Inside an abandoned factory, three people were incapacitating these walking undead. One of them was grumbling as he was who was buck naked who definitely prefer to go home.

 

But despite his internal complaint, he didn’t let his emotion clouded his judgment. Hakeem knew the reason they needed to do this.

 

“Come on, let’s move to another place,” said Jason.

 

Mateo and Hakeem followed along as they killed the undead, making sure they won’t be a problem in the later future. They knew the implication. If they let any of these things still walking around, a zombie pandemic was the last thing they wanted to deal with, considering the bigger and visible problem at hand.

 

Soon, after taking a few rounds around the factory, making sure there were no more zombies, Jason finally decided to go home.

 

“Hell yeah, I’m sick of the smell man,” said Hakeem as he took a sniffed over his armpit, and the smell was revolting. He was at the point of retching.

 

They spent so much time cooped in a factory. Since they were dealing with the rotten undead. The smell was bound to be stuck with them even after getting out of the place.

 

The three people sitting inside a car as Jason took the driver’s seat.

 

The sun was rising from the horizon as dawn broke the night sky. They spent a whole night becoming zombie busters.

 

“I’ve been wondering man,” Hakeem spoke out as he tapped his hand at Mateo.

 

“Where have you been when I and Jason were fighting against that big ass zombie?” Hakeem asked.

 

“Jason told me to stay on the second floor,” said Mateo.

 

Mateo felt embarrassed, thinking of how useless he was in this group.

 

“Woah, he left you alone?” Hakeem was surprised.

 

“You could have gotten him kill man,” Hakeem berated Jason, who was still driving.

 

“He’s still alive,” said Jason.

 

“But Jason, he’s still new at this man. This is his first time, he would have…” Jason cut off Hakeem’s word.

 

“He’s better than you,” said Jason.

 

“What did you just said?” Hakeem asked as he changed his glance at Mateo.

 

“He’s better,” Jason repeated the same thing, which unknowingly invoked something in Hakeem.

 

“What level are you at?” Hakeem asked.

 

“Twelve,” said Mateo.

 

“What? Twelve? You shitting me right?” Hakeem said.

 

Mateo gave Hakeem a smile as he too couldn’t deny that he was quite impressive.

 

“Well, he got pretty lucky considering we’re fighting against zombies, those things are easy picking when compared to the other monsters,” said Jason.

 

“You’re right, the zombies are pretty easy,” said Hakeem as he pondered about it for some time.

 

“But man, you really got it easy,” Hakeem said as he tapped Mateo by the shoulder.

 

“Nah, I wouldn’t have been able to do this if it wasn’t for you guys,” said Mateo. “and I’ve to give credit to Mr.Park, he did the heavy lifting as he pretty much spoon-fed me.”

 

“Mr.Park? You don’t have to be that polite with this dude,” said Hakeem.

 

“You want me to leave you here by the side of the street?” Jason asked the buck naked Hakeem.

 

“Don’t, I’m freaking naked here, man. I don’t want to get a ticket because of public indecency,” said Hakeem.

 

“Then behave then, I’m still driving here, and besides, I left Mateo alone because he got a pretty decent skill,” said Jason.

 

Hakeem turned his attention to Mateo as he was intrigued by the mentioning of the skill.

 

“Keen Edge, a skill that increases the user’s awareness as well as boosting the attack speed of the user,” said Jason.

 

“Woah, that sounds useful,” said Hakeem as he too knew about the importance of being aware. One slight mishap and it would be their own demise.

 

“Couple with that eyes of his, he could handle the zombies alone pretty well,” said Jason.

 

“His eyes? What’s with your eyes? Hakeem turned his attention to Mateo.

 

“I can’t explain it well, but I kind of can sees this vague apparition even when in the dark,” said Mateo.

 

Hakeem didn’t understand it well.

 

“To put it more easily, he kind of has this night vision specifically for zombies and other ghostly things,” said Jason.

 

“Haha, I guess my gift isn’t that bad,” said Mateo as he laughed it off regarding his special ability. A special ability he gained the moment he exists in this world.

 

Mateo looked out of the window as he reminisced the days in which he loathed this gift of his, a gift that he called a curse. Back in the days, he wished he didn’t have this gift, being ridiculed and bullied by his peers just because he could see some things while the others couldn’t. Yet who would have thought that the gift he had would suddenly be the thing that paved his way in becoming an Awakened.

 

Mateo clenched his fist as he was determined to become stronger, all for the sake of his own family. He knew better than anyone that danger was around the corner, and it was up to him to protect his familia.

 

The car stopped in front of Mateo’s house. Thankfully, it was Mateo’s day off, so he didn’t need to go to the smithy.

 

“Thanks man, and thank you, Mr.Park,” said Mateo as he went off the car.

 

As Mateo walked off towards his house, Jason called out to him.

 

“Mateo,” said Jason.

 

“Yes, Mr.Park,” said Mateo.

 

“Don’t forget to smith when you get back to work,” said Jason.

 

“Why, Mr.Park?” Mateo asked.

 

“You’ll know,” said Jason.

 

The car drove off as Mateo waved his hand with gratefulness in his heart.

 

Meanwhile, Hakeem was staring at Jason’s back as he was sitting at the backseat.

 

“You know, man, I really can’t get used to Mateo calling you that,” said Hakeem.

 

“Heh, say the man who has his junk out in the open,” Jason retorted.

