Chapter 39: Way of the Sensei

At the crack of dawn of the next day, I called everyone for an emergency group meeting.

Eric yawned, stretching his arms. “What is it? Why did you call for a group meeting so early?”

“That’s right,” Melissa said in a weak voice. Her eyes were half-closed. “Can’t we have this meeting later? I want to sleep more.”

The others weren’t as wide awake as me and Claire. I didn’t get much sleep last night because of her revelations. That and because I was too paranoid that the Dark Lord will attack me while I’m sleeping. Even though it was unlikely to happen, I am a very pessimistic person. Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. For pessimists like me, it is an absolute law of the world.

“You can go back to sleep if you want after this meeting.” I spoke in a firm voice. I didn’t want them to have an impression that I was just fucking around. “I wouldn’t call everyone if this isn’t important.”

Knowing my party’s general laid back attitude, I’ve always expected them to be relaxed even if I said it was important. These morons won’t consider something as ‘important’ unless there’s an imminent danger on their lives. An idiotic thinking that would always result in loss of one’s life. I can see why Gerry was killed.

However, I couldn’t totally blame them. Spending days of sleepless nights out in the wild with the threat of monsters every second and you’ll understand that a place like this campus where you can sleep peacefully is like heaven on earth.

“God spoke to Claire last night about the Dark Lord…” This seemed to catch the slightest of their attention. When I paused for a bit, their attention died quicker than kids with ADHD. “There is a traitor in this party.”

There was a pause.

Their laid back expressions were replaced by seriousness like they’ve been told that they have a full-blown AIDS. Now, I have their full attention.

“Was.” Claire corrected me. “There was a traitor.”

“Who?” Dianne gulped, waiting for the big reveal.

“George.” Claire answered.

“What?” Beth asked, furrowing her eyebrows. “Are you sure? How?”

Needless to say, we were all shocked to learn that George was the traitor. I was glad that he wasn’t with us now. I didn’t expect that he was serving the Dark Lord. I was a fool to trust him because he was a friend in the past.

If I remembered it correctly, George’s wife was killed by an ogre during the first days of the Merge. According to him, he ran away with his son and met with the other survivors in the Political Science Building. However, according to God, George’s son, Ethan, was also dismembered by the same ogre that killed his wife while he ran away to save himself.

George was stricken with grief and guilt that he let his wife and son die to save his own skin. He attempted to kill himself by having the ogres eat him too, but he was saved by a little girl with cat’s ears and tail. The little cat girl offered him a chance. A chance for his son or his wife to live again. He had to make a choice because the cat girl would only resurrect one of them for a price.

George chose Ethan over his wife. Being true to her word, the cat girl miraculously brought his son back to life. He noticed that there was a change in Ethan’s behavior, but he was glad to have him back. For that foolishness of his, he paid a terrible price. In exchange for the life of his son, George will be bound to the cat girl’s master and he will follow his orders without question.

And follow, he did.

The Dark Lord cannot materialize into the mortal realm without an invitation from a mortal. George assisted the little cat girl to gather the corpses of monsters and humans alike, including the dismembered remains of his wife. By performing a dark ritual, they have summoned the cat girl’s master into the world and with him, his army of the dead. In other words, George and Asharra were the ones who summoned the Dark Lord and spawned the zombie dungeon on Earthland. [1]

The one who was causing my nightmares was Ethan himself. Little did George know, Ethan wasn’t the son he once knew. He was a homunculus in Ethan’s likeness. A demi-monster created with the darkest of magics. According to my notes about homunculi, it is troublesome to kill them. As long as the master of the homunculus lives, the homunculus can be resurrected again and again.

Without a doubt, Asharra, the First of the Homunculi, will come back for me to finish the job. Unless, God finishes off the Dark Lord first.

