Gifts & Horde Troubles!

With a tap on his screen all 3 gifts appeared on the screen lined up for him to click on.

He quickly tapped on one of them making it open up. With a light flash of light that only he could see an item immediately appeared inside his Soul Sea.

[Mask Of The Grim Reaper] (Rank: Rare)

(Upgradable)

This mask takes on the look of a skull, the bones are black and felt warm to the touch!

Effect:

-When worn it completely conceals the wearers identity.

-While worn users eyes are completely in tune with Death Energy letting you see ghosts or any other form of spirit.

-Once per day when the life of the wearer is threatened the mask will enhance cognitive functions.

Additional Effect:

Reaper Points- 0

Reaper Points: When mask is worn you may gather reaper points by killing enemies. Once the points hit 10 you will be given a +10 to all physical stats for 1 hour.

Baladan couldn't believe his eyes, this mask was really good! With this he could always have a hidden trump card to save his life if he needed it.

After looking it over once again he tapped on the next gift excited to see what he gets. Again the item flashed before instantly entering his Soul Sea.

[Dagger Of The Flame Newt] (Rank: Common)

The Dagger has red scales running up it's blade, a white edge and is always hot.

Effect:

-When carried the blade will gather mana, when the code word [Ignite] is spoken the blade will light on fire.

-When held gives the user +5 agility

-Halves the casting time of fire based spells when held.

Bal: 'Looks like I have something to use as a present to thank Rose now… I wonder why she's so willing to follow me wherever I go…'

Finally he tapped on the last gift, again being flashed as a new object appears in his Soul Sea.

[Hood Of Illusions And Vitality] (Rank: Common)

The hood is black in color, it seems to only be a hood. The lowest the rest of the cloth goes is just over the shoulders.

Effect:

-When worn the users body is hidden in an illusion, cloaking their exact location from their enemies. (Only cloaks it within a certain area around himself. Typically the illusion makes them look blurry making it harder to hit them)

-While equipped you gain +15 Health.

Bal: 'Don't mind if I do!'

He immediately summoned the hood a big smile on his face. When the weaker ones saw him suddenly summon something out of thin air they were amazed. Then they saw him slip the jacket off for a second just to put the hood on over his shoulders and then over his head before placing the jacket back.

Bal: 'Why is it that I feel more comfortable when wearing a hood? It feels almost natural for me to wear a hood like this. Oh well before heading to bed I should put those points into Mana for tomorrow'

With his Mana having recovered by 13 points he decided to transfer it into Aura making his Aura Points 20 before passing out on his bed.

———

It had been a peaceful night, with the strong all gathered in one place everyone was at ease. Though some had a harder time sleeping while on the floor but it couldn't be helped, they didn't want to contribute to the group so why should they live like the fighters?

Many groaned when they started getting up, the hard floor wasn't the best to sleep on but they did get to wake up to a school breakfast!

With a couple teachers and students cooking for the group of 50+ students it didn't take long for the food to start coming out quickly.

Everyone had sat down eating their meals while talking between each other. The ones who do not want to help the group had got a noticeably smaller portion of food. They did get the bare minimum while the fighters got the most.

"Damnit… why is it that we are being treated like this? I don't even feel like a human anymore, with this guy not letting us eat our fill we might as well be rats…"

"I know what you mean… but we can't do anything until we merge with the bigger group. Hopefully then we can convince them to have a "talk" with that guy"

"Ha, are you stupid. If you want more food then just agree to fight! Or get good at a job. Stop your whining!"

With the three arguing it began to get louder in the cafeteria. Harry and his group looked at each other nodding before stepping forward.

Harry: "BE QUIET ALL OF YOU!"

With that yell they immediately shut up, their attention was now focused on the man who yelled at them.

Harry: "You all seem to be so carefree now but let me remind you. Outside there are hundreds of those Shadow Corpses walking the campus! We have seen that they are attracted to noise but you still start getting loud knowing that? We may have covered the glass but it's not soundproof!

Now we are going to eat quietly, you will whisper to your friends and eat what is on your plate before we pack up to go to the gymnasium. Until then you will be quiet and do what you are told!"