 

“Then get me back home,” said Hakeem.

 

While these two were exchanging mockery, Jason’s phone suddenly rang. He saw the caller ID on the screen, and he picked it up.

 

There was a long silence in the car before the call finally ended.

 

“Who is it?” Hakeem asked.

 

“Look alive, Hakeem, it seems the military need our assistance,” said Jason.

 

“Hmph, took them long enough. But wait, is it now? My Iron Body is still in cool down,” said Hakeem.

 

“Well, you’re in luck. The mission is at tomorrow midnight. We better be prepared this time,” said Jason as he remembered how he underestimated the mission from before.

 

You would never know what would happen in the future. Being prepare was the utmost importance.

 

After dropping off himself at his own house, Hakeem took back his ride and went home.

 

Jason walked on the doorstep. The moment he opened it, he saw a woman with her arms crossed over each other. The frown on her face was definitely a sign of annoyance.

 

“Where did you go?” it was Esther, his sister.

 

“Just hanging out,” said Jason.

 

“Hanging out? I can smell blood on you,” said Esther as the iris of her eyes turned like a cat’s eye.

 

“You went hunting, didn’t you,” said Esther.

 

The cat was out of the bag, Jason was wide open as this sister of his was really perceptive in these kinds of things. Rather than lying, might as well tell the truth.

 

“It’s an impromptu thing. If we didn’t handle it, people's lives would have been lost,” said Jason. He had his straight face on as usual.

 

“But you left me, you could have given me a call,” said Esther. She felt the injustice of being left out. “What’s Hakeem’s level?”

 

Her true intention was revealed, and Jason could not help but felt interested in this sudden thing. He took a look at his sister and sensed something from her question. He smirked at her.

 

“Nineteen,” said Jason.

 

Her jaw dropped as she was in disbelief.

 

“He’s two levels higher than me. Jason, this isn’t fair, you should have brought me along,” said Esther.

 

Jason could sense the rivalry between Esther and Hakeem. Although in Jason’s perspective, he saw Hakeem didn’t see a tint of rivalry with Esther. He heard himself from Hakeem as that friend of his was making him as the target for being stronger.

 

Rivalry doesn’t seem that bad. At least, they're motivating themselves to become stronger.

 

The most important thing right now was to become stronger than ever. Who knows when a portal would suddenly break out in the middle of Toronto.

 

Jason patted Esther’s head as she brushed it off without a second to waste.

 

“Don’t worry, we’ve got a mission from the military,” said Jason.

 

“When?” Esther asked.

 

She remembered her life and death experience fighting at Thunder Bay. She still remembered it as she could felt her body went cold like a corpse, but that didn’t mean she wouldn't continue to fight on. She was a rational person when the perspective was clear in front of her. She wouldn’t take no as an answer.

 

“Tomorrow midnight, you better prepare yourself,” said Jason.

 

Esther nodded as Jason could saw a fire lighted behind her eyes. He could see that this sister of his was really an ambitious and determined person, a perfect defining feature for an era that would soon engulf in war.

 

“Oh, and there’s something I made for you,” said Jason.

 

“What is it?” Esther asked as her eyes were gleaming with anticipation.

 

“A secret, you can wait until tomorrow or you can just get it at Hakeem’s apartment,” said Jason.

 

Esther didn’t hesitate as she grabbed the car key and went off. Jason could only smile, seeing the actions of his sister.

 

He went upstairs and cleaned himself up. He came out of the bathroom with only a towel on. He walked to his desk as a necklace laid on top of it.

 

Bronze in color and looks like a military dog tag. One of the loot he obtained after defeating zombie gigant. He smiled and grabbed it. He wore it around his neck as a thought appeared in his mind.

 

Open.

 

Out of sudden, the rare-grade steel sword appeared in his hand out of thin air. He didn’t seem surprised as he stared at the blade of the sword with a smile. Then a second later, it disappeared. Replaced with a scroll.

 

“This is amazing,” he said.

 

His other hand grabbed the dog tag as he stared at it. His fingers fiddled around with the dog tag as his eyes used ‘scan’.

 

Talozar’s Insignia Category : Accessory(Necklace) Grade : Rare A peculiar bronze metalwork made by the estranged and eccentric sage from the dwarven race. Talozar wasn’t favor by most of his peer due to his interest that deviated from the natural path of a dwarf, smithing. He made this simple necklace just to flaunt his knowledge blending the art of smithing along with his pure knowledge as a sage.   Effect: Space Storage(1000 cubic feet/29 cubic meter)

   

Jason couldn’t believe his luck. Obtaining this necklace was like a blessing for him. Although the space provided wasn’t that big, but for now, it would suffice for him. At least it won’t be a problem for him to store his loots and his items.

 

Then he stared at the scroll in his hand.

 

Poison Coat Coat your weapons or projectiles with poison. Not stackable. Lv.1 : EP cost 5 Duration : 5 minutes

 

Would you like to learn Poison Coat?

 

 

“Yes.”

 

Jason smiled as another new skill was learned. He thought he would give it away to either Esther or Hakeem considering he had a lot of skills to grind. But seeing what it was made it harder for him to reject such a great skill.

 

There was a lot of improvement that he needed to make, but it didn’t matter to him for now. What he needed right now was just plenty of rest. As the fatigue started to kick in.

 

He lay on his bed as sleep took over.