“Now that you mention it…” Dianne rubbed her chin. “George seemed too happy when he met Miguel.” [2]

“It’s possible that our meeting in the university wasn’t just a coincidence.” Eric shuddered. “I don’t think Claire being bitten by a zombie was a coincidence either because I remembered George asking me if Miguel and Claire were close.” [3]

“I thought of that too.” Claire nodded her head. “Ethan always sleeps beside Miguel as well. No doubt he was the one causing Miguel’s nightmares.” [4]

“I hate to admit this, but Miguel’s instinct is spot on.” Eric let out a sigh, then he turned to me. “Do you have another hidden cheat skill?”

“No.” I shook my head.

“If what you said is true, then how come God didn’t see it in the beginning?” Melissa asked. “I thought he can read the minds of all beings in this universe?”

“Yeah, I asked the same thing. He said that while He can read the minds of every being in the universe, He can’t read them all at the same time. I don’t want Him to hear this but…” Claire leaned and whispered. ”The Dark Lord is cunning enough to fool God. Don’t you think it’s fair to assume that the Dark Lord can actually take God on his own? He’s a god too, you know.”

Although Claire had a fair point, I refused to believe that God was weak and incompetent. After all, he was the one who merged Earth and Midland and made this world a cruel joke of a game. He also has a super saiyan in a black suit as an errand boy. From what Dianne has told me yesterday, Schmidt told her that there are many of them and before he left, he guaranteed Dianne that if they ever met the Dark Lord, only two administrators will be enough to defeat him.

If God was serious at trying to contact me, why didn’t he read the minds of all of our party members when I was cut off? I bet he knew that the Dark Lord’s mana was the cause of the communication breakdown between us. I mean, if he really wanted to, he can just contact Claire or the others and say, ‘Yo? Miguel there?’ or maybe a little warning like, ‘Can you please strangle the life out of that traitor called George?’

The biggest question, however, remains the unanswered. From his manipulation of George, the Dark Lord seemed to have planned our meeting since the Merge. How come the Dark Lord knew me in the beginning?

“What will happen to him? Will they torture him?” Judging from Beth’s expression, she seemed to be concerned about George.

Claire gave a noncommittal shrug. “I don’t know, but they’re hunting down the Dark Lord.”

“Oh.”

“Look…” Claire placed her hand on Beth’s shoulder. “I know it’s hard for you to believe because he was once your friend, but I don’t think they’ll torture him.”

“They won’t?”

“Probably not.” Clare gave her a reassuring smile. “God has already seen whatever is in his mind, so there’s no point in torturing him to interrogate him about the Dark Lord. They’ll probably kill him quick.”

The others flinched and shrank back as they heard that our former party member will likely to be killed. A traitor for sure, but he was one of us. We fought together, ate together and we shared a couple of drinks in the past. Claire was pissed off, that’s for sure. Who wouldn’t? She almost died when she was bitten by a zombie and it was all because of George and Ethan.

“What else did God tell you?” Eric asked.

“That’s it.” Claire gave a shrug. “He and the administrators are taking care of it and He said that we should worry about our own problems and quote, He said: ‘enjoy the game’.”

“Enjoy the game?!” Eric’s hands tightened into fists. I had the same reaction when Claire said the same thing. I gave Eric a pat on his back, hoping that he’ll calm down.

It’s not like I can do anything about it. I wouldn’t go far and say ‘Good riddance’ but George brought it upon himself. I wasn’t really upset that he betrayed me. If I were in his shoes, I would’ve done the same. Betraying a person who you shared a drink with isn’t as important as holding your beloved son in your arms once again. I kinda pity George. The Dark Lord used him and now, he’s being punished for it.

Every game has its rules and the administrators like Schmidt are the game moderators or GMs for short. GMs enforces the rules and punishing those who violates it. Players who use third party programs were punished by banning them from the game and if you compare it to this real life RPG, then getting banned probably means death. I think God helped us, not because he cared about our lives, but because the Dark Lord’s actions were against the SYSTEM’s rules. God was right about one thing though. We should mind our own problems with regards to our survival like all other players in the SYSTEM.

