Chapter 23: Sprinter and Pincer
[Inspect!]
[Sprinter (Lesser D-Grade Zombie): A zombie who has eaten the core of an E-Grade zombie and gained the power of accelerated running. Make sure to have a boost start before you run away from it.
Reward: +125 Exp]
It didn't seem like it had reached the core and, knowing the urgency of the situation
[Temporal Deceleration!]
I ran like crazy towards it. Watching it slowly try to tear through the D-Grade zombie's flesh, I believed it hadn't noticed me yet, which was actually good news.
-Stab! x 5
[Ding!]
[You have killed a Sprinter!]
[+125 Exp]
My eyes then darted towards the door from where the sound of banging was coming, against a heavy metallic door and observing that area keenly, I found another zombie with its claws shaped like a pincer, probably the last Lesser-D Grade zombie.
[Inspect!]
[Pincer(Lesser D-Grade zombie): strengthened its claws to the point of making it sharp enough to pierce even through the toughest materials.
Reward: +125 Exp]
[Active Time Regeneration!]
I waited for the next few seconds to recharge my Time Points and then proceed towards it. Before I could even reach halfway, the zombie turned at me and started roaring really loudly, and then started running as fast as a pro athlete.
-BOOOM!!!
Though Caroline came in between us and pushed it away using the golf club. I turned to Caroline and said,"don't do it anymore. I don't want you to lose control right now."
This was one of the reasons I did not want her to do it. The other was, of course, that I wanted to kill that zombie on my own and gain some Exp from it.
Surviving or not, the fact that I lost a hundred zombie's worth of Exp was something really bugging me for quite some time. Hopefully, this trip and that random skill would be worth it.
[Temporal Deceleration!]
I ran towards that zombie as it was trying to stand back up, but with my agility, I reached closer to it quite fast and took out another knife as I stabbed it 4 or 5 times continuously before it finally died.
[You have killed a Pincer!]
[+125 Exp]
[Kill all the Zombies on the Top Floor: Complete]
[Reward: Passive Time Regeneration(skill)]
My eyes looked at the message and waited for the other quest to be completed, but it didn't come.
[Side Quests]
[Save the survivors trapped on Floor 70
Time limit: 58 hours 28 minutes
Reward: A Random Special Skill]
'Hmmm… looks like something is going on up there,' I thought before observing the new skill
[7. Passive Time Regeneration(Level 1)
Effects: Regenerates 1 TP per second]
A very simple but crucial skill. This skill is going to save a lot of time for me and if I upgrade it enough, maybe I could make it a really powerful skill. In any case, it was much better than my natural 1TP per minute regeneration.
Then I saw Caroline slowly reaching me as she looked at that zombie and looked at me. I observed her face and said,"Once you get strong enough to manage your powers, I will allow you to fight free, but before that, please use your powers as little as possible."
She, though a bit sad, nods at me before she looks around and asks,"what now?"
"Let's go up. Whatever the zombies wanted, it must be up there," I pointed at the metal gate which the pincer zombie was trying to break. I tried knocking at it, trying to call someone from the other side, but even after 10 minutes passed by nobody came.
"Something is wrong… did they fall unconscious or something?" I thought before looking at Caroline, who, a bit confused, asked me,"aren't you being too optimistic? Maybe they could have turned into zombies."
I looked at her with a small smile as I spoke,"I have a way to tell," and her eyes widened before she gulped and then asked,"just how many abilities do you have?"
I just winked at her before speaking,"let's get you some power-ups first and then enter that gate." I then moved towards the D-Grade zombie and took out its core.
[D-Grade Zombie Core!]
The other lesser D-Grade zombies too had an E-Grade core each, which I then asked Caroline to take it in her hands one at a time.
Luckily, the time taken this time to absorb the E-Grade cores was reduced successively, with one being 4 hours while the other one only 2 hours. It took about 7 hours for both absorbing and adapting the two E-Grade cores. That too with my Basic Time Manipulation ability.
After that, I gave her the D-Grade core and asked her to tell me immediately if there is any form of discomfort. She nodded before beginning to absorb the D-Grade core, and I saw her zombification percentage going up at a rapid pace.
Though, the Eye of the Time Keeper ability told me that her absorption rate was strong enough to absorb the core, albeit the time taken would be 11 days normally.
With my Basic Time Manipulation ability, it should take about 18 hours or so. And hence began another idle waiting as I watched Caroline slowly absorbing the core and before I knew it, 18 hours passed by and I looked at her, opening her eyes, which were deep pink now.
She observed me with a slight blank expression before I asked her,"do you know who you are?" and she nodded as she spoke,"Caroline Escarte. You are Michael Aroa, I remember."
'Well, her memory is intact. That is good. As for her status,' I thought as I used my inspect skill and
[Name: Caroline Escarte
Race: Zombified Human (Grade-F)
Class: Archer
Zombification: 78%*{Reach 100% to evolve into the next grade}
Cessation Energy: 540/540
Status: Healthy
Strength: 19
Constitution:21
Dexterity: 29]
'She is becoming a monster faster on her own, isn't she?' I thought as I looked at her beautiful face before chuckling a little at the thought that entered my mind,'not like I am going to be any different.'
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone