Chapter 37: Race for food

Noah pondered if history would repeat itself with Arachne, considering the mantis was an insect too, and he at least knew the tale of female mantises consuming the heads of males after mating. Yet, apparently, he got the opposite reaction he intended.

The mantis became frantic, scanning its surroundings before signaling to Noah not to ask such a question; clearly, it feared the females.

"Buddy, you need more pride. If you were stronger, you'd earn the females' respect, but you've already lost the battle of wills. We need to change that, and that's why we're heading there," he gestured towards the zombies in the distance.

"To become stronger! But before that, let's give you a name. That's Arachne, by the way. Yours will be… hmm."

He examined the mantis closely, its large, beady eyes, scythe-like hands, and leaf-like figure. He wanted a name based on one of those characteristics; finding the scythes more attention-grabbing, he chose based on that.

"I'll call you Grim, after the harvester of souls. He also wields a scythe and is literally death itself, but you have two! So, you can be even better than him," he nodded in satisfaction. He would've chosen Reaper, but Arachne already had too many syllables, so he opted for a simpler name.

Grim grew excited; though it didn't understand what a "harvester of souls" was, Noah's description made the figure sound dangerous, and the prospect of surpassing such a being thrilled Grim. Despite feeling superior to Noah's kind and other prey, both Arachne and Noah reminded Grim that it was still prey to others. It was eager to become as strong as the person Noah mentioned.

Now that they were finished with everything, they began making their way towards the zombies at a decent pace. Noah had Arachne deposit her latest food in a spot where they could retrieve it later. Though Arachne wasn't pleased about it, she remembered there would be plenty more food where they were headed.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Grim?" They all stopped when Noah noticed Grim staring in the direction of the cafeteria. Squinting in that direction, Noah tried to concentrate as best as he could. He realized that his new set pupils were better suited to spotting things in the distance. What he could discern was a fairly large group of people also heading towards the zombies. Though couldn't discern who the individuals were, he could guess that it had something to do with Mark. The guy was dumb and arrogant, but he at least knew that arrogance was nothing without strength to back it up.

"Don't worry about them; as long as they keep their distance, everything's fine."

It didn't take them long to close the distance to the zombies, who were also heading towards them. As they edged closer, it became apparent that the horde wasn't as it seemed. When Noah was within about 50 yards of them, a few zombies within the group made their presence known.

"I need a better name for these things; professional actors suit them more than runners," he muttered to himself while setting his bag and axe on the ground. This time, he decided to retrieve the two battle axes rather than wield the axe due to the opponents before him.

Out of the initial group of the horde, there were perhaps a hundred zombies, but eight of them suddenly began bolting in their direction, lacking any distinguishing signs from the common zombies beforehand. Even though he referred to them as runners, Noah realized that it didn't mean they were constantly in a running state.

"Hmm?" Noah questioned, more to himself than anything, as he observed the zombies sprinting towards him. Their speed was still relatively fast, but something was different. They felt much slower in comparison to the ones from his first encounter. Something had changed about them during that transformation, and now he was intrigued to find out what.

Attributes

Defense: 10

Strength:18(19)

Agility:14->20(21)

Constitution:34->39(41)+5

Stamina:25->28(29)

Magic: 21->27(28)

Spirit:48(62)

There were obvious signs that the recent transformation he had undergone had significantly improved his physical growth. However, seeing the growth in numbers held slightly more significance than the experience itself, especially when he noticed that his total attributes exceeded those of his creatures, whom he deemed superior to himself.

The growth was addicting; increasing his stats was more fulfilling than the thrill of combat itself. He couldn't contain his growing excitement thinking about the farming session about to take place.

Noah's gaze closely observed the zombies running in their direction. The hard-fought battle that was about to ensue, the plethora of experience that awaited them. With just himself and Arachne, he wasn't confident in his odds of successfully killing his way through without any mishaps. Once again, he was proud of himself for obtaining Grim. He was basically walking around with two assassins; amassing experience should be guaranteed.