The others continued to talk with each other. I let them sort it out themselves as Claire told them that God cleared all of us, including me (obviously), of any suspicion of being in cahoots with the Dark Lord. As much as possible, I didn’t want them to be suspicious of one another. Being paranoid is one thing, but once you think that you can’t trust your teammate to have your back, then everything falls apart. When that happens, we will certainly die. Not because of the Dark Lord and his lackeys, but because we failed to realize that we’re still in the game of death. With monsters as our killers.

“Anyway, we can’t do anything about it. Let God do his thing and we should focus on other matters.” I turned to Mark. “When can we leave this place?”

“Before Schmidt left, he suggested that we stay here until your Flesh Waste debuff is at least 60%. You can’t risk travelling with less than 200 HP.” Mark explained. “How are you feeling, by the way?”

“Still the same.” I shrugged. “Flesh Waste’s at 79%, so I guess we’ll be stuck here for a while.”

“We gather supplies while you’re recovering.” Melissa suggested as she let out a sigh. “We’re always running out of food.”

“There may be some places here that isn’t looted.” Eric said as he rubbed his chin. He turned to Dianne. “Are there any zombie hordes nearby?”

“Yeah, I saw some in west of here…” Dianne tilted her head. “But I don’t see how zombie hordes are relevant to finding food.”

“Of course, they’re relevant. Where there’s enemy, there’s loot.” Eric guffawed, marveling at his seemingly ‘brilliant’ idea.

I facepalmed at his idea. “Eric, I thought we learned something about being reckless. Do you remember what happened when fought our first goblin group?”

“Man…” Eric let out a sigh as Dianne, Claire and Melissa cringed at the memory of us being almost wiped out. The others didn’t react because they weren’t there. “I already learned my lesson, but think about it: if you see a horde of fast zombies, what would you do?”

“I’d avoid it.” I immediately replied. “That is if I spotted them first, but if they saw me first, then I’ll run my ass off.”

“Then the other survivors who came in here before us probably thought of the same thing. There’s a high chance that those areas aren’t looted.” Eric said, hoping that I see the logic in his reasoning. I can see it, but I wasn’t as enthusiastic as he was. “Don’t worry, Miguel. Richard and I will come up with a plan.”

“Why will you run? You’re capable of killing hundreds of enemies with your fire magic.” Richard stared at me with narrowed eyes. He sighed as if he realizes something. “Of course, you don’t remember anything. You haven’t seen the trail of ashes you made, have you?”

“Miguel is a huge coward. Like Eric.” Melissa said as bluntly as possible. “Probably more than Eric. He likes it when I’m the bait, so they get to kill the monsters safely in the distance with my life on the line. He rarely uses his magic even though he can regenerate his MP fast. The only time I saw him use his magic in combat was when we fought the gnolls and the troll. He’s full of shit…” She turned to her boyfriend. “Like Eric.”

“Hey!” Eric glared at her, but she did not budge. Not even for a bit.

Claire was fuming silently beside me while staring daggers at Melissa. Eric’s glare might not be effective, but Claire’s death glare is disturbing even to Melissa.

I huffed. “Remember when none of you wanted to test our zombie disguise because you were too scared? Who tested it? It was me. The reason why I rarely use magic in battle is because I was your only healer. If you’re bleeding to death and I don’t have MP, who will save your bloody ass?” I said bloody ass because Melissa took a goblin’s arrow in her butt cheeks. “I’m saving my MP for emergency.”

“Like I said,” Melissa rolled her eyes. “Full of shit.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if Eric dumps Melissa the bitch. I tried not to take it personally. Besides, it was my fault that I infected her with dark mana yesterday and I actually agreed with her that I am indeed full of shit. Both figuratively and literally because I was wearing adult diapers yesterday. I just ignored her and she’ll probably cool off after a few days. It may take more than a few days though.

