The Basement and the Powerful Presence

After everyone had prepared their items, they all gathered in the living room for a short meeting.

Ralph's two daughters were still sleeping and their complexion looked rosier compared to when they first saw them. As for his wife, she was still weak, but she could already walk on her own. The lesser healing potion and their medicines proved to be effective in helping her recover.

At this moment, Kent stared at Ralph. "Sir, you are more familiar with this neighborhood. Do you have any suggestions on where we can stay temporarily?"

Ralph rubbed his chin and pondered deeply.

Suddenly, Ralph's wife, Marie, opened her mouth. "I know a place where we can stay, but I'm not sure if it's still there. After all, most of the houses and buildings were destroyed by that catastrophe more than a week ago."

Everyone stared at her.

"Which place are you talking about?" Ralph asked.

"The nursery school," Marie replied.

Hearing this, Ralph's eyes lit up. "Oh! The nursery school has a basement where the teacher's office is built. We will be safe if we stay there."

"Sir, can you take us to this nursery school?"

"Of course! I'll take you guys there." Ralph nodded. He then gave his wife a thumbs up.

Kent stared at Rendell and asked. "What do you think?"

Rendell looked at him and scanned everyone's faces. "Before we go there, I'd like to tell you something…"

When he spoke, everyone became silent. This man was the most powerful person in the group. Greg's headless corpse still lingered in their minds as they looked at him. This was someone who could kill a person without remorse!

"When I killed that man, I managed to level up. This means that we can increase our levels by killing another human."

Everyone was shocked to hear this and they couldn't help but feel nervous.

Rendell ignored their fearful gazes and continued. "By now, some people should have already learned this so we need to be careful out there. We might encounter another man like Greg."

No one spoke briefly after he said that, but Kent soon broke the silence.

"Then, did he drop an item after his death?"

Rendell shook his head. "I searched his corpse, but I didn't find anything."

"I see." Kent pushed up his glasses. This information made things more complicated. If someone could level up by killing another human, there might be someone who would kill every person they meet for the sake of leveling up. Humans are already at the bottom of the food chain after the evolution of animals and other living organisms. If the humans killed one another, they would be further weakened.

"We will proceed as planned, but we have to be careful if we meet another human. Aurora, inform us immediately if you discover a human or an evolved creature." Kent muttered with a stern gaze.

Aurora nervously nodded. "Alright."

"Let's go." Kent nodded to Ralph.

The group stepped out of the house and headed to the nursery school under Ralph's lead. On their way, Aurora used her Mystic Eyes to avoid the evolved creatures. Fighting was dangerous since they had three sick people in the group.

"Buzzcut, note down the locations of those evolved creatures. I'll hunt them later." Rendell whispered to Phillip.

Phillip nodded upon hearing this. "Alright." He no longer dared to joke with him, especially after seeing how Greg was killed.

Soon, the group arrived at a ruined building. It was the nursery school of the neighborhood, but it no longer had any semblance of a school. What remained was a pile of rubble and destroyed school supplies.

"Wait! Let me check if the basement is blocked." Ralph quickly lifted the debris to search for the path that led to the basement.

"Let me help you." James came to help him.

The others put down their luggage and rested on the ground.

The sun was high up in the sky and the temperature was scorching hot. Everyone was sweating profusely from the heat.

"Are you alright?" Celine wiped Aurora's face with a clean handkerchief.

Aurora nodded and replied. "Mn. I just feel a bit tired."

Hearing that, Celine grabbed a bottle of water from her bag and handed it to her. "You should drink some water."

"Thanks."

"I hate this damned weather!" Phillip cursed while wiping his face using his shirt.

"How about you help them find the basement instead of complaining?" Ericka gave him a sidelong glance.

Phillip crossed his arms and snorted. He was only afraid of Rendell. He didn't care about what others think of him.

"It's here! We found it! Come here, everyone!" They heard Ralph's excited voice.

They quickly headed towards him.

Under the large debris, they saw a staircase that led to the basement. There was some smaller debris on the stairs, but they could walk past them as long as they were careful.

"Wait." Rendell stopped them from entering. "I sense a presence down there." He frowned. He felt uneasy when he got close to the staircase. This ominous feeling was an instinctual response that he couldn't explain.

Everyone backed off in fear when they heard his words.

"Aurora, can you see it?" Kent asked.

Aurora activated her Gift and tried to find the creature that Rendell sensed. Suddenly, her eyes flashed with fear. "There is something down there! But I can't see its level…"

Everyone took a deep breath. They all looked at Rendell and waited for his decision.

"I'll go down first. You guys stay here and wait for my signal." Rendell wasn't afraid of what was hiding inside the basement.

"Are you sure about this? That thing might be stronger than everything we encountered." James muttered with a grave look.

Rendell stared at him calmly. "We can't afford to stay out in the open. We have two sick children in the group. Their situation might worsen if we stay too long under the sun. Stay here and protect them while I'm down there." He didn't give James a chance to respond and headed down the stairs without hesitation.

Looking at him leave despite the danger, everyone couldn't help but admire him.