———

With the group quietly eating Baladan moved over to Rosa with a smile on his face.

Bal: "Can you show me your hand real quick? I got something you might like"

Rosa didn't even try to refuse instead the moment he said "Can you show me your hand" was the moment she dropped whatever she was doing and extended her hand out to him.

Baladan felt like he was looking at a dog. The moment he said to do something like an obedient well trained puppy she would immediately do it.

He soon pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind before holding her hand. In all honesty he had no idea if this was going to work or not, he was just testing if he could give it to her like this or if he had to hand it to her normally.

Immediately when he touched her hand and thought about giving the dagger to her a prompt appeared in front of him.

[Would you like to give Rosa Heart, The Dagger Of The Flame Newt?]

Bal: 'Yes'

With a single thought the gift left his Soul Sea before going into Rosa's.

The moment she saw it, she used her other hand to cover her mouth while looking at Baladan. She wouldn't release his hand for the world unless he told her to, so she played it off as if she forgot and started to whisper to him.

Rosa: "Are you sure you want to give me something so valuable?"

Bal: "If I didn't want to then I wouldn't have come over to give it to you would I? Think of it as me thanking you, for all the help you have given me so far!"

She went quiet for a second a blush appeared on her face as she looked into his eyes with a gaze filled with longing.

Rosa: 'My prince~ if you give me such a gift and say something like that I won't be able to help but love you even more! What I wouldn't give for you to embrace me right now! I love you! I love you! I would kill anyone in this room for you if it meant you would love me!'

Baladan was oblivious to her actual thoughts but he could feel the emotions running through her. He could easily guess that she liked him but he didn't know to what extent.

With her putting up an indifferent look all the time it's hard to read that she's actually a psychopath who would do anything for Baladan no matter what it is.

Bal: "Make sure you get used to the dagger, it's most likely going to be bigger then your knife. I hope you can make good use out of it!"

He slowly pulled his hand back, Rick was watching from the sidelines giggling slightly at the whole scene.

Rick: "Man, you two lovebirds should just kiss already. It is the apocalypse after all, no one knows when you could die!"

He made sure to keep his voice down for the most part but still made it loud enough for both of them to hear.

This immediately made both of them blush and embarrassed, Baladan couldn't even look at Rosa while she could do nothing but stare straight at him.

Rosa: 'Oh I can only dream of my prince coming in close to give me his affection~! I would die!'

———

Breakfast soon passed, with everyone getting their meals they each packed up their supplies and everything they need from the kitchen. With the beds each having wheels like the ones in hospitals they could take more all at once!

With the group all loaded up they started to send out the fighters as scouts and executioners for any wandering Shadow Corpse.

Bal: "Once the scouts get back and or call one of the team leaders to report we will slowly escort the group to the gym. Whatever you do, do not break out of the formation! If you get scared and try to run I will hunt you down and kill you for putting the lives of those protecting you in danger!

You might think that's harsh but this isn't a game, you doing something stupid could cost the life of the people trying to protect you. If one of them dies because of your stupidity I will turn you to dust!"

The weak survivors went silent, the only thing they could see was Baladan's glowing purple eyes filled with killing intent from under his hood. He was dead serious, this was not a threat he was making, this was a promise!

At the end of the speech Harry got a call, he immediately picked it up.

"Sir, the Shadow Corpses have scattered all across the parking lot… unless we want to kill them all I think we will have to wait until noon when the bell rings and draws them over to the science building again"

Harry: "There is no guarantee that they will move towards the building again. From what we have gathered they aren't as dumb as we thought, for now examine them from a distance"

"Yes Sir!"

With that the call ended and the scout on the other side began to sweat with nervousness.

???: "I really hope they think of something soon… that amount is crazy.."

From the second floor window overlooking the parking lot out front of the school he could see a horde of those creatures. With the school having around 8,600 students every year it was insane to think about how many Shadow Corpses could be swarming the parking lot let alone the science building!

???: "I really hope they don't have us run through that…"