“I don’t think Miguel is a coward. If he is, then he would never go alone in the first place.” Mark turned his head to me and smiled. “I can’t believe how strong your magic is. I’ve heard that no one in Camp Aguinaldo made it back when they went to Pasig. They said it’s overrun by monsters, but we never encountered that many monsters on the way.” He looked down and his smile turned into a frown. “Except the slime dungeon. I guess you didn’t go that way.”

“I don’t think we’ve been in the same party before and you probably never saw me in action.” I gave Mark a dismissive wave of a hand. My left hand. Or at least where my left hand would be if it weren’t missing. “I was reckless and look what happened, I lost my hand and my eye. I think Melissa is quite right. I’m a coward, but I’m not an idiot either. I know my limits and I don’t think it’s bravery if you face an unfavorable odd, it’s plain stupidity and an unnecessary risk.”

“That’s why I don’t like to tank.” Eric said, looking at me and waiting for my confirmation. When I didn’t respond, he let out a sigh. “But now, I think I can manage to tank with my new skill.”

I nodded. “Yes, you should do that and besides, Mark is a better healer than me. I can finally focus on supporting everyone with [Mana Transfer]. I can also support Richard with his AoE spells.”

“Definitely,” Richard nodded his head in agreement. “I can go apeshit with my meteor showers.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Richard.” I shook my head. “Your spells are total waste of mana. There are ways to maximize your spell damage while minimizing the mana cost. I’ll teach you my tricks later like I promised.”

“Okay!” Richard rubbed his palms in excitement.

“By the way,” Dianne handed me a bottle of potion. “I finished brewing a potion to speed up your recovery.”

I inspected the bottle. It contained a seemingly innocuous white liquid that looked like milk. Knowing that Dianne always tries her potion on herself first, her being alive and well was a solid proof that the potion was safe.

Lesser Health Potion

Quality: Rank E (Low)

Effect: Reduces hunger and grants energy by a small amount.

A low quality potion originally brewed by Dianne Duria. Highly nutritious and palatable compared to the brewer’s other works, this potion has everything that the body needs. Combined with proper diet and regular exercise, drinking this potion on a daily basis will increase one’s vitality.

No. Fucking. Way.

“How did you make this?” I asked as I sniffed the bottle. It also smelled like milk. The others were also curious, so I passed along the potion for them to inspect.

“I’ve been reading Schmidt’s alchemy book.” Dianne explained as she gave a confident smile. “He had a recipe for a health potion, but I couldn’t find most of the listed ingredients yesterday. They’re rare actually, so I experimented for a bit. Dragon blood extract is the main ingredient. Since I can’t find any dragons around, let alone kill them, I found out that I can use breast plant extract as substitute.”

“Breast plant?” I have no idea what Dianne was babbling about, but all I understood was breast plant.

Dianne took out a strange pinkish fruit from her magic bag and handed it to me. “That’s a breast plant. It’s a bit similar to dragon blood extract in their magical properties, but it’s definitely inferior. I used breast plant extract for my healing potions and they’re easy to find.”

The botanist or, in this case, alchemist who named this plant has a bad naming sense. It’s not funny nor witty in a slightest sense. Breast plant, as its tasteless humorous name suggests, looks like – well, a breast. It was about the size of a fist and rounded with a dark brown patch on top of it that looks like a nipple. It wasn’t soft as the name suggests, but it was smooth and very nice to touch. Even though I said it was a fruit, I inspected it more carefully and I think it was a tuber. Like potatoes.

Dianne’s health potion was unbelievably OP. We finally found a way to increase VIT without relying too much on attribute points. Theoretically speaking, you can be an immortal by regularly drinking this potion. I just don’t know how much potion I have to take to gain 1 VIT because it said that I have to exercise and eat properly. This potion was probably the best potion Dianne has ever made.

Dianne only gave me just one bottle for me even though she recommended that my daily dosage should be twice a day. She said that if she gave me more than one bottle and let me drink it on my own, I might ‘forget’ to drink later on because, apparently, that’s who I was. Of course, it wasn’t meant as an insult, but Dianne was only worried because I tend to forget to take care of myself. That’s why from then on, she will make sure that I drink her health potion every day.

