"Impossible! We've killed so many zombies and still haven't reached Tier 2—how the hell did you get there?!" the leader shouted, his voice cracking with disbelief, like he was trying to argue reality into submission.

Ethan just smiled, offering no explanation.

Outkill them? Please.

Even if he ignored everything before, just in the past two days, they'd slaughtered over a thousand zombies. These guys? Not even close.

And reaching Tier 2 wasn't about body count—it was about quality. Specifically, whether you'd taken down Tier 2 zombies and absorbed their crystal cores.

That was the real bottleneck.

And on that front, no one could touch Ethan's group. While others wandered around hoping to stumble across a lucky drop, they hunted with precision. They targeted Tier 2s like heat-seeking missiles.

These guys? Either their luck sucked, or they just hadn't killed enough to matter.

"Chris," Ethan said casually, "he wanted to teach us a lesson. Why don't you return the favor? Let him know there's a pecking order among Awakened too."

"With pleasure," Chris grinned, stepping forward.

He raised his foot and aimed a kick straight at the guy's chest.

But the man reacted fast—he backpedaled two steps and dodged cleanly.

"Hmph. So what if you're Tier 2?" he sneered, grabbing a fire axe off the ground. "I've trained in freestyle combat for years. You think I'm scared of you?"

He lunged, swinging the axe in a wide arc toward Chris's shoulder.

Chris didn't flinch. He brought his barbell bar up in a smooth motion and met the axe head-on.

CLANG!

The fire axe flew from the man's hands, spinning through the air before clattering across the rooftop.

"Freestyle combat, huh?" Chris snorted, tossing his own barbell bar aside. "Let's see how that holds up."

He stepped in and launched a brutal kick.

The man crossed his arms to block, but—

WHAM!

Chris's foot slammed into his guard with bone-jarring force, sending him flying ten feet back. He crashed into the wall with a grunt, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

His eyes went wide. "How… how is he this strong?!"

He'd been at the peak of Tier 1 for a while now. He knew Tier 2s were stronger, sure—but not this much stronger. He'd figured his years of combat training would close the gap.

But now, facing Chris head-on, he realized just how wrong he'd been.

What he didn't know was that Chris wasn't just barely Tier 2. He was deep into it.

Chris cracked his neck and smirked. "Didn't you say you trained in freestyle combat? Come on, show me more."

"Bullshit!" the man growled, wiping blood from his mouth. "There's no way the gap is that big!"

He pushed down the churning in his gut and charged again, leaping into the air and throwing a punch straight at Chris's head.

Chris raised an arm and blocked it like swatting a fly. Then he drove a kick into the man's stomach.

THUD!

The guy flew backward again, skidding across the rooftop and coughing up blood.

"Pathetic," Chris muttered, shaking his head.

"You…!" the man gasped, struggling to sit up. "If I were Tier 2 like you, I'd wipe the floor with you!"

"Oh yeah?" Chris said, eyes narrowing.

Then he vanished.

"—!!"

Gasps rippled through the crowd. Eyes widened. Mouths dropped.

It was like he'd blinked out of existence.

BOOM!

A second later, the man's body slammed into the wall again, this time with enough force to leave a dent in the concrete. He crumpled to the ground, groaning.

"Pffft—"

A thick stream of blood burst from the man's mouth as his eyes bulged wide, locked on Chris with a mix of shock and fury.

"Invisibility… You have an invisibility ability!"

The words barely left his lips before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed, unconscious.

Chris stood tall, brushing imaginary dust from his shoulder. "Even if you were Tier 2 like me, how long do you think you'd last?"

Ethan gave him a look, somewhere between amused and exasperated. "Seriously? You used your ability on a Tier 1?"

"He was asking for it," Chris said with a shrug. "Guy wouldn't shut up. Had to teach him some manners."

"..."

Ethan sighed. "Fine. Use it if you want. Not like anyone's gonna find out."

"But… they already saw it," Henry said, glancing at the stunned crowd still kneeling nearby.

Ethan's voice dropped, calm and cold. "Dead men don't talk."

"...!"

Henry's eyes widened. "Ethan, you're saying—?"

"They wanted to kill us," Ethan said flatly. "We don't owe them mercy. Remember what I told you—if you make enemies in the apocalypse, don't leave them breathing. Sooner or later, they'll come back to bite you."

"But… there's over twenty of them…" Henry hesitated, his voice tight.

"Do you remember what I said before?" Ethan asked.

"I do," Chris answered before Henry could. "In the apocalypse, you have to be ruthless."

"Exactly. You've both killed plenty of zombies. But people? That's a line you haven't crossed yet. Time to change that."

Chris nodded without hesitation and stepped forward, barbell bar in hand.

He didn't question Ethan's orders. He never did.

Henry stood frozen for a moment, then clenched his jaw and followed.

"Please… don't kill us! We get it now—we were wrong!"

"We're all classmates! You don't have to do this!"

The group dropped to their knees, begging, voices trembling.

Chris took a deep breath, then raised his barbell bar and brought it down.

Henry's hands shook, but after a moment's pause, he lifted his weapon too.

Screams rang out across the rooftop.

And then—silence.

When it was over, Chris and Henry returned to Ethan, soaked in blood.

Chris looked unfazed. Henry, though, wore a heavy expression, his eyes shadowed.

Ethan clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Henry, listen to me. Surviving this world means being brutal. If you hesitate, no matter how strong you are, someone weaker will find a way to kill you."

"I get it," Henry said quietly. "It's just… hard to swallow. But I'll adjust."

Ethan nodded. "Good."

He walked over to the edge of the rooftop and activated his True Sight, scanning the campus below.

They hadn't come up here to kill people. They were here to find zombies.

After burning through several waves of mental energy, Ethan finally pulled back, a strange look on his face.

"What is it?" Chris asked, lowering his voice.

"I saw Tier 3 zombies," Ethan said.

"Tier 3?!" Chris and Henry's eyes lit up. "Can we take them?"

Ethan shook his head. "Not a chance. Something's off. I spotted three Tier 3s across campus—but each one is surrounded by at least a thousand zombies."

Chris frowned. "That's not that weird, right? More zombies means more chances for higher-tier ones to spawn."

"Maybe," Ethan said, brow furrowed. "But I don't think it's that simple."

"What do you mean?"

"I think Tier 3 zombies can attract others—like, actively summon them."

"...!"

"No way," Chris said, staring at him. "Zombies don't have brains. How could they summon anything?"

"Maybe I'm overthinking it," Ethan admitted. "But if I'm right, killing a Tier 3 is going to be a hell of a lot harder than we thought."

"Could just be coincidence," Chris said. "Either way, if we can't take them now, we wait. Tomorrow, more Tier 3s might show up. We'll see then."

"Yeah," Ethan agreed. "Let's focus on Tier 2s for now. I want you both at peak Tier 2 before we even think about Tier 3."

"Got it."

With the plan set, they left Capstone House.

Ethan had already marked ten Tier 2 zombies from the rooftop—ones they could realistically take down. Once they were back on the ground, the three of them moved quickly, hunting them one by one.

By the time the tenth Tier 2 zombie hit the pavement, Chris and Henry had both reached the peak of Tier 2.

Like Ethan, their strength had broken past the 1,000-pound mark—an extra 60 pounds or so, courtesy of the mysterious energy they absorbed each night while stargazing.

With the day's work done, the trio returned to their dorm.

Tier 3 zombies were still out of reach for now. Better to rest up and see what tomorrow brought.

...

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