"Portal... Portal," William muttered, repeating the same word over and over. He glanced at the next street as zombies started to turn towards him. The zombies were packed together, unlike on the previous streets. At a glance, more than six zombies stood together in one row.
Before he engaged in battle, Uncle John had already informed everyone and entered the street. William was lost in his thoughts as the zombies got closer and closer.
Grandma Jenny had hidden behind him, while Uncle John stood next to him. ’Energy.’ William’s mind clicked as he spotted a broken electric bike in the street. ’Ether.’ He mused as he focused his senses, closing his eyes.
He felt warm energy surrounding his body, and it couldn’t enter his body—it kept flowing around. A black energy was layered around his body, stopping it from entering his body. He raised his palm, trying to catch hold of some of the energy. But failed to do so as the black layer stopped him from even touching it. He could feel its energy as both warm and cool at the same time, which shouldn’t be possible. ’Yes, the energy—Ether, it’s already spreading around. How did I forget this?’ he mused, rubbing his forehead.
He suddenly felt he had acquired a new sensation: blue energy orbs and blue fog manifested around him in his senses.
[ Ding! You have acquired the skill—Ether Sense {Lv.1}! ]
[ Ding! ]
Many notifications flashed in his vision.
’Good, I have regained the Ether Sense skill.’ He grinned. But before he could check them, he felt his shoulder being shaken. He opened his eyes as Grandma Jenny and Uncle John stood in front of him, staring at him with worried and anxious faces.
"Is something wrong?" Grandma Jenny asked, with a worried frown.
Uncle John also glared at William, scrutinizing him for signs of tiredness and exhaustion. "Thirsty? Need water?" He pulled his water bottle from his waist bottle holder. William shook his head. "No—I got a notification that if I kill 50 zombies, I could get info about the portal."
"Really?" Both Grandma Jenny and Uncle John exclaimed. Uncle John held William’s shoulder tightly and asked, "Is it true?" He swallowed. "We’re lucky if it is."
"Yes," William nodded as he drew his katana and dashed towards the zombies in the street. There were fifteen of them. ’How many in this block got infected?’ His eyes narrowed.
Slash!
He beheaded the zombie in the centre as he got close. Its head rose into the air, blood splashing. William then kicked the dead zombie’s body, causing it to fall on the zombies behind. His kick caused more than five or six zombies to fall to the ground, thud! and the zombies behind were slowed down as the fallen zombies began to push others away to stand up.
Whoosh!
William swung both blades, slicing two zombies’ heads in half as they had closed in on him from the left and right sides. He raised his head as there were two zombies on both sides, and more zombies were closing in, trying to surround him.
’I miss my Ether Slash.’ He clicked his tongue in irritation. He stepped to his left side and with one slash, his weapon connected with the zombie’s head, cleaving its brain in half, killing it. With one more swing, he killed another zombie.
Thud! He kicked one of the dead zombie’s bodies, causing the zombies in the back—who stood up once again—to get pushed aside, while a few instinctively moved aside. Creating a lot of space for William to fight.
William stepped to his right as he didn’t forget those zombies, but a sound attracted his attention. Bang! Uncle John had smashed a zombie’s head, bursting it open. "Don’t worry, I got this." Uncle John smiled widely, showing his white teeth.
William nodded, gesturing thumbs up, as he slashed the zombie in front with his left katana. Swish! John bent down to avoid the swing of a zombie’s arms and slammed his heavy hammer into its chin, splitting it open and exposing the brain matter.
William smiled lightly as he moved in the open area between the zombies. He got enough space to wield his blade; with one swing, he took down one or two zombies. And the brainless zombie idiots just stepped forward to die. John just backed away, noticing William didn’t require any help, and he didn’t want to cause any trouble for William.
Within a few moments, William killed every zombie.
[ Total Apocalypse Supply Coins {₳}: 46 ]
A notification flashed in his vision. He turned towards the duo and said, "I killed fifty zombies. I got the details."
"I’m relieved." Grandma Jenny patted her chest in relief. Uncle John sighed and moved towards the street they arrived from. "I’ll call everyone." He paused, asking, "They don’t need to check every house now, right?"
"Yes, only a few." William nodded and opened his notifications.
[ Ding! Your Ether Sense has levelled up to Lv.2! ]
[ Ding! Your Ether Sense has levelled up to Lv.3! ]
[ Ding! Your Ether Sense has levelled up to Lv.4! ]
[ Ding! Your Ether Sense has levelled up to Lv.5 {Lv. Max}! ]
’How?’ He mused, running his thumb over his katana grip. ’Yes, experience. I mastered them beforehand.’ He couldn’t contain his smile.
"Looks like it’s easy to find?" Grandma Jenny asked in delight, her eyes gleaming brightly as she noticed his expression. "I think so." William gave a neutral reply.
He focused, taking a deep breath. ’Now, the portal emits Ether. But everything in the world currently is covered with a similar amount of Ether.’ He tightened his fists around his katana grip. ’So, Ether Sense is useless. Portal... space.’ He exhaled. He’d already figured out how to find the portal when he had regained the Ether Sense skill.
’Portal is space magic.’ He mused, ’The technique created by people in my past life involves sensing space fluctuations, but I cannot feel space now. However, I can notice space-type Ether.’ His eyes brightened with a ray of light as he closed his eyes.
’In my past life, I never cared about the portal...’ He opened his eyes. ’As finding them was a one-time quest.’
[ Ding! You have acquired the skill—Elemental Ether Sense {Lv.Max} ]
[ Ding! You have acquired the skill—Spatial Ether Sense {Lv.Max} ]
"For now, this would do." He muttered under his breath.
There were many types of Ether, but recovering them wouldn’t do anything, as he couldn’t even wield pure Ether.
Grandma Jenny broke William’s stupor as she raised her voice, "Did you read it?" Her voice was low and hopeful.
"Yes, it’s near..." William grinned, nodding. He used his new skill, Spatial Ether Sense. ’I hope this works.’ He didn’t know whether the portal could hide its Space Ether.