The potion was true to its description. It was indeed palatable unlike Dianne’s other potions which usually tastes like goat shit, donkey piss or both. It tasted like regular milk with a hint sweetness and acidity which reminds me of strawberries. Yep, definitely, it’s the taste of strawberry milk. It also had a refreshing aftertaste that leaves a cool feeling in the throat.

After I finished the potion, I didn’t feel anything. I felt nothing except for the disappointment that I actually expected that drinking health potion will instantly restore my body in its healthy state. Was I an idiot for believing in miracles? Maybe, but I based my expectation on Arevalo’s First Law of Magic. This potion is magical, therefore, its effects must be magical too, right?

Unfortunately, it was immediately countered by the Second Law of Magic. I misunderstood the potion’s effects leading to my disappointment. Who knew?

When I opened my status screen, my satiety level went from hungry to normal and I also felt less exhausted. As I read the potion’s description, I facepalmed for not noticing a crucial detail. While the potion seemed too good to be true, the description could be just a flavor text with no real effects or whatsoever.

The description itself was a contradiction. It has everything that the body needs, but still you have to exercise and eat a proper diet. Why do I feel like I was ripped off?

Of course, it must be magic. The magic of advertisement that is. The old world’s food supplements claimed to work wonders to the body and at the same time, there were no therapeutic claims. Loads of bullshit. There was no doubt in my mind that this useless potion was the same. However, I would still drink it. It tasted really good. It will probably taste better if I chilled it with magic.

“I will make more.” Dianne said as she took the empty bottle from my hand. “I want everyone to drink it.”

“Yes, do that, Dianne.” I gave her a thumbs up. “Is there anything else?”

Richard raised his hand. “Yes, Richard?”

“What’s for breakfast?”

We planned to stay for a few more days at the campus. The campus near the former zombie dungeon where I was held captive just a few days ago by a certain evil undead god and his ever loyal yandere cat girl who called me ‘Papa’.

I had no idea why Schmidt specifically chose this place to be our safe zone, but I was certain that his mental capacity was equivalent to that of breast plant. Why breast plant exactly, you ask? As I said before, plants don’t have mana cores as they are not sentient. No mana core means? Exactly.

You must forgive me for my strange 'magical' sense of humor. I couldn’t help it. I’m a mage, y’know?

Anyway, Eric and Richard had a hard time figuring out how to reforge the broken armor pieces ever since yesterday. The results weren’t satisfying as their armors were permanently ruined. They gave up on their old armors and they joined the others on looting the area near the school.

They came back pretty fast and I was actually surprised that they actually hit a jackpot when they found a retail store filled with at least seven days’ worth of food. It’s good thing that rice, canned goods, instant noodles and peanut butters have long shelf lives. It was all because of Eric’s reckless philosophy that they managed to find them. “Where there’s enemy, there’s loot.”

It was an unusual find since almost everything in Taytay was already looted. I guess that the other survivors couldn’t loot it because of an enormous horde of fast zombies. Dianne said that they weren’t as many as they encountered back in the Home Depot, but Mark’s AoE anti-undead skill [Sinestra’s Blessing] made it possible for them to clear the horde. Maybe I should start following Eric for his exemplary recklessness.

On a serious note, Eric is a mixture of two extremes like he has a split personality of pathetic cowardice and reckless bravery. I was aware that Eric didn’t like tanking because of his experience with the goblins. According to Mark, Eric began to do his job as a tanker properly when they searched for food. He said that because of his new skill [Iron Fortress], physical attacks didn’t hurt much anymore, so he charged towards the horde to everyone’s surprise.

Of course, Eric’s behavior wasn’t entirely new. Without rewards, be it food, additional EXP, or items, Eric will refuse to tank and be a whining coward. I should’ve realized earlier that his greatest motivation was greed.

