power from one energy core than anyone else, plus, he got it done in record time.

‘It's unbelievable, I never thought I'd be so lucky, and here I was jealous of that foolish fire thrower ability’.

Fletcher continued his silent hunting, relying on his tripwires and previous experience, he carefully targeted the stragglers, the more energy cores he consumed the stronger, Fletcher had vanquished 27 undead monsters all by himself, an impressive feat! After gathering up the energy cores that each kill yielded, he returned to his hideout, feasting upon them to become even more formidable.

Fletcher felt a wave of power course through him when he consumed the fifteen red strength cores, eleven blue agility cores, and one green vitality core he acquired from his hunt. He was astounded as he tested his new physical capabilities, professional exercises that had previously been too difficult for him were now effortless! Although he was delighted with his newfound abilities, there was one downside; Fletcher's appetite seemed to have doubled overnight. As he surveyed the backpack full of food, he wondered how long it would last in the face of his insatiable hunger.

Fletcher traveled steadily north, aiming for the city of Atlas, the largest in Loania country and a place Fletcher used to call home. He was on the hunt for more zombies, so what better spot than this sprawling metropolis? Normally it would have taken him two days at least to get there, but his newly enhanced strength allowed him to cover the distance in just one full day. Now he stood before an impressive two-story villa, its fence providing no obstacle as Fletcher hopped over it with ease. After checking that the front door was locked, he climbed up onto the balcony, where he found the glass doors had been conveniently left open. With a satisfied grin, Fletcher stepped into his new abode.

'OK this is going to be my base from now on, it is nice to be back, I should check around the neighborhood for any people or zombies'.

Fletcher spent the following week combing through his neighborhood, meticulously searching each house he came across. He took every opportunity to defeat any zombies that crossed his path and after a few days of scavenging, he was finally able to acquire a handful of energy cores.

"This is weird, I have eaten 3 so far, but my strength and agility attributes won't increase at all"

No matter how hard he tried, his physical abilities just wouldn't seem to improve anymore. He had been relying on the power of the cores to make himself stronger and faster, but they were no longer having an effect.

"Maybe 5 is the limit of the human body, well I still have vitality and intelligence to increase but they are so hard to find, well even if this is the limit of my body, this is incredible, I have superhuman strength, and my speed is amazing, I can easily kill zombies now, it is not even a challenge anymore, tomorrow I will venture deeper in the city, this place is practically zombie-free already".