Chapter 20: Party Hunt III

Both [Player]-aspirants formed a formation as they panned the hallway.

Two level one zombies stood at the front of their lineup, acting as vanguards. Teo followed behind while maintaining an approx distance of twelve meters; he was to support the zombies.

It turns out that the link he formed with the zombies due to [Dominator] had a range. If the zombies step out of that range, they’d simply drop to the ground limp like a puppet with its strings cut.

Teo hadn’t told Gloria about this limitation. Moreover, the actual range was more than just twelve meters. But he just wanted to project a fake detail and add some form of camouflage to his abilities. Gloria was already aware of the skill’s activation range; he didn’t want to reveal anything else about [Dominator].

Speaking of the granddaughter of the world’s first [Healer], she stuck close to the wall and lagged far behind the group. As one of her skills gave bonus damage the further she was from her target, Gloria had positioned herself this way to take full advantage of this ability. She was, after all, the main damage dealer of their team.

Teo looked over his shoulders, discreet in his actions.

Even though she hadn’t spoken a single word to him after that incident, their cooperation was going on smoothly. She made all the plans and even allowed him to give in his input from time to time.

He exhaled a repressed breath, then turned around, focussing on the map hovering inches away from his nose.

They have already found and killed more than ten level one zombies on the way. Unfortunately, because they were hunting as a party, the experience points were divided equally. Neither of them was nowhere close to a level-up.

A group? Is there a level two ahead?

Teo raised his right hand. The zombies reacted to his mental command as they shuffled into a wall with their bodies in front of him. He took a step back, then squinted his eyes at a corner where light from the soul camp couldn’t reach.

Zombie Lv 1

HP: 40

Status: idle

WIL: 1

Proficiency +0.01%

With the clever use of map and [Observe], he was able to accurately pinpoint the zombies’ location. It was a trick he discovered after carefully observing the system patterns.

Teo carefully scanned all the hovering boxes and breathed in relief after finding no level two zombies amidst the crowd. He raised two fingers into the air, his index and ring—a hand sign they have settled on to notify the absence of a level two in a group.

Because of the zombies’ sensitivity to sounds, they came up with an alternative for communication.

Teo took the wooden sword in his right hand, then held it in front of him in a two-handed grip. The two zombie subordinates stalked ahead, their claws poised threateningly and poisonous teeth ready to bite at his command.

Their appearance pulled on the zombie group’s attention. A series of growling and howling passed and Teo’s two subordinates were promptly ignored. The monsters went back to being idle by the wall.

The zombies’ ability to recognize their fellow kind amazed Teo for the first few times, though now he had gotten used to it.

Teo took a step forward, then went to the wall on the other side of the tunnel. The appearance of twelve meters must be maintained at all costs. Gloria was an intelligent girl; if he didn’t stick to his appearance at all times, she might see through his charade.

Better to be safe than sorry.

Of the two subordinates, one went ahead and grabbed onto the face of the zombie standing nearest to them. The rotting corpse was dragged to the ground, then suffered a punch on its head by the other subordinate. The enclosed fist, moving at a speed faster than Teo’s swings, broke its skull inwards.

You killed zombie level 1 x1

+10 EXP

+5 Tutorial coins

Tch! Teo clicked his tongue at the reduced experience and money. Then, he took his frustration out on the zombies.

[Dominator] gave him absolute control over his subordinates—to the extent that he felt like they were his arms and legs. He refrained from using this perk out of combat, preferring to only give simple commands. In a fight, however, he preferred to have control over their actions.

The next monster in the group suffered the same fate as its predecessor—dragged to the ground and punched to oblivion.

Before the remaining zombies could react, Teo had already killed seven in this way.

As his head throbbed, he loosened the hold over his minions. Controlling two at the same time weighed heavily on his mental stamina. Teo feared that if he stubbornly kept it up, he might lose consciousness soon.

Without his strategic manipulation, the minions were nothing but groaning masses of poisonous rotting flesh who could only scratch or bite. Against the remaining six zombies, they could only put up a minimal struggle before being shredded to ribbons.

Gloria, who had been waiting patiently, made her move. Consecutive mana bullets tore through the space and blasted the zombies’ heads like watermelons. Her superior skills were on display once again as she took out six monsters with just three bullets.

Damn, she is strong.

Teo threw a glance at the darkness behind him, ice coursing through his veins, where he knew Gloria was hiding. She had blanketed herself with the shadows, concealing her presence that even [Observe] couldn’t detect. Teo’s heart skipped a beat. A true predator, that’s what she was.

Wait! All my zombies are gone! Darn it.

His two subordinates were shredded into ribbons by the six mobs. Now, he was out of meatshields… again.

She could have at least left one alive.

Gloria stepped under the soul lamp, announcing her presence to Teo. Her arms crossed above her head in an ‘x’ sign, a sign language they have settled on mana depletion.

In response, Teo made an ‘O’ with his index and thumb, then trotted over to her. He could use a few minutes of rest to replenish his stamina. Controlling two zombies together had put a lot of strain on his mind.

XXX

“Are you not going to talk to me?” Teo whispered, eyes on Gloria sitting beside him.

Her silent treatment was making him anxious. It was getting on his nerves.

“I’ve nothing to say.”

Her cold response cut through his heart like a sharpened knife slicing meat. He winced mentally.

“Come on! I’ve already apologized a hundred times.” He groaned.

Gloria’s continued silence made Teo more annoyed. He huffed silently and was about to give another apology when a beep inside his head called for his attention.

A new notification had arrived, bringing with it good news.

[Observe] gained a level

Level 2 -> 3

Observe had finally gained a level that had been long overdue. After the last level-up, which happened before he started on his quest, he had never stopped spamming the skill any chance he got. Though, it happened much later than he expected.

Teo eagerly called upon the skill description to have a look.

It was revealed by the [Players] that [Observe] would grant a new ability with every level up. At level two, night vision. Level three: lie detection. So on… and so forth.

He had to make sure the hunters were telling the truth.

Observe Lv 3

Proficiency: 0%

Increased details about a target will be revealed.

Acquired night-vision.

Acquired Lie detection.

Consumes a little bit of stamina when used.