"Ok boys! Ahem… and girl," he quickly corrected himself before Arachne could get upset.

"You can eat what you kill, but meet back here when I give the call. Let's go!" he shouted as he ran towards the runners. He didn't have to worry about reaching there first and getting overwhelmed.

Buzzz.

Noah heard the sound of Grim's wings before he noticed him passing in a flash.

Arachne, on the other hand, didn't perform any extremely long jumps, preferring to make small, quick leaps to conserve her energy. But even those leaps covered close to 10 yards. They both easily surpassed him before taking on the first target, which happened to be the runners who approached first.

Before Noah had a chance to fight, Grim made quick work of two runners' necks that were aligned with one another before stopping to turn around to go for the third. He was motivated to kill as many of the stronger zombies as possible to claim for himself. Instinctively, it appeared that everyone besides humans knew they could become stronger by eating.

Arachne didn't have the capability of killing as fast as Grim, but her way of hunting was still effective. With a swift leap, Arachne pounced on a runner closing in on Noah, her legs sinking into its flesh as she knocked it to the ground with the force of her momentum and weight. Having learned from her encounter with the mantis, she knew not to allow her prey to freely attack her. With that lesson ingrained in her heart, she pinned the zombie's arms down with her legs, aided by her weight and simultaneously sank her fangs into the zombie, injecting her venom until its movements ceased.

By now, Noah noticed an odd trait that all of the runners had in common.

"Why are they only focusing on me?" He stopped his advances. He felt strong in his own right, but he didn't have a death wish. Five zombies that were faster and stronger than him were way more than he could handle at the moment. Maybe if he used his mana sparingly beforehand, he could use his webs without a care.

Just before the zombies could reach him, Grim swooped in to eliminate another threat, leaving Noah confident that Arachne would come in time to aid with another. Even with that added reassurance, he still chose to activate his skill 'Killer Instincts', just in case.

Unlike the other times he used it, he didn't allow himself to become completely immersed in the skill. Instead of the maximum 25% boost, he settled for around 15%. Maybe it would be more efficient to fully use the skill, but he wasn't sure if he could deactivate it on his own if he were to lose himself in his emotional urges. His high stats made the 15% extra boost sufficient for handling the current threat; There was no need to have the extra percentage to take care of the less threatening zombies walking in the distance.

"Ugh! Come on, come on!" A switch seemed to have been flipped after activating the skill. The sensation was entirely different from using it the other times. He was conscious of his feelings for the first time, as he could feel his blood surge with a primal urge for bloodshed. He was becoming impatient to see blood and gore. His original idea of waiting for the zombies to come to him was no longer in effect as he was already making his way to fight the runners head-on.

His body seemed to have a mind of its own. When he approached the first zombie, running at him with its arms reaching out as far as it could, Noah unhesitatingly swung one of the axes right between the zombie's arms without fear before connecting it to its face.

Surprisingly, his body was able to seamlessly use his newfound skills better than he originally could when under the skill's influence. Every movement felt instinctual; his eyes tracked every motion and angle, while his spines sensed and reacted to the incoming danger. Noah was aware that when he struck the first zombie, the nearest one was right upon him. But he wouldn't be able to pull out his axe in time from the zombie falling forward with its momentum.

Mindlessly, his body twisted in the direction of the approaching zombie on his left while he continued moving forward. Utilizing the rotation and added momentum, he effortlessly retrieved his axe from the zombie's head and swung it with even greater force.

Wham!

The sound from the impact to its skull was similar to the sound of a heavy blunt object. The blow sent the zombie flying, its feet kicking out as it soared through the air. Noah, consumed by his bloodlust, didn't bother retrieving his axe this time, driven solely by his desire for carnage, which turned out to be short lived.

"Hey! They were mine!" Noah shouted towards his two creatures after they swooped in to steal the last two prey from him. He felt as if he were dehydrated beyond belief, and just when he was about to have a drink, all of the water was stolen from him.

