Luke

Zeke was jolted awake by a loud scream, prompting him to jump out of bed and scan his surroundings. Upon realizing that Olivia was not beside him, Zeke grew anxious and rushed to the next room.

As he drew near, his attention was drawn to Olivia, who stood in the doorway. It was then that he noticed a teenage boy with tattered clothes smudged with dirt all over his face and body. The boy stared at them both, brandishing a knife in his hand.

The short teenage boy appeared to be in a rough state, indicating that he had not eaten in several days. Zeke retrieved some chips from his storage ring and tossed them toward the boy.

He quickly dropped his knife and caught hold of the bag, instantly beginning to devour its contents. He appeared to be scared that the bag might disappear if he didn't consume its contents quickly.

Zeke cautiously approached the boy, stooping down to retrieve the knife, before returning to Olivia's side. Once he was back, he used his inspect skill to search for any information on the teenager.

'Inspect'

[Luke]

Rank: Novice

Faction: Uknown

Level: 2

Skills: [Inspect]

After checking Luke's information, Zeke figured that the young boy was likely a survivor scavenging for food after going hungry for the past few days. However, he was taken aback by the appearance of a new feature, faction, in Luke's profile and questioned whether he belonged to a group. To confirm his suspicions, Zeke attempted to inspect Olivia's profile.

'Inpsect'

[Olivia Parker]

Rank: Novice

Faction: Royals

Class: Angelic Healer

Level: 16

Skills: [Inspect] [Group Healing] [Slow Restoration] [Light Strike]

Zeke did indeed verify the existence of the new feature, but initially found himself puzzled as it had not appeared when he had checked President Williams' status at the library yesterday. He wondered if this was because Williams was at a higher level.

Putting this matter away at the moment Zeke shifted his attention back to Luke. He noticed the youngster gazing up at him with wide eyes, clearly desiring more food.

Zeke inquired, "Are you alone, or are you part of a group?" He peered at the boy expectantly, but there was no immediate reply. Noticing the youngster's hunger, Zeke retrieved another bag of chips from his ring and tossed it to him, prompting the boy to shake his head yes answering the question. Zeke then introduced himself and Olivia, "I'm Zeke and this is Olivia. What's your name?" Once more, there was no answer from the boy, who was now devouring the chips as if they were his favorite brand.

"If you answer some of our questions, we'll prepare some food for you," Zeke offered, trying to bribe the starving kid. He observed the boy's face light up with enthusiasm.

They learned that the young boy's name was Luke and that he belonged to a group. His faction was situated in a nearby police station. Luke revealed that he had been dispatched to obtain food and medicine as his mother was sick, and he was not allowed to visit her.

According to Luke, his mother had fallen ill while she was working alongside other women to clean and cook for the upper management. The faction leaders had instructed him to scavenge for supplies if he wished to visit her again.

Luke had spotted Zeke and Olivia and was contemplating stealing their provisions as he had been unsuccessful in finding much for almost a day.

Olivia was awoken by a noise and attempted to wake Zeke, but he was sound asleep. So she went to investigate the noise. That was when she encountered a young teenage boy, armed with a knife, attempting to steal their supplies.

Upon hearing Luke's story and learning more about his situation, Zeke felt sympathy toward him. They decided to prepare a meal and eat together. With the darkness still enveloping the surroundings, and their trust in the teenager not yet completely solidified, Zeke kept watch as they both went back to sleep. To pass time, he checked Fang's stats for any signs of progress he made on his first day.

'Inspect'

[Fang]

Race: Sabertooth Tiger

Rank: Beginner

Potential: Advanced

Level: 12

Skills: [Bite] [Devour]

Zeke was surprised that Fang was already level 12 after one day. Then he proceeded to check his own stats.

'Status'

[Zeke Anderson]

Level: 25

Rank: Novice

Talent: Bronze Body Refinement (upgradeable)

Class: Halfling

Strength: 104 (+25)

Agility: 89

Stamina: 71

Health: 81

Magic: 42

Unused attribute points: 10

Skills: [Inspect] [Create] (Locked) [Life steal] (Locked) [Bat View] [Blood Drain] (Locked)

Pets: [Saber Tooth Tiger]

He also checked to see how close he was to the next upgrade to his talent.

[Requirements to upgrade to Iron Body Refinement]

Level 30

100/100 Strength

8/10 common upgrade fragments

Zeke was filled with joy as he realized that he only required a handful more common upgrade fragments and five additional levels to upgrade his talent.

As the hours ticked by, Luke eventually woke up. Although his clothes remained tattered, his complexion had improved considerably, appearing much healthier than before, thanks to the multiple meals he had consumed the night before.

After allowing Luke a moment to fully wake up, Zeke offered him a sports drink and said, "Here, have this. Also, I want you to take us back to your group." Zeke was interested by the faction that had managed to take over the police center and wanted to check it out before continuing his journey south.

Moreover, Zeke couldn't shake off the feeling that something was not right. It had only been three days since the apocalypse began, yet Luke was already in such a dire state of hunger. Furthermore, Zeke discovered that the faction he belonged to was large, but the leaders seemed to hoard most of the food.

Additionally, he learned that only the men were sent out to scavenge and didn't return. While the women were relegated to cleaning and other menial tasks for the upper management.

Olivia was suddenly awakened by an announcement that was broadcasted to everyone on Earth.

[Welcome to Day 3 of Phase One. At this time there have been over 1 billion factions made]

[At this time all survivors will be given 7 days to build or expand their Outpost before Regional Faction Wars start]

[Summoning Gate now open]