The milk-colored orb held up in the hand of Ash stood underneath the lighting of the room as it displayed in front of everyone.

"The core," Ash voiced out audibly to make sure everyone heard. "Primarily gotten from the chest of a stage-two and above zombie,"

"To everyone normal person out there, it means nothing right now, but soon it will be highly searched for,"

"How do you know this?" Diva asked as she suddenly interrupted him.

"From movies, games, and books," he replied and tried to continue when he was interrupted again.

"How do you know it's true?" Diva questioned again.

"That's what the movies, games, and books all say," he answered again, this time getting pissed.

"Yeah, but those are fiction and make-believe. There's no proof they will work like that,"

"Can you let me demonstrate it for y'all to see if fiction can't be real? Isn't zombie apocalypse also fictional?" He then asked her.

"Yes, it is but-" 

"Why has our world become one?" He cut her shut with another question.

She kept quiet with her head facing down. Ash glared at her for some seconds and then continued.

"The core has many functions and uses but the most commonly used as you see in games and movies, is to awaken your powers or make them twice as strong,"

"What about the rest uses and functions?" Jared asked.

"I asked you to go search for them because you and the rest of your friends here are going to grow stronger with it,"

"The first function of the core is to gauge your power affinity. In simpler terms, it's to know what powers you have,"

"The second function is to draw out the abilities of those who use it. In other words, it's to help those who didn't awaken early, awaken their abilities,"

"The third function or rather third use of it is to enhance those abilities. When one uses a core to enhance his or her abilities, they grow exponentially,"

"Woah!!" They all echoed.

"Yeah, it's like growing from a baby to an adult in less than a week, that's how good the cores are. However, if you suddenly awaken and go straight to upgrading yourself with a core, you might endanger yourself,"

"How so?"

"It's like adding fuel to an uncontrollable fire. You could get caught in it,"

"Then the next function or use it as a fighting material. Some use it as a weapon or ammo for a weapon. It all depends,"

"I think I've seen it in a game where they pour their energy into it and then detonate it like a bomb or something," Kover added.

"Oh, you're right. Some use it as a bullet," David added following his.

"So yeah, it keeps going like that till someone finds a new use for it. Sometimes it can be used to heal injuries, other times, it can be used to heighten one's powers during battle,"

"So for now, I'm guessing you won't use it on us just yet?" Jared asked after glancing around the team.

"You're exactly right, using the core on you guys at this level could be dangerous," Ash answered. "So y'all are gonna be training till I say you're ready to use one,"

"What about you?" Sinon immediately asked while she sat on her seat.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle myself just fine, with or without the core,"

"As it stands, none of you will be able to bring me down even if you've awakened,"

"Confident, I see," Gareth replied his statement immediately. "What if we used all these cores on Jared to raise his powers?"

"Then would we have a chance?" He asked Ash with an excited look.

"Yes, he might have a chance," Ash replied with a soft smile.

"Might? Nah, I don't believe that," Gareth responded. "You said using one will raise the person's power exponentially. So in a normal sense, using all will make him almost invincible and you can easily handle that?"

"In a one-on-one battle, experience goes a long way," Ash answered. 

The team kept quiet for a while as they heard the words he spoke.

"Don't go thinking power, ability, and might are all you need to bring down an opponent. If you have all those in check, and you go against an opponent who has experience in battle, you will die," Ash warned.

"I don't know the kind of training you went through to be able to speak so high like this, but I also don't think you can easily win," Gareth kept the conversation going.

"Let's drop the comparison for now. When y'all are strong enough to think you can face me, come at me and you'll get your answer right there," 

'So cool!!' Rika admired her in thought. 'I want to be as strong as Ash.'

'Be able to talk cool and confident. But I'm too shy to say anything.'

"Anyway, for the demonstration," Ash said as he held up the core again.

He closed his eyes for some seconds and then he opened them and imbue the core with his energy.

After watching him for a while, the team kept quiet as they expected something but got nothing.

Soon, the core began to glow brightly in front of their eyes.

"Ash, what does that color mean?" Rika asked as she watched in astonishment.

Ash's face was carved up in a bright smile as he watched the core glow brightly.

'Finally.' a single thought ran through his head.

****

Several men all dressed in suits of different colors, walked along the brightly lit hallway with their shoes thudding on the floor. They all turned to their left as soon as they approached a corner inside a prestigious-looking building.

They greeted the staff and office workers who stood along the way greeting them one after the other before getting in front of a door.

The door was opened by the security men who stood before them and shortly after, they all walked into the dark room. 

In the middle of the room was a round table that was centered perfectly to fit about twenty individuals.

As they found their way to the seats, the light in the room was turned on and immediately the whole place was illuminated.

The large screen positioned at the top of the wall far from the round table was soon turned on while the men took their seats.

The screen soon displayed a man who was handsomely dressed in a black suit as he stared at them.

"Mister president, it's an honor,"