Eric was about to stand up when he remembered about the martial arts training.
He asked, "Have everyone decided which weapon to master?"
They glanced at each other and nodded simultaneously. It was included in their discussion earlier.
Jasper said, "Can I ask the Emperor to improve my arnis martial arts?"
"Of course. In fact, I can tailor arnis techniques perfectly for you."
His eyes sparkled and bowed, enthusiastically saying, "Thank you, Emperor!"
Eric smiled and nodded.
He then stood up and glanced at Zoe, who abruptly rose from her seat. He nodded and walked towards the door and Zoe followed her behind…
…
As soon as Eric and Zoe left the door, the others glanced at each other as Axel broke the silence by saying, "Jasper, Leonel, Andrew, and I will take turns guarding the house."
Samantha shook her head and said, "Zoe will not agree. We have already discussed that we do not want to be a burden not only to the Emperor but to others, as well. If it's only for guarding the house, we can do that, too. At the very least, we can alert you all before the disaster strikes."
Jasper smiled and slapped Axel's shoulder as he sat beside him and said, "Really, you should stop treating girls as hopeless and always need our protection. They might be stronger than us, you know."
Axel smiled bitterly and apologized to Samantha and Michelle, to which they shrugged it off.
Andrew said, "It's decided then. After Jasper is Axel, then me, followed by Leonel, then Samantha and Michelle. We should take turns every half an hour. I believe the Emperor and Zoe will not take long–an hour, at least."
They nodded and rose from their seats, heading to their room to finally perform the breathing technique their dear Emperor wrote solely for them…
…
Zoe quietly followed the Emperor behind. She was relaxed and not tense compared to others when it came to interacting with the Emperor. They were not to blame though, the Emperor's performance yesterday was imprinted deeply on their mind, affecting their entire impression of him.
Zoe was only comfortable with the Emperor simply because he was not hostile to them—to those who followed him, at least.
As they approached the pink gate, Eric asked, "Have you already decided which weapon you want to master?"
Zoe watched as the Emperor opened the pink gate and replied, "I want to be a marksman, but since we don't have a long range weapon, I decided to learn about close-combat techniques. Hence, I think fist can do. What can you suggest, Emperor?"
They walked outside of the gate and observed their surroundings. On their street, Eric pretty much killed all the zombies, so they had to walk farther. Thankfully, it was not blazing hot as there were various clouds on the sky, shielding them from the intensity of the sunlight.
Eric chose the direction where they were near the intersection and decided to find more zombies there. For now, he did not want to check all the houses on their street for survivors since it was not his aim… currently.
Eric sauntered and Zoe followed him behind.
He said, "It's better for you to master weapons rather than your hands. Since we don't have many weapons as of the moment, you can choose kitchen knives. Later on, if you want to master another blade weapon, at the very least, you already have a solid foundation in close-combat."
Zoe nodded with grateful eyes and said, "I will follow your instructions, then."
Eric only hummed in response as he focused on his surroundings when they reached the intersection. For better view, he even walked in the middle of the intersection, as though he feared nothing.
There were many zombies on the other streets, but most of them have not undergone evolution yet. They simply died from their energy and the energy controlled their brain, causing them to move erratically like how zombies would—portrayed in fictions.
If a zombie underwent evolution and attained the third mortal stage, they would slowly gain intelligence, like the Ravager Zombie. They gained abilities in the process, too. In other words, zombies were pretty much a corpse reviving and gaining new consciousness.
It should be much the same with the animals. What Eric was trying to find now was an animal who mutated.
Suddenly, Eric's gaze turned sharp. He turned around and punched at the right side of Zoe's head, freezing her in shock. As expected, his fist collided on a sharp bone, seemingly thrown as projectiles.
Eric turned to the source of the sharp bone and caught a zombie ten meters away from them. Eric failed to notice its presence since it blended well on the mindless zombie, walking erratically.
It ripped out one of its ribs and this time, it hurled its bone towards Eric. The mindless zombie noticed the commotion and turned their head at the Marrow Zombie. They soon mind their own business when they instinctively grasped it was another of their kind.
Eric was a bit surprised by the precision of the throw. He glanced at the wall of text beside the zombie.
{Name: Marrow Zombie
Stage: Third Mortal Stage
Abilities: Bone Javelins
Strength: C+
Agility: D+
Durability: D+
Stamina: C-
Intelligence: C
Remarks: Its throw is precise and deadly. Be careful and don't be careless.}
As expected, with the help of its intelligence, it did not throw the javelin blindly. The fact that the javelin's trajectory barely hit the mindless zombie yet precisely targeted on his head was surprising.
They evolved this quickly… Even if others survived that disastrous energy, I don't think they can last long against these zombies.
At this point, Eric has decided not to postpone the rescue operation anymore—at the very least, he would start it by himself by tomorrow.
He dodged the bone by indifferently tilting his head and, for the first time, he finally decided to use fireball and attacked the Marrow Zombie at a distance. He did not want to attract other zombies, so he was forced to use it.
He smiled bitterly as the fireball directly hit the Marrow Zombie, exploding in a meter radius…