'My kill, my food!' Arachne's thoughts yelled back, asserting her claim over the kill, but the foolish Grim felt that he had done something wrong, so he tried to reunite the last zombie's head with its body. It still remembered that there was a time when a body was able to try to run away without one, so it believed that the body wasn't completely dead until the head was devoured.

"Urgh, forget it! I won't let you take them all from me!" Noah moved swiftly to retrieve his axe before sprinting to the looming horde of walking zombies while yelling back towards them. This would have been a good time to stop using his skill, yet the kill steals from before left him unappeased. He needed more bloodshed before he felt satisfied.

"No, fuck off! Let me go first, damnit!" Noah's voice was once again heard screaming in the distance. Grim hastened to follow his master, surpassing him once more, inciting Noah's earlier outburst.

Arachne was the only one who was late to the party. She wanted to take this chance to wrap the still-fresh bodies in her webs to preserve them for later. But when she realized the food that was about to be claimed by her master and "subordinate," she dropped everything and made her way to join them.

As Arachne finally joined the fray, zombies began to fall left and right, igniting an unspoken competition among them. The sound of constant battle and the pungent smell of bloodshed drew in even more zombies from the surrounding area.

———

"Come on, guys! Do you all enjoy the idea of an insect being stronger than us? Or these zombies killing your friends and loved ones without having the power to stop them? Then hurry up so we can increase our levels! As long as we don't encounter those bugs from before, then we have nothing to worry about!"

Mark's rallying cry through the small group trailing behind him. Even though it was small, it still consisted of a dozen people. Jasmine and Ailetta were still among the group of people who followed.

Following the mantis encounter, only three members from their initial group, excluding Jas and Ailetta, still decided to join Mark in increasing their strength. Fortunately, some individuals who had been in the cafeteria during the ordeal opted to join them, motivated by both fear of monsters and zombies and disgust for the previous gang's cruelty.

The tipping point came when they witnessed Noah single-handedly kill the people who easily oppressed them. They all desired that strength, but they couldn't find the courage to obtain it on their own. So when they saw Mark's group preparing to leave again with the intention of becoming stronger, many of them volunteered.

The students from Mark's original group wanted to ask what they should do if they encountered the mantis again, but the question was stuck in their throats. Whoever dared ask the question would essentially be lowering the morale of everyone else here, so they silently waited to see if someone else would bring it up first.

Jasmine noted that the people were uneasy; she hoped that killing the less threatening zombies would help alleviate that fear and impact the depressing morale. She wanted to stay in the cafeteria to manage everything since the resources there were too important. However, after feeling so helpless against the mantis, she too felt the desire to become stronger. She already had a foreboding feeling that help wouldn't arrive anytime soon, so she also needed the strength to defend herself and, also, keep her little brother in check.

The atmosphere in the group was getting more intense the closer they neared the zombies, but something was wrong. They noticed that the zombies' attention was being directed towards another direction when they were clearly heading in their direction before.

"Everyone, stay alert! Don't forget about the powers you've gained today; if you use them well enough, then you have no reason to be so afraid."

Mark urged them on while they continued to draw closer. Zombies were mindless creatures to him; he didn't consider them worthy opponents at all, so he wasn't worried about the zombies' weird movements.

Buzzzzz!

As they drew closer and recognized the familiar sound, a wave of worry and anxiety swept through the group. Two members were on the verge of fleeing back to the cafeteria while everyone else went on high alert. Who knows what actions were about to happen if not for the voice that sounded within the zombies' ranks. No one from the group could forget the voice that matched the horrifying and domineering figure.

"Hahahaa! Arachne, where's all that pride now? You've killed less than both of us!"

They all heard Noah's voice, but why did it sound as if he was having fun?

Everyone's fear morphed into fearful curiosity. They were afraid to move forward, but felt compelled to know what was going on. They all silently followed Mark, who forged ahead to the sound without any regard to the people behind him, until they reached the source of the commotion.

"What??"