Kyle brought his knife down, securing it back into its sheath with a practiced motion. His fingers moved through the air, mentally commanding his system interface to open.
The panel materialized before his eyes, glowing with soft azure light. Data cascaded across the translucent surface, updating in real-time.
-----
**| KYLE FARRELL - STATUS UPDATE |**
**| SOUL LINE: 11—> 0|**
**| MANIFESTATION DURATION: 11 MINUTES |**
**| POINTS: 14 |**
-----
Kyle's eyes traced the numbers with satisfaction. The eleven Soul Line earned had increased his manifestation time by one minute—an improvement that would prove invaluable. Eleven minutes wasn't much, but it was better than ten. And it would only grow from here.
'Good. This is progress.'
He began walking calmly, his movements measured and deliberate. His boots crunched against fallen leaves and scattered debris as he approached the wolf corpses.
Smoke rose from their bodies in thin, wispy tendrils—an acrid smell of burnt flesh and corruption that would have made most people gag. The destruction was total. Torn limbs, shredded torsos, pulverized skulls. Nothing remained intact.
But something caught Kyle's attention.
Within the pools of black blood, something moved. Tiny, writhing things that squirmed with independent life. They pulsed and twisted, almost imperceptible unless one looked closely.
Kyle crouched, his eyes narrowing as he studied them.
"So that's the virus which infected these things, huh?" he muttered, fascination coloring his tone.
Zombie viruses varied greatly according to the research he'd consumed during his studies. Some targeted only the brain, rewriting neural pathways and hijacking motor functions while leaving other systems relatively intact. Others infected the bloodstream directly, turning the victim's own blood into a vector for transmission—rendering white blood cells utterly useless against the invasion.
These particular specimens appeared to be blood-borne, judging by their mobility within the fluid.
Kyle rose to his feet, his observations complete. There was nothing more to learn here. He turned and began walking deeper into the forest, his mind already shifting to other concerns.
'I wonder what place I am in the rankings.'
The thought emerged unbidden, natural. Competition was inherent to these trials. Somewhere, the instructors were monitoring everyone's progress, compiling data, assessing performance. But there was no way to check current standings—it was strictly forbidden. The instructors wanted focus on survival and combat, not on obsessive rank-checking that would distract students.
All he could do was continue killing spawns and hope the accumulated points would be enough.
As Kyle walked, the forest revealed itself in incremental details. The crunch of twigs beneath his boots. The distant call of birds. The rustle of wind through high branches.
Then, he heard it.
A cacophony of snarls and growls, layered over one another in a discordant symphony. His steps slowed, and he moved toward the sound with predatory caution.
What he discovered made him pause.
More than fifty zombie wolves had gathered in a clearing ahead, their bodies packed together in a writhing mass of corrupted flesh. They seemed agitated, heads turning toward something in the distance. Then, as one, they began moving—loping forward with singular purpose, drawn by some stimulus Kyle couldn't perceive.
'Is that where those earlier zombie wolves came from?'
It was the only logical conclusion. The pack he'd encountered must have been scouts or stragglers from this much larger group. They'd heard the sound of combat and investigated.
Kyle's eyes gleamed with cold calculation.
'A perfect place to earn points.'
Under normal circumstances, confronting fifty-plus zombies would have been suicidal. Even for awakened students, the sheer numbers would overwhelm most defensive capabilities. Teamwork and careful positioning would be required.
But Kyle wasn't normal anymore.
"Normally this would have been impossible for me, especially before fully awakening my Thought ability," Kyle said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. "But now that I have..."
His eyes flickered with icy resolve.
He didn't even need to visualize this time—the mental construct already existed. Instantly, the four auto-turrets materialized around him, snapping into existence with mechanical precision. Their barrels were already hot from previous use, and the moment they formed, they began rotating toward the wolf pack.
The ten-minute duration hadn't expired before Kyle had dismissed them earlier. Now, they continued from where they'd left off—approximately seven minutes remaining.
**RATATATATATATATATA!**
The turrets opened fire without hesitation.
The clearing erupted into chaos. Bullets tore through the massed wolves like a scythe through wheat. Bodies jerked and spasmed as rounds found their marks. Blood sprayed in crimson arcs. Bones shattered. Flesh ripped apart.
But three wolves moved differently.
They dodged with unnatural speed, weaving between bullet streams with reflexes that far exceeded their packmates. One leapt sideways as a burst passed through the space it had just occupied. Another twisted mid-air, avoiding death by centimeters.
"Do they perhaps have abilities?" Kyle couldn't help but think aloud, watching them with keen interest.
Even as the question formed, one of the slower wolves had its face obliterated—a single bullet punching through its skull and erupting out the back in a shower of gore.
Then, with incredible speed, one of the enhanced wolves closed the distance.
It moved like lightning, covering twenty meters in seconds, jaws open wide as it lunged for Kyle's throat.
The turrets swiveled instantly.
**RATATATATA—BOOM!**
Concentrated fire converged on the creature mid-leap. Its body was shredded before it could reach him, collapsing in a twitching heap barely three feet away.
Suddenly, four more wolves broke through the carnage, moving in coordinated assault from different angles. Their strategy was crude but effective—overwhelm through numbers and speed.
Kyle's response was instantaneous.
His right hand whipped around to his back, gripping the circular shield strapped there. He brought it forward in a smooth arc, positioning it between himself and the attackers just as they collided with him.
The impact was tremendous.
Kyle's body moved backward, his feet dragging trenches through the dirt as he absorbed and redirected the force. The wolves snarled and clawed at the shield, their fetid breath washing over him.
One wolf's face appeared over the shield's rim, cruel delight glinting in its white-red eyes. It opened its jaws wide, preparing to bite down—
**RATATATATAT—BOOM!**
A piercing, merciless round of bullets tore through its skull at point-blank range. Brain matter and bone fragments sprayed across Kyle's shield, painting it black and red. The corpse slumped forward, twitching.
The remaining three wolves barely had time to react before the turrets adjusted their targeting.
Kyle pushed forward with his shield, creating separation, giving the turrets clear lines of fire.
The execution was systematic. Brutal. Final.
The enhanced wolves, despite their superior speed, couldn't dodge at close range. They were torn apart in seconds, their bodies reduced to mangled ruins.
The slaughter continued for minutes that felt like hours. Even the fastest zombies, those with potential abilities that granted enhanced reflexes, were systematically gunned down. Kyle moved through the battlefield like death incarnate, his shield deflecting attacks, his turrets providing overwhelming suppressive fire.
When silence finally fell, the clearing was transformed into an abattoir.
A notification appeared.
-----
**| ZOMBIE WOLVES ELIMINATED x 51 |**
**| +102 POINTS ACQUIRED |**
**| SOUL LINE +67 |**
-----
Kyle stared at the numbers, his expression unreadable.
Blood littered everywhere. Bodies lay in heaps, steaming and broken. The ground was soaked crimson and black, the corruption mixing with natural blood in disturbing patterns. Nothing but death and destruction remained.
But in Kyle's perspective, it was perfect.
He had gained substantial points. His Soul Line count had exploded upward. The turrets flickered and vanished, their duration finally expended.
Kyle stood alone among the carnage, his shield still raised, his breathing steady.
"This ability..." he whispered, shaking his head slowly. "This ability is too overpowered."
The words hung in the air, undeniable truth echoing through the blood-soaked forest.