Last Ruler Of The Empty Throne

Surprisingly, Cynthia began to explain why she was almost certain they would find something behind the hostel.

"Among the orbs we split, I got a skill called 'Field Observation'. It allows me to locate treasures and enemies within a certain range." She led them behind the hostel and continued. "And the skill is showing me enemies and a treasure behind the hall."

"Wow!" Jenny exclaimed.

"What?" Cynthia looked at her in confusion

"No, it's just, you totally look like the snobby type." 

"What? I don't..." Cynthia then let out a small smile despite refusing the claims. One would think she took it as a compliment.

"Thanks for saying it." Jon thanked her instead, he had survived for almost a day so far, and he intended to keep doing so as long as possible. Dying to benefit someone else's gamble wasn't on his agenda, so he was happy she said something to prepare their minds towards it.

Upon reaching the back of the dormitory, the reason for the silence at the entrance of the dormitory became horrifyingly clear.

The zombies had gathered here, there were tens of them, standing motionless, as if they were in a trance. And at the front of the still tranced zombies, there was an unexpected thing that stood; a small tree. 

It was no taller than an adult man and from the looks of it, it was fully grown. It's leaves spread out, its branches were thick, but its height was disconcertingly stunted.

"Was that tree always-" Before Jenny could ask.

Rumble...

The tree began to vibrate.

"What?"

And as if the zombies had suddenly awakened, they turned not toward Jon, Jenny and Cynthia or the tree. No, they turned towards each other, and began attacking with brutal savagery.

At first they were relieved, it would be easier to deal with the left over zombie than the current number present. However, that relief was short-lived. The problem was, once a zombie killed five others, it bolted forward, faster and more dangerous than before and went for more of them.

"Haa..."

"Damn..."

"..."

The trio tensed at the sight. Their passive skills immediately went into action, keeping them from panicking, and sharpening their focus instead.

"So, they get stronger the same way?" Jenny was perplexed at the situation.

"I think so...we need to take them down before they get even stronger," Jon said, his voice grew serious. Cynthia and Jenny nodded in agreement as they moved in formation.

Cynthia, who was in the middle leaped into the air.

Channeling her mana, she summoned bullets of air and formed a small swirling tornado the size of a grown man with a fluid motion of her hands.

Sending both attacks forward, taking out three zombies with precise shots to the head while the tornado tore through five.

"Wow!" Jenny exclaimed, awestruck by Cynthia's skill. "She's controlling the air!"

Jon too, was impressed by her action and asked, "Is it, manipulation?" 

She landed back on the ground and looked at Jon asking, "How did you know?" 

"I guessed," Jon replied with a shrug. "And, it's kind of obvious."

Without waiting for her response, he moved forward, gripping his spear tightly. Though, he hadn't realized yet, his instant calculation skill did more than just speed up his thoughts processes. No, it made them smarter. 

Jon extended his left hand and released his bluish fog to stop the movements of five zombies in front of him, and with the a swing of his spear, they dropped lifeless to the ground.

'Wow...' he immediately noticed the ease, previously he he used up half of his mana in stopping the movements of five zombies, however, he felt like he could do it three times before he ran out. 

With that thought, he used another portion of his mana to halt the movements of seven more before stepping in with his spear, its tip glowing with the energy of the moon.

His movements were fluid and precise, every strike clean and efficient. Gone were the clumsy attacks of earlier; now, he fought like a seasoned soldier. However, it didn't specify the proper amount of mana to release at a time, so he was still lacking in that aspect a bit.

As he exhaled, the pale blue energy of the moon flickered softly around him. Jenny, riding high of excitement dashed to her position on the right, raising her hands, she summoned her brown chains from the ground to hold the zombies in place and also summon fireballs and silver whips, which she swung with reckless abandon.

It hadn't been long and it was like she had abandoned her sword. 

Strangely, despite Jon and the girls joining the chaos, the zombies still continued killing each other, growing stronger with each kill.

And before they knew it, only five were left. But, these five had a fierce gleam in their eyes.

Jon noticed it, but before he could voice his concern, series of system notifications began to flood his vision:

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED LEVEL 7 ZOMBIE REMAINS]

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED LEVEL 8 ZOMBIE REMAINS]

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED LEVEL 6 ZOMBIE REMAINS]

[YOUR LEVEL HAS INCREASED]

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED LEVEL 8 ZOMBIE REMAINS]

[YOUR LEVEL HAS INCREASED]

Quickly checking his status, Jon saw his new level:

[LEVEL: 11]

He exhaled as he saw it. Even after killing quite the number of zombies, his level had only risen from 9-11. 'It seems it gets harder to go up in level.' However, he quickly put that behind him.

"Be careful." For these five zombies, they couldn't fight like they previously did. It only took a single scratch to lose themselves.

Both girls nodded in silent understanding and did something. From their earlier fight, they seemed to have been using mana in a reckless manner. Then they looked at their wrists and activated it, to recover their mana.

"Is that?"

"Yes, it stores mana when we aren't fighting and gives it back when my mana diminishes." Jenny explained to Jon.

Nodding his head he took a quick glance at Cynthia and saw her doing the same thing.

'So it is possible to get the same treasure from the orbs.'

Pushing back those thoughts, Jon concentrated his moon energy into the tip of his spear and took a stance. Cynthia compressed the air into a dense ball, and Jenny summoned energy gauntlets that crackled with intensity.

The five remaining zombies, not waiting anymore charged at them, hands curled into claws. They were walking faster than the normal zombies, like the one Jon killed earlier.

And Jon attempted to stop it's movement, but it struggled, resisting his power. But that little was enough.

He dashed forward with all his might, thrust his spear into its skull and with a sickening bang, the head exploding on impact.

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED LEVEL 12 ZOMBIE REMAINS]

[YOUR LEVEL HAS INCREASED]

He had said it previously, in this nighttime if he fought that zombie from earlier. It wouldn't last and it truly didn't.

And he didn't relax just yet as the battle intensified, with Jon narrowly dodging a swipe aimed at his head. In a fluid motion, he severed the zombie's hand with his spear.

KRGHHTC

With the grousque sound, it just ran forward ignoring it's hand. At this point, it had become an easier target.

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED LEVEL 12 ZOMBIE REMAINS]

Meanwhile, Jenny and Cynthia handled their foes with equal ferocity. After a brief but intense fight, all the zombies lay dead. The three of them stood still, breathing heavily, trying to recover.

"Whew, that was something," Jenny said, wiping sweat from her brow.

"Yeah," Cynthia agreed, but her eyes were fixed on the tree. Throughout the battle, it had been shaking, and now that the last zombie had fallen, it suddenly went still.

Jon also noticing her gaze asked, "Should we check it out?" 

Cynthia hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yes."

So they approached the tree cautiously, keeping their guard up.

And as they got within five meters of it, the tree let out an ear-splitting scream.

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE

The sound was so piercing that the surviving students and staffs across the campus heard it, with many collapsing and shaking in terror. And the situation was worse for, Jon, Jenny, and Cynthia.

Blood poured from their ears, eyes, and noses and their eardrums. They fell kneeling to the ground, and started coughing blood, the scream was that loud.

And when the scream died down, it's roots tore free from the ground and started thrashing violently, and unfortunately, they were right in its path.

Struggling to stay conscious, they summoned walls of magic, moon, air, and silver, but the roots smashed through their defenses effortlessly, sending them flying.

Not even waiting, another set of the tree's roots, sharp and deadly, were already aimed directly at their heads.