I wanted to go out and kill some zombies too, but they didn’t let me leave the campus for my own safety. Claire was adamant that I will never set foot outside the campus as long as I’m not fully recovered. She was exceptionally good at making threats now by sharpening her sword in front of me. I had a feeling that I should not try to anger her for the sake of my well-being.

As the others went to do their own business, Claire actually left me alone by some miracle. She said that she wanted some quiet time alone to study the Beastiary book I lent to her. I felt relieved that she felt the need to study instead of clinging to me, making threats, distracting me and being a muscle brain.

At that time, I was at the basketball court playing ‘Sensei’ to my two retarded party members. Was I harsh for calling them a retard? Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure that I’m retarded too. I was watching them play with fire magic while I was smoking a cigarette. Just like a badass Sensei.

“Sensei.” My weeaboo dwarf student called me as he raised his little staff. “Am I doing it right, Miguel-Sensei?”

“Please don’t call me that.” I cringed. I couldn’t help, but cringe at the level of his weeabooness. Even I could not handle the intensity of Richard’s faggotry. It’s over 9000. “Don’t feed the fire too much. You’re wasting too much mana.”

Richard’s flame was too strong and emitting too much smoke. I taught him my technique that reduces the amount smoke using [Water Manipulation]. By removing the moisture in the air and the liquid in the burning material, you can more or less reduce the smoke. With my high mana sensitivity from INT stat, I can easily tell from the distance that he was feeding the flames with too much mana. “How much is your WIS by the way?”

“32” Richard replied. “I put most of my stats in INT and VIT.”

As I suspected, Richard’s WIS stat was too low compared to mine which was 80. While mana sensitivity can increase your perception of mana to your surroundings, WIS increases mana control and flow for better MP consumption. Due to Richard’s high INT, each ‘strand’ of his mana was more potent than mine. If we have the same amount of WIS stat, Richard’s magic will be more powerful given that we cast the same spell for the same MP cost.

“You should add more WIS in the future.” I suggested. “You are lacking in mana control.”

“I don’t think so.” Richard shook his head as he moved the flame around. “I’m good. See?”

“Dumbass.” I blurted. I summoned a flame on the top of my staff and willed my mana to influence the shape of the flame. I shaped the flame into a bird and made it fly around the campus. “You’re not good enough to do this.”

Richard’s mouth dropped in awe. “You can summon a pet phoenix?!”

“That’s not a phoenix.” I said. “That’s just a normal fire magic. If you were listening to my explanations earlier, you’ll be able to do this with a high WIS stat. From now on, I’ll train your magic control.”

“How about me?” I turned around towards Melissa. Compared to Richard, her flame on the top of her palm was so small that you can blow on it as you would’ve to put out a candle flame. “Am I doing it right?”

It was surprising how Melissa’s attitude towards me change instantly when I told her that I will teach her my tricks in using magic. She was acting like we’re buddies. Fucking bitch. You’re worse than us.

“That’s not how you should use [Fire Manipulation].” I gave her a dismissive wave.

“What do you mean?”

“Take your bow and summon a [Phantom Arrow].”

Melissa took out her bow and when she drew her bow, an arrow made out of pure mana appeared. “Then what?”

“Use Fire Manipulation] with your left thumb. The arrow should ignite.” I replied. “That arrow is made of pure mana. That should be enough to fuel the fire.”

Again, she summoned the candle flame. The phantom arrow ignited with blue flame. “Wow! It worked!”

“Of course.” I said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Now try to fire that arrow on that dummy of yours.”

The arrow burst into flaming pieces as it landed on Melissa’s target dummy. With [Arrow Shower], she can make a rain of flaming shrapnel, making it the best Area of Effect skill in our party. She can use [Aiming Shot] and [Phantom Arrow] with fire magic which makes the arrow similar to a grenade fired from a sniper rifle. Fucking OP if you ask me.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was how I gained my second title.

For showing your capabilities of teaching magic, the SYSTEM rewarded you with the following:

Reward(s):

Title: Sensei

Effect: 20% more skill EXP to your disciples by yelling and berating them.

Skill: Mentorship [Passive] Lvl. 1 Beginner

Effect: Grants additional skill EXP to you and those you register as a Disciple. All skill EXP gained by your Disciple(s) will be granted to you as long as you have them in sight and vice versa. However, it will only increase skill EXP on skills that you and your Disciple have in common. You will still need an expert or master level skill to grant your skill to another. You may only have a maximum 12 Disciple.

Skill EXP bonus: 10% + 1% per skill level

Although I was happy with the skill reward, I didn’t know if I was supposed to be happy with the title. Seriously, who comes up with these stupid title names?!

Fortunately, this skill provides so much benefit for me and to others. Richard will have the most benefit since we have more skills in common. I will have to register him as my disciple and Melissa too. Claire and Mark will benefit too. Claire and I have [Sword Mastery] and Mark and I have [Heal]. This skill is damned OP!

Unfortunately, the target dummy was reduced to nothing but ashes. Melissa was infuriated by it because she didn’t have a spare and she won’t be able to practice with her bow. Well, I didn’t think I was at fault. I mean, she was the imbecile who burned her own things. When I thought Melissa would direct her anger to me and explode, she let out a deep sigh.

“Thank you.” Melissa smiled. Her smile was then followed by a gracious bow. “Sensei.”

Apparently, Melissa already saw my title. More cringing (from me mostly) followed after the two endlessly called me Sensei for the rest of the day.

There were outcries of excitement, jealousy and begging among my party members when they learned of my new title and skill. Eric and Richard became my first disciples and then everyone followed. Apparently, everyone had a skill in common with me. Eric and I had [Bash] and I learned that Dianne had [Muffled Steps].

I now have a total of seven disciples. I still included Beth, of course. Her skills: [Momentum], a passive self-buff skill, and her latest one, [Power Attack]. Back in Camp Aguinaldo, she was given a loan to buy skills from the SYSTEM Shop and equipment from the local vendors. She bought three skill books from the Shop: [Cleave] and [Whirling Death], both were melee AoE skills and [Power Kick], a single target skill and the one I learned from my unique skill.

It didn’t make sense at first. Why would [Power Kick], a skill that utilizes one’s legs to attack, would be relevant to her skills? Apparently, her skill [Cleave] can only be activated after activating [Power Kick]. Beth explained that what made her battle axe deadly was because of the power of her legs. The key principle of her fighting style was: “A strong swing requires strong legs.”

After everyone became my disciple, they all earned the title [Miguel’s Disciple] which makes them benefit from my new skill [Mentorship]. My party members were unusually fired up as we gathered at the basketball court, so they can grind their skills.

You may think what happened was something like an epic training sequence from anime where the Sensei trained his students. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The lack of epic music playing in the background and the lack of commonality within our party made our ‘training’ session similar to a typical day in a school for children with special needs.

Of course, I’m the SpEd teacher. I had fun berating my students. Moreover, it was okay with them because they couldn’t deny the significant increase in EXP because of [Sensei] title.

“Oi Richard, you dumb midget!” I yelled. “How many times do I have to tell you? You should put out the fire arrow while in flight, not after it fucking lands! You’re fucking it up again!”

“Y-yes…” Richard gritted his teeth as Melissa released another fire arrow. “Sensei.” He even managed to blurt out an insult as he successfully stopped a fire arrow in flight.

“Melissa, you’re doing a good job.”

“Thanks!” Melissa’s lips curved into a smile.

“I always thought you were just a useless skank.” I almost let out a chuckle when I saw a vein popping out of her temple. “Congratulations, you are now a useful skank. A skank, but at least, a useful one. Good job!”

I had Beth and Claire sparred with each other using real weapons and their skills. You may think that Claire would be fucked if she gets hit by Beth’s battle axe, but she has a high amount of VIT and [Troll Skin] made her skin flexible as rubber. I know, it’s a bit brutal, but I had Mark heal them each time they suffer a wound. Of course, I was there too, and if needed, I’ll join Mark at healing them.

I turned to my other students and began berating them one by one.

“Are you tired, Eric? You should just [Bash] that empty head of yours to the wall. I bet that’ll fix it.”

“Your skill is called [Muffled Step] for a reason. So why the fuck do I hear your footsteps, Dianne?”

“S-sorry!”

“You call yourself a healer, Mark? Beth and Clare are still bleeding! Oh, don’t look at me like that. Fuck you!”

“Keep your chin up, Beth. I don’t want you dying because you stab your heart with that chin. God knows our healer is useless.”

Finally, I had an opportunity to berate Claire without repercussions. I really missed insulting Claire. While everyone was stabbing me with their stare, except for Dianne, she was sniffling, Claire was totally focused on her sparring with Beth. She didn’t even look at me when I tried to point out the flaws of her moves while insulting her mental capacity. Claire was ignoring me completely! It was super effective that I was pissed off. That was until…

“Are those cellulites I’m seeing? Is your ass getting bigger again?” I restrained myself from grinning on my ultimate insult. This one’s going to be my win.

“What did you say?” Great! At last, a reaction! Now we’re getting somewhere. “Did you just called me fat?”

“I’ll have you on a strict diet from now on.” I continued. “Three bowls of rice per meal is hardly a proper diet, you know.”

With that said, I laughed out loud. I can now berate Claire about her weight as she did when I was fat. But then, I noticed that it suddenly became too quiet. I wasn’t hearing a clash of steel. I wiped away the tears from my eye and… Shit!

I felt myself shrank back like a turtle retreating into its shell. Claire didn’t say anything, but her glare could’ve killed an ogre with its intensity. Even though I was sure that she didn’t use [Crippling Fear], her devilish glare, accompanied by the tight grip on her sword’s hilt, was enough to shut me up and tremble in fear. What’s worse, it was followed by her lips twisting into the most disturbing smile I’ve ever seen.

“Huh.” Claire said as she kept her terrifying glare. She waved around her sword in the air. “My [Sword Mastery] leveled up.”

That day I learned an important lesson: Never to mention the word ‘fat’ or any words related to it if Claire’s around unless, of course, if I have a death wish.

After hours of seemingly endless skill grinding, my party members/disciples were exhausted and decided to rest early in the night. Since there was no need for someone to take the watch because of the anti-undead barrier Schmidt set up in the campus’ entrance, we all decided to sleep. Again, in the same room. I was worried for my life when Claire lay down on the bed beside me.

Luckily, Claire can fall asleep real fast and when she does, you can land a jet plane in front of her and she’ll still be soundly sleeping. I took my pillow and bedding to find another room for me to spend the night. A few rooms near the clinic, I found a large classroom. Unlike the other classrooms, this one didn’t have bloodstains or rotten body parts. It was probably unused before the apocalypse because it was dusty. At least it didn’t stink.

Oh, how I wish the boring days will never come to end. With the Dark Lord probably gone, I can finally sleep without worries. Being bored is the result of not having a problem. You will never get bored nor feel the passage of time if you are busy with your problem. Even though there were still monsters outside, I was thankful that I can spend a night doing nothing but rest. For once, even if temporary, we were safe. Thank you for the barrier, Admin Schmidt!

I was about to fall asleep when I noticed something amiss. I had a particular skill, you see. A skill that I have acquired through my 20 years of living. A skill that made me nervous all the time. An uncanny skill to sense when things are awry.

When I opened my eyes, I noticed that there was a faint light in the room, even though it was very dark inside and outside the campus. As I carried myself in my wheelchair, I looked through the windows to see where the light was coming from. My eye was bulging from the socket as I trembled.

The light was coming from torches!

Fuck! I should’ve realized that my peaceful and boring days will never last.

[WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!] - Miguel